Crafty Jars

This is a super easy craft that will cost under $5 to make (even less if you already own all the supplies!).

And its quick. Real quick. And cheap. and cute. etc.

You need:
3 (or more) glass jars collected from various things you eat eg. jam, chutney, marinade sauces. Different sizes and shapes works best.

White paint. I used Jo Sonja's as its about $3.50 a tube (sometimes less) and I love the vibrancy of the pigment. This is titanium white. You can mix any colour you like really.

Simplicity is the middle name of this craft.

Blob some paint inside a clean, de-labelled jar. 

Use your brush to paint the insides of the jar

Allow to dry and then apply a second coat.

Tie some thin ribbon, lace or raffia around each jar.

Sigh and pat yourself on the back for being so clever. 

Lunchboxing

My Actual Weekday Lunch Box

I've been a lunch-from-home gal for a few years now, but not every day. With the way I am currently eating, to loose weight gently, I am taking my lunch from home everyday. That way I commit to only eating what is in the lunch box, in any order I like. Once its gone, I'm done till I get home.

Lunch Boxes are easy to do. Truuuust me! Even if you work full time and you are allergic to planning like me!

1. Find a lunch box you really like.
   I use the tupperware one above because I love the size, shape and sections. Find one that fits your portions and foods you actually can be bothered to eat. ie.e don't buy a fancy salad bowl with dual layer freezeable cheese sections and 38 pieces of cutlery attached if you don't eat salad. Sounds like a no-brainer, but in the quest to want to be healthier, sometimes I buy things that I think will make me healthier by magically changing my life. Um. No. 
2. Do your main first.
   I have either a salad wrap with some shaved ham or chicken, or a large garden salad (I bring the dressing separate and add at the last minute, because I have issues). Your 'main' should include a serving of protein. Here is a random photo of healthy looking protein-rich foods:
3. One serve of fruit minimum.
   Whatever it takes, cut it up, buy it in little tubs, whatever floats your boat. Dried fruit doesn't count sorry. If you get hungry in the arvo have another fruit serve in your hand bag. Don't preach at me about the pitfalls of fruit sugar and having too much fruit. Let's face it, does anyone really eat too much fruit? I think not. Go for 2 a day. 
4. One extra serve of vegetables.
   In addition to whatever lettuce, beans, carrot etc that is on my wrap or in my salad, I include either a cut up carrot or cucumber, because I can munch on this in the arvo mindlessly and I feel full rather than peckish for that all-too-tricky-drive-home. That's already 2 out of your 5 recommended serves a day. 
5. Whole grains 
   If I have a sandwich for main, it will be on whole grain bread like 5 seeds etc. I have been eating whole grain for years after being diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance, as it is low-gi and easier on the pancreas. You gotta take care of your pancreas. Otherwise I include whole grain crackers - just 2 - don't go getting excited now and putting 38 crackers in your lunch box ok? 
6. Something with taste!I can't go without something tasty. I am a sauce girl ok? So the wrap will have a small serve of whole egg mayo (seriously, if you are going to have sauce don't pouncy around with the fat-free stuff - just have a small (1 teaspoon - yes, get one out and measure it ok? - you will guesstimate larger than a teaspoon - I promise you) amount of the good stuff and call it a day. Otherwise I might have a small tub of light cream cheese for cracker and vegie dipping purposes. Whatever. It can be a small piece of chocolate if you like, just don't add the whole block and don't eat the rest while you are packing your lunch. 

Ok, go find your lunch box and tomorrow I'll let you know how I fit in making lunch every day. 

Did you know you can freeze...?

"Oh Lord Girl, your freezer looks amazing." ~ Why thank you, but its not mine - its from  myrecipes.com

A few days ago, I was chatting to someone about an apple sponge cake I had cooked that had turned out rather well. I mentioned that the apples were frozen.

"Hold up.  You mean pureed?" The friend asked. (Okay, they didn't say "Hold up.").

No, no, they were just chopped and frozen.

She looked incredulous. She didn't know that. I looked incredulous. I thought everyone knew that.

It was awkward.

But it did make me think for us busy working and non-working wives, there are some extreme freezer shortcuts that you can take to make life much, much quicker.

For me it started because I was always throwing so much food out as it spoiled. For the two of us, it is a balance between buying smaller quantities of, say, tomato paste, at ridiculously inflated prices (why do you have to pay more for less??) or buying the bigger jar and throwing half of it our because we can't get through it. Not ideal.

What you need: an ice cube tray (or two) that you don't use for ice - you can buy cheap ones at the dollar store, ziplock bags, freezing containers (I use tupperware Antarctica or rock n' serves), glad wrap.

Right, so here are some things you can freeze that you might not know about.

