Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I woke up early this morning because I am so excited about finishing dinner and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving Day! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to ready my blog.

Here is my recipe for Cranberry Salad. Its so yummy that if I didn't make it every year, I would have some very upset family.

1 pkg. (6 oz.) cherry flavored gelatin
2 c. hot water
1 lb. can whole cranberry sauce
1 lb. can jellied cranberry sauce
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 lb. can crushed pineapple - drained
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Dissolved gelatin in water. Add cranberry sauces and lemon juice and walnuts (or pecans) they'll float to the top as it chills. Pour into a serving bowl. Chill until firm.

Tip: I always make this the night before so I know its ready to go on Thanksgiving.

Cool Way to Organize Your Necklaces

Organizing my jewelry has always been a weak spot for me. I had a beautiful jewelry box that my hubby got me for Christmas one year but it went into self destruct mode. Since then, my necklaces in particular have always sort of floated from place to place or mostly gotten piled up on the bathroom counter. I saw this idea in Family Circle Magazine, so I thought, "brilliant!, I can hang a corkboard on that blank wall in my closet." Now, you may think, "that is one fancy corkboard." Well you have my sweet hubby to thank for that. As we were standing in Hobby Lobby with corkboard in hand, he said, "why don't we paint a cool design on it." So, we did. We bought a can of cream colored spray paint and painted the background. Then we purchased a stencil and 3 different colors of acrylic paint and stenciled the lovely paisely design you see. I used regular clear colored pins to stick the necklaces up there. I have my earrings organized in a different place, but I'll post about that later.

So heres that "free" soup...

As I've read various money saving tips over the years, I've always seen the same one repeated..."Freeze leftover vegetables after dinner and use them to make a "free" soup." Well, I finally took that advice and used up all of my ziploc bags full of leftover vegetables to make some chicken soup. It was sooo good. Since the veggies were already seasoned from when I cooked them the first time, it really had such a good flavor. I also chopped up some leftover baked chicken to go in it and I added a bag of lima beans that I had in the freezer. And last but not least, I threw in a can of cream of chicken soup to thicken the broth. I would give you the recipe but there really isn't one since its based on what leftovers you have.

Cheap Restaurant Gift Certificates!

Check this out from Couponmom.com:

Deal extended! Save 80% at Restaurant.com with the code SURPRISE. Pay only $2 for a $25 certificate. Code expires Monday 11/24. These make great holiday gifts and don't expire for a full year. You can buy a $100 certificate for only $8!

Also, check out Couponmom.com. She lists grocery store sale prices and matches them with coupons. You can select stores from your area, view the sales and print a list to shop with. I got started with my couponing with Couponmom.com and it has been so helpful.

I Won An Award!

I won the Kreativ Blogger Award! Cherie over at The Wandering Peanut was gracious enough to pass this along to me. Cherie collects expired coupons and sends them overseas to our military families. If you are interested in helping her with this, please follow the link and let her know. Also she has a really cool blog with coupon match -ups that you will find helpful. Thanks Cherie!!! Now I have to list six things that I'm thankful for and pass this along to six other blogs!

I'm thankful for:

1. God and his amazing grace!

2. My awesome husband who loves me so much and always knows what I need and when I need it. I'm so thankful that God sent him to me!

3. My family. No matter what we've been through, we always come back to each other!

4. My job. I'm very fortunate to be able to come to work every day and be an interior designer!

5. My cozy apartment that is convenient to everything.

6. My silly friends that keep me laughing.

Now to pass this to six other blogs:

1. Cherie at The Wandering Peanut

2. Sarah at Fiddledeedee (she does great Publix coupon match-ups!)

3. Alyssa at Keeping the Kingdom First (check out her CVS $5 Challenge)

4. Erin at Coupon Cravings (she has the scoop on whats free this week at CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens)

5. Andrea at Mommy Snacks (I always check out her CVS and Walgreens previews)

6. Denise at The Centsible Sawyer (check out her post on current give-a-ways)

Free Coffee from World Market

I can't tell you how much I love to shop at World Market. They have the coolest stuff for your home and they have an awesome selection of imported food. (also a great place to get neat stuff for those gift baskets!) Anyhoo, they are giving away free 8 oz. bags of Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee at participating stores. Click here to look for a store near you.

Frugal Gift Basket

One big advantage to being an effective couponer is getting items free or close to free. These items are great to have on hand when you need to make a quick gift basket. Although I'm getting better, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I'm horrible about remembering to buy gifts and have them wrapped nicely in time to give. Being the interior designer that I am, I'm sure people expect fancy, elaborate wrapping. Its sad to say but I normally disappoint in that area. However, now that I'm starting to build a stockpile of random things, I can quickly pull together a fabulous basket in no time. The basket in the photo is one that I gave to my mom for her birthday this past weekend. It includes a Glade Flameless Candle, Loreal Revitalift Cleansing Wipes, Glade Plug In Scented Oil Refill and samples of Curel lotion.

Right At Home Gift Pack

The first 20,000 people to respond will receive free Ziploc® products, plus $8.50 in coupons for Ziploc®, Glade®, Pledge® and Drano® products. Click here. The products included in this prize pack are:

1 Ziploc® Brand Fresh Produce Bag with Moisture Vents
1 Ziploc® Brand Easy Zipper Storage Bag
1 Ziploc® Brand Snack Bag
1 Ziploc® Brand Zip 'n Steam™ Microwave Steam Cooking Bag
1 Ziploc® Brand Snap 'n Seal Container

Good luck!!! (if you have won a gift pack in the last 180 days, you will not be eligible for this prize.)

GO VOTE TODAY!!!

Honor those who died to protect our freedom by going out and voting today! God Bless America!