Archive for the ‘Saving Money’ Category
Stitch-A-Long: FINISHED
Okay, so it turned out to be a 25 month Stitch-A-Long, rather than a 12 month Stitch-A-Long, but it is still FINISHED! And, I do like this method of taking large projects and breaking them up into “doable” chunks.
I’m afraid the budget doesn’t allow for a gorgeous double -matted frame job, so what to do, what to do? I reached way back into my “toolbox” of sewing skills (WAY back, haven’t made a quilt or wall hanging in years!), and decided to turn it into a little wall hanging. I found some sweet fabric to reflect some of the dominant colors which are also found in my office (I spend much more time there than at home, so decided that is where it will hang — it will also help on some of those challenging days to remember these “Living with Charm” words).
I considered how wide I wanted the finished product to be, and decided that I wanted the emphasis on the stitching so the borders and binding are fairly narrow.
It needed a little something to give it some form, but I didn’t want to use iron-on interfacing. I had some leftover pieces of soft white flannel which worked perfectly!
Then it was time for the binding … It has been a while since I mitered a corner, so Google was my friend! I found this great free tutorial online at Jaybird Quilts.
Success!!
Tags: cross-stitch, Debbie, Sewing, Stitch-A-Long
Bean Bag Chair — A Storage Solution (stuffed animals, extra pillows & blankets)
There will definitely be a theme of “the dissertation is done, so Debbie is starting to play ‘catch-up’ with projects” with my upcoming posts. It has been so nice to sew/cook/craft again. Not that I worked on the dissertation/school work ALL of the time, but I found myself feeling so guilty about doing anything else, that instead, I would just sit and do nothing or web-surf looking for new projects that I didn’t have time to do!
A while ago, Jen came across in a catalog this creative way to store stuffed animals. Did she order a couple? Oh no, she said, “I bet Mom could make those a lot cheaper!” (I think they were about $75 in this speciality catalog). I did manage to make one for Little S (who had the stuffed-animals-reaching-the-point-of-room-takeover situation going on!) and she received it for her birthday over a year ago. Both of the girls loved the project and requested I make them for the rest of the “grands” — I bought the fabric, even cut it out, but didn’t get them made until just in time for this Christmas. And, they were a hit!
This “storage solution” would also work great for a dorm room or small apartment (to store extra linens, winter jackets, etc.).
Supplies:
Start out with any bean bag chair pattern.. I used “D” of Simplicity Pattern #5105 (which I can guarantee was purchased during one of JoAnn’s any-pattern-for-$1.99 sales — I do NOT pay full price for patterns!).
Heavy fabric, such as duck or denim (you do not want it to be stretchy!), according to pattern requirements
22″ long zipper (closed at one end)
1/2 yard mesh fabric (like what is used for laundry bags)
thread
Directions:
Cut out the fabric pieces according to the pattern directions. Begin sewing pieces together, again, according to the pattern directions; however, instead of just a simple seam between two of the pieces, insert the zipper.
For the piece which will be opposite where the zipper has been inserted, cut out some of the heavy fabric and insert a “window” of the mesh fabric. In the “sample” Jen found in the catalog, this window was made of vinyl … so that was how I made the first bean bag — not a good idea! Little S almost immediately zipped herself (we should have known!) into the bag and couldn’t get out. Luckily, a little friend was over playing and we were alerted to her predicament! So, before making anymore, I did a bit of fabric “research” and came up with the mesh idea. If you’re making one of these for an older child or teen, or even a young adult, the “window” isn’t really necessary — mainly just allows for the furry friends to be remembered!
Continue to follow pattern directions to complete the “bean bag chair”, simply using your “modified” panels.
Since these “chairs” are likely to get heavy use (Little S drags hers all over the house so she can sit wherever the action is happening!), I double stitched all seams and top-stitched through the seam allowances which I pressed to one side.
Linking to:
Tags: Debbie, Organization, Repurpose, Sewing, Storage Solution
Joan’s Homemade Hummus
I LOVE hummus … I do NOT love paying for it in the grocery store, especially for the good stuff; in addition, when you make it yourself you can control the ingredients/taste – I added some extra garlic to mine. Jen alerted me to her friend Briony’s blog several months ago, Freeze Your Way Fit, and this yummy recipe for homemade hummus. Full disclosure here – I make a HUGE mess in the kitchen when I make this recipe so I make a lot of it at one time. I can fit 3 “batches” into my 9 cup Kitchen Aid food processor; this time I made a total of 6 “batches”. Tahini is the most expensive ingredient, and it is also the messiest! Even our local Walmart here in L.A. (lower Alabama, also known as NW Florida) carries tahini, $4.75 for the amount needed to make all of these batches — it probably cost me about $12.00 to make all of the hummus shown below.
