You can Make This!

My dear friend Kim and I started out selling on ebay together about 5 years ago. She sold her custom made appliqued clothing. Sometimes the little tops she made for girls would go for $60 at auction!!! It was amazing. She is so talented. One day she and I were talking and she asked if it would be a bad idea to teach other women to sew and make their own things instead of selling things on ebay. You know the whole teach a man to fish thing. Some other friends and I thought she was crazy because she had quite a niche on ebay but told her to do whatever her heart told her to do.

You see Kim and her twin sister Kris had been writing lesson plan e-books for teachers for years. They had both job shared a 4th grade class at one time here in Cache Valley. Kim's idea was to write e-books for other mom's or anyone who wanted to learn how to make things for their family. Not only would she be writing the e-books but she would pay other moms all over the country to submit their patterns and ideas and turn their ideas into e-books. It would be moms helping other moms all the way around.

Several years ago her website was born!

How it works:

"Sewing, Applique, Crafts, and so much more!
Get instant access to patterns, ebooks, instructions, and tutorials for all your favorite craft and sewing projects. Learn to make a twirl skirt, hair bows, and other unique boutique clothing. Download digital scrapbooking and embroidery files. Easy, step-by-step guides for quilting, knitting, aprons, and crochet. "

Click here:



You can purchase ebooks for a gazillion different projects for a small fee.

Applique work
Quilt making
Homemade toy making
graphic design
Doll stuff

Jewelery
Hair accessories
Purses
Woodworking
Painting
Handbags
Holiday Items
Ideas for tweens and teens to make
Ideas for kids to make!
TONS more!

I think this is great because not only will you be learning a new talent but you will be able to save money by handcrafting items for your friends and family. Just this Christmas they had a challenge to see what could be made for $50. This project inspired me and recently I have used YCMT to learn how to sew felt play food for my neices. It is SOOOO cute and it has only cost me only a few dollars! I am so excited for their birthdays to come!

PLUS!!!

YCMT sends out a newletters and they have a blog with lots of free patterns, ideas and projects.

AND!!!

If you have a great idea there is a place to contact them to submit your ideas and sell the patterns and instructions to other moms.

Check it out!

Great Deal on Kelloggs Cereal act fast for coupons!

Right now Kelloggs cereal at Albies is $1.49 a box with in-ad coupon (limit 2)

The rest you purchase will be 3/$5

The varieties are Rasin Bran, Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Cookie Crunch, Poptart, & Fun Pack.

The large 24oz boxes for the other varieties are $2.99 this week at Albies.

There are a bunch of coupons RIGHT NOW available online:

$1 off one box of Frosted Flakes
$1 off one box of Apple Jacks
#1 off one box of Mini Wheats
$1 off one box of Rasin Bran
$1 off one box of Froot Loops
$1 off Corn Pops
$1 off Rice Krispies
$1 off Special K

You can print 2 of each coupon.

You will need to act fast because these coupons will disappear soon once their print limit nationwide is reached.

http://www.coupons.com/

PLUS buy 10 boxes of Kelloggs, Poptarts, Rice Krispie Treats, Sunshine crackers and you get 2 FREE movie tickets up to $12 value each good at Cinemark and many other theaters. We got some of these movie tickets last week. A certificate will print at the register and you go home and print your movie tickets. Movie tickets will print until May 6th.

There have been some great deals on Kelloggs cereal lately so if you don't use them for this sale hang onto them for the next one. :)

.31 cent scoops at Baskin Robbins

TONIGHT only!!! 5-10 pm

We have done this every year for year.

Unfortunately now we don't have a Baskin Robbins. :(

Hope someone can make it in our honor! LOL

Cheap Tortillas

For the next week (until they run out)

Don Julio Foods in the Freeport Center - Bldg Z13 is having a sale on 8" Southwest Tortillas.

3 pkg/$1.00!!!!

No sales tax.

This is a great deal and they are fresher than the ones sold in the store.

hours are:

M, W, TH 9-5

T & F 12-5

They only take cash and checks.

Produce Co-op

This is something I have been meaning to try. I have seen lots of ladies doing it on Pinching Your Pennies. So I thought I would share it here. It looks like a great way to get some great produce for super cheap!

