The Christmas Challenge. The handmade Christmas.

This is the third year that I started making Christmas gifts in January.  Making things all year has made such a difference and also has covered birthdays and all the other occasions along the way.  I am guessing but I think overall I have made about 80% of the gifts and probably reduced my costs by something similar. The best bit is I end up with a lot more to give.  Just now with going through the present cupboard I found I could donate another four rugs to charity and I can make up some spare gifts to give away as I see the opportunity. It is all a win win!

The challenge serves a few purposes for me... it motivates me to try new crafts,  saves a lot of money and keeps me more content in the winter months.  An extra bonus has been seeing all your crafts as well!

Many of us also make our own cards, decorations, table centre pieces, wreaths and all sorts of things!
So really it is quite a handmade Christmas! This is something to think about! Making someone a wreath for their door or a table display is also a great gift to give.

Today I want to think about things we can make for Christmas besides just the gifts.

I love to look at catalogues to see what people buy and how much they pay for things.  So many things that are easy to make are considered wonderful gifts and with price tags to match! The companies that put together hampers ... take a look at those! There are just so many things that we can quite easily do for a fraction of the cost.

 I saw a local florist had Christmas wreaths starting at a couple of hundred dollars. A neighbour had hers delivered by a van and she threw it out at the end! A pool noodle is a great base for a wreath! Or a Hoola Hoop. They come in larger or smaller sizes.  I used a large Hoola Hoop and made a wreath for our door plus one for Mum's. The greenery was an old cut up Christmas tree. Mine cost well under $20 to make.  Actually tearing apart an old tree will give you greenery to decorate a mantle or a table centre, wreaths and a lot of things. Last year I got a Christmas tree for $3 in the sales just to rip it up and make wreaths as gifts.

Other years we picked up pinecones and gum nuts.  I sprayed them with glue and sprinkled glitter over them. We made so many of these! One year they decorated the table and another they were heaped up under the tree.

I also glittered gum nuts and used them instead of bows on the parcels. You could use leaves, flowers, shells... whatever you have!

Another year I piled up anything sparky I had including jewellery onto a tiered cake stand. I just added little birds and that was my centrepiece.

Baking can give you decorations, gifts and special treats to share. I am always packaging up baking to give.  I made Shortbread every year. It is not expensive to make and a whole round of Shortbread is a spectacular gift! Otherwise I cut in into wedges and divide it up.

I always make Gingerbread as well. That is usually given to neighbours and Andy's work mates etc.

Quite often I need baskets especially to give little hamper type gifts. These might be a small Christmas cake, some biscuits, coconut ice, a jar or two of jam and even some fresh herbs or dried bay leaves. Having lovely baskets to pack things into and having them on hand is the thing. All year I watch for suitable ones in op shops and pay 50c or a $1 for them.  I wash them and some years line them up and spray paint the lot silver or sparkly paint.  This year I have several and they are a nice natural french grey basket so that can stay as they are.

Mimi makes her own wrapping paper by using butchers paper and writes lovely script  across it wth Christmas or Birthday wishes. It looks so stylish and is a fraction of the cost of buying gift wrap.

Tulle cut into strips makes very cheap and beautiful ribbons and bows. I love floral fabrics just torn for a shabby chic kind of effect. Glitter helps everything!

I save up store bags and recover them and then have new gift bags! Old Christmas cards work really well for this and bits of sparkle.  These were some I did a couple of years ago...

The act of settling a table beautifully is part of your Christmas decorating and creates such an exciting atmosphere! I have crystal plates and glasses that I have collected over the years. All the sparkle looks amazing.  Mostly I will cut flowers from the garden or use something I have  to make the table look nice. Be inventive! Your craft supplies probably hold all kinds of things you can use.

On the farm Mum places deer antlers and pinecones that she picks up next to the front door. This is her country Christmas decor.

My own Christmas tree now is a $15 tree in a road side pot. It is small and sweet. I used to have a giant tree when the kids were little but now I have gone simple and I like it! It just does not have to cost a fortune is my point!

If you run strips of tulle through your sewing machine you get glorious garlands of tulle!

