Hand Sewn Superhero Capes

Hi Everyone!

 I know it's a bit early to start thinking about children's Christmas gifts, but I just couldn't help myself! There was a big moving sale at a fabric store downtown this week and it was too good to pass up. Plus, I felt like doing some creative stuff from my Pinterest list.

 This week, I'm making some superhero capes for three little boys. The best part is they are reversible! One side is Superman and the other is Batman. I'm still debating on making little pink capes for the girls or something else completely that they would like.

These we're relatively simple to make. I tried using a borrowed sewing machine, but just gave up when I couldn't figure out how to set the damn thing up! So, hand sewn using the back stitch was the route I went! I did do a bit of slip stitch for the hole where the head goes through. All I used what some black and red fabric with some yellow and black felt. I used really nice fabric which ended up costing me a bit more but I think it's worth it. I also used some interfacing to give the cape a bit more thickness and weight.

 I decided to sew on the yellow background first to the cape and then the black bat directly onto the cape for added security. 

I love the look of the back stitch sewn on the logos.

Here is my work in progress. 

 Here's a finished cape!

I find the hole to be a bit big so I scaled it down a bit for the next two capes. 

I realized this past trip to the textile store that I'm absolutely in love with it! The possibilities of all the things you can create I find super exciting. Just be careful when you head in, it can be an expensive shopping trip as things add up. So, bring a list and have fun!

Till next time!

Eros And Pookie

Couple Small Deals This Week!

Hi All,

We booked a trip to Cuba next month for our anniversary, so I've been keeping my eye out on some deals that would be good to bring with me as gifts for the locals. I figured now that I'm couponing, I can get better stuff for the same price or less than Dollarama. We had been to Cuba to vacation before about two years ago, and it was a real eye opener as to how good life is here in Canada. I was advised by many friends to tip with gifts instead of cash, because they can't buy the goods we have here since there are no U.S. products sold there. On a selfish note, imagine not eating fries with Heinz ketchup or drinking Coca Cola with your lunch on the beach. Small conveniences like having internet or a thousand television channels we all take for granted. Plus, I think they would really appreciate it more than giving them some toys and crappy gifts from the dollar store. It'll most likely be a little heavy going there but thank goodness, I'm not carrying anything back!

Here's a couple things I scored for my trip!

 Febreeze regular priced at Rabba was $4.99 each and the sale this week was 2 for $4. I had two coupons that saves $4 each when you buy any three Febreeze products. So, it makes them $12 - $8 in coupons equals $4 for all 6 bottles as opposed to spending $30. This scent actually smelled really nice! 

This is regularly $4.99 at Loblaws and was on sale for $1.99 each. I had five save $1 coupons and got each of these shaving gels for 99 cents each. 

Till next time!

Monday Night's, Grocery Night!

Hi All!

Last week's shopping trip was so easy! The deals still aren't the greatest, but much better than they've been in the past few weeks. I only use a couple coupons but did PM'd a bunch of stuff. I had the best experience with a No Frills cashier on Kingston Road in Scarborough. I asked to PM a bunch of grocery items and showed her the flyer on my iPad. She busted out her own copy of the flyer for that particular store to check herself. She also knew that the mushrooms were $0.88 and just gave me the instant discounted price. What a difference the cashier can make on my shopping trip!

Let's have a look at last week's deals!

Mushrooms were PM'd for $.88 instead of $1.97.

1 Free Crest Pro Health Rinse Mouthwash with $1 off coupon.

Gay Lea Butter was PM'd for $2.88 compared to $5.17. 

Glad Cling Wrap was PM'd at $1.88 compared to $3.97.

I forgot to include these in my previous photo!

Mastro EVOO is about $6 and I got it for $3.97. Not as good as the deal 

last week but we really needed some olive oil.

As always Thinsations are on sale for $1.99 and I had a 75 cents off coupon.

My boyfriend suggested that we pop by a Giant Tiger, since I've never been and we happened to be in Scarborough. Man, I was amazed at how much it reminded me of Biway when I was a kid in Jane and Finch. I always noticed online there were a lot of sales for this store but never knew or looked into where any of the locations were. Luckily, with an iPhone I quickly looked up this week's sales and scoop up this amazing deal.

