#bonus points if the cookies are specifically halloween ones

[your-average-gay-dork]

bro I desperately want someone to take on cute fall dates.

Pumpkin patch, apple picking, the FAIR????!

And we don’t even have to go anywhere. There’s so much we can do at home- carve/paint pumpkins, decorate, light candles and build a blanket fort to watch Halloween movies while we make cookies.

[sleepingdeath-light]

relationship hcs ; avocado cookie

requested by ; anonymous (23/06/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; avocado cookie

outline ; “the aforementioned avocado cookie reqs bc i was duper super sleepy ahaha

im just gonna throw a two in one and you just uuuh go crazy idk

- sub reader smut hcs

- general dating hcs”

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

if you want to be in a relationship with avocado cookie you need to have a good sense of humour, and to at least be mildly fond of puns as a genre of humour — if not then you’re really not gonna last long with her

your name in her phone is a pun instead of a pet name, she writes little jokes on scrap pieces of paper that she places in your pockets and bags before you go to work, she laughs through every situation, and will start and end every day with some sort of quip unless you’re both too exhausted to do so — so even just saying that humour is her love language would be underselling how big a part of your lives it becomes

of course she loves gifting you things that she’s made — whether that’s something practical like a weapon, tool, or piece of armour, or a more personal and ‘pointless’ sort of trinket — and whenever she notices a gift of hers being put on display in your home she practically puffs up with affection and pride

likewise, if you’re on the crafty side then she’s going to keep every thing you gift to her whilst bragging about how ‘awesome’ her partner is — whether it’s a brief love letter, a small painted object, some clothing, or a personalised object she’ll love it all the same

her pet names alternate between things like ‘babe’ and ‘sweets’, and more lighthearted jokey things like puns or inside jokes — for her part she’s happy to go by whatever nicknames you want to ascribe to her, whether you go for something more amusing or something more traditionally affectionate in nature

avocado cookie is extremely physically affectionate and has no qualms about being touchy with you in public or private: running up to you and picking you up in a bear hug whilst laughing that contagious laugh of hers, carrying you around with ease whenever you mention being tired or just to make you laugh, holding you in place and kissing all over your face whilst the kids exaggeratedly gag and tell you both to get a room, hugging you from behind and resting her chin on your shoulder or atop your head, cuddling you as you perch atop her lap, and so on…

and when it comes to sleeping, she’s an incredibly deep and clingy sleeper meaning that the moment she’s out there’s no chance of you moving out of her arms until she wakes up again — she also gives off a lot of heat, practically being a living radiator, so if you can’t handle that then you’ll have to sleep in separate beds (she won’t begrudge you for this btw, as long as you promise to sit and cuddle with her for a while before you two retire to bed)

she’s absolutely the type of girlfriend who would wear matching couples costumes with you for halloween (she’d probably be the one to suggest it) — bonus points if it’s something especially cheesy like ‘peanut butter and jelly’ or something else along those lines

her kisses are all very sweet and all seemed designed to make you laugh so hard that your sides ache — chaste kisses to the lips when you least except them, wet kisses to your cheeks and neck when you’re upset to make you giggle and smile, peppering kisses along your neck and face whilst she holds you in place and tickles you because she felt like it, etc.

of course despite her very touchy nature she’s mindful of your boundaries and preferences and will never consciously overstep them or make you uncomfortable — yes she’s a very confident and unserious person, but she loves you so so much and would never do anything to push you away

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

it’s halloween month so I would love to know any and all of your dan/nate halloween headcanons (bonus points if milo’s there too) 🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡

you sent this on the first of october like the wonderful festive pumpkin pal that you are! but i have been sooo no thoughts head empty,,,, and i wanted to give this actual deliberation & thought before diving right in, so....

DAN, SPECIFICALLY:

ok. i think dan would have complicated & conflicting feelings re: halloween. we already know, canonically, that rufus was really into halloween, so this paints a pretty elaborate image in my head of halloween at the humphrey household - i bet it was a lot of fun! but then, of course: alison left. i think holidays in general become difficult for dan in the After, because they remind him of a time his family was truly happy that he cannot go back to.

so halloween is always bittersweet for dan, he'll carve all the pumpkins and get nate all the pumpkin flavoured stuff from all the cafes, and his wardrobe is so full of browns and sweaters that he's always ready for fall anyway, and he's happy! he is. but sometimes he'll remember another family he used to be part of that's all fractured & fragmented now, and he'll get a little sad. it happens less frequently over the years, but it never quite stops. (nate the ever observant always puts an arm around him and kisses his cheek, and says something silly to make dan smile. sometimes they talk about it; most of the time they don't. but nate is always there, quiet & non-judgemental, waiting for when/if dan needs him.)

NATE, SPECIFICALLY:

on the contrary........ halloween is natie's absolute FAVOURITE. much like the thanksgiving flashbacks we get in 1x09, i feel that halloween for nate, during his childhood, would involve being with blair & serena and all of them having the time of their lives. i think anne & howard would drop him off at the waldorfs, and eleanor would entrust blair & serena & nate to dorota's care. when they're younger they go trick or treating, and blair is very serious and very prim & proper and has on a perfect, sophisticated costume (she dresses as movie characters always) while serena's in a state of chaos, her costume for whatever she's dressing as (usually a witch or a ghoul or something like that) is a bit lopsided, the ribbons in her hair are coming out, her makeup is smudged (not deliberately!). nate, naturally, is sort of in between those two states - blair dolls him up and sets him to rights, serena takes his hand and runs around with him until his costume is a little wonky - by no means as much as hers, but definitely not in pristine, blair-approved state. blair just gives serena & nate a tired, Adult look, like they're toddlers and she's the babysitter (this doesn't change over the years, and this dynamic sets in remarkably quickly.)

once they're older, there's alcohol, there's halloween parties maybe, but nate still sticks with blair and serena, and they still hang out with him. halloween & the first of november are THEIR days, because they always do a sleepover on the 31st, and waking up together on the 1st of november is just something that makes the day Theirs, to nate. so unlike dan, for nate, he DID have that family feeling, and he had it consistently over the years, and he knows that it exists still.

