Free Curtains

Letting friends and coworkers know about your hobbies can be advantageous.  I had mentioned a recent sewing project to a coworker, and it turned out that she had a bunch of fabric that she was looking to rehome.  She asked me if I was interested, and I wholeheartedly said, "Yes!"  So far she has brought me multiple boxes of fabric!!

In one of the boxes was this large piece of drapery fabric.  I didn't immediately know what I was going to do with it, but after a couple of weeks the need for this fabric became very clear.

We have been working on finishing our mudroom (slowly over the course of the past three years), and it came to completion last week!  Unfortunately, the fabric that I had set aside to be the curtains for this room was not quite long enough. I remembered seeing the fabric pictured above while I was sifting through the boxes that were given to me, and inspiration struck!

Armed with the donated fabric, a pair of scissors, some black thread, and my sewing machine, I set to work.  Straight valances are, by far, one of the easiest sewing projects.  If you can cut and sew in a relatively straight line, you can sew a valance.

The valance above was made from a strip of fabric cut 24 inches in length (I kept the width from selvage to selvage). I made a quarter inch rolled hem on all four sides, then folded the top down three inches, and seamed along the bottom of the folded edge (creating a three inch pocket on the top of the valance. I then measured down one inch from the top of the fold and made another seam all the way across. This created a "ruffle" along the top, and a smaller pocket to feed the curtain rod through. Each valance took less than 20 minutes, including measuring, cutting, and sewing!

SwagBucks - Earn Free Stuff!!

Have you heard of Swagbucks?  If not, you're really missing out on an amazing opportunity!!



What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a rewards site that offers you points (known as Swagbucks) for various activities.  The more Swagbucks you earn, the greater the reward you can receive.  The best part, it's completely FREE to participate.

How does it work?
There are numerous ways to earn Swagbucks.  The site acts as a search engine, and randomly awards you for your searches.  Additional Swagbucks can be earned for completing activities on the site, participating in polls and surveys, shopping through retailers' links on the site, playing games, and even via printable coupons offered exclusively through Swagbucks.

What are the rewards?
There a number of different rewards in various "price ranges", all of which cost only Swagbucks to purchase.  My favorite reward, and the one that I most often take advantage of, is the $5 Amazon.com giftcard.  Since joining Swagbucks I have earned enough points to redeem for a total of $105 in giftcards for Amazon.com!!  I've also received other rewards (a onesie, and a t-shirt for my daughter) that were sent directly to my home for FREE!

Ready to get started?  Simply click HERE, and sign up to start earning!!

Family Scheduling Changes

              

Saturday brought the end of my daughter's baseball schedule.  As a pre-schooler, this was her first experience with an organized sport, as well as our first experience dealing with a child's sports schedule.  To increase the scheduling difficulty, my husband was also the coach of her team. 

It was an great season, and it was amazing to see how well the children (ages 4-6) advanced their skill sets, and teamwork in a matter of weeks!!  The scheduling aspect of it was a struggle, rushing from work to pick up my kids from daycare, and make it to the field in time for practice on Wednesday nights, and they had games every Saturday morning (weather permitting).  Selfishly, I enjoyed the social aspect of her baseball commitments.  It gave me a chance to get to know the parents of many of her classmates on a more personal level, and that's the part that I'm going to miss the most.  However, for the rest of the summer it will be nice to have my Saturday mornings free again!

We have more scheduling changes on the horizon though, and we have been actively working on finding a resolution that will work for our entire family at the end of the summer.  At the end of August our daughter will start kindergarten full time.  I've been in contact with the school to determine what the bus schedule would be for her for next year.  We hadn't initially planned on having her ride the bus, but in order to get our son to daycare, and ourselves to work on time, it will work out better to have her ride the bus to and from school.

I've requested a change in my work hours with my employer, and I'm very fortunate that they were willing to be flexible.  My husband is also having to change his hours in order to accommodate our kindergartner's schedule.  At the end of the summer, my husband will start work later, allowing him to be home in the morning to put our daughter on the school bus.  He'll then take our son to daycare, and go into the office.  In the meantime, I've changed my schedule in the opposite manner.  I'll go into work earlier, pick our son up from daycare earlier, and be home in time to get our daughter off the school bus.  These changes mean that I likely won't see the children in the morning, since they'll still be sleeping when I leave for work, and my husband in turn will get home later than he does now. 

Financially it makes sense, since we won't need to have our daughter in daycare at all anymore.  The downside being that we're sacrificing family time to achieve that.  My husband will have time alone with both children in the morning, and I will have time alone with them in the afternoon, but our hours together as an entire family will be reduced. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to find a happy balance within this schedule, at least until next fall when our son starts pre-school and everything changes again!

