Wednesday, January 29, 2014

:: Frugal Fodder 27—Pantry Findings pt. 2 ::

I wanted to share a couple of things I’ve done since re-arranging and organizing in my kitchen pantry.
My IDEA IS “…spending a little to save a lot! ”
Our Dollar General still had some Christmas Items on the shelves.  Everything was just  .10¢ – you really can’t beat that.  I was in there Tuesday evening and bought up 3 boxes of chocolates. You can always use chocolate in the kitchen, right?
 30 cent chocolate

They were little "Christmas Count Downs".  I opened them and punched the milk chocolates out of the container.  I put them in a baggie and will use them in cookies or something.  Not sure yet…
It was almost 2 cups—GIVE OR TAKE A BITE.  :)
marked down- christmas chocolates

I also bought up the last Christmas Coffee mugs they had …also a dime each!  There were 11 cups left. 
I am putting these up for this Christmas—they will make sweet little cups to add into baskets with Hot Cocoa and muffins or something like that. Very inexpensive—but well worth the effort to put them back for later.  That’s eleven gifts—I don’t have to purchase.
 winter themed coffee mugs
The last thing I picked up at the Dollar Store?  Boxes.
As you can imagine this late in January—the Christmas items are VERY picked over and when I saw these empty boxes—

dollar store boxes
I knew they’d be thrown away. I asked the clerk if I could have them.  I already know how I’m going to use them. 
Though, I don’t have a need for RED BOXES WITH SNOW FLAKES on them. 
So I’ll be painting them for my craft room.  You might remember these I painted last year--- Cheap and Easy Decor
painted boxes march 20.13
I might be able to make them all match or blend in together.  The ones I got on Tuesday- Free! 

T.H. and I went to the flea market a few weeks ago and I found a rack of spice bottles with clamps on them.  I’ve priced new ones on line and they can get rather expensive.  Since the purchase of my dehydrator last year—I’ve made garlic powder and would love to dry more spices for these bottles.
spice bottles
I found this set of 6 for $3 bucks with the spices STILL IN THEM!  YUCK… but I brought them home and cleaned them up – I want to paint the clamps and shelf.  The lids are ceramic—with an embossed image—I’d like to paint them too. 
Any tips on painting ceramic? I’d hope it could stand up to KITCHEN WEAR… I’m open for all suggestions. 
These are just a few ways I'm saving money in the kitchen and around my home.  The rising cost of groceries--doesn't have to be so difficult if you plan ahead and think outside the box. Most of this is for my kitchen pantry—the boxes will work in the craft room – a “pantry” of sorts! 
I’m still plugging away on re-organizing the kitchen and am thinking about my craft room, though I’ve not made much progress there. My end goal is to be able to save money—being more organized and drying my own spices will help meet this goal. “…spending a little to save a lot! ”
And of course--- There’s always Chocolate!  Any recipe ideas made with milk chocolate? 

You can read PANTRY FINDINGS-pt 1 here.

Til next time, Be Blessed!



Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.~ Joshua 1:9

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your concept of saving money in spending less money is good. Nice work done by you...

retrorevival.biz said...

Well aren't you the industrious one! Love the little clamp jars:)

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Good find! I saw JoAnne's has their Christmas items on clearance too. You're right, chocolate can be used in lots of things other than Christmas. My granddaughter had one of those advent calendars and loved opening the doors to get her treats.

Diane said...

Great deals. And free storage boxes are even better! I've never painted anything ceramic before. I know there is glass paint available. Do some internet research. Bet you find some answers.

Rhonda said...

love your comment about a bite or 2 :)

nannykim said...

Ten cents!? REALLY! wow! pretty amazing!

A Daughter of the King said...

I love your creative and frugal solutions to everyday problems, Pat!

Revi said...

Note to self: Run by Dollar Tree tonight. My favorite thing to do with milk chocolate, besides eating it, is to make toffee or toffee crackers with melted butter and brown sugar poured over them...ADDICTIVE.