Tomato paste, fruit purees, vegetable purees - freeze in ice cube tray and then place in ziplock bags. An awesome system we use at Kindy for bubbas who are starting solids is to freeze stacks of cubes of different types, like say pumpkin, rice, cooked meat, etc, and then when you need a meal for a bub, create a combination of cubes and reheat. It works a treat and makes feeding stacks of bubbas in one day just a tad easier. I use this for pumpkin puree at home to make pumpkin scones. E-asy.

Cut vegetables - we eat capsicum, just not stacks of capsicum. So I chop the whole thing in one go (one takes and extra minute or two) and freeze the rest in ziplock bags for use in stir-fry and pasta bake. We do the same with onions, broccoli, carrot, beans, cut corn (you can apparently do it on the cob too, but I haven't tried that), and even canned beans like four bean mix or kidney beans that have been washed of all their brine and then transferred to a ziplock bag.

The secret is that the less moisture goes into the bag before freezing, the less things clump together and stick. Now I can simply tip a bit of veg into a pasta bake or whatever and I don't have to use the entire bag.

The apples. Yes, just chop them into cubes and whack into a freezer container. If you don't have any, wrap a few layers of glad wrap to protect them from freezer burn.

None of this stuff would be ready to eat fresh after this, you understand. Its for use in cooking okay? It's not going to taste the same. Its just supposed to make life easier. As much as pre-cut vegetables can...

So tell me - what do you freeze for later?

Starting Out With Savings... Part 5

This is our final post (for now) on our savings system. I wanted to make sure that I didn't give anyone the impression that this system would be easy or foolproof.


Moving to cash is difficult. We have lived a DINK lifestyle (double income, no kids) for two years. We are used to getting what we want when we want it. Not only that, but we drew our own money from our own paychecks. This meant that there was very little accountabilty to each other over what we spent or what we were aiming for. Basically as long as bills were paid, we could each spend whatever we wanted. On what ever we wanted... 


That's not a long-term solution. 


We are already realising the limiting nature that this system will have on our lifestyle. We will have to check if one of us has cash before going out to supper with mates after church. Buying a new album online might not be a spur of the moment purchase... 


The way I see it is this; living this way is freeing. The way we were living, we felt like we were living it up because we could have what ever we wanted. Except, we actually can't achieve our bigger financial goals like buying a house because we haven't saved any money. And if something goes wrong, if one of us looses our job, if our mortgage repayments change, if one of us gets injured or sick, we have a very temporary buffer. Then, we are done. 


By saving, budgeting and managing our money, we might actually have a shot at making our lives easier in a few years. Its short term pain (and really, is waiting a few weeks for new shoes really a pain? If it is, you need a reality check. Sorry, but that's the truth), for long term gain. 


Below of I have listed some sites that make being more thrifty a reality. I hope they are helpful to you.


Finally, a reminder from God's Word:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." so we can confidently say,

   "The Lord is my helper;   I will not fear;what can man do to me?"

~ Hebrews 13:5-6

Helpful Resources

Money Saving Mom - check out her series on paying down 100% of their first home. Lots of other awesome money saving ideas.

Small Notebook - you know how sometimes you read something and go... "hey, that is really sensible. Why didn't I think of that?" This post helped put things in perspective, but there is oodles of interesting and helpful, simple stuff on her site. 

Simple Mom - lots of ways to save, reflect and minimise our impact on the earth.

Starting Out With Savings... Part 4

Over the last few days, I've been focussed on the macro of our budget.


Now I want to look at the micro - my stuff!


I am in charge of groceries, petrol for the car and taking car of any appointments or activities that I want to do.


I now have a system for managing this.


Each week, I have a set amount for 'my stuff'. It looks something like this:


- $100 for groceries and household cleaning etc
- $50 for 'fun' - we can use this to go out for dinner, to see a movie etc.
- $50 for petrol - we both live close to work and only have one car so $50 is enough most weeks to get where we need to go. Any left over grocery money would be diverted here each week.
- $100 for me and $100 for Awesome. This is to pay for phyiso on my back, to buy little bits and pieces that come up each week. If I want something specific, like new shoes, I save what's left each week and go shopping when I have enough.
This is probably the hardest part of this system.


We are a generation of instantaneous gratification.
We love to have stuff.
Now.




I think it is entirely healthy to wait. We learn to appreciate what we have. To take care of it. To make do.


I kind of want an ipad. I've been playing with one for weeks. But the reality is it can only do what my computer already does. Except I can do it in the lounge room. Really? We don't have to be slaves to this stuff. If someone wants to give me their number, I don't have to 'bump' their phone. I can write it down. Call them later. On the phone I already own... hmmm anyway, end rant..


Because I am an extremely visual person, I needed something tangible to help me manage the cash. Enter the cash envelope system. I found these online. They are beautiful, and if I had the money for them, I would have bought them right away. I usually do. But I can sew. So, I made my own. I don't want to steal beauty that moves' thunder though, so if you want them, you can go to her etsy shop.


