**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.    ​​​

     Oh My Goodness! You Guys!  We have been having the BEST rain here in Phoenix because of Hurricane Rosa and the weather feels amazing!  It actually feels like we might get to have Fall! AND, this weather is just in time for Frugal Fun Day, which is tomorrow, October 6th.  So, for Friday Faves we are asking: 

What do you love to do for fun on the cheap?

At Home:

• Well, if you have been reading our blog for very long, you know that we all love to play games!  Whether it is 2 persons or a large group, playing cards or board games, that competitive side comes out.  Playing games is definitely frugal and fun. Those links will take you to posts about some of our favorite games.
• Maddy's favorite is a movie night.  I pictured Harry Potter up in the collage above, which is always a good choice.  We have suggested some favorite movies in the past.  With Halloween coming you might like to refer to this post. But, here are few super inexpensive ones that you may not have thought of now available on Amazon Prime for you to enjoy! 

              1. For a nice romantic choice, Letters to Juliet looks so good!  You can rent it for 1.99 or                               purchase it for 7.99!   I think I am going to talk my husband into this one for us to watch                         together.   
             2.  If you have kids who love horses, The Silver Brumby stood out to me as reminiscent of
                  The Man from Snowy River.    You can rent it for 1.99 and buy it for 3.99.  We just                                    rewatched The Man from Snowy River on Netflix for free. 
            3.  When Maddy and I were in Disneyland last Spring, we saw some Pixar movie shorts in the                    theater in California Adventures. One that was super cute and perfect for younger children                   was called Piper.  This cute film about a baby bird learning to provide for himself is now on                   Prime for just 2.99.

     Now, let's do some things that get us out of the house! 

• Alicia loves to have a campfire and make s'mores!  She and her husband enjoy this so much that they had a s'mores bar at their wedding reception.  We have a firepit made by my husband at our house, but if you aren't that lucky or you are renting, there are portable fire pits to purchase. 

      Besides roasting marshmallows and making s'mores, you might enjoy making and using Stuff 'em Sticks, something that we told you about here. 

• Lindsey says that her favorite frugal activity is to take a drive up into the mountains where the weather is cooler and take along a picnic! The rest of us enjoy that, too, and to throw in a hike or historical site is always nice as well.  When I think of a picnic, I always picture the wicker basket, but we know that it usually ends up being an ice chest to keep everything cool.   Look at this cute picnic/cooler basket that I found! So awesome! 

•  While your at it, if you have a couple of days, how about a camping trip? Camping is relaxing, fun, an adventure and a lot less expensive than many other getaways.  My son takes my grandson as often as he can and they usually just sleep in the car!   But, if you don't have a large enough car for that, Coleman now has a tent that sets up in about a minute! I mean it, it opens like an umbrella! My son has one of these as well and let me tell you, it is amazing! The poles are connected and you just walk it open and TAH DAH, the tent is set up.  You can put in spikes to hold it down if you want, but my son says that he rarely does, unless it is windy.  It  is also a great price! You can check it out on Amazon. 

Frugal Fun in the Phoenix Area

     Phoenix, where the weather is sometimes hot but never snowy, lends itself to many activities for everyone that are pretty inexpensive! 
*In the hot weather there are many pools available in the city parks, as well as splash pads and there are Water Parks available as well.  Pioneer Park and Rio Vista Park's water pads are two that we have been to and they are both fun and free! 
*There are lakes in the city that are stocked for Urban Fishing.  Kids under 14 can fish for free, just the parent needs a fishing license.  One day a year there is a free day when you don't need a license at all and some parks offer fishing instruction.
*The libraries offer nice places to relax from the heat and they offer story times and other activities.  Phoenix libraries also offer passes on a first come first served basis that will get you into city attractions like the zoos (We have 2), botanical gardens and museums. 
*If you aren't able to get a pass to the Phoenix Art Museum, you can attend on Weds from 3:00-9:00 pm, On First Friday (discussed farther down), or second Sundays when prices are reduced to a voluntary donation. 
*There are two super fun and free factory tours that are popular in Phoenix, for all ages!  The Stuffington Bear Factory teaches the history of teddy bears and those who attend the tour can even purchase and stuff  their own bear.  And, Cerreta Candy Company takes you on a chocolate tour and demonstration and ends with an opportunity to make and purchase a chocolate pizza! 
*There are tons of trails in all of the desert mountains, such as the White Tanks, South Mountain, North Mountain, Thunderbird Park, Camelback Mountain.  Phoenix and the surrounding areas are a hikers paradise.  Just remember to always carry water! 
*In the Spring, there are multiple teams who come to Phoenix for Spring Training at the various sports complexes!  That is a great time to take part in the Great American Pass Time at a reasonable price!  It is called the Cactus League.  Here is the link to find the teams, stadiums and schedules of the games. Bookmark it because the 2019 schedule isn't up yet. 
*The Arizona State Capitol Building Museum is an amazing and FREE place to visit.  One of the most fascinating things within its walls is the exhibit of artifacts from the USS Arizona.  
*First Fridays in downtown Phoenix is one of the nation's largest self-guided art walks.  There is also a complimentary trolley tour to the various hubs.  There is music playing and there are food trucks! I know that my young adult children have enjoyed this event at various times. 