Bountiful Baskets is a produce co-op currently serving Brigham City, Clearfield and brand NEW ROY!!!

http://02b8ce3.netsolstores.com/

Every other Saturday morning you can pick up a "basket" of produce from a designated location.

You pay $15/basket (on their website) plus a $3 one time fee the first time you use their service and receive approximately $50 worth of fruits and vegetables. You don't get to choose what fruits and vegetables you receive, but you will get quite a variety. On a recent basket purchase another Utahn was given: apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, avocados, and potatoes

The quality of the produce is excellent. The produce is purchased through a large food distributor that sells produce to local restaurants and grocery stores.

You do not have to commit to purchasing a basket every time - you just purchase one on the week you want to. If you try it once, I hear you will be hooked. You can also volunteer to help out in your area. It is anticipated that more delivery sites will open in Utah as demand increases.

There are a limited number of "baskets" per location. The earliest you will be able to order is the Tuesday prior to the Saturday pickup. If you have registered on the site, you will receive an email reminder to place an order before the deadline.

The next Saturday the co-op will be available will be Saturday, May 2nd. That means orders will need to be placed on by 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 29th.

The pick up location for:

Roy is at North Park (I am unsure of the time but it will be early like the others) It will be posted on their site when orders open for May 2nd.

Brigham City is Mt View Elementary at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. The pick up location for Clearfield is Kiwanis Park at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Here are a couple of other local women who tried this co-op last week at the Clearfield pick-up, they have included picture of what they got.

Norah. She also does other co-ops in the area. She has links to them as well:

http://norahsrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/04/bountiful-baskets-coop.html

Stacy: She went early and helped and got extra produce:

http://apennyearnedisapennysaved.blogspot.com/2009/04/this-ranks-right-up-there-with-winning.html

You guys will have to tell me how it works if you try it! Brigham City is still a little far for me. :(

Free State Park Pass

Many libraries in the state (including Weber and Logan) will let you check out a state park pass that gives you day-use entry for up to 8 people in one vehicle at 42 state parks for free! The passes are available with your library card through the Check it Out! program and it should begin by May 1 or sooner. Click here for more info http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6108764

Good Coupons!

In tomorrow's paper there will be 3 Albertson's double coupons. These are good for coupons up to $1. Everytime they do this I usually get a lot of free stuff!

Plus $2.50 off Electrosol/Finish diswasher tabs will also be in the Smart Source insert. They are $3.50 at Walmart for the 20 count box making them $1 a box! This would be a good coupon to buy multiples of on ebay or collect from family and friends. I mentioned this before but last time there was a $2.50 off I bought 10 more for $3 on ebay.

So,

11 coupons total costing $3
11 boxes dishwasher tabs $38.50
Minus $27.50 in coupons

= $14 or $1.27 a box

More "Staycation" Ideas

This time up north, here in Cache Valley. :)

There are no great package things like the Salt Lake Connect Pass but there are still some fun and even FREE things to do up here.

For couples there's the Cache Valley Getaway deals.
This is only good Sept - the end of April. They have been doing this for at least 10 years. When Brandon was going to school here we took advantage of it several times. Starting at $49.99 you get a hotel room, dinner and breakfast.

We've enjoyed our stay at the Baugh (they have a good HOT breakfast), Anniversary Inn, & Crystal Inn. I hear the Riter and Providence Inns are nice too. We like to eat at Cafe Sabor, Hamilton's and Firehouse Pizzaria for Dinner.

http://www.getawaypackage.com/

Here are some fun stops with kids or not:

American West Heritage Center offers lots of activities year round. We've visited it twice as a family since moving here. It's not super cheap but still fun and very educational.

http://www.awhc.org/

Willow Park and Willow Park Zoo
Willow Park is HUGE with several playgrounds, basketball courts and lots of shady spots for the perfect picnic. It also includes the Willow Park Zoo which is small but still interesting. Zoo entrance costs $1 for adults and .50 cents for children. It is also super close to the Logan Aquatic center if you want to take a swim too.

http://www.loganutah.org/parks_and_rec/willow_park/index.cfm


Cache Valley is known for a lot of food products. Many of these places offer free factory tours. Here's a run down of some of the more popular places :

Crumb Brother's Artisan Bread
291 S 300 W Logan
(435) 792-6063
M-Sat 7am-1pm
TOUR: 9:30 am daily Free

Bluebird Candy Company
75 W Center Logan
(435) 753-3670
M-Sat 10am-5pm
Tour: 11am Mon-Wed, June 1-Sept 15 Free but space is limited. Call ahead.

