Living On A Dime test Site

Christmas

Easy Snickerdoodles Recipe – Tasty Snickerdoodle Cookies!

by 22 Comments

This easy snickerdoodles recipe is a tasty treat that everyone loves! You’ll also find instructions to make a jar mix that’s perfect for gift giving!

This easy snickerdoodles recipe makes delicious buttery snickerdoodle cookies. With the texture of sugar cookies and a slight cinnamon flavor, these cookies are a tasty treat that everyone loves! You'll also find instructions to make a jar mix that's perfect for gift giving!

Snickerdoodle cookies are a classic sugar cookie style cookie that everyone loves! They are not as sweet as sugar cookies but have a nice buttery cinnamon flavor. Snickerdoodle cookies can range from crispy to soft. Our easy snickerdoodles recipe is on the softer side, with just a slight delicate crunch to make them perfect!

I don’t know many people who don’t just love snickerdoodles! My kids can eat an entire batch in one sitting… If there are any left by the time they get home from school!

If you want, you can make several batches of snickerdoodle cookies and keep them in the cupboard in a cookie jar so you can have fresh snickerdoodles any time! This easy snickerdoodles recipe makes a snack that’s great for keeping on hand for after school snacks. Keep some on hand and you won’t always have to come up with something new for the kids before they go out to play.

Snickerdoodles as a Jar Mix Gift

This easy snickerdoodles recipe is designed as a jar mix perfect for gift giving. Our recipe below includes instructions for making the cookies right away and also instructions for making the jar mix to give as a gift.

If you are gift-giving, save pretty jars or mason jars to put the mix in. Put a pretty ribbon around the top and you have a quick and easy gift! These jar mixes are also perfect when included in homemade gift baskets!

This easy snickerdoodles recipe is from Volume 1 of our cookbook:

[dining]

Turn School Supplies Into Christmas Gifts

by 13 Comments

Just before school, when school supplies are on sale, is a good time to stock up on lots of little gifts that will be great for Christmas! [Read more…] about Turn School Supplies Into Christmas Gifts

Using Wrapping Paper Scraps

by 20 Comments

wrapped christmas present - gift wrap

Using Wrapping Paper Scraps

I was cleaning out my wrapping paper today and had a bunch of “pieces” of wrapping paper. You know– all of the ends you cut off and hate to throw away. Well, recently I have been getting everything organized again. The wrapping paper has been driving me nuts so I decided to tackle it.

I was trying to figure out what to do with all the those wrapping paper scraps. Yes, you can use them to wrap small gifts but it seems like they just multiply. The kids are getting a large gift from their grandmother in Colorado that I will need to wrap, so I’m going to take all those pieces and make a quilt type wrapping with all the scraps. That way, I will use the wrapping paper scraps and get them out of my hair! Yeah!!!!

Here’s another tip: When purchasing large items like coats or bigger toys, be sure to ask for extra large bags to bring them home. These make great trash can liners! You will be able to save on buying trash bags!

Tawra

 

Have you ever had a wrapping paper that you just loved and only have a small piece left? It is often too small to wrap anything. I will take a large package and wrap it in tissue paper or solid paper of some kind. Then I will carefully cut out the figures or part of the little piece of wrapping paper I loved and glue it to the tissue wrapped package.

I also once had a little piece of snowman paper I loved but not enough to use for wrapping gifts, so I made what I call “Santa” sacks for my grandkids. I cut out the snowmen from the wrapping paper. Then I took small brown paper sacks and glued one on each one of my sacks. Then I filled the paper Santa sacks with goodies for the kids. I don’t do this with all my scraps of paper; just my special ones.

Jill

 

Photo By: voxtheory

Don’t Worry So Much About Your Children’s Gifts

by 65 Comments

Do you worry every little thing you do might harm your children? Many parents worry about buying lots of expensive children’s gifts, but it’s not necessary. [Read more…] about Don’t Worry So Much About Your Children’s Gifts

Homemade Gift Baskets

by 25 Comments

From: Donna

I have a great and cheap idea to share for Christmas savings. I love giving gift baskets. They’re versatile, personal, and best of all… cheap.

