living in grace, alone

grace: getting something you don't deserve

If you are a Christian, if you have called on the name of Christ, if you have repented and given your life to the Lord, then you are saved by grace, alone.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8
To live any other way is arrogant.

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God saves sinners. Sinners cannot save themselves. There is nothing that we can do to earn redemption. It is something that is freely given and humbly received.

Stop trying to be a good Christian.
Stop your feeble attempts at cleaning up your sins.
Stop making lists of righteous acts and stop checking them off.
Stop reading your Bible because you're supposed to.
Stop going to church just because it's Sunday.

None of those things will make you cleaner. None of those things will put you in a better standing before God. None of things will get you into a higher level of heaven. None of those things will bring you joy.

"This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the LORD, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!" Isaiah 25:9
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Instead, live in grace. Live humbly, but boldly and in confidence. Allow God to transform your heart and your mind. Let him cleanse you and make you pure. He will take away your sins. Delight in Him. Enjoy His word.

Know that you are saved, not because of anything you do or will do, but because of the work of Christ on the cross. Allow that knowledge to move from your head to your heart. And then live like it.

There is freedom in Christ. There is freedom because of His grace.

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"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36
I need this reminder today, and everyday.

Maddie's thrift tip: try!

Hey Party People -

Maddie here... from Thriftary!

I am so excited to be here today, at the ever lovely, Jessi's blog. A true honor.
When Jessi first asked me to chime in on her ongoing conversation of tips on how to be super thrifty, I drew a blank. Uuuuuuuuuuuhh... Put into words what I blog about every day? It sounds simple. Almost too simple.. But proved to be really difficult.

So, I thought back onto some of my favorite thrifty projects, and I came to realize that the ones that REALLY stand out in my mind are the one's that I honestly didn't know what the outcome was going to be when I started. I couldn't perfectly envision the process. I couldn't define what the end result would be. But along the way, I picked up some ideas, and then I found a need, so I tried to merge them together and VOILA! Thriftary!

So... What is my tip.... you may ask??

It's the most important tip! You will never know what your thrifty capabilities are, unless you try them out.

Here's a good example...

A while back my husband (I call him "Burley") gave me an ultimatum. He told me that "all of the magazines have to be off our coffee table or I'm throwing them out!"
It sounds so much more stern when I type it out... But you get the picture.
Let's be honest... It needed to be done... He was right.

So, I had some resources in the house:

• Sewing machine I had barely used...


• Some off-white fabric left over from my wedding... 


• Some burlap that I had purchased on sale with no purpose at all...


• Some VERY basic knowledge on how to sew squares and turn them inside out to make them look clean...

And that was about it!

Oh yea... and a spice rack from IKEA that I had no where to hang... So I used the hardware from that.

And I just.... Tried!!!

I started sewing squares together and flipping them inside out to make them look clean... Just like Mom had taught me.

Then I sewed one LONG rectangle and flipped THAT inside out to make it look clean.... Easy enough.

So I started to pin it all together, and see if all those squares and rectangles could fit together....



And they did!!!! So very exciting.
Then I stuck it on the extra hardware that was laying around, in non-use.... And it all came together!

No real plan.
No end vision.
Just the simple act of trying...
And I got to add this gorgeous, thrifty keepsake to my wall AND keep my magazines. Win! Win! Win!

You can check out the real tutorial HERE.

Well folks... Thanks for reading today. I hope that you are instantly inspired to go try your true thrifty capabilities on for size... and Suprise yourself!

And thanks again Jessi, for letting me crash your party!
TTFN,

thrift tip #31: thrifted curtains, 2 ways!

My two favorite sets of curtains in our house were both made from thrifted items. I don't believe in paying full price for anything curtains because the good ones are too pricey and the cheap ones are, well, cheap. So, I rarely buy premade curtains.

Plus, it's so much more fun to make your own. That way they match exactly how you want them to and you can add your own personal touch!

thrift tip #31: make your own curtains

Way 1: Use old sheets

The curtains in our bedroom are made from an old sheet we don't use anymore. It's the same sheet set that we used to make our headboard. I'm also using scraps of it for the quilt I'm currently working on. The other sheet is one that I picked up from the thrift store.

before:


To begin, I took measurements of our window, decided what the dimensions of the curtains would need to be and drew a sketch. Then I cut the pieces I needed from each sheet, pinned the fabrics together, sewed and hemmed.

after:



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Way 2: Reinvent old curtains

For the curtains in the living room, I cut up an old set of curtains I had (the off-white) and used some canvas fabric that I found at the thrift store ($2 for yards and yards of amazing canvas is the best deal ever!). I did the same thing as with the other curtains, but flipped them (longer fabric on top). Here is the final product:



It's much easer to sew to big giant rectangle panels and attach them to the curtain rods with hooks. However, if you wanted to run the curtain rod through the fabric itself, you would simply make your panels a bit longer, fold one end over several inches and sew it together. Then slide the curtain rod through and you're done!