DAN & NATE, FINALLY:

nate gets so excited for halloween! he goes full on into event-planning mode. he and jenny get really engrossed in designing costumes for the humphrey gang, and dan is like "who are you again?" and nate gives him the finger + an unamused look. halloween is a great bonding time for dan & jenny's gf, actually, because both of them get to watch their partner be an absolute dork over the holiday AND get really into designing (which is normal for jenny but not for nate, lol.) they just sit together and share drinks and act very, very cynical.

dan knows that halloween month is a special month for nate, and he's determined Not to be a grouch, so he goes out of the way trying to keep that cheer alive. he bakes sugar cookies that he ices to look like ghosts, he carves pumpkins, he does All The Things. but in a similar vein, nate knows that halloween month is a bit rough for his bf, so he is extra cuddly and patient, and goes out of his way to remind dan again and again that he loves him, that they're family now, etc.

i think halloween would also bring a lot of gender feels to dan, who gets this one holiday in which it's socially acceptable to wear makeup and doll himself up and dress up as whoever he wants to be. i think that'd give him a lot of euphoria, a lot of questioning, and a lot of anxiety, all at once, and i think nate would just be there like a stabilising force, because nate just loves dan that unconditionally, whoever dan is, even if dan is figuring that out - nate loves dan. i had more to say about This Point specifically but i am so tired, i kind of forgot what it was.

oh!!! vampire movies. all of them. nate and dan WOULD. they'd watch endless nights and they'd watch vampire porn and they'd definitely sleep together after THAT. nate would bite dan's neck and repeat some dialogue from the porno, and dan would laugh, but he would also be so, so turned on. (what! parts of this are literally canon!)

since dan also canonically reads anne rice (i wonder if he's one of the fic writers who got a cease & desist or whatever she was sending at them back in the day, that would be an interesting dan humphrey backstory) i think he'd read it aloud to natie. nate would just be lying there with his head on dan's lap, and dan would be sitting up reading aloud, one of his hands carding thru nate's hair.

at a blairena halloween party one time, dan and nate dress up as... *drum roll* each other. are you surprised? yeah, me neither. they keep making risque references to That Night At Yale, and blairena threaten to kick them out of the party (empty threats.)

MILO HUMPHREY MY BELOVED:

i wish i had more milo headcanons than just "jenny designs extremely elaborate costumes for milo, and nate goes trick or treating with him" but that's kind of it. milo would also end up wearing a LOT of orange-brown-maroons to school all through october (dan is like, nate, the kid is 5, is this the age to put your fall agenda onto him? nate is like, yes.) i think once he's older, milo would start getting these ridiculous mugs home in october - a pumpkin mug, a mug shaped like a skull, a mug shaped like a skeleton hand, etc. think mugs that look like THS thing that krysten ritter is holding:

dan looks at the collection of horror themed mugs they have with equal parts dismay and pride, and looks at nate like, yeah, you sure did raise this kid alongside me, didn't you? this is all YOUR influence, babe.

i also feel like milo would wear black nail polish ALLLL the time. he'd start during halloween and just never stop. i mean. if you're curious about this, i have two words for you: aunt jenny.

BONUS:

nate finds photos of a younger dan trick or treating - dan must be 7 or 8 in these photos, and he & vanessa are both dressed up as witches, with the hats and everything. dan is carrying a pumpkin shaped lantern, and marx is sitting in the lantern, peering out from inside it.

dan just smiles, and goes, "yeah, when i was a kid, all my costumes involved marx in some way." there's marx with angel wings (looking extremely disgruntled), there's marx with a green blanket around him ("he was a caterpillar that year," dan informs nate seriously), there's marx with a little bonnet on his head ("he hated that SO much," dan laughs).

the humphreys adopted marx when dan was around 7 - and given how unconcerned rufus is by lily's lack of pets - when he moves in with her, they do not discuss getting a cat or a dog or a bird or anything.. i'm guessing that maybe alison and dan went to pick marx out. i think dan and jenny have both seen marx grow from being a kitten to an adult cat, but because dan was older he remembers it slightly better. and dan and that cat were INSEPERABLE, to the extent wherein dan would often put marx in a pram and stroll him around everywhere. (there are halloween pictures of this, too.)

anyway, i'm just saying.

"he was my partner in crime," dan says fondly, looking at a picture of marx.

"i'm your partner in crime," nate corrects him.

"well, yeah," dan says. he raises an eyebrow. "but do you really need to compare yourself to my cat?"

/end

[ahogedetective]

Good evening, lovelies: Happy Halloween!! ✨ I hope you all are having a nice night! Here are a few Halloween-themed HC’s~ 🎃

- The thought of Shuichi wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume, despite already being a detective, is something this absolute DORK of a boy would dO. No matter if someone suggested him the costume idea as a joke, or he legit would just choose it on his own since he thinks it’d be a, well: fitting costume for him, heheh. Since I imagine Shuichi is the type who doesn’t go, like... SUPER all out on his costumes, y’know? Like the type who just throws on a rather simple outfit, depending on what he’s trying to be!

- In addition to that, I think the only time he’ll willingly join a costume party anyway is if his classroom is throwing one: or at least, sticking by them if the whole school in general is. He still would be curious to see what his classmates dressed up as, heheh. And yes, he is definitely an easy victim to get if you want to startle him with a scary mask: because when he’s caught off guard, he will shriek, KJDJSKDJSD

- Yet despite that, Shuichi can handle haunted house attractions pretty well, as we know! So if you need a friend that’ll let you cling onto them/hold their hand: Shuichi is your guy, because he will just let you do so, okay. Of course, if a jumpscare still does get him good, he’ll yelp and jump, too~

- He’d try making Halloween-themed treats!! Like cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc. in the shape of/made to look like classic Halloween symbols like jack-o-lanterns, monsters, ghosts, bats, etc, etc. ! I feel he would have a lot of fun doing that, especially if he’s celebrating together with is friends, heheh

- In his vampire AU specifically: I think Halloween would be one of the only times he would wear an actual vampire costume: like a Dracula one or something. Because this way, it’d help mask the fact he is a literal vampire even more: since people would naturally think his fangs and abnormally pale skin is just part of the costume, yeah?

