By Kristen, on May 12th, 2012% I had big plans for the week and I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I had planned. My classes took most of my energy so the projects waited. My husband had a good time in good time in DC and I’m looking forward to hearing his stories when he comes home tomorrow!
I don’t know if I’ve shared this recipe before, but even so, it’s worth a share again! I discovered it on the Pink-Parsley website, and it’s a wonderful recipe for Blackberry Pie Bars. It’s simple, fresh tasting, and delicious. In fact, I’m planning on taking it to book club this afternoon.
Image by Pink Parsley
Crystal from Money Saving Mom shared a great reminder of how if you want something badly enough, you can usually find a way! What an encouraging reminder to be frugal.
Christy from Critty Joy created and shared a beautiful and hopeful desktop picture. I love what it says – Hold onto hope, love! You can download a copy at her website.
Image by Critty Joy
Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam shared an amusing list of why teaching English is such a challenge. The teacher in me agrees! Do you?
Jan from Just Imagine Heaven shared her recipe for Vanilla Chai Cupcakes. Jan always shares such great cupcake recipes. This one really sounds – and looks – like another winner!
Image by Jan at Just Imagine Heaven
Those are a couple of my stumbles from my week. I’m off to see what I can stumble upon in real life at our local garage sales!
I’m linking to Saturday Linky Love at Vanderbilt Wife.
By Kristen, on May 8th, 2012% 
Enter daily to win a bottle of Purex Crystals. Purex is giving away 25 bottles of Purex Crystals each day for the next 25 days! Go ahead and enter. Let’s see if one of us can win!
By Kristen, on May 5th, 2012% It’s Cinco de Mayo today!
I plan on eating some homemade salsa and guacamole with corn tortilla chips as a result. I actually don’t need a reason to do so, because I’m a (former) Texas gal and I do like my salsa.
If you’re looking for some Cinco de Mayo recipes, check out the hundreds that Tasty Kitchen compiled for today!
Mandi shared a great article from the past about Reconciling Frugal Living and Unnecessary Splurges. My husband & I enjoy eating out with friends too so I will happily pinch pennies in other ways so we can do so!
Julia from Hooked on Houses shared a survey about What We Want in Houses. I found it quite interesting, especially that our square footage is actually decreasing again.
Classy Clutter created a narrow pull-out drawer for all her cans that I love. What a great idea for all these cozy kitchens…like mine!
The Cottage Home shared a great Tile Coaster DIY. I actually made a couple this week…and created a variation for my class mother’s day gifts. I just need to pick up the sealer. It really is simple!
Finally, because I have several books that I’m in the process of reading, this quote made me smile.
By Kristen, on May 2nd, 2012% 
Enter to win one of 5,000 Glade Spring Scents Sets in their Sweepstakes.
Each gift pack contains the following: One Glade Decor Scents Glass Scents Holder in one of the following scents: Sherbet Sunshine™, Polka Dot Petals™ or Magic Meadow™.
It’s easy to enter. Just do so here, by May 5th.
By Kristen, on April 28th, 2012% I had a busy week this past week. I thought it would be calmer now that my musical is over but it wasn’t. Finally, I enjoyed a quiet Friday evening of relaxing. I spent part of my evening going through starred posts in my Reader. There was quite a lot that I’ve been meaning to share with you! So, here we go.
Deborah guest posted at Money Saving Mom about her “100 Thing Challenge”. A day or a weekend to give away 100 things? I’m intrigued, and might give this a try – soon.
Anna from Girl with a Blog shared a recipe for Colorful Couscous Salad. I really like couscous and have been looking for new couscous recipes to try.
I’m taking my class to meet their penpals soon. This printable pen pal letter from Jessica of New Season Design would have been a great resource at the beginning of the year. I’m filing it away for future reference!
I loved this post on Life in Grace Girls about Turning Can’ts into Cans. Perhaps I should start simple and just put the new fire alarms while my husband is away?
I have another new recipe from The Pioneer Woman that I want to cook. This time it is Ree’s Cauliflower Soup. What is it about her recipes that are all so appealing? I think it’s that they are so simple and yet delicious.
Speaking of cauliflower, I found a recipe for Cauliflower Tator Tots that sounds intriguing. Melissa of I Breathe…I’m Hungry created it. What a fun twist!
Once again, I’m going to leave you with a quote. I love quotes so I may have to keep sharing one with you every week! Here’s one to ponder.
I’m linking to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.
By Kristen, on April 21st, 2012% Whew! What a week! We performed our musical this week – Malice in the Palace: The Story of Esther.
I had 97 kids on stage, from Kindergarten to Grade 8. It has been a busy couple of months, learning all our songs and choreography, but last night proved that it was worth it. It went well, and I am very proud of the kids. I am very tired – but still very proud and pleased!
I wasn’t too tired to browse a bit online. Here’s what I noticed this week.
The Dating Divas shared a cute Painted Stencil Monogram letter that I think anyone could make. Wouldn’t this make a cute wedding gift?
Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam shared her recipe for Egg and Cheese Puff: 5 Minute Delight. This looks like a simple and tasty breakfast treat.
Have you ever tried Pots de Creme a’l Orange? I haven’t but after seeing the Pioneer Woman’s pictures that accompany her recipe, I might have to try making a batch. I love that she served them in Ball jars too!
