How to Save on Flower Girl Dresses Rebecca Autry Creations

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How to Save on Flower Girl Dresses

Flower Girl Dresses do not have to be expensive and the reality is they only need to last a couple of days! Perhaps if you are

sentimental you may want to hold onto them but keep in mind little girls are just as active as boys and they will make a mess of their dress by the end of the day. Think realistically that yes you want the flower girl to look fabulous but its doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Spend your wedding budget wisely and put it somewhere else.

Here are some ways to Save on Flower Girl Dresses

1. Sales. Look for sales around Easter and Christmas.

2. Clearance Racks. The best place to save a ton is checking out clearance racks at Macy’s, Kohl’s and many other department stores. If you have coupons that will make for even better deals.

3. Outlet Stores. Some outlet stores run their highest sales at the beginning of the year and during the summer.

4. Yard Sales. We found my little princess dress for my sister-in-laws wedding at a yard sale. It was originally a $100 dress and bought for $15.

5. Online. There are many places like DressFirst.com that you can find rather inexpensive dresses.

6. Consignment Shops. You will be surprised by the great deals you can find at consignment shops. Check out Once Upon a Child or ask around what other consignment shops are in your area.

7. Thrift Stores. Thrift Stores can be such a blessing when you are looking for cheap Flower Girl Dresses. Remember if you find a dress a bit to large you can always take it in and adjust.

8. Friends. Ask your friends someone might have just gotten married and their flower girls are not going to wear the dresses again or they might have one from previous Easters or Christmas. You might also find out from a friend that they know someone who has a dress to sell.

9. Renting. Have you thought about renting? It not uncommon to rent the boys tuxes so consider renting a flower girl dress. Here are some to consider renting.

10. Make your own. Not the most cost effective but if you are good with coupons and have the time along with knowing how to sew you can make a dress of your own exactly how you want and for a cheaper price.

Topic: How to Save on Flower Girl Dresses

Simple ways to do a quick Decluttering

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First off if you are reading this then you are in need of a large way to decluttering your home.

Well we are going to give you a few simple steps to get started this is by no means a way to completely decluttering your home.

1. Write out your goals. What is it that you want to accomplish by decluttering your house? It’s important to know why you want to declutter to help you achieve your goal.

2. Start small. Break your overall goal into smaller more achievable goals.

3. Do one room at a time. Break each room into smaller achievable goals such as organizing papers in the kitchen or labeling your cabinets. Write down each thing you want to do. As you accomplish each task mark it off.

4. Leave the more time consuming goals to later. Normally I wouldn’t recommend this but in this case the more, smaller quicker goals you do the really harder ones become much easier.

5. Utilize baskets. To pick up a room of items that don’t belong use baskets one for each room to go thru each night and put everything in them that doesn’t belong so it’s relatively picked up and you can sort in the morning when you clean.

6. Sort into 3 categories. When you start to go through a room take 3 bags or baskets and make 3 categories; Toss, Keep, Sell. Put items in those as needed. When you are done take out the toss pile to the garbage immediately so you don’t have the urge to hold onto it. I’m serious about this you are more likely to hold onto it if you let it sit! Same with the Sell put it in the garage or a closet designated for yard sale items, out of sight out of mind and what you do keep will be much easier to organize and find a place for.

7. Organize in Categories. Once you have what you want to keep organize everything by categories like all shorts together or all Tupperware items go in the same category. Making these categories will help you decipher where to put thing away and be an easier way to find them later.

8. Take a deep breath! You have now gotten some tips on how to declutter pretty quickly so go have a soda or a snack and get started.

 Topic: Simple ways to do a quick Decluttering

How to Save Money on Weddings Part 2: Venue

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– Take time to write a list. It is important to be realistic as to what you want your wedding to be like so setting the venue is one of the most important choices you will make for your wedding that sets the stage for all the other aspects of the wedding. I’m not much for the Disney fairytale princess wedding but I do like elegant and warmth. Write out a list of places you would consider having your wedding at regardless if you can afford it or not. Having this list will help you understand what you can feasibly do and who knows you might be able to afford that fantasy wedding of your dreams. The perfect venue will make it a perfect wedding.