Aggie Icecream and True Blue Cheese
USU Campus
750 N 1200 E Logan
(425) 797-2109
Mon-Fri 9am-10pm; Sat 10am-10pm
TOUR: 2:30pm Monday-Friday FREE

Casper's Ice Cream Manufacturing Facility
Makers of the Fat Boy & Nut Sundae on a stick
11805 North 200 E Richmond
(435) 258-5219
M-Th Noon-9pm
F & Sat Noon-10pm

&

Casper's Malt Shoppe
585 W 100 N Suite 1, Providence
(435) 713-0056
M-Th 11am-midnight
F & Sat 10am-1am

Tour available at either location M-Sat 11am & 2pm FREE

Rockhill Creamery
563 S State St, Richmond

Sample and Purchase farmstead cheese on this historic farm and micro-dairy.
Tour: Sat 11am-4 pm
mid-April to mid-October
FREE
Additional tours arranged by email creamery@rockhillcheese.com

Weeks Berries of Paradise
Learn about jam and juice making and the art of growing berries. Utah's largest berry farm.
8560 S 800 E Paradise
(435) 245-3377
TOUR: M & F 10 and 10:30 am FREE
May - October, or by appt.

Cox Honeyland
1780 S Hwy 89-91, Logan
(435) 752-3234
M-Sat 10am-5pm
TOUR: 11:30am & 3pm Daily FREE
Memorial Day - Labor Day

Here's an easy schedule to do a "Food Tour" on a Monday:

9:30 am Crumb Brothers
10:00 am Week's Berries
11:00 am Bluebird
11:30 am Cox Honeyland
2:00 pm Casper's Malt Shoppe
2:30 pm Aggie Ice Cream
3:00 pm Cox Honeyland (if you didn't catch it earlier)

You may also like to visit:

Gossner Foods Inc.
Although you can no longer take a factory tour you can watch them making cheese through windows most weekday mornings. Many varieties of cheese curds aka squeaky cheese are made and sold on Fridays. They have TONS of samples. My kids love sampling all the flavors of shelf milk.
1000 W 1000 N Logan
(435) 752-9365
M-Sat 8am -7pm

Pepperidge Farm
901 N 200 W Richmond
(435) 258-2491
M-Th 9:30am - 6pm
F 6:30am-6pm; Sat 10am-4pm

Cache Valley Fun Park
They have everything from bowling, to roller skating, to lazer tag. They even have Northern Utahs largest indoor playground

http://www.cachevalleyfunpark.com/index.php

Coupons for the Fun Park:

http://www.cachevalleyfunpark.com/promotions.php

It's also right next door to Logan's Celebration Center. They have rides, mini-golf, go-carts and more. Open during the summer.

http://www.utah.com/logan/celebration_center.htm

Stokes Nature Center.

Located up beautiful Logan Canyon they have tons of educational actvities year round.

http://www.logannature.org/community_program_schedule.html



Hardware Ranch. We recently visited Hardware Ranch. Although it is not super cheap it was still fun and educational. They are however only open December - March so keep it in mind for next winter. :)

http://wildlife.utah.gov/hardwareranch/visit.php

CRYSTAL HOT SPRINGS(30 min. west of Logan)
8215 North U.S. Hwy. 38, Honeyville, Utah
(435) 279-8104 or (801) 547-0777
http://www.crystalhotsprings.net/
Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.;Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-11 p.m.;Sun. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Slide open every day

