Because I am insane.......

With 45 days until Christmas (eeeekkkkkkkk) 31 of which I have to work I have decided I am going to attempt to not only finish Sandra's quilt but also start another major project.

BECAUSE I AM INSANE

30 Days of Christmas Gifts - Quilt It Up

This is a really fast and cheap quilt to make . Made from chenille, old jeans and cotton material, with no batting, you can bang one of these up in a day or two.

And the cuteness factor with the exposed rag seams which just get softer and fluffier with each wash is sure to make it a hit with the recipient.

These also make great dog blankets made from all denim and are virtually indestructable. You can get really creative with cutouts, fabrics and appliques. I've done stars , reverse windows and frog appliques with gorgeous multi coloured fabric. I've even done camo fabric for a boys quilt.

Old jeans : Free - start saving your old pairs!

1 x vintage chenille blanket - $3.00 from the op shop

Cotton Material - $8.00 on sale

Total cost of blanket - about $11.00 plus cotton and a rainy weekend.

Today I learned .....

You cannot go to a quilting and craft show and buy nothing ....even if it is Frugal November.

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts- Savvy Shopping

You know how you sometimes see something in the shops in June and think "That would be PERFECT for Aunt Gladys / Mum /The Neighbours / The Cat for Christmas"  

Naturally when December rolls around you find:

a) You can't remember what your brilliant idea in June was

b) They don't make them/stock them anymore

c) They stock them alright but they cost three times the price they did in June

Now you can go down the socks, chocs and jocks road, or you can get savvy and Christmas shop all year. Sounds simple doesn't it?  But how many of us actually do it?

I've managed to snag some really crazy bargains by shopping for Christmas through the year and stashing those gifts away. Some of those gifts are unusual , some were too good a price to pass up and some were perfect for the recipient. As an added bonus in December I can sit home feeling smug and virtuous as everyone else battles the Christmas shopping crowds (if they can find a car park. )

Here are some of the things I've purchased through this year waiting to be wrapped and tagged.

Baby Toys - brand name -  a few dollars each

Recycled Paper notebook / Cute Journal $8.00 for the pair

Purses. Purchased at last year's Christmas sale. Retail $60.00. I paid $19.95 for both.

Fun jewellery. Great stocking fillers! $5.00 each.

I also scored ( but am too lazy today to photograph )

Vintage Bunnykins Trio from late 1960's. Mint condition never used still in original box - purchased from a second hand store that was closing down. It was tagged $110.00 . They said make us an offer. $20.00 later I walked out of the shop with it.

A Vintage Staffordshire Tiered Cake Plate -for 8 dollars. Will look great with fairy cakes on it as a gift.

Happy Shopping!

My Creative Space - A piece of heaven

I was going to give you a running saga of my sewing room woes but whatever I wrote sounded like I was having a Fairy Bread Pity Party.

The abridged version of my sorry tale is that I've  had a sewing room  from time to time but usually I get to enjoy it for 4-5 weeks before a relative of some sort needs to come and stay with us.  They say it's "for a few weeks" but they really mean forever.  

I have actually moved the stuff in and out of and changed the locale of my sewing room about 5 times in the last 18 months.  At the moment I'm in our guest bedroom , which is going to get really interesting when relatives come to stay at Christmas because a bit like the Princess and the Pea they're going to have to sleep on mounds of fabric.

Anyway , I had to do a re-shuffle of furniture yesterday due to the needs of our latest house guests (Yes Virginia it is possible to fit 43 square  metres of furniture into a 20 square  metre space ) and managed to get everything re-sorted and I'm feeling quite organised. At least I got to see how much stuff I have. I clearly have fabric hoarding  issues.

I'm off to the quilting and crafting show today. Wonder where I'm going to fit all the new fabric I'm likely to bring home?

Meadowsweet - I'm in love

I never really understood the hoopla that surrounds the release of particular fabric collections.

I've spent the whole of 2009 only sewing with re-purposed fabrics , including lots of vintage sheets. That's the way I roll. If I want something specific I go to Spotlight and bitch and whine about paying $14.95 a metre for fabric made in China.