This year I am making a candle and potpourri basket for my sister in law. I bought a bunch of the $1 tiny jar candles from Wal Mart and Dollar General so she can test out new scents, and a big bag of potpourri on clearance for $2. ($10.00)

My best friend’s husband loves to grill, so I bought a basting brush, paper plate holders, grilling spices, and marinades. ($6.00)

And for my best friend (an Air Force wife and employee and mother of a one and a half year old), a spa basket. She always seems to be stressed out and never gets downtime. I bought a 4 piece green tea bath mix ($3) from Wal Mart, added two small candles, potpourri, a bath pouf, and a sleeping mask. ($18.00)

Needless to say, most of my ideas came from Dining on a Dime. I just switched them around a little to compliment my friends and family. I have a few more people to shop for, but so far I have not spent over $20 on any gift, and everyone is getting about 6 different items.

 

Dining on a Dime contains a very large section on gift baskets and jar mixes. At different times in her life, Tawra worked in floral shops and part of her job was making gift baskets, so we added that as part of the cookbook.

In addition to the large lists of ideas to use for gift baskets, Dining on a Dime includes many recipes for gifts in a jar that you can make yourself and add to the gift baskets. For example you could make an Italian basket with bread, noodles, sauce and some homemade Italian Seasoning from Dining on a Dime or make a basket with soup fixings with our Bouquet Garni Bags. If they like spicy we have a Cajun Seasoning, BBQ sauces or special mustards.

You could make up a basket with the ingredients for pumpkin pie, adding our homemade pumpkin pie spice and our recipe for pumpkin pie. And of course, there are lots of cookie mixes, muffin mixes, etc.

Besides the holidays you could give a laundry basket of cleaning supplies for newlyweds or for a housewarming gift. Make up some of our homemade cleaning supples (and of course a copy of Dining on a Dime 🙂 or use a cute container to help stock the couple with spices and seasonings, filling it with cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder etc. and adding homemade seasoned salt or taco seasoning from the book.

Dining On A Dime also includes recipes for hot chocolate, flavored coffee and spiced tea mixes, kids things like Easy Bake Oven mixes, play dough and slime. There are potpourri and sachets recipes. Homemade ornaments.

These and many more ideas are included in Dining on a Dime. Hopefully these get you started!

 

photo by: merelymel

Mom’s Gingerbread Men

by 32 Comments

 For the last 25 years mom has made these cute gingerbread men for Christmas. She just sells them to friends and family but has made up to 500 dozen of the little ones (yes, that 5,000-7,000 gingerbread men) in November and December. She packages them by the dozen in cellophane bags tied with a piece of red curly ribbon.

A few years ago she came up with the big ones (at the top). They are about 12 inches tall and the kids just loved them. She gives one to each of the grandkids each Thanksgiving and most of it’s gone by the next morning! LOL

The best part is that they taste even better than they look! She found a great recipe years ago in an old cookbook and has used it ever since. (Sorry, we can’t give it out. When we are done with the book business we will go into the gingerbread men business. 🙂

I thought I would share a picture since everyone is always asking about them.

Tawra

 

Save Money Using Gift Cards Specials

by 9 Comments

 

Save Money Using Gift Cards Specials

If you like to eat out, check and see if your favorite restaurant is offering gift card specials right now.

I just drove by Applebee’s and if you buy a $50 Gift Card, you get a $10 gift card also.

At Spangles (a local hamburger joint), if you buy a $10 gift card you get a free Christmas CD. My brother and his family were going there to eat. They saw the deal, so they bought the gift cards first, then ordered dinner and paid for it with the gift card. They got a free Christmas CD to take home just for eating out that night which they were going to do anyway.

So if you’re eating out, see if the restaurant is offering any gift card specials before you order. If so, get a gift card first, then order, then pay for your meal with the gift card!

       -Tawra

photo by:  bfishadow

Relieving Holiday Stress

by 2 Comments

stressed out mom - holiday stress

Holiday Stress Bubbling Over?

Do you usually find yourself stressed during the holiday season? Is trying to find inexpensive but nice gifts making you ache all over?