-Consider your guests. Not only does the venue need to be big enough to hold everyone you invite but it also needs to be small enough to have that intimacy feel you want to create for your special day. Keep in mind if you are renewing your vows you are likely to have fewer guests than you did at your wedding. Consider handicapped accessibility and guests health issues. You want your wedding to be stress and worry free and considering these few

things now may have less hassle later.

-Consider the location. The location will determine how many guests you can invite and expect to come but also the location may be too far

for many to come. It’s your wedding day but many places are not handicapped accessible.

-Consider the time of the year. The time of year you plan on having a wedding will also play a major role into deciding your location. Many brides want to be a June bride but remember June in many places is the hottest or close to the hottest month of the year so an outside venue may not be the best. If in the dead of winter a beach wedding would not be the best either. If you do an outside wedding consider a tent or providing ponchos, umbrellas to guests just in case it rains. But the better idea is to keep the costs down

select a venue you can minimize these extra possible expenses.

-Ask around about possible venues. When it comes down to it places will charge you more if they know you are having a wedding then a graduation party. So it you plan on renting a tent for an outside wedding ask the costs for a regular rental and have a friend or family member ask for wedding rental prices. You will be surprised at the price difference. Friends can have great

ideas of places you may not have thought about.

The ultimate cheapest place unless another venue is FREE is your own home or a friends or parents home. Especially if you are renewing your

vows, why not have a much smaller intimate ceremony at your home? Remember Father of the Bride the wedding was

beautifully done at the Father’s home or even Meet the Parents which was held at a friend’s home.

-Also consider having your Wedding and Reception at the same
place often the rental price is cheaper this way.

As always if you have any suggestions to add please feel
free to comment below or email me at momssaving1@gmail.com

How Moms Saving Money started

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>Welcome to Moms Saving Money! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to the free, daily e-mail newsletter , RSS Feed, follow on Twitter or fan us on Facebook Thank you for visiting!

So I read a blog post earlier today that inspired me to write one of my own. The topic was “Why start a deal blog”

So here it goes. I have been a stay at home mom for over 3 years now and my hubby would joke around about me becoming a mommy blogger. I kept refusing to do so. He thought it would be a great outlet for me and have a little time away from the kids.

Well last March 2010,  I became heavily interested in coupons and online deals. My firstt introduction was Swagbucks and I was really scared to give my information because I didn’t like the idea of sharing my personal information on the internet. It took me over two months to get enough Swagbucks to redeem for a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Once I recieved it I was still not sure that it would actually work, but it did. To this day I have redeemed for over 20 $5 Amazon Gift Cards. Most of it was used to pay for Christmas and birthday gifts.

Just after my daughters first birthday in June I realized that what if I shared with everyone how to save on themed birthday parties. I had done about 4 parties already for all under $50. So I originally posted on my personal facebook page but then decided to make a Fan Page.

As I got more understanding how coupons work and matching them up to sales ads and our finances became tighter and tighter while still wanting to meet our goal of paying off our credit card debt, I figured the only way to keep me acountable with coupons was to start a Facebook Fan page. I thought that if I posted my great finds that just maybe others would want to learn how to save as well.

I was a little discouraged ok a lot discouraged at first. My fan page was still under 25 after two months of posting. Then I learned about blog hops and noticed that in order to participate you had to have a blog. Well the first ones I entered. So I decided to create Moms Saving Money blog but because this was a hobby I wasn’t willing to put any money in it since the whole point was to save money and get out of credit card debt. So I started on Blogger even though I did create a word press. I saw a blogger and I can’t remember who posted it but GoDaddy.com was offering domain names for 99 cents for a year. So I jumped on the deal but was disappointed that momssavingmoney.com was already taken so it took me a couple days to finally decide on www.momssaving.com which is where we are today. I spent less then $4 to certify and have the domain for the year.

That today is still the only money I have spent out of my own pocket. After blogging for a month I learned how to make money off my blog so I started signing up for affiliate programs and today I have about 15 affiliates. Everything I have made thus far has gone back into paying for shipping on prizes, a new domain name and renewel of momssaving.com plus custom design to WordPress which we will be making the move soon. I also learned about companies that offer product for review and for giveaways.

