Conversation Starter Cards on my $0 budget

Before I start I want to let everyone know that due to such positive support, I will be hosting a $0 Budget Party at the end of the month. Since this will be my first party, I would really love it if everyone who has any ideas (no matter how big or small) to remember to stop by and share them.  I will finalize the date soon but I was thinking April 1st. What do you think?

Here my fun $0 family building craft.

Last summer, my daughter and I had a girls day out in New York City. We went shopping and I took her to the American Girl restaurant for a special dinner. We had the most amazing time! If you have ever been, you know they have a box full of cards on the table with questions or conversation starters to ask the other people at your table. My daughter loved this and I really enjoyed giving her answers to questions we would never have thought about. Like "What is your favorite childhood memory?" or "If you were able to give up one chore for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

This past weekend my daughter asked if we could write up some questions and discuss them at the dinner table.  I thought it was an amazing idea. We wrote our own questions and then went on the internet and searched for "conversation starter questions" and found hundreds.

Materials:
Questions
Scrapbook paper
Mod Podge
Small box

Method:
I put all the questions in one Word file and then converted the text into a table with 2 columns. I formatted the rows to fit 8 questions on each page. We selected a font we loved and started printing them on light colored scrapbook paper. In total we had 20 pages or 160 questions.

Since I could not run to the Dollar store to buy a cute little box to store these in (doesn't fit in my budget of $0), I got resourceful. I used a cup a soup box to create a custom sized holder for the 160 questions.

I covered the box with a piece of scrapbook paper she selected and Mod Podge. I punch 2 holes in the top flap and on the body of the box so I could thread a piece of ribbon through. I used a large bead (doesn't match 100% but she loves it) to slip through the bottom loop to keep the lid closed.

We have put this on our lazy susan in the middle of the table so that when we sit down at dinner we can ask each other questions. It really is fun!

A small project but it still falls within my $0 budget.

If anyone would like me to email them the 20 page Word file (so you can print them yourself or change them to best suit your family), please download it here or leave me a comment with your email address and I would be happy to send it to you.

Side note: I have found we have gotten closer as a family since we started this spend free month. We have spent 2 full weeks without going shopping. We play games, talk, do crafts together or simply lay on the couch and watch a movie. The money saved this month will be nice, but the family bonding time is truly priceless!


Thanks everyone!

Stair Basket on my $0 budget - Organizing my life one step at a time

If you are anything like my family, you always have a pile of stuff sitting on your stairs to either go up or go down. I have always wanted to have a basket that sits on my stairs but I am far to cheap to spend $40 on a small wicker step/stair basket. So I came up with this idea yesterday when I was at the grocery store picking up fresh fruits and vegetables. Isn't it great! Look what you can do with a free pasta box, duct tape, left over fabric and Mod Podge. 

Before

 After

Materials:

1 Box with the width and height you want

Fabric to cover

Mod Podge

Duct Tape

Method:
We removed the clear packing tape from the bottom of the box so it could be laid flat.

We measured my stair height (approx. 8 inches) and depth (approx. 12 inches). Using a long metal ruler we drew straight lines on the box to identify where the 'step' piece would be. Do this on both sides of the box..be sure to work on the same end :)

Here is a bit of a tricky part, I only made 3 cuts on each side of the box (see picture below - I made cuts along the bold black lines and I folded along the dotted line) so that I could fold the box  and keep most of the box intact to create the bottom and side of the 'step' part.

Here is where you just have to trust me and work with this as you go. This is hard for me to explain which means it will be even more difficult to understand. But believe me it is easy when you are doing it. The 2 folded pieces come together to create the back of the step, the 2 bottom flaps come up to also cover the back of the step and then there is a long piece on the end of the box that folds up to create the bottom of the 'step' piece. Now that I have lost everyone here is what it looks like after the first 2 steps.

And this is after all the folds and I duct taped the seams to secure it.

 I removed the top flaps of the box because I did not need any extra height. If you box is not high enough, you can use the top flaps for this.