Denver Bargains shared her couponing habits in The Life Cycle of a Couponer. I had never thought about it in these terms, but now that I have, I’ve realized I have gone through couponing cycles, too. Perhaps I’ll have to reflect more about that in the future.
Kristen from The Frugal Girl shared how she Wisely Chooses Frugal Activities. I appreciated her criteria that a frugal activity must be efficient, effective and enjoyable.
Andrea at Simple Organized Living shared her recipe for Simple Almond Pound Cake. I love recipes that start with cake mixes!
And finally, because this makes the Kindergarten teacher in me laugh, I’ll leave you with this.
Doesn’t that make you smile? I’m linking to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.
By Kristen, on April 14th, 2012% I woke this morning to rain. I do love the sound of rain…especially when I can stay in bed for a bit and listen to it!
I have lots of thought-provoking stumbles to share with you today. I’ll be curious to hear what you think about some of these articles.
Christy from Thrifty and Thriving shared 12 Things You Can Do to Become More Self Reliant. I’m working on doing more canning as well as more cooking from scratch. My garden is all ready to be planted, too!
Keeping with this self reliant theme, Mandi shared 30 Pantry Staples to Cook from Scratch, as part of her 30 birthday series. I’ve recently made my own powdered sugar, so these are all handy tricks of the kitchen…and generally, frugal ones, too!
Jessica from Good Cheap Eats conducted a Grocery Audit of her shopping. There are a lot of good points in here about how to analyze how much you spend.
The Pioneer Woman shared her a few of her Favorite Kitchen Tools. Without a doubt, I agree that cookie scoops are absolutely invaluable! I may have to try using an offset spatula, too.
Nancy guest-posted at Money Saving Mom about How to Simplify Your Life and Save over $5000 a Year. I’ve been buying a lot more of my clothes second-hand, now that I’ve found a good thrift store in town. These are all good ideas because who doesn’t want to live a more simple life – and save money at the same time?
Finally, to sum it all up, this perfect quote from (In)courage.
I’m sharing this post at Saturday Stumbles with Simply Staci.
By Kristen, on April 13th, 2012% 
Congratulations to the winners of my latest Wisk giveaway. The winners, as selected by Random.org were numbers 2 and 10.
Congratulations to Jolene and Julie! Look for an email from me to claim your prize.
By Kristen, on April 11th, 2012% 
Update: This giveaway is now closed.
This weekend, I did a lot of laundry (which is nothing new) but I did try some new detergent. Well, it’s the detergent is not new (only a new version) but it is not a detergent I typically used. I did my laundry with Wisk.
Wisk, the detergent known for fighting tough stains like “Ring Around the Collar”, just introduced a new product line that targets more than just the stains. Typically, stains are perceived as the only culprits soiling our clothes – but the body oils and sweat that get trapped deep in the fabric of garments and build up over time are just as big (if not more) of a problem.
I liked Wisk’s way of thinking about doing laundry: Just because you don’t see any stains on your garments, doesn’t mean they’re not dirty.
Did you know the average washload contains 20 times more body oils and sweat than visible stains? Yikes! That startled me quite a bit, to put it mildly.
I have to say that I was impressed by Wisk. It was powerful and effective. It had a fresh scent and my loads of laundry came out looking fresh. Of course, I can’t see if it removed all the invisible body oils, but after reading the research about Wisk, I believe this detergent to be very effective at cleaning my clothes.
I was impressed with the new formula of Wisk and want to allow you a chance to try it yourself. Yes, indeed. It’s time for another laundry detergent giveaway!
Wisk is giving two winners a Wisk sample, a Retro tee-shirt and a coupon for a free bottle of Wisk.
Entering is simple. Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what brand of laundry detergent you typically use. Would you like a chance to try Wisk, too?
This giveaway will be open through 10pm on Friday night. I will then select two winners by using Random.org, and announce the winners on this website.
I did receive a sample from Wisk in return for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
By Kristen, on April 7th, 2012% It’s hard to believe that today is Holy Saturday already. With tomorrow being Easter, I’ve been thinking of all the Easter projects that I wish I had done. Maybe next year…
Landee of Landee See, Landee Do shared how she wrapped plastic eggs in baker’s twine. I think these are simply beautiful and not difficult at all. It’s on my list of projects now!
Image by Landee See, Landee Do
Jamie at Thoughts of a Scattered Mom showed how to make ruffled fabric eggs. I like that these are created with a hot glue gun. They are so colorful!
The V Spot shared how to make faux robin eggs. When you look at this picture, can you believe these eggs are really the plastic ones? I think I need to pick up some of those plastic eggs on Easter clearance and give this a try.
Image by The V Spot
Tattered and Ink created a lovely (and simple) Easter printable that says “He is risen!” How much simpler (and clearer) can you get it? If you want to add one little touch of Easter to your decor, this printable is a simple way to do so quickly.
Rebekah at the Golden Gleam created this tape resist cross with her daughter. What a perfectly simple way to focus on our faith!
Image by Rebekah at The Golden Gleam
Those are my Easter stumbles this week. Did you discover anything Easter themed?
I’m linking to Saturday Stumbles at Simply Staci.
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