Feather your Nest Friday, 6th March 2015.

For our first week of March we had really mild and beautiful weather. It has been lovely!

I already reported some of the things I did to build up our home on Wednesday's pantry blog.  But my pantry efforts are building up our home! They are making it more secure, making life easier if anyone is unwell or we are just really busy, as there are ready to go meals. Also I added to my first aid kits which I'm really pleased with too. Building up our pantires and preparedenss is really valueable.

Otherwsie I built up our home by organising and cleaning out my freezer. I am trying to get as many meals made and put away for when Lucy has the baby. For them and us! Now I have room and shelves ready for extra cooking. I am planning lasagnes, spaghetti bolegnase and soups to begin with.

I saved money by finishing my card making that I had started. I made two sizes. Some larger which I love to make but heaps of standard size cards so I can post them with a standard stamp.  I have a whole boxful of cards now ready for most occassions and letter writing. This will keep me going for a while! I have packed them into my card making box and it is so nice to have them.

Also I made spare "stickers". After sticking the pretend sticker on each envelope I had heaps left and have made a little tin of them. They can decorate parcels! It was the stickers I so much wanted as I loved the effect and really this was so simple. The only difference is the involvement of a glue stick! But I just love them! This saved me a whole order from Etsy and I am just as happy.

I patched some old jeans. I got paint on them and tried and tried to get it out. They are old by my favourite comfy jeans. So now they will be around home jeans. To do it I dyed a butterfly motif blue and sewed it on. So it is kind of subtle and better than a stain. They live again!

We have cracks in the bedroom walls. This happens over summer. I filled them in and it is actually an easy job and since our walls are white you cannot see it at all. No tradesman necessary.

I did a swap with Mum. I traded crochet flowers for knitting. We do these deals sometimes and it helps me with gifts and her with flowers! You can really increase the presents you make and all kinds of things around the home if you team up and share skills. I wrote about this in my ebook. Do swaps, it can be wonderful!  Next week I hopefully can post some pictures of Mum's and my collaborations too where she has knitted and I have added crochet. It is really fun too. Here are a sea of flowers I am taking to her later today...

I wanted to share that my aunt, who's garden I often feature, has a new book out. I have had several emails and letters about her last book A Fig at the Gate so she has won a few new fans here! This is her latest book that is just released. My aunt is such a reminder of my Nan who inspired me so much with her flowers, collecting, creating, sewing and beautifying!

How was your week and how did you save money and build up your home? I hope we are all coming into improving weather together!

The rest of today is going to be spent tidying up and cleaning as somehow I have too many projects out and things going on! There is a cool breeze blowing through the house and I have dinner planned. It is so good to look over the week and realise what we have done instead of only looking at all we have left to do! And to count all the blessings of the week and "see" the bigger picture.

Have a lovely weekend. xxx

Pantries and Preparedness progress report.

I have to say knowing I have a pantries blog coming up is very motivating. I think to myself I had better do this and hurry up and do that or I will have nothing to report! So it is helping me make progress!
I hope joining in here will have the same results for you. I am participating in Patsi's weekly challenges and that works in the same way, I am always thinking I don't want to have to say I didn't get around to the tasks I said i would do! This happened to me once, never again! It's the buddy system, what a good thing it is!

The other thing that is working and always seems to work for me is making a list. Currently I made a to do list for my pantry and preparedness every week and try and work through that. Lists work for me. The joy of ticking things off a list is ridiculously satisfying. Some people will think this is mad. Others will totally understand!

Thank you for the ideas last week on storage and finding space! Plus just hearing your progress is fantastic. Also on both sides of the world the snow and ice then the cyclones in Australia... it is so incredible to hear about how everyone deals with these things. Helen has a post next week about how she managed with the incoming cyclone.

Following on from  storage ideas I have a few pictures to show you. Glenda posted about her shelving system that sounds amazing. She is covering the shelving in her sewing room with a curtain. This can look so nice! It reminded me of a picture I had kept from a magazine. This would make any shelves look perfectly beautiful in any room.

This picture is a few years old. The curtains were IKEA linen. It was used to cover an open wardrobe but it would work the same to cover shelves. I love it!

