It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas......

"The manner of giving is worth more than the gift." ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

Okay, well maybe it's not exactly looking a lot like Christmas yet, but it is definitely right around the corner. And in these hard economic times, I don't have to tell you, that buying Christmas gifts for every one on our lists can be somewhat overwhelming, if not, down right impossible.

So, today, I am going to share with you an idea that is not only personal, handmade, easy, and cute, but it is also cheap inexpensive.

It is a scrapbook made out of brown paper lunch sacks.

I made this scrapbook of our family (and friend's) vacation to the beach.

This scrapbook took about six paper lunch sacks (folded in the middle and stacked by alternating ends of the sacks), and I used a hole puncher to punch holes in the "binding area." Then I used white yarn to tie it all together. You could also use decorative ribbon, or really anything that would compliment the pictures or occasion that you are placing in the scrapbook.

Here is a picture of the front of my scrapbook. (If you don't mind, just pretend that you don't notice the torn "e" in Mahoney. Thanks!)



Followed, of course, by the back.



Please feel completely free to ignore us in this picture.



Sigh.



We had such a great time with our boys on this trip.



Pay no attention to the hat that I am wearing in this picture; I had to wear it to help cover up some hair related issues that I was dealing with. *sniff*sniff*



Is it just me, or do the boys look like they are tired of posing for my pictures?;)



I had been saving these night time stickers for the perfect occasion, and I think hermit crab hunting worked well with them.



I do love me some Shannon at the beach.



Sigh.

The room we reserved said it had an "ocean view." It did indeed have an ocean view; the brochure just forgot to mention that you had to peek between two buildings to see it.



The boys really loved playing in the pool. Mainly because of the lack of jellyfish and sharks swimming in it. (A child was attacked by a shark just a little ways down the beach from where we were staying; we unfortunately heard that on the local news while we were in the condo. I am a HUGE "Jaws" fan....on television though, not so much in person.)



The picture of the boys playing in the sand and our friend playing in the ocean was a little too big to fit in the area that I had to work with, so I cropped the picture to fit, but that cut our friend out of the ocean. So, if you look closely, you will notice that I cut her out and placed her in the water closer to the boys. Problem solved.



Aren't I clever? ;)

This last picture is one of Shannon's and my favorite memories; the boys look perfectly miserable at the beach. LOL!:)



We keep teasing the boys each year that we are going to use that picture for our annual Christmas card. LOL! They don't seem to think that joke is as funny as Shannon and I do though.;)

Of course, the possibilities are endless with this idea. For example, if someone you know has a new baby, you could use white paper lunch sacks, and use blue and pink stickers and paper embellishments, and fill the book with that year's milestones for the baby, such as a new tooth, first time to crawl, first steps, etc.
This would also be a great gift for grandparents, newlyweds, high school students, teachers, etc.

And you can see that even though the scrapbook is "small," you can still fit stickers and words on the pages to personalize it, and really make it cute. Not only that, if you would need to send the gift via the postal service, it would not cost a lot of money, because it is not big and doesn't weigh very much at all.

So, now it's your turn, do you have any handmade, cheap inexpensive gift-giving ideas? If so, please share.

"It isn't the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it." ~Eileen Elias Freeman

♫ At Last ♫

I have mentioned in a previous post about the soaring price of gasoline, and its effect on my family.

Well, the price of gasoline is not the only thing that is affecting my family; the price of Starbucks coffee is affecting us as well. Starbucks coffee is ridiculously very pricey. If you think about it, a cup of Starbucks, depending on where you live of course, is more expensive than a gallon of gas. I'm just saying.

However, I looooove to go to Starbucks and order a Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light (for Amy). But with times being hard all over lately, I have had to learn how to do some things myself in order to be more resourceful.




Oh, stop! I'm kidding. I said resourceful not illegal.

In my effort to be cheap more resourceful, I have come up with my own bootleg version of a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Light. Now granted, it doesn't taste anything exactly like their drink, but it's close enough to perfect for me. (Isn't that a country song?)

