Last Week's Thrifty Moves

After reading about this on another blog (sorry, I forgot which one L) I saved the top from a jar of grated parmesan romano cheese.  It fits my regular mouth jars perfectly and I plan to save a few more.  I want to put one on my pint jar I keep my dried basil in.  They are pretty handy.

Sunday morning I made a triple batch of almond granola.  It turned out fabulous and we have really been enjoying it for breakfast.  I could easily eat a bowl of it in place of dessert.  On Saturday I made another triple batch since it appears more hot weather is on the horizon and I do not like to turn on the oven when it is really hot outside.

I found this rooster teapot at a thrift store

I made three bottles of homemade pancake syrup.  That should last us for quite some time.

My youngest made a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream.  We made floats with some leftover root beer we had in the refrigerator.

I rinsed out a bottle of laundry detergent and had just enough soap to run a load of clothes.

We had gone through a friend's stash of miscellaneous cables and wires and found the one we were missing to our old DVD/VCR.  My daughter was able to hook it up to our very old TV that she was using to play our very old Sega on and now she can watch movies and our very old VHS tapes.  She was pretty excited about that. J

The girls and I "splurged" on a movie night out at what they call the fancy theater.  We went on Tuesday because the tickets are discounted to $5.50 a piece and used a $10 gift card we'd been given at Christmas to offset some of that cost.  Our night out cost a mere $6.50 out of pocket to go see Finding Dory.  We had a really nice time too.

At the theater I found a dime in the parking lot and on the sidewalk a penny.  J

I did a Fred Meyer feedback survey and added 50 bonus points to my rewards card toward fuel.  Fred Meyer also sent me another packet of coupons in the mail.  Happy, happy!

I made four more pints of vanilla yogurt and a 1/2 pint reserved for starter to use on my next batch.  I still think it is the best yogurt ever!

A dear friend of mine, the one who has been going through her entire house and purging, gave us an extra TV they had and were not using.  For awhile I wrestled with keeping it as it would make us a three TV family once again.  When we moved back into the house I had every intention that the one in the living room would be it.  Then that first Christmas we hauled the super old one out of storage (I was going to donate it, but no one wanted it) so the girls could hook up their super old video games to it and that has been very nice for them.  After much thought I gave in and set it up in my bedroom (groan) as the girls convinced me I could watch my NASCAR races on it while I sewed instead of using my laptop in there like I do now.

I bought a little something for my vintage sewing box

I bought a refurbished Roku stick from Amazon for the new to us TV.  So far the girls have piled onto the bed with me three nights in a row to watch TV so my concern that having multiple TV would send us into separate directions seems to be moot.  And watching NASCAR while I sewed was also very nice.  J

Saturday the youngest and I went to Home Depot to pick up supplies to build a shelf in our garage.  I'd waffled back and forth on whether I should add more storage or get rid of more stuff.  We have gone through our things pretty thoroughly and tried to make do with the storage unit we had, but things kept piling up on the floor so adding a shelf one out.

We came home with a six foot long pine board that was twelve inches wide and three shelf brackets ($16).  In no time at all the girls and I had it put up on the wall over the freezer and trash bins.  Now it stores our camping gear, pet carrier and several other items.

This project spurned us to get busy and reorganize and spring clean the garage and it looks great and is much more functional.  I am very pleased with our latest mini home improvement.  I also thought the cost was more than reasonable as well.

I sold a dozen eggs to a co-worker.

How was your thrifty week?

Only Six Months Until Christmas!

Can you even believe that?!

I can attest to how fast the past six months have flown right by so I have no doubt the next six months will too.  Therefore, I'd better get myself busy and come up with a plan.

Here is a list of things I need to do and soon:

Update my Christmas card list

Start a rough draft of the letter I tuck into each card

Start a gift list

Set a budget

Make a tentative plan for the holidays

I think I can knock this out over the weekend.

I am almost in shock that it is time to start working on this already.  When do you start planning for Christmas?  Have you already started?  Done any shopping?

Birds Of Prey

My youngest got to choose our latest family outing.  She chose to go the Birds of Prey center here in Boise.  We packed a picnic lunch and headed over to check it out.

Harris's Hawk

Kestrel Falcon

They have shows throughout the day where they introduce various birds and let you see them up close.  My goodness they are beautiful creatures. 