I have kept scrapbooks of all things I've loved, recipes and ideas since I was fourteen. I don't like to keep cupboards full of magazines etc. I just tear out what I do want to keep and so many years of ideas are in half a dozen scrap books. They don't take up much space and they are pure joy to go through now and then!  If you have cupboards full of magazines after doing this you have a free cupboard for pantry supplies!

After curtains to conceal storage I remembered good old fashioned table cloths. Nana kept all sorts of things under tables and hidden by the cloth. I had this picture that reminded me of it and thought you could have shelves or baskets or boxes under there and who would know? Sometimes the old fashioned things are the best!

I also had this picture which shows a blind used to cover shelves instead of a curtain. It also shows how one bookshelf had baskets on top and a basket on the side to make heaps of clever storage space. I love that!

Another one is baskets. I get baskets from op shops and paint them. The ones in op shops are usually an orange- ish brown and I paint them french grey. (So they look like in the home ware stores I lurk in). On the weekend I noticed all the dressers and wardrobes in Provincial Living had huge baskets on top for storage and the fact it looks nice. There is nothing to stop you painting unattractive baskets any colour you want. They are very inexpensive in op shops. (and very expensive in home ware stores).

Some of my past basket makeovers are here and here. Even terrible baskets can be made to look lovely really easily! The ones I started with in these pictures were op shop baskets. They have so many uses for storage.

This week I started to build up my kitchen pantry now that I have so much more space in there. I added small baskets to categorise things and get it much more organised. It is such an improvement!

I started on a better first aid kit for the car and on first aid and medicines for the house. I bought two organiser boxes from the cheap shop. They are quite flat so one will sit under the seat in the car and be out of the way. It will take me a few weeks to stock them but I started. In the car one I have included water, asprin, band aids, sting ointment and so on.

I downloaded a free app on my phone so I have free instant first aid instructions. I used First Aid by Australian Red Cross. There are plenty of free ones. Then you have a first aid icon on your phone to go to when you might need it. A really good idea is when you are waiting somewhere open these kind of apps and learn your way around them. Then when you need them it is really fast and easy. I am really liking this one as it is categorised so you can find what you want quickly and easily.

I also downloaded an app that makes your phone into a torch. It really works well too! There are different ones for different phones. It is called Flashlight and is also free. While in some emergencies you would want to carefully conserve your phone battery there are others that is not an issue and a light would just be very handy!

I added surgical gloves to my first aid kit and car first aid kit.

I added tuna, coffee and canned tomato to my pantry.

Now I am setting some goals for next week. In part it is good to have goals to work on and partly it is a matter of taking advantage of fantastic specials and making the most of things that come your way and never miss an opportunity to build up your pantry!

How did you go this week? Even one small thing is progress! We will see how much we can do in March and make it a great month!

xxx

Gathering inspiration.

Last week I posted a picture of a big old jar filled with a few baby succulent cuttings and tied up with string that our local florist had for $49. I went back there today and they had sold out! When I visited  last there were at least 12 of these on a big table. Anyway, I had lots of comments about how easy this would be to do and how inexpensive! I thought if you added a tag that said "thank you for helping me grow" this would also be a nice school teacher gift. But an easy and nice gift anyway.

There are so many good ideas out there! I need inspiration to come up with ideas as mostly they don't just pop into my head. But sometimes we avoid the expensive and divine shops as they are so tempting! But these are the places to frequent and gather ideas, look at prices etc. I learn a lot of food presentation and packaging ideas this way. So the gourmet store with the crazy prices is a good place to study! Who knew an apricot pie is $40? or a lasagne for four is $28? Six gluten free biscuits beautifully wrapped was $16?  After seeing this you value what you make more. You are more confident to give your cooking as a gift. Well, that's how it has helped me. And in the way Mimi does we realise how much some of the things we make would be costing to buy if we weren't doing the things we do!

Yesterday Chloe and I went down the street for some creative inspiration! It was a sunny gorgeous day! The first day of autumn. My favourite month! We went into a fancy boutique and the knitwear was out. There were some lovely knitted scarves. Ohhh.... we picked up two in particular. We were like little moths around a flame! They were very soft wool and the yarn had a sparkly thread through it. $279 each. Yep. Now we both can knit and both could knit either of these scarves with similar yarn. And after this we are inspired! We exchanged glances and rolled eyes over the prices....

