Save Some Green by Saving Your Greens

Dear Sisters,

I realize that I may be a little late catching this wave, but I'm glad I finally caught it nonetheless. We try to drink green smoothies with every meal. Because, seriously, YUM. And because in my opinion, there is no better way to get so much nutrition so easily.

My only complaint about making green smoothies is the cost. When available, I try to buy local at the farmer's market or use from our own garden, but there is a large part of the year here in Wisconsin when that is not possible. (Maybe I should look into winter greenhouse gardening...hmmm...) In an effort to cut down on the cost (especially the cost of greens), I try to buy most of our ingredients at a big warehouse store. I can buy organic in large quantities for much less than at the grocery store around the corner. Yes, yes, I know...buy local, support your neighborhood grocery store, yadda yadda yadda. I know. And I try to do just that. However, there are times when the item or items I am purchasing are so much cheaper that it justifies the long drive to the warehouse store. The downside to buying at such a locale is the sheer bulk of the purchase. We are only a family of four, two of which are quite small in stature. How do I keep the greens from going bad before I get a chance to use them?


Say hello to one of my favorite kitchen appliances: The FoodSaver. I'm so in love with this thing that it has a permanent home on the counter top in my butler's pantry. I can think of at least a million reasons why every home should have a FoodSaver (especially at the low price at which one can now purchase it), but the latest reason I love it is the Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer. Yep, for a little over eight bucks, you too can own this beautiful  little accessory.


All of those wide-mouth canning jars we all have piled up in our basement can now be put to good use besides canning. The jar sealer goes over the top of the sealing lid on the jar and sucks the air out while sealing the lid. I then use a screw on ring, even though it isn't necessary. It can't be used for canning, but it can be used to keep things fresh. I use it for nuts, specialty flours, raisins, bulk spices...the possibilities are endless.

But my new favorite use is for preserving greens.

I pre-wash my greens and pack them in jars, seal and refrigerate. Each day, we use one or two jars of greens. You would be amazed how much longer they stay fresh. I also use this method to prepare salads for Rit's lunches. She just grabs a jar and goes. It cuts down on waste from plastic bags and better preserves the food. The jars and the sealer lids can be washed and reused.
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Now run out and buy one! You won't regret it.

Love, Kate

Burlap Curtains

We've lived in our house for about 4 months now, and we now have finished (almost) curtains over the front bay window! Progress! Unfortunately, the neighbors no longer get to see me nursing the twins on the couch whenever they pass by. Shucks. I'm sure they're heart-broken. 

One of the reasons it took me so long to get curtains up is that it takes me a while sometimes to figure out what I want. And since I always want something cheap that doesn't look cheap, that takes a while to find. Blinds are nice, but they're expensive, don't add much decoration wise, and wouldn't be very kid-friendly since the windows come all the way down to the window seat that is only 12 inches from the ground. Also, the front windows together are about 115 inches across. Large windows make curtains difficult because panels don't usually come any wider than about 52 inches, and certainly not discount curtains. And since a curtain rod that long needs to be supported in the middle, you can't even just get a third panel to cover the extra. You need four panels. So even if you get a set on sale for about $50-60, that's still over $100 to cover just one window. Anyway, I don't think you need any more of my thought process. Suffice it to say that was more than I wanted to pay.

Burlap crafts seem to be the rage right now, and I saw burlap curtains at The Old Painted Cottage that I wanted to give a try. By the way, I also TOTALLY want to do a sideboard similar to hers with shelves above it in my kitchen...all in good time. But just panels of burlap was too blah, so I wanted to add a ruffle accent as well. Here's what I did.

I measured the window and got enough burlap for four panels across. I rolled the burlap out on my floor and measured four lengths of about 93 inches. Then I sewed two panels together for each side. I then sewed a large 3-4 inch hem at the top and a small hem along the bottom. I didn't bother turning the edge under, because the burlap is fairly stiff. I just folded the fabric over once and hemmed. I also bought some 90 inch wide muslin for lining since we want a lot of privacy in that room. I measured it as well and hemmed the top, sides, and bottom. I did sew these together with a pocket to slide the rod through, but the muslin is too stiff to gather well when I want the curtains open, so we're just hanging the curtains with ring clips.

