-Simply wash and bake your egg shells for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees. (I write the days the eggs were laid on them with a wax marking pen that is non-toxic. It doesn't wash off, but I don't worry about it.)
Waste not, want not!
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Follow along while I learn new skills and get creative raising my kids on a limited budget.
Recycle your egg shells, add calcium and minerals to your chicken's diet (and your diet too)12/21/2014 Egg shells are comprised of mostly calcium and other minerals, and they are great for your chickens, and you too! It's an easy cost effective way to supplement your chickens diet, or add some to a smoothie for a calcium boost for yourself. -Simply wash and bake your egg shells for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees. (I write the days the eggs were laid on them with a wax marking pen that is non-toxic. It doesn't wash off, but I don't worry about it.) -After they are cool, put them in a plastic bag and crush them up. -Put the crushed pieces in the coffee grinder, and grind away. This batch I left a little grainy so it would mix well with the chicken feed. If I was making this batch for myself, I would have ground it more finely so it would mix well in liquids.
Waste not, want not!
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I made these Roman blinds yesterday and I am thrilled with the way it came out. I got the fabric from my mom, who bought the remainder of a bolt for a very reasonable price (under $5). The only other cost were the wooden dowels (5 at 48 cents each,) one piece of wood to go across the top (under $2,) 3 little eye screws, thread, and the cost of some string. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and so affordable. I found the direction at this link:
http://www.sewafineseam.com/2013/04/roman-shade-tutorial/ Homemade mittens: Eureka! Left Over PUL (waterproof cloth diaper fabric) makes great mittens!11/13/2014 My 3 year old son loves playing outside but it's always short lived because of cold wet hands. I wanted to buy him a nice pair, but with 5 kids that gets expensive really quick. I thought I would make him some but I wanted to make them out of something water resistant. All I could think of was vinyl faux leather, and how stiff it was (not to mention hard to sew through.) Then it suddenly hit me- the PUL fabric that I used to make cloth diapers would work great! I even had a few un-sewn diapers on hand, leftover from my diaper making days. They were cut to the diaper shape (the fleece liner was already there too.) Perfect! I pulled them out and went to work. I traced his hand with plenty of extra area for stitching (especially on that thumb). I doubled it over, pinned it to keep it from moving around and cut it out. I cut a second one, ready to roll. Before you sew them, you want to make sure everything is in the right order so that when you flip it right side out after sewing everything is where it should be. The four layers will go in this order: Bottom, fleece, top down. Second layer, PUL colored side up. Third layer, PUL colored side Down. Fourth layer fleece, top side up. Mine have little patches sewed on, so make sure if you are going to do this you put the patch on the top side of each glove (pay attention to which way the thumbs are facing.) Pin the gloves in place so when you sew the fabric doesn't slip around. Sew around the edges. The great thing about both PUL and fleece is that neither are likely to fray, which makes them easy to work with. After I sewed them, I trimmed excess so they wouldn't be overly bulky on the inside. I wish I had taken pictures of how I added elastic to the wrists, but I got in a zone and spaced out. Instead I found this tutorial that shows how to add the elastic: Hope it is helpful. http://www.lemonsqueezyhome.com/2010/12/long-mittens-tutorial.html Not bad for the first pair I ever made. He likes them (and doesn't mind the the stitches are crooked and don't line up, haha!) After this picture he asked if he could take them off because his hands were hot. I'll take that as confirmation that they work!
Halloween is over and so I wanted a fresh look as we move into the season to give thanks. I made this display without spending a dime (reusing things I had laying around.) I used a metal pot that usually houses flowers in the spring and summer. It still had the dirt in it which works perfectly as a base for this display. First I cut some bare branches off of our lilac bushes and sunk the ends into the dirt, arranging them so it got a nice full look. I then got some leaves off of our bush out front (to be perfectly honest, I don't even know what kind of bush it is!) The leaves were a nice color somewhere between green, yellow and brown and pleasant so I used them. Next I threw in a few branches from another bush in the yard. This bush has red berries on it. I like the way it turned out.
I used one of my dish towels as a table cloth. I liked the harvest colored stripes. At the base I put a butternut squash and piece of driftwood. The other things I used were things I already had (the little welcome sign I got in years gone by from the dollar tree, and the wreath on my door I made many years ago with fake leaves.) The mums that I grew from a baby that cost me $1.36 at Walmart this spring are still alive and well, big and beautiful. I am happy with how the whole display turned out. It only took a couple minutes and cost me basically nothing. Happy Thanksgiving! Almost everything I used to decorate my front porch came from the dollar store. Being budget conscious doesn't mean not having any fun! Let me point out some of my awesome finds I got for $1! 1. The scary monster face for the door 2. The sign next to the door that says "Keep Calm and Scare On" 3. The "Boo" sign on the railing 4. The jack-o-lantern chair cover next to the flowers 5. The Beware caution tape 6. Two strands of Halloween banner flags 7. The gray spooky fabric I hung on my angel (that is always there) to make her look creepy. 8. The hanging Jack-o-lantern in the upper left of the porch 9. The spiders hanging from the paper lantern. =$10, and re-usable year to year The tall skinny light up Jack I've had for about 20 years. The paper lantern was an old one that had a couple holes in it, so I painted it a light yellow to look like the moon, cut a couple felt bats out and hot glued them to it, and hung the dollar tree spiders from it. it gives a "lunar" glow at night. The black cloth on the table is one of my old T shirts that has a hole in it. The kitty hat on the pumpkin is from an old costume. The lights (that flash) at the base of the pumpkin are something I use every year, bought them on clearance after a Halloween gone by. The flag is from a thrift store.
