Sunshine Makes Everything Better

The sun is shining and all is right with the world! Well, at least it seems like more is possible when the sun is out!

First of all, this week I want to share a couple of items with you that I have found save me money. Who doesn’t want that? (It gives us more to spend somewhere else!)

Our first money saver is only for people who are near enough to Canada that they have a Tim Horton’s Cafe & Bake Shop (or as we do, 3 or 4 of them) and qualify as a “senior”. There is a senior discount at Tim Horton’s! Who knew? Which was surprising that I didn’t know since I am what you might call an addict. I didn’t find out until just 2 or 3 weeks ago. That was thanks to my friend Linda!  I have since learned it is a discount on the coffee purchases and not on any food you might buy. Never the less, it is helpful and much appreciated.

The next money saver is for everyone, everywhere. It is a browser extension called “Honey”. You can download it from the Google Play Store or search for it on Google. You download it and you’re ready to go. The little icon for Honey will show on the upper right of your browser window.

Below I am quoting from the FAQ’s page of “Honey”:

     Honey is a service that makes it ridiculously easy to save money and time.          Honey automatically finds coupon codes for the site you’re shopping at and      applies them to your order when you check out, saving you money and                  coupon searching time.

Honey just kind of sits there quietly and waits until you go shopping online. Before you checkout it pops up in a box on the upper right hand of your screen and asks if you would like to run the coupons codes. It also tells you how many they have to run. You just click indicating that you want the codes run and there you are. If Honey finds any that are usable for your purchases it is automatically applied. Presto! Changeo! Money Saveo! (Okay, I made that last part up!)

Another layer to this Honey thing is that you also earn as you shop. Their name for your earnings is Honey Gold. When you earn G1000 you can redeem it for a $10 Amazon card. Read more about it at the following link:

http://help.joinhoney.com/article/34-what-the-heck-is-this-honeygold-thing

Currently, Honey is supported on Chrome, Firefox and Opera browsers. ( I had never heard of the Opera browser but I did do some investigating. It was developed in Europe in 1995 and is used around the world. It purportedly is very secure. I may give it a try at some point.) The people at Honey say that a mobile app is coming soon as well as support for other browsers.

A long time ago someone returned a plate or container to me that I had given them with some food item at some point. They had put some candy with it. When I asked about the candy they told me that they always returned an empty food container with something inside. It could be any little treat like a pack of gum. It was not just a thank you, although it certainly is that. It was more a  tradition that a plate or container should not be returned to its owner empty. I have tried as much as I could to do the same. It just seemed like a nice thing to do.

Much more recently I saw an idea about a Giving Plate.

The idea is that you give someone this plate filled with some treat such as cookies and at some future time they pass the plate and a treat of their choosing onto another person. It seems like a great thing to do! It also reminded me of the previously mentioned tradition.  I liked it! I had to make one.

To make the Giving Plate you just need a plate. It can be any color and it could have a design around the edge. I simply chose white because I liked the simplistic look. The plate I found in Dollar Tree and you guessed it! It was $1.

To start with, make sure that your plate is clean. Wash it, of course, but also take a cloth or paper towel and wipe the area to be painted with rubbing alcohol to make sure it is clean. I have oil based Sharpie markers that are made to use on ceramics but if you don’t have them that’s okay because you only need two colors. They are not that expensive ($3.85 at Walmart for one). You also could use the acrylic paints that are meant to be used on ceramics. The brand I have is Folk Art and line for use on glass or ceramics is called Enamels ($2.99 a bottle). If you purchase two pencils or two bottles of paint you will certainly get many uses out of them as you just need a small amount for this project.

If you would like you could create a stencil for your design. At the very least, draw your design out on a piece of paper and make sure you have room for what you want and that the design is centered on your plate. If you make a goof and need to remove something you can scrape it off with your fingernail or a needle. If it is still wet rubbing alcohol will work and for small goofs a cotton swab is ideal.

Once you have the words on your plate, you simply put it in the oven and set the oven for 425 degrees (there is no need to preheat). Let it bake for one hour. Then shut the oven off and allow the plate to cool in place. I have created several cups and plates this way and the ink stays in place through use and washing. I have not tried it in a dishwasher but I would advise against that if you want the color to stay.

As it seems that I have jumped to dishes and traditions there is one more that I have adopted thanks to my niece, Nicole. She had started using a red place setting for the birthday person at parties. This signified their specialness as the guest of honor. She did this for her Dad, my brother, and I really liked the idea. I have started doing it for all of our family birthday parties. I purchased a plate, a dessert plate, a small bowl and a coffee mug. You wouldn’t have to have anything but the plate but I get carried away! Also possible, would be that you could use another color instead of red. Maybe orange is your thing or peacock-blue. Hey, you’re creating your own tradition. It can be anything you would like it to be!

See you next time!

Duffy says hello to the fans of his picture on the first post! (Doesn’t he have a noble nose?)