Truly you can put together a beautiful Christmas without breaking the bank!

Fill vases with greenery and pick Holly if someone has a bush of it. We have a lot of native things that flower in right red and look wonderful brought inside for Christmas.

What do you make that makes Christmas special at your place? What would you like to do this year that maybe you haven't done before?

I have not put our tree up yet.... that is in December for us. But I am wrapping and making! And I have some gorgeous fabric Paula gave me and loads of glitter!

Coming up we have a post about how Ida celebrated Christmas when they had no money and in the depression.... and another about 100% free glorious things to make Christmas memorable and wonderful.

I hope your week is going well! xxx

The Vicky Challenge. More from Vicky's visit to the nursing home.

I was looking forward to my Vicky Challenge as last week had lots of things that came in and I knew would really give a boost to my savings!

These included all the lemons from Hilde. Lemons were $1.75 each in the supermarket. I had 44 huge lemons for free which equals a ridiculous $77 retail.  This makes me realise to use every lemon to the maximum! Thanks to Jes that also includes using the peels!
The crabs Andy caught were 2 kilos of Blue Swimmer Crabs value $44. Plus then also there is the saving of not needing other ingredients to make his dinner for two nights!
Others were 4 herb plants. Here a small pot of herbs is about $5 = $20
Op shop items I saved on = $60
Savings on buying meat from a wholesaler. $50.
I made four pizzas from scratch. The cost of the ingredients kind of meant I paid for one pizza and the other there were free saving $60.
I made all lunches =$100.
Packed the fishing day picnic = $50. (including drinks for the day)
I made four dozen fruit balls and froze them = $25
A huge potato salad cost very little to make and I gave everyone containers of it for the weekend. $20.
I made up a gift from items I had made saving $25.
All up it was a busy ad good week although I dint get any painting done!
I wrote $530 in my savings book.  Have to be happy with that!

Recently Vicky was telling us about her visit to a nursing home and the stories from the old ladies who
lived through the depression. Lots of you asked if Vicky could share more of these stories.

Canned Black Olives.

(The photos in this post are from Teri. She has been busy canning and making the most of every
 opportunity! I love seeing these! Thank you Teri!)

Peach and Nutmeg Jelly.

Over to Vicky:

I have been talking to old ladies and I do mean some of these ladies are very old, but they are living history! They have much to share if we choose to take the time to listen and to share with them as well. We can all enrich ourselves even just a tad bit from the past. And maybe some of it will seem familiar, but we can at least take heart that others have been there. 

I learned many different things from simple happiness, quiet hope to desperation to things done for sheer survival. It was a different time for sure, but I have such respect for all that lived it.

One of the biggest things I learned is that a woman can truly make a home anywhere and I think it is one of our greatest gifts. A dirty old chicken coop, an old boxcar, a little shanty or a crowded rooming house, apartment or house they all strived to do their best to turn it into some kind of home. 

They did it with very little and in very little space at times.

Ida: Ida was 13 when she married in 1929. She had her first baby at 14 then 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Ida is a whopping 100 years old and has seen many things come and go and lived through many times of good and bad. 

Being such a young wife and mother especially during the Depression she had to grow up fast. When she got married they were gifted 2 chickens, a tablecloth, a few bed sheets, some dishes ,cooking utensils, some canned goods and $10. At 13 she felt rich! 

Ida and her husband who was 17 although young were very resourceful, they moved from here to there while her husband looked for work and finally settled into a shanty that they built from whatever they could find. To others it was crude and ugly to Ida it was their first home and beautiful and she endeavored to make it homey. They made furniture from what they could find that was free boards and fruit crates. She found a pretty teacup that the back half was broken so she put it on a shelf and only displayed the front. 

Money was hard to come by and when they could make some they did what they had to and then did all they could to make the meager amount last as long as possible and not waste anything. They were very resourceful as most were back in the day. 