 I picked up two packs of the two 765mL bottles of Windex. This was on sale for $5.98 and came with a $2 off peel-able coupon right on the product. I had a couple coupons for buy one get one free, but when I clarified with the cashier she said I couldn't combine the offer. Luckily, I also had another coupon that was save $2 when you buy two! I asked if I could use that coupon and was given the ok! So, each pack of Windex came to $5.98 - $2 - $2 = $1.98 for a set of two. That's just 99 cents a bottle! 

This week we didn't go grocery shopping, as we've had a lot of Winton's old friends and extended family in town. I did however managed to scoop up this amazing deal at Rabba today.

Dawn dish soap on sale this week for 79 cents. I had five $1 off coupons when you buy any two Dawn dish soap. I picked up ten, making each 266mL bottle 29 cents each.  Awesome!

See you next time!

Finished Crayon Rolls

Hi Everyone!

Recently, I was able to finish two crayon rolls! Here's what they look like:

 The inside

 The backside

What they look like when rolled. They are a little skinny cause there is no crayons in them.

I've done the cut outs for my plush puppy but haven't even begun sewing them yet! It's tax season so I've been busy adding up receipts and collecting information for my small business. Let alone doing some of my family members as well.

I also made some home made creative apple pies. Check these out!

Hollowing them out is the hardest part of this dessert

 The filling

This part is a little tricky since the pie crust is so delicate to lattice

The yummy finished product. 

Till next time!

"What Do You Mean You Don't Price Match THIS week?"

Hi Everyone,

For months and months, I've been price matching no problem at both No Frills and Walmart. So, this week's grocery trip I had an option to go to Dufferin mall, which had both stores or just No Frills downtown. I opted for No Frills thinking it was late, closer to us at the time and I could just price match everything I wanted any ways. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening! I had picked up a bunch of items that were to be PM'd and started checking out at the cash. It was almost 10pm and there were only a few customers in the store. The cashier and her associate told me they don't ever price match. I politely told them that I had been price matching all the time at No Frills and have done it previously at this particular location. They called one of the higher ups and she told me they "don't price match THIS week." Something about the big sale that week or something and that's why they don't do it. Funny thing is, on all their flyers, in their stores and even on their shopping carts it tells customers "if you find a lower price they'll beat it". Very contradicting if you ask me! Already exhausted from the day and not feeling so well, I didn't protest and returned all the items that weren't on sale at No Frills out of my cart and went on my merry way.

The next day I called No Frills' customer support line to find out what the deal was with their PM-ing policy. The customer service representative told me it's on a store by store basis and they can change it weekly whenever the manager felt like it. I asked her if I was able to find out somehow online or something when they wanted to PM or not. She suggested I call them every week to see if they were PM-ing that week. I told her that was a hassle for me and thanked her for her time and told her that I will be going to Walmart more often now. Some customer service! There really should be universal policies for all stores under that brand.

The thing is, I wasn't price matching things that were insanely cheap this week as the sales were pretty mediocre. All I wanted really was some PC whole chicken, some veggies and fruits, and in particular an olive oil bottle that was $5 cheaper at Walmart. I had a couple of coupons so check out wasn't a hassle for them. To tell you the truth I was pretty ticked off. Oh well, like I always say "you win some, and you lose some."

On other news, I did happen to pop by Shoppers this week for an awesome Sunday/Monday deal.

On sale for $7.99 and I had a $5 off coupon, making this $2.99. Surprisingly, I had several of these coupons but only picked up one to try it out. 

Recent Deals

As you all know, I like to take pictures of items I consider to be big wins for me. I'm always saving $1 here or 50 cents off this product or what not. I figure that stuff is pretty boring and not worth much blogging about. Plus, right now it would be too time consuming for me as I've got a lot to do at the moment. Not to mention the lack on deals that have been going on the last couple weeks. I didn't even go grocery shopping last week. Luckily, we have more than enough food to last us!

I felt like doing a little blurb today about some other great deals I've gotten in the last week or two. This will help give you an idea of what's out there, the sales, the coupons, and hopefully to expect these sort of deals again. It always feels good to recognize and cash in on a great deal. Here we go...

 Free 591mL of Smart Water! I signed up to receive this coupon in the mail and had to cash this sucker in before it expired. Good thing about Rabba is that they take coupons! Couldn't find this size at No Frills or Walmart.

 A great example of price matching! This stuff is expensive and I LOVE nachos! I got these price matched from Price Chopper for $1.88 each. Can you believe salsa and cheese sauce is $1.88? Downtown that stuff runs you at least $5-$6 bucks a pop!