Anyway, since I have been asked twice numerous times how to make my version of this drink, I thought I would share my secrets with you. You know, in an effort to help you be more resourceful too. Just think of today's post as very valuable money saving information. Or not.

Here is a photo of what you will need to get started bootlegging making your own.



The first thing to do is fill your Starbucks cup about 3/4 of the way full of ice cubes. (Yes, I saved my original Starbucks cups...what about it?)

Then dump the ice into the blender. Like so. (Dump is a technical term that I like to use in my kitchen. If you are confused by that technical terminology, let me explain, to dump also means to pour. I realize not everyone is as fluent as me in this technical terminology.)



Measure one-fourth a cup of milk. (I use fat free milk, but you can use any milk that you have on hand; although, I would frown upon the use of breast milk. I'm just saying.) Then all you do is dump pour it into your Starbucks cup.



Now add one packet of Sweet'n Low to the milk. (You can use Splenda or sugar if you prefer. I use Sweet'n Low, because my momma does.)



Next I add about 2-3 teaspoons of instant coffee to the mixture. (You may or may not notice in the picture that I am using a children's medicine cup to measure my coffee with. Since I have collected about 78 of these cups over the years, I thought I might as well put them to good use. These medicine cups work very well for this bootlegging resourceful experience.)



Now, using the same medicine cup, I am adding about 3 teaspoons of sugar free caramel syrup into to the cup. (You can use regular syrups if you prefer....I would, but I would gain three pounds just thinking about regular syrups, so I have to stick with the sugar free kind. But please feel free to substitute any of these ingredients. You will be drinking the one you make, not me. So it is important that you like it. I don't think I will gain three pounds if you drink it, but you never know. Come to think of it, just don't talk to me about it; that way we know that I won't gain any weight. Thanks for your cooperation.)



The next step is adding in 3 teaspoons of sugar free vanilla syrup. (Remember to please not talk to me about the use of regular syrups in this recipe. Thanks again.)



Time now to add about 3 teaspoons of the coffee syrup. It is a very thick syrup, so it will probably not all come out of the cup, but that won't hurt anything. (I have only been able to find this syrup at Wal-Mart. Let me know if you know of another store to purchase it at.)



Up next is my favorite ingredient of all.........sugar free chocolate syrup. Mmmmmmm.
I add 3 teaspoons of this to the mixture.



But, I like it so much that I add another 3 teaspoons, just because. Mmmmmmmmmm.



Like the coffee syrup, the chocolate syrup is also very thick. Since it would be a criminal act to waste any of that chocolatey goodness, I now fill the medicine cup up with water to mix with the chocolate syrup left in the cup. I then proceed to dump pour the water/chocolate combo into the coffee mixture.



And since there is usually still some chocolate left in the medicine cup, I add water one more time, and dump pour it into the coffee mixture as well.



Now get a spoon and mix all these yummy ingredients together. Like so.



Dump Pour all of the chocolatey coffee goodness over the ice in the blender.



It should look something like this.



This next step is probably the most important step of all. Make sure to put the lid on the blender before starting it. Trust me on this one. (I'm just trying to help you people.)



Now set the blender on the High speed and blend. (Mom, I apologize. I didn't realize quite how filthy the outside of my blender was until I saw this picture on my computer. Sorry. And to everyone else reading this, my filthy housekeeping habits are absolutely no reflection of the way my mother raised me.)



Once all the ice chunks are gone, and the mixture is well blended.....you are ready to dump pour the drink into your cup.



You can drink it just like this....but I wouldn't recommend it.



I recommend topping it off with whipped cream, fat free of course.



Ahhhhhhh......come to momma!



One sip of this chocolatey coffee goodness and I start hearing Etta James singing in my ears......

♫
At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
At last the skies above are blue
And my heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you
I found a dream that I can speak to
A dream that I could call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
You smiled, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
And you are mine at last
♫

Of course, I can't promise that you will hear Etta James singing in your ear while you drink it, but I always do.......

When your cup looks like this......



......you will know that you are finished enjoying your bootleg resourceful drink.

And now this long post is finally over......♫ At Last! ♫