Ida was given a few tomatoes and a small bag of green beans. She saved the seeds from the tomatoes and dried a handful of the beans so they could grow them the next year. They lived more on a country side so they foraged. They picked Dandelion greens, berries and nuts. They would spend hours shelling nuts and she would trade some of them. They picked apples and dried them on a bed sheet. She said it didn't matter what they looked like it was cut up and dried. They would pick wild onions for weeks because they were so small it took hundreds to fill a bag, but pick them they would and she dried the tops for flavoring and used the little tiny onions for various things. Anything edible that they could add to the table was harvested. She said food wasn't plentiful for the poor and so many people were near to starved that they would fight over trash. And although they didn't starve they were never stuffed either. When they had any money they always bought food. She served a lot of baked beans and bread or biscuits a rabbit here and there. A man they knew helped them make a wood stove and because their shanty was so drafty it was never warm and her babies were always sick with "the cold" so they stuffed newspaper in all of the cracks. When the chickens quit laying they ate them. And wasted nothing. Ida made it through and so did her family and when I asked her how she felt about this she said, "Well you just do what you have to do crying doesn't make it go away." "You usually don't find the blessings by sitting on you butt you work to deserve them." 

XOXO

Vicky

A lot of us probably wish we could ask out Grandparents questions and learn skills from them now. I learned a lot and was influenced enormously by my Grandparents but I still wish I could ask them more!  If you still have your Grandparents find out everything you can now! Write down their recipes and tips. Learn everything you can! They went through times we cannot even imagine! 

Cherry, Pear and Almond Jelly.

A lot of old time skills are extremely valuable. Life saving even in a crisis.  

Teri dries her own fruit to make my Christmas Cake!

How did you save and get ahead last week? I hope it was a good week for you! 

Fresh Salsa with home grown tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Fresh flowers from Teri's garden.

Most of the old time skills are big money savers. The more we learn the better off we are.  What did you learn from your Grandparents or maybe someone older who has taught you sometime in your life?

I had an older lady that was a big influence on me when the girls were small. Yes she taught me skills but her biggest influence was she taught common sense and wise priorities.  She also taught hard work and she was just very frugal and practical. Having people like this in our lives are such a help! 

Vicky is still visiting Ida. If you have a question you would like her to ask Ida please ask away! 

Thank you to Teri! It is beautiful to see what you have been doing! 

Have a wonderful new week! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 11 November, 2016.

I have a lot to report this week as it has been really busy.  My list of things accomplished and savings lives on the fridge and I love seeing it grow and be able to add things to it.  I think even keeping that list is motivating to me.
Fridays review is a really happy time.  I feel so happy with what I got done!
It is so important to look back and feel good about what you achieved and take a moment away from everything that is still to be done!

So some of the ways I build up the home, saved and got ahead this week include:

I had a day where I visited my friend Hilde and shopped at Aldi, a great fruit and veggie shop and several op shops. It was a big day!

Yesterday I turned some of the lemons into Lemon Butter. It always looks and tastes glorious!

Lemons, Lemon Butter and yellow roses! This is how my kitchen turned out yesterday! 

So back to the beginning....   Hilde sent me home with two big baskets of lemons.

It was a beautiful day. Just being out in the garden picking lemons was such a happy time!

Hilde also gave me Oregano, Thyme and Sage plants! She has them coming up everywhere and we dug some up. As soon as I got home I planted them and they are looking fine.  We have a lime tree in a big pot. Now it has baby herbs around the bottom.

After I made the Lemon Butter I used some of the peels to make Lemon infused Glycerine.  This is from Jes' book.

One of the things I plan to make with this is her  Lemon Liquid Hand Soap. I can't wait to get on to that. This mix has to develop first.
Then as Jes' instructs I saved every other lemon peel and they are out drying in the sun right now. These are going to end up in soap and cleaning products.
So now I can say I use all of each lemon!
The next lot I cut up I am going to start my own Lemon Essence as well.
Jes' has her ebook 100+DIY Projects to make with Fruit Scraps on her blog Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.  I will never waste a lemon or orange peel again!

The trip to Aldi was wonderful.  I have still been discovering more savings there. I came home with meat at excellent prices, fruit and vegetables and basics like sugar, butter etc. It was quite a stock up and the price was amazing.

I also op shopped and got a lovely top and beautiful nightie.

