A few tips for Father’s Day
I asked my brother, “Best Father’s Day gift?” and he replied:
“For me it’s always the phone call I appreciate the most.”
Last year, my husband got a card and an eggplant and pepper plant for the garden. Nice.
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Making a gift
This was supposed to be made for Christmas. I procrastinated and it has now morphed into a birthday present. I made oven mitts and an apron for a friend. I used the Savvy Seams website and their simple pattern to make the oven mitts. It’s straight seams and some zigzag.
The cost? I bought a $4.95 sewing pattern for the apron. Fabric was $10 for two yards. I bought cotton batting for about $7. I bought a yard of this insulating material originally intended as an ironing board protector. Cost $8. I used some leftover cotton material for the lining. The project cost me about $30. I have still leftovers and I could probably make another pair of oven mitts.
Was it worth it? I know my friend’s kitchen colour scheme and this will match perfectly. I will give it to her as a birthday present and I’m hoping she will love it.
You could skip the apron and just find some inexpensive funky fabric and just make the oven mitts.
No perches necessary
You might remember I wrote in a past blog “Christmas or No Time Like the Present” and we were making birdhouses. You can see in that post that they were in the pieces-at-Santa’s-workshop phase. Well, they are finished with a cedar roof and copper on the peak. We used a design from the book Designer Birdhouses by Richard T. Banks. This was a big job but they look great.
Microwave corn bags
Yesterday, my step-daughter-in-law took over the dining room to make microwave corn bags. What are these, you ask? These are sewn bags filled with feed corn (not popcorn) and are microwaveable so you can use them on sore muscles or just to warm you up. There is a lot of information on the Microwave Corn Bags website.
You can buy 50 pounds of feed corn down the road at the feed store for $12.00. It is also available at Wal-Mart during hunting season for about $4.00 for 40 pounds. Rhonda bought three meters of remnant fabric for $15. Each sewn bag weighed two pounds. So she had enough corn for 25 bags.
Two 8” by 21” pieces of fabric were cut, sewn right sides together with one end left open. They were turned right side out and pressed and then a seam was sewn down the middle. The first one we did two seams but we found one would do. Then fill with corn about two-thirds full and sew up the end.
Rhonda is going to do up typed instructions (below) for each bag for the recipient.
Microwave Warming Bags
Use for sore muscles or just to warm up!
Instructions:
Place in microwave for 2 to 2.5 minutes.
Care Instructions:
To make your warming bag last for years, place a mug of water in the microwave with the bag every 8-10 uses. This will replenish the moisture in the corn.
Hacky-sacks (or footbags)
Here’s a great toy for your kids. Even my son, who is turning 21 this year, is getting one in his stocking. He might make a face, but he’ll toss it around. All you need is some cotton fabric (I used a pillowcase cut up) and some lentils. I bought lentils (I bought green ones but I suppose any colour would work) at the bulk store for $2.00 and had enough for at least 12 hacky-sacks. I’ll make about four hacky-sacks and eat the rest of the lentils.
In the photos, I have cut the pillowcase into circles about 3-1/2 inches in diameter. Put right sides together and sew them up by machine or by hand and leave about 1-1/2 inches open (so you can fill with lentils). Turn right sides out and I just hand pressed them. Fill with lentils but not quite full so they can move around. Finish sewing up. I made four in about 15 minutes with the sewing machine.
Ehow has some instructions as well.
If you want more professional-looking ones, here is a site.
My brother sent me this YouTube video (and another video in the Comments section) that shows Olympic-style hacky-sacking.
Barefoot Contessa
A great way to save money on food is to cook at home instead of eating out. What if you are a terrible cook? Ina Garten’s (the Barefoot Contessa) recipes feature good quality simple ingredients prepared simply. Lots of pictures in her books too. I am a huge Barefoot Contessa fan.
There are recipes on her website but her cookbooks are a treat. Her recipes are easy to follow and delicious to eat.
One of her cookbooks would make a very desirable Christmas present. If you’re not convinced, read the Amazon reviews and then try the recipes. Mmmmm.
Gift giving
Today, I was in the grocery store and the cashier had her area all dolled up with Christmas decorations. The season is coming. Or at least my local supermarket thinks so.
Best gifts I’ve received?
- Homemade chocolate truffles in one of those Chinese take-out boxes
- A gift bag with shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, soap – all the items I normally buy
- Great fluffy towels in a neutral colour
- Framed photographs
- Anything my son made at school
- Bags of organic coffee beans
- A Blockbuster gift card
My brother gave me this list:
- small wooden box with lid for keeping stamps and stuff in (homemade, but very good quality)
- a picture album with some great memories (got this from you)
- a small travel clock that has a sensor which causes it to light up if I wave my hand anywhere near it. Clever, and very handy to tell time at night without having an annoying light on all the time.
Martha Stewart has some great homemade gift-giving ideas on her site. Check out my other posts on presents.
Frugal Christmas ideas
One year when we were money-challenged, we invited some friends and family to what we called “Beggar’s Christmas”. We drew names and the recipient was to get a gift under two dollars accompanied by a poem. We did it as a potluck and it was so successful, we did it for years after. Such interesting gifts: one gal was pregnant and received a “Pregnancy Kit” complete with a piece of rope to lift her foot up to tie her shoe and other silly items. My brother made a box with a blow-up doll with a CO² cartridge so that when the box opened, the doll inflated. One fellow pulled the name of his neighbor who had a blue Corvette. He wrote and sang his own Prince rendition called “Little Blue Corvette” which he presented as a cassette tape.
I make sure that everyone’s stocking is always great. I look for items throughout the year and wrap many of the dollar items. Good items are those balsa airplanes, puzzle books, comics and little toys. Even for the teenagers. I also get some great chocolate – not a lot – but everyone can enjoy good chocolate.
Another idea is to decorate the tree with origami. I have found a great site here. One blogger shows her tree here. You can also do a search of origami decorations on Google. Youtube shows some videos on how to do cranes and flowers.
One year, for my fellow co-workers I made everyone a tin of butter tarts, a great Canadian treat. Recipe is here.
Christmas or no time like the present
I know it’s early but I like to get the jump on the season. I look around for stocking stuffers all year long. If I see something on sale or already a good price and I think the [grown] kids will like, I buy it.
This year, we’re making birdhouses for the family. We’ve picked one design from the book Designer Birdhouses by Richard T. Banks and we’re making 12 of them. You can see below that we have cut the pieces and still have the assembly to do. We have referred to this area as “Santa’s Workshop”.
I have a friend whose husband is a roofer and he’s going to put on a cedar roof or maybe even copper. High-end birdhouses.
Money doesn’t grow on sprees
Is frugal the same as stingy, cheap or miserly? Does it mean you have to have a miserable existence saving old coffee grounds and using them twice? Do you have to drive a beater of a car with smoke coming out of back?
I live well. I drive a decent car (bought secondhand and bargained for). I never go to a dinner party without a hostess gift in hand. It might be a plant that you can put in your garden or our latest harvest of apples, but I will never come empty-handed.
I won’t park my car a mile away to save money on parking if it means I’m less safe.
Xmases have been a lot of homemade gifts – soap, buckwheat pillows, potpourri, sewn handbags, pear butter, you name it. One year, we made stilts. I also buy gifts. But I tend to find them throughout the year and save a little that way.
I won’t eat awful food. I would rather have something simply prepared – vegetables from the garden and some grilled meat than a cardboard-like frozen pizza.
You can have your baked-from-scratch cake and eat it too. When you’re looking to save some money and live a less debt-ridden life, don’t let the credit card types make you feel guilty because you’re not buying the “latest and greatest” on time payments.
