Thrifty Thursday: Yarn-Tainer Knock-Off

Today's Thrifty Thursday is a bit of a tutorial, as well as being thrifty, and needs a bit of explaining first.

I do a lot of crochet/knit projects, which means I use a lot of yarn.  And I've seen these really cool Yarn-Tainers at Joanns that look super convenient, but they're pretty pricey.  At least, they're more than cheap ol' me would like to spend.

See how it contains the yarn and feeds it so nicely through the hole on top?!  It was yarn-user's love at first sight.

Anyway, Matthew and I were in Joanns one day, and I was yearning for said yarn holders but refusing to spend the money.  We left the store - me a little heartbroken - and walked a little ways down to the Dollar Tree (one of my favorite places - again, I'm cheap).  I was browsing through the container aisle when a thought struck me.  I could turn a container into a yarn holder for just pennies (100 to be exact)!

I grabbed the container and briskly found my way to Matthew, wherever he was browsing at the time, and told him my idea.  And he thought it was awesome - he's all about being cheap (we're made for each other)!

Here's how to make your own:

• Purchase a plastic container from the Dollar Tree with a screw on top that's big enough to fit the skein of yarn you would like to use.  (I happened to have yarn on me at the time - we'd just left Joanns, remember - and used that to figure it out.  Mine is 3 quarts.)
• Take it home and have your handy-man - or do it yourself if you're skilled enough (I'm not) - drill a hole in the top of the container that's big enough to feed your yarn through.
• Smooth the hole down with a file, if you need to.
• Feed the yarn through the bottom of the lid, and put the rest of the skein inside your container. 
• Screw on the lid, and you're good to go!

I saved approximately $7 using this method, and I'm pretty darn proud of that!  How's that for being thrifty?!

Happy thrifting!

Thrifty Thursday: FREE Cell Phone PostCards

This week's Thrifty Thursday is this cool deal I heard about from my mom - aren't moms the best!  Send 10 FREE postcards, postage included, using your own pictures just for signing up here.  You can even send them straight from your cellphone (no smartphone needed)!

Here's what you do:

• Go to www.cellphonepostcards.com.
• Sign up for a new account and use the promo code: CP2.
• Verify your email address from the email you receive after you click "Submit", and you should automatically be awarded 10 FREE postcards (including postage).

Enjoy your freebies!

Day-by-Day Themes

One of my goals for this blog is to have 6 weekly entries: 1 for each weekday & 1 for the weekend.  I think having a theme for each entry will make the blog more interesting and also give me a guideline to follow - instead of thinking to myself, "Um...what should I blog about today?"  So with that, I give you the day-by-day themes:

"Made for Monday" will feature something that is made, whether I've made it or it's a guest blogger who has made something.  Either way, Mondays will feature some sort of craft-ish tutorial.  

Not completely unlike "Made for Monday", "Tasteful Tuesday" will feature a recipe that I've tried or that is from a guest blogger. 

"Words of Wisdom Wednesday" will feature some sort of wise words.  This may come from almost any source (i.e., the Bible or a quote) and will include my thoughts on the it. 

"Thrifty Thursday" will - obviously - focus on being thrifty.  In this day and age, frugality is vogue, especially with my limited budget.  Therefore, I'd like to offer up some sort of thrifty idea, advice, or deal that I've come across.

"Finale Friday" will be my chance to sum up my week and/or give updates on what's going on in my life.  I will also likely include goals for the next week for a bit of accountability.  I realize this may not be interesting to everyone, but my family likes to know how I'm doing every once in a while.  ;)  And this is one of the easiest mediums to use since I don't have time to talk to each family member over the phone every week!

Because the weekends are usually filled with laziness stuff to do, I've decided that "Word-Free Weekend" posts will be simply pictures.  After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?!

::Side Note::

Every once in a while you'll get to see a "Bonus Blog."  These are basically just blog posts that don't necessarily fit into any of these themes and are added at random points during the week.  No added costs.  ;)

So that's the plan.  Since this blog is a sort of in an experimental stage, it's possible that these themes may change.  And who knows, I might just get crazy and deviate from the themes every once in a while just to spice things up a bit!