 Here's how I did the ruffle. Your ruffle fabric will need to be twice as long as the width of your curtains so that once you've "ruffled" it, it will still be long enough. I had four yards of fabric. Leaving it folded so I could cut two ruffle lengths at a time, I cut 4 inch strips. I don't mind a bit of a frayed look, so I didn't need extra fabric for turning the edges under for a hem. Since I don't have a rotary cutter and mat, I just laid the fabric on the ground. Using my tape measure, I made small slits along the edge at 4 inch intervals. Then moving the tape measure up, I cut up to those same increments on the tape measure. Once I had the strips started, I folded the strip up, keeping it flush with the left side of the fabric, to use as a guide in continuing to cut the length of my strip on the right hand side. I hope that makes sense. As you continue to cut, it goes much faster because you have more length on your strip to use as a guide. I cut four lengths. One for the top and bottom of both panels for my curtains. You may have to cut more strips and sew them together to get strips long enough to span the whole width of your curtain.
 

 I then separated my strips and sewed a 1/4 inch seam all around the strip to control the amount of fraying.
 

  To create the ruffle, I sewed down the middle of each strip, folding the fabric up about 1/4 inch, sewing 2-3 inches farther down and then folding the fabric under the opposite way. Then I sewed for an inch or so before starting the process again, creating a ruffle that has fabric in front and then behind if that makes sense.

 I then laid my burlap curtain on the ground and marked notches (with pencil right on the fabric since it will be covered by the ruffle) in a line 17 inches from the top and 14 inches from the bottom. I then sewed my ruffle down the line adding a thin blue ribbon detailing down the middle of my ruffle.

 Here's one of the panels while the curtains are open. How to deal with that big, dark fireplace decoratively will be future posts I'm sure.

 I hung the curtains with curtain rings by clipping the rings to the back of the curtain about 4 inches from the top.
 

Here are the panels closed for the night. The pictures aren't great, but the curtain turned out pretty cute. It's a really wide curtain, but I'm pretty pleased with the result. I'm shocked at how well the lines of ruffles match up. Sometimes things work out despite my mediocre skills. Huzzah! The burlap gives a really fun texture to the curtain and pattern when the sun shines on them.

A warning about working with this much burlap: It has a pretty strong smell that will need a few days to air out. It also will leave hairy fuzz all over the floor while you're working with it. But now that they've been up a while, the smell is gone, and I don't notice a problem with the fuzz.

So here's the end cost for the curtains across this enormous window and then across our french doors in the back. About 17 yards of burlap for $3/yd. (50% off coupon at JoAnn's) for $51. Muslin lining for for the front windows for $17 (Another 50% coupon). Four yards of ruffle fabric for $2/yd (on sale) for $8. The ribbon was on sale for $.50 for 10 yards. I used 2 spools for $1. Total cost: $77! Not too shabby. Another reason this project took so long is that I wanted 50% off and had to wait for those items to not be on sale so that I could actually get a better price with my coupon. I had one set of extra curtain rings from a previous project and bought a second set for $4 on sale. Then I had to buy a simple curtain rod for the french doors for $4 at Lowe's. It will be totally covered up all the time, so I could buy a simple rounded one. So even with the hardware, it was a pretty cheap project. It did take more time than I thought it would (projects always do for me), but even though that's a precious commodity for everyone, it isn't a commodity that comes out of my bank account. :)

Turning Antique Boxes into a Headboard: IT’S FINALLY FINISHED!

