I was going to write about this prior to Vday to give y’all a free gift idea, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise to Jonathan.  Sorry, I guess I love him more.

Anyway, here’s a gift you can do at any time, not just Vday:

I covered some canisters with paper and stickers.

Here are the rules:

His & Hers Requests

-Write 46 things (since there are 46 weeks left in the year) that we want the other spouse to do with us or with us.

-Put those sheets of paper in your canister, and then we will swap canisters.

-On Sundays, we will each pull a strip of paper out of each other’s jar, and we’ll have to do whatever the spouse asked for.
-We will have the whole week to do the request.

-We will put the papers (with the writing hidden) on our bathroom mirror as a reminder.

On Sunday, Jonathan and I each drew one strip of paper (his were blue; mine were pink).

I don’t know what he’ll be doing for me or when, but I’m pretty nervous about what I’m supposed to do for him.  I’ll update you after I do his request.

I got this idea from an article I read, and I was happy that Jonathan was super excited about this project.  Yea for a good, free gift!  This way, we can work on showing love in the ways we want to receive it.

Do you have any good, cheap ideas for gifts??

Here’s the tutorial for how to make a crinkle square mini blanket with taggies like the one below for a baby.  It’s super easy, quick, and doesn’t cost much.  If you don’t have ribbon on hand, that might be your biggest expense. 

Supplies

• thread
• 2 squares of flannel (I used 9×9 inches)
• ribbons cut to about 4 inches long and folded in half (I used 4 big pieces, 4 medium pieces, and 4 skinny pieces)
• crinkly sheet/package, the same size as your flannel (I used a wrapper from a sample diaper I got in the mail).  Some other options: wipes package, microwave popcorn wrappers, chips bag, clear gift wrap . . . Just make sure that you cut your flannel pieces to whatever size your crinkle sheet ends up being
  

Directions

1. Put one piece of flannel right side up and pin ribbons along the edges with the cut sides off of the flannel.  between the two pieces of material (wrong sides together).
2. Put the second flannel sheet on top of the ribbons right side down.
3. Put the crinkle sheet on top of the flannel and pin all layers together.
4. Sew along all the edges– except, make sure to leave a big enough section not sewn so that you can turn the blanket right side out.  Take the pins out.
5. After sewing, turn the blanket right side out.
6. Then, sew all the way around the square, and you’re done!

   

Back in November, we decided to grow my daughters hair out, but her hair kept getting in her eyes.  Bows come in and out easily, so I decided I’d try to make her some headbands.  You could make some for yourself, too, and your daughter might be extra excited about wearing headbands, just like Mommy.

Materials Needed:

• material
• an elastic hair band/ponytail holder without the metal
• coordinating thread

Instructions

1. Measure around your toddler’s head to the nape of her neck.
2. Cut your material to the appropriate size and iron flat.  [Cut a rectangle that is double the width of what you want your headband to end up, plus about 1/2 in for seam allowance and 3 inches less than measurement you got from step 1.  I think I cut mine 3.5 x 15.5inches.  If you want it to be reversible with two different patterns, cut accordingly.]
3. Measure in on the bottom ends in about 1/2 “  on each side and mark, draw a line up to the top corners and you will have a tapered rectangle.
4. Fold right sides together “hot dog style” and iron flat.
5. Then pin together and sew around, but leave a “U shape” opening in the bottom, as if you were sewing a pillow.
6. Turn tube of fabric inside out and iron flat.  Also, fold a 1/4 inch or so on each end and iron down.
7. Put elastic pony tail on one end inside the flap created in step 6.  Fold the 1/4 over the pony tail, and sew straight down.
8. Do the same with the other side.
9. And you’re all done.

I made the headband in the pictures and a pink one.  I also made a reversible one: one side black and one side red.  Abi loves them.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Just a little note to say that I have done a few crafty projects that I thought I’d share with you . . . sometime.  I just need to write up some tutorials.  So, you can look forward to learning how to make:

• Baby Square Crinkle Mini Blanket

• Fabric Headbands

• Baby Legwarmers (I’m still working on these, so I haven’t uploaded the pictures, yet.

I love these soaps from Bath and Body Works.  Not only do they smell great, but they’re soft on your hands, and it’s so much easier for Abi to wash her hands with the “bubble soap.”