When I got home I had a huge car load of lemons, plants, op shopping, groceries etc and it took me ages to unpack and sort. Made worse by the fact that I was listening to election results coming in and can say I saw live every big announcement and lucky I kept my hands busy unpacking or I would have no fingernails left at all. How everyone handled the stress I don't know as here I am so far away!

On the way to Hilde's I found kerb rubbish. There was a child's play lawn mower, vacuums cleaner and puzzle toy, all as good as new. I grabbed those! Harper likes anything she can push along.  I have cleaned them up and they will help keep her busy when she comes next week. They are fantastic!

All week I enjoyed roses. Each day I cut the finished flowers and saved the petals. I have baskets of petals everywhere!   I kept bunches of roses inside as well.

The house smells of roses and I have to say being in the sun everyday trimming and picking them has been beautiful. The world looks a lot better when you are outside among the flowers and birds. It has been just lovely. 

Even collapsing flowers look gorgeous. But these are all going to become bath products etc.

My baskets of petals are lined up behind my kitchen bench. Remember that time the chicken tried to lay an egg in one of those baskets? Well I could hear a lot of noise and went to investigate. Then I saw rose petals flying through the air! This crazy chicken thought to come inside and make a nest in rose petals. I wish I took a photo but I was more panicked by the mess unfolding! 

And just like last time later she laid an egg (she has been off the lay for a few weeks). 

I really should have taken a video of that! It was a pretty mess at least. 

During the week I made a double batch of pizza dough and let it rise all day in the window sill. That sorted dinner for two nights and all the lunches.

We got a refund for $100 and this was money we had just about given up on. But we got it back! Andy took that to the wholesale butchers across town. I had googled their weekly specials. Oh my goodness we got a lot of meat and filled up the freezer from that. I think except for huge bargains I will no longer get meat at the supermarket ever again. It was well under half supermarket prices, many things more like a third. For Adelaide people this was Thebarton Specialty Foods. 

Andy caught Blue Swimmer Crabs. He feasted on these for two nights! 

The rule is every time I lean in to take a photo like this one of them suddenly moves! 

But Andy had a great time catching them and eating them! 

I made fruit balls and froze several batches.

Also a giant potato salad for the weekend and taking some to Lucy's this afternoon. Lots of home grown parsley sprinkled over the top.

I needed a present. So I grabbed a little basket I had and put in some hand wash in a bottle I decorated, a jar of the wool wash and a label of instructions and six of my homemade goats milk soap. It looked lovely! The beauty of having a gift cupboard! 

I picked our first radishes.

In the evenings I was wrapping presents.  Just one or two each day. Mainly the ones that need posting early.  I think of that as getting ahead. 

And I re arranged and organised the kitchen pantry a bit more and the new shelves and baskets are my back up supplies like a little shop. It is so good! The extra space is amazing!

My painting was zero! But I did do more spring cleaning most days!

So that is my week!  I can't wait for the Vicky Challenge and to work out my actual savings.  I think it will be one of my better weeks savings wise.

How did you feather your nest this week? I hope there were lots of ways to save, get ahead and just make things lovely.

Have a wonderful weekend! It has been a big week! Some rest and relaxation are needed! xxxx

The Christmas Challenge, Show and Tell for October part 2.

You wouldn't think there could be so much more than last week but there is! Thank you to everyone for your emails and photos!

Firstly we have Joanne R. She has made pillowcases and this has immediately convinced me to make some myself from the vintage sheets I have saved up. This could be good for in the hot weather that we will no doubt have pretty soon.  I love these! What beautiful gifts. (and lovely colours)

Joanne also worked crochet edge on kitchen towels...

Your photos are beautiful Joanne thank you!

Debbie completed an amazing rug. It says "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." which I find you cannot think without singing the words! 

This is for someone who loves that song as it was sung to them as a child.  What an epic project Debbie it is wonderful!

Rosanne was crocheting. She made this rug as a gift. The pattern just amazes me and I would love to learn this!  I have a lot to learn yet!

