More reasons to love secondhand

Because $10 can get what is likely to be a lifetime supply of thread for me.I especially love all the old wooden spools.

Rag Rug for free to good home.

Well, I've posted about my love of rag rugs before here, and how I make them here. But, this is even better than making them, today as we were leaving the thrift store the boys spotted a rag rug by the door. We opened it up and I oohed and aahed over the colours. Then W said, "Look, there's a sign that says free." Well, not much to think about there, is there. We rolled it back up and brought it home to live with us.*One day I really will write an ode to thrift stores.
**Nicola - did you drop that off there?

What happened to these?

I'm happy to say that some of my thrifted sheets have already been re-purposed into shopping bags. Click here to see more details.

Cant...stop...making...bags

Oh how I love easy-to-make and yet ever-so-useful things. I can't seem to stop making these right now, even though the sun is shining and outside is calling. Want to know what they are for? Here is an explanation.

A letter

Dear Nature's Fare,

For sometime I have been meaning to write to you regarding a matter that is very important to me and, I believe, to the well-being of our Earth. For a few years now, my family and my friends' families have been working to reduce our use of plastic. One of the ways that we do this is by refilling our own containers with bulk products in order to avoid using new containers. We would love to see a few more bulk products in your store. Some things that I specifically would like to see are:

-Maple syrup and local honey
-Dr.Bronner's liquid castile soap (I have seen big refill jugs in the Kootenay Co-op in Nelson)
-An earth-friendly dish soap (such as Ecover which has big refill jugs available in other countries)
-Earth friendly/human health friendly shampoo
-Olive and/or grapeseed oil
-Bulk organic peanut butter (in other cities I have seen machines that actually grind the fresh peanuts right into your own jar, I've seen them for almonds too)
I have seen many of these products available in the bulk section of health food stores in other cities, and in those stores customers can bring in their own container, pre-weigh it, and then fill it with the product. I really do hope that you will consider these suggestions and I will hope to see these choices in your store one day soon.
On another note, I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am that you are opening a store in Westbank. On Friday I was in your new store in the Mission and I thought to myself how nice it would be if you opened a store on the Westside too, imagine how pleased I was to see your new store sign up on my way to the library the next day. Looking forward to shopping with you even more often, now that you will be closer to my home.

Thanks for your time,
Heather

Anyone else feel the same way? The more times they hear this, the more likely they are to do it.
One of my goals for this year was to stop Thinking about doing things, and just Do things. This letter was one small one of those things that I have been meaning to do. In order to motivate myself more, I have started a little blog to keep track of my goals as I achieve them, a sort-of simple living personal journal. I will, of course, still be posting with my friends here as I have so much fun connecting with them here as well as in person, but in case you are interested checking out some of my goals as I reach them, you can check here. *Just give me a few days to get some things done first, as I only just started. ;-)

Another good reason to go to Hawaii

Thrift stores!!! How could I have forgotten to mention that on this post?

When we are there we make sure to check out our favourite thrift stores. This year we found a few new ones too. In Kula, W found these Heelys for $1. They looked like they have never been used. They also found some great Lego for 50 cents, including 2 baseplates.

I found several skirts($2 each usually), here are some pics of most of them.

I love the fabric used for this wrap skirt - it has a very South American feel. I also got some shoes that I just couldn't pass up. These ones, for wearing with all those skirts.And these ones because they are Vegan Earth shoes ($3 - also look like they have never been worn) and because two years ago I finally had to get rid of my poor, sad, shabby, abused Birkenstocks because, after relegating them to "garden shoe" status years prior, they were in such bad shape that even the earthworms in my garden were embarrassed when I wore them.
S stocked up on Hawaiian shirts - pretty much a staple clothing item for him the last few years. And...how could I pass this shirt up? Well, obviously I couldn't. Fun!!

