Frugal Friday Tip

Today The Shabby Nest is hosting a Frugal Friday party and I thought I would join in.

Last year we took a step back to see where we could cut back and save. I realized that we were going through about 5-6 trash bags a week! So I thought to myself why not just empty the the trash into our main trash bin outside. I grabbed a large rubber head band to hold the trash bag to the can and now simply just dump it into the main bin. Once a week I remove the trash bag and use it to collect the remaining small waste baskets that we have through out the house.Not only do we save on the cost of trash bags but we are also cutting back on our added waste to the environment.

Class Treat Bags

I was late in signing Gabe up for his class Fall Party. So I was left with 17 goodie bags to make for Friday's Fall Festival.
I purchased black sacks at my local Walmart , four for $1.00. And printed out these FREE labels and adhered them with double sided tape.

Remember my Zazzle stickers? I used them to package up some Gold Fish crackers and we are good to go!

I will be linking up to these great blogs today please stop by if you when you get time Between Naps on the Porch - Making the World Cuter - The Girl - Made by You Mondays

Flashback...

This was me five years ago. Nine months pregnant and swollen deluxe! I was ready to have this baby and was happy for the doctor to schedule it at any time!
So five years ago today I had my second child , a bouncing baby boy {smile]. I love the expression on big sisters face as she met her brother for the first time.

It was love at first site for us all.

Don't you just love peach fuzz sweetness on a new born?

Spring forward 5 years to today.This was his birthday shirt he got to wear. However, as you can tell by the frown on his face he has lost some of that new born charm!

I am in love with the etsy shop My Personalized T-shirt. They have fabulous little goods at such a reasonable price. Remember they are only going to wear this one time in public. A great Big Happy Birthday to my little blessing!

I wanted to share with you and ice cream treat that we made for the Halloween Birthday bash.

I found this in Mathew Meads new Halloween publication this year and thought it would be perfect. Gabe's favorite ice cream happens to be orange sherbet. I used 2 gallons of vanilla ice cream and two gallons of orange sherbet. Soften the vanilla and place in a mixing bowl. I added yellow food gel coloring until I got the yellow I was looking for. I then placed it in a large gallon zip lock bag. Cutting a corner off I pipped it into plastic mini glasses that I purchased at the Dollar Store. Then placed them in the freezer to set. Meanwhile I softened the orange sherbet and followed the same steps. Finally topping them off with another layer of plain vanilla with sprinkles. They looked just like a candy corn and were oh so yummy!

Gabe's Birthday Bash!

We hosted a Halloween Birthday bash for Gabe this weekend and a few of Hannah's friends to help "work it" Ha...Ha...! Here is a sneak peak at how it went. And if anyone has a great way to host a party and take all the party pictures you want please let me know. I failed to get a lot of great shots because I was to busy working!

Gabe helped pick the sticks and wash them for the Carmel candy apples.

We had Dragon Bones from Lake Transylvania { chocolate covered pretzel rods}, Dr. Frankensteins Nuts n' Bolts {Homemade Carmel corn} and Little Goblin Goodies {leftover pinata stuffing candy}.

Spooky ghosts {Nutty Butter cookies in white chocolate} and Were Wolf eye balls { black grapes on k-bob sticks}.

Here is a picture of the main table before my veggie tray was finished and the Pond Sludge dip was out!

Ms. Martha Stewart helped me out on the hanging Halloween faces!

Some leftover Dollar Store coasters put to use...

We did splurge and purchased the giant cobweb at Pottery Barn kids this year. But it will be something that we can use again for our next bash.

Party favors wrapped and ready to pass out. I made the cute tags on my computer just using Microsoft word.

A nice spot to stop and take a picture!

More closeups on Martha's Halloween faces.

Drinks ready to be served. We placed them on an ole' stadium bench we had. Just the right height for kiddos to reach.

Goodies I made for the older kiddos. The EEK board I made with scrapbook paper and stuff I picked up at Goodwill.

I tried to add a healthy option to all the sugar with a few cute faced oranges drawn on with a black sharpie.

Grandma and Grandpa were perfect pirates.

Ryan was a rappin' dadio.

I was Batgirl because us mom's will do anything that our little Batman wants. And we never got our picture together. FYI...pleather is not a breathing fabric!

A huntn' Uncle and a Greek Goddess Aunt with cousin Dorothy and Superboy.

Hmm.... never saw who was under this one!

Hippie Hannah and a scary Anne Kate.

A little Harry Potter.

The first couple stopped by{ aka Pap & Nana}. He even had his Nobel Prize with him.

Uncle Tyler was a black eyed pea!

We bobbed for apples.

Dadio grilled some dogs.

Homemade mac n' cheese and a little loved on apple.

Pinata bags ready to go.

Jack Sparrow had his hook ready for hanging the pinata.

The kids lined up ready to bust open one overstuffed pumpkin.

Gabe got the first swing.

and everyone went mad!

Martha also helped inspire me to make this ghostly cake.

I used two white cake mixes, some food coloring gel and my homemade butter cream icing.

This crazy bunch would do anything that I asked.

Then came Gabe's new big boy bike. A Schwin Sting Ray Chopper.

It won't take hime long to get the hang of this. He was one happy "big" boy.

After the party had eneded and we surveyed the damage. I could tell that everyone had had a great time.

I posted this over at Soft Place To Land she is hosting some great ideas today!