The mums that are so big and beautiful cost me $1.35. We bought them in the spring at Walmart. They were blooming when we bought it, 2 small blooms and the flowers lasted a good long time. It then steadily grew over the summer and has come to bloom again this fall, now way bigger than before! If I were to purchase them in the fall, the price would be between $10-$20. Even if the decorations are small and inexpensive, these traditions are priceless. It's something your kids will always remember with fondness. It gives them something to look forward to every year, and something to aspire to when they are parents. Not only do you please your own children, but other children and adults alike in your neighborhood. Happy Halloween! We had a great time creating these gravestones to make our yard looks scary for Halloween. There are great ideas all over the internet, we picked and chose the materials from things we already had, or things that were inexpensive.
The graves themselves are made from Styrofoam that we bought on sale for $5.99. It is about an inch thick, in hindsight I think I would have gotten the thicker stuff, 2 inches would be stronger, but overall I'm happy with it. We looked up grave stone shapes online and then used a serrated knife to cut them. It's kind of a messy job, but it vacuums up easily. We also searched for what to write for the epitaphs. There are tons of ideas out there. Once we chose ours we wrote them out in pencil first and used a wood burner to carve the details. To get the patterns we searched for pictures we liked and printed them. We laid them on the foam and used a pencil to poke holes all along the shape outlines. It makes the pattern transfer to the foam, and then we used the wood burner to carve deeper. I have seen some amazing artwork out there, but this being my first time, ours is pretty basic. Let me mention though that you should do the engraving with the wood burner in a well ventilated area. Also, Styrofoam melts fast, so practice a little on some scraps first. Once they were all carved we spray painted them with a basic matte gray spray paint. The spray paint will actually melt the foam if sprayed with high concentration, so make sure to hold the can at least 12 inches away and make swiping movements. Next we black washed them. To make a black wash use 1 part black acrylic craft paint to 2 parts water. Use a broad brush to saturate the front of the "stone" and then use a rag to blot off the excess. The black will settle into the engraved parts, and the rag will leave color variations on the gray creating a stone like appearance. We used hot glue to add some moss from the dollar store to the top to make them look old. We used an old garden fence to stake them to the ground as is seen here: http://www.halloweenforum.com/attachments/halloween-props/184183d1383343451-securing-your-styrofoam-headstones-sdc17004.jpg (We chose the option on the right, secured with hot glue, and lots of it.) I'm happy with the results, and I spent less than $12 because I already had the old fencing lying around. It was a fun weekend project, and I hope they last many years. Only time will tell. Happy haunting! I am happy to report that the experiment with turning off the water heater at night has really paid off. We saved $30 in 30 days, and in over the course of a year we will save $360! That will look fantastic in our Christmas account, or it would make a really nice mini vacation. Walking up and down the basement stairs an extra 730 times in a year is great exercise too, so it is a win all around! If you decide to try it for yourselves, comment below on how much you saved.
We are proud of how the siding is coming out on our shed (hubby's art studio.) The free shingles we found are a boon. We counted the mis-matched shingles and put them into a color rotation, and like a sweater knit from multicolored yarn, it is coming together perfectly.
I made a huge batch of taco meat the other day and I had a considerable amount leftover. Since the kids are out of school and always eating I thought I should make some burritos ahead of time and freeze them. It's cheaper than the frozen burritos you buy in the store and I know they are made out of good stuff. All you need is your taco meat, some flour tortillas and some cheese. You can find my recipe for taco meat here: http://lavinialuna.weebly.com/blog/taco-meat-for-picky-eaters-with-hidden-veg After microwaving your stack of burrito shells for approximately 30 seconds (to soften them up so they bend easily) spread the meat 2/3 the way down the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. You could also add sauce and onion if you like, but since my kids are picky, these will be plain. Thanks to my short stint at a taco joint in my youth, I learned to fold burritos correctly. Fold the bottom third up over the meat. Fold the right third over the meat. Fold the left third over to the right, and voila. Flip the burrito over fold side down so it stays closed. Put into a resealable bag (I used the bag the shells came in, saves money and plastic) and put them into the freezer. Reheat when you need a snack or an easy lunch.
Just because you are adhering to a budget doesn't mean that you can't get into the spirit of things. I went to Walmart and was looking for a flag for the porch, they were all over $12 and I couldn't afford a flag AND sparklers unless I was willing to get a little creative. I then spotted a package of two smaller flags for $2.40, meant for use at parades or for cemeteries. I figured why not. I got them home and made homemade flag holders from a cottage cheese container (which I will show you below) and I am so happy with my purchase. They look amazing and are eye catching. I can keep them for Veterans Day and Memorial Day too, or maybe I will leave them up all summer. To install cut up a plastic container until you have two squares approximately 3x3 inch square. Fold in half around the flag stem white side out and staple it tight. Voila! Easy as apple pie! Actually, I think apple pie is harder.
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