Stacked Front Porch Planter

Most of the parts to the planter in the order from bottom to top of the picture how I stacked them together, I added one more saucer and pot not pictured. No need for all of them to be the same color, because I have confidence I am going to keep all the plants alive and they are going to thrive so much on the porch that no one will even notice the non white pots.  Plus I am cheap and there was no way I was going to go out and buy new pots for a project when we have a shed full of old ones. Wait, I'll just tell people, if they ask, that I am so green I reused pots from other years, that sounds better than cheap.

First layer, pot with saucer in it and upside down pot on the saucer.  Fill in dirt around the saucer and insert plants

Second layer is saucer, large pot then another saucer to make a planting area. By putting the saucers in the large pots it also took way less potting mix which would have added a lot of weight and money to the project. I will have to water it a lot more often because less dirts means it will dry out faster, but if I decide to move it I won't need two men and small boy to lift it.

View from the side, just keep adding saucers and pots until it is the desired height.

Top view, can hardly wait for the flowers to start growing and make all the layers full and beautiful!

Iced Chocolate Coffee On The Cheap

The leftover morning coffee is now going to become your favorite cup in the pot.  Put it in the freezer until it is good and cold.  Once it is properly chilled, read this as "how long until you can't wait any longer to make this before you take it out," pour it in the blender. 

 

Pour in a packet of hot chocolate and some International Delight (we used French Vanilla), or cream would work too, and give it a whir.

 

 

Pour it in a cup, top it with some whipped topping and enjoy.

Homemade Mayonnaise

When we run out of something it is not cost effective to just run into town to pick some up.  Yesterday, while making chicken salad, we ran out of mayo which prompted us to try our hand at homemade. 

An egg, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/4 cup oil and 1 Tbsp lemon juice.  Whirl these in the blender for a few seconds to mix.

Add 3/4 cup of oil in a slow drizzle.  Using a blender is great because it has a removable piece on top to add ingredients.  No blender?  You can do the same thing using a whisk.  You can hear the whine of the blender change as the emulsion of egg and oil begins to form.

We thought it was pretty salty, so next time we will use 1/4 tsp of salt.  The mayonnaise tasted great.  One odd thing though, usually home made stuff tastes way better than store bought, but the homemade mayo tasted almost exactly the same!!!  Weird, but good.  The point was to not drive into town so it worked great.  From this recipe you can go on to create many other sauces like tartar sauce.  The basic technique for mayo can be used with other ingredients, like melted butter to make fancier things like hollandaise sauce and the even more refined Béarnaise sauce.

You might be wondering what the difference is between salad dressing (like Miracle Whip) or salad cream and mayonnaise.  Salad dressing uses less egg yolk and oil instead substituting corn starch, corn syrup, vinegar and water. It became popular in the 1930's because it was less expensive as it is made with cheaper ingredients.

Reupholstering A Footstool

Over the years, the fabric on our footstool has gotten thinner and thinner.  This fall it wore through and the hole is ever expanding.  Not a pretty sight but it is expensive to get furniture reupholstered, we have already had this one done once, so we opted for the next best thing and that was to redo the stool ourselves.

The first step was to take the top off, remove the backing and take off the old fabric.  There were over 90 well secured staples in here, hence it was the hardest part of the project needing Dad's brute strength to free them.

We got a remnant at the fabric store for $3.53 and used half making the cost of the fabric for this project just $1.77.  Our chair was professionally done over 10 years ago so matching the fabric wasn't an option anymore.  Spark was the one who found the fabric and I must say, I like it better than the fabric that was on there, although now it doesn't match the chair but, oh well.

Lay the old piece out on top of the new and cut around it leaving plenty of extra fabric.  We could see from the old piece that they must cut a piece of fabric, upholster the stool and then cut off the excess as it was uneven.  Makes sense in the long run, no chance that you cut the fabric too small.

This is the point where you put on your safety goggles.

Using the staple gun, while I held the fabric tight, Dancer put in a line of staples in the middle of each side.

For the corners we folded the corner straight in, then one side over and the other.  Before putting in any staples here we would turn it over to make sure it was creaseless on the sides.  Load up the back with staples every few centimeters.  Dancer put in about 120 staples which Dad figured was about 48 cents worth.  When it comes time to redo the stool again we reconsider if that many staples were necessary or not.

Staple the backing back on.  This was a little fuzzy on the side that was the outside before.  We refolded it and the now front, former backside, looked brand new meaning the cost was zero.

Screw it back onto the stool and

Voila!!!  Recovered for $2.25.

What Do You Really Pay At The Store?

Our tuna for lunch made for a spontaneous consumer education project.