Patsy has been practicing both crochet edgings and grub roses!  Well, she has them mastered! Take a look over at her blog post on A Working Pantry. I am s proud of you Patsy! Considering all the things you have taught me I am so glad I could help you with something!

Leigh made gorgeous earrings and a pendant using little shells. I think these are beautiful.. 

Melissa K made Christmas cards... reminding me I better get going on some too! These are stunning...

Rachel is stitching the Song of Moses from Deuteronomy. She will know this by heart after this! Beautiful stitching Rachel.

Jane achieved many things. This is amazing...

A lot of us could use this idea on an old cushion or chair!

She also made a bonnet for her Grand daughter and bunting for her room. And this Angel which went to hospital with Bluey! I hope this reminded him of all the prayers that were going up for him and the angels watching over him...

Jen in NC knitted socks...

And made mittens for her daughter. Look at the detail in these!  Month by month I can see Jen's present cupboard is full of lovely things!

Stunning work as usual Jen!

She also made Roseship Syrup from the British WW2 Ministry of Food Brochure called Hedgerow Harvest. This is full of vitamin C. Jen I would love to hear how you made this! 

Thank you all so much!  I am terrified I have forgotten someone... I am feeling rather disorganised. If I have it is not intentional.  All the beautiful work that you do is amazing. 

As we have been talking about alternative incomes we have a lot of examples of skills here that are both money savers and also potential earners. If we think about it we may well have skills we don't even use that we could revive. I think we need a change sometimes too but it is worth thinking about what are you really good at and yet haven't used that skill for a while? 

Today I am off to see Hilde, shop at Aldi and go to several op shops. Also go to a wonderful fruit and veg shop on the way.  I am hoping for a good day and great finds!  This will also keep me from watching the election coverage and having potential heart failure!

Cookies husband is home and all is well! 

Patti asked for prayers for her brother Billy. Patti if you are reading this is a message to you from Cookie. She says many states have a programme run by DAV (Disabled American Veterans) where they will pick up and take veterans to medical appointment and bring them home again. She thought she would mention it in case this could help. Thank you Cookie! xxx

Patti I have been praying for Billy. xxx

The Vicky Challenge. Alternative incomes.

Last weeks Vicky Challenge was reasonable. I counted painting $300, savings on bulk purchases $116 and lunches $100. I wrote $516 in my savings book.
Then I remembered I did not add savings on my hairdressing in October and went back and added that in!
Sometime soon I am going to add up each month so far and be ready to add up the whole year at the end of December!
Then the question will be will I do this again next year and try to beat it as Vicky does?  I think I might as writing down my week and my savings is second nature now and it would be hard not to do it!  And it keeps me very aware of my savings as the week goes along. It makes me WATCH for extra ways to save which is good!

The photos in this post are all from Rachel. This is a meat pie!

She does all her cooking without electricity! 

Thank you Rachel for all your beautiful photos!

Last week we were talking about dealing with really big bills. Thank you for so many wonderful comments and ideas. There are a number of ladies who comment here regularly who are facing astronomical health insurance bills and many others who can just relate due to their own big bills or rising costs generally.
The ideas came in for days and it is worth reading through the comments as they are full of advice about saving money on prescriptions, utilities and some very creative suggestions.
Whenever there is talk about saving money and cutting costs there are always a heap of things that come to mind. Most to the ladies we are thinking about right now have already put into place all the usual things and live very frugally and creatively also bring in extra income. So we need over and above the usual ways to save.

Today we are going to brainstorm some ideas that might be less commonly thought of. Some things are new and available now due to the internet which makes the world a much smaller place!

First I am thinking about tackling a regular large payment by dividing it up. My friend was saying her problem is finding an extra $400 a month.  So I will use that amount as my example.  I think of that as $100 per week.  Then it can be broken down further as you come up with ideas. It could be $50 a week of savings need to be found plus $50 of extra earnings.  Or further broken down into more categories as you think is manageable...  like earning an extra $5 a day and saving another $5 a day. Whatever makes it work better for you!

This is a Ricotta tart that Rachel makes. To top it off first she makes her own Ricotta. 

This is going to be in an upcoming post with the method and recipe.