I recently opened an etsy shop so you can see all my pretty Character invites and purchase if you’d like and this makes it more secure for the both of us. I published my Coupon 101 guide on Amazon Kindle cost only 99 cents and have sold more of those than the book I went through a publisher to print! MSM fan page has grown to close to 1600 fans most of which have been recently. I was approached by another blogger who essentially was the found of “Bargain Network” in which us bloggers all offer a Store coupon match-up for each other as well as advertising. If you are interested in joining we are always looking for more bloggers just email me at momssaving1@gmail.com. We have grown to 11 bloggers of right now with a couple more potentially joining in the next week. I was able to interview Nathan Engels founder of WeUseCoupons.com

From the time I got serious about blogging I also got really serious about coupons and was able to have a 3 month stockpile which my family almost went through its entirety when we had a death in the family. We were able to stay above water and still be able to finish the rest of our credit card debt as well as get a newer vehicle our old van cost more to repair then its worth. We are happy with our new one.With using coupons in 2010 I estimated we save nearly $8,000 and so far in 5 short weeks of 2011 we have saved over $1,100. So here we are today growing and offering more. Because of you I am able to sustain this website and it has become more than a hobby and I hope that it will become a way of life.

I get so excited when I hear how people have saved even if it is just a few dollars. I like sharing with my hubby all your stories. I know he really doesn’t understand but he does now that are family is able to do more things and we have freedom now to get a cell phone. If you don’t know the story of why we don’t have a cell phone here is a short version. We don’t want to stand in front of a judge some day and say we can’t afford to pay our debt but have a cell phone in our pockets.

It has taken us a little over two years of getting serious of paying it all off that our way to celebrate is getting our first cell phone. We like to take our time so it has been over two weeks now and we still have not gotten a cell phone because we are still trying to figure out what the best one will be for us. If you think we are crazy it took us 4 days to sign the papers on our van. We have learned better to sleep on the idea of a big purchase as well as seeking God for guidance. We don’t make any sudden purchases that are large costs. This really has freed us.

Thank you for reading how Moms Saving Money got started.

License & Copyright- Rebecca Autry Creations

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By purchasing or downloading products from RebeccaAutry.com you agree to abide by all of the Terms of Use outlined below:

License and Copyright

Copyrights to all designs remain the property of Rebecca Autry at RebeccaAutry.com and MomsSavingMoney.com. The designs are licensed to you only for personal use as a single user, not for resale, exchange or commercial distribution.

Personal non-profit License Agreement

You are authorized to: – Use these designs in part or in whole for your personal projects.

– Alter design elements, re-size, subtract and add them to design your own personal projects.

You are NOT authorized to: – Share, copy, resell, distribute the designs in its original digital format AS IS or ALTERED in any way. – Alter, reproduce, modify, or create derivative works from the designs for the purpose of resale or distribution in any format. – Use the products to produce vinyl decor designs or other cut able/ printable products for resale or distribution. – Print the designs for sale or distribution via internet, retail locations or any other venue. – Use the design to produce items for commercial use and re-sell on etsy, ebay or any other retail outlet. – Use them on website pages without protecting the image from being copied. – Upload our products to any file sharing websites for any purpose. – Use these designs for any harmful, pornographic, racial or offensive material.

Without License you cannot use our designs in any commercial activity.

Downloads: None of the downloads can be used for commercial use.

Crediting the designer
Please give proper credit with a link back to Rebecca Autry Creations at RebeccaAutry.com.

Copyright Policy Copyrights to all designs are retained by Rebecca Autry at RebeccaAutry.com and MomsSavingmoney.com with all rights reserved.

No commercial uses beyond those stated above are hereby authorized.

Unauthorized Use

It is illegal to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material without a permission of the copyright owner. This license is not in any way, shape or form transferable.
I reserve the right to modify, update and change these terms at any time with or without notice.

Contact Me
If you have any concerns or questions you can contact me by sending an email to: MomsSaving1@gmail.com

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Create a Command Area that works Rebecca Autry Creations

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Are you tired of the kids complaining about anything! Complaining who is first to the shower, who’s turn it is to sit in the front or what is expected of them when they get home. I have comprised routines and schedules that will help you create a Command Area that works for you. A command area should include items that are tailored to your family.

