Dollar Tree (Haul) July 2016 || OREOS

Don't you love to stop in at Dollar Tree & find unexpected goodies?!
Yeaaa! Gotta love when that happens!

As I say in the video below, I was pretty flabbergasted to see the hundreds thousands of vloggers
who seem to exclusively film Dollar Tree hauls.
See there, I've even picked me up some correct term, like 'haul' ;)
Apparently saying 'shopping trip' or 'grocery run' or 'stopped in at the store' just isn't sufficient.
Who knew?!

I stumbled across the Dollar Tree vloggers by accident the other day when I was looking up
some freezer meals ideas.
Well, those videos seemed to link up to tons of Costco shopping 'hauls' & before you know it,
there were all sorts of 'haul' videos popping up.
And that, my dear friends, is how I became enlightened about all this Dollar Tree insider information.
Ha ... the whole thing kinda makes me giggle.

I've been shopping the Dollar Tree forever & I do get pretty excited about the deals & fun finds
I come across ... not just there, but anywhere really.
Any deal I find, I am always happy about!
The more money I can save on the daily needs & necessity items (like food & fuel),
the more money I have for the fun stuff in life ... like travel (we just went to Italy, ya know!).
And honestly, whether you have plenty of funds or just a little, God expects us
to be good stewards with our money.
If we spend everything we have, how can we help those in need or financially support
our local church or missions work?
I've always been inspired to share tips & tricks with my friends on ways to stretch their dollars.
I even hosted a couponing/savings seminar a few years back.
Anyone remember that?

Now, this isn't the first time I have filmed little videos like this one, but it's been a good long time.
In fact, if you've been to Call Her Blessed lately, you'll see that ALL the blog posts
are pretty few & far between.
That's life, folks.
Seasons of life.
I've just not been able to get on here & share much at all.
(And I have SO much to catch you up on ... I really, really do!)

I'm thinking that I want to show you a few of the good deals I've gotten lately!
Several of the ladies at church were chatting about deals the past Sunday, so this is a quick way
to share with them all my Dollar Tree shenanigans.

Hope you enjoy & are inspired to see what deals you can find!

And one last thing, here are the shopping grab bags I referenced.
I saw these on the shelf at Rural King on Tuesday for $14.99 ...
the very same box that the Dollar Tree has for $1, of course.

Side note:  The Wet & Wild Fergie concealer ... ummm ... I didn't love it.
I'm going to give it one more try, but I'm thinking it's not a keeper.
The lipstick, however, is cute.
Good color & good staying power!

Talk to you later, my friends!

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday           Amaze Me Monday     Coastal Charm    The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday   Katherines Corner   3D Lessons for Life   A Delightsome Life     Lamberts Lately  
Friday      Rooted in Thyme   Flea Market Friday   Missional Women
 Best of the Nest  Anything Blue Friday   French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative

Milk Can Makeover

From drab to fab!

   One person's trash, another person's treasure!

That, my friends, is what this blog post is all about!

See this pretty blue milk can?

Well, all it needed was a little TLC ... and to think someone tossed this out into the trash!

 

 This is what it looked like when James found it sitting alongside the road, waiting on the trash truck.

I was so excited that he brought this home!

There was always a black milk can sitting on our porch when I was growing up,

so having one of my own now just feels right.

The previous owner had added some country touches by gluing wallpaper border along the edges.

I'm pretty sure that was at least 20+ years ago though.

And it looks like there was lettering of some sort, but I couldn't figure out what it said.

All I did was peel off the paper, which came off like a charm, & lightly sanded the whole thing.

Like 5 minutes or less of sanding.

I was ok with more of a rustic finish.

 And just look at how pretty is turned out!!

I am in love <3

 I chose the blue {aqua} just cause it was fun ...

and I wanted something a little out of the box ...

out of MY box, that is.

 So, I've been having fun with my little blue milk can.

I've been moving it around ...

putting my pail of geraniums on it ...

and then taking it back off.

Ya know, just trying to decide what looks best.

 I ended up moving the pail of geraniums back down into the flower garden ...

and now the milk can is sitting on the opposite side of the porch.

Next spring, I may get a wild hair to paint it another color ...

or put a 'P' on the front of it, who knows.

The possibilities are endless.

It's the perfect porch accessory any which way.

 

Monday           Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons  
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch    Katherines Corner 3D Lessons for Life
           Hope in Every Season     Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Missional Women  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

Saving on groceries without tons of planning!

It's been quite a while since I've posted about saving money at the grocery store,
but I got such good deals yesterday that I wanted to share a quick post showing you how I saved!