Our center is best known for our work with the California condors.  Our success in saving these magnificent birds from extinction is world renown.

California Condor

Can you believe these were almost made extinct in 1985
because people were just shooting them for sport?

While they aren't the prettiest birds I can't help but be in awe of their magnificence, nonetheless.  They certainly don't seem to mind posing for pictures and showing off a bit.

They have picnic areas and they encourage people to come, take their time and really enjoy the center.  I found it very pretty and quite peaceful.  They have a couple walking trails too.

Bateleur Eagle - Gorgeous!

We hope to go back in October and take some friends when they have the birds flying out in the open.  I think that will be really something.

Ornate Hawk

Bald Eagle

If you want to know more about the World Center Birds Of Prey click here.

My New Favorite Breakfast

Granola with almonds, peaches, vanilla yogurt, raspberries

Lately this has been my breakfast each morning.  I just can't seem to get enough of it and it sticks with me until lunchtime.  With all the varieties available too, I've yet to get bored.

I grab my cereal bowl and add any combination:

Homemade granola

Homemade vanilla yogurt

All Bran (for added fiber)

Fresh, frozen or canned fruit

Just awhile ago I had put up some raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries in the freezer.  I had spread them out on trays and frozen them before putting them in freezer bags.  This way they froze separately instead of in a big clump.  I just take out what I need and put the bag back in the freezer.

Granola with cinnamon, dried fruit and pecans,
All Bran, peaches, vanilla yogurt

I've been buying half gallons of milk at Fred Meyer for 79¢ each.  I used one to make yogurt with a little bit of sugar and some vanilla.  You can't get thriftier than that for low cost yogurt.  And it is so delicious!

I started with a peach half and about a cup of yogurt.  Then added 2 Tbs. of All bran, 3 Tbs. of granola and a few berries.  The combination is just delicious and perfect for a quick summer breakfast.  Totally portable too.  I just put the granola and All bran in a separate container and add it when I get ready to eat.

Think you'll give this one a try?

The Americana Stencil Quilt!

This is my biggest project I have completed so far this year and I am so happy about it.  It has been a long, long time since I have done a quilt, and to be honest, there was a point some time ago I was pretty sure my days of quilting were over and done.  But my big retirement project as really spurned me to do a lot of projects I hadn't really planned on doing.  So much the better!

I was perusing eBay, one of my favorite activities I'm afraid, and stumbled upon this quilt panel of stenciled folk motifs.  As soon as I saw it I was really inspired.  It was the chicken stencil that really captured my heart.

I carefully cut them out, making sure the stencils were evenly centered.  I was a nervous wreck worrying about cutting them wrong.  But in the end I was able to cut all twelve of them.  Phew!

I cut 3 1/2" strips of the blue fabric I found at Hobby Lobby to block each stencil.  Then I cut 2 1/2" strips of the red fabric to join the quilt blocks together.  Once that part was done I cut 6 1/2" strips of the red fabric and made the border along the outside of the quilt blocks.  The quilt top was done!

Next step was to buy four yards of off white muslin to match the stencils.  I cut it in half and turned the 2 yard pieces sideways and stitched them together to make the quilt back.  After sandwiching the back and front with the cotton batting I pinned it all over with a ton of safety pins.

I used my walking foot to quilt it with blue thread on top and off white in the bobbin.  Honestly this was the hardest part of the job, mainly keeping this bad boy under control while I stitched away.  If it hadn't been for the walking foot I don't think I could have done this.

After trimming the quilt edges I cut 1 1/2" strips from the blue fabric for binding.  I stitched them on the edge of the quilt, turned them over to pin them in place and then handstitched the whole binding with little hidden stitches.

Full size quilt

And then I was done.  Whooo hooooooooo!

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I was up bright and early Sunday morning for a quick trip to the grocery store.  I only needed a few items to round out what we already have on hand.  I also picked up some nice New York Strip steaks that were on sale for $4.87 a pound.  Haven't seen them that low for quite some time.

We had company for Sunday dinner.  I used the pork roast I had planned for supper to make pork verde.  Served up with steamed rice, cheddar cheese and sour cream to garnish and a nice salad with homemade dressing.  My youngest made homemade ice cream and I picked up a bottle of root beer for only 79¢ to make floats for our dessert.  This meal was very affordable for entertaining.

