Square Pennies

Live Better For Less!

Candy Cane Peppermint Patties: Easy Christmas Candy

Here's a quick Christmas candy that is minty delicious! Top peppermint patties with melted chocolate and crushed candy canes. Now that's a candy crush I like! They make nice gifts too! Peppermint Patties Topped with Crushed Candy Canes You'll need: small peppermint patties small candy canes 9 ounces of chocolate chips, about 1 cup … [Read more...]

Deep Discount Bargain Hunting Can Save You a Bundle

Bargains Make Me Happy We all love deals and deep discounts on name brand items. What's a deep discount? I consider it to be 80%-90% off the original price. I just discovered an outlet store that handles all sorts of items that have been returned to big name online retailers (think of Amazing retailers). When the packaging has been damaged … [Read more...]

Creativity: Sometimes It’s a Disease (15 Ways to Reuse Packing Paper)

Recycling? I know this will come off like bragging, but it's really not. I'm confessing that I have a disease. It's the disease of a brain that won't leave well enough alone. It really is a curse. My disease surfaced recently while visiting our engaged daughter. Wedding gifts kept arriving, often packed in perforated paper, hereafter … [Read more...]

Leftover Ham for Quick Meals, Great Comfort Food, and Entertaining

Freeze that leftover ham!There's no such thing as too much leftover ham! You can use it a million ways and not get tired of it--at least at our house. We like to freeze the nice-looking slices for a quick ham dinner to use when we're too tired to cook. We often make baked potatoes in the microwave, then microwave the frozen ham slices for a few … [Read more...]

Simplify Christmas: Make a List AFTER Christmas

Simplifying Christmas Do yourself a huge favor! Make next year's Christmas a little simpler: by making notes about this Christmas. Most of us can't remember from one year to the next what worked well and what didn't. We think we will, but we don't. At least that's how my brain works. Make yourself a cup of tea or hot cocoa and settle … [Read more...]

We Wish You a Messy Christmas!

Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury said to have a messy Christmas, to accept that things will not go perfectly.  He said that things will be messed up, and that's normal.  If you strive for perfection you will be disappointed and have too much stress.  His sentiments still work for this year! The turkey won't be perfect.  The kids will get … [Read more...]