I dedicate this post to shoes

As Cinderella once noted, "the right shoe can change your life." I'm not sure I'd take it that far, but this little project was pretty cool. I first got the idea from a craft blog nearly a year ago and was dying for the chance to try it myself. I found the perfect pair of boring heels for $3 at Goodwill, but never got around to fabric shopping.

Over Thanksgiving we were in Utah with most of the Larsen clan and the girls decided we wanted some fun projects, and this was perfect. Well, at least I thought it was perfect--a few of the patterns were tricky to make but we stuck it out!

Serious chaos

 Here is the whole layout. We didn't think to put them in the same order, so I tried to label them. Sometimes it's hard to connect the "before" with the "after".... It's a super easy project involving mod podge, fabric, cheap shoes from goodwill, DI, or your closet, and an exacto knife. Want more info? Click here for a flats tutorial, here for a heels/wedges tutorial, and here for the original inspiration. For what it's worth, we used outdoor mod podge because it's more water proof, and we decided that heels are much easier to make patterns for than flats. You only need 1/8 yard of fabric for a pair of shoes and it's easier to match up abstract designs than stripes.

Click on this to see it BIG

The guys were great sports about of crafting. Mostly because they were shut in with a bunch of computers playing Command & Conquer Generals for an entire day.

So, anyone else have a pair of still comfy but rarely worn shoes in their closet that need a $2 makeover? :o)

Larsens go Pumpkin

 Believe it or not, with all of my enthusiasm for the holiday and my love of all things crafty, I'm not a huge "decorate the house for holidays" sort of girl. Maybe if I had the budget...

The sign was $3 at goodwill, the wreath was free through freecycle, and the jars I had laying around the house...am I cheap? Wait, don't answer that. I know I'm cheap thrifty. I guess I figure that if I'm going to spend money, I'll get something I really *need* like new couches, instead of just something I like.

Still, I have to add a least a few touches.

oops, our house landed on a witch! (I blame the haboob). We've decided it's the wicked-ish witch of the southwest, since all the other directions seem to be taken.

We are awesome.

I got this great idea from a blog who adapted it from Martha Stewart, and it was actually really fun to make in addition to being very easy. Roll paint around the inside of a jar and let it sit on the counter for a few days to dry? I can do that. Of course, I don't own a cricut/sizzix/sillouette/vinyl cutting machine so I had to make do. Black sharpie on masking tape cut out with scissors? That's how we do it in Larsenland.

(and I probably just lost any future debate I might have had about needing one of said vinyl cutting machines. Darn my make-do-with-whatever-craftiness!)

I might put treats or something in them later on, but for now they serve absolutely no function. Except awesomeness. And attractiveness. And you just can't charge for that.

SwagBucks - the tutorial

Swagbucks = google that pays you. A swagbuck (sb) is a point system that you redeem for prizes, the most coveted being the $5 amazon.com giftcard. Using the following steps I earn about 1 giftcard a month, which I put toward diaper delivery (that post is up next). So here it is, step by step, with pictures :)

the homepage (my swagname is MegMagic and I'm an awesome chemist chick)

1. Sign up by clicking here!. It's free, and they give you sb to get you started. Each person picks a "swagname" which is your username and will also be part of your referral code. Like pyramid marketing, the more people who sign up under you, the most sb you earn, so help a girl out ;o) Still, up until this point I had ZERO referrals and was happily earning a giftcard a month all on my own.

2. The dailies. These are things you can do once per day through swagbucks site to earn sb. There are lots of options, but I prefer the quick and easy kind--I want the payoff to be worth my time.

• The Daily Poll (third row down on the left hand column): click here for a quick, one question poll of the day. Doesn't matter which answer you choose, and sometimes they are even entertaining. Worth 1sb. Time commitment = 10 seconds.

the calendar at the bottom right shows which days you have participated, but you can't go back and earn sb for days missed!

• NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers - 6th item down on the left hand column): There are about 5 screens to click through. If something interests you, you can click for more info or to sign up, which will usually earn you more sb. 99% of the time I just click "next" or "skip" until I get to the final screen. Worth 2sb. Time commitment = 30 seconds, depending on how fast things load.

