What Do You Do With Excess Coffee Filters?

Do you have an excess of coffee filters laying around? If so, we have some fun and frugal ideas on how to use them.

1. Cover food in the microwave with them. Often times food splatters, these would make a quick cover.
2. Make an instant funnel.
3. Put a filter in between your cast iron skillets to keep them from rusting.
4. Fill one with baking soda and hang where needed to make the air fresher.
5. Clean your glasses with them.
6. Polish your mirrors with good quality filters.
7. Use them to catch drips from your kids' favorite ice cream or Popsicle treats.
8. Line your potted plants with filters to help you when transplanting.
9. Use them as single serve holders, like for hot dogs, popcorn or dry cereal.
10. Store fragile Christmas decoration in them.

I'm sure you can think of even more ways...Let us know and lets get creative with our recycling.

Ashton's Christmas deals!

 Fabulous Deals for the Holidays!

Ashton's Christmas deals!

AMC Theaters - Buy $50 in gift cards and get a free $10 concession card.

Applebee’s – Buy a $50 gift card and get a $10 bonus gift card through Feb. 29, 2011.

Arby’s - Participating locations are offering a free combo when you buy a $20 gift card.

Barnes and Noble – Buy a $100 gift card by Dec. 6, 2011 and get a free $10 e-gift card on Dec. 26, 2011.
Borders - Buy a $50 gift card and get a $10 bonus.

Benihana – Join the Chef’s Table and get a $30 gift certificate mailed to you in your birthday month. Or get a bonus $10 gift card when you buy a $50 gift card. Ends Dec. 31, 2010 and the gift cards expire Mar. 31, 2011. If you can combine the two, you’ll pay $50 for $90 in gift cards!

Ben & Jerry’s – Get a free ice cream when you buy a gift card for $10 or more. Unclear when this deal expires.

Black Angus - Buy a $50 gift card by Dec. 31, 2010 and get a $10 bonus gift card.

Buca di Peppo - Buca di Beppo is offering a $10 Reward Card with every $50 in gift card purchases.

California Pizza Kitchen - Buy a $100 gift card and get a free $20 bonus card that is valid Jan. 10, 2011 through Mar. 25, 2011.

Cheesecake Factory – Get a voucher for a free slice of cheesecake on your next visit when you buy a $25 gift card. Ends Dec. 24, 2010.

Chick-fil-A - Select locations (check ahead of time) are giving away a free 2011 calender stocked with freebies when you buy a $20 gift card. Otherwise the calenders cost $6.

Chili’s – Gift card orders of $100 or more are 10% off. Chipotle – There are rumors that if you buy a $25 gift card in stores before Dec. 24, 2010, you’ll get a free entree on your next visit with the original receipt. You must claim the freebie by Dec. 31, 2010, which is a tight window.

CiCi’s Pizza – Buy a $20 gift card and get a free adult buffet card that is good through Jan. 2011. One per person. Beverages not included.

Claim Jumper – Buy a $50 gift card and get a voucher for a free slice of Chocolate Motherlode Cake on your next visit (good through Jan. 9, 2011) and a $10 gift card that is good Jan. 10, 2011 through Mar. 31, 2011. So you’ll have to make two visits to redeem both. Buy $500 or more in gift cards and get 20% back in gift cards that never expire.

Coffee Bean – Get a free 12-ounce drink of your choice when you buy a $25 gift card or reload an existing card (with $25 or more). Valid in AZ and CA, but not at Ralphs, casinos, school campus, and military bases
.
Not valid online. CVS – For every $25 gift card you buy, get a free $5 bonus gift card.

Del Taco – Get various freebies when you buy a gift card between $15 and $100, from free tacos to a free T-shirt. Offers may vary in restaurants. Unclear when they expire.

Denny’s – Buy a $25 gift card, get a $5 bonus card free. For a limited time. Each order has a $1.95 processing fee.

Friendly’s - Get a free $5 gift card with every $25 gift card you buy. No details on exclusions.

Fuddruckers – Get a $5 bonus gift card for every $25 gift card you buy. Ends Dec. 31, 2010. The bonus cards are valid Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2011.

Islands – Buy a $100 gift card and get a $20 gift card free. Ends Dec. 19, 2010.

Jamba Juice – Buy a $25 gift cards and get a free 16-ounce smoothie through Jan. 3, 2011. Not valid at Safeway, Vons, Pavilions or Hawaii store locations.

LL Bean – Get a free $10 gift card for every $50 you spend through Dec. 24, 2010. One card per customer per day. The free gift cards are valid through Feb. 15, 2011.

Macaroni Grill – Buy a $25 gift cards before Jan. 5, 2011 and get a free $5 gift card that is valid Jan. 1 2011 to Feb. 28, 2011. Not valid in Puerto Rico.