Here comes the sun...again...just a little bit sooner

So, last year one of my early posts was about the sun returning and shining back into our front windows. This is a pretty happy day around here - we are real sun worshippers. Even though we had only been home a few days I had already cleaned the inside of our front windows in anticipation. (I'll get to the outsides, it's just so cold I think the vinegar/water solution might freeze right on there) We popped The Beatles CD in the player. We were ready.
Yessss!!! Today was the day. We sang along, E danced, the dog seemed happy. :-) When I came to post I checked to see the date that I had posted about it last year and it was the 13th of February, nice to see the sun back a little sooner. I guess we lucked out that the clouds were out of the way at just the right time. Here comes the sun indeed. Now I am going to go and have a cup of tea and listen to Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, since the CD is already in. And who can listen to that song without singing along and feelin' happy.

Pockets on my Tea Cozy...

Got a wool sweater that has seen better days? Do this !

A walk in the woods

What could be better than a walk in the snow-filled woods on a sunny day? A husband who thinks ahead and is willing to carry chairs up the hill and along the walk to just the right spot for sunning and sledding.Fun for the boys, fun for the dogs, and fun for us too.

More Handmade Prezzies

We seem to have left some of our gift making 'til the last minute this year...well, what I would consider last minute, I'm not talking about what men consider last minute. :-) So, here are some pics of some of the things that we have been making today and yesterday.The boys made these yesterday, they are flower pens and they seem to be a hit with all the females in our family.

We have also been packing up a lot of preserves and I am wishing that I had done more jams and jellies this year, that'll teach me for just throwing all those fruits in the freezer to save time.

Some simple crochet cloths with some divine soap. It is Mountain Sky soap made in the Kootenays. I think that is the only bought gift that we have for the adults in our family. I love, love, love the Kali Spice bar.

A gift W made for my dad, he saw this shirt in a "help save the earth" book that he was reading and we thought it was great.

And this? Well, it will get done....I still have...what, four days?

Yummy!

I tried another recipe out of Simply in Season. This is such a good book and I have enjoyed every recipe that I have tried so far. I just noticed that they have a study guide, with "invitations to action" on their website too, seems like a good idea to me. Yesterday I decided to make the Sweet Potato Crescent rolls, except I made them with one of my squash that I need to use up.Oh, they were good right out of the oven. I made a little icing drizzle by mixing some cream cheese with maple syrup, vanilla and a smidge of milk. Luckily the recipe made two dozen so there was enough to share a taste with the neighbours and we still have a dozen left for today.

Tree trimming

We decorated our tree on Friday. I love unpacking the decorations and remembering when each handmade one was made (they aren't all handmade). These ones I made many years ago when my 12 year old was only one year old. Can you tell what they are made of?Peach pits, with a little bit of black Sculpey for heads. I have always loved loons ( who can resist their calls?) and so when I saw these ( I think it was in a Canadian Living magazine) I really wanted to make them.The boys also love making tree decorations, and here is one that W made out of a cinnamon stick , fabric strips, whole allspice and a star anise.*A slipper update - four pair knitted and felted, one pair needing one last sole which will be done today - it will, it really will.

Escape from Affluenza

For years, since reading this book, I have wanted to see this film. When we joined an online DVD service it was the first thing I looked for, they didn't have it in yet so I still haven't seen it but yesterday this sequel to Affluenza arrived in our mailbox. I so enjoyed this film. I wish that it was mandatory for all people to watch this in school before they could graduate. As I was watching it I just kept thinking how inspiring it was to actually see a film about people living and loving a simple life. We have been on the path of simple living for years, I first started really reading and learning about it 12 years ago when I read Your Money or Your Life and then Simple Abundance ( after that I was searching our library for every book with the word 'simple' in the title). I love this way of living and I know that it is absolutely the right path for us. I have never thought of it as a dreary substitute to how the Jones live, in fact, I have always felt kind of sad for the Jones, what with all that running around, working, no time for family, shopping to fill the void. I love how watching this film made me feel, it gives a real feeling of connection, I think. It feels good to know that there are so many other people out there living in a similar way, making similar choices. I think we all long to feel connected, to feel a sense of community, to feel understood and valued for what we believe in. Watching this has reminded me just how important that is, it has reminded me that there are many like-minded individuals, if I am just willing to take the time and make the effort to find them. It also reminded me how much I had enjoyed reading several old favourites, authors like Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Wanda Urbanska and Frank Levering, Cecile Andrews, and introduced me to some people that I had not heard of yet but who were very inspiring to see. I plan on asking our library to buy both of these films, I hope they will because they are very worthwhile and very inspiring. And, I hope, if you get the chance to see them, you will let me know what you think.

