Frugal Accomplishments- First Week of March
1. Made yogurt.
2. Sold four dozen eggs.
3. Made a mini-greenhouse with an old cookie container to spout thyme seeds in.
2. Sold four dozen eggs.
3. Made a mini-greenhouse with an old cookie container to spout thyme seeds in.
4. Started oregano seeds. Both my thyme and oregano seeds were SUPER fast to germinate... like, three or four days when it was supposed to take 1-2 weeks.
5. Started sweet potato slips with some sweet potatoes that were given to us. My mother-in-law does this every year and it seems to work great for her. I cut one potato in half and left the other two whole to see which sprouts better.
5. Started sweet potato slips with some sweet potatoes that were given to us. My mother-in-law does this every year and it seems to work great for her. I cut one potato in half and left the other two whole to see which sprouts better.
6. Started chili pepper seeds.
7. Transplanted some basil seedlings.
8. Reorganized sewing room. My sewing room is kind of a multi-purpose craft/storage room and there wasn't really enough space to walk around in there, let alone accomplish anything. Until recently I had been bringing my sewing machine and ironing board out to the kitchen every time I wanted to sew. Then a few weeks ago I had Hubs build me some shelving for storage (sleeping bags, Christmas decorations, extra canned food, air mattress... things we only use a couple times per year). Last week I moved some things around so that my ironing board had a permanent spot with some more shelving for miscellaneous items (hem gauge, pattern pieces, fabric scraps, shears, pin cushin, etc.).
The last thing I did was nail some clothespins to the wall. This allows me to clip up the pattern instruction sheet and not have to continually get it out, put it back, fold, unfold.
My apologies for the dark pictures. I was just so excited about it I couldn't wait to take pictures!
7. Transplanted some basil seedlings.
8. Reorganized sewing room. My sewing room is kind of a multi-purpose craft/storage room and there wasn't really enough space to walk around in there, let alone accomplish anything. Until recently I had been bringing my sewing machine and ironing board out to the kitchen every time I wanted to sew. Then a few weeks ago I had Hubs build me some shelving for storage (sleeping bags, Christmas decorations, extra canned food, air mattress... things we only use a couple times per year). Last week I moved some things around so that my ironing board had a permanent spot with some more shelving for miscellaneous items (hem gauge, pattern pieces, fabric scraps, shears, pin cushin, etc.).
The last thing I did was nail some clothespins to the wall. This allows me to clip up the pattern instruction sheet and not have to continually get it out, put it back, fold, unfold.
My apologies for the dark pictures. I was just so excited about it I couldn't wait to take pictures!
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This new arrangement has already helped immensely in my sewing. Everything is so much faster and streamlined, and I am going to save a ton of time not running back and forth from the hobby room to the kitchen when I sew, knocking things off the ironing board accidentally.
9. Worked on a new apron. I was almost able to complete this one, thanks to my new sewing set up and pre-cut pieces. This pattern is from the 1940s as well, though it is printed, unlike the last one. I'm trying to follow the authentic instructions and not deviate from the pattern as much as possible. This can be challenging when you are working with a random piece of fabric from a garage sale. I alternated white with the printed fabric, but still didn't have enough green to use for the waistband. Instead of an entirely white waistband then, I decided to make a kind of rosette in the center with the green fabric. I think it worked out well. I'm looking forward to doing a separate post on this apron in the future.
9. Worked on a new apron. I was almost able to complete this one, thanks to my new sewing set up and pre-cut pieces. This pattern is from the 1940s as well, though it is printed, unlike the last one. I'm trying to follow the authentic instructions and not deviate from the pattern as much as possible. This can be challenging when you are working with a random piece of fabric from a garage sale. I alternated white with the printed fabric, but still didn't have enough green to use for the waistband. Instead of an entirely white waistband then, I decided to make a kind of rosette in the center with the green fabric. I think it worked out well. I'm looking forward to doing a separate post on this apron in the future.
10. Made lip balm. I didn't get around to making any soap this week, but I was able to make 17 tubes of Peppermint Patty lip balm to sell with my soap. I still need to get some labels on these, and then they'll go into my Etsy shop.
11. Made homemade oven cleaner. In 2016, my hope is to gradually phase out most of my generic household cleaners and replace them with non-toxic homemade cleaners. It's something I've always wanted to do, but was just low on the priority list. One of the most expensive of these is oven cleaner. Not only was it expensive, but I found myself coughing and wheezing and gasping for breath whenever I got a whiff of it. That can't be good for a person!
My new homemade oven cleaner was just equal parts baking soda and vinegar, with a few drops of dishwashing soap (I really like Ajax). The cleaner worked pretty well. The only thing I noticed was that some of the spots still had slight stains after I had scrubbed the baking soda/vinegar off.
