How To: Make A Wishing Tree Vase

"A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddessfulfillment of a wish."

- Wikipedia

    

 I think the concept behind a wishing tree is really beautiful. Although this is not a post about wishing trees in their original uses, this simple and easy craft project is meant to emulate the symbolism of wishes as a really basic how-to make a wishing tree vase for sentimental and meaningful decorations at weddings, showers, and birthday parties.

 

We threw a baby shower for my friend and coworker, Kristie and I helped coordinate decorations. Kristie is having a little girl so we used pink, purple, and yellow.

 

 Wish trees are very easy to make and super affordable.This kind is basically a bouquet of twigs with notes attached and with a little bit of planning, it is practically free, but priceless in terms of sentimentality! I love things like that! This is proof that you don't need to spend an arm and a leg or be super extravagant  or extremely crafty to do something nice for someone.

How To: Make a Wishing Tree...

1. Simply gather branches, a vase, tags or note cards of some kind.

2. After your guests arrive they can write their well wishes for you and attach to the branches.

3. We used premade cardstock circles and mini clothes pin clips. You can also punch a hole and tie with string or purchase pre-made paper luggage tags.

4. Get creative! Come up with ideas for how to attach the wishes in a unique way that fits the theme of your event. Make it funky. Make it elegant. It is up to you!

Ours turned out beautifully and the best part was that at the end of the day Kristie had all these wonderful note to put in her daughter's baby book.

Would you make a wishing tree vase for your shower?

This post is dedicated to Kristie and little Jenna. Kristie recently brought home her little bundle of joy, Jenna. Congrats!

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How To Set Up A "House Account" Guest post by Krystal Taylor

The following is a guest post by Krystal Taylor, my good friend and “Super Mom” of three...

Here is one of her life saving tips that she uses to balance work , money matters, and home life.

Oops, I forgot to pay the bills!!

Yes, I have done this many many times! Thankfully we still have good credit, lol! Anyway, I have since changed that! Here is my plan…..and it has worked miracles for me! One less thing I have to worry about!  This works easiest if you have direct deposit.

1.       Open a separate bank account (at the same bank you already bank at). It is always nice to wait for those coupons they send- the ones where you get $100.00 for free just for opening an account! Chase does them, not sure where else does.

2.       Figure out all of your bills for the month.

3.       Divide those bills by how many times you are paid per month (ex: we are paid twice per month. Say your bills are $3,000 per month your total will be $1,500…etc.

4.       Have that $1,500 AUTOMATICALLY transferred into that other account (we labeled ours "house account") at every pay period.

5.       Set up as many things as you can on auto bill pay.

6.       DO NOT USE THIS OTHER ACCOUNT FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN BILLS!

7.       Every month your bills will automatically come out of your “other” account. The money will already be there because it was AUTOMATICALLY transferred!

8.       Honestly, you have no idea how much time, stress, and phone calls this has saved me, not to mention money….because my bills are being paid on time!

Suggestions:
- Make sure to load the account with the full amount for the first month to avoid any overdraft fees!
- Remember to read the fine print! Make sure the new account you are adding does not have any additional fees.
- Is it too late? Need to talk your way out of a late fee? Here's how to talk your way out of any late fee!
- For an easy way to build your credit and earn rewards from your credit card, stack Krystal's idea with the credit building idea to see the most rewards while still saving you a ton of time!

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How to Save Over $3000 A Year On Groceries

Couponing 101: Build Your Coupon Binder!

Supplies Needed:
- 3-4" Binder
- Scissors
- Clear binder sheets
- Baseball card holder sheets (located at the front of your local big box grocer, usually near magazines, baseball cards, and/or As-Seen-On-TV merchandise) or 8.5" x 11" clear photo divider pages
- Calculator
- Binder Organizing Pages --> I use this one:
 http://thekrazycouponlady.com/wp-content/uploads/kclcouponbinder.pdf?7db95a
- Store Coupon Policies (Print from store websites)

- Sale Ads for all local stores (for price matching when possible)

- Computer with administrator rights
- Printer
- Printer Paper
- Printer Ink Cartridges

Optional Supplies:
- Pencil cases for 3 ring binder
- Smartphone ( for calculator and/or internet use in store for coupon match-ups)
- Notebook
- Mini pair of scissors
- Envelopes
- Paper clips
- Pen/marker
- Clear Tab dividers

Basic Directions:
1. Obtain Coupons: Purchase multiple Sunday newspapers. Separate the coupons by page and stack them up with like pages. Print coupons from the internet, facebook, and other coupon sites.
2. There are 2 methods for detailed coupon organization. You can store them uncut and cut them as needed. Or you can organize them by coupon for easy retrieval in store.
3. Match coupons with sales for the lowest price possible. Stock up based on your need until the next sale cycle begins.

