Tag Archives: Do It Yourself

Free DIY Houses for Small Pets

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on January 30, 2013 None comments

Recently we ended up with a small rat as a pet. In the above picture you can see Benny enjoying a Milkbone. (Our local pet store told us you can feed rats dog food). We weren’t sure we were going to keep him so we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on his house or toys. You can also see a toilet paper tube in the background, another favorite and free toy for small, rodent pets. We originally made Benny’s house out of an empty Country Crock container.

As Benny got bigger, we got attached to our litttle guy and we realized he wasn’t going anywhere. Now he is too big for his butter tub house so we made him a house out of the bottom of a milk jug. The indented circle on the side was also a great size for a door.

As I was writing, I realized that we had also made a butter tub house for our hermit crabs. Yes, the one in the picture above is on his back and no I didn’t have to help him get up. The point of all of this is that small pets are often very happy with toys and houses made out of household items that we often throw away. I know that these things can often be very expensive at Pet Stores and honestly our little friends don’t know the difference.

Making Home Brewed Sweet Tea

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 5, 2012 1 comments

If you have never made your own sweet tea then you obviously don’t live in the south. Just joking, but I made some sweet tea with our coffee maker recently and I wondered how many people actually do this. I used tea bags I already had in the house, put them in the top of the coffee maker, added water and ran the coffee maker like I would to make coffee. Let it cool, add sugar and you have fresh brewed Sweet Tea. I have worked at restaurants for years that sell sweet tea and they make it in a very similar way. This is something I make when we are out of other sweet drinks in the house and I am trying to stretch our grocery budget since I have everything to make it on hand. Note- I recommend using decaf tea bags because the tea can get very, very strong if you don’t.

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.

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.

Six Step Tape French Manicure

Posted by shopaholicsavers on February 4, 2011 1 comments

People often compliment me on my nails, yet I have been in a nail salon only twice in my life. I have been doing them myself for years and no one can tell the difference. This is a fun and easy way to give yourself a great French Manicure at home.

What I use-

– a plastic cuticle pusher

– a nail clipper

– tape (yes tape!)

– a rough nail file

– a fine nail file

– Sally Henson Instant Dry White Nail Polish- You don’t need instant dry but I find that this works best because it is dry by the time I apply the topcoat

– Sally Henson Top Coat with Nylon and Retinol- The top coat you use will determine how long your manicure will last so make sure you get a good one

Steps I take-

1. I file my nails to the shape I want.

2. I push back all of my cuticles and trim them.

3. I file down any rough spots on the tops of my nails and then wipe off any nail dust.

4. I use a piece of tape to create the white tips of a French manicure by putting the tape under the lines on my real nails and then paint the tip white.

5. When I have painted the tips of all of my nails I then go back and paint over them with the top coat.

6. Let your nails dry before doing anything else and you’re done.

Bonus: You can also do this for a French Pedicure although it does take longer to get the white tips right.

Note- I have used different products/versions of these products over the years but this is what I am currently using. I have also done slight variations on these steps so I encourage you to figure out what works best for you.