After draining two cans of tuna we poured the water back into one of the cans.  We found out that the tuna can contained about half of it's volume in water.  We saw that the water didn't come all the way to the top but then the can isn't completely full as it does make a sloshing before opening it indicating open can space.  Assuming that amount two times would be about the amount we are missing after pour two cans of water into one, we decided it was close enough to say that a can of tuna is half water added the fact that getting all the water out of the tuna isn't possible with our draining method.

Our tuna was the in the 5 ounce can so there would be 2.5 ounces of tuna in each can.  That alone made us wonder by itself how that could be two servings.  For this we figured that it would take 6.4 can of tuna to make one pound of just the tuna.  We can buy tuna for about 63 cents a can.  That would make tuna cost about $2.02 a pound.  That doesn't sound too expensive, actually quite inexpensive for a protein considering other options. 

However, on my counter I also have tuna water that cost $2.02 per pound as well.  Not that it goes to waste, the cats love it although normally I wouldn't spend that much to give them a little treat.  Actually, I would never spend that much to give them a treat but that is neither here nor there for our purposes. 

Would I spend that much for other fluids?  For example, a gallon is about 8 pounds, would I buy milk if it was $16.13 a gallon?  Umm, that is a capital N-O.  How about $8.08 for a 2 liter bottle of soda?  Again no.  The only thing that maybe comes close, and we do buy, is cream (which does come to about $1.94 per pound depending on where we are shopping) but, I don't feed it to the cat and it is actually a food and not just dirty colored water that if I didn't have a cat would dump down the drain.

On the other hand the tuna juice is a bargain compared to contact lens lubricating and re-wetting drops that come in at a whopping $446.72 per gallon!  And you thought gas was expensive.

Fun Frugal Manicure

All you need for those fancy tipped nails is two colors of nail polish, a scrapbook scissor and a roll of masking tape.  Dancer picked green and silver, she has every crazy color under the sun.  Her motto when it comes to nail polish is that a girl can never have too many colors.  Brush a couple coats of polish on and let dry for several hours so they are good and dry.

Cut a little piece of masking tape in half using the scrapbook scissor.  Stick the tape on the nail.  Put the second color on and take the tape off before the nail polish drys so that it doesn't stick to the tape and tear the polish.

Voila!  Those fancy nails without the fancy cost.

Recycled Sweater Puppy

I saw this little guy in a library book "Sewing Green" by Betz White and just had to give him a try.  He is suppose to be a baby toy but, since our baby is 11 years old, it will just be a decoration at our house either on the couch or someones bed.  Now that I look at him again he would be nice on a bed with some lavender in his stuffing.  He is made from the sleeves of a really nice cotton sweater.  His tail and the tops of his ears are from a pair of Dancer's pajama pants that the elastic had gone bad in.  His back spot, nose and eyes are felt scraps and the stitching around his spot and eye are yarn.  You really wouldn't need the pattern for him.  Just draw his shape, tail and ears out in a size you like.  The nose and eye can be cut free hand.  He is sewn together in standard stuffed animal style with the tail and ears tucked in before sewing around the body.  I left the part under his spot open for turning and stuffing but with the sweater I used you really couldn't tell it had been hand stitched closed so anywhere on his body would have been fine. 

A close up mugshot to show off his floppy ears.

Camper Sweet Camper

Our neighborhood, right outside the horse arena.

A huge storm made the road more than a little muddy.

The food trailer that was at the campers end of the fair.  This actually was the reason we had a camper there, the high price of fair food.

We never stayed over night but wanted a comfortable place to sit during the day with a fan and a refrigerator.  We paid for the camping spot for less than the price of what we would have paid for just drinks.  Also, if we had camped, we would have had to drive back and forth to come home to do chores and little Nikki couldn't be in the kennel all week.  If we were going to drive 35 miles home for those two reasons we might as well sleep in air conditioning in our comfy beds, with bathroom and showers near by.  The only thing we did buy during the week was the kids each had a malt from the Dairy Princess' and Spark had a donut the morning we worked in the food stand.  Total fair food bill for the week - $5.50.  Camping spot - $30.

Jungle Jacket

I made Spark this jacket.  He picked the fabric from the basement stash and loved the green jungle, that is what he calls it, fabric on the top.  There wasn't enough for the whole jacket so he got part green sleeves and bottom front.  The back is the jungle fabric.  This was very frugal.  The fabric and thread I already had and the zipper I ripped out of an old coat of Dad's that he throwing away.   All I had to buy was one yard of interfacing.

The pattern was McCall's M5538.  The jacket went together neatly but the directions as written were a disaster.  I don't know if they were written in another language and translated to English or if there was a intern writing them or what.  I sewed my own wedding dress that wasn't as confusing as these directions.  I finally ended up just looking at all the pieces and figured out the best way to put them together. 

Giving Thanks Challenge - Freezing Temperatures

There are only two reason that I am thankful for freezing temperatures.