Making the shape of the stair basket, took me about 10 minutes to do. But the next step of covering it with fabric took me almost 2 hours! I didn't have much of this fabric left over from recovering my kitchen chairs so I had to plan wisely. It really wasn't difficult as I used Mod Podge to secure the fabric to the box but the planning took me forever.  I used some left over black vinyl for the bottom of the box so that it wouldn't show any dirt (plus I didn't want to use more of the fabric since I might want to use it on something else later).

So here is the end result from all angles. My carpets look really dirty but they aren't..honestly it is the lighting.

 By the way, someone recommended that I host a $0 craft party at the end of the month so everyone can post their $0 ideas. I have never done a party before...Is anyone interested in participating in this? Please let me know what you think.



Thanks,
Stephanie

Dry Erase Freezer Inventory on my $0 budget

I would like to start off by thanking everyone for their amazing support and all of the suggestions regarding our spend free month. My husband and I have actually been enjoying the past 11 days that we agreed to continue this for Lent. Grammy Goodwill is doing this and we loved the idea. So it looks like I am giving up spending for almost 2 months. I don't think I will have enough hot glue sticks to last me....I might be begging my sister to donate some to my cause :)

I want to thank Anne from Unguarded Moments for making the suggestion to make a quick inventory of what is in my freezer. When I started to make the list of everything I had in the freezer, I came up with the idea for my dry erase "Freezer Inventory" board. Thanks Anne!

 

I made a list of the items I typically have in the freezer and left spots for other foods. The list is behind plastic so I can write on it with dry erase marker and easily delete the check mark when the item is removed.
Materials:
9x12 Canvas (from the dollar store)
1 piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper
1 plastic paper sleeve
Ribbon
Hot glue
Mod Podge
Magnets

Method:
I had a canvas that I was using to test out the subway art from a couple of weeks ago. It was in the garbage but I pulled it out and put a coat of cream spray paint on it.

I picked a piece of scrapbook paper that matched the room and that I would like to look at every day. You could use burlap for this project too; I didn't because I have 4 burlap baskets in the bench and thought it would be too much burlap in one room. I know how can someone say that! :)
I attached the paper to the canvas with Mod Podge by only putting Mod Podge on the outer edges. My first attempt bubbled when I painted the entire canvas with it.

I made a 'staple food' list that contained what is typically in the freezer. I made it smaller than 8.5 x 11 so that I saw more of the scrapbook paper.
In order to make the list reusable, I decided to use a plastic sleeve to cover the printer paper. This way I can put check marks for what I have and easily delete it when I remove it from the freezer.  I cut the sleeve to be a little bit bigger than the piece of paper with my list. I warmed up my glue gun and when it was really hot, I ran a bead of glue to seal the two pieces of plastic on the cut side of the sleeve. Start at the bottom of the plastic sleeve and worked up to the top. The hot glue actually melts the plastic and fuses the two pieces together.

Using hot glue, I glued the outer perimeter of the plastic sleeve to the canvas and then covered it with a thin ribbon attached again with hot glue. If you decide to put a ribbon on the top where the opening is, be sure to put a piece of paper between so that the 2 pieces of plastic don't melt together.

I made a ribbon bow and glued it to the top of the canvas.

Using a free magnet (you know the ones that you get in the mailbox from dentists, car dealerships etc...I never throw these out)  cut into 3 strips, I glued them to the bottom and sides of the canvas. I then covered one strong magnet with ribbon and attached it to the bow. This way when the freezer door opens and closes, the canvas will not move or bounce around.

  Tah Dah! What do you think?

I have had a very productive day. I made an inventory of everything in my freezer, created a beautiful board to easily track what goes in and out of the freezer and the most amazing thing I did was defrosted my freezer! I am too embarrassed to show you the before with all the food in it, but I will show you the after :) . Yeah!  Look what I can get accomplished when I can't go shopping.

Toilet paper art on my $0 budget

Have you seen the amazing pieces of art people have been making out of toilet paper rolls? They have been all over the blog world for a couple of months and from the first time I saw them I have been saving up to make some. No.. not saving money, saving toilet paper and paper towel rolls. I have enlisted the help of family and friends to speed this process along. They all thought I was crazy until they saw the end result!