Jen's thrift tip: how to make money selling clothes!

Hi y'all! I'm Jen and I blog over at The Arizona Russums! I am so excited to be on Jessi's blog today...

I have been selling my clothes for cash for years. Since I love shopping and update my wardrobe frequently, I try to sell my old or unwanted clothing to fund the cycle. Over the years, I have learned quite a few tips about selling used clothing and I am excited to share them with you!

1 – Clean out your closet often. I have written about how I manage my closet before, but basically it’s important to sell clothes when they are most current. Many people let a shirt that they never wear hang in their closet for a year or two before they finally get rid of it. By that time, it’s out of style and no one wants to buy it. If something stops fitting correctly {it shrinks, you lose/gain weight, you realize you got the wrong size/style but can’t return it}, get rid of it as soon as possible, when it’s still a trendy purchase for someone else. If you notice you haven’t worn an item in six months or if you make it through the winter or summer season without wearing some of your seasonal clothes, get rid of them ASAP. The newer the clothes, the more likely you are to get cash for them.

*Remember, you can also sell accessories and gently used shoes.*

{clean it out!}

2 – Cut out tags. I’ll let you in on a secret. If you are getting rid of clothing from GAP, Banana Republic or Old Navy, you need to cut out the season tag. If you look UNDER the main tag on any GAP Inc. item, you will find a smaller tag that says the season the item was sold {ex: Spring ’08 or Holiday ‘10}. The people at the store who assess your clothes and give you cash look for these tags. If the item is too old according to the tag {more than a year or two usually} they will NOT buy the item from you, even if the item is still in style and in great condition. If you cut these season tags out, they will buy the item based on the quality and not on the year it was produced.

3 – Make sure clothes are washed, pressed {if needed} and folded nicely. You don’t have to iron every single thing, but make sure clothes look clean and neat. Iron out any big wrinkles or spritz items with a wrinkle release spray. Fold them very nicely in a box or a bag. I think bags with handles from reputable clothing stores {Banana, Ann Taylor, Old Navy, Abercrombie, etc.} are more appealing when you drop off your clothes at the store than big garbage bags. It’s also a nice touch if you tuck a dryer sheet into the bag to give all your clothes the same fresh scent.  This is especially important if you have pets or live in a house with smoke. Just try to remember to remove the dryer sheet before you take the bags into the store.

4 – Sell at the start of the season. Resale stores sell by season just like any other clothing store. If you would like to sell your fall/winter clothes, you should drop them off in August, September or October. The stores I sell at start taking winter inventory at the very end of July. If you are selling spring/summer clothing, the best months to drop off clothes are January, February and March. You are more likely to sell your clothes if you sell at the start of each season. I save out of season clothes until the right time of year. For example, if I have a really nice sweater to sell, but it’s March, I will save it in a bag in my closet until August and try to sell it then.

{via}

6 – Take clothing to two stores. Find two different stores where you can sell your clothing. Some stores, such as Plato’s Closet, Crossroads Trading Co., and Buffalo Exchange, pay cash for clothes on the spot. If you choose to take the money, you will usually get 35% of what the item’s selling price will be. You can also choose to take an in-store credit, which means you will receive credit to shop in that store for 50% of the selling price of your items. Other stores run as traditional consignment stores, where you drop your items off at the store {they still choose which ones to accept} and you only get money if they sell. Depending on the store, your items will be on the sales floor for 30-90 days and you can go in and pick up your cash at a later date.

I usually take my clothes to a big, upscale consignment store chain in Phoenix called MySister’s Closet FIRST. Their customers are mostly middle class women, so they are more likely to take my higher end brands – such as Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Banana Republic, J.Crew, designer jeans, etc. I then take everything they don’t accept down the road to Plato’s Closet where they are more likely to accept “younger” brands such as Forever 21, H&M, etc. because their main customers are teenagers and young adults. By selling at both these stores, since they appeal to different customers, I am able to sell more of my items and earn more money than if I just went to one store.

