A denim vase

 Last Saturday I had a ton of fun just spending time in my office/craft room making things. I took pictures and figured I would share all sorts of projects this week. But life can get busier than we expect and that simply didn't happen but I had a moment tonight so I figured I would share at least one of the weird and fun projects that I did.

A denim covered vase.....

 We don't drink any alcohol (a personal choice from our understanding of the Bible and seeing the misery it brings to so many lives) but a couple of years ago our Republican group was cooking a big meal at our house and the chicken recipe used wine and so I decided to save the bottles as I had seen them used for crafts. Well they sat around for a long time and I figured I should finally make something with them. So I used one of them to make this vase.

 I simply took the denim seams which I had saved from the jeans that I have been cutting up and I hot glued them up and around the bottle.

 I overlapped a little bit as I went.

I made a little "flower" out of some of the seams and glued it in place.

It was a fast and fun project and I rather like it. It is different but sometimes (maybe a lot of times) I rather like different. Ken likes it too so that is nice!

 Have you been making anything lately? I love to hear what is going on at your places too!

I am linking this to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM

I don't buy ....... Deodorant

10 months ago I made my first batch of homemade deodorant (with thanks to Maria from My full time life who sent me a recipe) I have been using it ever since (I did have to make more this month) and am quite happy with it. I love the fact that it is another thing that I can cross off of my shopping list!

I am reprinting my post from last year so you can see how to make it as well. It is very easy!

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To make the deodorant you need:

• 1/4 cup cornstarch (I believe this helps to absorb moisture)
• 1/4 cup baking soda (and this absorbs smell)
• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (this binds everything together and it good for your skin as well)
• Essential oil or your choice (Optional- I used peppermint oil today and Maria said she used tea tree oil but I want to make a batch of unscented deodorant for working with the bees.)
• A cleaned out deodorant case to refill and use. Screw it down all the way so you can put the deodorant in.

Mix the cornstarch and baking soda together. Add the essential oil (up to 20 drops, to make it as strong as you desire). I softened the coconut oil a little by putting the measuring cup with it in it over a bowl of warm water and then I mixed everything together. I started mixing with a spoon but ended up finding it worked out better to do it with my hands. Then I started filling the old deodorant stick up. The mixture fit almost perfectly in the one container. I had just a little extra to put in another one.

It smelled really nice and looks pretty nearly just like the stuff you buy at the store. I think it will work well. I did try it out (oh the things we will talk about on our blogs!!!) and it felt just like any other deodorant.

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 I did find that peppermint oil can give that icy hot feeling when you put it in your deodorant. It was a little interesting (grin!) but I got used to it. I went ahead and used it all summer even while keeping bees but they didn't seem to notice. This last time when I made it however I just left the peppermint oil out. Last weekend at the beekeeping class that I went to I heard that some people include beeswax in their homemade deodorant. That is something I want to try next. I think that might help the one issue that I have had with the deodorant and that is that it gets soft when the weather is hot (like when I was at camp in Iowa).

  Have you ever tried making your own deodorant? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I am linking this to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM.

Contented with what we have {It is so much more fun to make something than it is to buy something}

  We have had a really fun weekend. Yesterday we had a good morning at church followed by Ken and I going downhill skiing (beautiful weather- lots of fun fresh air and exercise!) and the children spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and finished off with a fun supper and visiting at my parents.

  Saturday we enjoyed just staying home, relaxing and creating.

 Jonathan went out into our woods with the axe and came back with some lumber that he had plans of turning into something. He made a little wooden knife and then was working on a new spoon and had plans also for another sword I believe. I love seeing his progress in the area of carving.

 Mara spent some time on the computer using a table that Ken helped her to set up and creating teeny tiny books for the Barbie house bookshelves. She had helped Megan clean the barbie house all up and thought that they needed more books for their shelves. She used teeny tiny font to put some of her stories in books that are readable (as long as you have good eyes).

  Meanwhile my office was in need of a cleaning. I made progress on the cleaning by working on some projects using the things that were laying around. I made several denim projects which I will try to share this week. They were unique and creative projects and I had lots of fun with them!

 I also did another project which I had been thinking about doing for a while. Mara has been growing out of her shoes lately and actually shares a shoe size with me now. We have shopped for shoes in the past for her but struggle with finding shoes that she likes (nothing too weird!) that are also affordable. When she mentioned that she would like new dress shoes- I kind of despaired of shopping for her and also right now we are trying not to shop.

Since we now share a shoe size I could share shoes with her except that she doesn't like mine. I had a pair of flats (that I had bought at Walmart a year or so ago for $1) which she didn't like but then I came up with the idea of changing them. Mara thought it sounded like a good idea.