Then I saw Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet collection, and I'm in lurve....If you want to have a peek go here . I keep going there constantly just to get me some eye candy. I. Want. This. Fabric.

Please resume normal activities. I just had to share.

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts- Sew Easy

I made these placemats earlier this year for my friends Natalie and Nerida who were both celebrating birthdays.

They were made from my ever growing fabric stash, and they were a real hit. I made them using the flip and fold technique. Dead easy – straight line sewing. My kind of sewing!

I’m guess-timating here but I think they probably cost me about 10.00 for each set, including batting. You could do a Christmas theme or something that matched your recipients décor as I did. Pretty them up with gorgeous wrapping paper and a handmade gift tag and watch everyone tell you how clever you are.

Too bad I didn’t make myself some while I was at it! I am considering doing some for Christmas lunch which is going to be at my house this year.

Crafty Goodness

Picture quality is not fab ...but I finished 121 squares for Sandra's Quilt, which means I'm ready to lay it out and start sewing the top together. Maybe I will finish it by Christmas after all!

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts - Casserole Heaven

Here's last weeks casserole dish/garage sale find filled to the brim with casserole bases and stocks to give as a gift for busy hungry people.

Total cost of this gift was under $15.00, but I used 7 packs of casserole bases and two stocks, so if you wanted to go super frugal you could halve that and the cost of the gift would come down to under $10.

Frugal Savings - Pets

We're big on animals in this house. To us they're part of the family. We have four pets (not including the free loading blue tongue lizard that lives in various places in the backyard )

Our German shorthaired Pointers, Indiana Bones and Lola Daisy eat a lot because they are large dogs. Mordecai our ginger cat is also a big cat. (See the theme here - we like BIG) Moo is our anomaly. We got her as a kitten and she never really grew much. What she lacks in stature she makes up for in attitude. You don't want to mess with this cat.

Feeding four companions can get pretty expensive, and thats not even thinking about vet bills, flea treatments, heart worm prevention, unexpected illness  etc etc. I think at one stage we were spending around $3200.00 per year just feeding these critters. Isn't that insane? 

Now we make our own dog food about once every 10 days and pop it in the freezer in meal sized portions. That saves us about $525.00 a year over canned or pre-made dog food. I also save all the vegie and meat scraps from meals in a bag in the freezer and they go into the dog food when we make it up to pad it out a bit. (see my recipe below)

I buy good quality dry food in 15 kilo bags, three bags at a  time. Our breeder told us what she feeds dogs she isn't showing and we buy the same.  That's in preference to high quality premium bags of dogs food, which we did feed them for the first two years to assist with good bone development. That saves us about $494.00 a year. I also buy our cat food in 6.5 kilo bags instead of boxes which saves us about $100.00 a year.

I used to buy dried pigs ears because the dogs love them and they're good for their teeth. My dogs can also chew one to oblivion in 20 minutes. At $2.50 each twice a week thats expensive. Now I buy a huge bone cut in half which they play with for up to a week and that saves me $390.00 a year. Pigs ears are now "sometimes" foods just like Cookie Monsters cookie's.

So with just a little effort we managed to cut our food bill by almost half. That's $1500.00!!!

Fairy Bread's Dog Food Recipe

4 kilograms (around 9 pounds) chicken mince

2 kilos of chopped vegies (peas, carrot , beans) I just buy them already bagged and frozen.

2 x 500 gram packs of dry pasta

2 eggs

Crushed garlic (about a tablespoon )

Brown the meat, and drain off any excess fat. Microwave the vegies and while you're doing this throw in the garlic and eggs to the pot of meat and mix well. Boil the pasta, and add this, the vegies and any table scraps you've saved to the mix. Let it cool and bag in individual portions. Sometimes I throw in a can of sardines because they're good for the dogs coats. You can also use rice instead of pasta.  Our vet has commented positively on the condition and health of our dogs so we must be doing something right and the dogs LOVE their food.

