DIY Archives - Page 5 of 6 - MyLitter

How to Make Money Spring Cleaning

March 7, 2016 By Tiffany Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Close5. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of my favorite things about the coming of Spring is Spring Cleaning! I get to purge those things we do not need or use and can even make a little cash getting rid of it. There is really such a freeing feeling when you can get rid of things/junk you just don’t need anymore!

One of my favorite ways to discard that unneeded junk is using this super awesome app called Close5. This app is available on both the App Store and Google Play. It’s so easy simply download it onto your smart phone and search for items in your area. With Close5 you can easily take photo’s with your phone of those items cluttering your home and post them for sell to others in your local area.

For those smaller items you don’t want to post on Close5 for sell, I like to do a small garage sale. One way we like to make it more fun and motivating is to include the kids. Let the kids basically run the garage sale to make some extra money to do or buy something special for the family. One of my kids favorite ways to spend the money is with a family movie at the theater packed with tasty treats or a family day out at a water park!

You see Spring Cleaning doesn’t have to be boring and tedious. Turn your cleaning into a money making scenario and some family fun. You will love getting rid of the extra junk and unneeded items in your house. Even more so your entire family will enjoy the extra spending money to do something fun.

DIY Coffee Bean Exfoliating Soap

February 15, 2016 By Tiffany 2 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

This post is brought to you by my friend at Living Chic Mom! Where she specializes in homemade recipes, fun crafts and home DIY’s.

Are you a coffee lover? If so you are going to love this incredibly simple DIY Coffee Bean Exfoliating Soap with Peppermint essential oils. Not only does this soap smell simply divine (like walking into Starbucks on a cool brisk day), but the soap lathers up very nicely. With using goats milk as a base you will have the super soft creamy lather you are looking for and the coffee bean will serve as a wonderful natural exfoliator!

Ingredients

2 lbs Goat Milk Melt and Pour Soap Base
15 drops Coffee Oil
8 drops Peppermint Oil
1 TBSP coffee grounds (used or fresh)
Soap Silicone Mold

Directions

Place several cubes of your goats milk soap base into a large 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup and melt in microwave in 30 second intervals. To do this simply set the microwave for 30 seconds, remove it from the microwave, stir and place back into microwave for another 30 second until fully melted.

Once all of your soap base is fully melted, stir in coffee grounds and essential oils. Stir well.

Pour into your soap mold. I was able to make 6 large bars in my silicone soap mold. Let sit untouched for about 60 minutes, or until fully cooled and solidified. Remove from soap mold and enjoy!

Soap making is really incredibly simple and so much fun to make when you buy a pre-made soap base. Once you start making your DIY soaps you will be addicted! Make them for your family, as gifts, for friends, teachers and more! Everyone will soon be begging for your amazing homemade all natural soaps!

Wondering why we chose to use coffee and peppermint fragrance for our soaps? Coffee is great for more than just drinking! It has several fantastic beneficial uses like improving circulation, reducing redness, firming cellulite, improving skin tone, and even fading stretch marks and scars. Peppermint is also a great anti-inflammatory for your body. Creating a wonderful calming, cooling feel throughout your body. It also is good for relieving sore muscles. Now that you know all of the benefits of coffee and peppermint inside your soaps, it’s time to give them a try for yourself!

More Amazing DIY’s:

How to make homemade window cleaner!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Natural Bug Spray with Essential Oils

TRESemme Shampoo/Conditioner only $1.35 at Dollar General

January 27, 2016 By Tiffany Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

tresemme dollar general deal

I always forget how awesome Dollar General can be with their deals and this week you can find a sweet deal on the TRESemme Shampoo and Conditioner. The recent $3.00/2 TRESemme Shampoo/Conditioner coupon from the 1/3 Redplum Insert does expire 1/31 so you only have a few more days for this sale and coupon deal.

:: Deal Breakdown ::
Buy 2 TRESemme Shampoo/Conditioner 25oz $3.85
Receive $2 Off Automatically at Register
Use $3.00/2 TRESemme Shampoo/Conditioner RP 1/3
Total: $1.35 each!

Have you see the MyLitter How to Make Your Own Shampoo post we did? Check it out HERE.

Lowe’s FREE Kids Avengers Build – Saturday

June 11, 2015 By Tiffany Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

Lowe’s is offering a fun Marvel Avengers Assemble activity for the kids this weekend. Make sure to register HERE.

Iron Man’s Avenjet

Saturday, June 13 (10:00 AM)

The Avengers are coming to Lowe’s! Bring in your child to build Iron Man’s Avenjet as part of our “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble” Summer series. Watch the Animated Series Sunday Mornings on Disney XD!

Home Depot FREE Kids Build – Saturday

June 4, 2015 By Tiffany Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

Don’t forget to register for the Home Depot Kids Build this Saturday. They are having a fun one where they are building the Load N Go truck. This would be great to do with Dad!