 So armed with old black lining fabric (saved from an old wool skirt), modge podge, black ribbon and hot glue I got busy.

I pulled the bows of the toes of the shoes and then cut a piece of fabric that can fit over top and the sides of the shoes (with excess). Next step was to brush modge podge all over the shoes and then fit the fabric on cutting off the excess. I did hot glue the fabric seam at the back of the shoe. after I had the fabric all in place then I modge podged all over the outside of the shoe to seal it all in place.

 The next step was to put ribbon all around the top edge of the shoe (folded in half over the edge) and glue in place with hot glue (carefully smoothing things so that there weren't any bumps).

 Mara thought it would be fun to have some straps and she decided on this look. We used ribbons for the straps. They looked cute for a while but didn't actually hold up while wearing them all day today. (the ribbon wasn't very sturdy.) I will try to figure something else out for them.

I am also thinking about flowers that can be put on or taken off of the toe area but I haven't gotten them made yet. I think it would be fun for her to have a little variety in her shoes that way.

 I really enjoyed fixing up some old shoes into shoes that Mara liked and was happy to wear. What a fun way to recycle AND save money (and not go shopping)!

  Speaking about not going shopping- I have some confessions to make along that line. :-) Since I last reported we have done pretty well to use what we have on hand (even while having various company) but there were a few times of buying things. Here is my confession list: :-)

~A week ago on Saturday Mara and I went to an all day beekeeping class. We actually packed a lunch but then when lunch time came around they were offering taco salad and chocolate cake lunch for $1. That really sounded better than what we had brought and so we "splurged".
~On our way home that Saturday night we went to the grocery store. I had unsuccessfully tried to barter for salt and I didn't feel like we could manage much longer without it so I bought salt. This store also had butter on a pretty good sale and though I had been able to barter for 1 lb of butter I knew that wouldn't last to long (a week or so) and I really prefer to buy butter on sale rather than full price so I stocked up on butter- enough to last for several months.
~Ken stopped and bought 4 gallons of milk one evening.


That is all the "confessions" that I have so far but this evening we have a meeting over the supper hour at a deli in the grocery store and I do plan on eating out again! I also am going to splurge and buy some fruit and maybe a couple other things while I am there.

 I was, as I mentioned, able to barter a pair of pants for a pound of butter. I also bartered for a gallon of milk, 4 jars of peanut butter and 2 cans of tuna. I have another barter lined up to get toilet paper. I love this concept of getting rid of things we don't need in order to get things that we can actually use.

  Meanwhile we are still for the most part eating up and using things that we already have on hand and if we really were in a desperate survival situation we would really be eating well even without the butter, milk and salt. It has been a lot of fun to be able to eat meals that are mostly comprised of things that we had put up from our garden or things that we bought or gleaned locally like grain, potatoes, berries and beef.

 On Saturday I was making Galbi (a Koren BBQ beef) which calls for carrots and I was thinking it was neat that we still have carrots from our own garden and that they are keeping pretty well. Now mind you they are very tiny (I didn't thin them this year and that showed!- Next year I will do better.) but they are still yummy and good. There is only enough for one more meal but keeping til the end of February is better than we had done before.

 I have been really enjoying this whole time of getting by with less. It has been a cleaning out time for me. Cleaning out of our freezers (we have three though I think I can combine the two big ones now and turn one off), cleaning the odds and ends out of our cupboards and also cleaning out throughout the rest of the house. Over all in our house it felt like we had too much stuff and as I don't like just pitching things (I really hate waste!) I would rather make myself use what we do have or find someone that will use it and meanwhile not buy anything.  I love the out of the box thinking that this sort of project encourages.

 Though it seems that we are getting low enough on some things like fruits and veggies that we might have to buy a bit more in the way of food in the next while- I am going to continue in my goal of shopping just as little as possible and try to eat and use what we have as much as we can.

I am linking this to Homestead Revival.

We are like a vapor

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." James 4:13-15

  It is so easy to get caught up in life. To start planning it all out and thinking we have everything figured out. This verse is such a great reminder that everything we do should be done with God in mind. Realizing that we don't know what is going to happen in life. Life can feel stable but it is really uncertain.

 This is a reminder to seek God's will in everything that we do. I need that reminder! Do you?

How to give without buying anything

     Lately in my quest to not buy anything I have been realizing more and more how very blessed we are. We are not lacking at all and it has made me think more about how I can maybe share some of our blessings with others.

  Because I am trying to stay out of stores I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of ways that we/you can give using what we have. Often gifts that are most appreciated or enjoyed are not something that comes from a store anyway.