Please be aware that some vegies are not good for dogs. Large amounts of potato, potato skins, and high amounts of broccoli can cause adverse reactions. Under no circumstances should onion be fed to dogs. Please check with your vet before you make your own dog food.

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts - Tea Party

In the olden days when people were civilized they used to stop and have high tea in the mid to late afternoon.

You can pick up beautiful old china at thrift stores and garage sales for a few dollars a set. Ideal for people who collect old china  or want to revive the civilised custom of afternoon tea.

Fill them with exotic or flavoured tea sachets and wrap each cup individually in cellophane finishing off with a big bow. For bigger impact you can pop a couple of individually packaged biscuits on the plate next to the tea cup before you wrap it up. You can give them individually or in pairs. I did a set of six different trios for my sister a few Christmases ago and went to the trouble of dating each vintage trio and writing a history for each set which I popped in the box I wrapped them in.

These two cups filled with sachets of teas worked out at $11.50. If you’re really keen to go with a tea party theme the teapot was $3.00 and the cookie jar was $2.00 from thrift stores.  I know they don’t match but isn’t that part of the beauty?

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts- Skullduggery Jam

skull·dug·ger·y

Crafty deception or trickery or an instance of it.

I first became acquainted with Skullduggery Jam many years ago through a book I was reading. I can’t recall what the book was now but it was hilarious.

Skullduggery Jam is right up my alley. Fast, cheap and cute.

Go buy as many jars from the thrift store as you plan to make jars of jam. If you’ve been collecting jars all year then so much the better (and cheaper) Unusual shapes or decorative jars are good, but plain will do if that’s all you can find because you’re going to gussy them up a bit later. Wash and dry the jars so they sparkle.

Go to the store and buy the same number of jars of cheap but edible jam as you have empty jars to fill. You can spring for the good stuff but basically most people won’t know the difference. (or at least nobody I know does )

Come home and spoon the jam into the jars you bought at the thrift store and screw the lids back on.

Cut a circle of material from your fabric stash that is about 1-2 inches bigger in diameter than the jar lid. Place this on the top of the jar and wrap a ribbon round the jar to make it look pretty.

Create a label saying “Skullduggery Jam “. For a touch of authenticity you can add the date you packed the jam, which will lend credence to the idea you actually made it yourself. I stress here you’re not saying you made the jam and you aren’t responsible for others making that assumption.

Voila you’re done! I made my two jars for less than $3.00. (But  I didn’t make those scones. I can’t make scones to save myself. My sister makes excellent scones and she won't share her recipe)

If you're worried about people thinking you're a cheapskate and /or a fibber  I suppose you could bake some scones to go with the skullduggery jam as part of the gift....personally I think we all worry too much about what others think.

30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts - Frame Up - Day 1

Here’s a nifty and easy Christmas present that looks more expensive than it is and would be great for someone who has a console table or space to fill.

Buy frames from your local discount store in a colour theme and fill the frames with things that match your colour or subject theme. I used things I had laying around the house. This collection includes scrap-booking paper cut to size, material off cuts from some potholders I made and black and white family wedding photographs.

The entire collection cost me under $15.00 (and half of that was for the silver scrolls middle frame- but I figure it kind of makes the rest of them look more classy) and would look beautiful with the frames individually wrapped in tissue paper and popped in a box with a big ribbon for presentation.

Tip: Be creative with your theme to make sure it matches the décor of the house and the interests of the recipients. My black and white frames were made for a black and white French guest room boudoir.

News Flash...... 30 Days of Frugal Christmas Gifts

I am going to take the plunge and commit to something big here. If I don't announce it publicly I'll find an excuse not to do it.  (You know how it goes- insert whiny voice here "I dont have time ", "My ideas suck " "Nobody reads my stuff anyway" )

In honour of frugally fun November, and the  gorgeously frugal Christmas I'm having this year, I've decided to have "30 days of Frugal Christmas Gifts " where I'll post gift ideas - one per day until we reach 30! 

Please feel free to use the ideas or vary them to suit your own themes and budgets. The possibilities are endless and I'd love to hear your ideas too!