And now a few bonus Seiichi headcanons !

- Seiichi would definitely love to dress up as detective for a costume idea, especially because he isn’t one. But even moreso: cosplays of detective characters like Sherlock Holmes, Kyouko, Naoto, Akechi, Detective Conan etc. and he swears he will successfully trick his uncle into wearing an outfit that exactly resemble Detective Dojima’s uniform someday.  

- In addition to that though, he also likes other costume ideas of the classics like a demon, vampire, grim reaper, etc. or even just cosplaying as one of his other DR favorites like the massive fanboy geek that he i s....

- He’d be more than excited to explore a haunted house attraction with a friend. He’d probably laugh if you clung to him (or will playfully cling to you as if he’s scared like the dork he is), or you got scared real good: would probably try to scare you at some point too, cause he’s terrible like tha t. And if the haunted house has an escape room puzzle, too? He’ll absolutely want to do it! And while he normally doesn’t like being scared: in a haunted house, he’ll want to feel that tension in a haunted house and if you can get him real good: he’ll scream like a geek, but love it, JNDKFDKJFD

- If he’ll be staying home that Halloween night: he’ll jut gorge on some store bought candy or Halloween-themed desserts he baked, if he was in the mood! He’d excitedly look at the different kinds of Halloween-themed DR fanart his followers and friends made, rewatch a Halloween special for whatever DR season if one would possibly exist KJSDKDS or just chill with his online friends as they do whatever together, like maybe playing a scary game or watching a scary movie together.

[ofcloudsandstars]

✧ . 🌸Beltane Solitary Rituals🌸 *✧

Bluebells are popping through the freshly sprouted glass, blossom petals litter the streets and flowers burst open to bloom on every lawn and ceramic pot as we approach the pinnacle of Spring. The time of the Spring Crossquarter, Beltane, is upon us! It's time to re-pot house plants and give them plant food, sow seeds in the garden, sow seeds of intention and give back to nature. Beltane is nested perfectly within the earthly season of Taurus and near Earth Day and I feel like it's a second earth day for pagans and witches.

Beltane is the sabbat that mirrors Samhain, though it's celebration is completely opposite (fertility and life vs death and the end) it has the same intensity of the Halloween festival. Instead of spirits, it's the fae that is out and about, mad with excitement at the stirring earth, causing pranks, confusion, hayfever and mischief to their victims as pre festival activities as they prepare for their grand fairy queen ball. With other witches I've celebrated this by dressing up as a fairy or spirit of nature which felt a lot like a halloween yet more etheral and mysterious than spooky, yet this post is for solitary witches that don't have their own community to do a whole fairy ball with.

A lot of witches practice alone and have our own solitary rituals for each sabbat that we observe (or the ones we’ve created just for ourselves that we observe alone!) Like any solitary eclectic witch I do things my own different way but some of these things might line up with others practices. I do refer to some of the equinoxes/solstices/crossquarters by their celtic sabbat names but I celebrate them in a secular animist way and treat the wheel of the year I celebrate as more of an agrarian cycle and celebrating nature. I use sabbat names as a point of reference and also people that do celebrate these witches sabbats more traditionally might find value in my personal practice!  Here is my personal correspondences post and my personal Beltane tag!

When I am alone and casting spells a lot of it is visualization/intent so my solitary rituals are more like activities I like to do then specifically casting a spell. If I am doing a spell with an activity based on it a lot would be listening to music to get in the mood and focusing on a candle while visualizing for a period of time! Eves are also important to my celebration as I like to stay up until midnight to cast a spell then!

Spring Crossquarter’s Eve

Monday, April 30th 2018

Clean litter around your area This is a great excuse to go on a nature walk and enjoy the wonderful spring weather, yet also please the spirits of nature and make our green spaces more enjoyable and safe for the beings that live in it. Wear some gloves and help clean up!

Enjoy snacks while doing crafts like green pepita seeds, red radishes, gummy worms, pixie sticks, chocoshrooms, unicorn inspired anything, fairy floss, kale chips etc!

Watch Fairy Films while doing crafts There are some movies I hardcore associate with this sabbat. Those being: Strange Magic, Thumbelina, LABYRINTH, fern gully and stardust. They help to get you in the spirit!

Make LED flower lights If you are feeling creative and want to cover your space in glowing flowers you should try this craft! If you can get fabric tulips I think the process would be easier and quicker since you wouldn't have to layer.  

Flower tealight bowl If you still want flowers but don't have too much time for crafts, get a bouquet of flowers and cut their stems off. In a wide glass bowl, fill it half way with water, and float the flowers on top. Add tealight candles to light up the piece.

Make paper flowers I have so many of these DIYs saved and they are super pretty. You can add LED's inside too and have large paper flowers glowing in your space! ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 )

attach them to a branch! ( 1 , 2 )

make garland  

Hang chimes! Enjoy the fairy festivity by hanging twinkling chimes! It’s a low energy activity that can make the space feel wonderful. Open the windows to let in some sweet spring air and have the chimes twinkle.

Make Flower Water! Simmer lavender petals or rose petals in a pot of water. If it's edible you can use the water in cooking but if not you can use the water as a cleansing wash and to elevate the energy! Get a perfume bottle to put rose water in and mist the air in your space.

Midnight

This night is known as witches night and often has been an evening for ritual dancing and witches flight. It's also a good night to do attraction magic

Bloom Focus on what you'd want to bloom and grow further in your life. Whisper your wishes to the flowers outside and sprinkle full moon water on them as an offering.

Attraction Magic This time of the year things start to speed up and it's easier to get certain outcomes, people or resources to come to you. Use this evening to do spells to attract what you need to create an ideal summer. Candle magic (Bonus if it's floral ) would make a great attraction charm especially for the element of fire on this festival and that you can carve your wishes onto it.