Dear Amy,
We’ve been talking about this for months. And yes, IT IS FINALLY FINISHED! When we first agreed back in January to take our tiny house off of the market and stay here for awhile longer, I was forced to find some creative space-saving solutions. We had just moved our bedroom from upstairs to the main floor. Although we now have an attached bathroom, which is nice (even if it is the smaller than the average closet), our bedroom is a mere 9’ x 11’. The master bedroom closet in our 1930s bungalow is VERY small. In fact, I think I have only a couple of shirts and a few pairs of pants in the closet. It is completely filled with Rit’s clothes. And she really doesn’t have that many clothes either. I dream of the day when I can actually keep my clothes in my bedroom. For now, there simply isn’t enough space.
I digress. So, I had to find a way to fit a queen-sized bed, chest of drawers, large dog bed and a nightstand in this tiny space. Add to that the fact that there are two windows, a freestanding radiator, the bedroom door, the double closet doors, and the bathroom door to contend with when arranging furniture. A nightstand seemed to take up too much space, but I’m a reader and I really want some place to put my many books I'm reading simultaneously, a clock, a lamp, the baby monitors, the phone, etc. Hmmm…dilemma.
Then I came up with an idea. I have long collected “stuff"…old stuff that most people would term garbage. Not “vintage” stuff, but really old stuff from people’s garages, basements and barns. And we do have a lot of barns out here in Wisconsin. I think I got my collecting gene from mom. I remember the first time she came to visit me here. She was like a kid in a candy store…looking around wide-eyed and gasping at my many finds. Yep, it’s in the blood.
I have a rather large collection of old wood boxes…beverage boxes, fruit and potato boxes, etc. I pictured a type of shelving mounted on the wall above the bed. My vision was awesome, but how to make it into reality. I assigned Rit, the family problem solver, to figure out how to firmly mount the boxes to the wall. The last thing I wanted was to be knocked unconscious by a falling box while sleeping. She came up with a great idea involving mounting strips used for closets. Two mounting strips, with a 150-pound weight limit each, are anchored into the wall and the other two are mounted along the bottoms of the boxes. We cleaned up and disinfected the boxes. And magic!

Yes, the cords are an issue. We’re working on that. And things still need to find their place, but I love the look of it. It’s EXACTLY what I wanted! and it has freed up so much floor space!
Next on the list: I just ordered matching chests of drawers. Cheap, but useable. They will replace the one chest of drawers we have. They will fit flush with each other along the short wall by the door, hopefully appearing as one piece of furniture. I’m hoping that the streamlined look of the chests won’t overwhelm the small room. That should give us the extra clothes storage we’ll need.
I’ll keep you posted! Beautiful day today! The bike trailer arrived Friday and I’m in love. We went on a ride this weekend and I swooned the entire time.
Have a great day!
Love, Kate

Metamorphosis Monday

The Great Potty-Training Experiment of 2010

Dear Amy,

We are fast approaching potty-training ground zero here in Wisconsin. D is now 29 months old and he’s expressing interest in the potty. With Michelle’s five kids, your six, Dayna’s five and David’s 2, I have heard countless horror stories. I’m scared….REALLY. SCARED. I’m trying an approach that has garnished rave reviews online. It’s called “Three Day Potty Training” by Lora Jensen. You can find it here. I realize that you and my other siblings are skeptical at best regarding whether or not I can potty train D in 3 days…over a weekend, for example. But I am taking a deep breath, standing tall and going for it.

The method is pretty straight forward and has some elements to it that really ring true with me. I can’t go into details here since she sells the method in the form of an ebook and it’s all proprietary. In preparation for the big weekend, I did some research into potties and decided to get a traditional toddler potty that can double as a stepstool to the toilet as well as a toddler urinal. I may regret the urinal, but with two boys to work with for the next few years, this seemed like a good move. Plus, the more I read online, the more convinced I was that this was a good route to go.

As part of the 3-day method, Jensen recommends having 20-30 pairs of underwear on hand. Um, hello…I had no idea toddler underwear was so pricey! CRAZY PRICEY! So, I did a little research and found a fabulous free pattern for toddler underwear online here. You’ll see on the top of that same page there is a link to toddler boxers. Are you kidding me? Toddler boxers? CUTE! So, I’m digging into my stack of retired t-shirts to make D’s new big boy underwear. I’m kind of excited to make them for him actually. Is that silly?

