We have fun coming up with new holiday creations every year and I always love getting handmade gifts.  If you have some more ideas, please share them with us.

Gifts in a jar

These are great for cookies and brownies. Put ingredients like nuts, cocoa, brown sugar and flour in layers so it looks like pretty sand art. Attach a decorative holiday tag with instructions.

Pressed Flower Candles

These look so elegant and yet they’re so easy. Arrange and place your dried flowers on your candle attaching with a bit of melted wax. Dip the entire candle a couple times in hot melted wax to seal it.

Beaded Jewelry

I love beaded jewelry and you can string them with hemp, wire, string or stretchy cord. The stretchy type of elasticized cord is my favorite for bracelets and anklets because you simply tie it off when it’s complete and it stretches to fit just about anyone. You don’t have to worry about adding a clasp.

Picture Frame

Paint a plain wooden frame for a friend or relative and add their name or another personalized touch. Add stickers or sparkles if desired. Your children can make ornaments or magnet picture frames easily out of colorful Popsicle sticks, cardboard or foam.

Sparkly Beeswax Candles

These are super easy to make, they smell sweet and look beautiful. All you do is cut across from corner to corner and roll tightly around a wick. Roll completed candle in festive sparkles if desired. You can find them at most craft stores.

Handprint Apron

Get your little ones to put colorful painted handprints all over an apron. For an even more personalized touch, get them to paint their name onto it. This would also work for t-shirts or tote bags. It would make a fun present for a mom from her young children.

Decorated Coffee Mugs

We did this last year and it was so much fun. My son made one for my husband that said “World’s Greatest Dad”. Even the youngest children can get in on this because parents would still treasure their little scribbles. Get special mugs and/or markers from a craft store.

Decorated Laptop Tray

I grabbed a plain wooden laptop tray from the craft store, printed a few favorite pictures off the computer, and slapped a few coats of Mod Podge on to seal it. You could also add some decorative scrap book stickers if you wanted.

An easy way to get your clothes to smell fresh and feel soft is to simply add a bit of hair conditioner to a damp cloth along with your clothes in the dryer.

I like using fruity scented conditioners, but if you’re a guy or want something more manly there are scents out there for everyone.

• You could also simply add half a cup of vinegar in with your wash. It not only softens your clothes but gets rid of any stubborn odors and helps clean your clothes more thoroughly.

• There are recipes that combine vinegar, water and hair conditioner. You can either add this mixture to your wash or put some on a cloth before putting it in the dryer. Sasjag from ThriftyFun.com says use 6 cups of water, 3 cups of vinegar and 2 cups of hair conditioner.

• Baking soda works as a fabric softener because it softens the water. It also cleans and deodorizes at the same time.

Does anyone have any other money saving suggestions for fabric softeners that worked for them?

Vegans cook without eggs and milk so have more experience with it. Some people also have allergies to eggs or milk, so would need to know how to replace them in baking.

Here are some egg replacement options:

• I tablespoon of ground flax seed combined with three tablespoons of water

• Mashed banana or applesauce. Other fruits and vegetables would probably work.

• I tablespoon of potato starch, corn starch or tapioca combined with 3 tablespoons of water

• ¼ cup of tofu

• Vegetarian gelatin

Sometimes you can get away with simply increasing the liquid and baking powder by 1 teaspoon. There are also commercial egg replacements you can find in health food stores. One of most popular is Ener-G Egg Replacer. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, let me know.

• If you want to replace milk try soy milk, rice milk, almond milk or oatmeal milk.

If you’re interested in exploring vegan baking recipes, check out Veganbaking.net for some delicious ideas.

Here’s my simple raisin banana muffin recipe:

• ½ cup of water

• ½ cup of butter or margarine

• ¾ cup of sugar

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

• 1 mashed banana

• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

• ¾ cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream sugar and butter and add the mashed banana, water and lemon juice. Combine flour and baking powder before adding to mixture. Fold raisins into batter.

This makes 12 muffins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

1. Check the flyers & use coupons

This week I found a large block of cheese on for four dollars, cereal for $2.50 and milk for a dollar less. You don’t save money if you end up buying stuff just because it’s on sale. If you were not going to get it in the first place, it’s similar to an impulse buy.

2. Buy in bulk

Rice, flour, sugar and oatmeal are all things that keep well. If you have a freezer, even better. Plenty of fruit and vegetables can be frozen for months and meat can be separated and frozen into portions. We freeze peppers, broccoli, corn and sometimes even tomatoes.

3. Plan a weekly menu

A monthly menu would be even better, but start with a weekly menu so you can see how much food you will actually need ahead of time.

4. Make a list

Probably stating the obvious but if you don’t have a list, you’re at the mercy of your instincts. I can’t remember more than a few things at a time in my head anyway. Include everything on your menu as well as cleaning products and toiletries. Include prices on your list. If you don’t know, guess. You’ll get better at it.

5. Stick to the list

This is the hardest part. If you only budget a certain amount of money for food, that helps you stick to the  grocery list.

