It is no secret that we’ve been spending a lot of time and energy finishing our basement recently.  It is almost done and we are down to adding final touches.  This includes putting in light bulbs. I did a little research before heading to the store and GE Energy Savings light bulbs offer a tremendous dollar savings and savings for the planet.  Calculate your savings!

After seeing how much I could save in just the basement alone, I went off to the store to get some new light bulbs for the space and to replace my the current ones on our main level.

I found a huge selection including ones for the flood light.

I decided to buy some school supplies with the money I was saving to donate to H’s classroom.  With the holidays coming up, they are doing a ton of projects and the teacher said they are running low on supplies already!  I chose Elmer’s glue because I know the kids use a bunch of it. I really like the #GlueNGlitter so I picked some of that too. 

See more from my shopping trip in my Google+ Album.

Once home, we created a board to illustrate our savings using the thing my kids understand most: candy!

Our school supplies went into a cute little stocking to be taken to H’s class as a donation.  

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Elmer’s..  #GlueNGlitter #CBias #SocialFabric

Special treat today! PJ from Planned is Pencil is here to share an awesome placecard with you.  She used fall supplies for hers but this would be fantastic for Christmas or any holiday!  

Check it out below 🙂

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Hello!

 

I’m PJ and I share my crafts, home decor, DIY projects and life at Planned in Pencil.

I’m just tickled to be sharing a fun placecard craft today here at Just Us Four.

I seriously love following along here and Shannah is just the sweetest for having me.

The holidays are coming and I adore giving gifts, so any occasion to give a little something special is perfect.  Why not show your guests to their seat with a gift box made out of paper that fits with your dinner theme.

My mom taught me to make these boxes years ago, I probably haven’t made one in 15 years but it still came right back to me… funny the things we remember isn’t it. 

Choose two pieces of square paper.  I dipped into my scrapbooking stash and got these fall inspired pieces.  Your box will always be 1/3 of the size of your original box.  These 12×12 pages made a 3×3 box.

Using a straight edge find the center of the paper by drawing a line from corner to corner.

Fold all four corners in the center and then  back out.  You want precise folds that are crisp.

At this point you fold each corner past the center mark to the center of the opposite sides fold.  If you want to draw your line all the way across the paper so you always know where that intersection is you certainly can.  I’ve made so many of these I just eyeball it.

Now your paper should look like this.

You’re going to cut like shown to create the sides of the box.

The sides come up and are secured by folding the adjoining side over the cut edges.

You secure the bottom with another fold and a little piece of tape.  If you don’t want to see the points coming together you could cut a piece of paper 3×3 and simply set it in the bottom of the box.

Now do the same with the second sheet.  The cool thing is that because the paper is flexible the top and bottom are reversible.

Now using twine simply attach a little scrap of burlap, or a cute cutout with the guests name on it and voila!

Inside can hold the napkin and a mint, a small gift, a note to the diner.

My husband came home after I took these pictures and got all excited that he had a present… so be careful if you leave them sitting around!

Thanks for having me Shannah!

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Thanks so my PJ! I love them!  Be sure to go visit PJ over on her blog, Planned in Pencil, to see all the other aweomesauce stuff she has to share.

I’m a coffee lover.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I don’t just drink any coffee.  I am an avid Starbucks drinker {Avid as in I am “friends” with my morning barista and she knows my order by the sound of my voice on the drive thru speaker}. 

On Black Friday, our Starbucks won’t be open until pretty late after we start our shopping.  So, we decided to brew some Starbucks at home and take it with us. Since I usually stop at the Starbucks Cafe each day, I didn’t have any at the house so I headed out to the store.

I picked up the Breakfast Blend because it was a medium strength coffee which I knew I would enjoy.

I wanted an easy to carry treat to go with my coffee so I headed to the bakery to check out the selections.  
Like a beacon, I saw a familiar face

The store had a display offering suggestions for #delicious pairings for the Starbucks coffee I was buying.

I took the suggestions and went searching for muffins to pair with my coffee. The mini blueberry muffins looked like the perfect size.

