Tag : frugal living

114 posts

It appears that this is how things may be for a while…slow to update…such is life these days. Time keeps ticking away and I’m finding less and less time to be creative. So many fall projects to tackle before its too late.

I’m scrounging for canning lids as I keep getting more green beans. What do you think of my carrots? LOL  I had to pull them up because the squirrels were trying to do it for me.

I also have a couple other canning projects I’d like to try but I either need more regular lids or more wide mouth jars…neither of which I can find anywhere.

I did can some bloody Mary mix and somewhat appropriate sized containers.  It is a homemade, never be able to reproduce since I didn’t measure anything, type of mix. Hopefully its not the best ever. (Please excuse the poor photography and chaotic pantry.)

School is going well. We all seem to be finding a rhythm…although I really should not have said that since I’m likely jinxing myself.

One crafty thing that I actually completed during the past week was this paper garland. Our resource room is tiny…white cinder block walls with 6 doors but no windows…I can’t even make that up. It was originally a storage space of band instruments almost half a century ago.

I really want to dress it up a bit without spending money since we certainly don’t have a budget. I’m hoping that between the 4 of us that current use the space throughout the day, we can make it a like happier. Brighter. A place the kids actually want to come for extra help without being distracted or over-stimulated.

Last week, (I think…it’s a blur) we had some really interesting sunrise and sunsets. A high veil of smoke gave the sky a sort of post-apocalyptic look.

I’ve been suffering with a sore hip or sciatica this past week. Its so frustrating! Hurts to do anything for any length of time. Whether its sitting, standing, walking or laying…it all hurts. I’m sure it came about from my abrupt change in activity when I returned to work. I’d been used to walking 2-3 miles most mornings then puttering around the house and garden. Being barefoot on soft surfaces. Nothing like life now. More sitting, hard floors, shoes, standing, leaning over. When I spell it all out like that, it makes complete sense but it doesn’t make the pain any less.

I did get out for a walk Sunday morning. The trees are so beautiful. There was a slight crisp in the air. I love this time of year. Jeans and hoodies…my perfect outfit.

I’ve made a few more masks as well. I decided when this is all over I’m going to cut apart all the masks I’ve made and make a COVID quilt.

I have done a bit of art journaling as well….this is a current WIP. Of course this was what I should have been doing…but since I cleaned up my space it just had to be done.

As many of you know my art space is in the laundry/utility room. My crafty chaos tends to overflow my actual space and I end up putting things on the washer and drier.

But look…they are clean. Unfortunately there is a really lame reason for my sudden cleanup. The rubber gasket that keeps the water from leaking out the door of my front load washer ripped. Mr. G ordered a new gasket but the washing machine has to be taken half apart of replace the it. While waiting for that part Mr. G came across a video showing a potential hack to “rebuild the gasket with roofing sealant. We are giving it a go since…if it fails…we are right back where we started. I’ll update you next week as it takes a couple days of cure time.

I’m so thankful that he is able to tackle these projects. In the meantime, I had to clean and make a trip to the laundromat.

It’s certainly not perfect but trust me…much better. I tend to end up creating in a one foot square space. So dumb but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.

This is also madness. All of the scrap papers I had laying about. Ok truth be told…half of this was in the bin to start but seriously. I have a problem.

What are you doing today?

I feel as if time rapidly accelerates when we flip the calendar to August.  I haven’t gotten a thing posted for two weeks…even though I have been doing a little creating.

Here’s a little snippet of something I will post later today hopefully.

I know its awful to tease like that but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

I replanted my garden with a few things and three of the four items are growing nicely.

Green beans, snap peas and zucchini. I also have a volunteer tomato plant in the corner of the garden. I decided to leave it and see if it gets big enough to produce any fruit before the frost hits. I planted some carrot seeds in the deck box garden but they never sprouted. I think it got too hot for them. Oh well.

Speaking of carrots….this was a volunteer that I pulled from a pot of nasturtiums.

The faux watering can has a false bottom about 4 inches down so that’s why the carrot is so stumpy.

Marvin and I were enjoying a bit of sunshine yesterday. It was simply gorgeous. Low humidity, beautiful temperature…just a perfect day. While keeping one eye on Marvin, I noticed seed pods on the nasturtiums. You know me…had to save the seeds.

I’m super excited about this…likely more excited than one should be about seeds. I just have to let them dry. Ideally letting them dry on the plant is best but evidently you can also pick them off at this stage. These just fell off into my hand when I touched the plant. Time will tell if they are viable seeds. I also read that you can lacto-ferment these to make sort of a caper. In other artciles I read that the plant is very edible. The leaves have a pepper, mustard flavor and the flowers can be eaten raw or made into tea. Who knew?!?! I’m not one for eating flowers but I may try some leaves on a sandwich.

Since my last post I also found out what the fall will bring for our family. J goes back to campus for a mix of online and in person classes. Mini-me will be taking her college course online from home and choir through the high school…also online at this point. I will be starting the year in hybrid learning…meaning I will be at school 4 days a week. Monday-Tuesday group “A” kids and Thursday- Friday group “B” kids. Wednesday is all distance learning. I have very mixed feelings about this. I want to be in the classroom but I’m also afraid to be there. I can’t see how I can possibly do my job in person maintaining a 6 foot distance.