After making the roast Sunday that I had planned from our monthly meal plan I shucked the plan the remainder of the week so we could continue to purge the kitchen freezer.  I can't believe how much stuff I'd squirreled away in there.  We enjoyed plenty of leftovers for our lunches throughout the week.

Pasta Carbonara

Tuesday evening the youngest and I popped down to Albertson's real quick to pick up spaghetti sauce (68¢ a can) and fudgesicles (88¢ a box) that were on sale.  I also grabbed grapes for $1.29 a pound.

I gave several boxes we emptied out a couple weeks ago to a co-worker who is moving.  Nice when someone can get some use out of them instead of stuffing them into the recycle bin.

I made three pints of homemade salad dressing - Creamy Italian and 1000 Island.

I added about a tablespoon of warm water to our bottle of hair conditioner and shook the living daylights out of it.  It removed the thick layer of conditioner coating the sides of the bottle so now we can use it all up.

I made up some more soap solution for our foaming hand soap dispenser and refilled it.

Our hens have been very busy ladies lately.  I sold 5 dozen eggs to two my co-workers and a friend!  They've earned enough to buy their next 50# bag of food and still keep us well supplied with eggs.

It was a much cooler week so I opened the window in the morning to allow in the cool fresh air.  We did not need to use our A/C units.  It also rained on Tuesday, Wednesday and again on Thursday saving me two days of watering.  We usually water three days a week.

I received new coupons in the mail from Fred Meyer.

I was emailed an offer for a free can of cat food.  I accepted. J

A dear friend of mine has been going through her entire house and purging.  She gave us an extra DVD player she had for our TV, knowing we don't have one, and a like new adjustable light for my sewing table.  I really don't think it was ever used.  SCORE!

How was your thrifty week?

Mailbox Rehab

Our little ol' mailbox was in dire need of a little TLC.  Not nearly as much as our sweet little neighbor lady's, however, so I decided, since I was planning to do ours I might as well do hers at the same time.

After removing them from their wobbly perch the young one and I got busy and removed the hardware before getting after them with a piece of medium fine sandpaper.  It took a lot of elbow grease and a putty knife to get the surfaces smooth and the old numbers scraped off.  Especially the neighbor's.  It was pretty rough and originally harvest gold.  Go figure.

Our faded green one and our neighbor's rusty multi colored one

With a rag we got them all cleaned up and in the sunshine they dried really quick.  Once again the dollar store shower curtain was spread out on the lawn and tacked down with rocks from the flowerbeds.

We used Claret Wine spray paint which matches the trim on our respective houses perfectly. It looks really red in the pictures, but it actually is more burgandy.  After several light coats, inside and out we left them all day to dry.  We cleaned up the hardware and got it put back on that evening.

Sanded, cleaned and drying in the sun

Next came the numbers I bought last month in anticipation of this project.  To me it was like icing on a cake.  But guess what?  The stupid things wouldn't stay on.  They kept popping off.  Not sticky enough, so they'll be going back to the store.

I figured I'd have to take the numbers back and then go somewhere else to search for new numbers.  Not what I was hoping to do on Memorial Day.  I really wanted to be done with this.  Then I figured I'd just make a stencil and use the black spray paint I already have in the garage and just spray the numbers on.  Duh!  Why didn't I just think of that in the first place.

The young one learned how to spray paint

I used Stencil font on the computer and printed out our house numbers on a sheet of paper and used my razor knife to cut them out.  Since our address is only one number different than the neighbor I only had to print one extra number.  Once I was done with ours I cut off the last number and replaced it with hers.  Then I stenciled her box.

We reinforced the post so it wouldn't wobble any more with a couple more long screws and then the mailboxes were put back in place.  What an amazing difference!  I took before and after pictures to show our neighbor since she is pretty much housebound and won't get to see them until one of her kids picks her up for a doctor appointment.

All dry and ready for hardware and numbers

For the price of a can of spray paint ($3.67) we now have a couple of pretty spiffy mailboxes, if I do say so myself.  Won't the mailman be surprised?  He might even feel like he can safely put off getting his next tetanus booster.  J

Much improved!

Now all I have to do is return the numbers next time I go grocery shopping since Home Depot is right next door.  Stenciling the numbers saves me over $5.00.  I'll put that toward our next project.