This was no well-planned trip.
In fact, I just planned to run to the grocery real quick to pick up milk, toilet paper ...
you know, the things that you can't go without ;)

However, I decided to look over the sale ad before leaving & saw that there were some great deals
with the Mega Sale {buy 5, save $5}.
This is hands down, when I always get the best deals.

It's a rare occasion that I use manufacturer's coupons anymore.
We don't take the paper & I don't buy one on Sunday just for the coupons.
Truthfully, I just don't have the time to clip the coupons & plan out the trips like I used to.

What I do use are the ecoupons that I load onto my Kroger card!
There are always good ones & often times, they are picked for me based on what I buy.
Every now & then, I will get a package of coupons through the mail from Kroger,
but those don't come as often as they used to.
I think they are seeming to move towards the online coupons.

Today, I used a combo of three things to get these savings:

• ecoupons loaded to my Kroger card
• Kroger coupons that came through the mail
• coupons that printed out at the Kroger register

 

Now, I didn't plan on blogging about this, so it's not as put together as the big-time savings blogger.
It's just to show how I saved considerably with very minimal time spent.
And unfortunately, you most likely can't take advantage of every deal that I did,
because you may not have loaded the same ecoupons to your card
or have the same coupons that came by mail.
{Sorry about that.}

I can't share every single good deal, cause I had quite a few of them, but I'll show the best ones.

This one is my favorite, I think.

It was not part of the mega sale.

150 oz. Purex on sale for $7.99

- $3 off 2  ecoupon

- buy 2, get 1 free peeler coupon

$4.33 each 

Mega Sale Items {Buy 5, Save $5}

Great Lash mascara $2.49 close out price

- $1 mega sale came off

- $2 mail coupon

Free + $.51 overage

Loreal nail polish $2.49 close out price

- $1 mega sale came off

- $2 mail coupon

Free + $.51 overage 

{Being a close out item, these should not have gotten the $1 off mega sale discount.

I even asked at customer service to be sure, but for whatever reason, they still came up as part of the sale.}

Frizz-Ease $5.99

- $1 off mega sale

- $3 off 2 Kroger mail coupon

$3.49 each 

Oscar Meyer carving board lunch meat $3.49

- $1 off mega sale

- $.75 ecoupon

$1.74 

Oscar Meyer carving board lunch meat $3.49

- $1 off mega sale

- $2 ecoupon

$.49

Edy's ice cream $3.49

- $1 mega sale

- $1 ecoupon

- $1.50 register coupon

Free + .01 overage

Resolve $2.79

- $1 mega sale

- $.75 ecoupon

$1.04

Gevalia bagged coffee $6.99

- $1 mega sale

- $2.25 ecoupon

- $1.00 ecoupon

$2.74

Gevalia bagged coffee $6.99

- $1 mega sale

- $1.00 ecoupon

- $.50 ecoupon

$4.49

Freebie Friday items:

Kraft BBQ sauce

Snapple tea

I also had an ecoupon for $2 off produce.

Total savings:

coupons: $28.50

Kroger savings: $103.82

Now, remember those register coupons I mentioned above ... well, lucky me!

These printed out for me yesterday!

So, I think I'll run back up to Kroger in a bit to use these cause today is the last day of the mega sale.

The Old Orchard juice is $.99 & the Edy's is $2.49 {if you buy 5 items that are part of the sale}.

So, I'll buy 2 juices & 3 ice creams for $6.95!

The juices will be $.49 each & the ice cream will be $1.99.

And for one last big savings ... before I went grocery shopping yesterday, 

I redeemed 100 fuel points at the gas station saving $1 a gallon on gas!

All in all, I did pretty good today at Kroger!! =) 

*My tip for the best savings using ecoupons at Kroger: get on the site often.

I don't know the rhyme or reason as to when the new coupons are added,

but when they're gone, they're gone.

So check the site regularly & add any coupons that you think you may use.

 

Happy savings, everyone!

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.

Monday           Amaze Me Monday  The Dedicated House
                     I Should Be Mopping the Floor     The Hankful House     The Modest Mom
Tuesday        A Delightsome Life    A Bowl Full of Lemons  
                                    Titus Tuesday  A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style      
                              The Thrifty Home   A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch    Katherines Corner   Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
                                French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things  Sew Many Ways

Powdered Laundry Soap

I've been making my own liquid laundry soap for several years now & I'm a big fan!

I decided today though, as I was grating up the Fels Naptha bar, to give the powdered version a try.

I have many friends who prefer it over the liquid.

I'll have to say, the liquid is simple to make, but the powdered soap ... even easier!

Had it completed, start to finish, in a couple of minutes ... the longest part was grating the soap.

