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Wonderful Gift

My Niece and Maiden’s bestest of the best friend, E, turned 10 today. I wanted to do something special for this special niece to mark such a special birthday. She and Maiden like/love the same things and both have really been bathing beauties (Maiden is now known for half hour plus soaks!) and are into spa treatments. So that’s what I did. I made E her own spa bag. I purchased some packets of spa treatments at Wal-mart for 88 cents (for hair, face and feet) added a nail brush and 2 of those little foam toe separators (do these have a real name?) that I picked up at a dollar store and had in my gift closet and topped it off with a itty bitty bottle of nail polish and a handmade (knit by me, the aunt) washcloth in her favorite colors.
I was thrilled to see how excited E got about the gift. I love it when I get it right and give a gift that is really, really just perfectly fit for that individual. So I’ve made note of this and will replenish my stash of spa stuff in my gift closet for the future. Oh and by the way- the entire gift cost under $5- gotta love that!
So this I add to my Year of Abundance. This was abundant giving at its best- from the heart more than the wallet! Lovely!
And while I’m thinking of it- this would be a great gift to give to a new or expecting mom . . . heck- this is a great gift for ANY mom!

Found a treasure at home

It just so happened that I was digging through my linen closet today looking for a lost pillow case when I happened upon an old table cloth that I had completely forgotten about.
Here's the table cloth on my kitchen table with our primroses (each girl bought one and then I bought one for myself $2 each). It's in need of ironing but I wanted to quick put it on to see if it would fit the table.

I found the cloth years ago at Goodwill for $1.50. It has a light stain on it that I've never been able to get out but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying it over the years. I admit it got buried in the nether regions of my linen closet because of me not wanting to have it out with small children. But today it hit me- what use is this to me if I don't put it out and enjoy it?
I mean, it's not perfect, it's already got a stain on it! What horrible harm can the kids do to it? And I need to remember that I did only pay $1.50 for the thing!
So here is an addition to my Year of Abundance . . . . . a beautiful table cloth to be enjoyed by all and some lovely little flowers to boot!

Abundance found second hand

Celebrating abundance by being frugal when it comes to clothing purchases . . . . .

I try to avoid shopping- other than groceries. For the obvious reason that it causes me to spend money! :o) However, we met my sil at the local Goodwill on Saturday to pick up our girls and Mr. Steady wanted to pop in to see about some new jeans for work and also to find another pair for me as he’s concerned about the dwindling amount of decent jeans in my dresser drawers! Isn’t he thoughtful?!
Well, he found 2 pairs ($3.99 each), I found one pair plus a nice pair of jean shorts (not too short- about 2 inches above the knee which are hard to find! $4.99 each- hey why are my jeans more expensive than his??? Anyhoo it was worth buying ahead . . . .)
Got Mr. Conductor a fleece hoodie with sweatshirt lining inside ($2.99). A long torso striped sweater and long sleeve, long torso polo shirt for Sassafras ($2.99 and $3.99 respectively) which will help with those blue jeans that her Gram bought her that can’t seem to stay up . . . . . even with a belt! Oh and I didn’t forget Maiden- a very nice magenta hoodie and beautiful blue eyelet blouse ($2.99 and $3.99). I could have bought more but I resisted. I work hard not to purchase something unnecessarily just because it’s a great deal! In fact, the purchases for Mr. Steady, Sassafras and myself were quite necessary as was the blouse for Maiden. Mr. Conductor could have lived just fine without the fleece- however it will come in quite handy with layering for colder temps (and to be completely honest I didn’t want to leave him out!).
We are due to go thru dressers again- pulling out what doesn’t fit and making lists. Maiden has shot up and rounded out in the middle- we’ve already set aside 3 pairs of jeans/pants that are too tight or too short and passed yet another pair down to Sassafras. Speaking of Sass- she’s outgrown at least 3 shirts, 2 sweaters and ruined another sweater plus a pair of blue jeans. Not to worry as Gram has filled in some of the gaps for her.
One other way I make do here is purchasing a couple of solid colored long sleeve long torso t-shirts (one in white and the other in a color each girl wears often). I then have the  girls layer these long sleeve shirts under short sleeve T-shirts—effectively enlarging our wardrobe choices and getting more wear from T-shirts that will soon be completely outgrown.
Maiden is petite for her age as well as long legged. Sassafras is tall for her age and long torso-ed so passing down clothing isn’t always an option. They wear the same size in shirts and dresses. Sometimes though the clothes that will fit one girl well won’t work on the other so we can’t swap much here. Obviously second hand is the way to go!
In the past, I have gone thru our clothing separating piles for resale, give away and toss. I would take a large quantity of clothing to a local consignment shop where I could get (50% consignment) $$ for my clothing. The money this generated would then be put towards purchasing needed clothing for the kiddos. Rarely would I need to dip into the coffers to purchase clothing so this system has worked great for us for years. Unfortunately, the consignment shop has closed as have at least 3 other local consignment shops within the past six months.
Now what do I do? I'm not too sure about eBay and if its worth it or not . . . .

Vampires

Drying out

Some of our Abundance

I've been thinking more about this Year of Abundance and how/what to implement in my life.
One thing we are trying to be more aware of here at home is electricity- especially lights.
I have a tendence to leave certain lights on all day long. Yikes. We also weren't doing well about turning off lights in rooms no one is in. For example: we'd all be in the kitchen eating supper and left 2 lamps on in the living room and the hall light on. I've always been one to turn all the living room lamps on and the kitchen light (it's got 6 bulbs in it!) when it begins to get dark and leave them all on until bed time.
We are slowly changing our way of thinking and have implemented a family fine of 10 cents for every light left on. If a light is left in for a long time the fine goes up- for example: Maiden left the garage light on all afternoon (about 3 hours) and was charged 35 cents.
We have also begun to purchase those new long lasting, energy saving light bulbs and are very pleased . (one note: we have found we can't put them in our lighted ceiling fan as the friction/movement of the fan makes the bulb burn out fast). These bulbs are especially great for bedrooms and bathrooms because when first turned on they are dimmer [than their full wattage] and then warm up to full light- great for adjusting your bleary eyes!

A year of abundance

 This post by Sallie over at A Gracious Home got me thinking- which then got me praying . . . .
And I am thinking and praying that I too must see 2007 as a Year of Abundance and I too will be challenging myself to live more frugally (and we live mighty frugal here!) and mostly live by a motto I have always loved:
Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without!
Sallie sums up what I want to do with this: "This saying is already a part of my life in many ways, but I know I can do a much better job. And I would also enjoy the feeling of being a good steward of using the things I already have in my home rather than bringing more home to add to the stash. I also want to focus on the spiritual and relational abundance I have and how that comes into play with the material abundance." This is my heart too. This is what I want to challenge myself with for 2007.
So I'm going to try and trim my grocery bill even lower. I'm going to try to purchase second hand before buying new and I'm going to challenge myself mightly not to buy new unless it is absolutely necessary (like underwear! LOL). I'm going to give freely of my abundance (such as outgrown clothes to a friend in need or our local free store). I want any redecorating/remodeling we do here at home to be as frugal as possible.
And I'm going to try to keep track of this Year of Abundance right here. Hopefully being help accountable will keep me on track!
Sallie has set up a link for the many individuals that want to join her in Celebrating A Year of Abundance.