Tag Archives: Reuse

Seamstresses in the making

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Why, yes. I do let my nearly-three-year-old play with my sewing pins.

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Just as I let her sister before her when she was young. And now Princess Girl loves designing.

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Sewing is a big part of a sustainable lifestyle. When purchased thriftily, buying fabric can be much cheaper than buying ready-made items if you have the know-how. But sewing is so much more useful than making your own clothing from scratch.

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Mending a blanket.

Being able to repair those things which you already own is a first step toward living sustainably.

And you don’t need to tons of fancy gadgets and gizmos. A simple machine and a rudimentary knowledge of a few techniques will get you a long way. I myself have a rather simple machine.

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I only ever use a couple of the available settings. But it serves me well.

If you have a machine but learning to use it is a daunting task, find a friend who can help you. (It’s hard to learn sewing from the internet unless you already know how to handle your particular machine since they are all a bit different.) As stated above, you don’t need to know how to use every setting on your machine. You basically just need to know how to thread it, how to load and refill the bobbin, how to do the straight stitch and zig zag stitch, and what the length, width, and tension dials do. You can do an awful lot of sewing with those basic skills. And as you practice more and become more comfortable, you can start learning all the other things your particular machine can do.

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If you don’t have a sewing machine and can’t afford even a basic one, at least learn how to hand sew. Knowing a few easy stitches can be the difference between repairing that blanket and buying a new one, or paying someone to hem your pants or doing it yourself. And hand sewing is easy to learn from videos on the internet.

And remember, if children can learn to do it, you can, too!

Let’s hear you chime in. Do you think that sewing is an important skill to know? Do you know how? Wanting to learn?

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Christmas sewing

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Alright, alright! I’ll admit it.

I’m a fabric junky.

There’s a picture floating around Facebook of fabric being stored oh-so-neatly in a filing cabinet drawer.

Here’s what I said about it.

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Yes, I actually chuckled when I saw that picture. There’s no way my stash of fabric could ever be that neatly organized. I have too much. It would take 5 whole filing cabinets! The yardages I have are too big. Some of my fabric pieces would nearly fill their own drawer by themselves. Or they are too small.

And yet, I WISH my stash could look like that.

Oh wait. That’s right.

I don’t HAVE a stash!

At least, not here in Oregon.

And not really in Nevada either.

When we moved into our trailer on the homestead last year, I downsized drastically. My “stash” consists of three boxes (albeit two big ones and a medium one). And you know where those three are?

That’s right. They are in Nevada. Awaiting the day when our house is built and I have a sewing area again.

In the mean time, I have a million ideas running around my head of things I want to sew, especially Christmas gifts.

So, I went shopping. I went with one project in mind.

Here’s what I ended up with:

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I couldn’t help myself. All this fabric was only $15!

Yep, though they are all sheets, it turned out to be about $1 per yard. Pretty good deal, I’d say.

How, you ask?

Thrift store.

And not the overpriced big name ones either. A small, locally owned store in our neighborhood. The type of store where the proprietor is willing to give you a deal on things because she knows that money earned is better than items sitting on the shelf.

So what am I going to make with all that fabric? Well, I can’t tell you. Most of it is for Christmas gifts, afterall. And I know the intended recipients read this blog.

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However, I can say that the purple fleece will become three matching pairs of pajama pants for the girls and I, to be given on Christmas eve. I’ve been wanting matching jammies for us for a long time and almost bought a set online the other day. But couldn’t quite shell out the $32 + shipping it would have cost. And buying fabric from a traditional fabric store wouldn’t cost much less.

So, $5 and a little work, and I’ve got them.

Thrifting for the win!

What about you? How do you save money when it comes to Christmas gifts? Do you make your own?

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Another day on the homestead

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I can’t believe it. I spent an hour last night writing this post (while being distracted by the homesteading videos Hubby was watching on Youtube) and when I went to publish it, it was just gone! Grrr…technology sometimes!

At any rate, I wanted to share about our last couple days on the homestead before we came back to Oregon.

Oh, it was simply wonderful to be back in the wide open spaces, with only the sounds of nature around us. To sit for hours with the Hubs and just talk and dream of our plans for the house and homestead.

We’re hoping that when we go back in December, that we’ll be able to stay in the trailer again. But then again, we’re hoping that Nevada has so much snow that we can’t even get up our driveway. They need moisture so horribly. I guess we’ll see.

Oh, before I forget, let me introduce you to our new/old membet of the family.

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This is Obsidian (ie Sid). He’s a 6 year old black lab whom we’ve had since he was just 7 weeks old. But, for the last year, he’s been staying with friends in Nevada. When we had to move so unexpectedly, it was just too much to try to figure out how to bring him with us. But we have some wonderful friends who offered to take him for us.

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Well, a couple months ago, their circumstances changed and they could no longer keep him for us. So, the Hubby and I talked it over with Mom and Dad and we decided that we were in a position to bring him to Oregon to live with us.