1.  All the outside bugs are dead.
2.  My freezer and refrigerator space is expanded.

Our temps are below freezing for at least four months out of the year.  During this time I can take advantage of sales I wouldn't be able to the rest of the year because there isn't enough room in the freezer.  For example, we just bought ten frozen Banquet dinners for $8.00.  I do like these for times when one of us needs to eat at a different time from everyone else or to send to work with Dad.  I can also buy milk when it is on sale because I can just leave it in the garage and bring it in as we need it. 

Crocheted Dodecahedron with Points

Dodecahedron or pollen spore?

This was quite fun to make and came together rather quickly.  The pattern said it was intermediate but once you figure out how to connect each of the points it is really quite easy.  After the first three points are together it is smooth sailing from there.  I only ended up having to tear out one partial point before it made sense how to connect them.   Don't let intermediate scare you away.  The directions are here.  I did not use Alpaca yarn as they did, although that would make it really, really nice, the price would be way out of reach for a project such as this.  Something I am not even sure what we are going to do with except throw it around like a ball and maybe I will put it in the county fair next year under stuffed toy or something.  I used a partial skein of yarn that I had left over from a scarf which made the price quite minimal, maybe a dollar or two including the stuffing.

How much chicken is in a can of chicken rice soup?

About a tablespoon of meat and that is suppose to be for two and half servings.   Dancer decided for her consumer education project to compare canned chicken and rice soup to homemade chicken and rice soup.   

Here is the soup her and Dad made this afternoon...

and here is the soup from the can.  Plus they took some of the serving out of the bowl to be able to see what was in it otherwise it just looked like broth.  Which would you rather eat?  Hopefully your answer is a no brainer.

The price break down was as follows:

Homemade soup costs $0.21  per serving

Canned soup costs $0.67  per serving

They made 40 servings for $8.59, which in canned soup would cost $26.80.  For the homemade soup the chicken was $5.99 of the cost which leaves $3.60 for the rest of the soup.  From how much chicken was in the can of soup it seems they are selling really expensive chicken broth.  If Dancer's soup had had as much chicken (her's was a tasty young fryer not an old laying hen) as the canned soup, it would have been about .09 per serving.  That means that every can of soup has about $0.23 of product in it and that is at retail prices not the price that producers are able to buy ingredients at.  Now, go make some soup.

Lamb chop recipe

Dad often checks the manager's specials at the grocery store on his way home in the morning.  The other day he found lamb chops that had been $14.00 marked down to $2.00.  He grabbed two packs and brought them home to try.  We have never had lamb before but for that price we were going to!  Here is how he made them and they were oh so good.  I can see why they are normally so high priced, we thought they were better than steak.

Lamb Chops

1 tbsp. rosemary
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 lamb chops

In food processor combine rosemary, thyme, cayenne pepper and salt.  Pulse processor until well combined.  Add olive oil and pulse again.  Rub mixture on chops and let sit while you go out and milk and do chores, or if you don't have goats, 45 minutes will do.  Broil on high in oven on second to top rack.  For medium rare, broil 4 minutes, flip chops over and 3 minutes on second side.

Epsom salt advice for free

A few months ago, I can't really remember exactly when, Dad had an ingrown toenail. It was getting really red and start to go up his foot. Fearing cellulitis, he went into the doctor. The doctor looked at it for a few seconds and said "soak it in Epsom salt," and sent him on his way. We stopped on the way home and bought a four pound box of the salt for a couple of dollars. He soaked his foot with the offending nail in it, the redness cleared up right away and all was fine. We got a bill for $108 dollars from the doctor a few days later. Expensive advice.

A couple of days ago, Dancer stepped on a nail. It started to get red and was looking infected. Remembering the advice of the expensive doctor, we got the Epsom salt out of the linen closet and made her a foot bath. She has soaked her foot a couple of times for two days and it is looking good as new. Saved ourselves $108 dollars.

Why aren't more people, or medical staff, telling us about this stuff as a first line of defense against infection? Dad is a nurse for Pete's sake and they didn't teach him this, nor do they use it in the hospital. Maybe it isn't expensive enough for them there.

The box says to use it for soaking minor sprains and bruises, redness, irritation, swelling for infection. It also said for health and beauty. Dancer jokingly wanted to know if that meant she was going to have one foot be more beautiful than the other.

So our advice is to buy a box of Epsom salt to have on hand. We won't send you a bill either.

Fundraising, Blizzards, and shopping

Our 4-H group was able to do a fundraiser at a place where they shoot clay pigeons. We sold hot dogs, pop and water so it was super simple to work at. The place was about 45 minutes from our house. The kids and I set off for our 12-2 shift, when we are half way there and I realize we didn't bring the camera with. We try to take it with us most places we go because you never know when there is going to be a great photo op.