To kick off the frugal-fest and to help finish wrapping your gorgeous gifts you're gonna need gift tags! How frugal and beautiful is it to print your own? Individual hand crafted gift tags and all for free!

Check out the collective genius on the  Bella Dia blog (Who says idle web surfing is a waste of time?) which has links to almost every free gift tag site ever heard of.   You can check it out here  and print to your hearts content! And Sew Mama Sew also has more free gift tags here  and they're all so sweet!

Happy Printing!

Small confession....I ate 5 Monte Carlo biscuits  while typing this post ....ugh ...I think that's a personal best in the piggy stakes.

Simple Savings - The $21 Challenge Book

Fiona Lippey (Self Confessed Miser Extraordinaire) and owner of the Simple Savings website has just co-authored and published a book called "The $21 Challenge".

I first heard about this concept around 2 years ago when I was a subscriber to the site and have practiced it on and off ever since. In her free  Simple Savings newsletter she has just sent the first chapter of the book via email to whet our appetities. You can have a look at it here . Needless to say, I just ordered a copy of the book.

Essentially the premise is simple. It's about finding extra money from your shopping budget by occasionally taking the pledge to only spend $21.00 for the week on shopping. By using what we already have in our pantries and freezers and getting really creative with meal plans, you can save substantial amounts of cash over the course of the year with just a bit of effort. For example we do this one week in four and save around $1700.00 a year from our grocery budget. I love the concept and the savings!

Fiona is offering signed copies of the book for purchase on her website, and for Australians you can  go to selected bookstores, and department stores for a copy if you'd prefer to flick through the book before you purchase. 

Happy Reading!

Frugally Fun November Experiment

A few weeks ago, I commented to Mr. Fairy Bread that I would like to try living ultra frugally for a month to see how much more money we could save. We ramped up the frugality once before for a month and the amount of money we saved was quite astronomical.

If’ it’s not essential we can’t buy it. We need to look at what else we have that we can use that will do the job before we buy anything else. We need to consider every cent we spend on food, on day to day living, on entertainment, basically on everything. However, we still plan to have a life.

Today is the start of the experiment and ten hours in I already face my first challenge!

 

Scenario: Several days ago I found a vintage quilt top on an auction website that I really like. The idea of finishing something vintage instead of starting something new appeals to me. Mindful of my November deadline I email the seller about international postage costs.Nine hours and 20 minutes into November I get a response. Postage is an excellent price and if I had received this yesterday I would have been hitting the “Buy it Now” button immediately. What to do?

Possible response: Say “Bugger it. I’m buying it anyway –it's not my fault the seller  didn’t get back to me before I started this stupid experiment!”

Or : “It’s not November in America yet so technically I’m not breaking the pact I set for myself “ ( I actually quite liked this one and almost made it work for me)

Actual Solution: I suggested Mr. Fairy Bread buy me the quilt top for Christmas thereby killing many birds with one stone. 1) He doesn’t have to stress about what to buy me. 2) The total price comes in at less than we agreed to spend on one another 3) I get something I really want. 4) I get to feel smug and virtuous

I’m doing the happy dance here!

Frugal Finds -Garage Sales

Audra over at The Frugal Missus inspired me with her post yesterday about her thrifty finds. I’ve been haunting op shops lately (ooooh how spookily appropriate for Halloween) So with a hot day forecast I was out early scouting garage sales.

First sale I scored a car play mat in excellent nick for about 10 % of the cost of a new one and a pottery casserole dish that looked like it had never been used. I’m doing a gorgeously frugal Christmas this year and both these items will be gifts.

Second sale had a fabulous garden bench but I couldn’t work out how to get it home so I regretfully left it there. I’m gonna kick myself sometime later today unless one of you would like to come over and do it for me.

Third sale was retro fabric heaven. These aprons are going to look soooooooooo cute in my quilts. I bought 4 aprons for a dollar each. Score! They’re almost too pretty to cut up. I am totally in love with old people who NEVER throw anything away.