 Here are some of my ideas and I would love to have you chime in and share your ideas too:
(many of these ideas do suppose that you have things on hand- just adjust to fit your circumstances)

• Give a Smile! This is something that doesn't cost a thing and can be given out liberally. Smile at your family, when you go to church, as you look over at another driver while driving around town, smile at others at the library and more. A smile can truly brighten someone elses' day.
• Offer a listening ear. There are so many times that people just want (and need) someone who will listen. This involves some time on our part but it is worthwhile. I have found people of all ages who need someone to listen to them, you just need to be aware of it (which I need to work at!). If you can't think of anyone to "give this gift" to than think about an older person that either lives alone or in a nursing home. They often like the gift of someone just willing to visit and listen.
• Make a handmade gift using things that you already have on hand. I love to to this and if you can't think of any ideas along this line than feel free to browse through my posts on gifts.
• Invite someone (or several someones) over to join you for a meal. I do this most at lunchtime and we don't serve anything fancy - often it is homemade soup- but it is a way we can try to encourage others and we are usually encouraged too.
• Send a letter. This is simple to do but so very fun to receive in this era of very little personal mail.
• Give hand-me-down clothes to someone that can use them.
• Share a book that you have enjoyed with someone else.
• Root a cutting from one of your plants and pot it to give to someone else. Plants are cheery and healthy and make great gifts!
• Make a quilt or find any extra bedding you have and give it to someone that needs it (like a homeless shelter).
• Give the gift of service- perhaps mending, housecleaning, yard work, laundry, gardening. etc.
• Bake some bread or cookies and share them with someone.
• Thin out your perennials and give the extras away.

  Giving is something that I really want to grow better at but I do know this- Whenever we do give we receive as great of blessing as the one you receives.

  I am looking forward to hearing your ideas of ways to give without shopping.

I Don't Buy..... Valentines (or any other cards)

To go along with the time of year I decided I would talk about Valentines today. I don't know that I have ever bought a valentine though I did used to buy other kinds of greeting cards.


 For the average person I doubt card purchases are a very large part of their annual budget but I personally try to be careful in the large AND small areas of our budget and so I don't buy any cards. This is not just for saving money however- I do think that card making is a lot of fun and when I involve the kids it is a chance for them to do crafts (which they enjoy) which can then be sent or given away to bring joy to someone else's day as well. I also just really like handmade things. There is something personal and special about giving or receiving something handmade.

 At our Homeschool groups' get-together this month the kids had a valentine exchange. That meant the each kid needed 30 valentines to give away. I admit it would have been easier (I would think anyway) to go out and buy something premade. That isn't our style though and though it took time we had a lot of fun working together to make the valentines using things we already had on hand. Here is what the kids did:

 Megan wanted to make fairly traditional heart shaped valentines. I simply gave her some odds and ends of paper, a glue stick, an ink pad and a stamp that said "Happy Valentines Day", some ribbon scraps that I had and she also used a heart punch and a hole punch and she got busy creating. She did also add some candy we had on hand to some of them. They turned out looking pretty sweet and it was an activity that kept her busy for quite some time!

Mara being older was able to do a little more complicated craft. At my suggestion she made crayon hearts using these instructions (which we found via pinterest) and some of our many old crayon pieces. After they were done she wrapped them up in cellophane which come around the flowers that I get for my business and then added little tags to them that she made on the computer.

 For the older girls Mara thought it would be nice to make something more mature. I suggested decorating some pencils that we had. The pencils were ones we had been given that had never been sharpened but had (for whatever reason) their erasers pulled off. She decided to decorate the eraser end. For one pencil the just glued on a silk rose that we had but then she decided to make flowers for the others and she came up with a very cute heart flower idea.

 Mara covered the top of the pencil with a round piece of felt and then glued 4 heart shaped pieces around to create the flower.

  One year I had made valentines for our kids by making animals out of hearts. I suggested that idea to Aaron this year and he thought that would be fun. We found even more ideas for heart shaped animals and the two of us had fun making a bunch. The above picture is a sampling of the ones that we made.

 Jonathan would prefer to skip the whole making of Valentines as he doesn't see the purpose (and I have to admit with big exchanges I kind of wonder myself!) but food he can appreciate. He decided to make some yummy granola bars for everybody and they were enjoyed! This recipe was another pinterest find and you can head over to Marathon Mom to find the recipe. It uses healthy ingredients, is really easy to make and very, very yummy. I have made and shared them several times now and they have been a big hit!

 Here are some other posts that I have written on cards making:

• Inexpensive ideas for making cards.
• Use them to encourage others
• Patterns and ideas

More Valentines Day ideas:

• Frugal but fun
• Simple at Home Valentine's Day
• Valentine Sun catchers
• Our quick thrown together celebration

I am linking this to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM