Greetings!
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What's a key ingredient for summer
fun? Water, of course! Last weekend my family took a hike along a
riverside trail, and it sure felt good to soak our tired feet in the
cool water when we stopped for a break!
From water balloon fights to running
through a sprinkler in the backyard, and from swimming in pools,
ponds, lakes or oceans, to boating of every kind, lots of our summer
fun involves water. This week we're bringing you tips and links
about water fun and safety. Let's get the summer fun started!
Speaking of water, remember to keep
yourselves and your families well-hydrated during the warm weather.
It's amazing how often headaches, irritability, and tiredness can
be "cured" or even avoided altogether just by drinking enough
water. |
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On The Blog Last Week!
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Oh my goodness! We had some really great posts and responses this past week on the blog! Below are a few highlights that I thought I would remind you about, just in case you missed a day or two.
- This past week with Menu Plan Monday, I linked a recipe to several of my meal choices, and I am happy to announce that they are all dairy free! Be sure to try them and let me know what you think about them!
- I found all kinds of great bargains at the yard sales this past weekend. You will not believe all the really neat things I got and how much I spent! Are you linking up to Weekend Wonders? I love to always see what great bargains you are finding!
- Do you have a few useless items lying around the house? Read about some neat ways to make these items useful instead of useless!
- This post has some great tips for making your own colored sugar and a Sugar Cookie recipe to boot!
- Check out how I have organized my knitting supplies! Now I can find everything I need and see what yarns I do have!
- Find out how to use those Joann Fabric coupons at other participating stores. You can read about that here.
- Need to use up some spices at your house or are you out of a certain spice and need a substitution? Read about what I found that has a list of all those substitutions in one place!
- As always, I have found a few more freebies to share with you! Here is a list of all the wonderful things I stumbled upon this week.
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The Weekly Recipe
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One of the best things about summer is the abundance of strawberries. I love them, don't you?
I make this pie several times every summer while the strawberries are still in season at my local farmers' market. I get a great price, and I can support the local economy as well as get the most health benefits from eating locally grown food. If you have a farmers' market near you, make a day of it with the whole family, then go make the pie, and let the kids run in the sprinkler or play in the pool until it is ready to eat. Great summer family memories will be made around the table!
Beat The Summer Heat Strawberry Pie
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons of corn starch
3 tablespoons/1 small box strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 quart fresh strawberries, washed and sliced lengthwise
1 pie shell, pre-baked and cooled
Mix the first three ingredients and add to 1 cup of boiling water. Heat until thick, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is thick and and is mostly cooled off, add the strawberries.
Pour into a baked and cooled pie shell, and place into the refrigerator until cooled completely and set (4 hours or overnight).
Delicious and refreshing after a day at the pool or for a meal on the beach! |
This Week's Tutorials
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This week, I have two tutorials for you, that come from the same blog! As I was scouting all the blogs I read, I came upon The Idea Room. Amy is a stay at home mom of 5 kids and she loves to sew! She has graciously allowed me to share her swim bag tutorials with you! Please be sure to stop by her website and let her know what you think of these two cute, adorable swim bags!
Girl's Sling Swim Bag
Photo courtesy of The Idea Room
Isn't this bag just adorable? You can click on this link here, and you can access step by step instructions on how to make this very cute, and very girly swim bag!
Boy's Drawstring Swim Bag
Photo Courtesy of The Idea Room
Any little guy would love to have his very own swim bag this summer! Not only will it be great for carrying swimming gear, but it will come in handy carrying those sand toys! You can access this tutorial by clicking here. |
| Idea Center
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are a few really good links that might help you have a little more fun this summer when you are at the pool or the beach!
- I am always looking for new water games to play with my family at the beach or at the pool. Family Fun has a large selection of games such as Cold Potato, Frosty Free For All, and a beach scavenger hunt, just to name a few.
- If you are looking for some fun ideas to do outside of the pool, check out these cool ideas from Frugal Village. In fact, there are two recipes here for Flubber and Freezer Bag Ice Cream. . .two of my favorite things!
- Kid's Health has some wonderful pool safety tips to help us parents keep our kids safe this summer.
- If you don't have time to go to the beach or the pool, Frugal Dad offers some great tips on having some kind of water fun. Suggestions such as a water balloon fight and a sprinkler day are among some of his great ideas. He has many more listed, so please be sure to read his article.
- My kids love to blow bubbles when we are at the pool or the beach. We never buy them from the store. We have fun making our own. Frugal Family Blog has a great bubble wand maker, and Just For Fun shares an easy and frugal bubble recipe.
- I have always loved watching my kids' faces when we make an ocean in a bottle. Funschool has a great tutorial on how to make your very own ocean in a bottle.
- With all those seashells that you find at the beach from your swimming excursion, you can make this adorable Chime Bracelet from Family Fun.
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Molly's Money-Saving Digest
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I'm excited to say that my May Digest
is now available. We have all the usual goodies, along with a focus on
education. This covers everything from fun pre-school activities you
can do at home, to saving money on college costs. You don't need to be
a homeschooler to find lots of useful tips in this Digest. I know
you'll love this issue as much as I do.
What others are saying about Molly's Money-Saving Digest for May 2009: "Molly
has delivered yet another inspiring yet ultimately practical issue
dedicated to all the areas which matter most to homeschooling families,
which I'm sure you'll find well worth the cover price of
$4.95!"--Michelle Smith, TOS Research Panel ". . . May's issue is my favorite issue of Molly's Digest so far! It was encouraging and refreshing--exactly what I needed to read this week!"--April Elstrom, TOS Review Panel Molly
has a wealth of information and support to share in one easy-to-read,
handy resource for an incredibly low price! At under $5, you'll recoup
your cost of this E-Book right away. And you'll more than recover your
investment as you are encouraged to keep going strong in your
commitment to the Lord and your family.
You can also purchase January, February, March, and April digests. Don't forget about the free binder covers that we created for those of you who print your digests!
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We Want to Hear from You!
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We have some great topics in the works for Molly's Money-Saving Digests, and would love to include your stories and ideas. July's Digest has just gone to layout. You're in for a treat with this special issue on frugal fashion. August's featured topic is organizing, and in September we will be talking about decorating. Show us your stuff! We'd love to showcase your decorating talent and organizing ingenuity, and give you a free Digest! We're always looking for "goal-getter" stories, examples of up-cycled or re-purposed objects, and frugal decorating ideas. Send me your story--Remember, if we include your contribution in a Digest, you'll receive that issue FREE.
Until next week! 
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Do you have something to share? Write to us at MollyGreen@Econobusters.com. All submissions become the property of Econobusters.com and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC ("TOS") and will not be returned. Making a submission constitutes full consent to the Econobusters' Submission Guidelines and Release, and a grant of unlimited permission and continuing, non-exclusive rights for Econobusters.com and TOS, to print, publish, broadcast and use all portions of your submission, including without limitation your full name, on Econobusters.com and other Internet websites owned or operated by TOS, in Molly's Money-Saving Digest and all other electronic, digital and print publications produced, created or published by TOS in accordance with the Econobusters' Submission Guidelines and Release posted at Econobusters. TOS will make reasonable efforts to withhold personal names if requested at the time of original submission. | |
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