Enchanted Mommy

These States are Spending the Most on Decor, Meals This Christmas

Ok moms, I can’t be the only one who is excited about Christmas next week but also wincing at the sheer amount of money I’ve already spent this holiday season. The sad thing is, it’s not even on the presents.. It’s the amount of bottle brush trees and nutcrackers that I just HAD to have (and yes, they were on sale so I convinced myself it was fine.) But as I’ve been seeing articles about the cost of gifts and how much we’re planning to spend this year, I stumbled upon a survey that caught my attention and made me feel not so bad about my purchasing habits. 

Rainbow Restoration surveyed about 2,000 Americans and asked them to estimate how much they spend on decorations and how much they anticipate they’ll spend on meals next week. 

The Top 5 States That Spend The Most on Decor:

  1. Maryland
  2. New Mexico
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Kentucky
  5. Tennessee

The Top 5 States That Plan to Spend The Most on Meals:

  1. Mississippi
  2. Alabama
  3. California
  4. Virginia
  5. Tennessee

It looks like the big spenders are in Tennessee! The survey found the national spending average for decor was $147 and for meals it was $187.

Make Your Own Popcorn And Save Tons

popcorn Collage

Here are the 5 easy steps to making your own popcorn without spending a fortune on the portioned bags from the store!

  • Just buy the huge bag of popcorn kernels (the everyday price on 32 oz. at my grocery store was $1.97).
  • Pour 1/4 cup kernels into a brown paper bag.
  • Roll bag two times.
  • Hit popcorn on microwave.
  • Remove and enjoy!  Feel free to add the amount of salt and butter you prefer!

Make Your Own Popcorn And Save Tons
 
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup popcorn kernels.
  • paper bag.
  • Salt and butter are optional.
Instructions
  1. Put ¼ cup kernels into brown paper bag.
  2. Roll bag over two times.
  3. Put in microwave and hit popcorn button.
  4. Pour into bowl and enjoy!

 

 

IMG_5847

Look at this delicious money saving popcorn!

 

Yum yum yum!

You could also make a popcorn cake or caramel popcorn from this recipe!

Personal Finance Alert: Stores Can Now Charge Fee For Using Credit Card

I just came across this post on Reddit and I thought it was worth sharing here.  A new federal law allows stores to charge customers an extra fee for paying by credit card.  This used to not be allowed, but now that it is, we all should be on the lookout for it.

I believe, in some cases, they can charge up to 5% as the fee.  That adds up quickly, so be careful!

Credit Card Fees

Image credit to HighRiskPay.com – a high risk merchant account provider.

Save for Retirement!

My husband and I work on our finances together in our household, and I’m fully aware of what is going on with our savings efforts.  My husband and I work on things together and make decisions together.  One thing we are always talking about is saving for retirement, IRAs, 401ks, and not expecting Social Security to be there for us.  So, I wasn’t all that shocked when he sent me the link to the picture below – but I did think it was a great reminder to share and pass along.  I hope it is a nice reminder for you as well.
Read More

Kitchen Table Fixer-Upper!

My sister scored this great glass table for $60 at a used furniture consignment sale.  It was a bit scuffed, but very sturdy.  We easily fixed it up as good as new with a few cans of spray paint, some 50% off fabric, and a staple gun!

First we unscrewed all the cushions from the chairs and took the glass top of the table.  Then we carefully spray painted all the chairs and the base of the table a nice sage green color.  We did two coats just to make sure it was completely covered.

Second, we reupholstered all the cushions with new fabric.  We got the fabric at Joanne’s Fabric Store using a 50% off coupon.  This part was a lot easier than you would think.  We Just measured out the fabric making sure it covers the entire cushion with room to spare so that it can be stapled securely to the back of the cushion.

Finally, we reattached all the cushions back to the  chairs.  Easy and simple!

A brand new table for $60!  You may also like this article on Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs and Spray Painting Bathroom Accessories.

Before and after image of the cushions.

 

Before and after view of the spray painted chairs

Here is the table all finished. Spray painted base and chairs and reupholstered chairs.

Another view of the table all finished. Perfect table for $60. Fits great in this little breakfast nook.

 

Cute Personalized Wreath

So I have this very, very talented friend.  The kind that makes all five of her kids halloween costumes herself every year… the kind that can sew extravagant Easter dresses for her little girls… seriously she can do pretty much everything.  Did I mention that she also, plays the flute, the piano, sings, and is an amazing photographer?

Anyway, I love this very talented friend of mine and got to visit her for the first time in two years… sadly we live 2000 miles apart.  I noticed the adorable wreath on her door.

“Hey that is cute, where did you get it?”

“Oh duh… of course you made it.”

I love looking through her house to get ideas on what to do with my empty walls.

Oh yeah… back to the wreath.

