4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Free food at Chick-fil-A (Day 19)

by Crystal on July 13, 2012

The kids had so much fun planning out and dressing up in their cow costumes for Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day today.

We used stuff we already had on hand and I was really happy with how their costumes turned out.

Kaitlynn didn’t want to use one of the tails I printed out from Chick-fil-A’s website, so she made her own!

I think the kids had the most fun seeing all of the crazy costumes other people had concocted. I had told them ahead of time that probably other people would dress up, too, but I guess they didn’t quite believe me until they got out of the van and saw all of the cow-decked people headed inside.

They kept laughing at the hilarious things people had come up with — and, let me tell you, there were some doozies! I couldn’t believe how many teenage boys and grown men dressed from head-to-toe like cows. Some of them looked like they had put a whole lot of effort into their costumes and seemed not a bit embarrassed about wearing them for all to see!

We arrived at 11 a.m. and I’m so glad we did, since we were able to get a table back in the corner away from all of the throngs of people. Plus, we didn’t have to wait in a line that stretched out the door!

Some dear friends of ours who currently live in India but are back in the states for a few weeks met us there and we enjoyed getting to catch up and visit for awhile while the children played.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience — and definitely something we’ll be doing again!

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 36 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Free Movie & Kool-Aid Ice (Day 18)

by Crystal on July 12, 2012

We met Angie and her four children at the local movie theater for their Free Kid’s Movie showing today.

It was a wee bit crowded and noisy, but you can’t beat the price of free!

We headed over to Angie’s house afterward and she made Kool-Aid Ice with Sprite for the kids while we moms snacked on Fudge Babies.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 21 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Elephant Toothpaste (Day 17)

by Crystal on July 11, 2012

We had a busy day today so we didn’t get to do our planned frugal family fun project until after Jesse came home tonight. He was quite impressed with the project and amazed at the creative idea I came up with (Thanks, Pinterest, for making me look like I’m a cool mom! :) ).

The kids were scratching their heads when I told them we were making Elephant Toothpaste. “Elephants have to brush their teeth, too?” “Oh wow, so this is what their toothpaste is made of?”

They were a little disappointed when I broke the news to them that this wasn’t actually Elephant Toothpaste, but regardless, we sure had fun making up crazy stories with the idea, anyway. :)

We didn’t have 6% Hydrogen Peroxide like the recipe called for (only 3%), but I thought our end result was still pretty cool — and the kids had a blast watching it bubble up and overflow.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 14 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: The Long Jump Contest (Day 16)

by Crystal on July 10, 2012

Inspired by watching the Olympic trials recently, we had our own Long Jump contest in our basement.

Maybe we didn’t quite match the jumping style or finesse of those participating in the Olympic trials, but we sure had a grand time attempting to leap through the air.

I made a Long Jump line with yarn and then we recorded the jumps with pieces of tape.

Everyone had fun trying to beat their own best jump.

It also was a great way to expend a lot of energy, without wilting in the heat outside!

I think this is my favorite picture of all the ones I took. The way Silas lives life with such gusto and joy brings a smile to my face and a reminder to me to take time to celebrate the little things each day.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 38 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Ivory Soap Clouds (Day 15)

by Crystal on July 09, 2012

We made Ivory Soap Clouds for our Frugal Family Fun project. The kids were less than enthused when I first told them about it.

“Stick a bar of soap in the microwave? What’s the big deal about that?” They said nonchalantly.

Well, I had them all crowd around the microwave, despite their lackluster attitudes.

Within a minute, everyone had forgotten all about their lack of enthusiasm as their eyes were popping out with what the soap had turned into in the microwave.

They started begging me if they could please play with it — and they had so much fun breaking off pieces and being fascinated with the transformation of a simple bar of soap.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 32 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Marshmallow & Toothpick Structures (Day 5)

by Crystal on June 21, 2012

I was inspired by Angie from Creating Our Home for today’s project! And I’m so glad we tried this because it was a huge hit — especially with Kathrynne.

All you need is a bag of mini marshmallows and some toothpicks. You might have both on hand, or you could pick them up at the Dollar Store or Walmart very inexpensively.

Show your children how to connect the toothpicks and marshmallows together to make structures and then let them be creative and see what they come up with!

I gave each of the children their own bowls of marshmallows to make it easier (and to prevent any possible arguments over who gets the marshmallow bag!).

And don’t forget to have a snack of marshmallows at the end!

I think Silas enjoyed the snacking on marshmallows at the end best of all! :)

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 54 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Bubble Painting (Day 4)

by Crystal on June 20, 2012

Kathrynne was feeling better today and we were able to try the Bubble Painting.

I didn’t think to look up multiple recipes for Bubble Painting on the internet, but I just went off of this pin on Pinterest. Afterward, I did look up recipes online and realized that this probably would have worked better had we used actual paint mixed in with the bubbles instead of food coloring.