Hidden Edibles

We have various food producing plants scattered around our yard, tucked in flower beds, or serving as their own yard art.  The chives pictured above are cozied up in a corner of a flower bed behind our house.  The rhubarb below has its own stone walled garden bed, and lives on the wood line of our back yard.

For Mother's Day this year my daughter gave me a single strawberry plant (as well as a bunch of annuals for one of the flower barrels), being the only strawberry plant that I have, it lives in the corner of yet another flower bed.

Another not-so-hidden edible plant that we have is peppermint.  I didn't take a picture of it, because the peppermint makes me angry.   Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of peppermint, it's a pretty plant, but it spreads like crazy.  A few years ago we had ants that were making their way into our house, so I sought out remedies to keep the little buggers from coming inside.  One of the suggestions that I read was to plant peppermint around the foundation of the house.  So I bought two measly little peppermint plants.  I planted them in the flower beds in front of our house, and didn't think much of it after that.  No one warned this novice gardner that peppermint is a self propogating nightmare!!  I have plucked more peppermint from those two flower beds than I care to admit!  Lesson learned, if you're going to grow peppermint, a potted plant is more ideal.  At least it has seemingly deterred the ants though!!

Cafe cups

I typically try to steer clear of the "As Seen on TV" products that I see advertised, though I will admit that my children do possess Pillow Pets, Dreamlites, and Stompees (evil advertisers promoting such things to innocent children!).  Alas, last winter when I saw a commericial for Cafe Cups, and I was intrigued by the commercial.  I pointed it out to my husband, and forgot about it. 

Imagine my surprise when I found Cafe Cups in my stocking Christmas morning.  I'm an avid coffee drinker, and indulge in multiple cups per day.  Up until Christmas morning I had a love/hate relationship with my Keurig.  The Keurig is great for making a fresh cup of coffee every time, but the price of the K-cups caused dismay.  It was hard to justify using the Keurig, when I could purchase coffee for a standard coffee maker for far cheaper, and the disposable K-cups seemed so wasteful.  Cafe cups were the answer!!

We can now purchase our favorite coffee flavors, and use the Cafe Cups to brew them in our Keurig.  The Cafe Cups come as a set of four (two red, and two black), with a pre-measured coffee scoop.  You can purchase them directly through their website for $10.99 plus $6.99 shipping, even at this price they are a good deal.  If you consider that drinking one cup of coffee a day, at a price of 50 cents per K-cup, would cost you $15 a month; it makes this investment seem far more reasonable. 

Amazon.com has the same package of Cafe Cups on their website for $10, and they are eligible for free 2-day shipping for Prime members.

I have also seen these for sale in local stores in their "As Seen on TV" sections.  Prices vary between the stores, but in most instances I've seen them selling between $9-$11.

While they aren't quite as convenient as a standard K-cup (you do have to fill them with coffee before each use), they produce far less waste, and drastically reduce the price per cup of coffee.

So what do you do with the coffee grounds after they've been used?  We dump them in our compost bowl to be taken out to the compost pile.  Using the Cafe Cups, and composting the grounds, we now have absolutely no waste produced by utilizing our Keurig!! 

Ways to Save When Shopping on Amazon

Living in rural Vermont, our shopping experiences are limited.  Not only do we not have a vast assortment of retailers in the area, but a trip to the store is an excursion.  Our small town does have a small general store that serves us in a pinch when we run out of a staple item like bread or milk, but the nearest large grocery store is 14 miles away and the nearest department store (a small Walmart) is 15 miles away.  Given the distance, and limited choices with local shopping, I find that I do a majority of my shopping online.  For the most part, my "go to place" is Amazon.com.

There are many features of Amazon.com that I love.  I love the vast selection, the customer reviews, and the ease of placing an order and having it delivered to my door.  I pay special attention to prices though.  If there's a particular item that I know is available locally for a lesser price I'm willing to forego the instant gratification of buying online, and visit the brick and mortar store in the area to make the purchase.

Beyond the listed prices, Amazon offers a number of different ways to save you money when shopping through their site.

Amazon Prime:  Amazon Prime is a paid membership program.  The cost of Amazon Prime membership is $79 a year.  At first, this cost deterred me, but after having Prime for the past few months, I'm convinced that it's well worth the upfront cost.  This membership entitles you to free two-day shipping on Prime eligible items (you can refine your Amazon searches to only show Prime eligible items), as well as Prime Instant Video, and access to the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

There are a number of movies, television shows, and other videos available on Prime Instant Video, all of which are free for you to view with Prime Membership.  My family has enjoyed countless free movies this way, providing us with hours of quality family time on rainy evenings.