I covered a whole heap about this in my e book. If you go looking you will be amazed at the prices charged for simple things.... a few biscuits, a cake, a pie, a knitted scarf.... and you will see some lovely ways to present them and package them up. I didn't get a photo of the scarves as an unfriendly sales lady slightly intimidated me out of it! But in general I take my phone and snap pictures of anything I want to remember! I always look at the prices, what things are made of and so on.

Another thing could happen. You might see that your talent for knitting or sewing or whatever could make you an income if you would like a sideline. Seeing what is selling and at what prices is a real eye opener. Knitting and crocheting seem in particular demand right now.

As we strolled and saw things we both knew we could do we were already planning what to make first! Bursts of enthusiasm like this are priceless and so much fun!

Back in the florist there were simple presentation ideas. Plain plastic pots wrapped generously in brown paper and tied with string instantly look beautiful and french/country. If you bring a plant indoors and do this it looks lovely. Or to give as a gift. You could do this with a bunch of flowers and a jar. How simple but beautiful.

They had other succulents in little wooden boxes.... another simple idea as a little gift for all of us with succulents we can pick!

They used ordinary wooden crates and boxes as decor. And a very old beaten up painters ladder as their shelves. This was lovely... what an idea....

I will be showing these pictures to Dad and Andy so they understand what to watch out for. Dad being a farmer has sheds full of old stuff.... they are usually sceptical about my requests but come through none the less!

In another store ladders were used in every bedroom setting as blanket hangers next to the bed...  and they have so many uses but this one is easy and handy. You just need an old ladder! In another setting they had towels hanging over an old ladder next to a bath.

I noticed a whole list of things that were themes to warm up the home as we go into autumn... there were a lot of baskets of kindling, small branches cut up and stacked, blankets over old wooden towel rails and clothes airers, towels rolled up in baskets... just little touches but all so easy to do. Also flowers in jars and milk bottles.

Every idea I "pinched" is free or inexpensive to do. We had a lovely afternoon and came home with so many ideas and fired up to start new projects. I never spent a cent in any of these stores today. Sarah Ban Breathnatch who wrote Simple Abundance called these "creative excursions" and that is just what they are! Every time I do this I come home bursting to get on with things! Whatever style you just love just do this when you need a little lift. 

I am thinking I will do a post on gorgeous ways to pack and present foodie gifts. Home cooking seems to sell for a premium price and be presented as a luxury gift. Having the confidence to give your cooking as a gift and present it nicely is just wonderful. All our homemade things are worth such a lot.

Last winter I crocheted my queen size grey and white blanket after one of these trips. I saw a small cream crochet rug for $300 draped over an arm chair in a french provincial shop. It was BEAUTIFUL. So I came home and got crocheting and made this... (it took me most of winter, but still...)

Every time I visited Mum she would help me sew in the ends, which was a never ending job!

Truly, a little bit of inspiration goes a long way! Get out there when the weather is nice and look. Choose things that you could do (even if you need some you tube help) and are not expensive to make. 

Use the ideas you can in your home and garden. Many times it is using something for a new purpose, like the ladders or jars. These ideas often cost nothing (and don't even require craft or cooking skills just copying skills!).

Nanna Chel has me planning to make rag rugs for the floor. And I want to make some scarves for the winter...  I have so many things I want to do. There are never enough hours in the day. But it is so lovely to have things to work on. Mum often has been heard saying she is just dying to get a chance to get back to her knitting! I know how she feels!  It is beautiful to have things to work on, learn new skills, decorate your home, make gifts and items to wear. It is amazing what you can do and the joy of  creating something and finding inspiration is so much fun.

This was a lovely first day of autumn and well timed. In autumn and winter I get more handiwork done as I am inside more and the evenings are dark. This also keeps me much happier when the weather is bad and I am stuck inside.

I hope you can have some creative excursions for inspiration and feel excited about what you can do. The ultimate is find things to do with materials you already have or have access to. They are great moments! And you never know as this has happened to me many times. They are the best discoveries! 

There are so many clever people. A lovely day of gathering inspiration.xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 27th Feb 2015.

We are almost into March! Somehow this is amazing to me. But I am pleased with things overall and having a little review of my goals and aims. It's too easy to wander off track (as everyone knows) from the goals we set in the New Year. If you get them out and look them over every month and make some plans then things happen!

Some of the ways I saved money this week were....

