Dirt Chic

Making a Cloth Baby Book

I did this for a contest on Etsy. It was really easy and turned out so nice.

Here is what you need:

-Fabric scissors, 6 6-inch squares of flannel, embroidery floss in different colors, 2 cotton squares of fabric that are 6-inches with a fun pattern, 2 chenille squares that are 6-inches, needles, material scraps in the theme of your choice.

 

Here is what the cover looked like. 

You can use a machine but I hand stitched everything. Stitch the front and back covers the same way. Put the cotton and chenille facing each other and stitch together with a back stitch or some other tight stitch.  Leave room on one side to turn rightside out. Then turn them right side out.  Fill with Polyfill and stitch up the hole you left. Then you can stitch around the edges if you like for a little extra flair. I have a million embroidery books I have gotten at thrift stores.  They are really easy to follow.  I taught all these stitches to myself.

 
Then you embroider material scraps onto the flannel squares.  I like to iron the edges down and then sew it on.  It makes it easier.  I also bought a disappearing fabric pen so I could embroider words well. 

 When you have finished two flannel squares sew them together like you did the front and back covers.

My theme was things that fly.

 Here is the last page.

Then you just hold everything together and stitch down the edge. Easy stuff.

--Mary
 
 
 
 
 
 

Skin Care Diaries: Prepping a Purchase & Looking at Labels

So I finished my semester, and was trying to "kill time" tonight (a weird concept for me) so I went back to my ongoing hobbyist-frugalist interest of making my own skin and body care.  Like any other project that is somewhat large in scale and therefore rather unwieldy, I messed around for it a bit, learned a few things, then gave it up to mess with again at a later date.

Then I was thinking about writing everything down.  Like, in a Word document.  Well, duh.  I then thought I might as well just write about it here NOW instead of later, though you aren't going to have the benefit of my re-writing and editing. ;)

The first thing I realized today is that I still don't have enough information to make a good "fell swoop" or purchasing.  This is important; I'm running out of almond oil (my bath oil of choice) so I went to get s'more at a local health food store - and a 16 oz. bottle is $16.  Yikes.  I know it's cheaper at the health food store in Kankakee.  And I definitely know it's mega-cheaper ($4.75!) online from one of my favorite sites, MMS.  So it got me to thinking that I should just combine my various needs/interests (I'm also going to start soapmaking - not the melt-n-pour kind... though that is fun... but the kind involving lye.  Oh my.) and buy everything at once to save on shipping.

So tonight I put as many things in my online "basket" as I could figure out.  It came to about $100 with shipping, but I still need other things (sadly, can't get it all from one outlet).  In the short-term and long-run spending $100 for bubble bath, soap, face care, body care and gifts is a truly frugal purchase, but right now, I still don't have some key things (enamel pots for soapmaking; a legit recipe for moisturizer).  So I have to keep "messing around" until I have a solid order to make.

And, I'm broke.  So I have to wait until November anyway, so there's that. :)

In the meantime:

* Look for the correct soap-making supplies used (thrift stores, craigslist, family and friends?)

* Now that I know what is comedogenic (as in what causes zits - thanks to this), I have to figure out how to make a cream out of oils and glycerin and other things.  I'm going to study the ingredients of face products I already use.  (I have books with recipes but they have a lot of zit-causing ingredients in them.)

* Solicit family and friends for their favorite fragrances and products so I can start thinking of what to make for them.

DIY Skincare, Etc.: Embarking

Well, I've been wanting to do this for awhile.  That is - start to replace products I normally buy for things I MAKE.  I have three big reasons for this:

1 - Cut down on excess plastic/container consumption.

2 - Save money.

3 - Have fun.  This is the kind of thing that floats my boat.

Disclaimer: I believe in science.  I love buying skincare.  But - I could spend a mint on it.  And as I do need some good hobbies, I figured this could be rewarding, as I like to work on small craft-type things that end up turning out right.  So, I've been spending a good bit of time looking into what types of ingredients are best for my body, face, etc.  

It hasn't hurt that I've been reading up on cosmetics and skincare for some writing research.  Like I said, I believe in science and advancements, but I also am thinking that unless you are basically trying to give yourself a facelift via products, that you could probably get away with making some stuff for yourself, and you won't look any worse than when using store-bought products.  

Right now I CAN research, as I still have plenty of products I need to use up before I start to make more.  And I know it's going to take some initial investment, so I either need to set some money aside, or ask for stuff for Christmas.  And I need to do some further cost comparisons, to find out just how much I will be saving, even with initial investment (I already did a few here).

