Five Fat Quarter Scarf Finished!

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It took me a while but I finally finished my Five Fat Quarter Scarf that I mentioned starting here.  

As I was sewing the rows together, it seemed to be too wide or at least wider than I normally wear.  Deciding to use only five rows of the fabric, I found it turned out to be a better width...at least for my purposes.  

I didn't add the pom poms but I did add some pretty coordinating lace ,,,,however after the sewing was done I did not like how the lace laid....so I ripped it out!

Alterations to the original pattern seemed to be all I was doing to this project!  I loved how Sachiko's turned out over at Tea Rose Home but my attempt didn't seem to be working out as well as hers.  

Once I flipped the fabric inside out and did the final stitching around the entire scarf, I decided that it was turning out pretty good! 

Maybe not exactly how Sachiko's turned out but it was good enough for me and although it is difficult to tell, my jacket is a mossy green color and they make a great pair!


Please remember to give your loved ones a hug!

A Quick Lunch Bag

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Lunch time....I needed a new lunch bag to take with me to work so I searched around the web looking for inspiration.


I ran across a few ideas that I liked but of course I have to put my own stamp on it so here is how the lunch bag transpired ..... looking through a TON of websites I found this and I liked the concept.  I have been using a plastic grocery bag anyway so why not sew a re-usable one?

I chose a Waverly fabric that was quite heavy and it matched another heavy fabric I had in my stash. Adding some buttons and trim that I had just gotten free from a yard sale on Thursday, I was ready to tackle the project.

Please do not ask me how I made it.....I really could not tell you step by step.  LOL

Using the grocery bag as a template, I cut two pieces of the print and two pieces of the lining.  

It seemed to be going well so I thought I would add a pocket.

Next I sewed the pocket to the outside fabric before I sewed the lining in.

I had to think and re-think how to flip the fabric so it would be lined yet the straps be finished off properly.

I did not follow the pattern that the link supplied, making it up as I went along seemed to be the best for me.  

Then as I said earlier, I added my own stamp,  

the buttons and trim.

I love how it turned out and it is totally washable!  

Loving that I can be self-sufficient and not have to run to the store to buy a lunch bag.....plus it uses up some of the stash that seems to multiply like bunny rabbits!


Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Soap Update

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It has been three days since I mixed up my first batch of blender soap.  If you missed it, here is the post.


I was too excited not to take a peek each day so I did and was very pleased with what I was seeing!  The soap hardened nicely and smelled wonderful.  I used lavender essential oil and since Debbie over at Homespun Living mentioned that she didn't think she added enough to her batch, I doubled the amount.

In order to get the soap out of the mold, (I did spray it liberally with cooking spray before pouring the soap in) I had to use an icing knife to score around the whole outside of the pan.  Then I had to use a metal spatula and carefully slid it under the center of the soap.  Once I did this, it came out easily. 

See that little oopsie at the top while it is in the container?  The blanket that was covering the soap for the last few days fell into it at the beginning.  UGH.  Oh well, this first time making the soap is for learning all the tricks.

The instructions indicated that now was the time to cut the soap into bars.  With my lack of confidence beginning this project, I didn't think this far ahead!  I now wish I would have used more of a square brick sized container.

My bars of soap were not as thick as I would like but seeing this is the first experimental batch, I tried to let the little imperfections slide off my shoulders.

As you can see, the bars are not uniform in size.  The little end pieces will be used up first once the soap has cured.

They don't look too shabby for my first successful batch, if I do say so myself.  I cannot wait to try it in 3 1/2 weeks.  Once I can use the soap and if I like the texture, feel, lather and moisturizing quality of it, another batch will be started immediately.  Now I just have to wait .... and patience is not one of my strong points!


Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

It Might Just Work!

Pin It Making my own homemade soap has eluded me for years.  I had tried Rhonda's recipe over at Down to Earth a couple of times.  I followed the directions exactly, being careful of the measurements and quality of ingredients, only to have the final product fail again and again. It seemed as if I was never destined to make my own homemade soap.  I was coming to the realization that if I wanted to enjoy the wonderful scents, feel and lathers of natural, down to earth, homemade soap, I was going to have to purchase it from someone who knew what they were doing.

Alas, I follow Debbie's blog over at Homespun Living and she posted a new technique on soap making.  Could this be the one?  Could this be the technique and recipe I had been searching for that would bring me success?!

One rainy afternoon about a week ago, I had about an hour and a half to kill before dinner .... not that we ever have time to kill ... right?  Anyhoo, I grabbed all my ingredients (I had them on hand from previous attempts at making soap) and thought now was the time.  Now was the time to try the technique that Debbie had posted about.  She had said it was quick and only made a small batch. 