Learn to Build a Load ‘n Go Truck

Come learn how to build a Load ‘n Go Truck
FREE hands-on workshops; designed for children ages 5 – 12
All kid get to keep their craft, receive a FREE certificate of achievement, a Workshop Apron, and a commemorative pin while supplies last.
Children must be present at the store to participate in the workshop and receive the kit, apron and pin.
Kids Workshop activities are scheduled on a first come/first served basis. Please do not arrive before 9:00 a.m.
Thank you for registering online to help us better plan our craft kit quantities needed

DIY Knock Off Pottery Barn Living Room

September 21, 2014 By Tiffany Ivanovsky Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

We have another great Pottery Barn Knock Off Room post for you today! This is a crazy inexpensive way to get a Pottery Barn look without the price tag!

See the Inspiration Room that Money Saving Sisters started with. The couch alone is over $2800+ at the lowest option! The similar items below come in just over $1000 for the whole look:

Mainstays Khary Spice Pillows $9.97

Better Homes & Gardens Faux Leather Pillow $16.97

Ikea Ektorp Sectional Sofa $424.15

Industrial Natural Reclaimed Adjustable Coffee Table $398.00

Set of 2 White Wash Lanterns $65.00 (New members at that link get $15 off $30+)

Threshold™ Annandale Area Rug – Safari 5×7 Rug $99.99

Seraphina Bird Pillow $23.96

Make Your Own Eye Shadow Palette for FREE!

August 12, 2014 By Tiffany 3 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

I am SOOOO in LOVE with this eye shadow palette that reader Angela is making! BUT WAIT>>>>>> she is making it for free!!! How?

From Angela:

“For the last few months I have been using the random high value Revlon eye coupons and the select CVS deals to grab as many of these as I could. Was thinking ahead to teenage daughter’s birthday or Christmas for an awesome gift for that “makeup-loving” girl!

No need to buy an expensive eye compilation…I did this for FREE!

I still have more than 3 months to go…I wonder how big I can make it!!!”

Don’t you just love that this has all been free?! Just keep your eyes open for those Revlon eye makeup coupons, and start your own collection.

Current Revlon COUPONS:

$2.00/1 Revlon Eye Product

Quick Jelly Roll Tutorial Part 2

July 14, 2014 By Tiffany 9 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

This is the second part to the Quick Jelly Roll Tutorial from last week. You can read the first part HERE.

Last week I ended with having sewn the sections together. Now I am pressing the seams flat. It is so nice to have all the seams completely flat, when you are sewing them together it makes your life so much better.

Once they are all pressed flat, then I am cutting them into the 6 inch sections to create the pattern for the quilt.

First, I trimmed the edges on one side completely straight using a ruler and rotary cutter. Then I started cutting 6 inch sections.

Then I used a rotary tool and mat to cut the fabric into 2.5 inch strips. The set I have is actually on sale HERE. It goes really fast to cut them out this way.

At this point, I laid them all out just to check out the pattern and what it would look like. I liked the way it looked and so then you sew those sections together to make the quilt the length you want it.

Once I liked the way that it was going to look, I needed to find something for the borders. I had some hot pink left over and decided to use that. I cut 2.5 inch strips and added them all around the sides and in between each of the 6 inch sections.

Again, I laid it all out to make sure it was the right size and that I liked the way it was going to look. So far so good, so I started then putting the hot pink strips face to face with the sections and sewing them together. I also ironed the seams flat on each one.

At this point I am into the quilt about 4 hours. Just so you have an idea of how much time it is going to take you.

Once I had all the trim sewn on strips and all ironed flat basically I was done with the top of the quilt. I was going to use a crib size 100% cotton batting for the inside and cotton fabric for the back, but my little one has a thing for minky and really wanted the back minky.

This changed my plans a little and I had to run up to the store and get some minky… I HATE sewing on Minky 🙂 It slides everywhere and you have to pin it all like crazy!

The good part is that with minky I really didn’t have to add any batting as it is thick enough with just the 2 layers. I took the top of the quilt and laid is face down on top of the minky layer. The I took safety pins and pinned the top to the minky about every 5 inches. Otherwise it will slide around all over the place when you sew it and you will end up with big “bubbles” all over your quilt and the sides won’t matchup.

Then I sewed the 2 sides together like you would a pillow case basically. Don’t skip the pinning part or you will have a mess on your hands! I sewed all the sides together except for a small 6 inch section where I could turn the entire quilt through the hole and right side out.

This is the hole I left to pull the quilt through. ^^^^^

Then I turned the edges of the hole inside and pinned them together. I ironed the entire quilt flat, all around the edges. Using the same color thread I top stitched all around the outside of the quilt about 1/2 inch in from the edge. This closed the hole and helped make the quilt to lay flat. I also sewed from each corner of the quilt directly into the center of the quilt about 18 inches to help hold the top quilt to the minky. You could also “tie” this quilt or have it quilted to get the same effect, but this was a fast and easy way to do it.

The entire quilt took about 6 hours start to finish, probably not quite that long but when you get interrupted as much as I tend to do it is hard to sit in one place for so long! 🙂

This was Andie’s birthday present, and I would say she loved it! The total cost of the fabric and quilt was under $30.