Lessen the stress of policing arguments that are not necessary. Yes, this will take a few minutes to get it all set up and a few months each month but I know you will be grateful. Remember to tailor to your needs otherwise it will not work for you.

My Command Area includes:

  • Weekly Menu
  • Car Ride Schedule
  • Shower Schedule
  • Morning Routine
  • After School Routine
  • Cleaning Schedule
  • Emergency Contact

Perhaps some of these will work for you while you may find yourself tweaking them to fit your family and that is perfectly fine. These are to give you an idea of what to have in your own command area and find what works for your family. We are all different and have different needs in the different stages of our lives.




Let’s take a look a bit deeper of each

Weekly Menu

Having my Weekly Menu posted not only helps me get organized to make sure I have everything I need for the meals but it also helps my kids mentally prepare for our meals. For one of my little guys he likes being able to see this. It doesn’t change his attitude but it helps him be calm and doesn’t have to ask me what for dinner every 20 or so minutes until its done.

Get your FREE Weekly Menu Printable

Car Ride Schedule

I have three children plus a friend of mine’s daughter that I take to school each day. Two are in boosters while the other two can sit in the front. We have a constant argument as to who’s turn it is to sit in the front or who has to sit in the middle of the back seat. The later is not a favorite between the four. I came up with this Car Ride Schedule to help lessen the morning argument and it has helped us. Everyone gets a turn in their least favorite seat. You may need to play around with this a bit to figure out your schedule depending on your family size.

Get your Free copy of the Car Ride Schedule PDF

Shower Schedule

Much like the arguments of who sits where which day we also have a constant morning routine of arguments who showers when. We shower in the morning. It works for us. The arguments lessened when we created this shower schedule. First, second, third is our order = 3 kids. Hope this helps you.

Morning Routine

Yes having a morning routine has helped my family. Its posted so everyone know what is expected of them each weekday morning. No electronics or playing until all is done.

Our Morning Routine Includes:

  • Bathroom
  • Shower
  • Get Dressed
  • Laundry
  • Breakfast
  • Free Time

You may also like:

  • No Games/Electronics/TV until Summer Schedule is complete. Check out our Weekday Summer Schedule.
  • Also check out 3+ Back to School Hacks that will help make the transition much easier on the whole family.

After School Routine

We certainly had a time with getting our children to work on homework, that was until we created the After School Routine.

Our Routine includes:

  • Bathroom
  • Snack
  • Homework
  • Free Time
  • Dinner

The kids know exactly what is expected before they can watch their shows, play in their room or any electronic use.

Cleaning Schedule

I admit I have a cleaning schedule but I don’t always follow it, but here is why it works for us. Its a good reminder to see it posted and every so often we look at the day and say yeah we really need to clean that room. There are many times that this works and we do the deep cleaning of that room. This is one of those areas that we need to re-examine in our life.

See our Cleaning Schedule

Emergency Contact

I have to admit that our Emergency Contact list really is not necessary because we have an Echo and the hubby set it up to be able to call both of our cell phones. So if the kids are home and need to get a hold of us they can. We do have other numbers on our Emergency contact such as grand parents and close friends.

Just type this out and place it in the command area. I have not pictured it here to keep those numbers of our friends and family confidential but you get the idea. Make it your own and be sure your children know how to use the phone and call if necessary.

Cheap Picture Frames

I went with black picture frames. Some of them are from Dollar Tree while the larger ones are from yard sales. I did not pay more than $1 for each. Your command center does not have to be expensive to make.

What items do you have in your Command Area? Do you have a Chore chart? I recently created my goals chart. I haven’t actually used it but the idea is there!

Need a Shopping Trip Form? Rebecca Autry Creations

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Are you in need of a Quick Shopping Trip Form to help you shop easier?

Here is a Form I created. Its pretty simple. I had to create one and I have no idea why it took me 3 yrs to finally do it.

The columns are pretty explanatory but here is a quick summary just incase you don’t understand Moms Saving Money lingo!

Product – The name of the item you will purchase

Isle # – This is the isle number that the product can be found on. I try shopping from one end of the store to the other so I put my items in order by isle.

Quantity – This is the number of that product I plan to purchase, it may change depending on availability

Reg. Price – This is the Regular Price of the item. I like to go buy the full price before sale and coupon to determine the amount I saved.

