Frugal fall activity for toddler / preschool age children

Print or trace a leaf onto heavy card-stock or cardboard (cereal boxes work well) and cut out.  Punch holes along the edges, and you've got yourself a lace-up! Kids love lacing, and they can do it over and over again. A set of these could make a fun gift.

Pinterest Projects

It's no secret that I love Pinterest. I liked it from the start, but something amazing has happened- I've actually been DOING some of the things I've pinned! Have you tried anything you've pinned? Here are some of the projects and recipes I've done so far:

Source: realsimple.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: allthingsthrifty.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: glamour.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: neverhomemaker.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Using up my leftover yarn.

From Readymade.com, see link above.

I started knitting a "patchwork" style blanket to use up some leftover yarn, using an idea from Readymade magazine (I actually have the print magazine, but here it is online!) However, I find the time estimate of "half a day" to be absurd! Maybe I am a really slow knitter, but it takes me about an hour to knit a square 20 stitches by 20 rows- and that is a LOT of squares! I expect this to a winter-long project, not a day-long project.

This is a great frugal project because I am using my leftover materials (and possibly some from friends!) that are just sitting around making clutter to make a functional item or even a cool gift. Furthermore, it makes good use of my time, because I can do this while I watch stuff on Netflix.

I'm hoping it will end up looking granny chic/modern vintage rather than random old knitted blanket.Wish me luck!


What projects have you done to "use up" leftover materials from other projects?