Water Beads and Glow Sticks

I had some clear water beads chilling in the fridge, and since we’re in the midst of a heat wave this Summer, I thought now might be a good time to let the kiddos play with them. Note — Water beads are designed for use in floral arrangements, and not as toys. They are non-toxic […]

Wordless Wednesday — Sprinklers!!

They say that money can’t buy you happiness, but for $4.99 it will buy you a sprinkler at Target — and that’s almost the same thing. Lots of good (clean) FUN!!

$5 Friday — Dollar Store Smiles Edition

When will the snow ever end??? I don’t know about you guys, but all this whiteness and being cooped up in the house for far too long was enough to drive us all a little coo-coo. So this afternoon I took Emily with me to the dollar store for another $5 Friday adventure! This time […]

Fishy Fun on Friday

We decided to have some fun with a “fish day”, so I took the girls to the local fish hatchery to learn all about the life cycle of trout. For just $1, you can buy a bag of fish food. Emily loved feeding the fish…. and ducks! Both of the girls had a great time! […]

$5 Friday — Crafty Dollar Store Edition (and Giveaway)

I’ve made felt crayon rolls for Emily before, but when I took the girls to my local moms club meeting, Emily pointed out that we didn’t have any paper for her to color on. After the meeting, we had lunch and did a fun shopping trip to the dollar store! When we returned home, I […]

$5 Friday — Outdoor Picnic Snack for Five Bucks

This Memorial Day weekend, I’m sure there will be lots of picnics and barbecues. For $5 Friday, I took the girls with me for a special trip to the grocery store to see how far we could stretch our $5 for an outdoor picnic snack!  Here’s what we purchased for less than $5: 1 lb. organic carrots […]

$5 Friday — Window Crayons

I was so happy to find these Window Crayons, and I scooped them up the minute I saw them at Target for just $2.70! I have let Emily use window markers before, but the ink seems to run out rather quickly, and the kids have to be really good about putting the caps back on […]

$5 Friday — Mother’s Day Gift Idea and More

Here is the sundress I made for Emily using one of Mark’s old dress shirts. If there is enough interest (just leave a comment), I would be happy to post a tutorial on how to make one — it’s very easy! Today, we used our marbled paper from last week to make a Mother’s Day […]

$5 Friday — Paper Marbling — This is awesome!

After yesterday’s post about making an art smock from a garbage bag, you knew today’s post was going to be about a fun, messy project, right? Paper marbling is a bit messy, but lots of fun, and very frugal!  To do your own paper marbling, you will need: cardstock, liquid starch, water, 2 dish tubs […]

$5 Friday — Spring Shaped Bubble Wands

I’ve posted previously about how much the girls enjoyed our Homemade Bubble Solution. Today after Emily helped me weed the flower beds, we made our own Spring bubble wands! To make your own Spring bubble wands, you will need: 12″ wooden dowels, thin-gauge wire, some electrical tape, and some cookie cutters. Wrap the thin gauge […]

$5 Friday — Outdoor Tea Party

We have been blessed with some beautiful weather lately, so we started our day collecting twigs to make a trivet. Somehow this led to an endless tea party with Emily pretending that the trivet was an outdoor stove. I love how one project leads to another one like that. This went on for a long […]

$5 Friday — Bean Bag Toss

For $5 Friday, we made our own bean bag toss game and spent some time playing it outdoors. I indulged Emily’s love for outer space and made it a throw-the-star-into-the black-hole game.  To make your own, use a star-shaped cookie cutter for a pattern and trace onto pieces of felt. Cut out the shapes. Sew […]

$5 Friday — Rainy Day Fun

This is what we woke up to this morning… When it is raining and you don’t know what to do with the kids, a wise person once told me “Never underestimate the power of the indoor fort”. I could not agree more. It is part hide-out, part reading nook, and part playhouse all rolled into […]

$5 Friday — Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Special thanks to Amanda at Kiddio.org for inspiring this week’s $5 Friday activity — make your own sidewalk chalk paint! This is very inexpensive and easy to do. We had tons of fun with this and created a detailed space scene on the asphalt of our driveway. Lots of planets, stars, rockets, and comets! The […]

$5 Friday — (Semi)Homemade Thin Mints and More!

For today’s $5 Friday, we made semi-homemade thin mints and took a trip to the local public library. These cookies are so easy to make and taste just like the Girl Scout version — perfect for when they are not selling cookies and your stash has run out! To make your own semi-homemade thin mint […]

New Series — $5 Friday!

I am very excited about a new series I am starting on Frugal Family Fun Blog called $5 Friday! The idea is simple — each Friday I will be posting about frugal family activities that can be done for $5 or less for a family of four. That’s right, entertainment for the family for just […]