She made this using one of the straw wreaths shown on Amazon here and a bunch of coffee filters.  You just scrunch up the coffee filters and glue them on all around your wreath.  Then add any accessory you want to go with it.  She said you could also use a foam wreath to make it.

I love the personalization!  It is good to have a friend so talented!  I hope I can get her out to Florida to help me pick out some stuff for my new house…  if I ever get one that is!  🙂  I am only a little anxious to get moving on the house hunting.

A few other cute DIY wreaths you might like:

Adorable spring Wreath

Front door wreaths

A Last Minute Picture Card For Father’s Day

Sometimes I just can’t think three weeks in advance for a card, so I can’t order a nice picture card from a photo company.  I also HATE the store bought wordy cards that you have to pay an arm and a leg for.  They usually go straight to the trash and I would much rather take that money and buy some Starbucks put it to good use.   I know today is Friday and it’s two days before Father’s Day, but I wanted to make a card for my husband, my dad and father in-law.  So, I went to Walgreens and made these cards for $1.49 each.  I bet these stay up on the fridge for a while because they are so dang cute.

Father's Day Photo card

$2.98 for both of these cards AND I bet they stay around much longer

All you do is go to the little kiosk and make just a standard flat card (not the folded, they take a couple of days) and order away.  It took them less than five minutes to make three cards!  Total was $4.47 plus tax.  Now, rush on over and make a cute card so you don’t have to get the leftover junk cards that no one wants.

Happy Friday and Happy Father’s Day weekend to all you Daddies!

 

Make Cut-Off Shorts!!!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned that my child might actually be a monkey!  Seriously! He climbs everything!  As a result his clothes do not last very long!  He climbs trees and rips his shirts and tears holes in his pants on a regular basis!

Seriously… this is my monkey child. Climbing up everything and anything every time I turn around! He is the oldest of my three boys and a real boy through and through!

I am always finding ways to preserve his clothes a little longer!  I buy the jeans with reinforced knees,  mend rips if possible, but still end up tossing plenty of ruined clothes.

Making cut off shorts out of old jeans that have gotten too short or have holes in the knees is really easy and makes me feel better about all the clothes my boys go through!

Holes in the knees... no problem!

1.  Cut straight across just above the hole in the jeans (or measure to your desired length making sure to leave an extra 1/2 to 1 inch for the hem).

2.  Take the part you just cut off and lay it on top of the other pant leg to use as a guide to make sure you cut both sides the same length.

3.  Turn the jeans inside out and fold the cut of ends of the pants up an 1/2 inch to 1 inch and sew.

Before hemming

After hemming

That’s it!  Easy!  Now these pants can get a little more money’s worth out of them!

One handsome guy!

 

Spray Paint Can Make Great Cheap Changes!

Since we moved, spray paint has become quite popular.  Even though I wanted to change the color of some things, I still liked the look.  This time around, I changed the trash can, soap dish and tissue box cover in the girls bathroom.  I used this spray paint:

Rustoleum spray paint

Here is the spray paint I used. Cost $3.82 at Home Depot.

Here is the before:

before spray painting

Blah Blah silver...

They all still had the price stickers left on them.  The trash can was $11.99, soap dish was $4.99 and the tissue box was $8.99.  I bought these for my husband (boyfriend at the time) when he was fixing up his college bathroom.  I saved ~$22 by spray painting instead of buying new.

Here are some after pics:

Here is the tissue box cover spray painted.

sink bathroom

Soap dish painted from silver to pink. I used it as a place to hold tooth paste.

spray paint

Trash can painted.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the less than $4 transformation.

Tip:

Make sure you spray far away from the object.  It’s better to do a few coats than one thick one.  It will drip!  Mine dripped on one side of the trash can and I quickly figured out that slow and steady wins the race.

Coming soon:  Spray painted wicker furniture

Adorable Spring/Summer Wreath!

I tutor a couple evenings a week.  One night after one of my students came over he told me how he almost forgot where I lived and then remembered that I still had my clover wreath up on my door and was able to find my house.  Ha!  Yes, my clover wreath from St. Patricks Day in March.

Wow, I am a slacker.  So I set out to fix that asap.  I got a few suplies from Michael’s and was ready to go.

The stick wreath part was $4.99 and each of the three colors of flowers were on sale for $1.29 each.  I also had a 50% off one item coupon.  So basically I made the entire wreath for under $7.  The premade wreaths in this style are selling for $30 – $60 so I feel pretty good.

I love finding a good deal.  I use to say that I am cheap, but my mother-in-law has since taught me that its not being cheap it is being frugal!  Frugal sounds so much nicer!

All you have to do is pull your flowers and leafs off the stems and arrange them anyway you like on your wreath.  Then use a hot glue gun to glue it all together.  You can hang it to your wreath hanger using any ribbon or string.

This was so easy and turned out so cute I think I will make another for my mom for Mother’s Day.