I made 3 dozen berry muffins from only one cup of berries. They were the best muffins I have ever made. Stretching one measly cup of berries into three dozen muffins is a bit "loaves and fishes" but this is how I did it...

I had one cup of berries... it was some blueberries and some blackberries. I am using fresh ones as the frozen ones here, or some of them, have had a health scare and have come from a dodgy location. So I have used fresh Australian grown berries.

So 1 cup berries,
3 eggs,
1 and a half cups milk,
1 cup melted butter.
1 cup yoghurt. (any type)
1 and a half cups sugar.
4 and a half cups of SR flour.
About half to 3/4 cups of berry jam. I used strawberry. Mine was runny so if yours is very thick warm it so it will be soft to miix through.
This should be a thick batter like cake mix. If you think it's too runny add flour, if you think it's too dry add some liquid.

Beat your sugar, butter, eggs, add milk, yoghurt.  Add in flour and mix until smooth. Fold in berries. Fold in jam. Mix so there is a swirl or strawberry ripple effect but no more.

Makes 3 doz. You want to make three dozen as it saves time and cooking and they freeze perfectly. You will thank me later that you have these :)

Bake medium oven until golden and test with skewer. Mine took about 14 minutes.

Once cooked sprinkle icing sugar over the top.
If you have kids hide behind something so you are not killed in the stampede.
That's it!

I did this because I just didn't have enough berries and my jam is just thick chunky berries and sugar. So I used less sugar (which I have already altered in this recipe) They look beautiful and taste beautiful. Now another use for jam! This is a real stretcher.

I went through my junk mail carefully and found several great deals to follow up.

I bought a sage plant. Both Mimi and Hilde have taught me how to make Gnocchi with sage. They both told me the exact same thing. This means it will be a winner for sure. And I am doing this as it will be another 100% pantry/garden meal and I am trying to build up more of those. When I have made this I will post the recipe. Hilde taught me to buy Gnocchi vacume packed which lasts for months so it is a pantry meal. I already grow every other herb I regularly use as the cost of buying the plant is onlly the cost of buy a bunch of herbs once or twice.

With the last of my Quinces I made Quince Paste. On a cheese board this is just beautiful. Plus it keeps a long time. Once you have tried this there is no going back. After that a cheese board HAS to have Quince Paste. If you are in Australia try Maggie Beer Quince paste with a nice cheese and crackers and you will understand.

I gave my hair a deep conditioning treatment. I just slapped on a good conditioner and left it there while I did housework for an hour then had a shower and washed my hair. It is amazing the difference it makes. Wrapping it in glad wrap and a warm towel is even better and even more attractive. :)

I built up my home with my storage trunk make over, lots of work on my organisation, pantry. preparedness and a fair bit of cleaning!

Every week or two I pop into our local florist. Firstly it is a hit of pure joy and I love the experience. Secondly I drop helpful hints to Andy! Thirdly I get so many ideas of things I can easily make! Recently they had an idea that I straight away thought yes I am doing this one...

It is just a big open jar with some dirt and pebbles then planted with little succulents and tied up with string. $49! It is sweet and would make a nice table centre piece. I can collect succulents for free. I can do this!

Truly gathering ideas and inspiration is wonderful. Go to the places you know you will see things you just adore and gather ideas. It is the best fun. Look at the prices too so you know what the things you make are selling for!  Truly easy and simple things that we can do for very little are just waiting to be discovered. I really feel nothing adds to my contentment like creating something.

(the flowers at the top are in this florist)

I hope your week was wonderful and your February was fruitful! We still another whole day to get things done!

What did you do this week to save money or build up your home?

Thank you so much for all the encouragement and help given in the wonderful comments. xxx

Building up your pantry. Making the most of your space.

I have been really encouraged along in my pantry challenge. Partly by my own progress, just seeing my cellar evolve into an actual pantry, and partly from hearing what everyone is doing! I am not the only one to have noticed that like ants we are all out and about working on building up our supplies!

This week Patsi from A Working Pantry is talking about how to make room for storage and make the most of the space we have. There is a conversation you can join on facebook and I love this as every person has a unique home and set of circumstances. And while we have had heat and cyclones the American ladies have had snow and ice like you would not believe!

If you want some inspiration also read Anut Ruthies latest blog post on Sugar Pie Farmhouse . It is just lovely. Reading this made me feel like yes! I am on the right track! Her blog is always encouraging and sets me straight on things.