When I walked in and saw this vintage pink chenille, it took all my tact not to shove everyone out of the way screaming “It’s mine- It’s mine” . When I explained to the guy that I collect vintage chenille he started to tell me how they had sold another one unopened still in it’s packet and never used and I started sobbing uncontrollably. (Well actually I didn’t-but I told him I felt like it)

I stopped in at my favourite op shop on the way back. They almost always have something to tempt me into parting with my hard earned cash. Today was no exception, three material pieces in green floral , yellow floral and black butterflies – around 2.5 metres of material for 4 bucks. More material for string quilts!

 

I get so excited about vintage fabric.

I also picked up 2 unusual glass bottles for the bathroom, and a cut glass butter dish (I have been looking for one of these for AGES) for the grand sum of $5.00. The ladies that volunteer in my favourite op shop are always so pleasant and never mind me rabbiting on about what I’m planning to do with my finds. Their prices are totally awesome as well.

(  Butter sold separately)

Thrifty Décor Chick has a great post on her blog at the moment called Perfect. For anyone who has ever strived to make their house “perfect” I encourage you to read it. It’s great stuff and really resonated with me.

On the down side while I was out this morning my car started  screeching at me to “Check Power train”. I’d check it if I knew what it was, so now I’m waiting for Mr. Pyjamas  to get home. Whatever it is, from the intensity of the dashboard flashing lights and alarms it’s probably not good.

I'm off to take my fabric off the line and do some sewing.

Have a fabulous Halloween weekend.

Past Glories- String Quilt

One of my goals this year was to only use vintage, recycled or pre-loved fabric for quilting creations. I just feel it's more ecologically sustainable, the fabric is generally cheaper, and my quilts end up looking really unique (assuming I finish them)

I was given some vintage sheet fat quarters earlier in the year  and I was totally hooked.  I started haunting op shops with the zeal of a cult member and muttering about old sheets in my sleep. At last count I had about 40 vintage  sheets stacked (read - hidden) in my sewing room.

Anyway after I had made a quilt top from vintage sheets I had loads of scraps left over . I mused (since musing is one thing I do really well) about what to do with fabric that was too good to throw away - and since Google is my friend discovered there is a whole movement out there that makes string quilts. Sign me up!

I finished this one two weeks ago and I love it. It's also backed with a vibrant pink floral vintage sheet and I turned the backing over to the front to make the binding.

The idea of string quilts really appeals to me and there are so many possibilities. It was during the making of this one that I realised I'm a random quilter. I'm not into precision and form and complications. I kinda like to make it up as I go along.

Past Glories -Butterfly quilt

Since my blog is new and I won't have any crafty goodness to show until my next quilt is finished I thought I would share  some of my previous work. I'm not a prolific quilter by any means so when I actually get something finished it's quite an achievement!

The quilt below was made for my sister for Christmas three years ago- a collaborative effort between me and my Mum.

          

It started off as a wall hanging for my house, then we re-painted, and it sadly didn't match the house anymore.  It sat in my spare room unfinished for about 18 months.  My Mum said "If we did 3 more of those panels, and a border and some sashing we could give it to Liane!" (Sure - it's a walk in the park)

My sister had previously seen it as a partially finished project and joked "Hey can you make me one of those but in bed size?"

I hand cut and hand appliqued all the butterflies, machine sewed those feelers on,  sewed them into panels and did the border (which you can't see very well in any of these pictures)

Mum hand quilted it together, and we sent it to my sister, who cried on Christmas morning when she opened it.

I stil have some of those hand cut butterflies left over and when I get over my applique phobia I'll think of something cute to to do with them.

Fairy Bread

In my childhood a party wasn't complete without fairy bread.  The fairy bread always disappeared before everything else. Sometimes your Mum had to whip into the kitchen mid party and make more to satisfy the hungry hoardes.

It's a simple concept. Bread, butter and hundreds and thousands.

In a world where kid's parties mean bouncing castles, performing clowns, four tier birthday cakes and professionally catered food, fairy bread seems to have gone out of fashion. Fairy bread is too simple for our complex world.

In my adulthood, I'm trying to live my life like it's fairy bread. Simply, cheerfully and frugally. Join me on my adventure.