*If you have time, try to sell on weekdays, instead of weekends, when stores are less busy.

7 – Goodwill it! After I sell my clothes at these two different stores, I immediately take whatever was rejected to the Goodwill to be found by happy thrifters. The whole process of selling at both stores and dropping the remainders at Goodwill takes me about an hour and half total.

If you go through this process twice a year, once for the summer season and once for the winter season, you will benefit from a clean, manageable closet and have some extra cash in your pocket as well! Happy closet cleaning!

Come visit me – I’d love to meet you!

Blog // Facebook // Twitter

xoxo,

Jen

project life: week 5 and thrift tip #18

Here we are, week 6 and I'm still a week behind. I have a feeling I won't ever be able to have the week done by Tuesday so I think I'm going to settle for just sharing the previous week's pages each Tuesday. With that said, here is week 5:


Isaac helped his daddy put together his new bike seat and then we took it for a spin!


Dinner at BJ's. Isaac sat in a booster seat and his daddy helped him color the kids menu.


I've been trying more vegetarian recipes lately. This is one of my own creations, inspired by the awesome baked potatoes at BJ's. It's a baked potato stuffed with steamed veggies and covered in homemade alfredo sauce. It was super delicious. Be on the look out for that recipe on the blog.


I baked bread this week using the spent grain left over from Ben's homebrew (beer). I used this recipe. Ben loved it. I thought it was a little dry. I'll probably make a few adjustments next time. When the beer is done, I'm planning to make a loaf of this beer bread. Yum yum, right?

For both of the food photos I just added a white label sticker right on top. It just makes it easy to add a short caption.


Isaac got his first pair of brand new shoes this week. All be it they are from Walmart. But I finally found a pair of shoes that slip right on and aren't too big. We brought them home, put them on and he could not stop walking around and around and around. He loves shuffling around outside in the backyard. And now he walks himself all the way from the house to the car. I think he would climb in if he could. But we're not quite there yet.


These two have been best buds this week. For this caption I just wrote a note on a white card, added an arrow sticker and stapled it to the photo. Simple and cute.


And onto today's thrift tip. This one won't save you a ton of money, but it is fun.

My husband has been talking about homebrewing for a couple years now. At first it was just an idea. Then it was an idea for further down the road. And then it became an idea for a hobby he wanted to start, like now.



For Christmas, I researched beer brewing kits, types, costs, etc. I found a class on our city's deal saver (half price) and bought him the basic starter kit. Ladies, don't know what to get your husband for birthday or Christmas? Beer brewing kit. He'll love you forever.



thrift tip #18: brew your own beer



Let's say the average case of Sam Adam's is about $35. Ben is currently brewing a beer that is similar. He paid $40 for the kit. It made 52 beers. In the end we saved about $10. Plus, according to the beer connoisseur to which I'm married, it tastes way better. And it's a fun hobby to boot!

thrift tip week and thrift tip #47: one car for the family

Welcome to thrift tip week! All week long, I'll be sharing my favorite thrift tips as well as tips from other money saving bloggers. Be sure to check back each day!

Want to know how to save a ton of money and get the craziest looks from your friends??

thrift tip #47: Own and share just one car.

What?! People do that?? Ridiculous. Impossible... but it's not!

For over 2 years, Ben and I shared this car:


Ok. So it wasn't my ideal vehicle. But, it was payed off and gave us very little hassle as far as maintenance was concerned. And because we shared one vehicle, we saved a bunch of money! When you don't have a second car, you don't have all the extra expenses that come with that vehicle, like:

*car insurance
*maintenance
*registration
*smog check/state inspection
*car payment
*gas

Our estimated savings for the 2 years we only had one car was about $2000 per year and that doesn't include a car payment (because we always pay cash for vehicles) or any extra expenses we could have incurred do to engine problems, flat tires, or other maintenance issues. If you were to take into consideration that you would be eliminating a second car payment, your savings could be somewhere around $7000 a year or more!!

But back to this being a crazy, ridiculous idea (because I know alot of you are thinking that), it doesn't have to be if you do it right!

Here are a few tips to make one car work for your family:

1. Find and learn how to use public transportation. This would mean taking the bus, train, shuttle, light rail, etc. Most cities have some kind of public transportation system (but I realize some do not). Most places offer a discount for students and seniors, and many have discounted rates if you buy monthly passes.