Last week I did a lot of re arranging and creating space. Patsi got me started on this with the trunk she uses to store gifts. This made me review the giant trunk I had on the veranda that I had found. Being huge it had a lot of storage potential! This has become my blanket and pillow storage and it means my overcrowded linen cupboard is now spacious and I can make that over. You know how one thing leads to another, now re doing my linen cupboard is next...
To do this first the trunk needed a huge clean. Then I rubbed oil into it to bring it back to life. I know exactly where all the filth went s it was all over me!

I added a big old padlock I had.  (it still reminds me of a pirates chest) Next I lined it with pretty paper. Then I scented it so as I open ii up the scent is lovely. To keep that I added cakes of floral soap to the bottom. (More soap supplies and left like this soap gets so hard it lasts a long time if you ever use it).

This is so big I have four blankets in there so far in this picture and it looks empty...

In my kitchen pantry everything changed as I moved long term storage into my cellar. Space! This continued. I went through every item and a few things were thrown out (not too many) and other things I wondered why were they even in my pantry when I wanted more space? I had spare drink bottles, thermos, water filters and all kinds of things that if only I could re home I would have lots more room for actual food.  And so began a lot of moving things and looking at spaces I have or could use.

I started to eye a laundry cupboard that is full of "stuff" and the space above my fridge and the gap I have between the fridge and the end cupboard....

Helen had created space by de cluttering, adding shelves and getting a metal storage unit. She created a lot of space! Having a re assess, a re arrange and clean out can produce space we never dreamed of!

Here we have IKEA and Howard's Storage World. Both are great for ideas on maximising space! You don't necessarily have to buy their products to benefit from brilliant ideas which have come from top designers and experts on the subject. Study what they have done! You can do this online, in storage stores, pinterest etc. If you go to IKEA look in all the cupboards. IKEA is like DIsneyland.. all the good stuff is below the surface! The ideas are fantastic. I had a lot of light bulb moments in there. I just snap a photo on my phone so I don't forget it!

Some ideas I have loved to add space or create space have been...

To turn a spare room, closet or linen press into a pantry.  Yes, the whole thing becomes a pantry! The addition of shelves can turn many spaces into a wonderful storage space. Even a whole wall along a passageway can become a pantry if it is lined with shelves.

The area under the bed can be a huge storage space. Remember how old fashioned beds were high off the ground and you had to climb up onto them? This looks and feels romantic to me. Well, any bed can be placed on something to make it sit up high. Then you can have a whole storage space under the bed! Laine used to use under the bed space.  It could be something simple like suitcases for storage or drawers but that is a whole lot of space.

Gaps. Most homes have odd spaces that seem unusable. Mine has a gap between the fridge and end bench. A gap between the pantry cupboards and the wall. A gap between the laundry sink and the wall. Each of these is about 6 inches wide or so.  You can slide in there a basket and fill it with your baking trays. Or buy a skinny set of shelves on wheels (they are made for such gaps!) or how about something like this...

This is from Classy Clutter blog and they have full instructions to built this! (I have never used any other persons picture on my blog before but this is such a good idea and I have no hope of building it in time to show you!) This gets you thinking about the gap spaces in your home!

Adding a shelf. Adding shelves on blank walls, above doorways, into existing cupboards...

The space above your fridge or cupboards. This doesn't have to look messy. Lovely baskets that fit nicely look great and can store heaps of less often used items. It is a fine place for seldom used things. The top of my fridge now stores trays, stacked, plus I had this really rustic old bread bin.  It is big. I added transfers and lined the inside with lovely paper...

It is Shabby Chic in the extreme... but now it houses all those spare drink bottles, thermos' and water filters and my pantry has more space!

Slide out trays or baskets that fit under cupboards, the bed etc. they are like an extra shelf.

Hanging things. If you have shelves run a row of hooks underneath where you can hang utensils, pots and pans or other items.

A pots and pans hanger. Saucepans and fry pans take up a lot of room! Hanging them from a hanger can free up so much kitchen space. In my last house I had an old ladder suspended from my kitchen ceiling. I hung all my pots and pans from there plus baskets, dried herbs and all kinds of things. It was fabulous and saved so much space. It looked really good too.

