Spoooooky Celebration!!

For this week's Shop Hop I would like to highlight the upcoming Spooooky Celebration with the Online Craft Mall. 
I've updated my Online Craft Mall squidoo lens to include this information as well. 

Ralyn, the owner of the online craft mall is working hard to bring back our online parties. The Spoooky Celebration is a great one to start with. She spends a lot of time putting together haunted houses to go through as part of the games and things. (Games get you entries to win prizes) 

If you sell online, we hope you will consider joining us for the celebration. Spots are just $5 each for 45 minutes of presentation time. If you know others who sell online, please help us spread the word. I hope to see all of you joining us for the fun, games, prizes, and sales too! Please click the banner for full information. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

 

In other news, I've listed 2 more items in my etsy store:

Cotton Crocheted Washcloths Set of 3 in Black and Sage

Baby Bibs Set of 2 with Pebbles

I also got 2 more items moved over to my zibbet store:

Strip (or String) Quilt

Strip Quilt Pillows

I also updated my Zazzle Custom Postage Stamps squidoo page again.  I didn't add anything new but put in about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

I added just 2 more books to my half.com.  Is there a way to promote just the books you have for sale there?  I was looking but I'm not seeing anything like the about me page over on ebay.

That's all for me this week.  I want to thanks Ruthi of abitosunshine for offering this shop hop blog hop for us.  It keeps me inspired to continue to work to add things to my shops.  Please click the button below and join us and/or support others who are working from home.

 

 

  

Frugal Friday Link Up 9/9/11

We've had some frugal dinners this week.

I picked up a bag of popcorn chicken on sale for $1. We picked up 2 bowls of chicken chow mein noodles for .99 each. We mixed it all together with some sweet and sour sauce my daughters boyfriend had brought home from work free. $2.98 for that quick meal on the run.

Another night I picked up a package of hot dogs for $1 at the store, along with some cottage cheese on sale for $1.25. We had bought a cantaloupe on sale for $1.99 a couple days before. I also opened up a can of baked beans we had bought for $1.38. This meal cost a total of $4.62 we had a decent meal. It was only the 3 of us eating so we had the same meal for lunch yesterday too. Two meals for $4.62. Pretty good.

Last night I pulled out items that we've had for awhile---and I do mean awhile! I found a package of boneless check breasts in the freezer along with a bag of spinach and a box of mixed veggies. I had cooked the chicken in the crockpot. I cooked up what was left of 2 different kinds of pasta in the cabinet, I add it to the chicken and a jar of Alfredo sauce I found in the back of the cabinet. I opened a can of applesauce that we had gotten with commodity foods. My husband works for Sara Lee so bread is always free. Add in some bread with supper and we had a good meal.

What's for supper tonight? I really have no idea!

Here are this week's tips from the 99 Cent Solutions book. We are still on baking soda!

1. Eat naked fruit. Give your fruits and veggies a baking soda bath. Dampen the produce with water, sprinkle a vegetable brush with baking soda and scrub before you eat them. Rinse well. This will remove the wax and reduces pesticides.

2. Be tender to tummies. A very tiny pinch in tomato soup, coffee or orange juice can prevent an acidic stomach for those with delicate stomachs.

3. Faux age wood. When putting new wood next to older wood you can stir in 1 cup of baking soda into a liter of water. Scrub the mixture into the wood with a stiff brush and splash on cool water to rinse. When it dries, the fresh new look will have faded.

4. Miracle for the microwave. Put one cup of water and a few tablespoons of baking soda into a glass container. Microwave on high for 3 minutes then easily remove all that baked on gunk and grime in a snap with a damp sponge.

5. No stick, no rust, no kidding ! For non-stick pans that food did stick to just scrub the spots with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Make sure to wet the sponge well to dissolve the baking soda to avoid scratching your non-stick. This also works to get rust off of cast iron.

That's it for me today. I hope to see lots of link ups this week!

Squidoo Hopping 9/8/11--Linky

Here we are to Thursday again. I did do a little updating of lenses this past week. Even including one of the ones I had thought of deleting. More on that one later.

I found out the concensus of the etsy module is that I will have to delete the modules and re-add them for them to be current on what I have for sale there. Since I am moving items over to zibbet I am going to add a black box module there with the link to my zibbet store. This all will hopefully by done over the weekend.

I updated my Gather--The BEST in Social Networking adding in my most recent payments rec'd. Oops, do need to add the last $30 though.

I updated my Zazzle Custom Postage Stamps lens. It hit me one evening to do the print screen in paint and then edit it down to just the stamp in order to get the picture. Each one is linkable to the stamp for sale, which is the way I wanted it. The sale I put in ended yesterday though so this is a lens that I can keep updating both as sales change and as I get more postage stamps created.

Then, I updated my Online Craft Mall lens. If you are a crafter, or sell anything online for that matter, please check out the Spooooky Celebration coming up the beginning of October. She is getting us back in to having the online parties. I had my own debates on whether I was going to sign up, but I do plan on signing up now. I will blog more about that later too.

Until next week--Happy Squidooing!

