What not to buy at the Dollar Store

What Not to Buy at the Dollar Store

I live way too close to The Dollar Store

I end up spending a lot of time there

Which means I also tend to spend a lot of money there too.

I've bought a few things that have been worth a dollar.

And I've bought a few things that are totally not worth a dollar.

So stroll with me through the aisles and I will tell you all those things you should buy

and all those things you should avoid.

Tissue Paper-Buy it at the Dollar Store

It's so much cheaper at The Dollar Store and works great in those 

recycled gift bags we all have laying around.

Scotch Tape-Buy it at the Dollar Store

Is it just me or does your house go through tape like it's going out of style?

 Thumb Tacks-Buy it at the Dollar Store

You probably don't need these every day, but I did do a project recently and wish I knew they had them at The Dollar Store because I paid too much.

Furniture Polish and Window Cleaner: Buy it at the Dollar Tree

Both things I use often, both things worth picking up
Windex does not corner the market on window cleaner and Pledge doesn't either

Estracell sponges-DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

While they may look like the scotch brite sponges, they are not the same.
 Don't waste your money buy these instead.  You will be glad that you did!

Sun dishwashing liquid: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

This stuff is so watered down that it's cheaper to buy the name brand

Dawn makes a far more superior product and you can use it for more than just dishes.

Stor-it sandwich bags: Buy it at the Dollar Store

We don't use a lot of these baggies (I use my reusable ones instead)
but when I do need them, they do the job

Potted Meat: DO NOT BUY IT EVER

I'm pretty sure potted meat is never a good idea

also, any "meat" at The Dollar Store-gross!

Pretzels: Buy it at the Dollar Store

These are great for lunches and so much cheaper than at the grocery store

Kids Shampoo: Buy it a the Dollar Store

If you have kids that wash themselves you know how much shampoo you go through.

Shower Curtain: Buy it at the Dollar Store

Now I'm not saying you should use just this shower curtain in your bathroom,

but under your fancy shower curtain, this one for $1 is perfect. 

Washcloths and Towels: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

So thin and so not worth it

These washcloths are about the same price and are far superior.

Extra Healing Lotion: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

It may look like Vaseline's healing lotion, but it is not even close.

Find a sale and buy the real deal

This is my favorite hand lotion right now.

Bobby pins: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

Honestly, didn't know anyone could screw up bobby pins

but they did.

Don't bother

These don't cost much more and work far better in my opinion.

Cotton Swabs: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

Stick with Q-tips

These guys bend before you even stick 'em in your ear.

It's like they are scared or something.

Pregnancy Test: Buy it at the Dollar Store

Who knew?

Seriously, the best $1 deal in the store

Compare them with other brands here
**updated**see this follow up post Should you Buy a Dollar Store Pregnancy Test

After years of buying pregnancy tests at the dollar store, WalMart has come up with a pregnancy test of their own and it's less than a buck!

Glue Pens-Buy it at the Dollar Store

I always peruse the craft aisle you never know what you will find

I know I've bought these at Michael's before for WAY more!

Colored Pencils: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

These are awful! They won't sharpen and they get dull in a nanosecond

My daughter loves the Crayola twistables instead.

Crayons: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

There is something to be said for Crayola.  They have crayons figured out.

These are just waxy and yuck.

Crayola crayons are cheaper than the 8 or 10 in this pack and are far better!

Dough Pate: DO NOT BUY IT at the Dollar Store

It's called Pate...seriously...skip it.

It's not play doh

and yes, I do know that Pate is a French word for paste or dough.
It's still not the same

Bubbles: Buy it at the Dollar Store

I buy these by the armful during the summer

Cheap, big and full of fun

So what dollar store items did I miss?

Good or bad I want to know!

**updated**
This Dollar Store post has by far been one of my most popular posts.
I did a few follow up posts based on department.
You can find them here

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

this post contains affiliate links. if you purchase those items, i may be compensated.

Support local

I'm a big fan of buying local and supporting local artists and crafters.  Over a year ago, my oldest son started telling me about a local company {causal industrees} that he was loving and we started supporting this company by buying some pretty rad locally made shirts.

I was just folding laundry and three of the four t-shirts I folded that were Aidan's were all Casual Industrees tee's.  I have a few personal favorites.

Making Labels using Your Silhouette Machine and Vinyl

How to Make Labels with Your Silhouette Machine

Want to know which is better, the Cricut or the Silhouette cutting machine? I've got my unbiased opinion here. 