Jensen also recommends you have several sheets on hand for naptime and overnight accidents. D is in a toddler bed and we only have two sheets for crib mattresses. Again, they’re not cheap. So, I found a pattern online for crib sheets here. When we upgraded from a full-size mattress to a queen, I kept all of our old sheets. People think I’m crazy, but old sheets can be used to make a HUGE variety of other things. (Pajama pants are especially yummy made of old, soft sheets.) I’ll be using some of those old sheets to make new crib sheets.

Okay, so far, I’ve saved about $150 in underwear and sheets alone. But that’s not all…this is beginning to sound like one of those early morning infomercials where they keep saying, “But that’s not all! Order now and we’ll throw in a second set of knives for only $3!” Smile.

Jensen also recommends using wipes by the potty for the first little time because wiping with toilet paper can be tough at first. She makes a point of saying that these should not be baby wipes because your toddler is making the transition into being a big boy or big girl. Okay, so wipes…toddler wipes (insert eye roll here) are also expensive…and dumb. I found instructions here and here on how to make your own. Eric is still in diapers, so I think I’ll be making all of my own baby wipes from now on.

I’m pretty excited about all of my great information finds online. Thanks, Internet. You rock.

Love, Kate

Tutorial: Save those Kid's Pants with Patches!

Dear Amy,
Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed the sunny (but chilly) days bundled up and playing outside. We had our first fire in the chiminea over the weekend. We played and went on walks and dreamed of summer.

Contrary to what most of our townsfolk were wearing last week when it reached 60 degrees, it’s still not warm enough for shorts (and/or tube tops, people. Take note!). I mean, come on. It’s March…in Wisconsin…they don’t call it the frozen tundra for nothing.

So, it’s still long pants for us. DeAngelo own three pairs of jeans—all hand-me-downs. (Thanks, friends and family!) Over the past month, two of the three pairs have sprouted vents…directly over the heavy play area—his knees. I hate to buy him new pairs now because he’s smack dab in the middle of a growth spurt. That sent me looking for other options. Enter THE PATCH.
 

I am not a fan of store-bought patches. I hate the look of them and they never seem to stay on anyway. So, I had to get creative.



I searched through my scrap fabric and found some decorator-weight fabric by the lovely Anna Marie Horner left over from some previous project. There are three patches in all.



I used the blanket stitch to attach two of them and a simple straight stitch to attach the other one. I did a simple straight in an X across the center of all three.

 
DeAngelo loves them. I don’t know if they’ll stay put. I don’t know how long they’ll last. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that they last a few months until I can convert these jeans into shorts. I’ll keep you posted.

Love, Kate

Tutorial: Appliqué that Stained Shirt!

Dear Amy,
I LOVE the seedlings you’ve started. It makes me realize how close summer is and how I need to get a jumpstart on our garden this year. I’ve bought some books to help us plan better, utilize our garden bounty more efficiently and use our garden space more effectively. I’m so excited! The first signs of spring make me so happy!
Here’s one more idea for how to reuse kids’ stained clothing. D received a hand-me-down shirt from a friend. The shirt was still in good condition except for some staining front and center and I loved the burnt orange color. So, I set to work trying to figure out a way to keep the shirt while covering the stain.
I had some scraps of knit fabric lying around from a skirt project (Re-using old t-shirts…I’ll tell you about that later.) I decided on a number 2 appliqué because of D’s impending 2nd birthday.I picked two colors from my scraps, a dark brown and a pale blue, and cut out a number 2 freehand from each color. I made the 2 from the darker color slightly smaller for a layered look.
If cutting your design freehand makes you nervous, I recommend finding a font or picture you like on your computer, adjusting the size and printing it out to use as a template.

I centered the larger 2 on the shirt and pinned it in place. I quickly sewed it on, careful to sew through only the front side of the shirt. I centered the smaller 2 over the larger one and pinned and sewed it in place. Knit fabric doesn’t unravel, so I left the edges unfinished so they they would curl when washed.

As you can see, I wasn’t super precise, but I love the outcome. And D loves his 2 shirt. The entire project took about 20 minutes.
What do you think?
Love, Kate

Tutorial: How to Alter & Use Stained Onesies

Dear Amy,
As you know, our two boys arrived very suddenly last spring. They were five months and 17 months old at the time…just babies.

When we made the decision to take the boys and commit to making it work, we were instantly thrown into a whirlwind of preparation. We didn’t have the usual nine months to prepare for their arrival…we had a few days.



We didn’t have a room set up. We didn’t have cribs or car seats or strollers or clothes or toys. We didn’t have anything. Fortunately, generous friends and family rallied to provide us with hand-me-downs from their children. We very quickly accumulated everything we needed to welcome our little ones.

Some of the clothing we received had been worn by more than one child already, and although still in good shape, some of the shirts were showing some staining. But I hated to get rid of things simply because of a little staining or discoloration. So I got creative.

 

I looked around for some sort of solution for discolored onesies. Enter an ingenious little product I picked up at Hobby Lobby, my home away from home. For a few bucks a bottle, you can find tie-dye in little spray bottles. It comes in a handful of colors and is super easy to use.

This time, the basement worked fine for this project. Next time, I hope to do this type of project outside during warmer weather! I placed a large piece of cardboard down to protect the surface underneath. Then I spread out the onesies and started spraying. I combined orange and red on some and blue and turquoise on others. I focused on the part of the onesies that would be seen—mainly the neck and arms. Part of the fun of this project is not worrying about the color being uniform, just go crazy and spray with abandon!



I sprayed several at once and then flipped them over and sprayed the back. Once they were finished, I placed an old towel on my drying rack and then placed the onesies on that to dry. Once air dry, I heat sealed the color in the dryer. The directions for the dye are on the packaging.


Such an easy solution and so inexpensive. This was a life-saver during the winter months as the boys could continue to wear their short-sleeved shirts all winter layered with a long-sleeved onesie.

Love,
Kate

It’s Worth the Wait

Dear Amy,

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice.” 

John Burroughs

I truly believe that anything worth having is worth waiting for and working toward. Remember that saying we had on the kitchen tile growing up? “What we achieve too easily, we esteem too lightly.” So true. And so apparent in my life. I have found that I do appreciate more things I wait for, save for, work toward. They hold greater weight.

R and I have long wanted to move. We live in an absolutely adorable house full of charm and unique attributes. With all of the landings and stairways in this house, there are 11 different levels! However, having been built in the early 1930s, our house is small and chopped up into tiny rooms. They are fabulous rooms, mind you, but small rooms. It’s not a lot of square footage we seek, but a more spacious house—larger rooms, etc. Our house is technically considered a story and a half, which means that the entire second story floor has slanted ceilings that follow the roofline.

It was inconvenient, but very doable for two people. Then the boys came. Now we feel packed into this tiny house with it’s tiny spaces. Since the boys arrived so suddenly, we really didn’t have time to think through where to put their rooms, where to fit their cribs and toys and clothes and assorted sundries.

So, we placed their bedroom in the most convenient room, the room that was the most easily replaced—the guest room. As we soon discovered, the new kids’ room was found lacking. For starters, it was directly inside the front door…NOISY. Second, it shared a wall with the kitchen…NOISY. Third, it was on the ground floor…COLD. Fourth, it’s 9’ x 11’…TOO SMALL for two cribs, a rocking chair and a dresser. Last but not least, the boys should not share a room at this point. They keep each other awake.

So, we put our house up for sale. I suffered through months of last-minute showings and interrupted naps, scrabbling to clean for the curious non-buyer. In the meantime, we could not find a house we wanted to buy. We were not falling in love with any standing structure within our town or the surrounding area. Huh.