Sale Price – This is the sale price before coupon.

Coupon Amount – This is the amount of the coupon and helps if its amount of so many that way it helps me keep track of how many coupons. Most store only allow for 5 like or if the coupon says 4 like.

Final Price – This is the final price for the product after sale and coupon.

Total Amount – This is the total amount of all the products I am buying of the same kind after sale and coupon. For instance if I am buying 4 Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish for 1.25, I would but $5 in the total amount

Saved – This is the amount of Full Price minus Final Price times the amount of that product I am buying. I like to see how much I am saving. Generally I go for 50% saving or more but some products there are not coupons for so savings is less.

Rain-check – This column helps me determine when I go up and down an isle and the product is not available to ask for a rain-check. Some store like Kroger will only give rain-checks to products listed in the ad.

Get your FREE Shopping Trip Form Printable

Again this printable is my own creation and its what helped me shop the other day. You may want to create one that fits your needs better.

10 Great Gifts for Kids from Dollar Tree Rebecca Autry Creations

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In my opinion these are great gifts for kids from Dollar Tree

1. Books. My kids love book and I am thankful. If you want your kids to read then five them books because they might just pick it up and like it!

2. Coloring/Activity Books/flash cards. Both my boys have very different learning delays but we love using these activity books at hope. My middle kid learned his shaped because of the activity books from Dollar Tree.

3. Puzzles. Work on those fine motor skills and give them something they can accomplish on their own or even as a family. They make great gifts.

4. Hard Plastic Animal Figurines. My kids love having any plastic animals and we can’t afford the big sets you get at Target or Wal-mart but we can afford 1 animal at a time and now their collection has gotten bigger. Also they learned what each animal noises they make and how to sound them out correctly. Its a great learning tool for our family and might just be for yours as well.

5. Dress-up Accessories. My little princess loves dress up and since she breaks things I rather giver her some cheap items then more expensive ones. Also some of the Dollar Tree items are better made then then ones you can find in the $1 section at Target. Dollar Tree also has other great dress-up accessories like Fireman and Hard Hats. They also have gloves, tutus, and fireman plastic jackets.

6. Oven Mitts and Apron. Do you have a little kitchen helper? My kids try they really try so I know a great gift would be for them to have their very own apron and oven mitt. You could even get them their very own special spatula or mixer!

7. Stuffed Animals. One year my husband and I were at Dollar Tree looking for some items to put in the kids Easter Baskets and we came across 6 different whales and sharks stuffed animals. I was hesitant because at the time our kids were very very young that I thought these were to old for them. However now they still love playing with them plus our 6 yr old now knows tons more about whales and sharks and the different kinds.

8. Ear Buds and docking station. These would be more for the older kids but Dollar Tree has a great selections on phone cases, ear buds and ipod/iphone docking stations. I just got myself an ipad back cover and its much thicker than the one I got from Wal-Mart.

9. Flash lights/tools. Older kids may be interested in build items from their own hands or evening helping our around the home like replacing blinds or tightening handles. Whatever the case maybe getting them started with their very own tools may just be the right gift for them.

10. Gardening Supplies. You’ll be amazed at the gardening items Dollar Tree has. They has seeds to gardening gloves to shovels and much more. You can even get a Watering Pot!

If you enjoyed this list you may also like Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers ideas and Dollar Tree Deals

Budget for Dora Birthday Party

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So its time to show you my breakdown. My overall budget is around $50 Max

Decorations

– Dora 7 piece table/ceiling decor reg. $3 got it at Dollar General for $.50

– Dora Invites reg. $1.99 paid $.35 at Dollar General

– Dora Cups 4 pks Reg. $1.49 paid $.35 each at Dollar General

– Dora plates 2 pks paid $.50 Reg. $2 at Dollar General

– Dora Wall hanging reg. $9.99 at Party City got it on clearance for $1.50

– Fiesta Ceiling Fans $1 for 20pk Tissue paper at Dollar Tree. Used Scotch tape I got for $.50 at Best Buy and fishing wire I bought over 10 yrs ago I have no idea how much I spent!

