How to throw a frugal Halloween party

Only 1 month until Halloween!  We love Halloween at this house and we're going to be hosting our 3rd annual party this year.  We set up in the front yard with the outdoor fireplace full of warm fire, hotdogs to roast and plenty of snacks of course.  As the kids walk past we pass out candy and tell them how cute they are.  We don't do anything demonic or scary, we just love to celebrate the cold weather and I like to throw a party and spend time with family and friends.

I have no idea what The Hubbs and I will be, but we'll figure it out probably the day before ;)

Here's how I break down our party to-do list (expecting about 20 people)

Invites: I invite everyone through www.evite.com for free


Costumes: A new friend of mine just gave us 2 costumes last week.  Miss A will be a dalmatian and Little Mister will be a cow.

Food: Last month Fred Meyer had a huge sale on Hebrew National hot dogs so we stocked up.  I'll be buying the hot dog buns at the bread outlet a day or two prior to the party.  I will likely buy a few bags of chips and make a few sides


Candy: This year I'm going to buy the 5lb bag of Yummy Earth lollipops

Drinks: We'll have plenty of warm apple cider and a few adult beverages too

Preserving

There has been a ton of blogging going on about preserving, e.g., canning, freezing, drying and pickling.  I've done all the above this summer and truly love it.  Some might say I'm a little addicted even :)  But I haven't seen anyone talk about juicing.  We recieved a Jack LaLane's juicer for free from a dear friend over a year ago.  It was taking up space on her counter and when she offered it to us, The Hubbs jumped all over it.  I was much more hesitant solely for our lack of counter space.  It now sits on top of the frig with all of my other "machines".  We juice fruits and veggies to make fun and tasty concoctions about once a month and all of us  enjoy it.  Lately though I've been thinking about how I can preserve this harvest even more.  I got a box of apples from the farm 2 weeks ago and they were pretty small, so I decided to juice them.  I got 4 quarts of juice that are now sitting in quart size freezer storage bags in the freezer.

Yesterday afternoon I went and foraged at my in-laws for grapes.  They have this yummy variety of seedless green grapes that grow over their fence from the neighbors.  They are seriously delicious.  I brought home a bunch and juiced them and got 2 quarts of juice.  We'll be heading back there later this week to pick the rest.  I'm pretty sure we'll pick at least 10 gallons worth and we'll eat to our hearts content and then juice the rest.  My mom also offered up about 10lbs of Italian plums and I took them all.  I juiced them tonight and got 2 quarts of juice.

What are we going to use this juice for?  Well, we don't drink soda in this house very often, and we don't drink juice very often either.  So, when the craving hits, I'll dilute it down a little and we'll enjoy it with breakfast or something.

Do you have a juicer?  Do you love it or hate it?

Update on Christmas shopping

We're about 1/5 of the way done with fall/winter birthday and Christmas shopping.  This is our 4th year of having a goal where we get all shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving.  My mom's Christmas gifts are all done except for the body care items I'm going to make.  Today I scored on a BUNCH of stuff at a garage sale and at the Salvation Army...

Nine West real down vest $3.89, retails for about $30

SigTac jacket for The Hubbs (resembles CarHartt) for $4.89, retails for $65

Glo jeans for me $4.89, retail for $20 at Kmart

Chicos shirt for my mom $1.89, retails $55

I also got Little Mister the rest of his 2t wardrobe for early next year for $7.  Tons of light long sleeve shirts, khakis, jeans and more.  I got Miss A 2 footed sleepers and a long sleeve shirt for $1, woot!

What you scored on recently?

Fruit Seasons

Good morning all!

I just came across this wonderful site while searching for fruits and veggies in season
http://fruitseasons.com/

Happy Monday my peeps!

Autumn baking & cooking

Enjoy the sweet and savory links below!

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/spiced-zucchini-cake/
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/corn-chowder/
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/beer-bread/
http://joyofbaking.com/barsandsquares/PecanSquares.html
http://laurasbestrecipes.com/2009/10/butternut-squash-apple-cake-w-ginger-streusel.html?ref=nf
http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2010/08/black-bean-and-sweet-potato-chili.html
http://janessweets.blogspot.com/2010/09/kahlua-cream-shortbread-sandwich.html

Frugal Homeschool

From Penniless Parenting  (click the link to read the entire post)

...Most states have developed a standard curriculum. I assume that this is because they want to ensure that all children graduating within that state have covered certain core subjects.
Lucky us, because many states have made their "curriculum standards" available online. To find these curriculum standards, you just enter curriculum standards and the name of a state (i.e. "Washington Curriculum Standards") into the search box and search away. Being a native Ohionan, I searched and found their curriculum standards online.
I came across a few different state's curriculum standards, but the one I liked best (because it is easiest to figure out and understand) was the one I found for Tennessee. Tennessee Curriculum Standard- if you click that link, you'll see a list of different subjects as well as Early Childhood, each of those being links to pages with curriculum standards for each grade...


I personally really enjoy the Tennessee link :)

Toy organizer: Part Two

I finally snagged one today and I'm so thrilled with it.  It cost me $25 and retails at Target for about $65.  It's in excellent shape, doesn't appear to ever been used.  After dinner tonight we unloaded the old toy chest which is an heirloom that my great grandpa made back when I was a kid.  It's now in Little Mister's room with a few toys in it.  I refuse to let it overflow like it had in the living room, errrr.

So.much.better!

The art box

How do you organize toys and art supplies?