{I usually do it in my mini-food chopper but I wanted the arm exercise ;) ha! }

It's one bar of Fels Naptha {grated}, 1 cup of Borax, 

1 cup of Arm & Hammer super washing soda, & 1 cup of color-safe powder bleach.

There are a hundred million recipes for this in blogland & many of them say to add

Downy Unstoppables or Purex crystals, completely optional.

I didn't have any, so I left them out.

The instructions say to use 1-2 tablespoons per load ... I'll go for the 2.

Course, storing the soap in a cute jar will make the laundry a little more fun.

{I decided to keep, fancy up, & reuse this jar after the hot peppers were all gone.}

So, we'll give it a try & see how it works!

Any of you make your own powdered laundry soap?

      4 Easy Steps!

1. Grate one bar of Fels Naptha 
2.  Mix in 1 cup of Borax
3. 1 cup of Arm & Hammer super washing soda
4. 1 cup of color-safe powder bleach. 

     Store in a container with a lid so it stays dry.

**UPDATE**
I super loved this dry laundry soap! 
It works just as well as the liquid & is quicker & easier!

 

 Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday          C.R.A.F.T      The Dedicated House  I Should Be Mopping the Floor
                  Between Naps on the Porch  The Modest Mom
Tuesday     A Delightsome Life   A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                    The Thrifty Home  The Dedicated House    A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
               French Country Cottage  The Girl Creative
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things    Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

Hello y'all!!
It's me ... Angie ... from Call Her Blessed!

Thought I should introduce myself cause it's been soooo long.
For heaven's sake.

I did not intend to be MIA for an extended period, but life happened ... just like it always does ...
just like it always should.

So, no apologies from me.
I've been having way to much fun to apologize.
I will try to do a 'here's what we've been doing blog' coming up, but for today,
I just want to share this amazing recipe I just found & tried this week!
It's starring one of my very favorite summer treats:  STRAWBERRIES!
Aanndd, it only has 4 ingredients.
Without further ado, here's a great recipe for Homemade Strawberry Syrup!

So I took advantage of a great deal on strawberries {.77 a pound} at a brand new store
that just opened in our area {Fresh Thyme ... I'm ganna like this store!}.
We ate more than our share of these beautiful berries just plain,
& I also made fruit salad & fruit skewers ... but I still had several packages left.
Lucky for me, I remembered pinning a recipe for strawberry syrup just a few days before.
Perfect timing.

After rinsing & cutting off the tops, I quartered them up, getting about 7 cups in total.
I put the strawberries in a large kettle & added 2 cups of stevia  & lemon juice ...
{the original recipe calls for sugar, but I opted for stevia to cut calories & to make them sugar-free}.

You bring the strawberries to a boil & then reduce heat, simmering for about 15-20 minutes.

I smooshed my strawberries a bit as they were boiling, just to break them down into smaller pieces.
{Next time, I may chop them a bit smaller in the beginning.}

After removing from heat, add in the vanilla & stir.

Let it cool down & then pour it into a jar ... or whatever you have on hand.

You can also put this syrup into containers & freeze it.

Now, I'd say there are probably 150+ ways to use this delicious syrup!
You could serve it over ice cream for a strawberry sundae,
spoon it on toast ... or on french toast or pancakes.
It would be delicious on a bagel drizzled over top of cream cheese.
You could also serve it on angel food cake or even cheesecake!
I made one of our favorite desserts, Strawberry Refrigerator Cake,
& this sauce was perfect in that recipe.
I'll share it tomorrow.

Isn't this recipe just fantastic?!
4 ingredients & done in less than a half hour, tops ... you just can't beat that with a stick ;)

Here's exactly what you need:
{I doubled the recipe}

• 3 cups strawberries, diced
• 1 cup granulated sugar  **{I used stevia}
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 15 - 18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until strawberries
are soft and the syrup is thickened and reduced down by about half.

You know what?
I just thought of another use for this versatile strawberry syrup!
I'm ganna go stir a heaping spoon or two or three into a glass of lemonade.
Wow.
I just impressed myself ;)

Happy Summer y'all.
I'll try not to stay gone so long, ok?

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who doesn't love a good party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday     The Girl Creative     C.R.A.F.T      The Dedicated House      The Modest Mom
Tuesday     A Delightsome Life   A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                    The Thrifty Home  The Dedicated House    A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday      Rooted in Thyme  The Thrifty Groove   Farm Blog Hop  Best of the Nest
               French Country Cottage
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things    Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

DIY Instant Oatmeal

One of our pantry breakfast staples has always been a box of the little individual instant oatmeal packets.
My boys love them & they make for a super quick hot breakfast.
The problem is, as my boys have turned into men, it takes 3 or 4 packets to fill them up.
And, as we've been trying to make healthier choices, everything comes into question ...
how can we eat a healthier version of 'fill in the blank'?
This recipe answers the instant oatmeal question!