Do you have things inside that could be in the shed if stored properly? I did. Wrapped, covered and some things in tubs, they have gone into the shed freeing up cupboard space.

Do you have clutter that is really useless stuff and if cleaned out you would have pantry space? A lot of things build up. A garage sale might clear a room or a cupboard, free up the space and fund starting stocking up your pantry at the same time. In a crisis a tennis racquet from the 80's is probably not going to be much help! But a stockpile of food, water and first aid will be.

Convert a bookcase, trunk, stack of suitcases, wardrobe.

Fill a shelf or ledge with baskets. In our hallway I keep baskets of things that are ready to go out the door... gifts, things for the girls, books to take back to the library and so on... These are really handy.

Some of these things do not directly create pantry space. But I am finding as I create space things can be re homed that have been stored in my pantry that really don't belong there. Others can become pantry space. I now have a free top shelf in the laundry and much more kitchen cupboard space than I had before. The difference is amazing.

So my week was mainly about re arranging and creating space. And now I have all this space to fill in my kitchen pantry cupboards. I did add some things but it is going to take me weeks to stock this up. I added polenta, couscous, tuna and vanilla paste.

I want to end with something lovely from Sharon at The Shepherd's House Blog.  Loving pantries and loving jars I think her mason jar gift tags are just beautiful! Yesterday was Helen's birthday and I had to include something for her pantry in her present! I wish I had made these tags. Mason Jar Love. A future project!

It feels good to make progress! Helen and I were talking about how it was with the cyclone coming in and imagining how it is for the girls with so much snow. I had realised things I had never thought of (as we are just not used to anything like it...) that peoples water pipes freeze so they have no water, that the chickens water freezers so they have no water! That people can die just if their car breaks down in the freezing conditions! Both of us felt there are so many reasons we are working on this project.

Thank you for joining in. The comments, conversation and friendship is just wonderful. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas so much.

How have you built up your pantry and preparedness this week and how have you managed through the cyclone or the snow if you are in those areas?

Every little step is progress. Some weeks will be bigger and some smaller but over the year we will be amazed! xxx

Amazing savings from small things (and card making).

I really love stationary and cards! I do write quite a few letters but also there are birthdays, thank you's and notes that mean I use at least a couple of cards a week (but usually more). Each week I write to Kath in the nursing home. Now her life has very little that is pretty so that is one card a week right there that I like to be lovely, cheerful and something special. This week it is my brothers Birthday as well. Anyway I use lots of cards!

Regularly I look at cards and writing paper in the newsagents. It seems to call my name as I walk past every week. And I get quite a few ideas from looking too and I take notice of the prices. The average card I seem to like it around $8. Even gift tags are still a couple of dollars and up to four dollars each.

The other day I realised my card supply has run low and I am scraping the bottom of the barrel. I remembered some cards I had seen on etsy that were just gorgeous and started to dream about these! Then went and had a new look and the fact that each card had a matching sticker that you put on the envelope just made me fall in love with them! I actually started to pick out what I would like to order. And within a couple of minutes I was up to over forty dollars. And I was just warming up!

This happens easily doesn't it! But I remembered my pantry challenge and the holiday we are saving for and 101 other things...

It was the stickers that did it.

Now, I have card making supplies. I buy blank cards for $2 for a pack of 6 with envelopes and I save books to cut up for images. I have a boxful of lovely things. And I had a brain wave that I could just cut out little matching images and GLUE them onto envelopes and that would be the same as stickers. What is the difference after all? So this weekend while it has been hot I took over the dining room table and began.

So far I have made 12 cards with matching envelopes with "stickers" and I have cut out images to make a few dozen more. At shop prices the 12 I've made would have cost $96 and they cost me $7 to make (2 packs of blank cards plus op shop rose book for $3)

These are the simplest cards I have made. Just a rose image, a dot of bling and matching envelope with sticker.  The old fashioned book of roses was a great find and has given me over a hundred  pictures for $3. Images that are too small will be gift tags or go on my envelopes.

I do make some for boys too. The men in my family all like wildlife and mostly are farmers so I made cards with eagles, ducks, deer etc. and have a supply of these.

It is such a lot of money when I look at it, to save or to spend. But $8 here and $8 there really adds up. At two cards a week if I was to buy nice ones that is over $800 a year. Imagine what I could add to my pantry for that! Maths always amazes me. How a small amount like this a week is $800 a year of $8000 over ten years just is mind boggling!

