Day 40, BIG changes, and Homemade Lip Balm

We made it!! Today is day 40 of our 40 Day Challenge! What have we learned and gained from this adventure? I thought we lived a very frugal life but we have discovered that we can be even more frugal with little work! We slowly ate our way through a freezer full of meats that needed to be rotated out, I baked a lot, had to get creative when we ran out of things and when I didn't have wrapping paper for a birthday party, sewed a Halloween costume, and we had fun the entire time! Hubby and I were discussing the past 40 days and we've decided that we will not be going back to the old way. We won't be following our rules as closely as we did, but we saved a lot more money than we ever thought we could!

During the past 40 days I had plenty of time to reflect on my blog. Yep, my blog. My life requires structure and my blog just hasn't had it (hence the random posts that are sometimes consistent and other times nonexistent). So, I have created structure! I will now have themes to everyday to help bring about ideas for myself and consistency to you, my readers.


The BIG reveal

• Mondays: Munchies Monday - All things snack food. Some healthy, some not, but ALL delicious!
• Tuesdays: Thrifty Tuesday - Ways to save money! Do-it-yourself projects, bargain ideas, and anything money!
• Wednesdays: Whatever Wednesday - Who knows where this could go! Fun pictures, cute things my kids say/do, random topics that don't fit anywhere else. The possibilities are endless!
• Thursdays: Tasty Thursday - All things tasty! Recipes for dinner, breakfast, dessert, YUM!
• Fridays: Fun Time Friday - Want some fun ideas for the kids? See what kinds of crazy projects we're up to around here!

It all looks and seems overwhelming, but really, this is my life and my blog is a reflection of my life. Now to just snap pictures along the way!

In honor of our first Thrifty Tuesday, I thought I would share my homemade lip balm recipe. I've been making this for a few years but have finally tweaked the recipe enough and have found the perfect ratios!

Melt beeswax and olive oil in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time at half power.

Using a needle, puncture a hole in the vitamin E capsules and drain into beeswax mixture. Stir.

Fill containers. I have seen many different containers at our local natural food store and online. Ours have now been reused multiple times.

Let cool and then cap.
These would make great stocking stuffers!!

Recipe:
1 oz Beeswax (found in the candle section of your local craft store)
2 Tbls Olive Oil
3-4 Vitamin E capsules

• Melt beeswax and olive oil in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time at half power.
• Puncture a hole in vitamin E capsules and drain into beeswax mixture. Stir.
• Fill containers.
• Let cool and then cap.
• Makes approx. 10 tubes of lip balm.

Jack Danielle The Ripper

I'm all about taking things that would be deemed useless and giving them new life. Why throw something out or keep it in the back of a closet when it could be fixed or altered in some way?

Sometimes it only requires taking out a seam ripper! I don't know about you, but taking out a seam ripper is much easier than dragging out my sewing machine, filling a bobbin, threading the needle, and finding a way to amuse a very curious two year old.

I recently received several hand-me-downs for Thérèse. She now has some of the most adorable clothing! You should have seen me looking through bags, it felt like Christmas! Anyway, I pulled out this one dress that I absolutely fell in love with, then I noticed it. Across the front it read "Flirt." I don't know about you, but I'm hoping to keep my little girl from being labeled as a "flirt" for as long as possible (if not forever). So...out came the seam ripper! And now, we have the most perfect dress that I am very excited for my little girlie to wear.
After a day of wearing this "new" dress, I discovered that one of the snaps didn't hold properly. My mother-in-law suggested taking a hammer to it. I have to admit that I was extremely skeptical, but what else was I to do? Boy was I excited when it actually worked!! If you have a snap that isn't working correctly, hammer the knobby side, you'll be happy you did!

A few days ago, Hubby was running around trying to leave for work and somehow he got the pocket of his dress shirt stuck and ripped a hole in it. I looked at it and there was no way for me to salvage the pocket and still have it look professional. So...out came the seam ripper! He now has a pocketless dress shirt, but who really needs a pocket anyway?

What do you have laying around the house that could be used again with the help of a seam ripper??

Homemade Moby Wrap

With the arrival of our new little girl, Thérèse, I have been having fun finding new ways to carry a newborn. I didn't really get into baby-wearing with Peter until he was a few months old, so this has been an exciting adventure!