This takes no time to put together -- it's healthier & tastes even better!
I've tried a few different recipes & this is the one I like best.

Here are the ingredients:

6 cups quick oats, divided      
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c non-dairy creamer {powder}

Pour 4 cups of the oats in a large snap-top storage container {or a gallon ziploc bag}.
Pulse the additional 2 cups of oats in a food processor until they are more of a finer,
almost powdery consistency.
Add to the other oats.
Stir in powdered creamer, brown sugar, and salt until well mixed.

To make a bowl of oatmeal, scoop 1/2 cup of the instant oatmeal mixture into a bowl.
Add approximately 3/4 cup of water to oatmeal.
Microwave for 1-2 minutes.

Add milk, cream, butter, dried fruits or nuts ... whatever you enjoy mixed into your oatmeal.

See my funny pink label on top ;)  It also has the recipe written on it so I don't have to look it up each time.

And just how easy is that?!
You get waaayy more for your money going this route!

And if you need it on the go, just put the desired amount into a small ziploc bag
for a portable, quick breakfast.

This recipe makes it easy to RISE & SHINE!

Who doesn't love a party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday     DIY Home Sweet Home    The Girl Creative    Make It Yourself Monday     C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    A Delightsome Life   A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    The Thrifty Home     A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Between Naps on the Porch   Making Home Base      Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday    The Dedicated House   Rooted in Thyme    French Country Cottage
              The Thrifty Groove     Farm Blog Hop
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things    Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways

Simple Christmas in the Dining Room

There's something so appealing about simple.

Not too fussy.

Not overdone.

Our dining room table is all about simple this year.

Simple.

The first thing I started with was the new table runner that I got last year after Christmas

at Kohl's for 90% off.

That & my quilted poinsettias place mats.

Those were purchased with Christmas money from my mom & dad a couple years ago

{Walmart}.

I decided not to use all the garland that I usually put on our stairway, so I added a piece of it to the table.

As for my ironstone plates, 6 I found at Goodwill a year or so ago ... 

and 2 are from another set that was given to me by a sweet friend.

At this point, I began trying different things on the table until I finally had a light bulb moment ...

to use my collection of pitchers straight off the shelves in my china cabinet!

Several of them are ironstone & several of them are not.

I've picked them up at flea markets, antique stores, Home Goods, Old Time Pottery, & yard sales.

Each are unique in their own way.

The discolored & cracked ones are my favorites.

I am nuts about pine cones & use them throughout the house from fall til spring.

They were the perfect pairing with the pitchers.

I raided my candle box & tucked various ones here and there along the edge of the garland.

The tapers with the "P", along with the burlap-trimmed base were a gift from a sweet friend.

I used several of my ironstone saucers to sit candles on ... or underneath the small pitchers.

The clear glass votive candle cups were clearanced to a quarter each at Hobby Lobby this summer.

When it all came together, it quickly became one of my favorite tablescapes ever.

What's especially nice, none of this decor has to be moved to use the table ...

and do we ever use this table!

Not only do we eat dinner here nightly, we school here during the day.

Oh ... the little spiral standing book on the left is from Focus on the Family.

Different times during the year, I'll add it to the table.

It's a conversation starter ... questions for thoughts & discussions, meant to get the family talking.

Some are serious, some are fun.

We enjoy doing a few of these each night.

The china cabinet is hard to photograph, but here it is from across the table.

And yes, I took the pic before I remember to get my plates in the plate hangers.

They are just simple ironstone plates.

After taking most of my pitchers to use on the table, I had to reposition & add in a few things.

The snowman on the lower shelf is especially cute cause his orange carrot nose lights up.

All in all, it's a simple display of the things I love so much.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour.

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things 

 - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness.” 

Bob Hope

 

Merry Christmas

from

Call Her Blessed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who doesn't love a party?!
You can find me here linking up with these great blogs.
Monday         Make It Yourself Monday        The Better Mom       C.R.A.F.T     
Tuesday    A Bowl Full of Lemons    Titus Tuesday      A Stroll Through Life
Wednesday   Raising Homemakers        Savvy Southern Style         Adorned From Above
                   Women Living Well    The Thrifty Home     A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Thursday    Making Home Base      Serving Joyfully     Lamberts Lately
Friday     French Country Cottage   The Thrifty Groove      Farm Blog Hop
Sunday    Nifty Thrifty Things    Suburbsmama    Sew Many Ways