Maggiano’s – Get a $20 bonus card with a $100 gift card purchases. Ends Dec. 31, 2010. The bonus card is good Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 1, 2011 and requires a $50 purchase. Lame.

Outback – Buy a $100 gift card and get a free $20 gift card that is valid Jan. 1, 2011 to Feb. 10, 2011.

Panda Express – Word on the street is that you get a free two-item combo when you buy a $25 gift card. Unclear when this ends.

Qdoba – Get a $5 voucher with every $25 Qdoba gift card you buy. The bonus voucher is good Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2011.

Ralphs – Ralphs in California is offering 4X bonus points for each gift card you buy from the grocery story. For example, if you buy a $25 Barnes and Noble card, you get 100 points.

Red Robin – Get a $5 bonus gift card for every $25 gift card you buy, or get $20 off a gift card of $500 or more. The $5 bonus is valid Jan. 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2011.

Ruth’s Chris – Buy a gift card for $250 or more and get 10% back in bonus cards that are valid Jan. 1, 2011 through Mar. 31, 2011. Promotion ends Dec. 31, 2010.

Safeway - Reader Shelley Hunter said Safeway/Vons is doing a $15 grocery coupon when you buy $150 in gift cards from them.

Subway – This promotion may only be happening in Canada, it’s unclear. Get a free 6-inch sub when you buy a $25 gift card. Some exclusions. Ask the cashier before you order.

Taco Bell – Get a free large soda when you buy a $10 or $20 gift card. The fine print says the free soda requires a purchase, but I’m assuming you can use your gift card to cover the balance.

TGI Friday’s - Buy a $25 gift card and get a $5 bonus card. Ends Jan. 3, 2011. Read fine print carefully for redemption rules.

The Children’s Place - Get a free $10 egift card for every $40 of egift cards you buy through Dec. 26, 2010.

UNO Chicago Grill – Buy a $25 gift card and get a free $5 bonus card that is valid Jan. 1, 2011 through Mar. 31, 2011.”

A Green Holiday

You know the hustle and bustle of shopping, the traffic, and the early hours waking at an insane time only to find the items you longed for are gone and sold before you even arrived?  Well this year pause and change your thinking.  How about shopping without ever leaving home?  That’s right, save gas, help the environment, save time, and spend more quality time with the people you love and help the foot print of the world by staying home and shopping from the computer.

Now don’t worry. I too, like to buy locally.  Search for local companies if that is important to you.  You can still do that without leaving home.  There are some wonderful creative ideas too for gifts of any season.

There are lots of creative ideas for making your gift giving special.   Here are some great ideas

A holiday gift basket is a great idea.  A basket that is not only aesthetically pretty to look at but is also made up of creative, hard to find items that together make an amazing gift is a perfect idea for that person who is hard to buy for

Another idea is a holiday gift basket that is personalized.

A gift basket for grandma and grandpa that has a blanket with their “Grandparents titles, for example, Grandma Sue, is a perfect idea so that they can remember they are thought of each time they snuggle up during the warm winter months.

An earth friendly holiday gift basket is a perfect idea for that person who really cares about not only our earth but healthy living.  A green holiday gift basket will be filled with sustainable items that will delight those who want to contribute to making our planet earth a better place to live. 

No matter which basket you choose, I promise you that a holiday gift basket is an awesome idea for a family, for a single person, for someone young or someone old.  So this holiday season, let someone else do the shipping, save time and your hard earned money and give a gift basket that will not only be filled with fun and love but when emptied can be used again and again for items making it the perfect green gift around.

What A Better Way To Be Green With Your Clothes?

Sunday Morning our family got up to the smell of bacon, hashbrowns, eggs and coffee. It is tradition in our home to have a fun breakfast on Sundays. What makes it fun is, I don't have to cook it. My husband has taken on this task for years and now we all look forward to it.
This morning we had somewhere to go, so the extra food was much needed. We go to church on Saturday evenings. This frees us up to be a part of a "village" at our church on Sundays. A village is a group of people that goes out into the community and "is" the church on Sundays. We have helped people paint, clean out garages, weed yards, take care of maintenance issues around the house for people who cannot do it themselves. We meet once a month. Last month and this month we went to our local Gospel Mission.
They have a wonderful little store that they give away clothes at. Our job included helping organize the clothes from the huge piles of donations. All  items are free to anyone who comes in. We also fixed broken tiles in the showers, floors and reset toilets with new wax rings.

I was thinking, what a great way to reuse our used clothing then to give it to the community free of charge. The donations were great....and my family enjoyed searching through the piles for the best stuff to hang up in the store. Have you ever donated your used items? Do you have places in your community that give it away free?