But hey, we had a lot of fun making abstract paintings and we used stuff we already had on hand, so it wasn’t a failed experiment by any means. :)


Silas didn’t enjoy painting as much as the girls and quickly resorted to building with Legos instead.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 33 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Painting With Water + Read Alouds (Day 3)

by Crystal on June 19, 2012


Today didn’t go as I’d planned, but it was a good day, nonetheless. Kathrynne was still quite sick today, so I spent a lot of time caring for her and we finally ended up taking her in to the doctor. Come to find out, she has a really bad double ear infection. Poor girl!

At any rate, we didn’t get around to doing the Bubble Painting I’d planned that we’d do today. But we still had some frugal fun — or at least lots of special time together.

We did some paint with water books (I picked these up on a Buy One, Get One Half Off special from Light of Faith at our homeschool conference), Silas got to cut his pages (using scissors is a big privilege for him now and something he can only do with Mommy around after he cut his hair a few weeks ago!), and Kaitlynn made and painted a paper basket.

We then spent a long time cuddled up on the couch together reading a big stack of books with Kathrynne. We’ve been keeping our library hopping with all the books we’ve been checking out from them recently  — especially now that Kathrynne is reading so voraciously!

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: There seems to be some confusion as to what to link up with this series. Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 62 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Edible Peanut Butter Playdough (Day 2)

by Crystal on June 18, 2012

Kathrynne woke up with a fever today. So much of my day was spent caring for her — and much of the other normal stuff just got shelved. By late afternoon, she was finally feeling a little better, so Kaitlynn and Silas and I let her rest while we stole away to the kitchen to make peanut butter playdough.

Kaitlynn and Silas had a lot of fun helping me mix up the playdough and then I gave them each a ball of dough and a few toppings on a plate plus a cookie sheet and let them just have at it. They had a lot of fun making their own creations and pictures with the playdough on the cookie sheet.

And then they had even more fun bringing it to show Kathrynne and then all eating their creations together.

The whole project was simple, very inexpensive (we just used ingredients we already had on hand!), and easy to clean up. After the Flubber mess, the fact that I didn’t have to spend quite a bit of time scrubbing goo off the walls and the kitchen table after we were finished was a bit of a welcome relief. :)


Peanut Butter Playdough Recipe

  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 to 1 cup powdered milk
  • Toppings to decorate playdough: chocolate chips, jelly beans, M&M’s, sunflower seeds, raisins, chopped fruit, shredded coconut, etc.

Mix first three ingredients together until nice dough is formed (add more powdered milk if the dough is too sticky). Let children form into shapes and decorate.

If you don’t have powdered milk, here are two other recipes I found:

Peanut Butter Playdough #2: 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of peanut butter, + 1 tablespoon of honey

Peanut Butter Playdough #3:  4 cups of peanut butter, 1 cup of light corn syrup, + 2 cups of powdered sugar

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Note: There seems to be some confusion as to what to link up with this series. Since the purpose of this series is to encourage you to be intentional about fun in your home this summer, please only link up posts showing pictures/sharing details of fun things you did as a family today (or within the last few days). Posts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be deleted in order to make it fair for those who are putting forth a lot of effort to participate in this challenge.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 48 comments }

4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun: Homemade Flubber (Day 1)

by Crystal on June 15, 2012

We kicked off our 4 Weeks of Frugal Family Fun series by making Homemade Flubber.

In case you’re scratching your head wondering what I’m talking about, “Flubber” originated from Disney’s 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor (I’m not sure that I’ve even seen the movie, but I’m familiar with the storyline!).

My children were totally stoked about this project. Getting to play with slimy goop? Yes, please, bring it on!

They were highly motivated to finish their chores and to-do lists for the day in order to get make Flubber (or “icky” as Silas dubbed it!) And they all loved making it.

Our first batch flopped because we didn’t completely dissolve the glue in the water. But we still got some slimy goo from it that children thought was very cool.

The second batch actually looked like it was supposed to. And everyone had a blast playing with it.

The only problem was that 3-year-old Silas got a little “into “it and started flinging it on the wall and letting it drip all down the front of him.

So my advice to you moms is: if you decide to try this recipe, do it during naptime or when your really young ones are otherwise occupied. Or, let them play with it outside in old play clothes and then let everyone have a water fight afterward to clean themselves off. :)

Homemade Flubber Recipe

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Borax
  • 1 4-oz. bottle glue (we used both Elmer’s glue and cheap off-brand glue and both seemed to work well)
  • food coloring

Dissolve Borax in 1/2 cup warm water. Set bowl aside.

In another bowl, pour the entire bottle of glue into one cup warm water, add a few drops of food color, and completely mix together. Mixture should resemble a thin paste with no globs of glue still intact.

Pour Borax mixture over glue mixture. Start stirring and it should immediately begin turning into a slimy mixture.

Once it’s mixed together and resembles slime, allow your children to have fun with it — preferably outside or at the kitchen table.

Store leftover Flubber in a ziptop bag for up to two weeks.

Note: Adult supervision at all times is a must with this recipe as Borax is toxic. Check the comments for other non-toxic alternatives.

Original recipe from Whitfield’s Home in the Country.

Did you do something fun and frugal as a family today? If you blogged about it, I’d love for you to leave a link to your blog post below. Or, you can just tell us what you did in the comments.

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

{ 71 comments }