No one believes that these are made from toilet paper rolls and everyone asks to touch them just to make sure!

I love the end result! I hung these on the stairwell wall above the buffet in our dining room. This wall will be ripped down after we finished the basement so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the art. I am so happy that my $0 project turned out so well.

You can make these so they have pointy edges (like I have done) or rounded edges. I did the pointy so it matched my lamp and curtains. I tried one of each and they don't match :)

I won't give you a step by step tutorial on how to make these because you can find the instructions all over but I will give you a few tips. Here are a few places to find the instructions: Growing up creative (oldest so maybe the original!) and The How to Gal. 

1. It is better to use the white toilet paper rolls, the recycled paper ones (brown) don't paint as nicely. Having said that, the brown work great too. I made one out of each so I see the difference.
2. I cut the toilet paper rolls into 4 sections of 1 inch each. Measure your toilet paper rolls and divide into an even number. 
3. I started by making lots of the 4 petal flowers. Be sure to match the points very well on both sides. This is the trick to getting a clean piece.
4. Use hot glue to attach the pieces. Many sites recommend using craft glue and clamping it together until it dries...I am impatient and hot glue dries almost immediately. I did notice a few sections unglued after spray painting but I just glued them again and it was fine.
5. Spray prime before you spray paint. The brown paper rolls absorb the paint and dries almost blotchy.

I made 2 small pieces (shown) and one large one. I have not decided where to hang the bigger one yet but I will find a home for it soon. I was debating hanging it above these two, but I think it will be too much. What do you think? Does it look good as is or should I add the larger one too?

Each piece took 9 empty toilet paper rolls and approximately 30 minutes to cut and glue. Not bad!  Who would have thought!

Not only is this another craft on my $0 budget, I am actually filling in spots of my house that have been bare for almost 2 years. I am loving this :)

Framing three of my favourite quotes on my $0 budget

As you know, I am one week into my month of not spending and it is going extremely well. I have only been to one store and that was to do some groceries. I only bought fresh fruit and veggies, milk, and bread...ok that is not 100% true...I also bought a bag of chips. I know chips aren't a necessity, but that is my vice. I don't drink alcohol or coffee, not because it is bad for you, I hate the taste. I will try better next week ;)

On to my $0 budget post!

I have a small wall in my ensuite bathroom that has always seemed bare. It didn't seem like a logical place for a full sized towel rack but it needed something. It was too small to hold a large print or photo and I didn't want to put anything that could be damaged by humidity.

Well, I was digging through some boxes that have never been unpacked since we moved in almost 2 years ago and I found three matching panoramic frames. There were some beautiful pictures of me and my husband in our early 20s in Mexico in them. Let me tell you, I would love to show everyone my prebaby bikini wearing photos...but I won't. It is far too depressing for me :)

After pulling out the wonderful photos and touching up some minor scuffs with my amazingly handy Sharpie, I decided I would frame three of our favorite quotes. These quotes may not inspire everyone, but I love seeing these and have in fact had a few of these framed in my office at work for years.

I found a piece of scrapbook paper (12 x12 inch) that matched my bathroom and the frames perfectly. Since I only had one sheet of this scrapbook paper, I cut it into three even pieces. I designed each of the quotes in Publisher using the 'Drop Cap' feature to have a larger first letter.

Here are the three images (sorry for the poor photos, I will try again tomorrow when there is better light)

(I just noticed after inserting the images that Publisher auto-corrected and gave me a capital 'b' on Because :( Darn you Microsoft!! I will have to live with it since I don't have another piece of paper and I can't spend the $0.33 it would cost to buy another one. Oh well, C'est la vie.)

The entire project took me 30 minutes, with most of the spent trying to get the image to print properly (since I only that one sheet of paper and no room for error).


Total cost $0!!

Did you notice my absolutely amazing and beautiful mirror? I promise that will be another post soon. My amazing husband framed our builder grade mirror for me (before our spend free month). Isn't it gorgeous?


Update: People have asked me the font I used for this and it was 'Poor Richard' that came with Publisher. I really loved the 'g's on this font :)