The idea is that you use what is in the envelope. When it runs out... you stop buying.


Pretty simple concept. Let's see how long we go with this!


Are you a cash person, or do you prefer to whip out the card?

Cloth Pads

An example from Moon Pads. Google image 'cloth pads' - sounds weird but I think they can be pretty :p

{taking a break from our series on Starting Out With Savings - back tomorrow}

I'm going out on a limb here. Most of the people who read my blog know me in real life. And this is one of those things you would normally blog about from the privacy of an anonymous identity!


I want to talk for a minute about pads. Yep, pads. 


They are pretty gross. They are something we just chuck in the trolley and hope that the checkout chick doesn't call out for a price check. We use them and we throw them out. They are cheap. So what?


Well... they don't really break down. They are similar to disposable nappies in that they become landfill for many, many years. They can cause rashes and irritation, and it was this that lead to me googling for answers one day. 


In 2009 I tripped across this article after suffering from (I'm not going into details) complications of regular plastic pads (by this stage I was buying the expensive cotton covered 'natural' disposable pads - what a load of rubbish...!).  I read more here... and I started to think - maybe she is on to something. So I ordered a set of cloth pads from America. 

This is going to sound weird. There's no other way around it. 


I love them.


No more sticky plastic. No more plastic wrappers shoved into bins or the pocket of my handbag because I'm in a hurry. No more running out in the middle of the night. Awesome is happy that I never have to send him to the shops to buy supplies! 


I have two sets of six, with two liners each. The combinations are endless and I can tailor what I need each day. Right, that's all I'm going to say about that!


I have a soak bucket in the laundry for those few days. Yes, I wear them out of the house. I have a plastic lined pencil case to put the used ones in when I am out and then bring them home to soak. 


Comfortable, free once the initial outlay is made (I paid about $120 for the sets I have - now that I can sew I will make future replacements myself - I bought enough flannel to make 2 new sets the other day - cost me $6. Bargain). My original sets are going strong - they are hardy, and when you think about it, you only use them for a short time each month. 


Look, that's all I'm going to say. I use them. I recommend them. I will answer questions if you have them. If you really like the idea, and I know you in real life, and you want to try it - I will make you some. It will only be a little bit awkward. I promise. 


:P 

The Have Mores

It happened very quickly. An email avert caught my eye. "Ooooo, that's nice, the deal of the day is an Italian meal for two for just $19.95.... 50 minutes away..." 


Ok, thats not much of a deal, but it reminded me to check another deal website for their daily deal, then another... suddenly I am very seriously about to buy a coffee machine identical to the one we own and rarely use, and several packets of 1000 thread count sheet sets... 


I don't need those things!  


Thankfully I stopped myself in time - before I laid a round of mysterious charges on the credit card we are trying so hard to get rid of. 


It's the Have Mores. I go to a shop, and everything in that shop, from the colour on the walls, to the sounds and smells, and the placement of products, is designed to make me think I need to Have More. I see something I've never thought of buying and start to think... hmmm... I think I need that. 


Our minister at church on Sunday used the example of catalogues in the mail. You start flipping for deals on your every day items, and end up buying something you never actually wanted in the first place! 


The really is that most of us don't need to Have More. Most of us have More Than Enough as it is. Ever tried to move house? Chances are you will unearth things you really don't know what to do with. 


So what can we do to be people who think about what we buy, and not let what we see become what we 'need'?

• Junk Mail Sticker on the letterbox. Now that I never get catalogues, I never miss them, and I don't find myself planning a list of cheap but actually unsuitable gifts for people who I ordinarily wouldn't buy gifts for anyway.  
• Don't go to the shops unless you need something specific. I do not really enjoy shopping, but I don't go to the shopping centre unless I need something and I know just where to buy it. I park at the end of the shops closest to the shop that sells what I want then make it my personal mission to get in and out as quickly as possible. If I'm meeting friends for a coffee, I try to go to a place that is roadside, not a coffee shop inside a shopping centre. It limits the exposure... 
• Do plan. Plan out what you need, write a list, use an iphone app, whatever makes your day easier. 

Being a good steward of what God has graced you with involves paying attention to what you buy, evaluating its usefulness and making a better decision next time. 


So, we need to remember to ask ourselves; Do we really need to Have More, or do we already have More Than Enough? 


More info: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Pencil Bag Tutorial

Sometimes you need to write it out. 


You need a place to keep those pesky, roly poly, disappear-y pencils.


You could make one like this...

pick some pencils and cut two pieces of fabric that will be long enough for your pencils. 

hem long edges of each piece, fold top 1cm (1/3 inch) and sew as shown - repeat on other piece

(scuse the red nails - was having a la dee da day!)  pin long edges right side facing  leaving the folded section unpinned.

like so. 

sew all three sides (double stitch for strength)

that top bit is still open...!

turn right side out, thread ribbon through one side of opening and back to the other side

pin ribbon to itself

repeat with second piece of ribbon going the opposite way - it will tie on the other side

like so

ta da!

