Bumped his head on the end of the bed...

It has been raining cats and dogs lately. I have always loved that expression, it evokes such whimsical imagery! I have had many inspirations lately but sadly, due to a mundane thing called a job, lack the time to fulfill  my creative ideas. So, I'm going to write them down so that I don't forget them. Thanks for bearing with a Creative To Do post.
1. Cut pattern and material for new spring dress. (amazing fabric score at VV boutique!)
2. Load photos onto portable drive for 90th bday project
3.Write Laurel's bio
4. Figure out Blurb program
5. Learn to make beadie buddies and other loot bag goodies
6. Learn the square stitch for plastic lace (already mastered the circle stitich, thankyouverymuch)
7. Possibly copy the bag design I saw for sale for $19.99. I think I can beat that!

Ten little things

Ten little things I have been doing to use my resources wisely (sounds better than the F word).

-Mended a sheet instead of throwing it out
-Made cut off shorts and muscle shirts
-Made pillow cases
-Baked bread
-Did my own bangs/hair trim
-Made yogurt
-Organize plastic containers and shopping bags to use less disposable waste
-Clean out fridge and use up random bits of leftovers before they go bad
-Made breakfast muffin cake with saved cereal mix and apple/pear puree (from food organizing)
- Bought a cooked chicken and made soup stock from carcass. Used breast meat for chicken snack wrappers.

Sewing madness

 The other day I pulled out the old sewing machine with that trusty zig zag stitch. In truth, that's practically the only stitch that works properly. If you only have one stitch to work with, zig zag is where it's at! I salvaged a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee. This is an all too common occurrence with boys, as they are always on their knees in the dirt!. They also, ALWAYS have rocks in their pockets, which is a good reason to check your machine when you hear that familiar thumpety-thump sound during the wash cycle.

I am hoping to make myself a pair of shorts as well, but of course I haven't gotten around to it yet. I also made two matching pillow cases, from thrifted Fairly oddparents fabric and an old top sheet for the back and took in a XXL top which I snatched off the clearance rack at Walmart. I figured three bucks was worth the two seams up the sides. So, it was a great sewing day, done all in a rush of an inspired, obsessive, caffeineated state of mind. I then found another stash in my closet of thrifted fabric...maybe I'll get a skirt? Who knows?

Rudimentary Refashion

I bought this seemingly cool tee from the second hand shop the other day. Silly me, I forgot to inspect thoroughly and I found that it was coming apart at the seams. Can you see the tear on the sleeve in the photo? Grrr...
I decided this could be a good candidate for a refashion. I am no seamstress so this DIY was as simple as they come. Basically I cut apart two shirts and made them into one. I will spare you a tutorial because, honestly, if I can do it, so can you. I did take photos along the way, though and as I was cursing my sewing machine and the stretchy t-shirt fabric, I had a flash back memory of my grade nine sewing class. There was one single boy in our class, Kevin. He made a T-shirt from a pattern that

year and got an A. How he explained that one to his teenage peers, I have no idea, but now that I think of it, Kevin was a pretty smart fella. How else do you get to spend an hour a day with 24 teenage girls and have them help you, lean over you and praise you for learning a so-called feminine skill? Nope, Kevin was no dummy. And like my husband is to me now, Kevin was then a superior seamstress. Tailor? Who knows. All I know is I did not receive an A

on my project...and I probably wouldn't get a good grade on this one either, but it saved two shirts from the landfill for a bit longer, so what the heck? Here's to DIY refashion!

I have GOT to try this!!

I am going to make a top like this. It is amazing! Thanks to two butterflies for bringing it to my attention. I had a rare great sewing day yesterday and it has made me think that maybe I can actually sew after all. My machine is very temperamental. It is only a few years old but it was a starter machine to begin with and I feel I've outgrown it. My budget says otherwise, however, so, as Katy Wolk-Stanley, of the Non Consumer Advocate says, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Sage advice, to be sure.

I don't think I should have uploaded this photo of chocolate chip cookies though. I may need to make them and then sew my top even bigger.

Random update

Somehow I have fallen out of the habit of blogging. I have been going along, doing fabulous things like making my own delicious Pad Thai, Homemade Chocolate Syrup and Elvis costumes and I haven't been writing about it?! What's that about? Who knows. All I can say is I have been living, just not necessarily sharing everything and sometimes I think that is OK.

The weather here has been extremely cold the past week, a cold snap they call it. Whatever it is I am about to snap if spring doesn't hurry up soon! If it weren't for the sunshine, the -27-with- the-windchill temperatures would probably drive me to full on cabin fever. It's hard to be sociable and friendly when everyone is stuck inside together for this long. Tonight, after playing Yahtzee, I made chocolate brownies from a dollar store mix and added walnuts, marshmallows and chocolate syrup. This helped some, I must admit, but it is not a long term solution!

Spring you better hurry up, or so help me...!

