Frugal thank-you notes

Planning is in full swing for two baby showers for me, and I'm pretty excited. One thing that I've been looking for is cute thank-you notes for the showers and for various people who have already been giving us things for the little one. However, I'm finding that most of the baby-specific thank you notes are expensive! Since we're all about living frugally here, I've been trying to find a way to give cute, unique thank-you notes without breaking the bank.

After playing on Pinterest, I came up with the above for some of them. I limited myself to what supplies I had and a package of safety pins from the Dollar Tree, and I made about 20 of these darling thank-you notes. The "diapers" work as envelopes...and, while they aren't practical for any thank-you notes I have to mail, they'll be great for those I can hand deliver.

To make them, I used the idea behind this template. I actually sketched it because I don't have a printer, so it took some trial and error to find the size I want. Then, I went through all of my scrapbook paper and chose a variety of girly patterned papers and matching cardstock. I would trace the diaper pattern on the patterned paper and cut out a coordinating square from the cardstock. I stamped "thank you" on the top and used a punch to make it more feminine, and then I put the "diaper" around the note. I used scrapbook tape to secure the sides and then used the safety pin to actually close it. The card slips in and out of the "envelope" just fine.

Homemade laundry detergent

The idea of homemade laundry detergent has intrigued me for quite some time, but I never really had the time to try it. However, after being placed on maternity leave at 23 weeks (23 weeks. Really. Who gets put on maternity leave at 23 weeks? I'm going CRAZY!!), I've had ample time to tackle ALL of my projects.

 So, last week, I went through and researched until I found a detergent recipe that had good reviews and was what I wanted (dry powder). I bought the ingredients and mixed it all up, and...within a few minutes...voila! I had about a year's worth of laundry soap for us, all for about $13 or so. I tried it this week on my sheets and towels, and I really liked it. It washed just as well as my regular detergent, and I love how clean and fresh smelling it was.

I bought a couple of containers at the Dollar Tree to hold my detergent (though they weren't quite big enough and I had to improvise) and stuck a measuring spoon in the containers. Easy peasy! With an upcoming baby arrival and life on one income for awhile, I'm pretty pleased on saving in another area as well. :)