2. Carpool with neighbors and friends. If you are going to the park, or need to head to the grocery store, why not schedule your trip for the same time as friends or family? Make the trip together and save on gas. Plus isn't shopping always better with company?

3. Walk. I feel like this is a lost concept for our generation. And I realize that for many of us, there isn't anything within walking distance. But for some, there is. Instead of loading up the car, load up the stroller. Turn it into an adventure or exercise! Make the decision to shop nearby, rather than further away.



4. Take your husband to work: plan errand days each week. This was my saving grace (next to riding the light rail). I would pick one day a week to schedule all of my appointments and plan a grocery shopping or Target trip. It was usually the same day of the week each week. This way everyone knows which day you get the car (and consequently, which day you all need to get up extra early to take daddy to work).

5. Make friends with neighbors. This works in different ways. Being friends with neighbors means you don't have to drive your kids to play dates. It means you don't have to leave the neighborhood to meet a friend for coffee (although you obviously can still do that!). It means you can have Bible study in your neighborhood. It means you probably have a grocery shopping buddy (see tip #2). Have people come over to your house instead of going to theirs (this can be with friends anywhere, not just in your neighborhood).

6. Ride your bike. Another thing we don't do alot of. This is similar to walking, except that you can go a bit further. You can also ride your bike to a bus stop (if it's too far to walk) and mount your bike on the front of the bus.



7. Find and take advantage of activities close to home. Find out about the parks near you. Do any of them hold special events throughout the year? Find play groups, Bible studies or stoller strides in your neighborhood. Check out the nearest church to see if they have a library for the kids. Go for walks around the neighborhood instead of going to the gym.

8. Schedule your time better! Time management is key in having just one vehicle. Both parties should know who gets the car when. There is no need to stress about it and this won't happen if everyone is in "the know". Plan appointments, shopping trips, play dates, etc, around the day(s) you will have the car. Know what time your husband will be off work and be there to pick him up! Plan what time you'll need to start and finish meals (dinner preparation sometimes gets divided up if you need to leave the house at 4 to pick up your husband).

Believe me, after writing this, I'm thinking: if we could go back to one car right now we would in a heartbeat!! (Due to the nature of Ben's job, he is required to have a work truck, which is our second vehicle)

So, does it still sound ridiculous and crazy to have just one vehicle?? It can be done. Believe me! My grandma, who had 3 kids, never even had her driver's license. And she made it work. I think it just comes down to having a different mind set and really considering the savings!

Did I miss anything?? Leave your tips for making one car work in the comments.

my first quilt: a baby gift

When my friend Crystal told me she was pregnant, I knew immediately I wanted to do something special for the baby. I had been wanting to try quilting for a while now (mostly after watching my mom for years, who is an amazing quilter). As soon as she told me she was having a girl, I started looking for fabrics. She was very specific, "no girly pinks".

I found the bird print at Joann's and thought it was perfect. The print was so cute and the colors were beautiful. From there, I just picked 8 matching fabrics.

I used the pattern for a "Sudoku Quilt". Basically, each square is made up of 9 prints which are all numbered 1-9. No print is in the same spot in another square. So basically, it's just like Sudoku, except it told me where to put everything instead of having to guess! (I'm terrible at Sudoku by the way).



After I finished cutting all the fabric, I started sewing each square. Here is what the first one looked like:



Once all nine were complete, I sewed the together with white sashing in between:



Next came the tedious part. Although at this point I thought all of it was challenging. But so worth it!! (By the way, how did I not realize how much math is involved in quilting??)

I chose to machine quilt each indiviual square, rather than pay to have it done or do it by hand. That meant sewing around all 81 squares individually. Once I got my rhythm though, it went fairly quickly. I just put pandora on and got in the zone:



Then came the binding. I used this tutorial (which is super simple to understand) to get that done because I was totally clueless!



Once the binding was sewn into place, I hand stitched it to the back. And, tada!
You have the final product!:



I chose this quilt for a baby quilt because we have one just like it that my mom made for my husband a while back. When Isaac was born, I would use it as a floor quilt and it was the perfect size for him, especially before he became mobile.

My verdict: quilting is time consuming and can be a bit tedious, but it's so worth it to see the final result!

My next quilt will be a queen sized one for our bed, inspired by this shower curtain. I sketched out my own measurements for this one. Yikes! I have most of it cut, mostly from old sheets and curtains I had lying around, but I need to get motivated to get going on it! I'll keep you posted.