This guest post is provided by Crazy Daze Designs!

About the author: I’m Andi, a frugal and busy SAHW. I’m married to my best friend and I’m addicted to sweet tea and Diet Dr. Pepper. I love a bargain, love to craft and help others learn to do the same.

What you’ll need:

Blank wooden frame

acrylic paint (I used Plaid White and True Teal)

scrapbook paper

white cardstock

Krylon Triple Thick Crystal Clear Glaze

sponge brush

craft glue

Step 1:

Remove the glass and prime frame with 2 coats of white paint and let dry thoroughly. Then paint 2 coats of your desired color and let dry. Follow that by spraying the entire frame with the Krylon Triple Thick Crystal Clear Glaze. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area like outside (my husband gets mad when I do this in the house). Let the frame dry really well before handling again, ask me how I know!

Step 2:

While that is drying, pick out a Subway Art motto that you would like to use or create something fun yourself. I found mine  at Kiki Creates. You can also search “Free Subway Art” on Google for more ideas.

I was trying to use the red and teal design on Kiki Creates but didn’t realize until it printed that I was out of magenta ink. Luckily, I love the way it turned out. To make it fit in my frame, I scaled it down to size in Photoshop and printed from there. To make sure the colors show up nice and bold, print it on white cardstock. This should also help it stay sturdy in the frame.

Step 3:

This is my favorite part – embellishing the frame! I chose to make some 3D flowers and leaves using my Silhouette and then glued them to the frame. You can find some ideas to make handmade flowers on my round-up here.

How you embellish the frame is totally up to you. You can use ribbons, buttons, stickers or vinyl cut outs. Personalize it and make it your own.

You now have a completely customized piece of art for your home or to give as a gift!

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Here’s a great idea to give a FREE Valentines gift to your spouse or S/O and still have it meaningful… create a personalized coupon booklet!

I know some of you may do this and others may think it’s something for a child to do but adults can do it too and from experience, your spouse WILL appreciate it as long as you follow through with the coupons!

How it works:

Create a booklet with things you’d like to offer your spouse, it could be anything from a 30min massage to a day with no chores to something a bit more romantic, use your imagination! And during the year at anytime your spouse can “cash in” a coupon with you and at that time you do whatever is on there.

It may be a bit tiresome to think “I don’t want this held over my head for a year” but to be honest… it could be a very good thing for your marriage also, especially the romantic coupons

I’ve created some coupon templates for you to use if you’d like, they are blank so you can write it whatever idea you’d like.

Download the Coupon Book template (PDF file)

Some ideas to use :

A romantic dinner for two

A 5 minute knock out kiss

One hour of uninterrupted free time

A weekend getaway

A romantic rendezvous of your choice

Breakfast in bed

Personal 30 minute massage

24 hours of no arguments

24 hours of no chores

A kid free day for just the two of us

A day of watching any DVD of your choice

One evening out with the guys

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Here’s a fun craft to do to spice up your kitchen, living room, hallway, wherever you want to put it! I’ve always loved the look of a decorative chalkboard but never wanted to pay the prices I saw online so I headed to the hobby store to get some material and make it!

What you’ll need:

12×12 board (you can use whatever size you like, if you have a large board that you can cut it comes out even cheaper) – $3.99 at Michaels

Wooden frames to go around your board – $.99-$2.99 at Michaels

Chalkboard paint – $4.99 at Michaels

Acrylic paint in your choice of color – $.99 to $2.99 at Michaels

Wood Glue

Drill

Total for this project = $12 with plenty of paint to spare
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Here’s a fun craft to do that is super cheap and easy! You can typically find these Redneck Wine Glasses on sale for anywhere from $8-$15 but you can also create them yourself or as little as $2 each!

You can also use these for more than just a redneck wine glass, get creative and throw some paint or other decoratives on there and make them into candle holders!

What you’ll need:

1 – Mason Jar (find then at Dollar Tree for just $1 or by the case)

1 – Small candlestick holder (find them at Dollar Tree for just $1)

1 – E-6000 craft glue (find it at Walmart for $2.)

1 – Sanding paper (find it in your hubby’s garage)

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Ever wonder what you’re going to do with all those free samples you get in the mail and the free trial size items in store? I typically like to store mine in a bin for when we go on vacation I can quickly grab what we’ll need. They are also fantastic for donating to the Ronald McDonald House and other charities!

But there’s also another unique way to use those samples, I had a reader suggest this a few months back and I thought it was a fantastic idea, one i’d never thought of before.

Take all the samples and place them in a basket for your house guest! Stock them up with body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, mouth wash, etc. Items that some guest may forget to bring with them and that way you’re not having to constantly hand out your full size products for each guest to use. Not to mention  it’s a nice “welcome gift” for house guest, our friend told us he felt like he was staying at a hotel when he saw the basket of goodies to use!

(I do recommend having the guest take certain items with them or discard after use such as razors, toothbrush, deodorant, mouthwash, etc)

My husband and I have tried a lot of methods to balance our bills since we’ve been married. One of our older methods was to cash our paychecks instead of deposit them. That evening we would set aside what goes to what bill and what remains for groceries, gas, etc etc. Well that method didn’t work too well for us because we can’t keep track of where the cash goes and I don’t like that. We spend cash quicker than anyone because it’s there and at the end of the week I can’t figure out where it went!

After that method flopped horribly we stopped using cash all together. And while it is a pain at times to only have a debit card, it stops needless spending and I can track where every penny goes! I write every single debit transaction in our checkbook and balance it a few times a week so we always know what we have.

Our new bill method is also quite a bit more organized and works great for us, so I thought I’d share! I actually write all our bills for the month on a planner we have…  [Read more...]