I like mustard and we happened to be running low on this stuff. I don't use it often, just here and there for burgers and hot dogs. I was adamant to keep an eye out for a sale and possibly a coupon. Lo and behold within 2 weeks I found a 75 cents off coupon, and the following week Walmart had a sale for it for $1. I almost got greedy and got two of these! For 25 cents it was too cheap to pass up, but my boyfriend sometimes being the voice of reason reminded me he doesn't even like mustard. So, one little bottle for me was good enough. In hindsight, I did save 25 cents from not buying another bottle.

Clorox Bleach was on sale this week for 99 cents a bottle at Shoppers Drug Mart. I had a coupon that saves $1.50 when you buy any two Clorox Bleach. I ended up paying 24 cents each bottle. Not too shabby huh? 

Feel free to reach me at ErosAndPookie@gmail.com!

Till next time!

The Cashier

Hi Everyone,

I had a little spat recently with a cashier about redeeming $1 off a travel size Crest mouthwash and because I bought that, I had a coupon to get some free floss. Essentially, getting both items for free! I know several people who have taken part of this great deal and have redeemed both items no problem. But, unfortunately I was given a hard time and just couldn't win with the cashier that time and had to give up on this fabulous deal. I eventually worked my way around this conundrum at another Walmart and eventually cashed in on this great deal regardless of spending a bit of money. So, it has inspired me to write today's blog "The Cashier."

With all this couponing and organization the most important person after you is your cashier! How can you get your freebies and deals if the cashier themselves are preventing you from cashing them in? I find many cashiers just don't understand coupon rules and lingo. They think that if it says one coupon per purchase, then you can only use one coupon per transaction or shopping trip. It's really one coupon per product, so if you buy 3 products you can use 3 coupons unless it clearly states otherwise. And if a coupon says save $1 off ANY whatever brand product, that includes travel sizes!

To get my free mouthwash and floss my cashier insisted that she had to do them all individually!! The horror on my face as she started to go through each coupon and transaction one by one! Luckily, it was around 10pm and there wasn't many customers there. She also mention that she was new and in her training it didn't allow it, even though I tried to explain to her that I've purchased many items at that particular Walmart every week with no issues. She also said she didn't want to get in trouble with her boss, so I was fine with that and patiently waited for her to ring everything up one by one. I did have one lady line up behind me but I politely informed her that the cashier was insistent on ringing everything separately and that I might take some time. If you know you're going to be awhile with a cashier, it's just good karma to let the person behind you know what's up so they can decide whether to stay or move on to the next cash.

Look at all these insane receipts!

A lot does depend on your own store's policy. So, be sure to read all the find print of your coupon! I find that the Walmart's in Scarborough are much more reluctant to take coupons than my normal Walmart at Dufferin mall. Some store's don't even accept printable coupons or price matching without your competitor's flyer. Not on iPad or nothing! In this day and age who really wants to carry around 10 different flyers with them when they're shopping. A quick glance of an iPad is so much more convenient, but all I can say is you win some and you lose some. I just end up trying on another day or another store.

Here are some of the other things I managed to scoop up during this week's Walmart trip! 

 Charmin To Go Wipes $2 each and Charmin Seat Covers $1 each = $15 

I used 3 coupons of $4 off when you buy 3 Charmin Products. I paid a total of $3 for the lot! 

Now if I had not purchased the $2 wipes and stuck with the $1 seat covers I would be +$3 to use on any of my other Walmart purchases. Yes, folks! This does work in Toronto and not just the States! 

Kotex was on sale for $3.97 each - $1.50 each from coupons I clipped out. 

With all those receipts the payoff was well worth it! Five flosses worth about $4 each were all free! Mouthwashes I had to pay for five, which was $1 each. But, I had four $1 off coupons and got four mouthwashes free!

I could have chose not to redeem my four free mouthwashes and saved time on the extra transactions, but I was thinking of the overall cost per unit of each mouthwash. By only paying $5 for the five of them I would of paid $1 each. But redeeming the four free ones made the per unit mouthwashes to come up to about 55 cents each. I really didn't care about the wash, I just really wanted the floss since I was low on my stash at home.

Note: I usually never include the taxes in my prices to make explaining easier. I figure it's a given that we all have to pay taxes!