I measured, I weighed, I measured again.  I poured the ingredients in, turned the blender on and waited.  I checked.  I turned the blender on again.  I checked.  Again and again I followed this procedure.  It seemed to take forever, whereas in reality it was only a couple of minutes.  Then I checked again.  The trace stage was starting!!!!  I COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. MY. EYES!!!  With shaky hands I added a lovely lavender essential oil to the blender and mixed again.  After a few seconds I poured the concoction into the waiting pan that I had greased with Pam, covered it as indicated in the directions and put it on the shelf. 

Cleaning up my area took approximately a half an hour then I couldn't stand it.  I had to peek.  Yup, sure enough, when I removed the cover I could see the soap was already beginning to harden.  I was so excited!!!  I imagined bars and bars of homemade soap with different fragrances and ingredients ..... oatmeal, spices, coffee, even chocolate!! 

The soap needed to sit for three days before I could remove it from the pan and cut it into bars.  Stay tuned!


Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

We Have Seedlings!

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Here in Minnesota we cannot plant our garden until the end of May because of frost .... some people believe you shouldn't plant until after the full moon in June!  I just pay attention to the weather. LOL


With having such a short planting season, we definitely have to start seeds in the house at the end of March to give some of the plants an opportunity to reach maturity.

This year I started tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower.  We don't have a LARGE garden for these seedlings, but last year I was still able to harvest over 300 pounds of fresh vegetables from this little round garden!  Our large 20 foot by 60 foot garden is strictly for potatoes and onions. 

So far so good, the seedlings are getting taller and will soon be re-planted into bigger individual containers.  I did have to plant tomatoes for the second time though ... for some unknown reason, the first batch did not sprout.

With Mother Nature playing cruel tricks and giving us some snow yesterday, I don't think I have to worry about getting these babies outside too soon.


Do you have to start seedlings and if you do, how are they doing?

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Parsley Pots

Pin It We use alot of herbs and spices in our kitchen.  Occasionally my dear hubby loves to don an apron and cook up a storm and when he does, he throws everything into the pot but the kitchen sink.

He especially likes to use fresh herbs, as do I, so we try to keep them growing all through the year.

The kitchen window ledges we have are perfect for holding little herb pots and well, the parsley pot was beginning to look a little sad.  It had been growing most of the winter and I had trimmed it and used it constantly but the plant kept on producing! 

It was time to change the soil, add new seeds and start over.  We always have two pots of parsley on the go .... yes, we use that much parsley!  Taking out all my supplies I notice that I better pick up some more herb seeds next time I am at the feed store ... we are running a little low.

I had picked up these little pots at Goodwill last year and just love them.  They are the perfect size, I love how they have 'HERBS' printed on the front and they are green!  My favorite color.

Well, now that the second pot of parsley is planted, onto planting the basil and oregano!  Doing little things like this reinforces our desire to be as self-sufficient as we can on our old homestead and it is such an easy task!

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Sauerkraut!

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I decided that I wanted to try and make my own homemade sauerkraut...another way to be self-sufficient. Bob and Pasie love the stuff, I can take it or leave it and Luke hates it but I though what better way to have sauerkraut than homemade. Forget the store bought stuff...we never know what is going in those cans that we buy at Walmart. At least ours would be without any preservatives or chemicals.


Organic cabbage was on sale this week at Super One for .44 cents a pound so I thought it was a great time to try making it myself.

Pasie had an old crock in storage so I cleaned it up and got it ready to fill with cabbage! I love crockery like this that have a long history to them. Isn't it pretty?
I asked a friend of mine from Frugal Village ... a site that I love and her recipe was as follows...

- chop the cabbage
- add 1 tbsp of salt to each pound ( I had a 4 pound cabbage)
- put in crock in layers....cabbage, salt, cabbage, salt .... a little of each at a time
- push down with a heavy object.... I used an empty glass jar...until all cabbage is pushed firmly to the bottom of the crock....so there is no air between the cabbage pieces
- fill a plastic bag with water and place on top of cabbage...the bag of water will press down on the cabbage which will not allow any air to seep in-between the cabbage
- each day press down on the cabbage... do this for 21 days, then cold pack in quart jars for 30 minutes

Sounded simple enough ...right? Well, I chopped the cabbage and used a vintage chopper that we had from Bob's Aunt Monica. She passed away a few years back and we were the heirs to her estate and needless to say there were things of hers that I had never seen before! She was a German war bride and saved everything!

I chopped, added salt, pressed down, chopped, added salt, pressed down in the crock . I then placed the bag of water on top and that was it! Not difficult at all and it must be starting to ferment because my kitchen is already stinky! Tomorrow and each day for the next 21 days, I will remove the bag, press down on the cabbage with my glass jar and replace the bag of water.


Hopefully we will have delicious homemade sauerkraut for hunting season this year!