Sex Magic This is a festival of fertility and deep fiery creative manifesting energy. It can pull on the lower energy pools of the body. If you are comfortable with that part of yourself you can tap into that energy and the energy of the stirring earth with masturbation and using it to manifest what you want. Before hand meditate and visualize what you want to manifest. While climaxing focus your energy on that and you will release powerful energy towards that spell while orgasming. You can also charge charms and sigils this way. You can use safe tumbled crystal eggs and 'massage' wands (I always stick to quartz based minerals or glass products since those don't dissolve in water), anoint yourself with oils, burn rose incense, take a self indulging floral bath with flower petals to seduce yourself before hand, light candles, there's a lot of magical tools and magic in general to incorporate into this ritual. It's very self indulging and all about making yourself comfortable and using your own unique energy (plus orgasming on the midnight of Beltane is a great way to bring in the festivity while alone haha).

Spring Crossquarter's Day

May 1st

Dress like a fairy or in florals I love to dress in florals or in flowery lace on this day. If possible you should dress up like a fairy or spirit of nature but if you have to be a functioning human in modern society not many places might accept that so a quieter way would be to dress floral. Wear a flower crown! Make a ribbon wand. Use your own colorology/color correspondences for the ribbons you pick. Tie ribbons in a braid in your hair for knot magic. Wear rose oil or any floral fragrance oil that is your favorite (I am obsessed with hyacinth).

Flower Essences A wonderful form of flower magic is flower essences. It's a gentle way to heal and transform your energetic and emotional body. Is there something you want to let go or manifest within yourself? You can look that up like (thing I want to do + flower essence) and the internet can give you a thorough list. (Examples can be resentment, anger issues, responsibility, courage, feeling loved etc). There are a lot of books on it but flower essence knowledge can be expensive to obtain which I personally find unfair since they can be helpful. A good book if you’d want to invest in it would be the flower essence repertory but google (for now) is free and you can just keep track of flower essence powers in your grimoire and google the ones you need. Find the flower ally that speaks to you the most, order that essence (Bach is the best company) and start today as the first day to take it and note your journey in your book of shadows.

Play fairy-like music I have instruments and music I associate with each sabbat and for Beltane it's harps. They sound graceful like fluttering wings and falling blossom petals. Here are a few soundtracks ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ), fill your space with ethereal music!

Repot plants It's easy to get caught up in life and forget about your green best friends but I like to remember this day as a day to repot your house plants. They will love you and grow bigger and leafier due to it, it definitely honors the spirit of nature within the home and it's helpful to take time to remember to do this!

Make a butterfly feeder Butterflies have come out and about! Make butterfly feedersso they have get a tasty treat!

Make seed bombs Make bombs of local wild flowers (especially the kinds butterflies and bees need) and throw them around in empty grassy lots!

Do fun fairy inspired activities Such as making enchanted bubbles (add a teeny pinch of mica to make them sparkle but not too much or else they won’t hold and add floral fragrance to them) and blow them in a park, play pranks on people you don’t like such as stealing their shit and hiding it in some obscure place, eat sweets (bonus if it’s floral like rose, jasmine or lavender), read poetry and riddles.

Make delicious floral treats The easiest would be to make teas like rose, lavender, hibiscus or jasmine, you can make rose lattes as well (with a milk wand and hot milk with a dash of rose water) or steamed floral milk (pairs best with plant based milk like coconut, macademia or almond). Make floral buttercream to sandwich between cookies or decorate flowery cupcakes with. Enjoy flowery macarons if you don't have time to bake or add gelatin to floral teas on the eve (bonus if you have flowery cake molds to pour it into) to enjoy today.

Have a picnic under a flowering tree The weather is finally wonderful which makes this day a perfect day to celebrate under a blooming tree in a park. Bring spring picnic foods with you like cucumber sandwiches, radish salads, kale chips. Connect with the blossoming trees and do energy work with them. Charge yourself on a carpet of fallen petals on the ground laced with tree roots. Leave some food as offerings to the spirits of nature as well. Let bees and butterflies drink from your bottle cap.

Venture into the realm of nature and plants Massive disclaimer about psychadelics, if you don't know yourself well or don't trust yourself you should avoid them at all costs, but shrooms is incredible and the most wonderful experience if you use them only for sacred and spiritual practices. It attunes you to the realm of plants and the fae, trees will have messages to give you, you can see the earth breathing, the world is alive and we are all connected to this planet. You will remember people you love and you will feel loved, your ancestors will be surrounding you, you can hear the gossip among the fungi, you can feel the stars and planet's gravitational movements in the heavens. As wonderful as it can be, it can be dangerous though to people unfamiliar with it which leads me to say I'm only making this suggestion to the witches that have experience with it and understand it. Beltane is a day a lot of witches "travel" and often sometimes with the use of more intense tools way more complex and dangerous than mushrooms, but anyway on a day to honor blooming nature and the thriving earth, shrooms is an ideal tool to help you access that realm if you have a day off so you can be in a park under a flowering tree and cry over how beautiful tulips and moss are.

Walk barefoot on the earth If the weather is nice, take a walk in a grassy park  or in your yard barefoot. Feel the fertile ground charging your body with energy. Do a grounding ritual and some energy work!

Flower magic Like all plants, flowers are also kind and our allies and are wonderful to do magic with. Learn about the various flowers and what magic they are good in helping you with. Make friends with them, offer them water and sing to them. I made a post a while ago about flowers for love and friendship spells. You don't have to pick the flowers, it's best if they are kept alive or if you grow them. But if you happen to pass a florist or have them already picked, then you can use them in your physical spells as well!

