And The Winner Is...

**UPDATE: If you want to order the reusable envelopes you can put LAURIESBLOG in the coupon code line at checkout for 10% off!**

I had a whopping 46 entries in the Reusable Envelope Giveaway offered from the Etsy shop, SassyMoneyEnvelopes&Such!

I wrote everyone's number on a piece of paper and the kids each drew one, giving me 4 finalists:

Vivi pulled out...Wendy

Jasmine pulled: Tammy

Jayden pulled: Melinda

Isaac pulled: Whitney

Then I put each child's name in the bowl and Isaac pulled out the name of the child who held the winning number:

You can see he is quite disappointed to have not pulled out his own name!! HA!

That means Jayden's #26 is the winner!

WOOHOO!!!
Congratulations to my Facebook buddy!!!
I happen to know that Melinda is a working mom of an almost 9 month old son who would love the chance to be home with him.
Maybe these envelopes will help you towards that goal, friend!
Have fun over at SassyMoneyEnvelopes&Such choosing your winning print.
I will let Marcia know you will be contacting her via Etsy with your address.
Make sure to print out the budget sheets I mentioned in my earlier post to increase your success rate at sticking with it!

Thank you to all who entered, I love to do Giveaways as you long time followers know...so there will be more up for grabs in the very near future.
And a BIG thank you to Marcia for her generous gift!
Please show your support by going over there to purchase a set of Reusable Cash Envelopes for yourself!! We are already budgeting them in as I really am going to need that polka dot set! :)

Jasmine is 10 months!

Look who is another month older already!
Just TWO months until she turns one.
I cannot believe it.

Jasmine just gets sassier every month and is such a DIVA.
She is a very high need baby.
We adore her and all she is,
but sure enjoy when she is willing to let someone else hold her for a short while.

She loves to stand up on everything now and has a couple walkers we practice with.

She has become more social this month and will smile and "show off" for strangers, something she never did before.

Happy 10 months, Baby Girl!!!

**P.S. The giveaway drawing will happen this afternoon and the winner will post in about 4 hours, so stay tuned!

Money Management

Day 5 of my LOVE posts brings me to this:
I love the Cash Envelope System.

Oh I have not always loved it. I have had times of resenting the crap out of my raggedy paper envelopes which never seem to have as much cash as I want them to have! But on this day I can say I LOVE our cash envelopes system. With the start of a new year come the two most popular resolutions: to diet and exercise more AND to get your finances in order. We have been doing the envelope system for almost 4 full years now in our household, and it has been incredibly liberating for us. We plan to always live like this...yes it is tight with little flexibility...but sticking to our money diet has brought so much freedom to our finances and most importantly no more worries about how we will pay for this or handle that. This year alone our financial plans include 2 vacations, possibly paying off ALL of our remaining credit card debt, and Billy purchasing a new (used) car. And of course we will continue to pay cash only for birthdays and Christmas.
I have zero anxiety about taking any of this on.
This could have never happened all those years ago when we sold our house and moved into a tight 2 bedroom apartment as a family of four.

But today we stand redeemed by a God who honors good stewardship.
We are living proof of that fact.

I thought on this topic I ought to link to the blog post I wrote on exactly how we budget and spend our money, Budgeting For A Family Of Six.

Check it out.
I hope you find inspiration in our story to take steps towards your own financial freedom.


And because I am an Etsy addict (I browse WAY more than I buy...hence the above mentioned tight budget) AND because ya'll know how much I love gifts: I couldn't resist offering this super fun giveaway for one of you, dear readers!!

Reusable colorful money envelopes made from durable vinyl, tear resistant material, with blank white labels to fill your own categories in, and in so many adorable patterns!!
Check them out here at the Etsy shop:
SassyMoneyEnvelopes & Such

Sweet Marcia is offering one of my lucky readers a set of your choice of six colorful envelopes, that she makes and sells for $30 a set. Isn't that fantastic?
The envelopes also come with metal rings to connect them to one another in an easy portable pack.
I love, love, love this.Thank you, Marcia!!!
Please browse her site and consider purchasing a set of your own. I can attest to the fact that paper envelopes get worn, they tear, and are just plain boring! Imagine how much more motivated you will be to stick to your system if you get to look at these beauties?I wanted to add that Marcia began her Etsy shop in August to raise money to pay for a Mission Trip she will be attending with her church this summer. What a great idea...create a product that will encourage people to act responsibly with their money AND use the revenue to go help share the gospel with others. A win-win endeavor if you ask me!

To enter to win the giveaway, please become a follower of
Adoption Creates Families.

Leave a comment with your favorite budget tip
(you can leave your first name only).

If you share this blog post on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest,
you can come back here and tell me you did to enter twice!

On Friday, one of my children will randomly choose and announce a winner.
Then the winner will have 24 hours to contact me via email with your name, address, and the fabric pattern you would like to receive.

Best of luck and happy budgeting!!

