With Christmas quickly approaching I decided to do some DIY crafts I found on Pinterest to decorate our house. Last year we did not set up our tree or anything for Christmas because we knew we’d be in Indiana from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day. Therefore, it wasn’t worth dragging our tree out for it to only be up for 2 weeks and then have to take it down when  we got home. So we got busy crafting and bought some decorations for our Eve of Christmas Eve Ugly Sweater Party.
Here’s what we have so far:

This is an idea I remembered from my high school sewing class. We created a fabric wreath using fabric, a screwdriver and a straw wreath. I cut the fabric into 4in squares with pinking shears and then stabbed the fabric into the plastic-covered wreath. Here’s our final product:

This is what it looks like up close.

The next project I tackled I found on Pinterest. You simply take a vase and place rubberbands around it before spray painting the entire vase. Our living room is hues of tan, red, brown, blue, green and orange (to match our rug) so we decided to do wit ha burgundy and tan vase. The burgundy looks darker in person. Here’s our final product:

Another craft I attempted was a jute chandelier for my classroom. I used jute and Tacky Glue wrapped around a balloon to create the structure. Then, I popped the balloon on the inside and inserted a light kit from Ikea. The pictures aren’t the best and it still needs work but here’s what I came out with:

This really isn't a good picture but I love the way it looks anyway.

We also found some glitter trees we loved at Old Time Pottery for cheap so we bought a handful to put in our endtables and on our Ikea Lack shelf above the TV. I love the way they turned out.

I also love December because Michael and I started dating in December of 2005. Today is our 6 year “dateversary” as we call it because we “became official” 6 years ago today. In addition, he proposed to be 3 years ago today.

Michael’s proposal was the most romantic thing I could ever imagine him doing… he’s not the most romantic person. We decided to go back to the Indianapolis Circle of Lights Tree Lighting the day after Thanksgiving which happens to be the place he proposed. It’s gorgeous when they light the tree up.

This was the night Michael proposed (3 years ago tonight)

This is one of our best friends, John, who was a "bum" during the proposal.

Here’s the pictures we took this past weekend of Monumental Circle where he proposed:

A view from inside the tree.

And lastly, our tree (Michael took both of these):

Simple and perfect.

An out of focus picture I love, too. Michael hates it.

A few months ago I was introduced by my sister-in-law to Pinterest and have been addicted ever since. I love the recipes, DIY crafts, and decor ideas I have found on there and have even began trying out some of the items I have “pinned” to my boards.

With that being said, I decided to test out more pumpkin recipes since I love the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe I have. I stumbled upon a recipe for Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies and gave it a whirl. I was not overly impressed with the final product but Michael said they ranked in the top 5 of his favorite cookies so I will label them a success. We made both varieties of pumpkin cookies for our Thanksgiving dinners and our family and friends loved them. Therefore, I would definitely say this recipe is a keeper.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies:

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

Source: Annie’s Eats

The past few weeks have been insanely busy for me. I found out two weeks ago I was offered a teaching position with Warren Township schools. I then made the decision to leave the Behavior Analysis Center for Autism in order to accept the teaching position. Therefore, I am now the newest Special Education Preschool teacher at the Warren Early Childhood Center. I was formally offered the position two weeks ago but did not get my background check back until last Friday. That gave me 3 hours on Saturday to get my room set up and ready for kids to start last Monday. AHH. Although this week was absolutely CRAZY, I survived and had a great week. I loved my kiddos at BACA but have always felt like I belong in the classroom. Now that I am back in the classroom I know I made the right decision. I have wonderful coworkers and adorable kiddos. Not to mention, the 2 week Fall Break/Winter Break/Spring Break is a huge perk!

Now that I have a job with more flexible hours I plan on trying to cook and bake more so keep looking for new recipes. With the beginning of Fall making an appearance I thought I’d try my favorite fall recipe: PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. I am not a huge fan of Pumpkin Pie and such but absolutely LOVE these cookies. I’d give them a try.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl, first mix:
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups shortening (CRISCO) you can use regular butter too it just tastes a lil different
1 1/2 cups pumpkin (1 small can)
3 eggs
MIX WITH A MIXER

ADD
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
MIX WITH SPOON

ADD
2 more cups of flour
MIX WITH SPOON

ADD
2 cups chocolate chips
Dish cookies onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake on 350 for 12 minutes.

Check the cookies and remove when edges and top are slightly brown.

Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Michael and I got on the topic of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni last weekend while meal planning for the week. Although I could not tell you the last time I ate anything from Chef Boyardee, the thought of Beefaroni sounded appetizing and so began our hunt for homemade Beefaroni. By the end of our search we had found two that we wanted to try but could not decide which one so we decided to combine the two in order to get the final product that we wanted… lots of cheese.

Ingredients
1lb lean ground beef
1lb elbow macaroni
3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar/mozzarella mix)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
30 oz spaghetti sauce
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Directions
> Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
> Brown beef in skillet and cook macaroni according to directions on box
> Once beef is cooked, remove from heat, drain off the excess fat, and then add the onion powder, pepper, and salt
> Drain macaroni and combine with beef, shredded cheese, and spaghetti sauce in pot
> Spoon the mixture into an ungreased 13″ x 9″ baking dish and cover with the Parmesan cheese
> Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through

This recipe was very easy and it tasted great. In addition, it makes a decent amount in case you are having guests over for dinner. Just add a little salad and bread and you’ll be set.

Recently I have gotten really into couponing. At first, my husband told me it was a waste of time and was not on board with the idea. After he saw how much money we saved our first trip, he quickly changed his mind. I convinced him to sign up for the newspaper and after our first trip with coupons, we paid for our entire month's newspaper subscription.

What I like the most about the newspaper ads are that Wal-Mart will price match other local store ads. Therefore, we sort through the ads every Thursday and Sunday and circle the items we are buying. We then think about how much they are at Wal-Mart (sometimes they already have the best price, even if you try to match another store's ad) and if it's cheaper with the price match we take the ad with us to the store.

Wal-Mart has some stipulations on their price matching so here is their policy:

We gladly match the price in the following types of ads:*

• Buy one, get one free ads with a specified price
  • Example: Buy one for $2.49, get one free (BOGO)
• Competitors' ads that feature a specific item for a specified price.
• Preferred shopping card prices for specific items that are in a printed ad.
• For fresh produce and meat items when the price is offered in the same unit type (lb. for lb.; each for each)

*The following are guidelines and limitations:

• We will match any local competitor's advertised price.
• We do not require customers to have the ad with them to honor a competitor's ad.
• Items purchased must be identical to the ad (size, quantity, brand, flavor, color, etc.)

We DO NOT match the price in the following types of competitor ads:

• Items that require a separate purchase to get the ad price
  • example: "Buy [item A] to get [item B] for $C"
• Items with no actual price that require a purchase to get free product
  • example: "Buy both [items A & B] to get [item C] for free"
• Items that require a purchase to get a competitors' gift card
  • example: "Buy [item A] to get a $B gift card
• Buy one, get one free (BOGO) ads with no actual price given
• Going out of business or closeout prices
• Percentage off
  • example: "All mascara, 40% off"
• Competitors' private label price promotions

We do not honor: Ads when the actual price for items cannot be determined.

• Internet pricing
• Misprinted ad prices of other retailers
• "Going out of business" sales or "close out" prices

Along with price matching, I do some coupon sites online, too:

• Target
• (love their coupons but can only be used at Target but they DO stack manufacturer and store coupons).
• Coupons.com
• Coupon Mom
  
• Hip2Save
• This website gives you lots of coupons but also lets you know about free deals going on and includes retail coupons every week. I've gotten many free deals and samples from this site and go here to check for retail store coupons before I go shopping.
  
• Krazy Coupon Lady
• The Wright Way To Save
• Crowdtap
•  this website allows you to answer survey questions and receive free samples, items, and even cash sometimes. I just joined this one so I will let you know how reliable and easy it is to use once I am accustomed to it.

I never realized what kinds of deals and items Walgreens and CVS have. These are great places to get steals and you can earn money off your future purchases with Register Rewards and Extra Care Bucks.

Although I enjoy saving money with coupons, I am not an "extreme" couponer and will not drive to 4 different stores to get a good deal. I do not have the time or energy (or gas to waste) on doing so. Nor do I spend 30-50 hours a week cutting coupons and organizing them like the women on "Extreme Couponing" because frankly, with a full time job and working out, I just don't have time for that. This is why the price matching at Wal-Mart is a great thing for us. I am not out to save the highest percentage possible while couponing and am perfectly content if I can save $5 or $10 a week even so we can have more money in our pockets. I think of our long term goals and things we would like to buy (especially a house) and every dollar saved gets us one step closer to these purchases.

HAPPY COUPONING! :)