Evening

Feast Cook yourself something lovely to celebrate the pinnacle of spring! A great and simple dish is artichokes since they are a lot to pick apart and eat and are a beautiful savory flower that pairs well with delicious salad dressings and vinaigrettes to dip into. Other wonderful dishes can be beet soup, roasted beet hummus with radish + cucumber and asparagus to dip, white asparagus, literally anything with black truffle on it, chive bread rolls, oyster mushrooms, snails with chive and garlic butter, chopped red cabbage salad, adirondack blue mashed potatoes, truffle risotto, something simple and leafy like a tossed spring salad with radishes and purple lettuce. Endives with chopped boiled eggs and roasted beets nested inside, duck with sugar glaze and fresh edible blossoms. Most countries don't have a midspring feast holiday so many people might not be familiar with midspring food ideas but there are a lot of beautiful and flowery dishes in season this time of year to enjoy alone! Not to mention the desserts! Lemon and lavender pound cake, rose meringues, floral parfaits, rose buttercream cakes, violet and chocolate brownies, lilac sugar dusted cookies, candied rose petals, sakura jellies etc. Bake yourself something wonderful and magical for dessert! Also if you like to drink while celebrating, try creme de violette mixed with anything whether it be rose prosecco, plain soda water or a light wheat beer. There are other wonderful cordials too such as elderflower (St. Germain) that you can mix with a white iced tea (or an elderflower iced tea), and rose and lavender syrups you can mix with soju and sodawater. If you love wines you should try a dandelion or rose wine or steep edible flowers in a light wine over the day to infuse!

Leave offerings to nature Leave a bowl of flower water outside, sprinkle native wild flower seeds, mist the plants or sing to the trees. Let earth know you still love and honor her. Leave any extra food you made to your guides that care about you.

[thedailychangejar-blog]

25 Useful Ways to Save Money Everyday (Part 1)

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission or other benefit at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Daily Change Jar.

Saving money can be difficult, especially if you are already living paycheck to paycheck.

It is always helpful to find creative ways to save money. Trying to save money doesn't have to be stressful or unenjoyable, it can be fun and even a way to get the whole family involved. Check out the tips and tricks below on creative and fun ways to live frugally. 

1. Don't trash the leftovers

It has always baffled me when people eat out and they don’t take left overs. Um...hello, you paid for that! Take it with you! When I worked in restaurants it would drive me nuts how much food was wasted that people would just throw out. (Same goes for just about any place that deals with food). When I take leftovers home from a restaurant, you better believe they are gonna get eaten! Especially from Olive Garden-always good the second time around!

2. Up-cycle!

This is one of my favorites! I love to find old things and redo them up new again. People have made whole businesses out of this concept! When I “retire” I want to find old furniture and fix it up new, with a funky twist of course and resell it at flea markets. So don’t throw away those kitchen chairs because your kids scratched them or ripped the fabric, fix it up and make it nice again! Honestly this is a must in my household-if there is a way I can figure out how to reuse it or up-cycle it, I will!

3. Buy used office supplies

I love shiny new office supplies as much as the next mommypreneur, but let’s get real here. I don’t actually NEED them! (Plus I can always put them on my Christmas list-P.S. keep an eye out for some upcoming frugal gift guies!) My desk I got for free from my old work, which even though it’s not pretty, it’s big and does the job! I can’t tell you the last time I purchased NEW ink cartridges for my printer. I always go to Cartridge World and buy the reused ones-they are like half the price of a new one!

4. Round up your spare change!

My parents used to have this large wood box that they would throw change in, there was probably on average $100 in there! My husband and I keep a change jar in our bedroom and throw all of our spare change in there. It is mostly change from him, but it can really add up. I think last time I cashed it in, which was somewhere between 6-12 months of accumulated change, there was close to $55 in there! Cha-Ching!

5. Don’t buy new clothes

I am a thrift shopper through and through! When I was pregnant-the last two times-I only bought 1 new pair of jeans, everything else was from Goodwill or St. Vinny’s. When it comes to clothing for kids or things that I know I am not going to be wearing very long-I shop secondhand. I have found some pretty great stuff at thrift stores-like Under Armour shorts for my oldest for gymnastics, or practically brand new jeans for my son. The one thing that I LOVE about our Goodwill (and I’m pretty sure all Goodwills do this) is they get the clearance stuff from Target after it doesn’t sell. I have bought SO MANY dresses and Target brand things from Goodwill-and they were brand new! So don’t be snobby about your clothes, buy used!  Don’t be snobby about your clothes, buy used! You can find some pretty cool stuff! Click To Tweet *Plus, I have gotten so many compliments on things that I have bought and people are surprised when I tell them I purchased it thrifting!

6. Shop seasonal

This takes a little more advanced planning on your part, but it is worth it, trust me! When I say shop seasonal, I am referring to shopping AFTER the season is over. This works for just about everything-back to school, Halloween, Christmas-you name it. When it comes to school supplies, I save the list from the previous year and get as much stuff as I know they will need for the following year-it generally stays the same. For Halloween, purchase costumes for the next year when all the costumes are deeply discounted. We had costumes for our kids for a couple years in advance by doing this! This tactic can be used for bigger purchases like a new Christmas tree or smaller ones like greeting cards.

7. Don’t create more garbage!

It has become a pretty big trend now with reusable water bottles and the like. However, it is also frugal living at it’s best. I used to make “snack bags” for my kids each week so they could grab snacks on the go. Now when I make “snack bags” they are actually reusable containers. My absolute favorites are the Sistema brand, which you can order from Amazon here. *Bonus-they are also BPA free! They are a little more of an upfront cost, but in the long run you can save quite a bit over buying disposable bags. Same goes for school lunches-use reusable instead of disposable. Plus you will feel better knowing you are not contributing to landfills. You can also use reusable sandwich bags and lunch bags for lunches. My personal favorites is the BYO brand. They are super durable and can fit quite a bit of food. It’s also a good idea to purchase yourself a reusable water bottle rather than buying plastic ones all the time. The MIRA ones are great, especially for the kids, again durability it key here. I personally prefer glass ones, but my last two broke, so I gave up on that :-( Don’t forget about reusable utensils, Sistema is a good brand for this again.   