Things I am going to start making myself:

-bubble bath

-skin cream

-face cleanser or facial soap

-cold-process soap (not the melt-and-pour stuff, though that is fun)

-scrub, maybe (I am so in-love with what I use, it will be hard to turn away)

Also, I want to make candles, and laundry detergent, and anything else that pops into my head.

I'll let you know once I get started in earnest.  In the meantime, do you have any homemade remedies/recipes?

Apples Today

Today I did a circle time with my kids.  We are doing a Homeschool Co-op Preschool with a few other moms once a week.  Circle time didn't go so well the first week so I thought we would try doing it at home to get used to it.  So, I got a few books at the library to jump start my brain.  I also just really love looking at currriculum.

  

Here are two good ones. The first is "Busy Bees Fun for Two's and Three's" by Totline Books.  The second is "Everyday Circle Times" by Liz and Dick Wilmes.  I just bought it on Amazon for 53 cents.

Today we just started with Apples.  Our Co-op group is doing Baking this month.  I thought Apples would be a good place for us to start because it is the letter A and it is fallish, etc.

We started by taking apples out of a bowl and putting them back in.  My 18 month old really liked this.  We sang a little song like this to just a whatever tune:

Pick up the Apples and put them in the basket...x2....x3.....x4...x10

Then we cut open the apple and talked about the inside and the outside.  Then we sang this song:

If you like to munch an apples raise your hand.

If you like to munch an apples raise your hand.

If you like to hear them crunch,

And eat them for your lunch,

If you like to munch an apple,

Raise your hand.

(sing to the tune of "If Your Happy and You Know It")

Then we did a craft.

Here's how it went.

 

We cut an apple in half and stamped with Tempra paint.  The apples we used were kind of old and not edible.  But we did eat a different apple while we did this.   As you can see, Lucy loved it and really followed my directions.  She didn't get too crazy.

 

James did a good job too but also wanted to use his hands.  I love it!  Now I have wrapping paper for Christmas!  They had a blast and the whole thing took like 15 minutes. 

Mary

The Second Step

My next step in my writing process was joining the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators.  It costs $75.00 annually and is really essential to anyone aspiring to write for kids. 

Their website is www.scbwi.org.  Check it out.  As I am writing this their website is under maintenence so I can't give you any good pics.  When  you join nationally though you are automatically joined in your local group.

Here is the link to the Illinois website. http://www.scbwi-illinois.org/index.html

And here is their logo.

 

It is an awesome organization.  Here is their intro:

Are you interested in writing and/or illustrating for children?

Have you written or illustrated a children's book but don't know what to do now?

Are you looking for a writing class, an illustration class, an agent?

Are you looking for a speaker for your bookstore, school or library?

As a member you have so many benefits.  You can join a critique group.  Their are tons of local workshops.  You are privy to all the most recent Publishing information.  They have a great conference. 

I did alot of research on their website and decided the next best step for me to take would be to take an additional class.  So I enrolled in the Insitute of Children's Literature.  More about that in my next post. 

Don't Forget to Recycle. (Ever.)

Just kidding, I don't even recycle every stinkin' time.  But I try.

A big thing for me is keeping up w/my magazines.  When I read them, I dog-ear pages I like - pictures, articles I want to look at again, recipes.  And when I'm done, I stick it in my magazine rack.

It gets pretty out of control.  But when that happens, I get my utility knife or craft knife and I go through and cut out the dog-eared pages.  This is perfect, because if I had to re-look through every magazine I would just recycle them all without even messing with it.

So I cut everything out, and stick it in a folder, and that is a separate project - to put all those papers in their place.  (And worthwhile.  But I let that pile get big, too.  And I even end up recycling some of the stuff I cut out.  Things don't always look as good later on.)

Then my pile is a bit smaller.  :)  For awhile....

Supplying Your Own Grooming Items

This is something I've been chewing on for awhile, but haven't really messed around with it further, for various reasons.  However, I've been inspired recently to really look into it.

Something that troubles me about an aspect of my purchasing and consumption habits is the amount of plastic I and my household goes through.  I used to pick up whatever grooming item that met my fancy (and was reasonably-enough priced), to the point where I had dozens of lotions and soaps and gels.  I've been systematically trying to go through this stockpile without buying more (exception: very delicious soaps that I put in my underwear drawer.  I only have 3 in there right now).

See, I finish them.  I TOTALLY finish them.