6. Plan snacks along with groceries

Everyone snacks, so you might as well plan for it along with your menu. Even if it’s junk food, admit it and add it to the list. It will save you money since you won’t have to run to the store for popcorn, tortilla chips, dip or pop.

7. Buy local produce that is in season

Fruit and vegetables are usually cheaper when they’re in season. You can always freeze some to have for the winter. You save money and support your local farmers at the same time.

8. Cook from scratch

It’s not that much harder to make pancakes from scratch as opposed to a mix or a hamburger helper. If you have a large family those small mixes are pointless anyway.  If you’re into baking, include raisins and chocolate chips on your list and make cookies and muffins.

9. If you take your children, include them in the planning.

I have taken my children shopping for years.  I’m not always fun since I won’t deviate from the list but it’s a good learning experience for them.  It’s more tempting to give in to those impulse buys when you have two or three more people having impulses. Children can still have input and let you know what they want before you leave and make your list.

10. Pay attention to products above and below eye level

The pricey stuff tends to be at eye level since it’s convenient and they think you won’t bother looking above or below. Sometimes they don’t even have the products or prices lined up properly to match what’s labeled on the shelf. I think they do that on purpose and occasionally get tricked if I’m in a hurry.

They’re actually iron-on rhinestone studs and they come in all different shapes and patterns. I found them at Michaels craft store but you could probably find them somewhere else. They would also be good for decorating a plain purse, bag, shirt or even shoes.

All you do is place the sticky side down and press with a hot iron for at least twenty seconds. The instructions said ten but they were still sticking for me.

• If you’re looking for more Halloween craft ideas, consider some of these Sculpey clay projects. I’m working on this baby bat pencil eraser. We made erasers before school started. Most of them were fish because we have a set of small sea themed molds.

I just grabbed a few plastic squirt bottles that I had used to make tie dye t-shirts, put a little dye in the bottom and added water.

There was no rhyme or reason to the way I twisted this one up and tied off sections with elastic bands. That may be apparent by the finished product.

You can still sort of see the flowers peeking through the psychedelic colors and I’m happy with the crazy colorful messy effect.

Sarah McLachlan made this video for $15 and donated $150,000 to people worldwide that needed the money. It was used for school fees, livestock, food, medicine and more. Check out the video to see what a difference Sarah made simplifying her life in this small way to give to others.

She’s also a spokesperson for Make Poverty History. There are 1.2 billion people living in poverty and if we all helped, we could add to the solution.

To read more about the issues see Canada’s Make Poverty History’s website. For France, Germany, Japan and the U.S. see One International. What we need are long term solutions to end child poverty. Read about the issues and get involved. We can’t all give thousands of dollars but we can try to help in some way.

• 2 egg yolks

• 1 tsp. mustard

• ½ tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. vinegar

• 1 tsp. sugar

Slowly add ½ a cup of olive oil to this mixture and continue mixing. I do it about a teaspoon at a time but I don’t measure that precisely. It will continue thickening.

Measure out another half cup of oil and mix with three teaspoons of vinegar. You could make one spoon lemon juice but I didn’t happen to have any.

Add this as slowly as possible. Some say you should add it drop by drop but I’m not into making mayonnaise all night and spoonfuls work for me.

Homemade mayonnaise is much tastier than the pickled salad dressings you find at the store but it won’t keep as long so use within the next few days.

I love mayonnaise on a toasted tomato sandwich with lots of pepper. It’s worth a bit of time once in awhile to make it. It’s very good with fish and if you add a bit of relish, you have a quick tartar sauce.

All year our children talk about it because we have such a great time being with our family and enjoying nature. Some of us sleep in trailers and others sleep in tents because it’s fun and we don’t all fit in the house.

Over the years we have lost several family members and I had a bit of a hard time with that today. Mom helped me snap out of it by saying that we need to continue creating good memories for the ones that are left.

It got me thinking about being grateful for what we have today and cherishing the people still in our lives.  Let them know that you love them not only with words, but by showing them with your actions.

When your children want to play a game or help with homework, think about whether you can spend a few moments with them instead of telling them you’re too busy. They will cherish those memories of time spent forever. Enjoy your Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating. If not, I hope you still find some time this weekend with family or friends.

Video of the Eagles: Too Busy Being Fabulous

In order to concentrate on his creations, he has to slow down his pulse so that his fingers don’t shake and interfere with the process.

This is an extreme example of how someone overcompensates when they have trouble in another area. Willard couldn’t read or write and admits he felt small so he found power in his tiny needle eye masterpieces.

You actually need a microscope to see the detailed sculptures. Teachers made him feel like nothing. “I’m trying to prove to the world that nothing doesn’t exist, “  says Willard.

Here’s a clip from ABC news on Wigan’s sculptures done in the eye of a needle. Shown is a miniature elephant sculpture worth $300,000 that started out as a grain of sand and a dust particle. He sold the rest to a collector for $20 million!