Making cards is not a new solution for me as I have made cards regularly for years (and have a posted tutorial here and lots of pictures of other cards plus my ruffled cards here here I like to make). But thinking how easy it is to spend lots of little bits and how they add up so quickly has me really appreciating what a saving this is. And it allows me to write a card and send it without thinking too much of the costs.

I decided to show my simple cards as there is nothing to them. Anyone can make them and in any theme you like. You could get the children making them as they love cutting out and glue!

I started a series of bird cards from a bird book I just love the images...

Just think of the images you love or will suit your family and friends. A book of ballerinas or horses or whatever is going to be loved by the people you are most often sending cards to.

Whenever I am away I take a box of cards and paper and write letters. As I make cards I think who will like which ones. My card box is my little box of gold. Last holiday I sat outside in the sun and wrote letters and popped them into cards and once a day walked to the post box. Heavenly!

When I visit Kath she has my cards around her room and I know she loves them. Plus they brighten up her little world.  They are my extravagance without being extravagant! I guess this way they are costing 

50 or 60c each at the most. 

During the week I will get a couple dozen more made, I might show some more on Feather your Nest Friday. 

There are so many things that we can make ourselves and actually enjoy the process too. Many things don't even require any artistic talent just are a simple process/production line. And the savings can be just huge! In the case of something like cards they can also be packaged up into groups of six and tied up with a ribbon to use as a gift. I have added a pen or stamps and then I have a present. For letter writers/card lovers this has been a hit. 

Now that it is Monday and I need to grocery shop I know I have the money I didn't spend on Etsy and will add something to my pantry instead! I feel good about that already!

Have a wonderful week. After a really hot weekend we have much milder days to look forward to! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 20 February 2015.

Today I'm writing while the cyclone is coming into QLD and it is quite hard to concentrate. I have lots of friends in Queensland and some right in the line of the storm. As I write it is 50 kms away and looking shocking. So to everyone in QLD I hope you are safe and sound.

The week was really good and busy. I still had fruit to use up and make things with and now I am down to Quinces which I will use next week. For two whole days I had jam on all day. Today I am trying to have a general clean up and catch up day. (needed!)

So here are some of the ways I saved money and built up my next this week...

I had more figs given to my by my sister in law. This was wonderful as I thought I had seen the last of figs for the season.

So I made different things (last time fig and almond jam and roast chicken with roast figs).  This time I made figs stuffed with soft cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, then baked. These were beautiful! Very luxurious.

Also I sauteed some and served on a platter with cold meats and salad.

I had some very cheap zucchini and used them in several ways. One was to make zucchini fritters which we had with salad. These were really nice!

The recipe was 2 zucchini grated,  a packet of Haloumi chopped into little squares, 2 eggs, parsley and mint (fresh chopped), pepper and SR flour to combine to a soft batter. I think some corn kernels would go well in this too. Drop into pan and fry until golden. Andy took cold ones the next day to work as he seems to like everything cold just the same!

I coloured and trimmed my hair and painted my nails.

Andy went fishing and came home with several large crabs for a meal. I wanted to show you what a beautiful colour they are.

This was on the outside table and I sat down on my chair next to it and it moved! The big claws mowed towards me! You never saw anyone move faster. Luckily Andy was inside and missed this spectacle. 

I have the cot all cleaned up and am making over my craft room into a little nursery. Getting the nest ready for a baby is quite exciting! Also I have cot sheets, little rugs and all kinds of things that I have made in recent years. I have much more if the baby is a girl! But if it's a boy I will get sewing!

As a flow on from the pantry challenge I went through all my junk mail. I had not been doing that very well as I check my main store on line catalogues. Well, the ten minutes it took me saved me quite a bit of money. So I will make the time to do that every week again.

I have had beautiful flowers in the garden. I keep planting and things keep growing! I count my garden in my building up my home thinking as our garden is such a part of how we live and adds so much to our home. We spend evenings in the garden much more than evenings watching tv or indoors. (at this time of the year anyway) These are some lilies that have been out and I have white ones coming on.

How was your week and how did you save money and build up your nest? 

I hope all the Queensland ladies are families are ok and that everyone is safe!

Have a wonderful weekend! xxx