Easy to Root Spider Plants

How about a Spider Plant for Halloween!

Want an easy to grow plant that gives you baby plants that can easily root and grow more.....then you definitely need to check out growing spider plants. They are great for helping cleanse the air in your home and are very tolerant of many growing conditions, as long you give them some sunlight and remember to water them at least occasionally.

This is a container filled with about 6 babies. I put them in water (about 1/4 way up the plants) and set it in the window and after 2 weeks you see they have rooted and are ready to be transplanted in to their own pots.

FREE Admission to MN State Parks on June 11th for National Get Outdoors Day

Every year Minnesota State Parks offers a FREE vehicle admission day to any of their state parks on National Get Outdoors Day. This year that day is on June 11th, THIS SATURDAY!

Normally, a vehicle admission is $5 for a daily rate or $25 for a yearly pass. We always get a pass.

If you don't have a pass, this is a great way to go check out one of our wonderful MN State Parks. If you want a preview, check back tomorrow when I share pictures of Mille Lacs State Park.

Here are some other Minnesota State Parks I have included in this blog, we have been to others, but this is what I have shared with you so far:

• Flandrau State Park
• Forestville State Park (Mystery Cave)
• Mille Lacs Kathio State Park
• Minneopa State Park (Waterfall)
• Minneopa State Park (Cabin Camping)
• Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
• Rice Lake State Park
• Sakatah State Park (Hiking)
• Sakatah State Park (Canoeing)
• Savana Portage State Park

Also, don't forget to log your miles while you are there towards the 125 Miles Challenge.

Refinishing a Drum Set

This was my husband's project last winter. He grew up always playing the drums and had a set on and off. This is his current set. He decided that he didn't like the wraps that were on this set. He spent quite a bit of time looking up new wraps to buy to replace on his shells, but everything he found that he actually liked was quite pricey. He started taking off the wraps and noticed that his shells had a really nice grain pattern and decided instead of new wraps he was going to stain them and add many coats of a high floss lacquer.

He started out with just one to see how it would turn out and if he found the color of stain he liked and if the grain would look as awesome as he envisioned it would. It did. You can see up in the collage the center picture on the right is his first finished shell next to one of the ones ones with this burgandy wrap on it.

Of course all the hardware is still dated, but it works with the wood. I think the updated look actually makes them have more of a classic look. He's past that "flashy" drum set stage of his life and this is a very nice looking set.

There was still an investment in a high glass lacquer (I think he said he did 6 coats or so on them to get the level of glass he wanted) and stain, and the time was a considerable investment, but he now has a set he refinished and can be proud of.

Spruced Up Store Bought Ornaments

These ones are these thick felt ornaments I bought at Target last year when they were 75% off and gave them a little bling by adding some sequins and gluing them on. 

FREE Games for XBOX 360 & ONE

Just to clarify right away - This is NOT a sponsored post and none of my links are affiliate. I am posting this on my own to tell my readers about this deal and we have purchased our own XBOX Live Gold membership.

Each month members of XBOX Live Gold get 2 FREE Games for both XBOX 360 and XBOX ONE. So, I suppose if you have both systems you could really get 4 games free. The games are usually ones that have been out for a while that would retail (on average $20) $10-$30.

So, if you or someone in your house likes to play new games often, this could be the way to go because you are easily $480 on the purchase of 2 games a month.

Yes, you do have to purchase the membership and it $59.99 through the Xbox website and they seem to offer a promotion once in a while, but I suggest buying it through Amazon where right now the purchase price is $44.46 (but we all know how often Amazon prices change, so you might need to add this to your wishlist and keep an eye on the price.)

To give you an idea of what is available this month:

XBOX ONE
8/16-9/15 : How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition (RV $20)
9/1/-9/30 : The Deer God (RV $10)
9/16-10/15: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (RV $30)

XBOX 360
9/1-9/15: Battlestations Pacific (RV $25)
9/16-9/30: Crysis 3 (RV $20)

Usually it is my husband using this membership, which you can also use for online multi-player experience, but we also use it to stream Amazon Prime Video and Netflix through as well. If I think of it, I may try to remind readers every month of the free downloads.

As you can see, you pretty much break even with your first 2 free downloads and then it's free after that.

FREE Milk and Snacks for Kids from Kwik Trip

Kwik Trip Gas Stations offer a program for kids call the Milk Moovers Club. You can pick up a brochure at a Kwik Trip location, or print it off here. It is completely free to join for kids ages 2 to 12. You will get a coupon for free milk after you join and some coupons on their birthday as well, plus every time you buy a pint or more of Nature's Touch milk you can get a free bakery item, apple or orange. 

