Category Archives: Do It Yourself

Cute DIY Purse Trash Can

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on March 4, 2012 None comments

I really like this idea for a cute DIY purse trash can by OrganizingHomelife.com. You can use it to round up all the little papers that end up at the bottom of your bag. Click HERE to see how to make it.

Free DIY Mini Ice Packs

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 30, 2012 None comments

I found the cutest idea at OrganizingHomeLife.com. You can use free condiment packet as Mini Ice Packs for small children by putting them in the freezer. Click HERE to read the full article.

DIY- Make Your Own Taco Seasoning

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 14, 2012 None comments

I recently tried making my own taco seasoning. It was really good and indistinguishable from the store seasoning packets. I had fun making it and I stored it in an old salsa jar. I’m still a little unsure of any savings over buying taco seasoning packets for cheap with coupons but I did already have most of the ingredients needed. The recipe is as follows-

1/4 cup chili powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients above in a small bowl. To use substitute 2 rounded Tablespoons for 1 packet of taco seasoning.

Thanks, Smashed Peas and Carrots for the recipe.

Use This Not That- Razor vs. Cook Top Cleaner to Clean A Glass Stove Top

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 8, 2012 None comments

When we rented our house, it was the first time I had ever had a glass stove top. I was worried about cleaning it so I bought the specially made stove top cleaner. However, this didn’t work about half the time. I happened to be in a used appliance store with my mother and sister when I asked the sales lady how much it would be to replace the stove top if it was damaged beyond repair. The answer was- A LOT. But the sales lady told me that I probably wouldn’t have to. Instead she suggested that we use a flat razor blade ($1 at Dollar Tree) to remove any remaining cooking particles. AND IT WORKED! My stove top looks like new and I never need to buy cook top cleaner again.

This is cheaper and it requires less chemicals to be used in my house.

Savings- $5 each time you would have to buy cook top cleaner

Disclaimer- Not all stoves are the same. I recommend caution when trying this on yours to make sure it works for you and doesn’t damage your stove.

Click HERE to see the rest of our series USE THIS NOT THAT.

10 Simple Ideas for Green Gift Wrapping

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on December 14, 2011 None comments

I always advocate being green and I have often made my own gift wrap or re-purposed store bags as gift bags. See Frugal Gift Bags. Also see Free Printable Gift Tags. This year I am saving the comics from my many, many newspapers so that I can use them as wrapping paper instead of buying it. I found this great list of green gift wrap ideas including the one above. Click HERE to read the full list.

While you’re at it, check out my list of 30 Ways to Save Money this Christmas.

Homemade Weed Killer Update

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 1, 2011 None comments

It worked! But as you can see I didn’t spray enough in certain areas. I will go back and spray again but I’m happy with the results that came from mixing items I already had in my cabinet. Click HERE to see my previous post on how I made it.

Homemade Weed Killer

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 27, 2011 1 comments

This is the first time since I was a child that I have lived in a house. Something we considered when renting our house was the lawn care but we still wanted our own lawn. My boyfriend mows our decent sized lawn so I decided that it was up to me to pull the weeds out of the sidewalk cracks and mulch flower beds.

However, we have hundreds of clovers mixed in with the mulch. Instead of hand pulling each of them I decided to look up homemade weed killer.

After looking it up, I learned that salt and vinegar are the two main ingredients in homemade weed killer, both of which I already had in my cabinet. I took both of those and mixed them in a small reused spray bottle.

I sprayed it on the clovers today and it worked!

Thanks to The Garden Counselor for the information.

Making Your Own Coffee Creamer

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 4, 2011 None comments

One grocery item that we go through like water and constantly run out of is coffee creamer. It is so much cheaper to make coffee at home than to buy it, even with the cost of coffee creamer, but I wondered- could I make it myself for even cheaper?

Using the recipe of-

-1 can of sweetened condensed milk ($3 for two)

– 1 ½ cups of nonfat milk (~$.50)

– 1 tablespoon of vanilla ($1.5 for about 2 tablespoons)

Mix everything together and shake

I doubled the recipe and it made the amount in the water jug in the picture above. So for about $5 I made just a little bit more creamer than what a $3 coffee creamer generally holds from the store. This coffee creamer was MORE expensive than the coffee creamers from the store plus the time and energy required to buy everything and make it. The taste was good but not quite as good as store bought coffee creamers. Overall, this project didn’t save money but it was fun to try. I may try other recipes in the future to see if they will be more cost effective. If you already have the ingredients on hand (I didn’t but you might!) then this would be much cheaper and it is easy to make.

Doubling Milk

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 25, 2011 None comments

We decided to try the milk / water trick when we were half way through our gallon of milk.

Before

After

Click HERE to read how to do it. Now we just have to figure our how we will drink it all before it expires, but we eat a lot of cereal so I don’t think that this will be a problem.

How to Fix a Broken Pressed Powder Compact- With Pictures

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 20, 2011 1 comments

Almost a year ago I posted on How to Fix a Broken Compact. Well after freaking out two days ago when my compact broke, I realized that I had four broken compacts again and could once again create a ‘new’ one. Yay! This time I took pictures. *Tip* You can also do this with other makeup like eyeshadow.

1. Gather your broken compacts. These are the broken ones that a year ago I would have thrown away.

2. Combine them.

3. Mash them up.

4. Add a small amount of rubbing alcohol and mix. You don’t want to use too much or it will dry extra hard (You can still use it, it will just be harder).

5. Let it dry!

It’s that easy! I just saved myself $25 dollars. For those of you who are wondering I use PUR minerals 4 in 1 compacts that can only be bought at ULTA stores. They aren’t cheap but if I bought the four products separately they would cost at least that much. It also saves me time of having to purchase and then apply four different products. There are a few things I will pay full price for (even though I try not to) and this is one of them. 🙂