Can we repurpose it?

 

Any of you that have been reading my blog very long are probably aware of my love for do-it-yourself-recycling. Over the course of this summer I have taken a few pictures that I decided to combine together in this post to share a few recycling and money saving ideas.

 

   The picture above shows a project from our last homemakers group this summer. One of the ladies that was coming requested a flower arranging class as she knew that was something that I did. I was agreeable but I didn't have a lot of vases on hand right then that I just wanted to give away and not get back and I had failed to remember to ask the ladies to bring their own and I didn't really want to go out and buy them - even though they are usually quite cheap at second hand stores. I preferred to figure out a way to use something I had. That something happened to be olive oil bottles. I had quite a few and though I have used them to store my homemade vinegar I don't seem to have a lot of used for them. Vases would be perfect.

 

  First I need to get the label off of them. I soaked them in hot vinegar water and then scraped with a knife, then added a little oil and rubbed with a rag. The labels came off fairly easily (not perfectly always but good enough). To make them look more finished I wrapped some twine around the lip, hot glued it in place and tied a little twine bow. The flowers my friend and I were able to gather from our gardens. We were able to make enough to give away to others too so that was fun.

 

 

Another project that I worked on this summer was underwear. Not something I discuss to often in public but I think it is a good idea to share every so often in case someone else likes to repurpose things and save a little money.

 

 

I changed these items made out of knit from this:

To this: 

 Though actually in those pictures I have the wrong matchup - I don't have anything made from the cameo material and I do have boxes made from some other repurposed knit fabric. I re-use elastic from old underwear if it is still serviceable.

Boxers are pretty easy to make, so are ladies/girls underwear:

I went from this:

 To this:

 My exciting discovery in underwear making this year was on how to trim the legs. In the past I have used elastic which looks kind of funny, sometimes doesn't feel that great and also uses something that I don't get as easily for free. Then I tried just hemming the leg hole - that was way to loose. So this time I cut a strip from the knit fabric, I sewed it on like you would bias tape except that I stretched it while sewing it. This new method works great!

 One day we were over at my parents and my mom sent Mara out to pick apples using this clever "basket" she had made from an old laundry detergent container.

 Another something that my mom saved... Deli containers complements of my sister (she would bring them home from work and Mom washed and saved them).  A couple of times while taking some short little trips with my parents this summer when we needed to eat on the road, my Mom used these to pack the meal. It didn't make things pretty nifty for eating in the car and the kids thought it was pretty fun to get their own lunch. Mom gave us a set so we have now used them on a car trip or so as well as to pack our lunches in when we go to homeschool group. We still might not have all the fancy juice boxes and processed snacks that other kids sometimes have but we have some nifty little containers for our lunch. :-)

When I was looking through pictures I noticed this one that I took today of a Bridal Bouquet that I delivered today. There are no recycled items in this picture (though we have extended the life of the bench by sanding it down and varnishing it two times) but it reminded me of some that I used today. When I deliver the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids I need them to be in water so that they will stay fresh as long as possible. My mom and I save all sorts of bottles for this purpose - oil bottles, mayo jars, creamer containers, etc. Some we have to cut the skinny neck off of and others we use as is except with all of them we wash them carefully out. This works just fine for delivering flowers and saves my business money. I also need something to put the corsages and boutonnieres in when I deliver so Ken at his business saves all his envelope boxes and any other small boxes that come his way and I use them (as well as any others that I am able to save). Nobody has complained about my packaging and I have even had one mother of the bride carefully return all the plastic mayo jars before, and this saves my business money which in turn saves us money.

  Why buy something new when you can use something you have instead?

I am linking this up at Frugal Foto Friday

Working Together

This has been a busy week and one which I have been fighting some germs so I haven't had much energy for blogging but I had a thought (probably one I have shared before) that I wanted to share on the topic of marriage.

  Ken bought wood flooring to put down in our upstairs (I am so very excited!) and so this week we have been trying to work on getting it put down. It has reminded me yet again how strengthening it can be for a marriage to work together.

  Sometimes with Ken busy with his business and me busy with homemaking and my business we can struggle finding time to work together so I treasure these times when we can do that.

  Do you like to work with your husband? Do you ever offer to help when he is working on a project (even possibly working on the car - possibly you can hold a light in the right place)? Do you think that working together helps your marriage?
 