Inspiration

Lately I have been into scrapbooking and card making. I was kind of late to this craft fad but all of a sudden it hit me how fun and simple it is. Also addictive I must admit, I never used to look twice at all of those letter stickers and embellishments, now, suddenly I can't get enough. Right now we are working on making my son's Valentine cards. Fortunately, I am still frugal and I look for sales and clearance. I found a bunch of summer scrapbooking items on clearance which I will put to good use with the summer pics.

I have also been sewing a bit. I made a simple cape for my son who needed a superhero costume for school. I had some freecycled red suiting material, twill tape and a thrifted pattern that I bought with rare foresight. It was a fun project which reminded me that my sewing skills don't have to be perfect for things like that to be fun and satisfying. My son played with the cape endlessly and is very proud of it. It helps that the bottom is scalloped, like bat wings. Now, I think my next project will be these reuseable snack bags! What a fantastic idea. I know that I can find those materials cheaply. Imagine not having to buy anymore sandwich bags for the lunch sac. Too cool.

Happy Halloween

Hey what's shakin'? Me, I'm just rockin' and rollin' and whatnot. Check out our Halloween digs. Mine is a complete DIY, I am a Beauty "Ghoul" Dropout. That's a reference to Grease. I know... I'm hilarious! Originally I was going to be a bubble gum princess, based on the pink wig, which I bought on clearance last year, right after Halloween. I'll score more cool stuff next week for next year. Why pay full price? Rather than a princess, I thought it would be more fun to look dead. Why not?

The turtle costume was a Value Village deal, bought last spring. They raise the prices right before Halloween, didja notice?? It has been used for playtime a few times and is a bit too short in the legs, but a green pair of PJ bottoms, a safety pin and gumboots solved that problem quite nicely. My polka dot dress? I wore it once and didn't care for the matronly drape of it so, I cut it to ribbons. It looks way cooler now! We wore our costumes for two hours and we were the best dressed folks in town. We look like a million bucks, don'tcha think???

Off the backburner

I had a rare day to sew today so I thought I had better take advantage of it. The boy was at school, so there was no messing in my pins and running off with things just as I am about to use them. I decided I had better try and finished all of my half finished projects before I cut into my new-to-me stash of fabric from Freecycle. That was difficult for me to do, restraining myself as I did, but since I had three projects pinned and ready to go, I decided to clear the decks and gain a sense of accomplishment for a change. The first thing I did was make myself some more pads. They were already cut out, all I had to do was a run a zigzag stitch around them.



Then I finished my shrug. It is two sweater sleeves sewn together with some trim sewn around for prettiness. I kept talking about this finishing this one, now I am wearing it. I got the idea fron the Wardrobe Refashion site. It's supposed to be kind of like these. It turned out quite cute if I do say so myself.





The next thing on the pile of scraps was the top half of a pair of jeans that I cut off a while back. Again, I ran a line of zigzag and Voila! I have the body of a denim hobo bag. While it is still technically an unfinished project, I had other fish to fry...

Small fry, that is!

I finally made the toque and mitts I had envisioned in my head from a too-small pair of fleece Diego pants. I heart fleece. No fraying edges makes it so easy to work with as a beginner sewer. The elastic around is head is the former waistband of the pants. I turned the pants upside down and then I traced around another hat to get the shape, then cut it out. The ealstic is in fine shape so I thought why re-invent the wheel? I traced my around my hand on a folded piece of paper to make a simple mitten pattern and cut out two opposing mittens, a left and a right from the remaining pant legs. The Diego patch was a last minute applique, though I would do that before sewing up the side seams if I were to do it again. Then I cut up the rest into half inch strips and made a pom pom. They fit my son perfectly and nary a scrap left of what were once too-short play pants!

I like the hat because it covers his ears. He likes them because I made them especially for him. Judging by this expression, it was a pleasant surprise for him to find these on his bed after kindergarten today.

Finally, I took in a pair of flared pants and took up the hem. I purchased the pants at the thrift store hoping to wear them around, they are green velvety jeans, quite neat, but the elephant ear bell bottoms and the wayyy too long hem made this impossible.

I now have a great pair of pants that don't drag in the mud or flap in the breeze!

Whew, I think I had better not pile up so many projects next time.

Brainstorming

I get floods of ideas from reading blogs and I am grateful to all of you who share your frugal ideas with me so that I can try them for myself. I am not fantastic at linking to give credit where it is due but if you peek in my reading list, you will see my favourite frugalistas from which I derive much of my inspiration. I have been busy, as usual, but I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down some of the ideas I have been trying and some that I would like to try.

Here is what I have been up to:

I made my own recycled candles from white tapers and tea lights

I made my own dry baking mixes

Gifts in a jar, fun!

Made my own recycled gift tags from cardboard Christmas packaging

Christmas mugs filled with candy, HM holiday mocha mix, and HM chocolate dipped pretzels (YUM!) for the teacher and my coworkers

Hand made Christmas cards

handmade birthday card and recycled wrapping

cutting down on food waste by using the freezer (bananas celery mushrooms and tomatoes)

croutons and bread crumbs

making my own bread, pizza dough etc.

Coupons! I bought two DW soaps for three bucks and two deodorants for a buck each, yay!