We just sent in our applications and my kids are looking forward to getting their own club card to keep in their wallets. Also, don't forget that Nature's Touch has Milk Moola on them that your school may collect to raise money for the school, I know know our school collects it.

Join the Kwik Trip Milk Moovers Club for Kids

FREE Lowe's Build and Grow - Thor's Chariot

This is the final Avenger's Build and Grow Clinic at Lowe's. It is Thor's Chariot. My son has been working hard at making the previous 5 and has all his creations lined up on his dresser and has his patches all ready to be ironed on a t-shirt we bought. I will have to share you the final line up of all the wooden Avengers toys and his fun t-shirt with all his patches on.

This Lowe's Build and Grow will be at 10am on Saturday, August 22nd.

SIGN UP FOR THIS LOWE'S BUILD AND GROW!!!

4th Graders Get in Free at National Parks!!

Starting this Fall, every 4th grader can get in free (their families INCLUDED) to national parks in our great nation. This is a new initiative by the National Parks Service and they are just offering this to 4th graders and their families right now. Learn more about the program in this link.

But the awesome thing is that MANY national parks already have free admission, so just check out the Park Locator and look at what the admission fees are, there just might not be any.

Look at the rates if you are getting this free pass (normally it's $80/family) to make sure it is covered. Special tours are not covered by this and parking fees may not be covered.

Or just pay attention to when the next National Park Week it (it is usually in April) when they also offer FREE admission to everyone.

FREE Lowe's Build and Grow: Hulk's Tank

This, Hulk's Tank, is the FIFTH Avengers Lowe's Build and Grow. These have been quite popular! Even if your child hasn't done the previous ones, you can't pass this one up. It's the Hulk! There will be one more left to complete the set of 6. The last one will be the Thor's Chariot!

This Lowe's Build and Grow will be at 10am on Saturday, August 8th.

SIGN UP FOR THIS LOWE'S BUILD AND GROW!

FREE Lowe's Build & Grow - Hawkeye's Quinjet

My son has been so excited about these free Build and Grow's and Lowe's. After we finished completing the second one we realized that all the badges (all 6 of them) form a complete circle. We have a t-shirt already purchased so we can iron them all on when he is finished. I am sure he is going to feel pretty proud of that when he wears it to school.

The platforms all line up together to make one big Avengers logo. He already has the first three lined up on his dresser. This next one is the Hawkeye Quinjet.

This Lowe's Build and Grow will be at 10am on Saturday, July 25th.

SIGN UP FOR THIS LOWE'S BUILD AND GROW!!!

Fun DIY Lego Maze

Thrifty Tip: Have your kids create mazes for each other and themselves by using a baseplate and arranging legos in their preferred maze shape. Be sure to press the legos all the way down, if they aren't the marble won't glide through as easy. HAVE FUN!

25-cent Rides at Bay Beach Amusement Park

Bay Beach Amusement Park is in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a wonderfully affordable way to entertain your family this summer. Tickets are only 25-cents a piece. You read that correctly! Most of the rides for 5 and under are only one ticket. Even the roller coaster, the Zippin Pippin is only 4 tickets, which means it is $1. And if you don't use all your tickets, you can save them for your next visit, even if it next year.

And it's not just the rides that are affordable. You can get snow cones for $1.50 and popcorn for $1 and many other carnival treats for an affordable price. Even the souvenir stand is priced to sell. I found that t-shirts cost a few dollars less than other tourist attractions we have been too.

Also, they have pony rides for only $2. You can't beat that. I have always seen pony rides for $5 at fairs and carnivals. Because of the affordable price a pony ride, this is where I let my kids get one each summer.

Come back in a few weeks and check out more pictures of our annual trip to Bay Beach in my Wordless Wednesday post on July 22, 2015.

Thrifty Thursday: FREE Camps from Apple

This is a picture last year after my daughter finished her free 3-day iBook Camp at the Apple Store at the Mall of America. It is also at MANY other Apple stores as well. You can see more pictures from her iBook Camp here.

Kids must be between ages 8-12 and are allowed to sign up for only 1 camp. Sign up quickly as they fill up quickly. I found out about it last year when the iMovie Camps was already full, so iBook camp it was.

Sign Up Here!

FREE Admission to National Park April 18-25

This month from April 18-25 is National Parks Week and they allow FREE admission in to all national parks. There are over 400 parks that you can get free admission to. This do not include any special tours that may be available at the parks, so be sure to check out the rates at each park and make sure it is covered if you want to make sure it is free.

Check out the details of National Parks Week!

DIY Dino Dig

No need to spend a lot of money on dinosaur dig kits when you can make your own at home using the dinosaurs your child already owns, a plastic container from the recycling bin, some water and plaster of paris.