They say one of the most common stress busters is a candle lit bubble bath. I have tried that myself a couple of times but without much success, I’m afraid. Just convincing the family to let me into the bathroom- alone and with the door shut is a challenge.

I can never remember where I put the candles. (Being frugal, I only have a couple and after battling my way into the bathroom, I scarcely remember my name much less the location of the candles.) Finding them only complicates matters, since my claw foot tub and pedestal sink leave me no place to set them. Placing them on the floor ruins the effect since I have to climb up out of the tub to admire them. At last, I place them on the toilet seat- not the most attractive spot, but at least it’s flat.

I pour my new bubble bath, “Essence de la Gardenia”, and I can’t wait to have my nostrils tickled with the scent of my favorite flower. I stand with my eyes shut and sniff – ugh! It wreaks of “Essence de la compost!” Still, I don’t despair. Maybe it’s that new stuff that has to mix with my own body oils to create my own signature fragrance.

I slide into the warm water (Have you ever noticed that no matter how full you fill the tub, some part of your body always remains exposed and ends up freezing?) I grit my teeth and assure myself that I’m enjoying this even though my beauty mask has turned rock hard, my smelly bubbles have disappeared and my water has turned cold. If I have done my 15 minutes of toe yoga, I can usually turn on the hot water, but what’s the use? By now my family is pounding on the door and if they aren’t, the noises coming from the other side of the door are scaring me enough that I know I need to get out there fast!

If your bubble bath is something less than relaxing and the stress of finding inexpensive but nice gifts overwhelms you, never fear! I have found something that everyone loves regardless of age, sex or nationality — one size fits all — and that’s food! Here’s an idea for candy that can be made early and are sure to please!

 

Party Mints

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white -OR- 2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. butter, melted
4 small lids peppermint flavoring
1/4 cup paraffin, shaved*
1 pkg. (12 oz.) chocolate chips

Mix powdered sugar, egg white or meringue, butter and peppermint flavoring. Make into small balls about the size of a quarter and then flatten on a cookie sheet. Put in the freezer. Melt chocolate and paraffin over a double boiler. When melted take mints out of freezer. Put a toothpick though the center of the mint and dip into chocolate. If mints on the cookie sheet begin to soften and thaw, refreeze because they are easier to dip. Put back on cookie sheet and let chocolate harden in the freezer. Wrap each mint in a piece of 5×5 inch foil. Makes twenty 2-inch mints.

*Paraffin may be left out and chocolate coating or almond bark may be used instead.

 

From Dining on a Dime

 

Saving On Presents

by 10 Comments

How Can I Spend Less on Presents Without Looking Cheap?

Katie from Rolla, Missouri writes:

Everyone else in our family makes a lot of money and buys expensive Christmas gifts for us. I’m getting ready to become a stay at home mom, which will stretch us even more. I’m wondering how to buy presents for the rest of the family without looking ridiculous and being embarrassed. My husband and I can have Christmas without lots of presents, but the extended family gatherings are stressing me out financially. How can we get around this and still seem generous?

 

Tawra: You can save money on gifts by shopping wisely and presenting them nicely. Here’s a perfect example: One time I found my mother in law’s favorite bath gel on clearance for $1.00 instead of the $8.00 it normally costs. I bought all they had left and then, for several holidays, I made nice gift baskets with new items from the dollar store, yard sales and the thrift store. She would never have known that the $30 value only cost me $5-$7 for each one! Of course, we put the money we would have spent toward paying off our credit cards instead of just spending it.

Listen to what they like, then keep your eye out for good deals at clearance aisles, thrift stores and yard sales. If someone collects something small, make up a nice little gift with several of those small things. Here’s a good example: My daughter collected penguins last year. We collected several over a few months and then made a nice box filled with penguins for her. She never knew and wouldn’t have cared that the cost was only a couple of dollars. It made a huge impression because it was something she liked.

Remember when shopping for gifts, it’s not so much how much you spend but how you present it. If you think about it, when you pay more for something at the store, what you’re often paying for is just the presentation.

From: Dig Out Of Debt

 

photo by: laurenmanning