WIND CAVES
Years of wind and water have worn a delicate triple arch and natural cave into the limestone outcropping at the top of this 2-mile trail. Also known as Witch’s Castle, this fascinating formation provides a clear view of the China Wall formation as it winds through most of Logan Canyon’s midsection. During summer months it’s best to hike this trail in the early morning hours.
5.2 miles up Logan Canyon, off U.S. Hwy. 89

LOGAN CAVE
As you travel along Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway, you’ll notice the craggy mouth of Logan Cave on the cliffs above the road. The cave extends 4,000 feet into the mountain and in some places is 70 feet high. It was carved from water seeping along faults and joints in the limestone rock, which slowly dissolved the rock. The cave is now gated and closed to visitors to protect the Townsend big-eared bats, a sensitive species that roosts in the cave.
12.2 miles up Logan Canyon, U.S. Hwy. 89


Cache Valley also offers tons of hiking, biking, and water recreation areas perfect for the close to home vacation.

Fun Easter Activity to do with your kids

My mom gave me this recipe to do with my kids last year and they loved it. They are looking forward to doing it again this year. (my kids don't like nuts so I didn't put them in but we still talked about that part)

EASTER COOKIES
The night before Easter:
Preheat oven to 300 first!
1 c whole pecans
Wooden spoon
1 tsp vinegar
Bowl
3 egg whites
Cookie sheet
Pinch of salt
Wax paper
1 c sugar
Tape
1 large ziplock bag
Bible

Place pecans in large Ziploc bag and beat them with a wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. After Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. Read John 19:1-3.

Smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp into bowl. When Jesus was thirsty, they gave him vinegar. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life for us. Read John 10:10-11.

Taste the salt. Add a dash to the bowl. Jesus cried salty tears. Read Luke 23:27.

Add 1 c sugar. The sweetest part of the story is that Jesus loves us. He wants us to know him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. The color white represents the purity that God sees in those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:1 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper lined cookie sheet. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Place cookie sheet in oven; close the door and turn the oven off. Seal the oven door with a piece of tape. Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

Go to bed.

You may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16.20, 22. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow. On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

Old Navy coupons

My friends and I on another website have been printing great Old Navy coupons for a couple of weeks now.

Go to:

http://www.oldnavyweekly.com/

Click around and see what coupons you can find. They are hidden in the page

Today they reloaded and there was a $45 off $100 purchase. It looks like it's all gone now.

There is also still a 50% off one item left and some other smaller coupons.

They only give out so many so when they are all gone they are gone.

To get the 50% off rate all the manquins legs by clicking on the stars at the bottom. Wait a minute and a kite will come floating up from the bottom left side. Click on it and you will get a 50% off coupon. It's tricky so watch close.

Old Navy has been reloading them each week. It's a really fun way to save $.

We are using ours this week with the sale they have going on to get Brandon a pair of tan cargo shorts which he needs to wear for work at the airport for $7.50! :)

Shopping Online

Shopping online provides a new shopping experience for many consumers. Many retailers have websites where they offer the same products found in their stores. There are also many retailers who just sell products online through their websites. Many times items can be found online at great savings. Many online retailers off free shipping or have free shipping promotions.

Most internet retailers offer discounts by providing discount coupon codes for things like free shipping, percentages off or fixed dollar amounts off a purchase. There are many places online that compile lists of these codes for shoppers. My favorite place to find discount codes is:

www.retailmenot.com

Along with discount codes, many websites like http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/ have areas devoted to sharing internet shopping deals.

I have been shopping online for over 4 years now. Once you buy from a retailer online they usually send you details on upcoming sales and additional coupons.

One of my favorite times to shop online is at Christmas because it is easier to keep gifts secret. Plus I don't have to worry about traffic, finding a parking spot, and waiting in line. One of my favorite retailers to shop in December is Amazon.com. Every year at Christmas Amazon.com has toys with discounts of 75% of more and free shipping. This year one of our favorite purchases was new release Wii games for $8!!! They even guarantee delivery before Christmas for free. It's an awesome deal!

Another great place to find terrific bargains is on ebay and online classifieds like Craigslist and KSL.

With a better price, no shipping charges, increased internet shopping security, no hassle of going to the store and further discounts available with coupons codes, online shopping is growing in popularity. It has become a first stop for many smart shoppers.