Green Idea Book

Thought I'd mention this book to any of you interested in gorgeous photos along with a myriad of green lifestyle ideas. This book contains projects (e.g. a herbal flea collar or homemade fly paper), recipes (strawberry jam or forest fruit compote) and covers topics ranging from gardening (fruits, veggies and herbs) and animal husbandry (how to choose the right chicken for you ;o) to some options in eco-friendly building materials and well... everything in between! Besides being informative, the photos alone, in my opinion, set this book apart from other "green" books. Resources, at the back of the book, are included for topics given in the body of the book, make the search for eco friendly companies easier . You can source natural bodycare products, yard and garden products, eco-friendly home products and even humane livestock raising information. Definitely a book packed with "green" ideas!

Recycled jeans

Clearing out my sewing room had the desired effect. I felt the pull of the sewing machine and spent a couple of hours converting an old pair of jeans into a bag!

I cut off the legs, then cut up the curve of the crotch seam a little way so that it will lie flat. Then I just sew across the opening.

I make a rough estimate of how big the lining needs to be and cut two rectangles of fabric - the important thing is for the top edge to be at least as wide as the waistband of the jeans, if not a little bigger. Too small and you're in trouble!

Sew the lining pieces together, put them inside the jean bag, and handsew around the top edges (I tried machine sewing the lining in once before, but denim is thick and you have the belt loops as hurdles too). The beauty is that you don't need to neaten off your seams as they are all enclosed.

The handle was a bit of an afterthought ... it was obvious from the mistakes I made in the process of making this bag that my skills are rusty. Ideally, the ends of the handles would have been hidden between the denim and the lining, but I added them on afterwards so I handsewed them on the outside.

As a little extra, I made a small bag from a pocket cut from a different pair of jeans. I liked that this pocket had a button down flap, so I cut around it, leaving about an inch of denim, then backed it with the lining fabric.

Do you have any more ideas of what I could make from that big pile of jeans?

I made this quilt a few years ago - I even incorporated a patch with a pocket in it that can hold a remote control!

A few of my favourite things....

Soft, furry kittens(acutally an overweight cat who thinks she is still a tiny, little kitten and wedges her body into too small boxes. Muffin top?)

Hot bowls of soup

(this is actually a picture of the second batch (made last night) because it was so delicious when I made it on Sunday night that I ate almost all of it myself before dinner and my family hardly got any)

Warm, wooly slippers

(and that makes another gift done!)

Slippers for non-sasquatch types

Thought I would post a pic of these slippers again but in an average woman's size, so that you could get an idea of the sizing with felted slippers, Rebecca.

These ones will end up being a woman's size 8, sadly not for me though. I really like this colour combination, it is one that I haven't done before. The soul and cuff are from the new denim colour of Patons classic wool and the main foot colour is Denim marl. Another pair done!

Another handmade gift.

That is a picture of my foot, just to show you how big these are before felting, it just never fails to amuse me. :-)

One pair down and three more to go, four more if time permits and I am not mumbling in my sleep about slip one, knit 23, ssk, wrap and turn....

Handmade gifts of wool angels.

Yesterday a new friend taught me how to make these little lovelies out of wool roving. They are so simple, yet, so sweet. We have decided to make several and give some as gifts too. The boys each made one and have decided that they really want to try some needle felting now too.

Yummy!

Thought I would post some tempting pictures. These boxes came to my house just now. They are filled with all kinds of goodies. There are dates, almonds, raisins, hemp seeds, flax seeds and more, all purchased online from here and delivered right to my door. Not all of it is for me, we did a group order so some will go to other friends.But these? These are all mine. Ten pounds of fair-trade, organic dark chocolate chips.
Think it will last long?