NOSO start page

 3. Search wins. I try to get at least 1 search win per day, but it depends on how much I'm using my computer. Basically, it's like google. The results aren't quite as good, so if I have something tricky or specific, I use google. For a basic query, swagbucks pays me so I'm happier :o) Just start typing in the search bar at the top of the homepage, or click the search tab in the lefthand column. Search wins can be any value, but are generally between 5-15 sb. Time commitment = less than 2 minutes. I'm not that patient. By 2 minutes I've either found what I'm looking for, have tweaked my search query a few times, or get bored. If I don't win now, I might try again later. Fridays are the best days for search wins because they are "Mega Swagbucks Fridays" - meaning, search wins can be a lot more rewarding. I routinely win 17, 24, or once I even got 50 sb from a single Friday search. Good luck!

i won while i was waiting for these pictures to load to my blog

4. But what do I DO with my swagbucks? This is the best part. Check out the swagstore (located under the "redeem" drop down menu across the top of the homepage). There are tons of prizes, which usually don't impress me much, but I'm a big fan of the $5 amazon.com gift card. Earn 450 sb, click to redeem it, confirm your order (you'll get a confirmation email) and the code will appear in your swagbucks account with 2 weeks.

my favorite prize. Don't have enough to redeem it because I just ordered one yesterday...

 

5. Swagcodes: these are unpredictable but a great bonus. Some days the site puts of 10 codes, sometimes a week will pass with nothing. The best way to find codes is to like swagbucks on facebook, have a swidget on your blog (scroll all the way down and you'll see what I'm talking about!) or know where to find one, and try a swagcode friendly site like swagbuckstricks. These places will notify you either on your facebook feed, when you click a button, or even send you texts when a new code is posted. Sometimes they give you the code straight up, sometimes it's a link to where to find it in a blogpost, and sometimes it's a scavenger hunt. Generally, if it takes more than 2 steps it's not worth my time, but feel free :) For more info on finding swagcodes or what to do with them, click here.

see the swagcode box under my nice little picture? swagcodes are always one long word

6. But I want more! I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with - how can I earn more? There are plenty of other ways, and I've tried most of them at one point in time, so if you are wondering feel free to ask. 

• SURVEYS give you anywhere from 5-150 sb at a time and they'll tell you upfront how much its worth, BUT you have to qualify. I usually spend at least 5 minutes answering questions just to be told I DON'T qualify. Out of pity they give you 1 sb for trying (up to 5 per day) but that's not very useful. It is probably worth it to complete sections of your survey profile.

the "trusted surveys" homepage tells you what is available for you

• COUPONS if you are a couponer, you can find some decent coupons through the swagbucks site, both printable and electronic (they load to your shopper's card) and each coupon you save or print and then use is worth 10sb. There is quite a delay (like 2 months) before coupon sb show up in your account, but there are usually bonuses for using a certain amount of coupons per month.

coupons for printing or electronic use, usually the same as coupons.com or kroger

• SWAGBUCKS TV you can click to watch videos and as your time accrues you earn sb, usually in 3sb increments. Occasionally I'll pull up a video or two while I'm waiting for something to load.

your "swagbuck meter" in the upper right hand corner tells you how close you are to earning sb. It saves from previous times so you don't have to watch consecutively.

• TASKS change from time to time in complexity and point value. Sometimes they are interesting but often they are more complicated than they appear and can take a lot of time. Swagbucks has changed their system so you can earn a few sb for each page of the task, instead of having to make it through 10 pages for a big payout.  If I am close to a reward and really hoping to earn it before my next diaper shipment is headed out, I'll do a task to make up the difference.

• INVITE FRIENDS: like I said, it works just fine by yourself, but the more people you refer who actually use the site, the more you earn. You can refer friends through your referral link, through a button like this, or through the invite friends tab on the homepage. When you do it that way, you can connect through facebook, and you can earn an extra sb a day (just once) for inviting someone whether they join or not. Easy bucks, but I try not to bug people so I rarely use it ;o)

Well, if that's not information overload, I don't know what is. Good luck, and happy swagbucking!
Have any tricks of your own? I'd love to hear them!

I {heart} Goodwill

I will now pay homage to all the mommy blogs, the fashion blogs, and the cute cooking blogs--you know, the ones that post cute pictures of fabulous creations, a month's worth of groceries for $10.24 or girls that look way too put-together and fashionable to be related to young children, let alone wiping up those bodily fluids and cooking/feeding/cleaning three meals (+ at least 2 snacks) every single day.

Yep, that's me, in a fabulously fashionable shot captured by Scotty, our budding photographer. His favorite subjects are usually his left eyeball and the back of his sister's head, but he sometimes makes room on the memory card for his attempting-to-not-be-frumpy mama and his stuffed animals.

Thanks to April and my cute cousins for noticing this fabulous dress. It's a shabby apple dress, something that I occasionally ogle late at night when I really should be sleeping, but would never even dream of spending $50+ for a dress that is guaranteed to be stretched, wet, and crusty by the end of sacrament meeting, let alone the entire block of church.

Hence the title of this post: I {heart} Goodwill. Dress? $10. Shoes? $4. I'll have to post a better picture of them because they aren't my usual shoe but I LOVE them. Cream colored snakeskin and super comfortable. Also scored on this shopping trip? Two pairs of earrings and a great necklace for fifty cents each.

Hard to beat that. Anyone up for some thrifting?