Declutter, Beautify and Create Challenge!

Yep, I'm all up for challenges at the moment!


So here is yet another that I have joined!  


I am committing to the 10 week challenge to declutter, beautify and create in various spaces around our home. As the end of the year is approaching, and it is spring here in Australia, its time to clean the cupboards out!


I will be sure to take some before and after pictures for you. Want to join me on this challenge? Please do! You can link up on the Sunflower Schoolhouse page!


Here is this week's challenge:

Week 1
Front Hall Closet and Extra Closets

• go through your front hall closet and any hall closets.
• get rid of as much clutter as possible
• organize what’s left
• make your closets look more beautiful
• is there anything stashed in there that could be used to make a Christmas gift for someone? (pull it out and put it aside)
• share your ideas for frugal decorating and organizing
• tell us what you are getting rid of
• write a blog post and come back and link it up next week
• include before and after pictures of your hall closets if you can

My Personal Goals For Week 1

• Our hallway cupboard doubles as our pantry. So this week I will post pictures of how I have created 'sugarless' spaces for the food I can eat, and 'sugary' spaces for Mr. Awesome!
• As my pantry is 'up to date', I am also going to focus on my bookshelf (one of 4 bookshelves in our house!), and apply the same principles here!. 

Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup Recipe

A couple of nights ago I experimented with my slow cooker to make a vegetable soup. I struggled to find a recipe for a basic vegetable soup with no meat in it (mostly because we didn't have any!). So here is my basic slow cooker vegetable soup.  If you use a gluten and dairy free stock, then it is also dairy and gluten free!!  If you substitute vegetable stock for the beef stock I used, you will also have a vegetarian (and I think also vegan?) soup!

Ingredients I used:
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 swede diced
- 2 small parsnips (these were tiny tiny so maybe 1 bigger one) diced
- 2 cups dried soup mix - lentils green and brown, yellow and green split peas, kidney, broad and bortolli beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
- 2 litres (depending on size of your slow cooker) of beef/vegetable stock or water and stock cube equivalent
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 sticks celery chopped
- 1 cup rice vermicelli

Method:

Add all ingredients except for the celery and rice vermicelli to the slow cooker, turn on and thats it!

My 2 litres of soup (I had to top it up a bit as my beans where not soaked so they soaked up a lot of water) took about 6 hours on High but another hour or two on low would have reduced it a bit an enhanced the flavour even more. I added the celery and vermicelli in the last 2 hours.

Very yummy, and we had lots of soup to freeze for later :)

What I've been making...

I seem to have more hours in the day for planning sewing projects than I do for sewing them! I have hurt my neck recently and can't spend long periods sewing or typing or sitting really so I have just been planning mostly! As soon as I'm better I'll be blogging my sewing efforts!

Here are a couple of things I have made in the last couple of months that I've been meaning to post!

Baby Blankets

Babies everywhere at the moment and I have been stitching away with some polar fleece blankies.

Patchwork fleecy for baby Ryan, wrapped up (above) and unwrapped (below)

This print was too cute to cut up, so I just stitched the edges (after a very unsuccessful attempt to sew blanket binding around the edge, Awesome said "Just do that stitchy thing you do, it'll be quicker", and it was, only an hour and a half in front of the TV!). This was a remnant that I found at Lincraft in the remnant box, (love that!) and only needed 1/2 for the blanket - all up it cost me about $2.50!

A close up of the stitching around the edges

With Mothers' Day here I thought I'd show you the little purse I made for my Granny.

This is a purse from a pattern in Pip Lincolm's book Meet Me At Mike's. I love this book and have been busy making things from it (I sadly lost the photos of the bird and flower coasters and another purse like this I made for a friend). The fabric was left over from other projects and the button was from a bag of thrifted vintage buttons I bought at a church fete in bowral (bargain - about 50 buttons for 50c!). All up it probably cost less than $2!

There are still many, many things on my to make list.. and I seem to be adding them faster than I am making them. I am getting a little faster at sewing though (although I have to be careful not to go too fast and cut corners!). Here is a skirt I made by adapting this pattern (which I love and will make a shorter version of soon), while Stu was taking a shower before we went out for dinner. Yep, a new skirt in less time than it would take for me to park at the shops!

(sorry about the photo - Awesome was sleeping). The fabric was given to my by my Mum as an off cut of something she was making, the bias binding was also a find in a bag she was getting rid off and the elastic was from the Lincraft remnant box again ($4 for a bag of about 20 pieces of various elastic!) so all up it cost me practically nothing to make! Even if I had bought all the bits myself the skirt probably comes in at under $10. Bargain!

Lovin' my sewing machine! What are you making?