Here you can see all of my supplies. I had my son pick out some small dinosaurs that he wanted to dig out. I bought this huge bag at Lowe's (25 pounds) for about the same price (actually it might have been a little cheaper) than the 2 pounds bucket that is marketed towards kids crafts. In my experience working with the 2 types of plaster, this is a stronger plaster too.

There are instructions on the bag, but basically it is 3 parts plaster to 1 part water. I used a container from a ramen meal and ended up mixing together 3 C of plaster and 1 C of water to fill the container to this level.

Just mix up to get the consistency you desire and the plaster is smooth. Thicker plaster will dry quicker.

Put it aside and let it dry. How long it takes to dry depends upon how thick you made it, your air humidity level, and how thin you make the mixture. For mine I took it out of the mold in a couple hours and then let it finish drying on a paper plate.

I am thinking I am going to start saving some containers and make some of these up for a Dinosaur Birthday Party for my son.

FREE Lowe's Build & Grow See-It Planter

How cute it this?!?!?! It's the See-It Planter at the next Lowe's Build and Grow. Registration opened on March 16th, so don't delay in getting signed up. This Build and Grow will occur on Saturday, April 11th at 10am, Spots to fill up fast.

My daughter built a similar one when she was in preschool and because it unfinished wood, it will rot away over the course of the growing season. It will cool to watch plants growing, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that this will eventually probably not hold up from one year to the next.

SIGN UP HERE!!!

Bugles Snacks as Traffic Cones for Playtime

Hey everyone! Here's you fun thrifty tip for today. Let's your kids play with their food!

Bugles make fun traffic cones when they play with cars with. They can be the finish line for a race or something to drive around. Whatever you do with them, they are fun to eat and play with.

Cheap Dance Party Fun with Glow Sticks #ad

My Thoughts:

We have plans to use these Super Bright glow sticks for 3 items since there are 100 glow sticks in this containers.

That is quite a bit! Usually I buy them at the dollar store, so the price on these is a just bit more but I can have the delivered right to my house and not have to spend any more money (I never can seem to get out of there without spending $20+) there. You can buy them on Amazon.

One thing we did with them is tape one glow stick to each blade of a ceiling fan at night and turn it on. It's pretty cool and the kids that it was a fun dance party. I just thought it was cheap fun to get them moving around before bedtime. You can see by the picture and the short video that is pretty cool looking!

The next is for my 3rd grader's science fair project and how the chemical reaction occurring react to a change in temperature. By doing this experiment I can tell you that we did determine that there will be glow for about 15 hours when left at room temperature. It does fade over time and is brightest the first few hours. They do still continue to glow pretty bright after that but because we were doing a science experiment we were comparing against a newly "cracked" glow stick each time check, so we were able to see the differences in brightness at each time check. We even reserved about a dozen so that she could pass out when she is standing in front of her tri-fold display at the classes come around to look at ask questions. Wish her luck! I will share more about this after she presents it at the end of February (she signed up and did the experiment right away, now the writing and display work begins!)

The other thing we plan to use them for is to attach to valentines. I will share that with you next week! I like the idea of giving kids something that isn't candy for a Valentine token. I did make special homemade valentines that correlate with a glow stick.

Product Description from Super Bright

• The best quality - Long lasting - Super Bright - Durable
• Create super bright glowing bracelets, necklaces, glasses and more!
• Includes 100 units - 8" long premium quality glow bracelets
• Fresh from the factory- Ultra bright and long lasting!
• Non-toxic and CPSIA Compliant - Premium Quaility

I was given the above product for the purpose of review. All thoughts, opinions, photographs and video belong to this blog. No monetary compensation was received.

Easy Bacon Grease Clean Up

If you are like me, when you make bacon for your family, you let it drip grease off on to some paper towel before serving. But what happens after the meal? Do you immediately throw away the paper towel and have a pan of bacon grease cooling in a pan until it is cool enough to scrape in to the trash and not melt through the bag?

Well, time to change up that routine and at the end of your meal, toss that paper towel in the cooling grease and let the bacon grease absorb in to the paper towel and then wipe out with the paper towel. This way you get more use out of those paper towels and can clean up your bacon pan sooner.

Thrifty Thursday: Taco Guacamole

I thought I would try this in a pinch because we were at the cabin, where I have a limited amount of seasonings on my shelf there, and forgot to buy a packet of guacamole seasoning. What I did have was an extra packet of Taco Seasoning that cost 35-cents. I used only 1/3 of the packet to 2 avocados and it made a wonderful guacamole with a light taco flavor and lots of avocado flavor. So, instead of spending $1.00+ on the guacamole seasoning, it only cost me 12-cents for part of a taco seasoning packet. I know it's not a lot of money, but every little bit saved helps.