– Table Clothes purple $.25 at Dollar General reg. $1. red $1 at Dollar Tree. yellow $.25 at Dollar General on clearance reg. $1

– Napkins – 2pks of purple and pink butterflies $.25 each

– Forks – 48ct $1 from Dollar Tree

– Tub Base used for the punch – my sister paid $6 for it for my neices graduation because I forgot to bring mine but I can’t say this is part of the budget I didn’t buy it but I am borrowing it because its purple!

– Pinata – Purple tissue paper 2 sheets was from leftovers from a baby shower I did about 4 yrs ago! so $.20

– Candy for pinata – $3

– Dora Loot Bags – 2pks $.25 each at Dollar General on clearance reg. $1

– Dora Sunglasses – 1 pk $.25 reg. $1 at Dollar General

– Dora Necklaces – 2 pks – $.37 each from Dollar General reg. $1.50

– Bracelets – 2pks $.25 from Dollar General reg. $1

– Dora Activity packs – 2 pks 4 in each – $.50 each

Total – $12.02

Food

Taco Meat $1.79 lb thanks to my sister and her Food Lion rain check! 3lb $5.43

Lettuce $1

Cheese $2

Taco Shells – 2 pk. $1.40 from Kroger sale back in March

Hawaiian Punch – 2 $.80 from Dollar General with coupon and store sale with instant savings

Sprite – FREE

Apple Juice – 2 $.68 each from Kroger Closeout

Sherbert – 2 pks $4 from Walmart

Instant Rice – 1 pk $.50 from Kroger Mega Sale (for spanish rice)

Chips – 1pk $1 each from Kroger

Pace Picante Sauce – $.49 from Kroger Mega Sale

Queso Blanco – $2.25 from Dollar General

Cake Mix – 2pk $.76 each from Kroger sale and coupon – $1.52

Frosting – 2 pks $.69 each from Kroger before they stop doubling in the Mid-Atlantic area! $1.38

Frosting Flavor Packs – FREE from Duncan Hines promo coupons We have tons! Can’t wait to try them all.

Dole Pineapple – 4 cans $.25 each from Kroger Mega Sale

Grapes – $3

Kiwi – 1pkof 6 $1.19

Carrots and Celery – FREE from Kroger thanks to the coupons they sent me!

Kraft Ranch Dressing – $.50 from Dollar Tree

Total – $32.78

Gifts from us – Barbie $3 reg. $10.48 from Walmart, Mickey Dress reg. $19.99 paid $3

Total – $6

Grand Total – $50.78

So How did I do! Yes I went over but atleast it was less than a Dollar!

* I normally don’t buy the theme party items but I could not resist the Dollar General 50% off Clearance price items.

Need some coupons to help you on your next party checkout couponaudit.com. You can save money with coupon to many different stores.

About Me – Rebecca Autry Creations

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About Moms Saving Money (Rebecca Autry Creations)

So with recent info about me and what I posted and getting tons of hits on this page I thought I should update. I started Moms Saving Money – momssavingmoney.com (now Rebecca Autry Creations – www.momssavingmoney.com) as a way to keep myself accountable to save money and pay off debt. I thought I could help others and I obviously have helped tons.

Last November (2015) I made a huge jump from being a Coupon site to posting my Party Decoration Ideas and Vacation Bible School Decoration Ideas, because its what I love to do and fairly great at it. I started with my blog in June of 2010 for less than $4. Today it brings in income and through out the years we have had to heavily rely on it.

If you are a company I reserve the right to NOT work for FREE and I got to were I am today by following the rules. Do not ask me to post a Do Follow link for payment, your email will go straight to file 13.

I host my own Rebecca Autry Creation Store where you can purchase handmade products or even the SVG, PDF and PNG files for items I have made.

I am all for working smarter and not harder so therefore I post only a couple of days each week. I have three children and happily married.

I profess Jesus Christ as the Son of God born of a virgin.

If you feel at any time I am not acting Christian, I’m sorry, I am a work in progress. God loves me for who I am and all my faults.

Jerry Falwell ingrained in our heads, “If it’s Christian, It ought to be better.” I sincerely try but we all fail. I have gone through tough times of my own and I have not arrived. I have and will publicly if need be to apologize for mistakes I have made.

So I hope you stop by more often and see my pretty neat creations I make with Cardboard Boxes, tape and tissue paper.