DIY Wednesday: Sharpen those Punches!

One thing about working with paper and handpunchers is that you need to keep your blades in tip top shape, or you're going to be fighting with your puncher and cursing the day you decided to get into paper crafts.

Here's an easy way to keep your punches sharp, without having to spend $10 on every sheet of aluminum sharpening sheet.

Take tinfoil, fold it

Punch with puncher a few times

Viola! sharpened blades!

Repeat as necessary, and you're welcome...you just saved money by using tinfoil that you already had! No fancy schmancy sharpening sheets needed!

SWH4T$: Summer Clearance

Its that time of year again, when stores put clothes on deep deep clearance.  Right now most retailers are clearing out the racks of summer clothing, and putting out fall clothing (while we are sitting here sweating our asses off still).

A few weeks ago The Children's Place was having a big clearance sale, and I had a code for an extra 20% off online.  I estimated what size Jack would be in next summer and went shopping :)  I pretty much got half his summer wardrobe for next year for practically pennies.

Here's what I got:

So that's 8 shirts (6 polos & 2 tees), 3 pairs of shorts and one pair of sandals.

Wanna guess how much I paid?  $50.66 shipped.

I know, crazy right?  I refuse to buy kids clothes full price, but I also want my kid dressed well.  Clearance rack, end of season shopping is the way to go friends!  Get out there and get shopping!  

SWH4T$: Quick and Easy Strawberry Tips

We've all been there and done that...lopped the leaves and stems off our strawberries and cut away nearly half of the berry itself.

Here's a tip that will save you time, money and berries!

May I introduce to you...the straw method!

Simply get a straw, and slide it through the core of the berry and out through the top! Remove the stem and leaves, repeat with the rest of our quart!

It's seriously so easy, and will save you a tonne on clean up time, and prep time when you're actually doing the task. Get the kiddos involved to...no sharp knives, and they can snack on a healthy fruit all at the same time!

Happy Summer!

SWH4T$: Garden Design

Have you ever had a landscaper out to your home to get an estimate? Have you ever talked to one over the phone about the process of hiring them to install your garden?

I was absolutely shocked with the cost, first and foremost...and the fact that most landscaping companies will charge you $400 just to design a layout for the garden!

Astonishing!

Unless....

A landscaping company brings out a can of spray paint and draws on your lawn!

I honestly think it's the best idea ever...my husband wasn't super happy about it, but honestly...it's so temporary. After two cuts, it's goners.

It was so genius to me...I took a picture afterward and labelled the type of plants that I want for the garden so I can take this picture to garden centres and try to get the best price possible.

*note: Holly will be going in where it says Boxwoods...

Spray paint...saved us $400!

SWH4T$: Couponing with Shizz!

I've kinda laid off the couponing for a while, as I was trying to just use my stockpile while we were having some money issues and really tamping down our spending in all areas of life.  However, we are starting to run low on a few things, so I needed to make a trip, and fortunately last week CVS was having some great deals!

I set up my shopping so that I went in 2 trips: the first was to earn as many ExtraBucks as I could, so that I could use them to pay for my second trip.  Also, at each visit I used a reusable shopping bag and scanned my GreenBag Tag so that I got credit towards my $1 ExtraBuck that I get with every 4th visit where I use a bag :)

Trip #1

Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo & Conditioner (with a bonus trial size shampoo attached!)
Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo (for the beach this summer)
Suave Moisturizing Body Lotion x 2
Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50 Spray

Total before coupons & store sales: $25.70
Total of coupons: $6
Total AFTER: $15.93
Savings Of: $9.77
ExtraBucks Earned: $7

Trip #2

Cottonelle Fresh Care Wipes Refill x 2
Secret Invisible Solid Deodorant
Palmolive Green Apple 10 oz Dish Soap x 2

Total before coupons & store sales: $17.61
Total of coupons: $3.75
Total of ExtraBucks redeemed: $7
Total AFTER: $0.55
Savings Of: $17.06

So basically, if you think about it, I got both of those shopping trips for $16.48.  Not bad at all right?

SWH4T$: Pinteresting Printables

One of the trends I've been seeing lately is printing things out at home, instead of buying them ready made at the store.  Most printers today have settings to allow for ink-saving, therefore printing at home has become much more cost-effective than it used to be.  Lately, I've been finding a lot of printables on Pinterest (duh).

Labels
Lately I've become an organizing freak, as in I've labeled almost 50% of the contents of my kitchen cabinets.  OCD much?  Here are a few of my favorite printable labels (free, of course!)

Source: bhg.com via Shannon on Pinterest

I used these in my kitchen, the blue ones (my favorite color :)

Source: blog.worldlabel.com via Shannon on Pinterest

These are great because you can download an editable PDF file and type out the text you want directly onto the label (great for messy handwriters!)

Planners
I do better when I have a task list, and planning pages are a great way to get things done.  Especially for all you mommy bloggers, blog planning pages are a great way to brainstorm ideas, keep yourself organized, and stay in check with your marketing strategies!

Source: mygirlthursday.com via Shannon on Pinterest

I like this one because of the pretty colors (I sound like a 4 year old, right?) and also for the fact that you get 2 pages on 1 8.5x11 inch piece of paper :)  Eco-friendly and cheap :)

Source: infarrantlycreative.net via Shannon on Pinterest

I like this one because of the stats box at the bottom.  Its hard for me to remember my growth in stats, so its nice to have a place to write down where you were at that moment in time.

Coloring Pages
Why buy a coloring book when your kid is probably only going to mark up a few pages and then get sick of it?  Print out pages one by one, and don't waste paper :)

Source: educationalcoloringpages.com via Shannon on Pinterest

We like this one for obvious reasons :)  CARS!

Source: mrprintables.com via Shannon on Pinterest

This whole website has free printables, but I especially like the number and alphabet coloring pages because they are simple.  I feel like toddlers get overwhelmed with lots of lines, so these are straight to the point.

How do you use your home printer to save money?  Have any favorite free printables you'd like to share?