Possibilities for earning extra money depend a lot on your location and the amount of room you have and everything these days needs to be checked into well for the legal and insurance aspects.

In the city space is a commodity. People rent out their driveways, sheds, spare room, even back yard for the parking of boats, caravans and such things. There is a surprising amount of money in renting space.  If you are close to a big city this also might be a possibility. If you leave near the beach someone is going to want to park a boat in your shed!

If you have land it might be possible to grow a crop as something that is currently popular. I have had success selling home grown Parsley, Bay Leaves and other herbs to a local organic cafe.
Someone else was doing very well selling potted succulents out the front of this cafe.
But markets are also a great way to see all kinds of homemade produce and hand made items. A market stall could be a once a month thing or shared with someone else to reduce the costs.
A lot of families in the country areas here just have a sign out the front that says "fresh eggs for sale" etc.
Growing flowers could be a possibility too.
You may be able to allow someone to camp on your property or park a caravan.
A friend in my old town grew tomatoes from seeds in her greenhouse and sold them as individual plants as soon as Spring started. I always got tomatoes from her! They were so healthy and ready to plant. She made a lot each year from this!

Raising animals is another if you have space. It might be chickens or rabbits, a breed of birds or anything at all but I know quite a few people who have made money from their backyard business this way. Andy's friend earns a good living raising quail as quail are a big menu item and so are quail eggs. They do it all in an average backyard!

I can see I will have access to hundreds of figs in summer. They sell for around $1 each here! I have a possibility I could sell these to a local cafe or restaurant or even at a market.

If you have animals I know that the big trend in gorgeous children photography means these photographers pay for photo sessions with lambs, bunnies, chickens, puppies etc.  You would possibly be able to strike a deal and if you are in attendance you are in charge of the welfare of your animals.   Another would be to allow visits to your farm to see baby animals. People will pay for this!

Explore your talents. There are designers who pay for at home knitters and crocheters, embroiderers etc.
Team up with someone i.e. like Mum does the knitting and I add the grub roses...  and start an Etsy shop.
Explore baby wear stores, gift stores etc in your area. Most times you will see there are a team of people supplying that store with handmade items. Locally this seems to include hand made quilts, knitwear and embroidered rugs.  For some time I embroidered this way for a beautiful store. The store owner had asked my aunt where did she get the rug that was covering her Granddaughter.... and the rug was from me! They would basically take anything I embroidered and that kept me with orders for a couple of years.

Pumpkin Damper.

Selling things via Ebay, your local paper, local online sellers, Face book groups etc. This can apply to anything you have to sell from handmade items to junk in the shed!

Teach a skill. A lady in the town I used to live in made great money from having embroidery classes. This is where I really got started in embroidery. It then became social and we all went along weekly for the fun, chat and actual sewing!  She also sold silk ribbons and various things that we all needed.  It was wonderful! This could apply to patchwork, teddy bear making or anything you can think of really.
Andy taught students the drums for many years as an extra income. We still have that as a back up income available to us.

Take in ironing or mending. No one seems to want to do these things themselves!

I had a friend who decorated wedding cakes. She was wonderful at it and this is worth a lot of money now. She also made and decorated Christmas cakes which she sold each year.

Another lady I know made the most divine Gingerbread Houses every Christmas. She had them complete with little lights that came on inside the house! Each one was a work of art! My Mum purchased one and it became the centrepiece on the table before it was all eaten.

Mulberry Jam from Rachel's Dads tree!

Vicky's husband is a man who can fix just about anything! He fixes things up and sells them and people bring all kinds of things to him to be repaired. He makes a living out of it and people save money as their mowers etc are fixed and they don't need to buy a new one!

Another lady Mum knows knits and sews all year and has a room in her house that is full of gorgeous things she makes. It is all available for sale. The locals all go to her for their baby gifts etc. These days of course that could be run as an Etsy shop, a market stall, a Facebook shop etc.

It is also worth looking into bartering. This can be with goods or skills. Is there something you regularly pay for that could be bartered for? That is an interesting area to explore!

I hope I have got the ball rolling. Finding a market or need and filling it is the key. A man Andy knows could see that Pomegranates were coming into fashion and he planted his spare land with Pomegranates. He makes very good money from this insight!
Kale seems to be a big thing here. Rows of that would sell well I am sure!
Simply asking local shops what is it that they are looking for? What do they have trouble getting?  This can tip you off and tell you there is a gap in the market.

Over to you! What ideas do you have? If you know someone making money from hand made items or catering to a niche market what is it? How do they do it?  One of these ideas might be just the right thing for someone searching for an answer.
I think that multiple income streams are a very good idea.

How did you save last week? I hope everyone has a good new week. It will be a big one that is for sure with the US elections. I am praying about that as it affects us all and it greatly impacts many of my dear friends. xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 4 November, 2016.

This week has gone by a bit too fast but it has been good and we have finally had a couple of truly beautiful spring days! And today is another! 

Some of the ways I built up the nest this week include:

A lot more painting. Now the car garage is all painted and much more of the back fence. 

I have been collecting and drying rose buds. These pink ones are from Mum's. 

There are hundreds of them! I do this ready to decorate my Coconut Ice in December. They are a free way to make packaging look lovely.  This is how I used them last year...

I still have a few left in a cellphone bag as they keep years. They can also be used to decorate little presents i.e. tucked into a ribbon or bow and are lovely to use to decorate soaps, bath bombs and other creations.   

I was going to post a panoramic picture of how the house looks painted but they make it look odd like we live on a wide curvy corner block as it distorts things. So instead here is just directly out the front and at least it shows some of the roses and how the paint looks!

Ahhh that fence was what gave me the sore arm! But I still love it! 

My roses are going really well.  I have hundreds of white roses and a few lilac. At the side of the house there is an archway covered in yellow roses. They are big droopy and gorgeous!

As they fade I am cutting off they dying ones so more will come on. I am saving and drying all the petals.

So far I have three baskets going... they look a lot but shrink as they dry so I just keep adding.  The plan is to use them in bath products and I want to try making rose scented oils to use in next years soap making.

My Aunt sent me a beautiful parcel with a book, bath towels, lemons and jars! One of the jars is an old style with a lid I can paint and add a rose sticker to.

I worked on the IKEA shelves we found.  This is before...

And this is them now...

The baskets are really big! This is all becoming part of my pantry. It will hold my spares and back ups to my kitchen pantry.  I will have so much more space!

I found some good specials.  One was 110 Finish Dishwasher tablets for $20. They will last me a long time! 

The other was hair colour. Revlon for $5 each. Usually they are about $19.... I wait until they are on special and get them at about $12 but these were $5! I tried one and it was beautiful so I went back and got eight more. A big savings and I have a big supply as well. My hair was shinier and felt as if I had a conditioning treatment. So very happy!  

At last I took everything out of the present cupboard! This was really fun and over the year the Christmas Challenge has really added up! I barely have to buy anything.

I need to get back to reporting my 100 Day Challenge! 

Today is day 75!  Boy have I done a lot of paining in 75 days! I have not painted everyday or spring cleaned everyday either but most days did some things towards my challenge. So it has helped me get to the end of the year with more done.

Day 69. Saturday. Painted outside with Allie most of the day.

Day 70. Painted fencing around the garage and Allie painted the high sections at the back of the house.

Day 71. Undercoated new doors.

Day. 72. Undercoated IKEA shelves. (After cleaning them up)

Day 73. First coat of white on the shelves.

Day 74... more work on IKEA shelves and more work on new doors.

Day 75. (today)  Big clean up day!

I hope you had a good week. How did you feather your nest this week?

Have a lovely weekend. xxx

The Christmas Challenge. Show and Tell for October. Part 1.

We are in November! I had so much fun yesterday as by my own rules I was "allowed" to get everything out of the present cupboard!  I am still sorting it all out as it takes ages to work out who gets what and so on. But already I have Birthday gifts as well as Christmas gifts for some family members. That will put me well ahead in January as well ahead now for Christmas!
For everyone who has participated with this challenge I cannot wait for you to experience the same... getting things out that you barely even remember having put in there and making gifts up. There will be so much you will NOT be buying this December!