"Best Friends and Mean Girls" {Book review and Giveaway}

   I was recently asked to review a set of books to help we Mom's as we parent our daughters through their tween years. The author of the books is Dannah Gresh (with Suzy Weibel joining her on the "Girl's Guide"), and since I really truly enjoyed and appreciated Dannah's book on parenting tween (8-12 year olds) boys I was eager to read this book as well.

   This book is written differently than "6 ways to keep the "good" in your Boy", I believe that one is more like her "6 ways to keep the "Little" in your Girl" (which I haven't read), This book - "Talking with Your Daughter about Best Friends and Mean Girls" is more like a manual. It has plans for "8 Great Dates" that you are supposed to take with your daughter. It also has memory verses planned out, devotions to use and even scripted (on your part - not your daughter) discussions to have.

  The subject matter discussed is very good. Some of it I haven't dealt with either with my daughters nor did I deal with it growing up, I think the reason being because both I and my daughters are/were homeschooled and we have lived much more sheltered lives. That in my book is a plus of homeschooling! However there were many things that she talks about that is applicable to any girl. Throughout the book she encourages the memorizing of 1 Corinthians 13 and encourages actions to go along with those thoughts on love. 

   There were things that I really liked about this book and others that really weren't my style. I thought I would share a quick list of pros and cons in my opinion:

THINGS I LIKE:

• Emphasis on spending time with God. It made me realize my need to encourage my children in personal devotion time a little more.
• Encouraging scripture memorization and study. God's word is what we truly need to help us through life.
• Practical advice on modesty. I love her non-condemning but very strait forward modesty tests that she encourages girls to run their clothes through. She makes it fun and simple. I might prefer a little stricter standards in one area but mostly I thought they were very good.
• Encouraging close and good relationships with other girls.
• Encouraging girls to be a friend and choose friends that will help them stand up for what is right.
• Practical advice on boys (which she spells boyz -which for some reason irritates me)- encouraging girls to put off having boyfriends until they are a good deal older than being a tween. I thought her approach on this was good. It isn't quite the same as mine but very practical.
• Good thoughts on cell phones for kids.

THINGS THAT WEREN'T MY STYLE:

• Going on dates. I love spending time with my children and I love having one on one time too. However the whole date thing seems weird to me. I am not sure why, but it does. I guess I prefer our time one on one to be a little more spontaneous - a walk with Mara to see some new beauty in nature that God is displaying today or perhaps time spent with Megan while we work on a craft. So, dates aren't my thing - but perhaps they are yours.
• Scripted discussions. If you want for me to have a very stilted conversation just give me a script. I have tried using that sort of thing for teaching kid's classes at church and they just don't work for me. I prefer to talk naturally using my own words - and we do talk. We have talked about the majority of the topics in the book as they come up naturally in our discussions. That again is one of the benefits of homeschooling - we have so much more time for talking.
• Some weird spellings and other "cool" modes of speech. I guess I am old fashioned.

So, for me this wasn't a book that I was going to use as it was written to be used but I did still enjoy reading through it and think that I learned some stuff from it and was reminded of other things that I should think about while raising my daughters.

 The book "Talking with your daughters about Best Friends and Mean Girls" has some removable worksheets in the back to use on your dates and there is a book that is just for the girls to go with the one for moms. That book is called "A Girls Guide to Best Friends and Mean Girls".  It is a fun easy to read book that talks about being a friend, encourages time with Jesus, our best friend and the book is filled with games, fill in the blank and other fun things for girls. There is also a focus on looking to the scripture for answers.

So as I said before I think these are nice books with a good message and I think that many moms and daughters would gain a lot from going through them. The way it is done is not my style but I am different from any other mom I know (we all are unique) and I think this would be great for some moms.

GIVEAWAY

Does this sound like something that would be helpful to you and your daughter (or maybe you know somebody else that could use it)?  I have the opportunity to give away both of these books to some blog reader.

 If you would like to win please leave a comment including your e-mail address. In your comment I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject matter of these books.

 If you would like a second chance at winning then please become a follower of my blog or subscribe via e-mail and then leave another comment telling me that you do so.

 This giveaway will go through October 5th.

Disclaimer: I was given these books for purposes of reviewing. The thoughts written are my own.


 AND THE WINNER IS: Joanna. Congratulations!

Delighted

I didn't get a scripture posted yesterday as is my usual (We had church, a 14 year old girl's birthday to celebrate and some pears getting mushy fast that needed attention so I ran out of time) but I didn't want to start the week without sharing something from the Bible with you.

