Posts Tagged "self-sufficiency"
Paperless Christmas
This is the second year in a row that we opted not to buy any paper wrapping for Christmas. Last year we started using cloth for all of our wrapping. We store it in a bin and plan to re-use it every year. We do run into some issues with gifts given outside the family because I have a hard time giving away the cloth and not getting it back. This is primarily an issue of finances at the moment because we don’t have the funds to replace it. Plus, I would like to know that the recipients would use it again and not toss it or else it defeats the purpose. For now, we’ve been using up the last scraps of paper and gift bags from other years on friends. But we are finally out so next year will truly be 100% paperless for us. Ribbon We save ribbon whenever we get gifts and toss it in the bin so we have quite a stash now. I’ve noticed that many people use cloth ribbon even on paper wrapped gifts and I never ever let it go to waste. I also picked up a few rolls of ribbon on sale at the dollar store after Christmas last year. The rolls were deceptively sparse (very big cardboard tube inside) but there was still a perfect size piece for 1 wrap job. Cloth I went to the fabric store early in December last year and bought fat quarters from the quilting section. There were lots of Christmas prints to choose from and the cloth was already cut into usable pieces. This was a little pricey but I’m sure you could find good deals if you were to visit the quilting section now as they would be selling off the Christmas stock. My husband saw some Christmas dish towels at a dollar store on sale a few days before Christmas last year and picked those up. They work perfect and it’s nice to have some pieces that are bigger than the fat quarters. They are a little stiff but they do work well with the ribbon. Next year I plan to pick up some fabric by the yard for bigger items and also to sew into draw string bags of various sizes. Even my mother-in-law has gotten in the spirit. Last year she bought each of the kids a new beach towel and used that to wrap their gifts. This year, they each got a new blanket as wrapping and we got a new table cloth around our gift. There are lots of ways to be creative and get rid of paper wrapping. Technique You can tie the cloth in various ways according to Furoshiki. Here is a good how-to page with pictures showing techniques for various sizes and types of objects. It’s fun and doesn’t require any ribbon. You’ll need soft cloth though that is pliable and easy to manipulate. The fat quarters work well for this as they were thin cotton. Otherwise, wrap as you normally would and use ribbon to tie in place. You might need another person to hold the cloth for you while you get it tied but that doesn’t happen too often. It’s also pretty easy to adjust the fabric and tuck in stray bits once the ribbon is tied. The biggest issue I ran into this year was not having pieces small enough for stocking items. I think the drawstring bags would work well for this or we could choose not to wrap stocking items. Overall, paperless Christmas was another big success this year! I love the look, it’s easier for the kids to unwrap gifts, there is less garbage to clean up and dispose of and it’s a lot more fun and creative than buying paper from the...
Read MoreDoing It Myself
My husband and I have talked for a long time about the idea of being more self-sufficient. When we lived with my sister, we collaborated on a huge garden and we learned a lot from my sister who makes a lot of things herself rather than buying. Some of the changes we’ve made this year were done for financial reasons but we often find that making decisions for financial reasons reveals other bonuses you might not have expected. Food-wise making things from scratch gives you total control over the ingredients for instance. Product-wise making items often means that you can choose materials that won’t end up in a landfill. You can also reuse and up-cycle to reduce the impact of acquiring more things and by making rather buying, you teach your children about self-sufficiency and hopefully, skirt around some consumerism issues. Things we used to buy regularly that we now make ourselves are: ice cream, bread (though we have an awesome local baker that we support at least once a week for our sliced bread), mayo and granola. The bread recipe we use required a baking stone and rather than buy one, my husband had a potter friend fire us a flat slab of clay and we’ve been using the artisan bread recipe from Mother Earth News. My sister also makes her own yogurt, crackers and pasta noodles. I’m itching to try cheese although it feels kind of daunting to cut out buying cheese completely. And in a way, who would want to?? In the last couple of months, having closed my business, I have a lot more time to do things with my hands in and around caring for my kids. This Christmas especially I’ve been getting a lot of joy out of making things. Some of my recent projects have included: A magnetic Advent Calendar that is about counting down the days, rather than counting up the chocolate or little gifts every day. I wanted a calendar that was not disposable and that didn’t focus on getting something everyday. I stumbled on this idea (using a cookie sheet and scrapbooking papers) last year and loved it right away. A Caterpillar Dress for a swap with members from my old Due Date Club at Mothering.com from when I was pregnant with my daughter. I have made 1 which I sent in the swap and I’m making 2 more out of the remaining fabric (1 for my daughter and 1 as a gift). The corduroy was store-bought and the satin was an old housecoat I got from a friend. These dresses will fit from age 1-3 because as Little Miss grows you just start layering it over pants and it goes from Dress to Tunic to Tank Top. A Baby Blanket for my daughter to replace the one I knit her while pregnant and which got lost when she was 4 months old. I’m doing a different pattern this time, from Natural Knits. I still have 3 squares left to go + blocking + sewing together + knitting the edging. Do you think I can get it done in the next 9 days??? Our Stockings. I would like to maybe re-do these at some point in the future and do a nicer job using nicer fabrics. For now, I whipped these up in an hour using some cheap fleece. I like them. They’ll do for now. Popcorn Garland. This is our first year with a real tree. We used a little potted Norfolk Island Pine when we lived in the bus but it just wasn’t the same. Last year we travelled for Christmas so no tree. As a result, we’ve been married for 7 years and have almost no Christmas decorations. Plus, we’re in our first year of a new business so we don’t have a lot of cash. We did the old-fashioned popcorn and cranberry garland. Aaron and I sat up doing it one evening after the kids were in bed. It was a lovely way to spend the evening, sipping wine and chatting over a shared project...
Read MoreBlender Mayonnaise
I’ve had some homemade mayos before and I have to admit they never come close in taste to my beloved store bought varieties. Until this one. I got the recipe from my sister, modified it a bit and voila! One more thing I don’t have to buy prepared from the store. We’re trying to increase the number of things we make ourselves and for some reason this one makes me extra happy. Whirl in blender: 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp dry mustard Clean down sides with spatula. Add: 2 Tbsp lemon juice Start blender, remove cover and very slowly, pour in: 1/2 cup salad oil 2 Tbsp vinegar Slowly, with blender still running, add: 1 cup salad...
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