Today has me knocking super boring and lame items off my to-do list.  Phone calls, dentist appt, etc. Not one of my favorite days. I wish we could roll back the clock to last year this time…Mini-me and I were in Yellowstone!!

Oh well…time marches on…

What are you doing today.

Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22nd since 1970… half a century now. For all the gains we’ve made in technology and knowledge of the impact that we are having on the environment, we are far from friendly to our Earth. In fact, we have become even bigger consumers. A throwaway society.

I feel as if every day should be Earth Day and I know I am not alone in thinking this way. I try to be environmentally conscious but I know there are so many ways that I could do better. We often take the easy way. One thing I do know is that since returning to the workforce I am finding myself lacking in effort I used to put forth. Of course I could make a ton of excuses to justify my lack of effort…especially time constraints. But lets get real folks…if everyone makes excuses for things they don’t do…then nothing gets done.

Earth-friendly isn’t always pretty

Doing things the old fashioned way isn’t necessarily glamorous. Sometimes it’s downright ugly. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do even when it doesn’t fit into our pin-able, post-able social media driven society. Not that social media can’t help in our efforts and teach us methods of doing things we might think are out of our reach and definitely outside our comfort zone.

There are plenty of trash to treasure, DIY projects out there. Again I’m not talking about the glamorous ones that are more new product than the original. Take something headed for the trash or even curbside and repurpose it. Look at items through a different eye. It may not be suitable for its original intention any more but that doesn’t mean it can’t still serve a purpose. Old boots become planters, bicycle wheels become a trellis or even garden art.

Clothing and textiles

The clothing and textile industry is even more unfriendly to the Earth than I realized with 15 million tons of textiles hitting the landfill every year. One pair of jeans uses 2000 gals. of water to produce from field to store. Those are crazy numbers!!!

So what can we do about it… Instead of buying new for everything, try shopping at second-hand stores and rummage sales. Give and accept hand-me-downs from friends. Set up a clothing exchange party. Shop our friend’s closet for items to borrow.

Mending clothes is also an option. Darning socks, adding trim to cover a worn cuff or length to children’s clothes, visible mending with a sashiko method or slow stitching. This can add character and life to your clothes.

I could go on and on telling you in great detail things you already know about being kind to Mother Earth. Instead here is a little list of reminders that might jog your memory with boring you into submission. I think often we get bored too easily and need things laid out simply.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

Gardening

  • Seed saving
  • Composting
  • Trading plants and seeds with others
  • CSA (Community supported agriculture)

Reusable bags

  • Many areas have outlawed plastic bags (due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic this has been repealed in many areas due to risk of contamination)
  • Keep a stash of bags in your vehicle or near your door
  • Purchase at the store or make your own

Less packaging

  • Buying in bulk
  • Choosing products that are refillable
  • Minimal packaging

Programmable Thermostat

  • Adjust the temperature in your home while you away
  • Keep it lower in the winter and warmer in the summer. You can always adjust the amount of clothing you wear.

Other ideas

  • Borrowing or sharing items that are only used a couple times a year
  • Passing down used children’s toys, clothing and accessories.
  • Fixing broken appliances…many times it’s a cheap fix especially if the appliance is old.
  • Doing without…what a novel concept these days

Making changes

If every person made a few small changes in their mindset…heck even one small change and stuck with it…the impact could be profound. Every single day should be Earth Day if we plan to have anything left for future generations.
I am fascinated by the global changes that have happened so quickly during the current COVID-19 crisis due to people and nations in quarantine, factories shut down and the vast majority of people in the US under stay-at-home orders in their respective states. The canals in Venice are clear, fish can be seen swimming through them and even just today I saw a news report of a jellyfish. Air quality is getting better with less industry and less vehicles clogging the roadways each day. Check out this article from the Billings Gazette about how the world is changing with people staying home.
There are countless other ways to make a difference that I haven’t even thought of or touched upon here today. In previous years, I have shared my Earth Day celebration and attempts at living eco-friendly. You can see those here if you had missed them,
Please let me know one way you are honoring Earth day, every day.

The weather is definitely turning here in the upper mid-west. I’m drinking more hot tea than iced tea. They are saying snow possible on Friday and Saturday. Not that it will be much or even stay around long at this point.

tea season

Enough about the weather. I wanted to share what I did to make my abstract paint complete. Let me backtrack by saying that after initially hanging it on our room we kept hear this weird clicking noise in the night. When the fan would hit the light weight canvas it would make noise!!! UGH! I took it down in the middle of the night and had to reevaluate.

