The Tuesday Afternoon Club.

One of my goals this year is to get back to my crafts and making things.   I want to save and build up my gift cupboard, pantry and home by making everything I can.

I am always amazed by what is possible if we work with our hands.  We can turn uninteresting  ingredients into something fabulous like a birthday cake.  Or sad looking left overs into a quiche, soup, stock, fried rice...  Left over meat or a casserole can become a beautiful pie. An abundance of something might become jam, relish, pickles or sauce.
Whatever comes our way we have the opportunity to make it into something or else pretty much waste it.

Our bits of fabric might become a beautiful quilt or pyjamas for the little ones.  Old linens might become curtains, aprons, napkins,  tablecloths...

The power of making things is just amazing!  The possibilities are just endless.  It is easy to save $200 in a day just with baking.  Last year I studied the prices at the bakery and found one day I had saved over $150 just by making a bulk batch of sausage rolls!   Let alone the trays of scones, muffins and several Quiches I made that day.  Some how "not much" becomes something the everyone loves to come home to and smell as they come in the door.

The budget effect is the flow on from all of this.  Lunches are taken to work and school.  You have meals in the freezer for emergencies and sick days.  Things are used up instead of wasted.  It is all to your advantage.

I want to especially focus on using supplies I have and things that are around me.  I want to keep my eyes open!  I have lots of card making supplies, glitter, glue, cellophane bags, blanketing, ribbon, twine, cotton, fabrics and so on.
I also have herbs, apples, pears, bay leaves, pine cones, blue gum, figs, quinces...
And I never know what I might find as we go along!

I know I work better with company, challenges and motivation.  I just do.  Better than on my own with no one to egg me on!
Last year in our Show and Tell posts we saw so many beautiful things you all have been making. Such diversity!   One week we had a post from Alison and Rebecca in New Zealand.  You can read what they did here.... it is amazing!  Catching up with Show and Tell Part 3.
Alison and Rebecca were reading along and decided to meet every second Tuesday afternoon and make all their Christmas presents together.  They made a great range of beautiful gifts.  Just wonderful.   I loved seeing all they made so much.  And by doing it together they obviously had a really lovely time as well.  Company is good!

So this year we are going to join them.  In spirit anyway!   We are having The Tuesday Afternoon Club!
I think I will make it weekly on Facebook as it is much easier if we post our own pictures but for those who don't want to do that we will have a fortnightly post here on the blog.  Like Show and Tell really.
It will be a closed group so that none of your family or friends will see your gifts if you are making things and want to share the pictures!  Having not run a closed group before I am working it out!  If you would like to join post your name  here.  This is the Bluebirds FB page and I will add you.  If you already follow Bluebirds fb page I will try and send you an invitation!   So I am working on it!

On The Tuesday Afternoon Club page as we make things we can post our own pictures and progress reports.  I will share whatever I have been making.   We can also share recipes, links to patterns and anything helpful to help each other with tutorials, packaging ideas etc.   Also it can be a place of help i.e. you might have materials you just can't think what to do with so you could post a photo and let everyone chime in with suggestions!

Mary sent me a verse this morning "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might"

I love this!   I think we have so many opportunities every day to make something.  

I truly believe busy hands do make happy hearts!

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."   This attitude serves us well!  

The Proverbs woman "worked with her hands with delight" and was not afraid of the winter.

I think she was confident about winter  (which could mean actual winter or also perhaps hard times?) because of both her faith and her hard work.  Faith and hard work are a good combination!   She has spent her time providing food for the family, bringing food from afar, planting, trading goods she makes for profit,  she is sewing, spinning, making clothes and bed linens,  she helps the needy, she is industrious... there is no mention of her laying on the lounge watching Netflix. 

My goal is to make what I can from what I have and what comes my way and to stock up my gift cupboard for both birthdays and Christmas.  Right now is fruit season here so I am just starting to come into free fruit.  I think the next month I will have the opportunity to make many gifts and things to build up the pantry with all this fruit.  Right now I have apricots, plums and figs.  So I will work on those.  

I think my words for the year are Grateful. Prudent. Industrious.  

So lets get making!

What supplies do you have that you could turn into gifts or something for the household?

What do you have on hand right now that could be made into something to feed the family?

I hope our year of making will build up our homes and our skills at the same time and also be lots of fun! xxx