I had such a good time making soap from a basic base back in the day, though, that I wondered, why not do this for other products, too?  I mean, once my stockpile is gone(who really knows when this will be), I could easily enough buy more of the things I enjoy, even frugally... but I could also make my own.  Even more frugally.  And ecologically.

For instance: the case of bubble bath.  I absolutely love this bubble bath:

but it is $7.99 for 24 ounces, which comes to 33 cents an ounce.

If I purchased the 1 gallon bubble bath base from The Sage, and a corresponding amount of fragrance oil, with guesstimated shipping I would pay 31 cents an ounce.  Not a huge saving, but certainly this way, you wouldn't run out of bubble bath anytime soon, and you would be re-filling a container.  If you had the storage space, cash-up-front (or perhaps friends who want to go in on it with you) you could get the 5 gallon size, which would come out to about 20 cents an ounce.

(And don't forget, you can certainly go with different fragrances, it's not like you'd have to commit to one fragrance for 5 gallons....)

What about shower gel?  Well, I LOVE this stuff:

At retail, it is $1 an ounce, not including shipping if you had to pay for that.  If you went with The Sage 5 gallon extra-thick shower gel and fragrance, it would be 23 cents an ounce.  Granted, that doesn't stack up to, say, Suave shower gel at around 13 cents an ounce.  But then again, different ingredients, and throwaway packaging.

I'm no longer chewing on this idea - when I run out of stuff, I'm going to start making my own.  By that time, perhaps, I'll have the space for it all!  But in the meantime, perhaps I can find some people who will go in on the 5-gallon sizes with me.  It's a good idea.

Copying A Favorite Sundress

I found this vintage sundress at a thrift store a looong time ago. It was brand-new deadstock w/tags.  (That is me in the middle.  Carra is to the left in the orange.  We can only imagine what she's thinking as she makes that gesture in the direction of my clothing.)

I wrote it often. Primarily, when I was messing around the house or camping. Sometimes, I would wear it out, when I was feeling particularly trashy, heh heh(and I'm sorry, truly sorry, that I can't find that picture. It exists). I got sloppy/more comfortable, though, and pretty much wore it all the time, through my overweight days, too... so after I lost weight, I would still wear it (like now), and I looked particularly dumpy in it. Mary cares, though I don't, still. Sundresses are my total summer jam, as all I have to do to get dressed in the morning is PUT ONE ON. And do whatever I wanted.

I thought that since it seemed such a basic rectangular design, I could re-make it. I bought a couple of pieces of obnoxious(and wonderful) cotton fabric at JoAnn's. And it sat in my crafting stuff for this last year. I have very little patience with sewing.

Carra, however, does, and she is a saint and when I went to visit her she "helped" me make a new dress. By "help" I mean I helped by cutting the fabric and stuff and she pretty much made the whole thing.

(She was wearing an awesome outfit and I enjoyed the back of this shirt that I think I found at a thrift store - but she bought it.)

In my defense, Biff wasn't very helpful, either.

It didn't turn out to be as easy as I thought, so only one got finished. Carra had to tweak things a bit. If I want to make another, though, at least I know what I'm in for, and I know what steps I'll need to take - the big thing that was holding me back.

Yes, this is a Caution print. Caution: Only Wear if You Want to Look Like a Crazy Cavewoman

Or if you're just me. ;)

From the Land of Misplaced Happiness

I used to be a collector.  I sort of still am, depending on the item (It's a Small World, Strawberry Shortcake, sequined clothing).  And the price (free, extremely cheap).  I've remedied this basic tendency by collecting pictures.  And information.

I did find this lovely individual who manages to just collect, period!  For all your Strawberry Shortcake lovers, it's great fun to look at.  And it reminded me that I can never collect enough, so better just stick to pictures.

However, this does mean I sometimes actually purchase an old Sears catalog, because I can't remember the name of every toy.  It takes some sleuthing sometimes.  Such as in the case of Keypers, which I remembered the name, but not the spelling.  

Sometimes I don't even know that much.  I have had a very fond memory of a little Avon toy that also had an attendant line of cosmetics.  I even have the little PVC doll.  But I haven't been able to track down the name of it... until yesterday.

(Picture from that awesome SSC website).

I can't think of a more frugal way to collect.  And it is just as satisfying than owning it, knowing that I really shouldn't be spending money on collectibles just now.

Here's a question - did anybody have a play cosmetics set from the 80's, it wasn't real, but it had a little bag and lipstick and powder compact?

THIS one?

It was from the Sears catalog.  It had no brand.

If you ever see one, let me know.

DIY Bubble Bath

Cool!  Cool!  Yay Real Simple!  You don't even have to buy anything!