If you own a Kindle, the Kindle Owner's Lending Library is an amazing deal.  While there are already a multitude of free books available for the Kindle, the Lending Library offers you the option of borrowing an e-book for free every month!  These books are more mainstream than many of the other free books available for Kindle.  Books like "Hunger Games", "Water for Elephants", and "5 Love Languages" are all available to be borrowed from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library when you have Amazon Prime membership.

Subscribe and Save: Subsribe and Save is a program that offers you discounts on items that you have automatically shipped to you on a regular schedule.  There is no cost to take advantage of this program, and no commitment.  You can cancel your subscription or adjust the frequency of deliveries at any time.  The discounts vary by the item purchased, and prices are based on the date that the order ships.  If the price an item on your Subscribe and Save list changes (either by going up in price, or down in price) the current price, less the discount, is what you will be charged.  At present, I only have a couple of items on my Subscribe and Save list; diapers and cat food.  I've been receiving these items monthly for the past 6 months and things have worked out great.  As I determine the cost effectiveness of having other items on my Subscribe and Save list, I plan to add more to it.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to worry about running out of either of these items, and the fact that they magically appear on my doorstep when they are needed.

Amazon Mom: Amazon Mom is a program for parents with young children.  When you initially sign up for Amazon Mom you receive a free 3-month membership to Amazon Prime.  This free membership entitles you to the benefit of free 2-day shipping, as well as a 20% discount (5% Subscribe and Save, and 15% Amazon Mom) on select diapers and wipes, and you can also save an additional 20% (15% Subscribe and Save and 5% Amazon Mom) when you subscribe to a total of 5 Subscribe and Save items (the diapers and wipes count towards this total).  There is a catch though... In order to continue receiving the benefits of Amazon Mom, you will have to join Amazon Prime after the free trial expires.

Amazon Student:  Amazon Student is a program for college students.  With this program you get 6 months of free 2-day shipping on Prime eligible items.  You can also upgrade to Prime membership for a cost of $39 per year (A $40 savings over the normal cost of Prime membership).  Once upgraded to a paid Prime membership, you'll be able to take advantage of Prime Instant Video, and the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.  Amazon limits the use of this program to 4 years only.

**I am in no way affiliated with Amazon.com.  Please check the links to each program for further information and restrictions.**

GardenMats - Ease the pain of weeding!

                          

We love fresh vegetables, we love growing our own vegetables, but we hate weeding!!! Ugh! To help combat the weeds this year we purchased GardenMats.  GardenMats boast claims that they drastically reduce the amount of weeding necessary to maintain a healthy garden.  The mats come in various lengths, and with holes sized for the plants that you intend to grow, and are said to last at least ten years!  Most importantly, for us, GardenMats are proven to grow 100% organic vegetables with no fear of chemicals leeching from the mats into the soils where the plants are growing!

The initial calculations were a little daunting, merely because we had to decide what we were going to plant, how many of each plant we wanted, and which mats would then need to accomodate our plans.  We were forunate in the fact that GardenMats are produced locally, and we were able to go to their place of business and buy them directly from the source.  GardenMats can also be purchased via their website, with a nominal shipping charge. 

Set up was easy!  We simply rolled out the GardenMats over our tilled garden soil, and staked them into the ground.  We made sure that each mat abutted the next to inhibit weed growth between the mats and rows of plants.  We then planted the seeds in the holes, following seed depth recommendations on the packages, and planted our pre-established plants in their designated holes. 

The growing season here in Vermont is still in the early stages, since gardeners typically don't plant their garden crops until after Memorial Day to avoid the fear of frost.  In the picture above, our garden is about two weeks old.  As you can see, there are no weeds coming up through the GardenMats!!  The few weeds that we do have are in the exposed holes, and easily recognizable from the growing crops that we planted. 

It has only been a couple of weeks since installation, but so far we're very happy with the results.  GardenMats does offer a refund of your purchase if you aren't happy with the mats after two years of use.  Thus far, I highly doubt we'll be taking them up on their refund option, as it has already greatly reduced the amount of weeding that we would typically have done at this point. 

I'll continue to update on the progress of our garden, and our opinions of the GardenMats as the season progresses.

**I am in no way affiliated with GardenMats.  This is simple a review of our experiences with the product.**

Treasured Trash

One of our true steps towards self-sufficiency has been our garden.  Slowly over the course of the past few years we have been expanding our garden site, as well as diversifying the variety of vegetables that we grow.  Each year we have been buying organic material to boost the garden soil, since the soils around our house are very sandy.  This year we have decided to take things one step further, and we started a compost pile.