11. Made homemade oven cleaner. In 2016, my hope is to gradually phase out most of my generic household cleaners and replace them with non-toxic homemade cleaners. It's something I've always wanted to do, but was just low on the priority list. One of the most expensive of these is oven cleaner. Not only was it expensive, but I found myself coughing and wheezing and gasping for breath whenever I got a whiff of it. That can't be good for a person!
My new homemade oven cleaner was just equal parts baking soda and vinegar, with a few drops of dishwashing soap (I really like Ajax). The cleaner worked pretty well. The only thing I noticed was that some of the spots still had slight stains after I had scrubbed the baking soda/vinegar off.
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12. Started some orange peels soaking in vinegar. After a few weeks the vinegar will take on the smell of the orange peel, and I'll have orange-scented vinegar to use in my homemade cleaning products. I like this idea because it is cheaper than using essential oil, and reusing something you would have just thrown away. After the peels are soaked, I'll strain them out and dump them in the chicken/compost pile.
Non-Frugal Stuff & Goals for Next Week
I will admit that we've done a bit of purchasing "stuff" lately, in the name of saving time.
Mop Bucket
We bought this "real" mop bucket for about $10.00 at Walmart. I LOVE it. Previously I'd been using a huge mixing bowl for mop water. Not only did I have to wash the thing with soap every time I used it, but it hardly fit in the sink and I had a hard time rinsing it without splashing water all over. The new bucket fits in the sink easily, AND I can just rinse it out because it never gets used for food.
The main reason why I hardly mopped is because I had no way to wring out the mop, which left the floor sopping wet and took forever to dry. Then I'd have to walk on it and the dirt from my feet/shoes/slippers would smear into the wet floor and get it all dirty again. Talk about frustrating! Now that I have the wringer bucket, the floor dries quickly. This purchase was SO worth the $10.
Mini Greenhouse
Another thing we bought at Walmart this week was one of these mini-greenhouses for starting seeds. Our greenhouse box had 72 cells for $5.00. I am going to try to use this for my tomato and pepper seeds. While my current seed starting method works fine, using the $5.00 greenhouse would eliminate the need to transplant seedlings. Last year during the transplanting process I got my varieties mixed up and some of the plants died. Hopefully using the greenhouse will fix these problems, and if I'm careful I can use the greenhouse again next year.
And FORGOT to Use My Coupon!
We stopped at TSC this week to get some salt/mineral blocks for the goats, and also some lice-killing powder. I like using tea tree oil, but the Pygoras have so much wool it is hard to use. The wethers also refuse to stand still for a daily treatment, so I've done nothing to get rid of their lice. Anyhow. I had a 10% entire order coupon to use on all of this stuff, and when we were almost home I realized that the coupon was still in my pocket. Bummer!
Goals This Week
1. Make a batch of soap.
2. Make labels for lip balm.
3. Finish green apron.
4. Start pepper seeds.
5. Start tomato seeds.
Mop Bucket
We bought this "real" mop bucket for about $10.00 at Walmart. I LOVE it. Previously I'd been using a huge mixing bowl for mop water. Not only did I have to wash the thing with soap every time I used it, but it hardly fit in the sink and I had a hard time rinsing it without splashing water all over. The new bucket fits in the sink easily, AND I can just rinse it out because it never gets used for food.
The main reason why I hardly mopped is because I had no way to wring out the mop, which left the floor sopping wet and took forever to dry. Then I'd have to walk on it and the dirt from my feet/shoes/slippers would smear into the wet floor and get it all dirty again. Talk about frustrating! Now that I have the wringer bucket, the floor dries quickly. This purchase was SO worth the $10.
Mini Greenhouse
Another thing we bought at Walmart this week was one of these mini-greenhouses for starting seeds. Our greenhouse box had 72 cells for $5.00. I am going to try to use this for my tomato and pepper seeds. While my current seed starting method works fine, using the $5.00 greenhouse would eliminate the need to transplant seedlings. Last year during the transplanting process I got my varieties mixed up and some of the plants died. Hopefully using the greenhouse will fix these problems, and if I'm careful I can use the greenhouse again next year.
And FORGOT to Use My Coupon!
We stopped at TSC this week to get some salt/mineral blocks for the goats, and also some lice-killing powder. I like using tea tree oil, but the Pygoras have so much wool it is hard to use. The wethers also refuse to stand still for a daily treatment, so I've done nothing to get rid of their lice. Anyhow. I had a 10% entire order coupon to use on all of this stuff, and when we were almost home I realized that the coupon was still in my pocket. Bummer!
Goals This Week
1. Make a batch of soap.
2. Make labels for lip balm.
3. Finish green apron.
4. Start pepper seeds.
5. Start tomato seeds.
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