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And so now we have a very large dog living in our small back yard. But we play ball with him. And take him for walks. And so far, he’s adjusted well. Scooter is not sure what to think of him, and the cat just avoids him. But eventually they’ll all be friends.
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So, that’s Sid. We can’t wait till we are all back on the homestead and he can roam free again.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program (yes, I’m aware I don’t actually post regularly :-). Here’s how we kept ourselves busy our last couple days at Castle Rock:

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Cooking in the outdoor kitchen. Because even though we did hook up the propane to the trailer, who wants to be cooped up inside on a beautiful day?

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Playing. Our girls LOVE swings! And I love that our carport frame is sturdy enough they can play on it.

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More playing. We call this area next to the driveway “the Sandbox”. The sand there is only a bit more coarse than beach sand.

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Taking some time to just relax and take in the view.

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Playing with bugs…well, their casings at least.

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This is the shell of a cicada. At some point in their lifecycle, they shed their exoskeleton.

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Do they remind anyone else of aliens? And they are everywhere! The more you look for their shells, the more you find. On branches. In bushes. On the ground. It must have been a noisy summer on the homestead!

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As an aside, for those of you who might be wondering, this is our bathroom while we’re at the property. Not looking forward to using that in the middle of December if we are able to stay in the trailer while we’re there.

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The Hubby decided to repurpose an old gas grill. After gutting it and cleaning it, he made it into…

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…a GRILL! yeah, yeah, it still functions with the same purpose. So not really REpurposing. But now it is a charcoal, rather than a gas, grill.

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And it worked great. Look at all that meat! Good thing we had a bunch a family over to help us eat that.

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That night we had a spectacular sunset.

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Signs of fall on the homestead. Our apple trees have survived the summer. Here’s hoping we get a super winter to keep them hydrated.

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Princess Girl is such a good helper. I can’t believe she’s almost 10.

It was a great several days on the homestead. A time to dream, a time to rest, and a time to plan.

And now we’re back in Oregon. Now it’s time to concentrate on schooling for the girls. And working on some canning projects I’ve needed to do fo a while now.

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Ahhh…fall. I’m looking forward to cooler weather, soups, canning, and baking.

*sigh*

I love this time of year.

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Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Homemade Laundry Soap

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Soooo….I’m a horrible blogger. I made about a year’s worth of laundry soap a couple days ago. I meant to take pictures so I could post step by step photos. The last time I intended to do a DIY tutorial, I ended up in the Emergency Room. This time, I got half way into the process and forgot to take pictures.

I’m horrible, I tell ya!

But enough about me. Let’s learn how easy (and cheap!) it is to make your own laundry soap.

There are about a bajillion different diy laundry soap recipes out there. I’ve been using this particular recipe on our clothes for at least two years now. Why did I choose this one?

Because it was the one my cousin gave me back before I really got into this diy journey.

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And because it’s simple – only 3 ingredients besides water. Washing soda, Borax, and Fels-Naptha soap (all can be found in the laundry isle of most large grocery stores).

That’s it.

Truly.

I know, right?

And the process is just as simple.

Step #1: put 4 cups hot water in a pot.

Step #2: grate the Fels-Naptha into the water.

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Step #3: stir and then gently (gently!) boil until the soap is all melted. Don’t vigorously boil unless you don’t mind suds all over your kitchen.

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(And that’s all the pictures I got till the next day.)

Step #4: add in 1/2 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda (this is not baking soda – there’s a difference!) to the pot and stir till dissolved. (Note: this time around I doubled the amount of borax and washing soda to see if there is any difference in the long run.)

Step #5: fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot water. Pour the soap contents from the pot into the bucket and stir well.
Step #6: fill the rest of the bucket with hot water, stir and set aside until the next day to let it set up.

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See, told you it would set up.

Step #7: now stir, stir, stir! It would be awesome to have one of those paint stirring attachments for a power drill. That would make this part super easy. I thought we had one of those somewhere. Hmmmm… it’s probably still in our shed back on the homestead. Since I didn’t have one of those stirrer thingies, I just used a big slotted spoon.

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And eventually I even just used my hand to reach in and mush up all the gloppy clumps. It was strangely satisfying.

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Step #8: fill a container such as an old laundry soap dispenser or large jar half full with your soap, fill the rest of the way with water and shake. Use approximately 1/4 cup for a front loading washer (you lucky folks) and about 3/4 cup for a top loader. Shake with each use.

That’s it. See, told ya it was simple. And yes, with 4 people in our family and a top loading washer, this amount of soap will last us approximately a year.

So, how does it work? You know, I have to be honest, it’s not the greatest on stains. But it does a good job keeping things generally clean.

It is gentle enough that we used it on Flower Girl’s clothes when she was a baby and suffering from bad eczema and it did not irritate her condition.

It does tend to be clumpy when I pour it, but then, I’ve never taken the time to really, really stir it up well either. I’m sure that would make a huge difference.