  I have been reading in Proverbs lately and this verse is one that I enjoyed reading:

  "Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; he will also delight your soul." Proverbs 29:17

This just reminds me of the importance of carefully training your children. That is something we have tried to do and I am comforted and delighted by my children over and over again. However, I am far from perfect and my child training has been far from perfect as well and I do at times see the result of my failures. However this verse encourages me to keep going, to be diligent, to correct and train my children when they need it and to pray for wisdom in that area on a daily basis!!

  I hope this verse is encouraging to you as well. If you are just starting out in parenting - it is hard to see a lot of results for a while but don't give up!!! The rewards of parenting the way God says to are huge!

Enjoying Our Tea

A Honeybee on Catnip

 I love growing herbs. They generally grow quite easily, they smell good, they look pretty and all the different flavors they can provide is so much fun!

  We do grow herbs for use in cooking but our main use of herbs around here is for tea. We drink tea for the pure pleasure of it and also for the health benefits. Most of us (Ken and Megan aren't really tea fans) crave a cup of tea when we aren't feeling to good.

Mara collecting herbs to dry

This week has unfortunately been one of sickness around here (though in the midst of that we took a trip anyway- maybe not so wise but it was fun) and the kids have developed some nasty coughs, tea has been the requested drink many, many times this week.

  To make our tea I simple bring a pot of water to a boil and then turn it off and drop in my fresh or dried herbs and let it steep for several minutes. Then we pour a cupful (There is a strainer in the spigot) which we then like to add milk and honey to. Yummy!

Peppermint is our favorite but we also use Catnip, Echinacea, Horsetail, Red Raspberry Leaf, Lemon Balm, Hyssop, Mullein and Borage (as well as a few others not so often).

   Do you like to drink herbal tea?

Would you like to win some of the herbs for tea that we have dried from our garden? I would love to share some with you.

  If you would like to win please leave a comment telling what type of tea you like and which of the ones highlighted above that you would like to try. (I can either send you a blend or some individual herbs). Please leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you should win.

  If you would like a second chance at winning then please become a GFC follower of my blog or subscribe via e-mail and leave me another comment letting me know that you do so.

  This giveaway will go through Oct. 1st at which time I will randomly select a winner.

And the winner is: Tiffany! Congratulations!

Don't miss the other giveaways that I have going on right now:

~ A Fabric Flower Barrette

~Handmade Soap

~"One Thousand Gifts" Book


 

Focusing on my Family

 Do you ever find yourself getting caught up in this long list of things that need to be done and that relationships end up being neglected? I do at times. I have been noticing a struggle with it lately.

  I can get caught up in blogging or other online activity and fail to really communicate with those that are right next to me the way that I should.

  I can get caught up with the healthy eating ideas and fail to realize that my husband isn't really enjoying meals at home so much anymore. Healthy eating is good but if my husband doesn't feel like he is the King of his castle then there is a problem. Balance is necessary.

  I can get caught up in organizing and preparing outside educational activities that leaves me lacking in time (and henceforth stressed) for taking care of HOMEschooling.

  I can get caught up in volunteering to the point that I just can't handle everything and guess who sees the struggle? My family.

  I can get so caught up in all the fun homesteading activities that I can't keep up with the simple homemaking activities like having a clean bathroom.

  I can get so caught up in a certain challenge (like not buying gifts for a year and making them instead) that Birthdays suddenly become overwhelming (since I am super busy) to me rather than fun.

  I am the type of person who loves to try lots of things, I have a hard time saying "No" and I find it hard to ask many people for help (I don't have trouble with those I know very well- but beyond that circle I struggle) so it seems like every so often I have to remind myself to step back, let go of some things and focus on the things that are truly important.

   I figured possible there are others of you struggling with focusing on what is important too so I hope to encourage you to step back and refocus as well.

  Let's concentrate on relationships - God first, then family, church and friends. Our marriage will be blessed.

Since I am doing giveaways this week I thought I would add one to this post too.

 Would you like to win a fabric flower barrette that you can wear to help you look nice for your husband?

 This flower barrette was made by my daughter Mara and has a mauve flower that is accented by feathers.

  If you would like to win please leave a comment and be sure to leave me some way to contact you should you win.

And the winner is: Elizabeth! Congratulations.