Feather your Nest Friday, 31st July, 2015.

The last day of July! So there goes another month! While it is nice to look back over the week and see what we achieved it is lovely too to think about what we did during the month. I also love a new month! What goals to set for August? Here August is the last month of winter. I know one thing to aim for and that is getting some more Christmas presents made. Finish all pruning in the garden... enjoy the last month of wintery cooking... use the cold dark nights for crochet and crafts... and I will have to think about the rest!

This week flew by and attempts to have a slower week didn't really work. But I am happy that I achieved a few things and worked through my various lists!

So this week I saved money by:

I finished a couple more presents. Some of them are just working an edge around really huge french themed tea towels (kitchen towels). They are giant sized with french images and french script.

I was given MORE lemons! This was my third bucketful. It filled two big baskets.

With these I made more lemon butter. Some for gifts and some to give back to the lady who gave me the lemons. On one I tied a tag with the recipe and easy way to make it. 

Next I will juice a lot of them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays for summer drinks. Also I made up two batches of Miracle Cleaner. In place of the Eucalyptus oil I used lemon juice. I also steeped the lemon skins in it for a day and then strained it. It worked! I thought it would as lemon juice smells good and so fresh, cuts through grease etc.  The only thing I am not sure about is if it will keep. Once I've established that I will post the recipe. I hope it keeps as I love it. It makes the house smell beautiful and I made a ton of it!

Another thing I want to try is adding a cup of lemon juice to a white only wash. I have white sheets and white doona cover so I will try this. It is meant to have a strong whitening power.

I collected all kinds of containers from around the place, Mum gave me some and one from an op shop (thrift store) for my future potting up day to make little succulent gardens.  Also got beautiful little pebbles for this at $2 a bag.

This is one that I started growing about two months ago. This is a blatant copy-the-idea-from-the-florist-craft. I have posted about their ideas and prices lots of times... well, this one I started for myself (the next ones are for gifts) and it has grown a lovely little flower! it looks so sweet and cheerful on my table... 

For this I had used a bowl I had, dirt from the garden, pinched succulents from Mum's garden and $2 of baby pebbles. So total cost is $2. It is a really big bowl and looks nice I think. It is three times the size of the florists anyway, that are $49 each.

Now the plan is to do a dozen or so smaller ones for gifts.

I found a beautiful doona cover in the op shop that is pale pink with big pink roses. I bought it to cut up and make tea towels.  Doona covers, sheets, curtains, are all good ways to get vast amounts of fabric very cheaply. I love this fabric and it is so pretty! I will make the print the front and use a plain cotton to make the back... this makes it thick enough to use as a kitchen towel. I will get a fair few as it is huge.

I sourced other fabric from the op shop. I needed lace so I bought a single lace curtain, washed it and cut it up. For $5 I got about 6 square meters of lace.

I went to the Chemist warehouse for Andy's scripts and saved a lot. When I say a lot I filled 6 scripts. The saving was over $60. I have decided each time I do this to save some of it and use some of it to build up my pantry. They also have the cheapest dish washing liquid, bleach, hand soap etc so I grab a few of those with my savings and add to my pantry. For the South Australian ladies this is Chemist King. 

Some ways I built up my home...

I added to the emergency pantry. 

We added a little to our emergency fund.

I have been pruning roses and working in the garden when the weather is good enough.

I cooked a meal for everyone, packaged it and delivered it so that everyone had help on Wednesday and a good meal.

And I learned some new things!  Thanks to some wonderful ladies who write to me with their pantry tips and experiences I am learning loads. New skills and knowledge can save a lot of money.

I hope you had a wonderful week and month! How did you build up your home and save money this week? 

Each week I add a little to my pantry. I am amazed by the results of this. Patsy is having a $5 a week pantry challenge at A Working Pantry. She has a face book group too which is very chatty and ladies share how far they made their five dollars go. I really love this. With smart shopping some ladies have got so much for their $5! I always say it but little bits really do add up!

Have a lovely weekend.xxx