As we travel on our journey toward all natural products, I like that the majority of ingredients in this laundry soap are all natural. I did however, read the ingredients on the Fels-Naptha soap and it does have some perfumes and unpronounceables. It’s diluted quite a bit in this recipe, so I went ahead and used it this time. I think by the time we need another batch, I will try to find a more natural soap. I have heard you can use Ivory soap in place of the Fels-Naptha. I will have to look into it more.

But, I’ve got a year to do it. 😉

Have you ever made your own laundry soap? What’s your favorite recipe?

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Garden Plot Update #2

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20150217_101044Our first garden visitor!

So, I mentioned before that we planted our seeds on Feb 17th. What I didn’t show are our garden markers. I have used popsicle/craft sticks before with so-so results. Oh one hand they are cheap and easy to use. You write the veggie on the end and stick it in the ground. But I found that the sun and rain fades the lettering after a couple months. Just fine if you only want to know which row you planted your carrots vs onions in until they grow and you can tell them apart by their leaves. Not so good if you want to permanently mark your 4 different varieties of tomatoes so you can remember which type is which when it comes time for harvest. So, I thought I’d try a little experiment.

20150217_114825First, I wrote the info on the stick as usual. I used both sides. The front has what it is. The back has the expected harvest date so I can remind myself when I’m out in the garden and don’t have to refer back to my packets or journal

20150217_114854Then, I coated the end of the stick in clear nail polish. The polish soaked into the stick and dried very quickly, so I am hoping it will keep the letters from fading. At least until I can remember which variety of lettuce I planted where! I guess we’ll just have to see how it does.

20150217_123501And there’s the newly planted (and marked!) garden.

A friend of mine expressed some skepticism about planting so early in the season, but here’s one of the reasons I wasn’t concerned. I have shower doors! And they fit almost perfectly on my new bed. I guess this means I have a cold frame. I’m still working on a system to cover the gap in the middle, but for now, they work admirably.

20150221_132523They help heat up the soil during the day to give my little plants a boost, and they hold in just enough heat at night that the slight frosts we’ve had don’t touch the seedlings (even though everything that I have planted right now can tolerate lights frosts.)

20150221_184551And, if it gets really cold, the doors make it a cinch to cover the bed.

20150305_140335They are easily propped open so that I can work in there or to let out excess heat in case we have some really warm sunny days (hahaha! warm sunny days in the springtime in the Pacific Northwest? I crack myself up!)

20150304_103200Wait, what was I just saying about warm, sunny days??

At any rate, the shower doors also serve two more VERY important roles. One, they keep the free-ranging hens out of my seedlings!

And two, they provide the perfect table for a two year old to play with her dinosaurs and a pail of water. 🙂20150305_141309-1

Stay warm everyone. And God bless!

Garden plot update #1

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March is here and today was absolutely beautiful out. I so enjoyed going out and watering my little seedlings. Today I noticed that the brussels sprouts and kale had sprouted. I figured it was high time to finally write a post about my little garden plot. My father-in-law has his usual plans for the “big garden” and said that I could have a little space next to the back deck for a garden of my own. About a month ago, here’s what my little space looked like.

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Yep, that area piled high with bags, buckets, and junk. I started cleaning it up with eagerness.

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See, looking better already.

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I found the buckets a new home and gave the honeysuckle a haircut because I planned on hanging some containers on the fence. Then I used some of the fence wood I found on freecycle.org (which we also previously used for our chicken run) to construct a raised box for the garden bed.

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How did I ever do construction without pneumatic tools?!

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It was sooo easy. Bam, bam, bam and it’s done!

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The box ended up being 5 foot square. Twenty-five square feet of garden goodness. Not much when I’ve been used to at least 5 times that amount, but I’ll take whatever I can get. I also have grand plans for a bunch of containers. We’ll see how those turn out. I have never done container gardening before.

So, the evening I got the garden box built I ran out to the store and bought bags of garden soil to put in my box. I hated to spend that kind of money on it since I know there are far cheaper ways to obtain soil, but I was too impatient to figure it out. I was even too impatient to wait for the next day to empty the bags into the box. So I rigged up a light and worked into the dark.

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A nicely filled garden bed waiting for seeds.

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It was such a mild night out, that I was able to kick back and put my feet up for a little while and enjoy my endeavors.

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And speaking of feet…I am loving gardening in my rain boots. I loved that I didn’t have to worry about dirt getting into my shoes as I spread it around. I know this may seem like a no-brainer to you all, but I’ve never had good rain/much boots before.

And here’s the prepared bed (along with containers on the fence and you can see a few on the table – more on those later.)

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Watch this space. A couple months from now I’m hoping it will look vastly different, namely greener! 🙂

The very next day (February 17th) the girls and I got busy planting.

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Such good helpers!

Well, that’s enough for now. I have several more pictures about my garden, but it’s late and I’m tired.

Until next time.