Wip Wednesday 9/7/11

I'm ashamed to say that this past week has been so busy away from home that I haven't had my sewing machine out since Monday before last!  This means that I didn't do any quilt work this past week.   For those of you who seen my yard sale post you know that I got some amazing deals on fabric and such.  I so want to get in to it and get started on bunches of things.  This week is also super busy and next week is the same.  When do things ever calm down so that I can stay home more often to get things done?

I do have the sewing machine out today for the day, and hopefully most of tomorrow and Friday as well.  I have been working on sewing the fabric bags so far.

Below is a picture of the fabric bags as of last night.  Since I have finished the 2 princess bags.  Since last week the gal added a few more bags to her order.  It's a good thing she's in no hurry to get her order.  I don't like to take this long to make an order, but since she ordered things I hadn't tried to make before she is understanding as well.

 I had stopped working on crocheting the washcloths for a couple of days and switched to making dish scrubbies.  We were having a yard sale and I had hoped to sell some (which I didn't).  I made 11 scrubbies before going back to the washcloths.  I've worked on them here and there and everywhere.  I still have quite a few to make with what yarn is next but do have another set of 3 to be listed in my etsy store.

 The only other thing I got done on the baby bibs was cutting them out.  I am in hopes of finishing one set to add to my etsy store by Saturday morning.

 I am linking with the following blogs:
 

Homeschool--What is Our Style? Help Me Decide

Going through the Hip Homeschool Moms blog, she has the Ultimate Homeschool Blogroll.   In this linky you can list your homeschool related blog in categories of how you homeschool.  There is Charlotte Mason, Classical, Eclectic, Montessori, Traditional, Unit-Based, Unschool, and Other on her list to choose where to place your blog.

First let me give a little background for those who don't know me.  I started homeschooling in 1999 with my oldest child, and only son.  He was doing very poorly in school after missing a lot of days with migraine headaches and then not caring anymore.  He blossomed at home with me.

The following year my 2 oldest daughters asked if they could be homeschooled too.  My son was in 10th grade at the time.  The following year curcumstances didn't allow me to homeschool but I did start with the girls.  They were in 8th and 5th grades.   My youngest was going to Headstart.

Circumstances again stopped me from homeschool my oldest daughter.  She got pregnant at the age of 14 and was gone from home for a time.  However, I continued to homeschool my middle daughter until she graduated high school.   I still homeschool my youngest daughter, who will be 15 October 9th and is in 9th grade this year.

We have always been a poor family, so buying a full set of curriculum has always been out of the question.  Along the way we've found some Bob Jones, Abeka, etc at yard sales or homeschool sales.  Book sales at the public library have been a Godsend as well as checking out books from the library.

So.....help me figure out just what homeschooling style we use.  I call is eclectic.
Currently we are reading out loud out of books I've checked out from the library pertaining to history and science (gardening).   I have bought the book Home-Ec 101 that we are currently reading out loud for Home Ec.  We read each day in a Guideposts for devotions.  We are working math out of the Math Doesn't Suck book because she has trouble understanding math.  At the same time she is also working out of Saxon Algebra 1/2 handed down from my middle daughter.  (I have all the teacher's editions to this set).  We are working Earth Science out of a text book that I picked up at one of the library book sales.  We are doing English out of a textbook, also bought at the library book sale.   I get books to read and review, those, along with books she chooses of her own at the library comprise her reading.  We attend Bible study at our church once a week.  She attends youth group at another church weekly.  Another thing we do is print out This Day in History papers to read out loud.  I also make some of these in to squidoo lenses.  She has books on drawing that she works in regularly for art. Bible study is big for Jasmine and she does this a lot on her own both in her own Bibles and through the internet.  This is all for now.

I am keeping track of time this year since she is high school and I want to make sure she is earning the proper credits to graduate.

What would you call our style?  If you care to, you can check out a couple of the lenses I have built on squidoo documenting our homeschool journey.  The first one is an old one when she wanted to attempt unschooling.  The second one is one from this past school year.    Please let me know what you think.
 Our Unschooling Journal

Our Homeschooling Journey 2010...

I'm going to build at least one this year.  My plan is rather than a journal type to highlight books we are using throughout the year.  This may or may not go in to a 2nd lens.  We do use a lot of books.

This is my first week to hook up with Hip Homeschooling Mom's and her weekly Hip Homeschool Hop.

 

Mailbox Monday 9/5/11

I got in quite a few magazines and a few other goodies.
Magazines--2 issues of Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, People, Time and Forbes
Oxy Clinical kit to review and giveaway on my blog
Suave dry shampoo spray, Sweet Pea & Violet lotion, and Body Wash for Men travel sizes and coupons.
Local area coupons
2 other pieces of hausernet mail.

In my church mailbox:  $80 check for cleaning in July and August (getting married I forgot to turn in my time sheet for July  LOL)

In my inbox:
$30 total paypal from gather
.14 paypal from matesgate (if I was more active here it would be more, but it will continue to grow each month)
$2.60 cash back bonus in paypal from paypal

Shop Hop Saturday 9/3/11

Saturday is hopping today.  We are having a garage sale.  We haven't sold all that much but at least it's cooler today.
I did sell 3 of my double thick crocheted hotpads and 2 of the cotton washcloths.