This bowl sits on our kitchen counter and collects our food scraps (except meat and dairy).  Banana peels, onion skins, broccoli stems, egg shells, virtually any and all scraps go into this bowl.  When the bowl gets full, we send our unofficial "compost girl" out into the backyard where she then empties the bowl onto our compost pile.  It's the perfect job for my five year old!!!

Our compost pile isn't anything fancy, just a heap of dirt, leaves, and kitchen waste.  Once every couple of weeks we go out with a shovel and stir things up a bit.  I've been surprised by how quickly our little pile is growing, and how much kitchen waste we had previously been throwing in the trash. 

Once the compost has matured (either this fall, or next spring) we'll then till it into our garden bed to help build up the fertility of the soil, turning our kitchen trash into fertilizing treasure!

Cost Minimizing Baby Steps - Laundry

Laundry is one of those necessary evils, but there are ways to cut down on the cost of this task.  Over the course of the last few years, I've slowly added the following cost-saving methods to my laundry protocol.  While some of it does require more man power and time, it also yields sizeable cost savings over the course of a year.

Line Drying Clothes: Armed with a set of hand-me-down clothes drying racks, I began drying our laundry by hanging clothes inside rather than using the dryer.  While it was more work, and the clothes didn’t dry as fast as they do in the dryer, this simple act cut $20/month off of our electric bill.  For Christmas a few years ago, I was given an outdoor clothesline.  During warmer months (typically April-November), our laundry gets hung outside to dry. In my mind, nothing beats the fresh smell of laundry that has been dried in the fresh air and sunshine.

Vinegar as a Rinse Agent: When my daughter was an infant, we used cloth diapers.  If you’ve never used cloth diapers, you may not be aware of the laundry regimen involved.  There are specific ways to wash cloth diapers to make them last longer, and avoid getting smelly.  One of those tricks is to use white vinegar in place of fabric softener.  I was hesitant at first, because I can’t stand the smell of vinegar, but since it was recommended I gave it a try.  I was amazed at how well it worked with the diapers, and began using it with all of my laundry.  The vinegar smell fully dissipates, and clothes are left smelling fresh. For about $3 I can buy a gallon of white vinegar that lasts me for a couple of months, which is far cheaper than purchasing fabric softener.

Wash in Cold Water: With certain exceptions (whites, towels, and bed linens), all of our laundry is washed and rinsed in cold water.  For sanitary purposes, the above mentioned exceptions still get washed in hot water. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent:  For a small upfront investment, the cost savings overtime of making your own laundry detergent can be huge!  The recipe that I use for laundry detergent is listed below.  Each batch yields about 2 gallons of detergent.  I simply saved some old laundry detergent containers, and reused them for my homemade detergent.  A box of Washing Soda costs about $10.  A box of Borax costs about $10.  A bar of Fels Naptha costs about $2.  In the two years that I’ve been making my own detergent, I’m still using the same boxes of Washing Soda and Borax! 

Hot water
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/3 bar Soap (grated) – I use Fels Naptha

• In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
• In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
• Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring before each use (will gel).

While the Fels Naptha does give the detergent a nice clean scent, if you prefer a stronger smell you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the mix before adding water.

A Pretty Little Dress

Keeping my daughter clothed has become a challenge as she’s been going through numerous growth spurts lately.  Currently, she’s in rather desperate need of summer clothes.  I hesitate to buy an entire wardrobe for her because it’s costly, and the way she’s growing lately she’ll have outgrown them in the next week!!  So for now, she has the requisite shorts and t-shirts for summer wear, but not much else. 

For my birthday, in March, my husband’s grandmother was gracious enough to give me a gift card to a local fabric store.  This gift card has been sitting on my nightstand since then, dying for me to use it.  I didn’t have any particular projects in mind, but I had an afternoon to myself so I went shopping.  While I was in the fabric store, I saw this patterned cotton, and it SCREAMED at me to be made into a dress for my daughter.  Since I’m not one to deny the wishes of screaming fabric, I brought it home with me.  The fabric retails for $9.99/yard.  While it wasn’t the most inexpensive yard of fabric, I was shopping with a gift card, and had a 40% off coupon, combined, this made it a much more palatable purchase at $5.99/yard.

 

Armed with a vision, and my sewing machine, I set to work.  After two hours of very interrupted sewing (answering the never ending call of “MOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!”), this was the end result. 

I was quite proud of the final product, and for $5.99 my daughter has a brand new dress, and I have enough fabric left over to make her a matching headband, and a matching dress for her doll. 

This similar dress retails at $40.

Overall, for $5.99 (but free to me because I used my gift card) and a little bit of time spent in my sewing room, I’m calling it a success!