Thrifty Thursday | Pink Dress and Rocking Chair

One of the fun things about having a little girl are all the cute clothes that are available for them.  But buying lots of girly dresses can get expensive so I'm always on the lookout when I'm out thrifting.  I was so excited to find this pink dress for Hannah on a recent trip to the local thrift store - only $4.00 for a pretty high quality dress!  And of course Hannah looks so cute in it.

Hannah was totally loving my little photo shoot and was totally cheesing it up for me.  She was also really enjoying sitting in the rocking chair that I recently picked up for her.  The rocker was a freecycle find (free!) that is destined for a future before/after post.  One of the runners is broken off and the other is ready to crack.  I also envision painting it white to put in Hannah's room.  In the meantime it sits in the master bedroom awaiting its new life.

Hannah already loves her new rocker and is trying to figure out how to get back in and rock some more.

Thrifty Thursday | Wall Decorations

For Hannah's room I've been wanting to make some wall letters to hang above her changing table. I was recently at Hobby Lobby and found these letters and ribbon for a great deal. The six letters were $1.78 and the ribbon was $0.99. Since I already had the paint and brushes from painting her wall mural and other wall designs, the project only cost me $2.77 - can't beat that!

The painting process was pretty simple.  I gave each letter two coats of paint - choosing bright primary colors.  When they were dry I cut lengths of ribbon, tied each in a bow and hot glued the ends to the back of each letter.  Then I hung the letters over Hannah's changing table with some small finishing nails.

A perfect accompaniment to the other painting on the wall in Hannah's room.  Using the cover of the book by Dr. Seuss and a projector I drew and painted "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" in bright primary colors.

On the wall behind the crib I painted a scene from "Oh the Places You'll Go!"  I still want to paint a quote from one of Dr. Seuss' books on the wall above the large balloon, but haven't quite found the time yet.

These painting projects were basically free since I borrowed the projector from my mother-in-law, already had the paint and brushes, and already owned the Dr. Seuss books.  Two fun, frugal projects for my daughter's room!

Thrifty Thursday | Chocolate Pudding Pops!

The fruity yogurt popsicles were such a hit that I decided to try a chocolate fudge type popsicle.  I wanted to do this as inexpensively as possible so I searched around for a good chocolate pudding recipe.  Since this recipe has no eggs I decided to give it a try and it turned out great!

Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch 

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk.  Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Remove from heat and stir in margarine and vanilla.

Recipe from allRecipes.com

Once the pudding had cooled slightly I carefully spooned it into the popsicle molds.  Jaden was my big helper - he watched from a kitchen chair and played with the popsicle handles.  "Ready?" was his perpetual question as he waited for the chance to put the lids on the popsicles.  When I was finally ready Jaden happily put all the lids on the popsicles, after which I put them in the freezer.

The best part about making pudding pops? Licking the spoon!

During the whole pudding/popsicle making process Hannah was busy playing, but as soon as the camera came out she was underfoot.  Literally, she nearly got stepped on!

Not one to be left out of the action, Hannah had to check out the camera.  What a cheeser!