Homemade Suet for Birds

My neighbor recently broke her ankle, and has asked the boys and I to feed her birds in her backyard everyday. Before I met our neighbor, I didn't know anyone who loved birds more than her. She has tons of birds who frequent her backyard for the plethora bird food she provides. These birds range from cardinals, to tiny baby birds (I'm not a bird person...yet!).

Anyway, we were talking one afternoon about the suet bird food that she puts out for the hummingbirds. She mentioned that I should try to make my own and see if the birds will come. I said that I usually have bacon and ground beef grease leftover whenever we cook, and sometimes I wish that we could reuse it. So, therefore, I am experimenting with that idea.

I've heated up the leftover bacon grease, combined some peanut butter, oatmeal, nuts, and cheap bird food to it. Then I froze it to make it solid. Then I cut it into fourths. I then hung up a netted bag in our tree, so that the birds can eat it (instead of the rats! Eww!)

So far, through my experimenting I have seen a couple of birds on our deck, but they weren't really interested in the suet. The squirrels are a different topic! They are sniffing around, and playing with the bag I hung in the tree. I think they're more interested in the peanuts and peanut butter than anything else.

Here's another blog I found that tried making suet as well:

Peanut Butter Suet

I.D.E.A. Store in Champaign

Last night was the first night that I entered the I.D.E.A. Store here in Champaign. My husband has always told me that I need to go there, and so last night, my husband, the boys and I ventured out. It is kinda in an odd location, and the door is on the side of the building, facing away from Springfield, but it's very earth-friendly inside! It's kinda like you're walking into a garage sale (in a good way!). There are so many random items that people donate, that you never know what you'll find in there.

Last night I found 8 red, glass bottles to go on my bottle tree in my garden. They were priced at $0.25/piece! Very reasonable!

I've accumulated 18 bottles now for my bottle tree that I will be making in the Spring. The volunteers at the I.D.E.A. Store were very helpful in giving me ideas and resources to make my bottle tree. They even said they'd like to see pictures whenever I finish my project!

This is what I'd like my bottle tree to look like eventually:

I got 4 (nearly new!) spools of thread for $1. I also got a garden book for $2, and a mesh bag to put my homemade suet in for the birds outside (post to come on that project as well). I also grabbed some used felt to make a pizza game for the boys to play.

So, if you have time, and are in the area, I highly recommend that you check out the I.D.E.A. Store to help you be creative!

Frugal Idea of Mine

So for awhile now I've been tossing out our washcloths that we use to wash our dishes.  They just tend to have an odor whenever we have kept them too long.  Does that happen to you?  

As I've been tossing the odor-filled washcloths, I knew in the back of my head that we'd need to replace these sometime soon before we ran out.  I always kept an eye out at the store for wash cloths, but they've always been a little to much for me to pay.

The other day I was putting away a TON of these white towels that my father-n-law buys in bulk at Sam's Club.  He had left a bunch here when they moved out, so I decided that since we had so many, that I would cut them and use them as my "new" wash cloths.  Brilliant!  

We'll have to see how they turn out after I wash them.  For now I'm just excited to have new washcloths and I've been cleaning away with them ever since.

Have you had any frugal ideas that have come to your mind lately?  If so, I'd love to hear them!

Gift Card Giver

My husband found this new website called Gift Card Giver. They have a really cool idea that I think we should all take in consideration.  This group takes unused gift cards and uses them for good.  They help stock up local pantries, gives needed items to needy families, etc.  It seems like a really good thing that they have going.  I don't know about you, but I know that we keep our "unused" gift cards in our glove compartment in our car....and I know that they've just been sitting there waiting for something like this to come up.  So I encourage you to check out their website and see what you can do.

If you visit their website, there are also a couple of videos that you can watch at the bottom of their site.  Here's a little insert that I copied from their website:

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Four friends had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They went to a gathering and asked 8 people how much money in unused Gift Cards they had in their wallets and walked away with $50 in Gift Cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver.com was born.

Gift Card Giver is a new form of giving. The Gift Card industry has risen to be a 60 billion dollar industry. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? More than 10%. That means billions of dollars are waiting to be used for good on Gift Cards.

How many gift cards do you have sitting in your wallet? We guess you have at least $5 of unused gift cards in your wallet or purse right now. What’s 5 bucks going to buy you? Five bucks in Gift Cards may buy you a pair of socks…but 10 people giving 5 bucks will buy a kid a winter coat or 1000 people giving $5 from may give that same kid a warm bedroom to sleep through the night.

CARD ME

It is very simple to get involved:
STEP 1: Use as much of your card as you want (or send a full card).
STEP 2: Write how much is left on your card using a permanent marker.
STEP 3: Place the card in an envelope and send it to us at:

Gift Card Giver
490 East Side Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316