I remembered that I hadn’t donated the old print yet and had an idea of how I could use it. Out to the minivan I went to retrieve the framed print.

reclaimed and renew frame

I tore random chunks and strips of kraft paper and soaked them in water while I got out my vinyl table protector(aka old ugly tablecloth). I used Golden polymer medium as adhesive to cover the chrome frame. This is the same stuff I used to renew my fridge and recycle cabinet with dictionary pages and it’s the same bottle I got for free at the recycle center!

reclaimed and renew frame

I slipped the edges between the frame and matte for a nice crisp edge. I then painted the matte black a few inches in all the way around. I poked holes through the print and attached the canvas using zip ties around the wooden cross bars and back through the holes in the canvas. I used a little dab of hot glue in each corner for a bit of extra security.

reclaimed and renew frame

Ta-da! Worked like a charm.

reclaimed and renew frame

The piece is substantial now and makes a statement.  I like it even more now…and total cost…nothing!!!! We’d even gotten that print for free about 20 years ago from Mr. G’s work. The glass had been broken on the print so they were throwing it out. He brought it home since the colors matched our old bedroom decor. It had hung over our bed ever since.

I’m waiting on a call from a friend as me might meet up today so my day is still a bit up in the air.

What are you doing today?

Frugal frame fix. Say that five times fast!

Last summer I picked up a cool frame at an occasional shop not too far from here. I had the thought of stringing wire or perhaps even chicken wire (dang, just thought of that now) to create a changeable photo gallery piece.

Frugal frame fix

I’ve reserved one section of wall for family photos, caricatures and memorabilia in the game area of our family room.  This is an always changing wall, which I love.

Frugal frame fix

Since the wall is so busy and colorful on it’s own I felt that black frames were the way to go.

Frugal frame fix

Of course I never remember to wear gloves….

Frugal frame fix

I’m pretty sure at any given time I have paint on me somewhere…whether its on my hands, nails, hair or clothes one just never knows.

This morning I got my supplies ready so I could finally get this project off the game table.

Frugal frame fix

I stapled the bent wire across the frame on the back then curled each end to lock it into place.

Frugal frame fix

Easy peasy right… One would think so. This was only after making my first mistake did I realize that I had to staple to the side wall of the frame…not straight down.

Frugal frame fix

Crud…the staple went right through the front of the frame. Oh well, nothing a little bit of black paint won’t fix.

Frugal frame fix

Perfect.

I’m thinking I may keep a box of favorite photos right here so it will be easy to switch them out.

seed starting | Halle's Hobbies

I can’t believe how late I am this year starting my seeds. I usually start them around St Patrick’s Day. Somehow it slipped my mind that week then the next was a disaster of monstrous proportions when Murphey stopped by and overstayed his welcome.

seed starting | Halle's Hobbies

I settled on two kinds of tomatoes and green onions this year. At least for now.  I’m not ruling out starting a couple more things. Last year my small starter plants didn’t fair well once transplanted so I’m not sure if it’s worth the time and effort,

seed starting | Halle's Hobbies

I decided to try planting my green onion seeds in egg shells this year. For one…they are so cute! And secondly, I can just slightly crush the shell when planting the sprouts in a bigger container instead of trying to move those spindly little onions one by one. Experimentation is always fun.

seed starting | Halle's Hobbies

I’ve been saving my larger plastic containers for transplanting the tomatoes out of the disposable cups (which BTW I’ve had on hand for ages!! Not terribly “green” but they are a necessary evil when hosting a large crowd. ) I decided to cut up a lid and use it as plant markers. This works so much better than wooden popsicle sticks!!

Hopefully next time I share photos the containers will be sporting little tiny green seedlings.

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday. Hope you had a lovely Easter.

Last week I decided to try a new technique with my natural onion skin dye. I’ve done natural dying in the past and always amazed how different the results can be.

onion skin dye | Halle's Hobbies

The only leaf or flower I had on hand was cilantro, so I made do with that.

onion skin dye | Halle's Hobbies

I didn’t have a ton of onion skins so I decided on 4 eggs.  I tucked the eggs into the onion skins and filled the pan with water. I also gave a generous splash of white vinegar to the mix.  I cooked the eggs like I would for hard boiled eggs. Bring to a boil uncovered, boil 1 minute, cover and turn off burner. Let sit for at least 20 mins. Perfect eggs every time.  These eggs I let sit much longer…until they were lukewarm since I wanted the dye to have as much time to work it’s magic as possible.

onion skin dye | Halle's Hobbies

Oh yeah magic. Look at how dark that color came out.

onion skin dye | Halle's Hobbies

They are so interesting to look at.  I want to try this again but with other leaves and flowers.

onion skin dye | Halle's Hobbies

I was so mad at myself after I dumped the dye water down the sink. What was I thinking!!! I could have thrown some bits and pieces of fabric and lace in there.  My mind was preoccupied. Good old Murphy of Murphy’s law had paid us a visit. While boiling the eggs I notice the digital display for the oven wasn’t on. Obviously the cook top worked since I was using it. Yep the control board was shot. On the bright side, I hated my old stove. And this lovely news came the day after finding out I have to get a root canal. Nothing like waking up with a swollen cheek and painful mouth.

There are a few more things that Murphy contributed to over the past week as well but I’m done complaining.

coffee

Time for a decadent cup of coffee before moving on with my day.

What are you doing today?

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