Here is what I am working up to:

Wardrobe refashion:

I have been saving a few items of clothing that are stained or grown out of with distinguishing features. For example, a too-small, fleece pair of pants with Diego on them, I hope to fashion into a tuque and mitts for the boy. I started on a denim purse from a pair of (too)-skinny-for-me jeans and I hope to start on a few summer items for myself, so when the time comes I won't have to rush out to buy. Must work on the sewing skillz...

I must admit it has been difficult to reign myself in on the holiday shopping, but so far I have stuck to the budget and managed to keep a dollar limit per person on the gifts. I did receive an unexpected parcel from my single-no kids-more-disposable-income-than-me friend so I am wondering what I shall do to reciprocate, but I am sure I will think of something suitable.

Here is my recipe for HM holiday Mocha Mix which I adapted from a site called Bitsy's Kitchen. No idea where that link went, but if you search it, it will come up.

Holiday Mocha Mix

2/3 cup instant coffee

2/3 cup powdered milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

four packets of carnation hot chocolate, about 1/2 a cup of powder

a couple of tbsp of cocoa powder, for extra chocolate :)

Blend in the blender then divide into baggies for gifting. 1-2 tbsp per cup of hot water. Enjoy!

Ugh, winter.

Normally it's not so bad, and I am doing my best to have a positive attitude, but flu season has not been kind to me, and I am just about fed up with being sick! On the plus side, I have had more time and inspiration for frugal ideas. On the minus side, I have not had the energy to carry anything out effectively. Every time I try to complete a project, I end up flopping on the couch in frustration because I don't have enough...oomph..to complete it to any sort of satisfaction. So I have to be satisfied with what I can accomplish, and that will have to be enough for now. I made an attempt at a wardrobe refashion; a shrug which I made out of sweater sleeves. My husband received a cheap acrylic sweater for Christmas a couple of years ago and the colour is just all wrong for him. It was way to big and baggy for me, so finally I asked permission to cut it up. It has a nice argyle pattern on the sleeves which really is the only redeeming quality of the sweater. I paired it up with some of the burgundy trim from my Freecycle stash and got it all pinned together. I have yet to drag out the sewing machine. Somehow, in my mind, the machine weighs 1000 lbs right now. I got the idea from Wardrobe Refashion, a girl did it with a cabled sweater sleeves. Too cool. I'd find the link for you, but meh, I don't feel like it right now. I also knitted my husband an ear warmer headband. Well, it was going to be a tuque but let's just say the tension was off a little and rather than frog the whole project, I bound it off and called it a headband. He dutifully wore it all around the house and didn't once laugh at me, even though he looked ridiculous and we all knew it :) Now, that is a good man. The final thing I have been dinkying around with is Plarn. Yes, Plarn.It is yarn made from recycling plastic carrier bags. When I told my mum, she said, "That's nice, dear," in the tone that says she thinks it's the medication talking. Well maybe it was, come to think of it. Still, I have visions of reclaiming the world's plastic bags one at a time and knitting them into, well, plastic bags. Strong, sturdy bags, which could carry home, say, a watermelon, or your beach toys. Maybe a rug, where you could scrape the mud off your boots. Or a built in scrubbie in your washcloth. No more hideous bags in the landfill. Plarn for everyone!

Oh, Plarn, you give a sick girl hope.

Introductions are in order

Hello! It's so nice to be here. I started this blog just because I enjoy writing, reading other blogs and learning how to do things from other wise people who graciously share their inspiring ideas. For instance, recently, I dusted off my sewing machine and thought back to the eighth grade, when I learned how to sew and I made this jean skirt. I had a link in my favourites list for forever to do it and I always thought it would be too complicated, but let me tell you, it wasn't at all. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture tutorial but there are many other people who have. I am proud of this skirt because it did not cost me anything but time, which suits my sensibilities nicely. There are many people trying to cut back and consume less these days, I am not an original. Many of the frugal ways of life were ingrained into me as a child. I grew up raised by a single and resourceful woman and we made it through some pretty lean times. Things like wardrobe refashioning, cooking from scratch, not buying things, that was pretty much my childhood...I find I am revisiting those sensibilities as many people are these days. I got all of the materials for this particular project from freecycle including that beautiful embroidered ribbon trim. As a side note, I do apologize for less than professional quality photography. At this moment, a super fancy digital camera is simply not in our budget. Until I can get our finances under control, (just another possible goal of this blog), my old point and shoot digicam will just have to do.

If you haven't joined your local freecycle community http://www.freecycle.org/ I urge you to do it today. Don't wait, get free stuff now!! Some of the wonderful things I have received are: a patio table, (which was white but I spray painted it lacquer red and now it is the envy of my neighbourhood, at least in my own mind), a fleece sports themed pillow and blanket set for my son, which he loves, many craft items such as; a huge box of yarn and knitting needles, a huge tote full of tassels and trim... so many wonderful things! FREE. If I haven't mentioned it already, I Love Freecycle! Perhaps for my next post I will put up some pictures of my bounty.

For now, though, it is great to be here and I hope to find out more about all of you who may visit me here at Into the Crockpot.