Quick Jelly Roll Quilt Tutorial

July 7, 2014 By Tiffany 8 Comments By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

I am writing up a quick Jelly Roll Quilt tutorial for you all today because I made a quilt on Saturday for my daughter. I am not a seamstress, or have ever made a quilt before. If I can do this… you can do this!! And you can probably do it a LOT better than me. But as I was posting the progress on Instagram people were asking for instructions, so I wanted to write some up. I am sure there are faster and better ways to do things, please fell free to share your tips!

This is a tutorial for a quick Jelly Roll Quilt or also called strip quilt that I am making for my daughters birthday. I went to Joann’s fabric to pick up some velcro with my littlest the other day. As we walked by the quilters bundles one pack caught her eye and she asked to carry it around the store with her, which was fine by me to keep her busy so I could browse.

She kept asking for a quilt, so I let her buy the bundle. We got 2 bundles, they were each 40% off. One bundle was a pattern and one was the bright pinks. Each bundle had 6 squares of fabric in them.

When I got home I washed and ironed the squares. Because it was cotton it would have shrunk after it was sewn and washed so you want to wash the fabric before hand.

Then I used a rotary tool and mat to cut the fabric into 2.5 inch strips. The set I have is actually on sale HERE. It goes really fast to cut them out this way.

Once I had all the squares cut out into 2.5 inch strips, I had 6 different color strips. I matched them up into pairs and pinned them face side together.

With the front or face sides together I sewed each strip down one side the long way. I just kept sewing them strip after strip and not stopping to cut the thread. This saved a lot of time and I could go really fast.

This gave me a huge pile of my strips all sewn together like a long snake. Then I just snipped them apart.

Once they were snipped apart, I took 2 different sections and placed them face to face (or front side to front side) and sewed them together along the long side, almost just like I had done before.

You can see them face to face as I am sewing them together below.

As I am going along, my sections are getting bigger and bigger and I am also not stopping to cut the thread in-between each section, I am just continuing to feed the pieces through, picking up the foot a little to slide the next piece in. This is saving me a lot of time and thread.

Now, I have ended up with some bigger sections once all the strips are sewn together. To this point I have spent about 1.5 hours cutting, seeing and ironing.

I am going to press these sections nice and flat and then I am going to start cutting them into smaller sections for the quilt.

Tomorrow, I will post the next section so that this post isn’t a mile long. But it went very fast to this point as far as making the sections.

Go HERE for the 2nd part of the tutorial.

How to Do Price Comparison Math

May 11, 2014 By Tiffany Ivanovsky Leave a Comment By clicking on our links, we might make a SMALL commission - Thanks for the support! See our full DISCLOSURE here.

$Price Comparison Math$

Did you ever sit in math class and wonder why you needed to know this stuff? Did you ever tell your teacher you were never going to use it? Especially when you were doing story problems….

Here’s why! (And you can use it as a reference guide too!)

Price Comparison Math

Your problem: You looking at two packages of meat in the store. One is fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breast with a price per pound of $2.79. After you have added it to your cart, you walk into the frozen section and spot a 40oz bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5.99. Which is your better value?

You do not need to know the total price of the fresh pack to figure it out. You just need a simple conversion and some math. There is more than one way to go about this.

Option #1: You can convert the price of the frozen pack into a price per pound measure.

First, you find out the price per ounce by dividing the total price by the number of ounces:
5.99 / 40 = .14975
Then you multiply the price per ounce by the number of ounces in a pound (16):
.14975 x 16 = 2.369
Since we already know that the fresh pack is $2.79 per pound, you just compare.
$2.40 for frozen vs $2.79 for fresh.

Option #2: You could convert both items into a price per ounce.

First, you find out the price per ounce of the frozen pack by dividing the total price by the number of ounces:
$5.99 / 40 = .14975
Then, you convert the fresh pack to ounces by dividing the price per pound by 16 (the number of ounces in a pound)
$2.79 / 16 = .174375

If you are basing your decision just on the numbers to meet your budget, you buy the frozen.

Here are the basic formulas and conversions you will want to make note of to Do the Math.

1 pound = 16 ounces

Total price / Total number of units (pounds/ounces/quantity) = price per unit

The basics of a matchup:

Item price, regular or sale – $X.XX
– $X.XX coupon
– stacked $X.XX coupon if applicable
– $X.XX rebate deal/offer if applicable
Final Price (taking into account all coupons, rebates, and offers): $X.XX

Then if multiples are required for coupon usage, you do the extended math as you go.

Item price, regular or sale ($X.XX times the required quantity – ie: buy 2 to use a coupon properly)
– $X.XX coupon (ie: $1.00/2)
– stacked $X.XX coupon if applicable
– $X.XX rebate deal/offer if applicable
Final Price (taking into account all coupons, rebates, and offers): $X.XX

Please ask questions in the comments if you want more help/conversions! What all can you use price comparison math for?

Iron Man’s Avenjet

Price Comparison Math

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