Since I don't consider myself a coupon blog, I will not go into the step by step details, but I will tell you this: There is a plethora of resources out there that makes couponing very easy. Once you get yourself organized, it will become second nature.

Resources:

Beginner Couponing:
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/   <-- This is where I learned how to coupon.

Coupon Match-ups:
www.thekrazycouponlady.com
www.passionforsavings.com
www.iheartthemart.com

Printable Coupons:
http://coupons.walmart.com/
http://coupons.target.com/
http://walgreens.shoplocal.com/walgreens/default.aspx?action=entryflash&storeid=2489450&pretailerid=-99389&savezone=Y
www.smartsource.com
https://www.recyclebank.com/join/earnpoints

** Coupon match-up sites will list links. I just follow those links, unless it is a site I have not heard of before. Make sure it is a reputable source.
This is what I use most:
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/print-coupons/

Other Ways to Receive Coupons:
- Newspaper subscription/ in store newspapers (check for all coupon inserts)
- "All You" Magazine
- Sending emails/letters/phone calls to companies
- Join Customer Review sites or P&G sites which send periodic coupon mailings
- Social Media "Likes" & contests
- Contests
- Visiting recycling centers
- Collect from friends/ start a coupon swap

Money Saving Mindset:
http://pennilessparenting.com/
My new blog: www.savingwithselena.blogspot.com (I don't post coupon match ups, but I will post basic couponing how-to's and resources to other sites as well as other ways to save money and get into the money-saving-mindset)

How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 2

The way to save the most money with coupons is to stock up and buy things when you can stack a sale with a coupon to get the lowest possible price. Having multiple coupons helps in building your stockpile.

When I started couponing a year and a half ago, I found all sorts of ways to gather extra coupons. In fact, my friend Christine and I gathered hundreds of discarded coupon booklets and shared our coupon booty.

Kitty knows if she sits on my work, she gets attention.

Christine and I had so much fun clipping and discussing our savings, sharing our sources,  and comparing our stockpiles. Sharing really enhanced our experience and encouraged us to keep working at saving money with coupons to reduce our cost of living and get more bang for our buck.

In Part 1 I showed you a way to get more coupons with a coupon swap. Here is another option. In another post, I mentioned the idea of starting a seed train for your garden. For Part 2 of my series, I will talk about how to start a coupon train.

How To Start A Coupon Train:

To Coupon Swap you will need to access couponing websites or find some couponing friends. To Start a Coupon Train, you need a list of people who want to swap coupons, but don't want to worry about bartering for the coupons

Facebook fan pages like the ones for The Krazy Coupon Lady will allow you to "meet" people with whom you can trade coupons online.

1.  Post a comment on your Facebook page and let your friends know you want to start a coupon train.
2. Compile a list of everyone involved with their names and addresses (or phone numbers for local people, or desk location for an in-office coupon train).
3.Decide if you will pre-clip them for each other or hand off the scrap pages. If you are mailing the coupon train, it is probably best to pre-clip them as tight as possible, so the postage is the cheapest.
4. Simply clip ALL your coupons. Choose which ones you know you will not use and then pass the list and the extra coupons on to the next person on your list.
5. They will follow the same steps and continue on to the next person. When the Coupon Train reaches it's last stop the last person should start again with you at the top of the list.
6. If you are doing a mailed train, don't forget to include the Train address list! This will only cost you ONE stamp, which will be returned when your name comes around again.
7. Throw out any old or expired coupons before passing on the pile to the next person.
8. Be cautious. Don't give too much personal information to strangers. If you coupon swap extensively and have access to a secondary address, be sure to use it. I prefer to coupon swap only with people within my real-life network. If you choose to do a coupon train with strangers, just be aware. If they are local to you, you may consider meeting at the grocery store to pass on the list, so you don't have to waste money on stamps or give out your address.You could do this with a phone number list instead!

Want another way to get more coupons? Check out  How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 1. Part 3 will be coming soon.

What other things could you start a train for? How about a Quick Recipe Train? I might include my Lazy Pickles.  What about a Cheap Recipe Train? I might include my lentil soup in that one.

Do you ever trade coupons? Do you have any other ways you get MORE coupons?