     Wow! The more I write, the more I realize how much Phoenix has to offer! So, if you come to visit, bookmark this list to get you started! It is funny how when you live in a place you forget about the hidden gems that are there.  I have been to most of these places, but it has been years for some of them.  I told my husband that we need to start going back and revisiting some of these.  HEY FAMILY! Come and visit!  I have a list of places to take you!  

For a nice list of frugal Fall fun, you can print off this bucket list we made last year! I hope it gets your own ideas flowing!  Be sure to comment and let us know what your idea of frugal fun is. 

     Thinking of starting a blog of your own?  We recommend Weebly! They are now teamed up with Square and really going places!  

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.    ​​

      Lindsey and I were talking about Thanksgiving plans for this year and it got me to thinking about a special project to show my family and friends how thankful I am for them.  I decided it would be nice to do a little gift on each place setting this year.  I thought about hand lettering something at first, but that would take a lot of time with questionable results.  Then, I remembered the set of stamps that I purchased from the Target One Spot a couple of years ago.  I hadn't used it yet, but now I knew I had the perfect project to use them for. 

If you can't find these stamps at Target this year, there are of course a lot of others that you can find and use. For example...

     I had some little wooden circles left over from our Christmas in July projects.  I chose 3 colors of acrylic paint that I felt would coordinate with my dishes and tablecloths and painted the circles. Then, I used a black stamp pad to stamp the design on the light colored circles and white on the dark colored circles.  I love how they came out.  Even the spots where the ink is a little missing add to the rustic look. 

I decided to use jute as the hanger on these little ornaments.  I cut about a 6" length of jute and glued the ends with a glue gun to the front of the ornament.  Then, I tied a bow with another length of jute and glued that over the ends.  This way, there are no unfinished ends on the front or the back. 

      Now, on Thanksgiving, I want to slip them in a napkin on each place setting.  I want to use cream colored napkins, but I didn't have any.  I could only find white! So, I purchased some fabric and made my own.  

      A couple of years ago I had to purchase a new sewing machine.  I got a Singer Brilliance (that is a refurb version)  and I have loved using the special decorative stitches that it has programmed into it.  Here is the newest version, called Sew Mate.  These are nice machines at a reasonable price. 
      These napkins were simple to sew.  I just folded over the edges twice and used a decorative stitch to make them special. 

     Once the napkins are sewn and pressed, you are ready to fold them! Here is a gallery of pictures to show you how to do it. 

       If you know me at all, you know that I love dishes!  So, I am using two different dishes to try out a place setting to use these special projects on.  Which one do you like best?  

     If you don't want to wash napkins later, you could always use nicer paper napkins.  But, I am so happy with how these came out.  Here is a close-up of the decorative stitching. 

​Look what I found! 

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.    

     Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn! So, for Friday Faves today, we thought we would share 5 favorite Autumn recipes that we know you will love! 

• The picture above is a recipe I shared a few years ago for acorn squash.  It makes a vegetable taste like pumpkin pie.  
• One of Lindsey's favorites is her pumpkin chili! She makes it near Halloween every year. That sounds like a delicious tradition! 
• We can always count on Lindsey for pumpkin recipes.  You will love these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. They are moist and cinnamony! 

     Of course, soup is also a favorite meal for Fall.  But, we posted about those on a previous post.  If you missed it, check it out here! 

​Happy Fall!