I've really enjoyed getting to play with my new Silhouette machine. I am tempted to put vinyl on just about everything so I have to reign myself in. I did make some labels for some of the bulk items that I have in my kitchen.

I used both the positive and negative images from the cutout for the lid and the front of the jar. Waste not, right?

Did you know you can write with chalk on vinyl? Now you do! For whatever reason, this one didn't cut the letters out for the label and instead of throwing it away, I used it anyway and just wrote my own label.

I also made a few labels for things in my pantry.

Something about a label makes me feel so organized!

Want to see other projects you can make with your Silhouette? There is a drop-down menu under real projects at the top of this website where you can see all the Cricut and Silhouette projects I've made.

These are some of my favorite projects:



Canvas Cactus Tote Bag



Faux enamel mug



Drink Local Beer Opener



Restoration Hardware Knock off

Letter Writing Tips for Writing to your Sponsored Child

One of the best parts of child sponsorship is the ability to have communication with your sponsored child.  I had the opportunity to meet one of our sponsored children this past summer in Uganda and seeing him in his mud hut holding onto a stack of letters that our family has written him over the years was heartwarming.  This family lives in a very small space and only has room for the most basic items.  To see that they had made room for the stack of letters that were written to them by a family they didn't even know, made me realize how much they do cherish that communication.

Child sponsorship is near and dear to my heart. To find a child to sponsor or learn more about child sponsorship, visit here.

This is not where I belong

The older I get, the more I realize how dependent my mood is on the weather.

I realized pretty early on living in the Seattle area that I needed to get a break during the dark dreary months and find some sun.

I spent nearly a week in Cancun, Mexico last week soaking up sun and enjoying rare one on one time with my husband and loving every minute of it.

One of our favorite things to do to start the day is to get out and run. I don't necessarily love the running part, but being outside, being active and exploring the area is a great way to start the day.

One of the songs that came on on my iPod as I was running was Building 429 "Where I Belong"

If you haven't heard it, or just love the song and want to hear it again, here it is.  It's a great one.

White Chocolate Popcorn Snack Mix

One of our family's favorite things to do during our long wet winter is to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie together.  It's the only time the kids are able to eat in the living room and they take full advantage of it!   Pick up your favorite DVD at your local store and make a movie night for your family. 

5 things to stop wasting your money on right now

5 things to stop wasting your money on right now

It's easy to get into spending habits and not even think that what you are doing is a waste of money. The new year is a great time to reexamine your spending habits and start making easy changes. I have five things that you can stop wasting money on and start putting some more cash back into your wallet.

February free printable memory verse

As a mom teaching kids to do chores, this verse resonates with me quite often! It's also a great reminder for us as we prepare to serve.  Volunteering and serving is so very important to me and our family, and this is a great verse to remember while in the trenches.

From Pin to Reality

A few weeks ago I gave myself the challenge to start taking my pins off of Pinterest and start making them a reality. I came to report back to let you know how I did.  

Washi and felt heart arrows

I have become obsessed with arrows. I don't know what it is, I just love them!  If you missed my DIY love shirt {with arrows} you can see it here.  As a follow up to that, I decided to take some dowels that I had in my craft supply box and used some supplies I had on hand to create these felt and washi heart arrows.

A Mother's Choice: How I Decided to Be a Young Mom and Kept My Baby

I was barely nineteen. Not much older than he is now.  I was faced with a decision that would not only affect me, but a decision that would directly affect the lives of two others and that would create a ripple, affecting countless others. I knew almost right away. Several negative pregnancy tests did nothing to alleviate the nagging suspicion of what I already realized. 

Free Superbowl bingo printable

The big game is coming up! If you are anything like me, I half pay attention to the game and mostly pay attention to the food.  The commercials are the thing that usually draws my attention, so I thought it would be fun to make a Superbowl commercial bingo game.

What to watch this month

It's been a busy month for us. We got off of the high of the holidays, and pretty much all of us hit a wall. It's been hard to get back into a routine. The older kids have finals and the oldest is not only cramming for finals, he's also studying for the SAT's that are conveniently on the weekend following finals week. We are all looking forward to a long weekend {the kids have Monday off to celebrate the end of the semester} so we can recharge. I fully expect lots of snuggle time with the littles and some down time with some Netflix. I haven't watched a Netflix original series that I didn't like yet {Orange is the New Black and House of Cards are both amazing!}, so I can only imagine what's in store for us with Puss in Boots.