Once home, I decided to give the coffee a try before the “big” shopping day.  I made 4 cups of coffee using the 1 scoop of ground beans per cup rule.

The smell of the coffee as it brewed was delicious. I couldn’t wait for it to finish so I could try it.

Once my coffee was done, I poured it in my mug and tasted it.  

The coffee had such a smooth taste and it was just the right strength for me.  Since I don’t normally make my coffee at home, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was perfect though…almost as if my favorite barista had made it for me!

Of course, as I was sitting there sipping my coffee, the muffins started calling my name {well, not literally because that would be creepy}.  So, I opened them and dug in.

I was pretty excited with how my coffee had turned out and, then, I added the blueberry muffin to the mix.  DELICIOUS.  The blueberry flavor played off the little acidity that the coffee gave off.  It was like a party in my mouth.

So, even though this was supposed to be primarily for Black Friday, I finished the enter cup of coffee and devoured 2 miniature muffins.

On the plus side, I knew the ideal serving size for my shopping trip and had found #DeliciousPairings to boot.

Are you going Black Friday shopping?  If so, I definitely recommend this coffee and muffin combo.  It will be the perfect treat to help you along while standing in line waiting for your deals.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™.  However, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric

We go black Friday shopping every year.  I absolutely love preparing for it and then going out super early to try and pick up gifts for my family.  One of the most important parts of my black Friday shopping trip: the Black Friday survival kit.

My kit is made up of two parts: shopping lists/coupons and food.

I have a little felt bag that I keep all relevant coupons in.

I also create two lists: Store opening times and my shopping list.

I fill the food bag with stuff to keep hunger away for the hours I know I will be out shopping.  Last year, Mathlete joined me so I made sure I had stuff he would like too.  {See if you can pick which items are mine and which are his}

It all fits in my little thermal tote bag too which is great.

Do you go black Friday shopping? How do you prepare in advance?

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.,  Makin’ You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Just  Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, What’s in the Gunny Sack Linky Party at The Gunny Sack, Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou,  Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Making the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Creative Mondays at Clairejustineoxox,  Pintastic Monday Link Party at Sarah Dawn Designs, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple,  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Market Yourself Monday at Sumos Sweet Stuff,  More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home, Show Me What You Got at Our Delightful Home,  It’s Party Time at It’s So Very Cheri, DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff, Calling All Crafters Monday at All Things Fee, Cure for the Common Monday at Lines Across, Tuesday Confessional at Crafty Confessions,  To Do Tuesday at The Blackberry Vine, Lil Luna Link Party at Lil Luna, Tell Me Tuesday at Me and My Boys, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polka Dot Giraffe,  Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Nifty Thrift Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Time to Shine Party at a Diamond in the Stuff,  Uncommonly Yours Link Party at Uncommon Designs, Homemade by You at Pincushion Creations,  Craft and Tell at Cherished Bliss, Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings, One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Be Inspired at Elizebeth & Co., Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts,  Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, the Tuesday Talent Show at Chef-N-Training, Open Call Tuesday at Salt Tree, Share It Linky Party at the Winthrop Chronicles. Tiptoe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles, Show & Share at Southern Lovely and Vintage Gwen,  Riverton Housewives Roundup at The Real Housewives of Riverton,. Sugar and Spice {Wednesday} at 733 Blog, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Snap!, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything,  The Fun in Functional at Practically Functional, Wow Us Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts,  Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims, Inspiring Creativity at Dragonfly Designs, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday at Frugally Sustainable, Wow Me Wednesdays at Polka Dots on Parade, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Taking a Time Out Thursday at Mom On Time Out, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Link it Up Thursday at Seven Alive, Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff at Something Swanky, Thursdays are Your Days at 52 Mantels, Creative Thursday Link Party at Michelle’s Tasty Creations,  Weekend Wonders at Love and Laundry,  Look at Me, Live, Laugh Linky Thursday at Live, Laugh Rowe, Thing’s I’ve Done Thursday at Bear Rabbit Bear, Creative Juice Link Party at Momnivore’s Dilemma, Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday, 20 Below Thursday at Christina’s Adventures, Creative Genius Party at The Creative Paige, Blog Stalking Thursday at The Crafty Blog Stalker, Kiss and Tell at I Gotta Create, Craft, , Catch a Glimpse Thursday at A Glimpse Inside, Thursday Temptation at Two Yellow Birds Decor, Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Share Awesomeness Thursdays at The 36^th Avenue, Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Decorating, P’Inspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection, Taylor House Thursday at The Taylor House,  I’m Lovin It at Tidy Mom, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge,  Friday Happy Hour at Craft, Scappy Happy, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Freestyle Friday at Happy Hour Projects, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Free For All Friday at Young & Crafty, Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Ln, Fancy This at Truly Lovely Blog, It’s a Hodgepodge Friday at It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Lovely Craft Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home, the Featured Friday Free for All at Five Days, Five Ways, the Featured Friday Linky Party at Blissful and Domestic, Shine on Fridays at One Artsy Mama, the Anything Goes Linky Party at Bacon Time, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday Link Party at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Do Something Crafty at The Crafty Nest, the Weekend Link Party at Lolly Jane Boutique, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Strut Yourself Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal,  Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, the Sunday Scoop at I Heart Naptime and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.  