8. Ditch the paper products!

Take a look at everything in your house that is a paper product. Paper plates, paper towels, napkins, toilet paper. There is a lot and it can really add up! Although there is a large convenience factor to using these, they are costing you! Instead of using napkins and paper towels, use something that is reusable. I grabbed some Brillo sheets from the dollar store-there is like 8 in a pack, that I use for everything! Napkins, paper towels, dryer sheets, for the Swiffer vac (not toilet paper-flushing them will cost you more money, not save it!) Here is a post from My Merry Messy Life on how to transition your house to being paper free-including toilet paper :-)

9. Use reusable feminine care products

Ladies this one is specifically for you! Ok, so there are a few issues with using disposable pads and tampons, they are not great for the environment, or for you. There are actually a lot of different chemicals in pads and tampons-not cool! You can solve this by either investing in a reusable menstrual cup-which is not at weird as it sounds, or some cloths pads .  

10. Up-cycle mismatched dishes

Do you have dishes sitting around that don’t match a set-UPCYCLE them! Use them to give gifts to others or make some shnazzy yard art. Also, if you have a habit of leaving dining ware at parties, put those Christmas cookies on that mismatched plate, it looks a little nicer than using a paper plate (which you have already done away with).  

11. Cook once-eat multiple times

Try to plan your meals so you have left overs. This saves time and money. Really...how many times have you been running around all day and not had time a cook a meal between everything else you have going on? If you make enough and have left overs, this will prevent you from spending extra and having to eat out. Related post: The 6 Most Effective Ways to Meal Plan! 

12. Dry clean at home

Ok, so I try to avoid buying things that are dry clean only when purchasing clothes. However, there are those super cute pieces that I have found while thrifting that are dry clean only that I just could not pass up! So instead of taking them to the dry cleaner-besides, who has time for that anyways! I use the Woolite Dry Clean sheets-lifesaver!

13. Don’t toss butter wrappers

My oldest daughter loves to bake, me not so much, I normally just eat everything right away after I bake it :-/ However, I feel like she can be really wasteful when she bakes and there is flour, sugar, and butter all over the place. So I try to make sure that she is not being wasteful and have her scrape the butter wrappers and add any excess to the recipe or the actual container of butter. Same with the flour and sugar that winds up all over the counter. 

14. Save money at the movies

My husband has a really hard time with this as he is a huge comic book fan and every time a new comic book movie comes out he has to go see it!  I save him money by staying home with the little ones :-) Try checking out movies from the library or if you just HAVE to go see a new movie, check for days and times that have discounted prices.

15. Get the most out of everything you buy

My kids are terrible at not using the last of everything in jars, tubes, and other types of containers. I make sure that I scrape the last little bit out of everything and generally just add it to the next container-peanut butter is a big one. I purchased these little toothpaste tube squeezers so that they aren’t throwing away half a tube of toothpaste when they think it’s empty-true story.

16. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions

I’m sure if you really looked through your budget you could find a few subscriptions that you could cancel-magazines, newspapers, paid versions of things you can get free (with commercials), Netflix, Hulu. We personally canceled those along with our cable a long time ago. It was not worth the money when our kids were fine with just watching one of the 1000 movies we already owned. Related post: How to STOP living paycheck to paycheck without loosing your sanity!

17. Subscribe to freemium versions

To complement the previous point… Although I despise commercials on Pandora, I normally listen to it while on my computer-which has a mute button. There are other free versions of things like Amazon Prime-which I already pay for, Spotify, and YouTube! It’s not worth paying a couple extra bucks a month to go without commercials when I can just mute them and save some money.  So make yourself a playlist and start saving!

18. Get rid of cable!

Ok, so I already said I did this a long time ago, but seriously, do you really NEED cable services? If you do find that you still need some kind of TV service, (although I don’t even have these anymore, but we went from cable to these options and then eventually got rid of those) Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon offer just about anything you need when it comes to your television entertainment needs.

19. Get Amazon Prime

So I know this post is about SAVING money, but hear me out. There are a lot of reasons that I love Amazon Prime! I originally got it when I was going to college and needed to order books-they offer free 2-day shipping on college books. I use it now for the free shipping-I love me some books-the streaming video services, and when ordering the kids Christmas gifts online. Prime, although there is a small initial yearly investment, is well worth it!

20. Spend more time at the library

If you have kids especially, start going to the library more. My kids personally LOVE going to the library and checking out books and movies. Sometimes we can even get games and there are always free events going on. Like family Lego nights, STEM based events where they get to build things, and movie nights. For the adults, there are tons of resources. Books, audio books, videos, and I know at our library you can even rent certain equipment. Pretty awesome and FREE resources. Plus it’s always a nice, quiet place to go work when the hubby is home with the kids.

21. Ditch the brand name stuff

I have never really been one to stick to brand loyalty, I go with whatever is cheapest. I know people that spend 3 times what I do on laundry detergent because they like the smell of the certain brand. Yeah, I like my clothes to smell nice too, but I would prefer to just buy the cheap stuff or make my own and save a few bucks. I have ONE exception, I do buy Unstoppables once and awhile to wash our blankets, only because after our dogs lay on them I can’t get the smell out with anything other than some kind of laundry scent booster. But again, it doesn’t have to be a certain brand, I get whatever is on sale-as long as it will get the dog smell out of my blanket!    This goes for more than just laundry detergent though. Think about your food products, personal care items, and just about anything else you buy. Did you know that most of the time the brand name and generic stuff are made by the same companies, they just put different labels on them?  No joke! So save yourself a few bucks and buy the generic stuff, your friends and family will not think anything less of you for living frugally. You may even inspire them to follow in your footsteps :-) 

22. Be your own barista

It is a rare occasion that I actually purchase coffee from Starbucks or other coffee houses. It is crazy how much that stuff adds up! Think about it, if you purchased a Starbucks drink-hello Salted Caramel Mocha-which generally runs about $5.75 we’ll say with tax, and you get that 5 days a week on your way to work in the morning, that’s $28.75! Take that times 50 weeks in a year (assuming you aren’t getting on any other days of the week or on vacation) that’s $1,437.50! That could have gone towards paying off some debt or being put into your savings or emergency fund. I make my coffee at home with a cute little french press I bought for about $10 and buy ground coffee and creamer from the grocery store. I cost me approximately $10 for 2-4 weeks worth of coffee-depending on how much caffeine I am in need of. That is a HUGE savings!

