The Money Saving Bride: Tip 6

Children are part of your guest list. It's just about inevitable. So you have to keep them entertained. Here's a good, cheap, diy way to that: A free coloring book pdf file. I believe Pinterest is a wonderful invention. I found it there while scrolling through some pins one morning. But here's the basics of it.





Step 1: Download the pdf file (located here). It works best if you print odd pages first and then the even pages. Also be sure to change your printer settings so that the picture is rotated around to give you that book-like shape.




Step 2: Head to Walmart. According to my guest list I have roughly 20 children on my just that are at the age where they can get really bored really fast. I decided to give them six crayons a piece so I picked up a box of 120 crayons for $6.97. Then I got more printer paper ($2.97) and a roll of twine ($5.00). All together these little booklets cost me a total of $14.94 for 20 of them or around $0.75 per book.





Step 3: Assembly. I folded the books together and then cut two small triangle shaped holes in the binding. Through that I tied a piece of twine and cut off the ends but left a bit for decorative purposes. The same procedure is almost duplicated for the crayons. Simply lay them out over a piece of twine, tie once in the back, flip them over, tie a knot in the front and then trim the ends.

And voila! Entertainment for the kiddos without breaking the bank.

The Money Saving Bride: Tips 1-3

So here's my first couple of tips for saving money on your wedding. And even though my wedding is still in the oh-my-goodness-how-am-I-ever-going-to-get-this-done stage, I can still offer what I've learned so far.

1. Make a pinterest wedding board. Yes, I said it. And, most likely, as a female, you will already have one. Start looking for those pins with links to sites that will give discounts on things such as invites and decorations. But be careful-some of these sites could simply be rip-offs.

2. D.I.Y. everything you can. And if you can't do something, like, for example, sew, there is most likely someone in your acquaintance who does. And that, my friends, is the beauty of planning a wedding. Just about all your friends are willing to help-all you need to do is provide the materials.

3. Find someone, whether it is your mom, sister, dad, friend, or even your third cousin Bobby Ray, to help you stick to your budget. For me, it's my older sister who is also my Maid of Honor. Because sometimes you just need that other voice to tell you no when you want to get that one extra thing. It also helps if this person has a creative mind that can come up with cheaper alternatives to something you think you just can't do without.

That's all I've got for you for you for today. I'll have more tips coming up next Monday.