Custom LOVE sweatshirt

I bought this H&M sweatshirt for $1 at a garage sale this summer knowing I wanted to put my own spin on it. I don't know about you, but I tend to hoard craft supplies until I have the perfect craft, and even then, I go back and forth with ideas second guessing myself.  

What is our common denominator?

I'm not much of a sports fan.  I follow along enough to make occasional comments, but sports just aren't that fun for me when I don't actually know the people that are playing.  

source 

Dr. Seuss Curious Crandalls nightlight

Our family are huge Dr. Seuss fans, so when I saw this 15 minute craft lightning challenge, I jumped right on board!

One of our favorite books by Dr. Seuss is the Sleep Book. I love the part about the Curious Crandalls. Those Curious Crandalls sleepwalk on hills with assorted sized candles.  They stay asleep even with dripping wax falling on them!  But not to worry, there is no dripping wax from these candles.  They will make the perfect nightlight for your littles after you read the Sleep Book and they head off into dream land.

My dream job

In July of last year, I had the chance to go to Uganda, Africa. It was a lifelong dream of mine and no joke, it lived up to everything that I would have ever expected or wanted.

This video still brings tears to my eyes as I watch it because it's everything about the trip that I imagined.  You can read the re-cap here and a reflection from a month later here.

easy leather bead bracelet

Before Christmas, I had the chance to shop House of Gems, an on-line wholesale bead and jewelry making supply shop.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!  Expect to see more projects soon, but for now, these leather bead bracelets are the first thing I tackled.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but when I do, I like it to be small and subtle. Sometimes small and subtle is hard to find in the stores, so after hunting, I decided to make my own.

Valentine pipe cleaner tree

We barely got the Christmas decorations down before I started thinking about decorating for the next holiday.  I found a few supplies that I had on hand and made these Valentine's pipe cleaner trees.

Must read books in 2015

I'm a sucker for a good book.  I have a beach trip coming up, which means ample opportunity to catch up on some good books.  I'm always looking at lists that have people's favorite books on them, and since these lists are helpful to me, I thought I would offer up my favorite reads, in case that was helpful to someone else looking for a good book.

Interchangeable photo booth props

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Plaid Crafts, Michaels and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

Photo booths are all the rage!  They are the most fun part of any party now it seems.  Michael's store has these super fun spring wood surfaces that I had the most fun decorating and creating with.

I think we have all seen the classic photo booth mustache, but have you seen it made into an interchangeable prop?  I did just that with some fabric scraps and some Velcro.

From Pin to reality

Please oh please tell me that I am not the only one who pins things on Pinterest only to have them get lost on your board, never to do anything with them again.  The genius that is Pinterest thankfully came up with the "oops" button so that stopped me from pinning the same thing over and over again, though I still have to go back to my old boards before that was available and clean up a bit.  Oops.

Am I the only one wearing workout clothes to actually work out in?

Now that the kids are back at school, I have gotten back into running errands. Sue me if those "errands" include a trip to Marshall's, TJ Maxx and Target. There are a few obvious themes this time of year. The most obvious one is getting back in shape and hitting the gym. There are racks full of work out gear front and center in every store it seems. I haven't bought any new workout gear in over a year and thought that it might be time to get a few new shirts, you know, while everything is on sale and all.  But then I was hit with the reality that I don't think that people are actually buying these workout clothes to wear to workout in.

January memory verse free printable

It's a new year.

A fresh start.

A chance to reflect on the past year and look forward into the new year.

Sometimes this looking back and moving forward can stir up mixed emotions.

If I can be honest with you, I am not quite sure how this year will be able to even compare with last year.  I had amazing life changing experiences I'm not sure anything in the coming year will even be able to compare. I'm going into this near year already comparing it to the last knowing that it already pales in comparison. 

My one little word: intent

I've seen lots of bloggers chose one little word for the year, but I have never done it myself. 

I actually had a word to focus on when I went to Africa this summer {excess} and I thought that I would chose one little word to focus on this year.  Not so much as a resolution but as a way to live. I started seeing these one little words pop up through my instagram and blog feeds and I was trying to pin the perfect word down. A word that I knew I could work with and that would inspire me to think and change.   I spent time on Ali Edwards blog reading people's OLW choices and none of them stuck out to me like Steph's from Crafting in the Rain .  She picked the word intent and I immediately knew that that was my one little word for the year.

Holy Craft year in review

I can hardly believe that 2014 is over.  It was probably the best year of my life! Mostly because I got to take an amazing trip to Africa, a country that I have longed to go to for as long as I can remember, and an experience I can hardly put out of my mind for even a second.