24. Don’t buy emotionally

I’m sure this has happened to all of us. You get in a fight with your significant other, or your kids have been driving you nuts all day, or you just had a bad day at work. You pop into Target, buy that Salted Caramel Mocha and before you know it you walk out with a new pair of workout leggings that were too cute to pass up, a pair of new boots, cuz you found a pair that actually fit amazing, a new lamp for your bedroom that matches your bed set, a bottle or wine-cuz it was a bad day, treats for the dogs because they have actually been good lately, a pack of hair, skin, and nail vitamins in hopes that they will make your life better somehow, oh, and a pack of that new dessert gum in the checkout lane, you know so you can chew on that next time instead of bingeing on those cookies that your daughter made the other day. Well, crap, there went your grocery budget for next week.  Instead, if you need to de-stress, try something that is not going to ruin your budget you worked so hard to keep on track. Go to the library and check out an old romance novel or movie, take a bath, warm up some left overs and lock yourself in your bedroom for a while-without your phone, iPad, or computer to tempt you into shopping online-which can be even more dangerous.

24. Track your finances

So this is something I that talk more about in these posts: How to Permanently Stop Financial Stress, Even if You've Tried Everything! How to STOP Living Paycheck to Paycheck Without Losing Your Sanity! But it can seriously help to realize where your money is actually going! Just remember, you should control your money, it should not control you!

25. Avoid unhealthy and budget sucking vices

So this can be a difficult one, but save you a TON of money! These include things like cigarettes, alcohol, and in-app purchases. Cigarettes, tobacco chew and anything of the like-first off GROSS! Secondly, add up how much you actually spend on that stuff. If you absolutely need to do something, look into vaping. My husband switched to this a few years ago and saves a lot of money, plus he smells much better and isn’t slowly killing himself. Alcohol-now I love my wine as much as the next girl, but think practically here. Going out to drink at a bar , or having a few drinks when you go out to dinner, is fine once in a great while if you are celebrating with friends, but that adds up so quickly! If you are going to drink, try and find some good stuff on clearance or have a get together at the house and ask everyone to bring something to share. I have found on great deals on seasonal wine and alcohol especially in the clearance sections. In-app purchases. Ok, so if your kids play on your phone or can access anything that has an in-app purchase, make sure you have some kind of lock on there. This has happened to me twice-one my daughter was watching Peppa Pig and somehow was purchasing episodes rather than watching free ones because apparently we didn’t have a child lock on what she was using. Luckily I get notifications on my phone and stopped her after about $3 worth of episodes. Another time one of the kids was playing a game on my phone and bought coins for some game for like $10. Ahh! So make sure you are restricting access to that stuff and not spending yourself. I have heard of people blowing their entire rent payments on things like World of Warcraft! Don't be that person! There are TONS of ways to get creative with saving money. This list is by no means all inclusive. This is a list of 25, which is part of a series post that will add to to 100+ ways to get creative with saving money. So check back over the next week or so for updates and a free printable that easily outlines ALL of the ways to save money.

What are some creative ways that you have saved money lately?

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[ofcloudsandstars]

✧ .🍂Mabon Solitary Rituals🍂*✧

The Autumn equinox is near! As it's the equinox the day will be equal parts light and dark (perfect for the beginning of Libra season,) and as it's autumn in the northern hemisphere there will be leaves that are beginning to change and squirrels scurrying about. Autumn is such an important season of mine, it begins Libra season (I am a libra) and also according to the French Revolutionary Calendar, the season of wine. Libra season is one of fun, balance and harmony and that combined with autumn and the celebration of wine makes this the start to my favorite part of the year.

Autumn Equinox is not only the time to be grateful for all that you've earned during your hard work of the summer, and be grateful in general for the good that has occurred to you this year, but it's also a time of letting go. As we inch closer to Samhain, the time of death and transformation that leads to the new year, we should take time to reflect and see what needs to be shedded like falling leaves. The keyword to my rituals are Reflection. Reflect on what makes you grateful and reflect on what needs to be let go. I do have a personal correspondences post that might help explain why I also chose certain things listed below! (Also here is my personal tag.)

A lot of us witches practice alone and have our own solitary rituals for each sabbat that we observe (or the ones we’ve created just for ourselves that we observe alone!) Like any solitary eclectic witch I do things my own different way but some of these things might line up with others practices. I do refer to some of the equinoxes/solstices/crossquarters by their celtic sabbat names but I celebrate them in a secular animist way and treat the wheel of the year I celebrate as more of an argrarian cycle and celebrating nature. I use sabbat names as a point of reference and also people that do celebrate these witches sabbats more traditionally might find value in my personal practice!

When I am alone and casting spells a lot of it is visualization/intent so my solitary rituals are more like activities I like to do then specifically casting a spell. If I am doing a spell with an activity based on it a lot would be listening to music to get in the mood and focusing on a candle while visualizing for a period of time! Eves are also important to my celebration as I like to stay up until midnight and cast a spell then!

Mabon Eve

Thursday September 21st 2017

Autumn Tea lights! First we all know autumn scented candles are the best, but for the autumn equinox festivities, making special autumn tealights is a must! Make Apple tealights, acorn tealights  or squash tea lights (x) and decorate your altar with them or save them for the feast table tomorrow. Bonus: use scented autumn wax or natural beeswax and maybe top it with cinnamon or nutmeg! 

Acorn charms for good luck! I would make these annually for my friends. Acorns represent prosperity and everytime the bell jingles its to hope it will bring you more prosperity for the rest of the remaining year!

Swap wardrobe clothing for your autumn clothes and put a sack of nice smelling herbs like cinnamon sticks in the corner of your warddrobe to make them smell nice.

If you enjoy wearing makeup take out all of your autumn shades of lipstick and eye make up and charge them with your tools of glamour like rose quartz, carnelian and good energy.  