I started off using a pouch sling and a ring sling. They worked well, but definitely haven't been my ideal solution. I then decided to venture into trying out something like a Moby Wrap. The only downfall was the price: $40! With my crazy money saving ways, I headed to the fabric store.

After plenty of searching, I found the perfect 100% cotton jersey knit fabric! A wonderful tan (a nice neutral color) with sparkles throughout!! Yes, sparkles. Every girl needs a little extra flair and sparkles always do the trick! The best part of my beautiful fabric, it was in the clearance section and I was able to buy enough fabric to make two new wraps for only $7.50 each!!

So how do you make this wonderful wrap? Well, it doesn't even have to include sewing! Does it get any easier than that?

You'll need:

• Any jersey knit fabric (t-shirt material). I prefer 100% cotton as it breathes better than anything with polyester. You'll need 5-6 yards depending on your size (I'm an average size and went with 5.5 yards).

     
Most fabric comes in a 45" width, but you'll only need half of this width for your wrap. Cut down the entire length of the fabric. VOILA! You're done. Yes, it was that easy. You now have a new wrap for yourself and for a friend! Or one for the car and another for the diaper bag.

To finish your wrap further, you can hem the sides (although knit doesn't fray, so it isn't really necessary). I haven't done so yet, but I'm planning on tapering the ends of my fabric. This will help with tying the final knot when wearing the wrap (although this also isn't necessary).

How to wear your new wrap: Wearing Instructions

Homemade Rags

So I know that rags are supposed to be just that, rags. But who really gets motivated to clean when you have a huge pile of cut up old t-shirts? Definitely not me.

Over at Joyful Hope Gift Shop they sell the most beautiful bedspreads. They're second quality, so there's some minor imperfection, but you save a TON of money because of it. Our bedspread is from there and the only imperfection is that it was dyed in a slightly wrong color. Anyway, when these bedspreads are made, the ends of the fabric are cut off. At Joyful Hope, you can also buy these remnants! I have found these to be the most amazing rags.

I recently bought a bunch of remnants for only $2 and cut them down to rag size. I ended up with about 20 new rags!! Since they do tend to fray, I had Hubby (yes, Hubby) sew a zig-zag around all of the edges. After a little bit of Sewing 101, he can now sew an impressively straight line, fill a bobbin, and thread my sewing machine!

Now if only I hadn't already gone through my nesting phase and scrubbed my house from top to bottom. With a 2 year old, I'm sure it won't take long before they come in very handy!

My New Ring Sling!

Awhile back, Hubby banned me from buying more carriers to wear my babies. He didn't however ban me from buying fabric (although he probably will once he reads this post)! Which is how my adventure of sewing baby carriers began.

Several months ago, I was at our local surplus and salvage store and found a beautiful 100% organic cotton for only $2.99 a yard!! I grabbed it with the intention of eventually making a ring sling out of it. Months later, I finally sat down and worked on it.

I have a Maya Wrap that I absolutely love for wearing itty-bitty babies, they're great for nursing, sleeping, and they support them really well! The one that I have is a darker color that doesn't work well in the heat of the summer, so I've been determined to make a new one. On their site, I conveniently found a pattern to make their slings!!

After ordering some rings, I quickly got to work and succeeded in making myself a new ring sling!

I ended up paying about $12 for fabric and rings for my sling. If I had purchased an organic sling from the company, it would have cost $95! For only a few hours of work (mostly spent fending off a very curious two year old) it saved me an awful lot of money. Perhaps that's why Hubby hasn't banned me from buying fabric...

Disclaimer: I tried to get Peter to model the sling with me, but since he hasn't been in one for awhile he was constantly yelling "uck! uck!" (translation: stuck). I instead resorted to using one of his stuffed animals.

Italian Peasant Bread

The most economical way to feed our family has been to make everything ourselves. Of course, this isn't always a possible option, but it definitely does add up over time. As an added bonus, homemade tastes so much better!

We don't always make our own bread, but we try to as often as possible. We have made this recipe so often that I now have it memorized and even Hubby has mastered it!