Thank you to everyone who has sent in pictures. We are going to need two weeks of this Show and Tell.

Also thank you to everyone who commented on Monday's post about big bills. More and more ideas came in. Plus quite a bit of information and tips that could be useful re the medical care costs in the US plus other money saving and making tips generally. A great selection of tips came in on saving on prescriptions and electricity.  Next week we will pick up from there with as many ideas as we can come up with and different things... things we might not have thought of or tried before.

In light of big bills and tight budgets making your own gifts can be a huge saving. Gift giving is a big area we can review and possibly cut by a lot.  This does not necessarily mean giving less. It can mean giving more! (as you will see below!)

Now to Show and Tell...
As usual I am posting things in no particular order and representing everyone but I do not use all photos otherwise it would be too many posts! But I love seeing everything and many times I am able to use photos somewhere as I did with Rachel's Dad's beautiful photos on Monday. Thank you!

Firstly we have Pat. She makes quilts at a rate I have never seen! And she is using all fabrics she has on hand or that come her way.

Pat has used many as gifts including a wedding gift recently.

Thank you Pat you are very inspiring! Your colour schemes are always gorgeous.

Cookie has many talents. This month we have some of her cards. She paints her own roses then applies them to her cards.  I have seen them close up as she sent me some!

Some had a lace trim as well...

I love them!

Wendy makes a lot of cards. At one time she told me she just isn't crafty.  I took no notice of this and soon she was trying her hand at cards.  You should see what she makes now! 

And we have said many times that learning new skills and working on them can lead to gifts, items to barter with, items to give to charity, things to sell...   Now Wendy has started an Etsy shop with some friends.  She has gone from "not crafty" to having her own online shop to bring in extra income for her family!  

For Christmas Wendy has made little beaded angels...

This is a link to her shop...  The Crafty Mums Co-op.  I think this is a very inspiring story and I am very proud of you Wendy! 

This could be an idea for others. Hand made things are sought after. With the internet the whole world can be your market.  Also on Etsy you can sell craft supplies. This opens up a world of things you could possibly find and sell such as fabrics, yarn, laces, embroidery etc. There are some creative examples like a lady who cuts up angora, cashmere and other luxury jumpers/sweaters and sells the pieces to be re crafted. Really Etsy is an amazing source of beautiful things. It is also a good place to check what people are paying for the things you are making.

Susan made Lemon Astringent using the recipe in Jes' ebook.  You can find the ebook at Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth (on my side bar) and the book is called 100+ things to do with fruit scraps.
The labels for the projects are included in the book.
Susan has fruit trees so I knew this book was going to be wonderful for her!

What a nice gift or lovely to use ourselves! Thank you so much Susan. I am waiting on fruit!

Mimi came up with an idea that made me wonder why on earth didn't I think of that!  She went to the thrift stores and found lovely things like silk camisoles, satin pyjamas and dressing gowns...  on her blog she even shows the before photos (think crinkled) and then the afters where she has added little touches of embroidery. For everyone working on their rose embroidery this is a wonderful use for them!

Take a look here at A Tray of Bliss and also look at more recent posts as I notice she just posted tips on packaging for items like this. Very helpful as presentation is a big component of gift giving and as you can see this looks lovely and luxurious! I think she paid $3 or something for the silk camisole! 

I can see so many possibilities here and I would like to embroider a little dressing gown for Harper. Gorgeous.  But I also love half slips, pretty nighties and dressinggonws... so now they are on my search lists!  

Next I have gorgeous knitting from Maria G.

The top rug is knitted in cotton and was for Maria's Granddaughter.

The bottom rug is for her friends baby. Just beautiful knitting Maria.  She also made a knitted rug for a recent 50th Birthday gift.  They are heirloom gifts!

Thank you everyone. This demonstrates handmade gifts can be really economical and luxurious and incredibly generous gifts.  being busy with your hands = happiness! 

I hope your week is going well!   

What are you working on and how is your present supply looking? There is still time to get a lot done!  November is great to finish up bigger projects and fill some gaps in our gift giving supplies.

xxx