One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 990 of 2143 - I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

One Hundred Dollars a Month – Mavis’ Weekly Highlights 12/13/2014

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 13, 2014 · 2 Comments

Mavis Butterfield on Instagram – Follow me as I share some random goodness

Garden Updates

Monthly Garden Chores for December – East Coast Edition

Recipes

Giveaways

Mornings with Mavis

Tips and Tricks

Weekly Shopping Trips and Other Stories

Videos

Friday Night at the Movies – 100 Greatest Movie Compliments

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great weekend!

♥ Mavis

Don’t forget, you can stay up to date with the latest news by following One Hundred Dollars a Month on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ as well.

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Melting Chocolate in a Crock Pot

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 12, 2014 · 21 Comments

So, I have an unhealthy obsession with my crock pot. Seriously, I use it ALL of the time. When people aren’t looking {even when they are}, I talk to it–like an old reliable friend. So when a friend {not the crock pot} told me I could melt chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc. in a crock pot, I nearly squealed with delight. Nearly.

I don’t know about you, but with all of the holiday recipes around here, this is going to make my life soooo much easier. Basically, all you need to do is fill chocolate chips, almond bark, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips {and the list goes on} into mason jars. I like to use the wide mouth pint sized because they are easy for dipping.

Simply put the chocolate filled jars into the crock pot {you can put multiple jars in at the same time} then pour water in around the jars, until it is about half-way up the side of the jars. Be careful NOT to get water INTO the jars. It has disastrous consequences on the melting process. Finally, turn the crock pot on high and LEAVE THE LID OFF, because again, you don’t want condensation dripping back into your jars. Stir the contents of the jars every so often until they are completely melted.

That’s it. Now you have melted whatever you need as you do your holiday recipes. Genius, right?

~Mavis

Find More Easy Kitchen Tips

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DIY Christmas Craft – Wine Cork Reindeer

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 12, 2014 · 3 Comments

These little reindeer would make perfect place card holders for Christmas dinner…or tie a little ribbon on them and use them for ornaments. Either way, they take all of about 5 minutes and are pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.

You’ll Need:

2 wine corks
Several twigs
Gold topped push pin {red would work too}
Small screwdriver or needle nose pliers
White glue

Directions:

Start by trimming 4 pieces of twig to the exact same length for the legs {about 3″}. Using the screwdriver, gently poke four holes into the long side of one of the corks. Poke another hole on the opposite side of cork, toward one end for the neck.

Poke the leg twigs into the cork at an angle, securing with glue, if necessary. Cut a smaller piece of twig {about 1″} and poke it into the hole for the neck. Now, on the second cork, use the screwdriver to poke a hole where the head will connect with the neck. On the top side of the cork, poke two more holes for antlers. Cut twigs for the antlers {about 2″ long}. Make sure the antler twigs have at least a fork in them, to make them look antler-like. Secure the antlers in the appropriate holes, again using glue if needed.

Now, push the gold pin into the other side of the “head” cork for the nose {you may have to trim the push pin a bit, depending on how long it is}.

Now you can put place cards in the antlers…or decorate with them however you like.

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Giveaway: Songbird Tweets Bird Seed Donuts

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 12, 2014 ·

I like to march to the beat of my own drum sometimes and do things no one else has done. Like give away bird donuts. Yep. Donuts for birds. I suspect this might be the only bird donut giveaway you’ve ever entered.

But tell me those aren’t the cutest things you’ve ever seen. And we’re lucky that the fine folks at Gardner’s Supply Company are willing to give them away to one lucky bird lover!

WHAT YOU WIN:

Set of 6 Songbird Tweets Bird Seed Donuts.

Like the delicious bakery treats that inspired them, these Songbird Tweets™ birdseed donuts are decorated with colorful seed “sprinkles” and then packaged in the cutest signature bakery box, just like the real things. Hang these solid-seed ornaments from a branch or your feeding station and watch birds flock to them!

HOW YOU WIN IT:

Life’s pretty complicated sometimes, so I like to keep things simple around here. You have FIVE ways to enter: 1 required and 4 bonus entries. That means you can leave a total of FIVE comments below for FIVE awesome chances to win.

1. *REQUIRED ENTRY* Tell the truth: Have you ever heard of bird donuts before? Where would you put them up? Just leave a comment below letting me know and you’re in to win.

2. *BONUS ENTRY* Do you like/friend/follow me yet? Pick one or all and like me/follow me/subscribe to me via one of these forms of social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and/or Google+! Leave a comment below with the name of the site you followed, ie. “liked you on Facebook and Instagram.” Only 1 comment/entry regardless of if you follow me on all 6 sites. Which you totally should anyway.

3. *BONUS ENTRY* Start spreading the news. Share this giveaway with your peeps via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and/or Google+! If you don’t do the social media thing, just send out an old fashioned email about this awesome giveaway. Leave a comment below letting me know how you shared it.

4. *BONUS ENTRY* Head on over to my Facebook page and leave a comment on one of the posts or pictures there. Come back here and leave a comment below letting me know which post or picture you commented on.

5. *BONUS ENTRY* Subscribe to my daily emailed newsletter. It’s an easy peasy way to make sure you don’t miss a thing. Plus, I’m way too busy gardening to spam you, so your email address is safe with me. Leave a comment below letting me know you subscribed.

THE FINE PRINT:

5 entries per person/ip address. If you cheat, you will totally be disqualified.

I will ship this prize ANYWHERE on the planet earth, so go ahead and enter.

This giveaway ends Tuesday, December 16th and the winners will be announced in the Wednesday, December 17th edition of Mornings with Mavis. You will be notified via email and have 48 hours to claim your prize. Prize will be forfeited within 48 hours.

Good Luck! I hope you win.

Peace Out Girl Scouts!

♥ Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.