ModCloth
First up, I would like to welcome my newest sponsor: ModCloth!

I am so in love with pretty much everything they offer!  Right now, they are having a Homeward Bound Sale where the featured products are all about going home, getting cozy and going out.

Shabby Apple

Shabby Apple is a fantastic resource for gorgeous clothing!  Right now, they are offering 10% off of all red dresses when you use the code red at checkout.  Hurry though…this promotion ends on 11/10/2012.

Layla Grayce

Layla Grayce has so many unique home decor and gift items.  Right now, they are offering 15% off all personalized gifts making it the perfect time to shop for the upcoming holidays.  Just use the code made4u through November 25th when shopping.

Stella & Dot

Stella & Dot is my go-to for jewelry.  They have some really gorgeous pieces out for the holidays that would be perfect for gifts or to throw on for a holiday party.  
Want to make a little extra spending money for the holidays?  They are offering some major incentives {read: free jewelry!} for new Stella & Dot stylists.

Tiny Prints

Want some seriously gorgeous options for holiday cards and invitations?  Then, you need to check out Tiny Prints.  All of their invitations and cards are excellent quality and offer really great prices too. Enter the code freeship12 to get free shipping on your order.

One Kings Lane

Looking for ways to update your home for fall?  Or maybe a unique gift to give during the upcoming holidays?  One Kings Lane offers sales daily that will help you find just what you’re looking for.

Speaking of gifts…Want to see some of our favorite things?  Stop by and visit the Just Us Four Amazon store.

Lastly, if you are looking to make money blogging.  Consider Social Spark.

 

Every so often, I share a glimpse of what goes on around here when I’m not cooking, crafting of DIY’ing something.  Hope you enjoy 🙂

We started October with a visit to our local fall festival.

 

We decorated the patch pumpkins from the festival with some fun paint.

 Then, we rolled right into Halloween which began with the yearly parade at E’s school.

Then, we had a few friends over for our annual pre-trick or treat dinner.  This year’s specialty was jack-o-lantern pizzas.

The next weekend, with the help of Grandma, Mathlete and I were able to get away for an overnight stay to celebrate our anniversary.  We started our trip with a stop at two vineyards for a little wine tasting.

Then, we took a stroll through Historic Warrenton.

I picked up a gorgeous mirror at one of the local stores, The Empty Nest.

From there, we headed to the inn where we were staying.  It was gorgeous!

We had dinner at the restaurant on property which was delicious.  Then, we had our final course delivered to our room.

We rounded out the weekend with a little furniture shopping for the house.

It has been a ridiculous amount of time since I have done an basement update. There has been a lot {like a lot, a lot} going on down there too.

Let’s start with the bar where we have cabinet! Mathlete put together all of the Ikea cabinets and our countertop was installed too!