Italian Peasant Bread

• 3-4 cups good, unbleached flour (I only use King Arthur Flour)
• 1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) of yeast
• 1  – 1½ cups warm water (about body temperature)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ cups Olive Oil plus more for oiling the bowl
• Rosemary (to taste) - optional

1.       Gently mix the 2 cups of flour, salt, yeast, and optional rosemary in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with dough hook.  Add 1 cup warm water and mix into a dough. (3-5 minutes)
2.       Slowly add more flour until at least 3½ cups are in the dough.  If dough gets too dry, more water can be added.  Dough should be heavy (not wet) and cohesive (not crumbly).  Use extra water and flour to control this.  It will be a little different every time depending on the weather.
3.       Add the oil, and let it incorporate into the dough.  Continue to knead for about 10 minutes. If too wet or extremely sticky, add more flour, adding 1-2 Tablespoons at a time.
4.       Check the dough by kneading by hand for a minute or two.  It should be smooth and elastic and well-hydrated.
5.       Move the dough to a large, well-oiled bowl, turn to coat in the oil and cover with plastic wrap.  Put the bowl in a warm place and let it rise until doubled in bulk 1½ – 2 hours.
6.       Punch the dough down, reform into a ball, turn to coat in oil, cover with plastic wrap and leave it for a second rise. (about 45 minutes  – 1 hour)
7.       Shape the dough into two free-form loaves and put them on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and sprinkled with cornmeal. (Instead of a baking sheet and foil/parchment, I prefer to use my stoneware with cornmeal.) Cover with plastic or a damp towel and let it rise another 30 – 45 minutes.
8.       Place the bread in a preheated 400 degree oven and bake until crusty brown and cooked through, 30 -35 minutes.

My Little Helper

Saving Money on Groceries

It seems as though the recent craze has been all about couponing. I'll admit, I have never watched "Extreme Couponing" (we save money by not having cable) but I have tried this extreme method before. I collected my mother's coupon fliers (we do not get the newspaper, once again to save money), would sort them, and carefully study all of the sales. I managed to find many items for cheap, if not free.

I did this for a few months, but decided that it just wasn't going to work for us. It had nothing to do with the time that it consumed, the organization, and the very precise planning that had to go into it. Anyone who knows me, knows that I will spend countless hours doing something if it'll save money! Instead, I realized that the majority of the products are prepackaged foods that I refuse to serve my family, cleaning solutions with harsh chemicals, and beauty supplies that we rarely use. Our cupboards could easily be filled and cluttered with "we just might use this one day" products. It's very easy to get trapped into the "but it's free" mentality and I knew I had to keep myself away from that very thing.

Instead, I opted to learn and eventually memorize the unit prices of all of our staple foods: cheese, meats, produce, frozen fruits and veggies, beans, etc. I created a spreadsheet of all of these foods and immediately went to every store in the area to record the unit prices of these products. The size box of the item didn't matter since it's a staple food, we'd be going through enough to buy a large package if necessary. I kept this list and a calculator in my purse at all times and could immediately reference it to see if I might have found a better deal.

Almost two years later, I no longer carry my spreadsheet with me. I have a very good idea of what everything costs and where it is cheapest. Disclaimer: I do check the sale fliers every week (some are delivered right to my email) and I look at the coupons but I only clip those that we would be buying anyway.

Here's a breakdown of a few gems that I found along the way:

The regular grocery stores are rarely cheaper! Even comparing generic brands, 9 times out of 10 they are still more expensive. As much as we would like to support these local businesses, we can't do the bulk of our shopping there. We do however buy meat and produce there when it is on sale.

We often shop at BJ's (a bulk store, I've been told is similar to Costco). However, we only buy generic products, cheeses, and meats from there.

If we cannot find a product in a generic form, the big box stores are almost always the cheapest option.

One of my favorite finds however has been Downeast Food, a local supply company for bakeries and restaurants. They allow the everyday person to purchase food from them and you'll even get a 10% discount! Not everything is cheaper and you have to call for the prices of their products, but when something is less, it's significantly less! We buy oatmeal, popcorn kernels, all of our spices (the biggest steal by far!), frozen berries, etc. As our family expands, there are several more things that I will be purchasing there.


There are so many places around that are just hidden treasures to be found. We have a bread company right here in town and their organic bread is 3 loaves for $5 on Saturdays! I'm sure there are many places across the country that offer their own treasures. Look out for where the local bakeries buy their products, what food is produced locally, and where the local farm stands are. It's amazing the deals that are out there on quality products!