I had even put them on my wish list for Christmas this year because we just ran out of the bottles in our kitchen and guest bathroom.  Then, I discovered there might be a way to make the foaming soap with regular soap and save lots of money.  Easy and super quick.

Ingredients

• An empty bottle of Bath & Body Works Gentle Foaming Hand soap
• Any liquid antibacterial soap (I used Bath & Body Works)

Directions

1. Put about an inch of the liquid soap into the empty foaming bottle.
2. Pour water into the bottle pretty slowly.
3. Screw the lid on, and turn the bottle upside down slowly several times.  Try not to shake it up because it’ll get too soapy.  And you’re finished!

Also, you could just keep pouring a little water into your regular Bath & Body works Foamy Soap whenever it gets a low.

*In these pictures I used a creamy hand soap, which didn’t work as well as when I used a liquid hand soap.

You can make a personalized video from Santa Claus to your child for FREE.

You fill out a short checklist about what your child’s name, what your child looks like, where he’s from, what he wants for Christmas, etc.

You can also upload a picture so that when Santa opens his “Naughty or Nice Book,” your child can see his photo.

To get an idea of what your video clip might look like, you can click here to see the video I made for my daughter.

And click here to make your own video.

SeeHere’s Deals:

• 50 Free 4×8 photo cards.  It comes with free envelopes and FREE shipping, too!  You pay nothing!  Use code: freebies4mom-1109.  Expires Monday, November 30.
• ANOTHER 50 Free 4×8 photo cards when you used the code: newbaby. You need to order these separately from the others.
  
• If you’re new to SeeHere, you can also get 100 free photo prints using code: prints.  You do have to pay for s&h.  You have to order these separately from the others.

CVS:

• 10 free greeting cards with code 10FREE. I think you can get free shipping to a CVS pharmacy nearby.
  

Baby & Kids

• Little Movers Huggies Diapers Sample

Food & Drink

• Wear a Sports Team shirt, and receive a FREE  Chick Fil A Chicken Sandwich only on Labor Day 9/7
• Bear Naked Granola
• Kashi Cereal Sample
• FruitaBu Smooshed Fruit when you join the Squad
• Persimmon Tea
• Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters

Health & Beauty

• Exederm sample pack
  
• 12-ct Cankermelts product.  Expires 9/15
• Cankermelts 2 ct sample
• Carefree Ultra Protection Liners
• Tampax Pearl
• Playtex Gentle Glide 
  
• Playtex Sport
• Kotex Overnight
• 6 piece Kotex sample
• Stayfree
• Handmade Soap
• Emergen-C Sample
• Zyrtec sample

Other

• Free Bowling on Sept 5 with this coupon
• free personalized greeting card. Use code: SENDHOPE

Some tips about requesting samples or buying anything online.  I’ve never had any problems; these are just me being extra careful.

1. I always put Mrs in the “first name” column– not my first name.
2. I type in a fake number if they ask for a phone number.
3. I have set up an email account that I only use for requesting samples.  Be sure to do this, so you don’t fill up your personal email account with newsletters.
   
4. I don’t give my correct birth date; I type the same year I was born, but I mix up the month and day.
   

Be patient for your samples, some of them take up to 8-12 weeks to come.  Check out the past weeks’ samples, as many of them are still good.

Baby & Kids

• Parent’s Choice Formula

Food & Drink

• Atomic Energy Bites.  apparently they’re charging around 80 cents to ship it, so it’s not completely free
• Fruit Juicer

Health & Beauty

• Aveda Smooth Infusions shampoo, conditioner and Style Prep Smoother.  Take coupon to store.
• NoDoz Alertness Aid
• Feminine Products
• Dove Shampoo

Some tips about requesting samples or buying anything online.  I’ve never had any problems; these are just me being extra careful.

1. I always put Mrs in the “first name” column– not my first name.
2. I type in a fake number if they ask for a phone number.
3. I have set up an email account that I only use for requesting samples.  Be sure to do this, so you don’t fill up your personal email account with newsletters.
   
4. I don’t give my correct birth date; I type the same year I was born, but I mix up the month and day.
   

Be patient for your samples, some of them take up to 8-12 weeks to come.  Check out the past weeks’ samples, as many of them are still good.