When we get to this place there is a big shooting show. Really cool, they shot lots of clay pigeons in different formations, golf balls, charcoal, full paint cans, potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, cabbage, lettuce and spray cans of whipped cream. That wouldn't have been cool enough to wish we had the camera with but of course when they called for volunteers to throw the charcoal up Spark was chosen. He and six other kids started launching them into the air as fast as they could. He was also chosen to start one of the shooting demos. We will just have to remember his few minutes of fame in our memories.

After the fundraising we headed into town to the Dairy Queen. They had buy one Blizzard and get one for a quarter promo. We got two and split them between the three of us. Thankfully this promotion won't be on all summer or I think we would be as wide as we are tall. I just love Blizzards but since they are so expensive we splurge on them about once a year.

A Super Walmart was really close so we swung in there to do a little shopping. I say little because we only picked up a few necessities and groceries but the bill was still over $60. Everything sure adds up fast.

It is raining, which we are very thankful for, and gloomy so our motivation for the rest of the day has been low. We did only the chores that needed to be done and called it good. Now we are sitting down to big bowls of popcorn and watching "Hairspray."

Homemade black berry syrup

We were so fortunate to get 16 six ounce containers of beautiful, big, sweet black berries at a grocery store that was closing them out. Only $5.00 for all of them, about 30 cents a pack! That is an incredible, unbelievable price. They are right at the end of their ripeness so they need to be used in the next couple of days. This morning Dad made two of the containers into black berry syrup.



He put them in a bowl with a little bit of water and microwaved until the berries were plump. Then he put them in a pot with a bit of sugar and cooked them until they reduced into a syrup. I can not even describe how good it was. We ladled it generously over pancakes and savored every bite. Dancer took a picture of her plate. Oh, I wish we ate like this every morning!

Toothpaste update

We have used the homemade toothpaste for a day and half now and it looks like it is going to be a keeper. Dad, Dancer and I like it but Spark not so much. The taste is not like using straight baking soda, the lime and peppermint add a nice flavor.

Dad brushed his teeth with it and then tried regular toothpaste which he declared tasted chemically after the homemade stuff. It is odd that it doesn't "foam up," toothpaste makers must have us convinced that our toothpaste should foam to be good.

We usually buy a non-fluoride toothpaste, which is quite spendy, so even if Spark doesn't get to liking this those tubes will last longer. FYI it was a main stream brand that Dad thought tasted like chemicals.

Homemade tooth paste or powder

We are always up for trying something new so when we heard about homemade toothpaste we just had to try it. The recipe has just three ingredients - lime zest, one cup baking soda and 20 drops of peppermint oil. I think that tea tree oil would work as a substitution. Start by zesting the lime and spreading the zest out on a plate. Let the zest dry, this takes a few hours. Mix together the zest and the baking soda. Into this put 20 drops of peppermint oil. Put the cover on the container and shake, shake, shake.

Since all four of us will being using the same container, the instructions to be followed are to not stick your toothbrush into the container but to use clean, dry fingers to take a pinch and put into your palm and then rub your dampened toothbrush into the powder.

Recycle magazines into paper straws for crafts

Using a magazine, cut the page right up the middle so that each side is an equal half. If you have lots of magazines, where you could never use them all in a month of projects, don't bother to cut the half closest to the binding out and trim it. If you don't have lot of magazines, then by all means, take advantage of that other half.

Start in one corner and roll the page up into a straw. Put a little dab of glue on the end to keep it together.

Make lots and lots and lots of these straws, the more the better. When you get a big pile of them you are ready to start a project.

Here the straws were glued around a tin canister from a food gift pack making it double recycling. The lid is a simply tiny pieces of paper glued atop and flattened straw around the edge. They can be put on picture frames, mirrors, garbage cans, glasses or anything with a flat surface. The straws can also be flattened and rolled into circles and glued together or flattened and stacked on each other or made into other shapes like bowls or boxes. Cut them into different lengths for even more options of how to use them in some useful manner. Got any ideas yet?

Homemade Sports Icy Gel Packs

Dancer found this in a book called "Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things." It is a way to make those nice sport injury gel packs with having the pay the big prices for them.

Take freezer bag and put in it 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol. Put the bag in the freezer for three hours and you have a slushy ice pack. The water will freeze but the alcohol will keep it from freezing solid. Ours was in the freezer overnight, it was firm, but broke apart easily. By being slushy, it fits over whatever you are trying to ice instead of being a rock hard block. Be sure to wrap the pack in a thin towel when using it so you don't get frost bite on the area you are icing.

Being a headache sufferer, I am going to make some smaller ones and sew a soft cover for them. Now I use those hard packs that go in coolers wrapped in a wet washcloth, it never stays where I want it to or only a part of the pack touches when the pain is.