So, we took our house back off the market. And we began working toward our goal…to build our dream house. We have made the decision to make this tiny house with no storage to speak of work for us for the next year and a half. With our low mortgage and new goal of living on half of R’s salary, we are saving toward our goal. We have always wanted a barn house….the kind of house that grows from within the structure of an old, salvaged barn that has been deconstructed, refurbished and reconstructed. I can’t wait! A green house built to our specifications…small, but spacious, with a place for everything.

Hence, my lack of posts recently. In an effort to make this house work for us for the next year and a half, we are moving all of the rooms around. The boys have moved upstairs. D is now in our old room (and has moved up to a toddler bed!), while Eric’s crib is in the small bedroom upstairs. We have moved downstairs to the 9’x11’ bedroom. It’s so small. With our queen bed, we scarcely have room to walk around. We have an attached bathroom that is the size of an extremely small closet. I’m still trying to sort through things and find a place for everything. For now, we are surrounded by piles and half-furnished rooms.

It’s been a hard adjustment, but I welcome the challenge of coming up with some creative storage solutions without adding to our “stuff.”

Before and after pictures to follow.

Wish me luck!

Love,

Kate

Getting Started…

Dear Amy,
So, a lot is going on here. R and I have made some significant decisions regarding how we want our next couple of years to unfold.
We have committed to living on half of R’s salary for one year—HALF! Ouch. Although R doesn’t make a lot of money, she makes a good salary. And we feel that we spend more than we need to each month. Okay, let’s be honest, I spend more than I need to each month. And that other half of her salary? It’s going into savings. We’re going to do some traveling and the rest will go toward building our dream house in a couple of years—a spacious (not large) barn house with lots of windows on some spectacular acreage…with chickens…and a two-car garage.
The budget will be finalized this week. And living within such a strict budget? I know it sounds crazy, but it excites me! I look forward to the challenge. I welcome the creative problem solving. Part of the challenge will be to make this small house continue to work for our growing family for the next two years. Toward that goal, I am making daily decisions, conscious choices that keep us on the right path. More about that later in the week.
For now, I want to tell you about one of my favorite books in the kitchen: The River Cottage Family Cookbook. Love, love, love this book! It’s full of recipes and ideas for living and eating well. this book contains some great information on dairy foods, including directions on how to make butter. I realize that you’ve already tried this, but I haven’t, and I loved it. So easy! Last night, we enjoyed a dinner of homemade vegetable soup, homemade sourdough bread and homemade butter. Yes, butter! We made butter!
Please follow along with my make your own butter tutorial:
Start with heavy cream, locally produced is better, and leave it on the counter about 30 minutes or so, until it’s room temperature. The fresher the cream, the longer it will take to turn into butter.
Find a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. I used an empty applesauce jar. Fill it one-third full with cream. It needs plenty of room to move around and churn, so keep it to one-third full.

Screw the lid on tightly and start shaking! Shake it up and down and all around so that the cream is really moving around and hitting the bottom of the lid. Don’t stop shaking until the butter is finished. It’s a good workout using such a large jar. R and I had to take turns! The boys loved it.
At first, it will obviously feel like cream sloshing around in there. Then, it will get quiet and you won’t be able to see into the jar. Voila! Whipped cream!

Keep shaking! Suddenly, you’ll feel something heavy sloshing around in there, surrounded by liquid. It may take anywhere between 10-30 minutes to get to this point. You’re almost done! At this point, it’s very soft and looks like whipped butter. It needs a little more shaking to firm up a bit more and separate from the buttermilk.

All finished. Here’s what the butter looks like before it’s drained:

Drain the buttermilk into a separate container.

Then fill the jar with cold water, slosh the butter around and drain. Repeat this step until the water runs clear. Dump the butter onto a wood cutting board. Press with the back of a wooden spoon or with your hands to remove the rest of the buttermilk. If the butter is still full of buttermilk, it will spoil more quickly.


All done! Shape, wrap in wax paper and store in the refrigerator.

I highly recommend enjoying your fresh butter with fresh-from-the-oven, still-warm sourdough bread. Does it get any better than this?
Love, Kate