Chairback Mailboxes

This is my favorite Valentine's Day decor in our home. I bought these off Pottery Barn Kids years ago. Isaac and Vivi have theirs with names but for some reason when I pulled them out to hang up, I discovered that Jayden's does not have his name on it, which means I snatched it up at an actual Pottery Barn Kids store when the website sold out in a week as it does every year. I use these adorable mailboxes to put the Valentines and candy we buy for the kids and those that arrive in the mail awaiting the 14th to be opened. I will tell you though that even though PBK re-issues these every season for $25 (with name)/free shipping, they sell out fast. As you will discover they are already gone from the website, even though I know they were still there as of a week ago. So your best bet in getting one is to find a PBK store, CALL them and have them pull one off the shelf for you...they can often go that fast.
In store, they should be $19.

So Jasmine's will have to wait until next year unless I can get out to the mall by Friday.

They also sell this adorable white envelope chair backer as seen on the left...which is of course, you guessed it- SOLD OUT on the website. If you can sew I found this tutorial to make one similar yourself (on the right) for surely a fraction of the cost.

However, if you really have your heart set on the red mailbox and can't wait until next January 3rd to snag yours off PBK and have zero sewing skills, like myself...then I have GREAT news for you!

I did some hunting and there are talented Etsy sellers who make similar bags with red and gingham and the names...all the cuteness of the PBK bag for a little more money:StitchesAPlenty for $20 with shipping plus 50 cents a letter.

Or this one which is made out of felt not fabric, so decide how you feel about that:
From mommytobeboutique for around $30 with shipping.

And finally there is this super cute option for around $32 with shipping costs: That can either say "Mail" or your child's name according to the seller aLittleFrayed.
(Don't you love these Etsy sewing shop names?! Hilarious!)

So happy shopping or sewing your way to a fun filled Valentine Mailbox Chairbacker!

Monogram Yarn Wreath

Here is the tutorial on making a yarn wreath.
You could also buy a styrofoam wreath circle and use the same technique!

Yarn wreaths are so easy!!
Just pick your colors of yarn and felt. If you want it to be year round, might I suggest twine and black felt or grey yarn with ivory and blue felt flowers.
Michaels sells these white wooden letters for $3.99...you will want a coupon for that OR the yarn making the entire project under $10 if you already having hanging ribbon.

If not, don't forget to pick up coordinating ribbon too.

It is as easy as hotgluing your yarn strip to the back and beginning to wind it tightly around the letter. TIGHTLY. Pushing together as you go.

Depending on your letter shape, you will have to trouble shoot how to turn the yarn in a way to cover the entire thing, but I will leave that for your creativity!

As you come up the the middle top of your letter, tape your ribbon to the letter center and then just twist your yarn right over about a one inch portion. You will want your tape to be very loose because when you go to tie your bow and hang it, you will need the ribbon to move freely to get it centered just right. (i.e. pulling up the tape under the yarn)

Then once you have completed your letter yarning, it will be time to hot glue your felt flowers in a grouping of your choice.

What felt flowers, you ask?

You may want to purchase 3-4 sheets of each felt color you want, they are cheap and it is nice to have extras in case you mess a bunch up!Cut the felt in squares depending on the size you want your flower to be.
After that, cut the square into a circle, and then spiral cut to the center.
Then beginning at the center you will just wrap your spiral up into the shape of a flower, hot gluing it closed!
Really easy, people!!

Then apply your flowers with hot glue to your letter wreath.

With the extra flowers, you can make a rose ball for decoration!!
Simple hot glue all the roses around a dollar store styrofoam ball.
I placed my rose ball on a silver candlestick on my piano (photos later!)

When you are done, you will have a lovely rose ball and a trendy yarn monogram wreath for your door or home wall.

Sidenote: these babies are currently going for $35-$55 a piece on Etsy.
With these steps and minimal craft items,
you too can make it for way more than half off that cost!!

Have fun crafting for Valentine's Day!

Valentine Ribbon Wreath

Have ya'll discovered Pinterest yet? I have been getting a lot of ideas there for Valentine's Day and birthday party planning. It is fantastic. Go get a free account!! I don't always have time to read through tutorials, but often just seeing a photo can inspire, which is what set me on the path to creating a Valentine ribbon wreath.

The ribbon wreath tutorial

You will want lots of ribbon in different sizing (priced 50% or more off is the only way to go cause it gets expensive!) I bought seven rolls but really could have used 8 for the pattern...I ran out of the bottom pink and have lots leftover of the others. So, I do not recommend cutting your whole roll right away. About 3/4's of each roll would have been best to not have so much waste. But I have a plan with my scrap pieces which I will get to later.
You could use any ribbon combination for various holidays and events.

I chose a 14 inch wreath (keep the plastic on)

Then I cut all of my ribbon to 6 inches and then in half to create 3 inch strips.

It is helpful to lay them out because you will need to see them all as you put it together.
Then just loop and pin. I began with the floral pins I already had which were not sharp, so I don't recommend it.

So I switched to sewing stick pins...much easier and faster!

Here you can see it filling in.
When you are done, go around and fill in the gaps with more ribbon loops, until it is complete!
I used 200 pins.

I wanted to enjoy its beauty, so I put it on a plate stand on my mantel.
To give you an idea of how big and full it is, here it is IF it were on my door:

But I have this on my front door instead. (Tutorial on this beauty tomorrow!)