Daily Dish: A Tip From My Mom

So, if you know me at all, you know I love using coupons and saving money. I was especially into it last summer and saved us hundreds of dollars on our grocery bill using the Savvy Shopper and Krazy Coupon Lady sites. I would highly recommend trying this out, especially if you are a stay-at-home mom and would love to do your part to help out with finances (or if you want a little extra shopping money ;o)).

My mom recently introduced me to two sites:

Cardpool

and

Raise

This has seriously been the best discovery for me and I'll tell you why: its taking my money saving to a whole new level. (Do I sound intense or what?)

OK so here's how it works. These two sites offer gift cards at a discounted rate. For instance, I bought a gift card to Michael's from Cardpool at 21% off for yarn for a baby blanket. I then got a 25% off total purchase coupon from Michaels (which includes sale items). So, assuming the yarn was already on sale, I have my 25% off coupon AND I bought a gift card for 21% off, that's 3x the savings!

Yesterday, Jer's Grandma Pendleton offered to buy us our travel system for little Scotty. What a sweetie! Well I had already picked out the one I wanted but I was bound and determined to get the best deal possible. With tax, this lovely lady retails for $257.00. So here's what I did:







1. I had a 15% total purchase coupon to Babies "R" Us so I knew I could get it for about $217 with that.

2. I found a $200 gift card on Raise at 5% off making it $190, I also had a coupon code for $5 off any gift card over $70 from Raise so I ended up paying $185 for a $200 gift card.

3. At checkout, I used the gift card and the coupon (I ended up paying tax on a different gift card) for a grand total of $51 savings! 

That's a lot of leftover money for diapers we can now buy for little Scotty! 

I am always getting those coupons in my e-mail for 15-20% off lots of different stores, and Cardpool and Raise have gift cards to most of them! Even at a 5% discount, you are still paying less than what its worth, and when you stack that with a coupon or a sale-or both!- you are saving triple what you would have.

*They also have gift cards to restaurants, clothing stores, movie theaters, etc. Check it out!

Crocheted Earwarmer Tutorial

For those of you who know how to crochet, I decided to just post the pattern I made for the ear warmers that I make. I hope it is all clear and easy to follow. Let me know if you have any questions.

If you don't know how to crochet, I would suggest looking up some videos on Youtube on how to do specific stitches, i.e. slip stitch etc. If you haven't figured it out already, you can teach yourself how to do a lot of things on Youtube!

Crocheted Bow or Turban Ear Warmer

 

Crochet



Level:
Beginner




Materials Needed: Size H hook, medium weight yarn in color of choice, 2 buttons.

Abbreviations: ch- chain, hdc- half-double crochet, sl- slip stitch, yo- yarn over, st- stitch

Half-Double Crochet Directions: yo, insert hook into next st, yo, pull hook through st, yo, pull hook through all 3 loops.

For Headband:

Row 1: ch 62 (more or less depending on size of head, this will fit an average adult head.)

Row 2: hdc in 3rd ch from hook (the skipped ch will act as 1st hdc), hdc in every ch across, after last hdc ch 2, turn. 

Row 3: hdc in first st from hook and each st across, ch 2, turn.

Rows 4-10: Repeat row 3.

When finished, tie off, weave in ends, and sew two buttons into one end like so:

 

 I use yarn and a tapestry needle. Holes in the opposite side can serve as the button holes. No need to create button holes! Behold, the beauty of crochet! 

Hint: when tying buttons off, make sure both ends are at the back of your work and tie the two ends together in a double know. This will ensure that the buttons will stay on!

For Bow:

 This will be done in-the-round. No turning your work.

Row 1: ch 33, join with sl, ch 2.

Row 2: hdc in next st and each st around, join with sl, ch 2.

Rows 3-8: repeat row 2.

When finished, tie off and weave in ends. You should have a tube like so:

 

Flatten the tube and lay on the headband at desired spot. (Should be offset.) Pinch bow and headband together.

Cut off a piece of yarn about 2 ft long and tie the two pieces together. take one end and wrap about 5-6 times. Wrap the other end 5-6 times the opposite direction. Tie off and tuck ends in the back. It should look like this:

 

For Turban:

Make headband portion the same, skip the bow step and pinch the headband in the center (exactly between the two ends) and wrap the yarn around the pinched portion just like you would for the bow. It should look like this:

 

Have fun! And if you don't know how to crochet but love these headbands, feel free to visit my etsy shop and order one! (Link is on my right-hand side bar.)

*I provide this tutorial for your own use and not for you to make a profit off of the pattern I have created. Please adhere to this request.