Soap marriage, like real marriage, takes patience

   Yeah, count this among the frugal things I hate but do anyway: marry a sliver of soap to another soap, so the sliver doesn't go to waste. If anyone has a quicker way to get two soaps to stick together, I'd love to hear it. Takes all my patience to wait for the two soaps to meld. Seems to go quicker if I only use the sliver/bar once a day, so I use another bar meantimes, which is why there are two bars on my sink here.
   The soap holder is an old milk glass dish Hubby scavenged from a golf course dump when he was just a kid. (Back in the 60s, dumps were everywhere!) The milk glass has some stains I can't get out--that's NOT mold on my soap dish. But the stains are minimal, so the dish works fine for this not as publicly used bath.

   Oh, the plant in the top photo is just there to relieve the boredom of all the white. It usually rests in the plant holder pictured at right. Got the holder, then rusted & forlorn, at an antique shop for $5 bucks. You guessed it...5 bucks IS my magic number for buying junk that I'm not sure will work in my home. Hubby scrubbed this of its rust & painted it a nice black for me, and now it brightens our little master bath nicely.
   The plant needs little water; good thing 'cause I forget to water it!
How'm I doin' with spending less, saving more in 2011?

• Thinking ahead, I bought a few Christmas presents for 75% off and enough ornaments at 50% off for the next two Christmases, for grandgirls' and daughter's stockings.
• Bought candy canes for my 2011 Christmas tree at 90% off (24 canes for 20 cents!). Plan to let the grandgirls decorate the tree this coming Xmas, with strung popcorn & homemade ornaments. The candy canes will add to the homey look of it, I think.
• Asked Hubby to clean our furnace filter, so it will work more efficiently.
• Shop from my pantry challenge: Soft Currant Drop cookies are on the agenda today, using whole spelt flour and currants--two items from my pantry that I had never gotten around to using.

How 'you doin'????