In the bathroom, the vanity, toilet and faucet are all installed too! I could actually take a shower in there except for the fact that we don’t have a shower curtain yet 🙂

Then, there is the subject of paint. After lots of decisions and a bunch of sample boards, we finally decided on paint colors for the space. Here is a look at some of them.

Next update: the railing on the stairs!

Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T.,  Makin’ You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Just  Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife, What’s in the Gunny Sack Linky Party at The Gunny Sack, Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou,  Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Making the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Creative Mondays at Clairejustineoxox,  Pintastic Monday Link Party at Sarah Dawn Designs, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple,  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Market Yourself Monday at Sumos Sweet Stuff,  More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home, Show Me What You Got at Our Delightful Home,  It’s Party Time at It’s So Very Cheri, DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff, Calling All Crafters Monday at All Things Fee, Cure for the Common Monday at Lines Across, Tuesday Confessional at Crafty Confessions,  To Do Tuesday at The Blackberry Vine, Lil Luna Link Party at Lil Luna, Tell Me Tuesday at Me and My Boys, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polka Dot Giraffe,  Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog, Nifty Thrift Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Time to Shine Party at a Diamond in the Stuff,  Uncommonly Yours Link Party at Uncommon Designs, Homemade by You at Pincushion Creations,  Craft and Tell at Cherished Bliss, Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings, One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Be Inspired at Elizebeth & Co., Tutorial Tuesday at With Hope Studios, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts,  Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, the Tuesday Talent Show at Chef-N-Training, Open Call Tuesday at Salt Tree, Share It Linky Party at the Winthrop Chronicles. Tiptoe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles, Show & Share at Southern Lovely and Vintage Gwen,  Riverton Housewives Roundup at The Real Housewives of Riverton,. Sugar and Spice {Wednesday} at 733 Blog, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Show and Tell at Snap!, Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home, We’re Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything,  The Fun in Functional at Practically Functional, Wow Us Wednesday on Ginger Snap Crafts,  Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims, Inspiring Creativity at Dragonfly Designs, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday at Frugally Sustainable, Wow Me Wednesdays at Polka Dots on Parade, 100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence, Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple, Taking a Time Out Thursday at Mom On Time Out, Hooking up with HoH at House of Hepworths, Link it Up Thursday at Seven Alive, Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff at Something Swanky, Thursdays are Your Days at 52 Mantels, Creative Thursday Link Party at Michelle’s Tasty Creations,  Weekend Wonders at Love and Laundry,  Look at Me, Live, Laugh Linky Thursday at Live, Laugh Rowe, Thing’s I’ve Done Thursday at Bear Rabbit Bear, Creative Juice Link Party at Momnivore’s Dilemma, Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday, 20 Below Thursday at Christina’s Adventures, Creative Genius Party at The Creative Paige, Blog Stalking Thursday at The Crafty Blog Stalker, Kiss and Tell at I Gotta Create, Craft, , Catch a Glimpse Thursday at A Glimpse Inside, Thursday Temptation at Two Yellow Birds Decor, Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Share Awesomeness Thursdays at The 36^th Avenue, Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Decorating, P’Inspirational Thursday at The Artsy Girl Connection, Taylor House Thursday at The Taylor House,  I’m Lovin It at Tidy Mom, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge,  Friday Happy Hour at Craft, Scappy Happy, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Pity Party at 30 Days, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Freestyle Friday at Happy Hour Projects, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Free For All Friday at Young & Crafty, Weekend Show Off Party at Ladybird Ln, Fancy This at Truly Lovely Blog, It’s a Hodgepodge Friday at It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Lovely Craft Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home, the Featured Friday Free for All at Five Days, Five Ways, the Featured Friday Linky Party at Blissful and Domestic, Shine on Fridays at One Artsy Mama, the Anything Goes Linky Party at Bacon Time, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday Link Party at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Do Something Crafty at The Crafty Nest, the Weekend Link Party at Lolly Jane Boutique, the Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Strut Yourself Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal,  Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, the Sunday Scoop at I Heart Naptime and the Before and After Party at Thrifty Décor Chick.