Dry fruits and herbs in an oven or dehydrator! Annually I love to make apple chips this time of year. 

Enjoy snacks while doing crafts! Eat caramels, dried apple chips, nuts (like peanuts if you are not allergic. I like nuts to honor the squirrel and acorn season), maple sugar candies, sugar candied nuts, sweet corn bread, butterscotch candies. Also if you don't like nuts/can't eat them but want something acorn-like, make these donut acorns! Bonus if they are cinnamon sugar! (Or you can coat them in maple sugar glaze!) 

If you love knitting this is a great time to begin a knitting project! Use knot magic to bind intent into your scarf to keep you warm in the cold seasons!

Celebrate the eve of Autumn with great fall beers and apple sausages at a local beer hall. 

Preparing dishes Since tomorrow is a great autumn feast day, the evening would be fantastic to just cook autumn magic into the food of tomorrow.  That also being said, Make Caramel Apples! I associate caramel apples with this holiday and candied coated apples with Halloween. Make a nice maple sugar caramel and top with sprinkles, cookie crumbles or enjoy on it’s own! 

Decorate your Altar! Wipe your altar down with oils like cinnamon and cedar. Cover it in chrysanthemums, beautiful fallen leaves, carnival squash, mini pumpkins, and anything fall colored. Burn cinnamon and apple incense! 

Go Star Gazing This time of the year is the best for star gazing. It probably has to do with the temperature at night being pleasantly cool and there being far less bugs. Spend a night under the stars especially since it will be the last night possible to do so before the weather cools! 

Midnight Spell: Focus on what you would like to shed away from your life. This is a time that's great for letting go of what is no longer working for you in the previous year. As an activity I do like to collect dead and colorful leaves that have fallen and write in gold pen the things I want gone from my life. Over a flame I burn it to a crisp. If you can't have fire, this is equally as great if you can toss it out of a high window to let it 'fall away' (I'd suggest not writing anything on it though, just put the energy into it), or crushing it into powder and letting it blow away in the fall winds. Another spell I like to do is road opening. If you feel blocked and don't know what to shed away, this helps instead. I always like lighting a candle for road opening spells as it's similar to lighting a lantern on a path shrouded with darkness, but this can be understood as a leaf blower spell. Take a pile of leaves as clean as you can find them. (at least 10-20 is good enough). Take your favorite stack of tarot cards and shuffle them thinking about the obstacle that you can not overcome. Once you are done, the top card is what you must do. (Or any that jump out randomly). Take that advice card and put it under the pile of leaves. Envision the leaves as the many things that are cluttering your path. When you are ready, take a mighty blow and blow them away off the card! Acorn Spell I like to pick an acorn I am drawn to and think about the things I want to prosper. I use them as wealth spells. As I charge my things and do magic for the ritual, I also charge my acorns with positive intent. That night or the next morning I go to a nearby park (usually the same where I got the acorn) and bury it into the earth. As the acorn is a seed that will grow, so will what you wish to prosper in your life. 

Mabon Day

Friday, September 22nd 2017

When you pick your clothes for this day, Either wear the most fall-tastic witchy outfit or wear the dark veil witchy outfit. Fall is officially the Season of the Witch sorry I don't make the rules. (I mean 365 days of the year is the season of the witch to me but like, fall is goth witch time). It's time for burgundy, brown and black lipsticks, heavy eyeshadow, black veils, velvets, boots, flocks of crows following you around as you shop for mini pumpkins. Little kids watching you in awe and believing in magic as you and your Raven companion go pick up Halloween candy. 

Go Apple Picking! If you have the great privilege and opportunity to, this would be the most blessed day for apple picking. Being in the country side and picking apples is the most ideal way to spend Mabon Day. Make a tart with those apples for the feast or save them to make autumn apple cider for Samhain! 

Take a Bike Ride or a Fall Hike! Autumn is an airy season for me and the winds are playful, give life to dead leaves and howl wildly in the night. I love to spend autumn biking and feeling one with the streams of air. Go on a ride and collect the beautiful leaves you see! If you don’t have a bike, taking a hike would be just as rewarding especially in a trail in the mountains!

Drink spiced autumn drinks and be grateful for the past year and the season to come! Enjoy a nice hot apple cider, spiced autumn mulled wine, a spiced chai tea or even a pumpkin spiced Latte (YEAH I SAID IT) don’t let anyone take your autumn festiveness away from you! 

Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables! APPLES! Plums! Grapes! Squash! Yams! Offer some back to nature to show gratitude! 

Plant bulbs in the garden for next spring! You should try to harvest what you can from your garden and pickle your produce and dry your herbs but if you want some things to pop up in the spring, now is the time to plan before your garden goes to rest! 

Make Apple bird feeders!

If you have the opportunity to, tour a winery or a beer garden! Not all of us might have the time to go on a hike or apple picking, yet it is wine and autumn beer season so a nice outing to a brewery will be equally as festive!

Charge yourself in the cool autumn winds! Whistle with the whispering winds, release intentions into them. Find a cool and clean place where you won’t be disturbed to center yourself and allow their energy to flow around you. Feel free as the birds flying south. 

Evening

Celebratory Dinner The feast is the most important part. This holiday is often compared to Thanksgiving because its an autumn feast that has a focus on gratitude yet this is gratitude for what the earth has given for the harvest and your hard work (and not stealing land from other people) and if you are lucky enough to celebrate it with those that share your practice, you should go around the table to say the things that you are blessed for this year passed and toast each one to hot spiced cider. Let the loving warmth engulf you as you drink it and reflect on the good that has become of you this year. One year I made a fantasy feast for each sabbat and this is a recipe post for Mabon. 

Make sure to remember to make a plate for any entities you like to work with. Leave something nice for your ancestors, or the spirits of nature outside. Anything you have left over like organic waste, apple peels, squash string, put it in compost to give back to the earth when the time comes. 

For your friends and loved ones that you are grateful for in life, make sure to leave them a little message by text, phone call or social media to let them know how much you appreciate them.