I kind of like the yard sales since I bring my laptop out and just keep on working online at the same time.....and not feel guilty about not being in the house doing some type of housework,  he he.


I put 2 new listings in my etsy store:

Cotton Crocheted Washcloths Set of 3 in Country Yellow 

Dish Scrubbies Set of 4 in White 

 

 

I moved 2 more expired etsy listings over to my zibbet store:

Little Girls Bracelets Lot of 6 in Rainbow Colors

marsha32 

Toothbrush Rug

marsha32 

 

The lady with the fabric bag order has added a couple more bags to her order, so I am still working on the order.

 

I didn't get anything new added to my zazzle store, but it hit me how to get the pictures to put them the way I wanted on my squidoo lens.  I got the lens updated this morning and added a charity too.   I hope you will click over and check it out.  Zazzle Custom Postage Stamps

 

I also added a couple more books to my half.com account for sale.  I did find a special place to keep these book separate from the rest.  I took my shoes off of one of the shelves in our closet and I'm storing them in there.  (you have to do these things when you have a 2 yr old living in the house who is obssessed with tearing and cutting things up!)

 

That's it for my report this week.  I am hopping along with Ruthi and her abitosunshine blog hop.  Click on over and join us!

 

 

Frugal Friday Link Up 9/2/11

Happy Friday!

I have spent this week going after about everyone and turning off lights that aren't needed to be on. Those electric bills have been scary.

I've not been good, in fact, I've been lazy. For 2 weeks now I've been using the dryer instead of hanging the clothes out on the line to dry. Someone kick me! I'm going to just kick myself and get back to hanging them outside. I know this will save on the electric bill.

My best frugal thing this past week was all the yard sales I hit this past Saturday. I got so many craft supplies!! I will link up the post in this week's linky for any of you who missed it. Now if I can just figure out how to find the time to start making those materials in to things. Life is so crazy all the time....and it's about to make me crazy.

Here are this week's tips from the 99 Cent Solutions book. We are still in the baking soda category.

1. Make fluffier omelets. Add a scant 1/4 tsp of baking soda to every 3 eggs. Zthe omelet will be light and fluffy. This also works to make big fluffy curds when scrambling eggs. Be careful not to add too much of the eggs will taste bland. Also, don't over salt since the soda adds a slight salty taste.

2. Clean your brushes. Hairbrushes and combs should be washed periodically to remove hair oils that build up. Remove any hair, fill the sink with warm water and stir in a couple spoonfuls of baking soda. Let the brushes soak for several hours, rinse, and dry. Toothbrushes can be cleaned the same way.

3. Discourage weeds in cracks. Sprinkle on baking soda and sweep it in to the cracks. Grass will stick to the lawn instead.

4. Wash the dog's ears. Dirt or mites in your pet's ears can drive him nuts with scratching. Clean out the dirt and put an end to the mites with a cotton swab dipped in a mild solution of 1 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon baking soda.

Squidoo Hopping 9/1/11--Linky

Wow! August is gone and here we are to September 1.

Again I crammed in most of my squidoo in to yesterday. Every day I'm in squidoo, just not updating or building my own lenses like I should be.
I'm appreciating the 2 squidoo groups that I belong to in facebook.

I got busy last night with my goal of finding a charity for each lens and tithing from squidoo through helping others. I found my best way to see what the charities were while I was in there was to put it in to the donations module and go read the description from there.
I'm disappointed that there are no charities that deal with crafts---like making crafts to send to the needy. I wanted one of those for my craft type lenses. Also, I seen no charity that dealt with music. I was hoping to find one of those for my music lenses.

Anyway, I updated my Marsha's Crafts lens adding KIVA as the charity. I also did some updating. It needs more updating though because I hope to rid myself of the Gifts Galore and More website since I can't update it myself and I don't focus on many of the crafts that are listed there anymore.

I updated Earn Money Online aka Earn With Marsha to add KIVA as the charity as well. KIVA gives loans and grants to entrepreneurs. I did some updating of the lens otherwise as well.

Lastly I updated Our Unschooling Journal adding Room to Read as the charity. This was fun again to look back almost 3 years ago and see what Jasmine looked like and what she was doing.

I've asked before, but this is still bothering me. Does anyone know how to delete items from the etsy module after they are sold? They are just staying there forever. I'm thinking my best bet is to just delete the module and re-add a new one and start over!

That's all for me this week. I look forward to hopping along with you.

Labor Day Collector Bills on Swagbucks!

The folks over at Swagbucks have put a fun twist on their reward points - Collector's Bills! From now through September 6th you have a chance to win one of five Collector's Bills celebrating Labor Day. Each of the five is for a different amount and each one has a different image - you can keep track of your bills by looking in the "My Swag Bucks" area of your account, and if you get all five during the promotion, you'll get a 10 Swag Buck bonus instantly applied to your account, meaning you'll be even closer to getting the free stuff you love!

Swagbucks is always making their website fun and collector bills for holidays and other occasions is just one way.  If you haven't already joined the swagbuck revolution, I highly recommend that you do!