Ingredients (for one batch – multiply by 3 to fill a 9 cup food processor):
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I grew up calling these garbanzo beans!)
1 small garlic glove, minced
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne (red) pepper
3 Tbsp. juice from lemons (I uses concentrate this time and it worked just as well)
¼ cup water
6 Tbsp. tahini, stirred well
2 Tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Step One: Put chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor; process until fully ground. Scrape down sides with a spatula. Make sure all parts of the food processor are put together before you put the ingredients in!
Step Two: With the food processor running, slowly add the lemon juice and water and continue to process for one minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula again.
Step Three: In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini (easier said than done – it is the consistency of tile grout!) and 2 Tbsp. oil.
With the food processor still running, add the oil-tahini mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides as needed.
Can be served immediately with crackers. Refrigerate any not used immediately. Also freezes beautifully! Freeze small portions. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds on full power, stir, and heat another 5-10 seconds. If it seems a little dry, just add a little bit of olive oil.
Enjoy!
Redecorating on a Budget
I took two days of leave last week to give myself FIVE days off in a row without anywhere to go. I had two goals for this extra long Labor Day weekend: 1) finish the living & dining room redecorating and 2) do some serious work on my dissertation … SUCCESS on both projects!
When the family was all together this summer after our wild, wacky & wonderful trip to Disney World, everyone pitched in and did some serious painting. I’ve got a high ceiling on one wall in the living room (goes up about 18 ft. — you do not want to see me on an extension ladder with a paint roller) and can’t do it all by myself … and the budget doesn’t allow me to hire anyone (got an estimate a few years ago and they wanted $1800 to do ONE room!), last time it was all painted was 11 years ago (yuck!). I don’t have any good “before” pictures, but this shot of a corner of the dining room shows what the color scheme was previously…lots of green, including green and white striped couch and chair.
I now have bright, clean, beautiful yellow walls (and thanks, Marissa, for insisting I needed to have white baseboards/doors … and an even bigger thank you for putting the three coats of paint on them!).
I have wanted a red couch for YEARS … alas, the budget also didn’t allow for new furniture, at least not new stuff made as well as the old (which I bought years ago, gently used, from a friend). I checked into having it reupholstered, but, yes, once again, no budget for that either! It took me three tries, but I finally found slip covers that I could be happy with (cost was about $250 total for both couch and chair) … I now have a red couch and chair, they are as comfy as the “old” pieces, and they look so good that I’ve actually had a couple of people ask me if I got new furniture! :-)
So, the chores for this weekend included touching up the paint after finally taking down the curtain rod hardware (I thought I would be making new valances so we painted around the old ones; decided after 6 weeks that I like it “naked”) and recovering the ottoman which previously matched the couch/chair. These things run a couple of hundred dollars new in the furniture store! I recovered this one for about $35.
Let’s get to work! First, I took off the old casters (as you can see in the picture above, they were uneven, barely functioning, and had seen better days).
There was enough solid red in the room to make my heart sing, so it was time to break it up a bit. I chose a heavy weight red/white striped 100% cotten fabric (3 yards) which resembled pillow ticking. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of this part! The ottoman was too wide for one width, and I didn’t want the seam running right down the center. I cut the piece in half, and then cut one of the halves in half lengthwise and sewed a piece on each long side of the center piece. Iron the seam toward the center and topstitch 1/4″ from seam. Make sense?? Here, in lieu of a picture, maybe this will help:
Proceed by “wrapping the ottoman like a gift box, securing the fabric along the bottom edges with a staple gun. Since tape wasn’t appropriate for this “wrapping” project, I used white upholstery tacks to fasten the outside edges.
I recommend picking up an extra box of the tacks (only $1.49/box) … then again, you may be better with a hammer than I am!
