Just what is Labor Day anyway?

Wikipedia says:

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.^[1] It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.^[2] The September date was chosen as Cleveland was concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.^[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labor Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school.

Have a safe and fun Labor Day friends!

Memorial Day is right around the corner and if your family is like mine, we will be picnicking somewhere. With the temperatures beginning to soar in my region, I find myself trying to find a way to serve my family delicious meals, but yet stay on the frugal side.

Here are a few of my tried and true tips!

• If you do not have the gas to drive somewhere, instead of fretting, plan a fabulous picnic right in your own backyard. End the day playing Frisbee or just throw the ball back and forth together.
• If you are into decorating your picnic table with a cloth or need a blanket to sit on, why not make your own? Purchase clearance fabric and design a beautiful picnic blanket. You can use this design that I posted about in last year’s newsletter. Another option is to visit your local dollar store. Many of them have the gingham look table cloths for only $1.00.
• If you want to cut down on food waste and avoid having to pack tons of food, make everyone their very own special lunch pail. We have used beach pails before and packed them with a special sandwich, dessert, chips, and a drink. When lunch is finished, they have a toy to play with!
• If you are traveling, Picnic Recipes and Games offers a listing of picnic areas in the United States.  They have over 109 listed!
• Organized Home has a Picnic Planner Checklist that will help you organize all those picnic staples!

Those are just a few of the things I do when I picnic. I look for any opportunity to spend time with my family, making it special for them–and still keeping things frugal!

What are your plans for this weekend?

I just finished reading a great post by one of my new favorite sites, Chica and Jo.  If you are planning a wedding in the next few months and need a frugal way to make a wedding program, then you will definitely want to click on over to their website!

Not only do you get the tutorial, but you get the template for free too!

Just CLICK HERE and you will be able to access it!

Fave Crafts is one of my favorite websites for all things crafty! They have a free E-Book that they are giving away to everyone FULL of Mother’s Day craft ideas!

To get your copy, just click HERE.

I made this for my hubby’s birthday. It may not look “quite” as nice as Betty’s version (do they ever really look like the pictures?), but it was a hit and fun to make! Might be a fun project with the kids.

Here are a few more Valentine links for you. These were delivered to my inbox this week. Before I share them though, I received this email regarding a frugal Valentine story that I thought I would share with you as well. It might bring you inspiration!

 Cards have gotten ridiculously expensive.
My husband and I no longer purchase them.
We go to the drugstore together, pick out the card
that we would purchase if we had the money,
 and read them to each other. Sorry Hallmark.

That inspires me to take my husband to the card store and pick out the most loving card I can find and let him read it and then take him out for a dessert somewhere and talk about it. Very frugal idea and very inspirational!

Inspiring Ideas has some cute ideas for Valentine Smoothies.

A friend of mine who writes articles for Suite 101 sent in some Valentine articles she has written:

• Party Games for Kids
• Valentine Bookmarks
• Valentine Projects
• How to Make Valentine Cards

If you like these articles, you can find all of her articles at this link.

Have fun this Valentine’s Day. Think of ways to shower your family with love without breaking your budget. It can be done!

Happy Valentine’s Day

Just had to share this fun idea from Maggi, a fellow Econobuster. (I love the way she used “econobust” as a verb!)  I thought the idea might make a nice Valentine’s Day gift for hubby or the family in general.

“I Bought a box of King Arthur Cake Flour and it sat on my shelf through the Christmas holidays. We are a family of 3, so I do not make cake very often. This Tuesday as I was wrapping up may day with my “Motivated MOMS” chart, I noticed I had penciled in “make a cake”. So I pulled out the box of flour and noticed that they had a chocolate cake recipe on it, and I made it. Then I went to their web site and noticed the recipe was “KAF Guaranteed”. Their guarantee stated that this cake would be tender and moist… I also noted that they had more than a hundred cake recipe’s!

In my constant need to Econobust I came up with this concept; a homemade “Cake of the Month” as a gift for my husband’s birthday. Based on the success off my chocolate cake (which was decadently delicious by the way) I knew it would be a hit. My husband’s birthday is not until next month and he is already perusing the ingredients for his next 5 cakes.”

Here are a few good ideas from earlier blog posts:

Gluten Free Desserts

Freezer Cheesecake Bites

Quick & Easy Cake Decorating

Yummy Recipe Link and Substitution List

HERE is the recipe I use for my son who can’t eat milk. It’s also nut and egg free, for folks who need to avoid those ingredients as well. It says to check your health food store for tofu or nondairy chocolate chips. I’ve found that the Ghiradelli brand semi-sweet chocolate chips are dairy free. Unfortunately, they’re usually more expensive than generic chips, but at least my son can have them.

Have any of you done anything like this? Know of any exceptional recipes?

My kids love to host parties. We have many homeschool friends that we invite over and have fun just being together and hanging out and fellowshipping with. Too many parties can really do wear and tear on a budget, so I have come up with a foolproof way to really make a wonderful Valentine party (or this can be adapted to host any party) that won’t break your budget!

Decorations: Homemade decorations are always a wonderful addition to any party. My daughter loves to draw hearts and then decorate them with dots from the whole punch or glitter from our tub. We usually have all these supplies on hand so there is no money spent here, and this becomes craft time for the kids during our school hours. After decorating them, she will hang them at different intervals throughout the house.

You know all that red and pink tissue paper that you have been saving from the gift bags you receive? Use it to cut hearts out to decorate your table with!

Another decorating tip: take an old white cloth, or butcher paper if you have it on hand and drape it over the table. Then allow everyone to write or draw about something they love. Keep it as a memento of this party.

Food: When it comes to food for a party like this, I get all excited because I love to cook! I make homemade cupcakes, sugar cookies, homemade chicken nuggets, and then serve them with chips and tea. Again, most of this stuff you should have on hand and should make for a very inexpensive party! For the sugar cookies, I leave them plain and we allow the guests to decorate their own for the party.

This is also a good way for your kids to get in on the cooking. My daughter made these cookies and she is so proud that they turned out so good.  Here are our finished cookies:

The recipe for the cookies and the icing can be found at All Recipes. Just do a search for sugar cookies and cookie icing.  And instead of buying expensive colored sprinkles, you can read a past post that I did on colored sprinkles.

For party games, we have played Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, or, you can find many other game ideas from Family Fun website. And for more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas visit We Are That Family.

By the time you are done throwing this party, you will be ready to plan another one!

What frugal party tips do you have?

I have many blogs that I read every day looking for great ideas that I can share with you, and even learn a few things myself. This last week there have been some great Valentine links that I thought I would share with you:

The Frugal Family Fun Blog has a cute idea to make scratch and sniff Valentine’s.

Little Birdie Secrets shares her tutorial to make Heart Strings.

If you have some of those cute heart buttons, you can make this adorable onesie called Wearing Your Heart on Your Chest.

Print these free Chuck E Cheese Valentine Cards (they are good for five free tokens per child)!

Skip To My Lou shares her tutorial on making a Ladybug Valentine.

Dollar Store Crafts has a cute Valentine lei that looks absolutely adorable!

What have you found around the Internet lately that is Valentine related? Is it something we would all enjoy? Email me the link! I would love to see it.