The casters were replaced with these upholstery nail pads, which probably work best on wood or tile, rather than carpet – and should cut down on ”the grands” popping wheelies and sending it flying around the room! :-)
I’m very happy with the finished product!! Since these spaces only get painted every 10 years (and I’ve been informed that next time I’m going to have to hire someone!), I splurged on high quality paint … the painting crew was happy that I did since we got great coverage. This “re-decorate” encompassed not only these two rooms, but also the foyer, and the L-shaped hallway which runs the full length of house: approx. $665.00
Total re-decorate:
slip covers: $250
rug: $35 (I’ve been saving it since Linen & Things went out of business!)
paint and supplies: $150
ottoman: $35
blinds: $75
pillows/throw/candles: $75 (I love IKEA!)
art over the fireplace (which was my “inspiration” for the red/yellow/blue color scheme) – purchased for me from a street vendor in Washington, DC: $45
The finished product:
Now, instead of cringing when I walk into my house, I’m all smiles!
Tags: budget, Debbie, furniture, re-decorate, reuse
Three Things I Did Today to Save $MONEY$
I don’t know about the rest of you, but we have spent A LOT of time thinking of ways to save money around our house this past year. For instance, a couple weeks ago I spent $140 SAVED over $300 at Old Navy! When I texted my husband about this, his first question, of course, was how much I spent, but that was besides the point.
Okay, bad example. Though, I would like to mention that the Old Navy funds went towards budgeted summer clothes for myself and two children, as well as a few birthday presents. I had been in Old Navy several times and didn’t make any purchases until the prices dropped to 75% off. That day, if I picked up anything on accident that wasn’t on sale, I was totally that annoying woman that decided not to get the item after it rung up full price. Might have bothered the person in line behind me, but I also didn’t pay $32.50 for a shirt. The highest priced item on my bill was a pair of khaki pants for my son, which he desperately needed for several nice occasions. They were on sale, but not 75%. They were still less than $10.
In all seriousness, we are trying to cut the budget in everyway we can. Today I had the opportunity to save money by doing three small things:
- Raised the thermostat in our house four degrees
- it has been over 100 degrees here in Virginia for a while now. The heat is impossible to bear outside. But if it is over 100 degrees outside, it certainly doesn’t need to be 73 inside! The AC has been running CONSTANTLY and still not getting the house as cool as we have it programmed to. We bumped the AC up to 77 degrees, but I may put it up even more. We’ll see how we feel at 77 for a while first
- Replaced the filters in the vents for our AC
- while dealing with the overworked AC, I checked the filters and realized they haven’t been changed in over 8 months. WOOPS! We usually buy 3 month filters, but I have decided to go back to the one month version. I just never remember to change them on the 3 month schedule. Even if I put it on the calendar
- Unplugged the fridge in the garage
- We have two very nice refrigerators: one inside, one out in the garage. However, we have changed our grocery buying habits and aren’t keeping that high volume of food anymore. We cleaned out both fridges and had MORE than enough room to consolidate everything to the one inside. I am not sure how much this will save us, but certainly at least a little money. I am sure it wasn’t cheap keeping a fridge running in a garage that is over 100 degrees!
So I technically didn’t save any money today. In fact, I had to spend money on the new vent filters. These may have been small steps, but the more small steps we complete, the more giant leaps we’ll be able to take in the future. We have some large spending goals, both short and long term that we are trying to reach. We have always done a great job budgeting and are able to do most the things we desire in our daily lives. It still hasn’t felt like enough.
Are you looking for inspiration to change your lifestyle, spending habits and more? Mine came from one main place: my husband and I both listened to the Dave Ramsey: Financial Peace University* cds and it has completely changed the way we are living and running our finances. I have ALWAYS considered myself to be financially savvy (and used to even teach a financial math class). I have to admit I learned A LOT listening to this course. Ramsey is also able to deliver his techniques in a way that will keep your attention, AND make you laugh.
As a family we have also been trying to achieve a goal of a minimal lifestyle, placing more importance on our actions and relationships than the things we have. My sister recently pulled my attention to a blog, The Minimalist Mom, that is aimed at doing exactly that! I have barely skimmed the surface and I am already hooked. Her site has also directed me to others that I can’t wait to read. You can’t just read them and say “what great ideas these are,” you have to ACT on them too! Which I am going to go do right now as I leave you to clean out my craft room. Dun, Dun, DUHHHHHHHHN!
*These are my own opinions and in no way a paid advertisement
