1 Benefit of Being Married to a Handyman!

One of the many things my husband does is restoring homes that have been abandoned. Many times the houses are full of junk and sometimes he brings home some really cool stuff!

Sometimes they are things that he re-sells or I can use in the house.

A few years ago he brought this cabinet home. It’s a quality piece of furniture but it is very 80′s. I’ve had this in my kitchen wondering what to do with it. I stored platters in the bottom but dust was an issue.

Last year he brought this piece home and it has been waiting in his storage shed for me to decided what to do with it. It had some water damage to the back and was pretty neglected.

I decided to paint them, first using a bonding paint. I busted out the lattice and gave it a few coats of paint.

I had this eyesore of a space next to our table. We have a very small house so I am always trying to make the most of any storage space I can. I chose to shuffle my mother’s china cabinet into a bedroom out of sight (she lives with us during the winter months) and put the other cabinet into the girl’s room. I had to thin out some of my dishes and glassware (which most of it is rarely used), but it is so freeing to have less stuff. Stuff can bog you down fast, and the more people you have in a small house the harder you have to work at keeping it under control. I’d rather spend my time doing ‘people stuff’ than always cleaning and organizing THINGS!

This little kitchen spruce up cost me nothing! I used leftover paint from painting our cabinets last year and the fabric I had in my stash, and even better MY handyman husband was paid to haul this furniture off. Girls…marry a guy with real SKILLS!

Cut Hair at Home!

Bring It Home Beauty Hair Edition Volume 1

This is GREAT!

It shows how to style hair, how to cut long hair, bangs and a men’s cut.

It also shows how to do highlights!

Right now you can get it for $10.00 on Amazon.

Just think, for $10.00 and a little practice you can save a bundle on doing your own family’s hair!

Fiber Arts Monday - Upcycled T-shirts to Dishcloths

Don’t throw those old used, stained t-shirts away!

You can make all kinds of things from them once you cut them into strips and crochet them.

These dishcloths are very durable!

Starting at the bottom of a t-shirt start cutting a strip about 1/4″-1/2″ wide;

spiral upward to make one long strip.

The smaller (thinner) you cut your strip the smaller/lighter your ‘yarn’ will be.

You can use scissors,

but I found that using my rotary cutter and cutting mat worked faster and neater.

If you need to piece it together just tie a knot and weave in the ends as you crochet.

Make a ball stretching your t-shirt yarn.

Use a large hook, I used a J.

Use any pattern for a dishcloth you like…easy peasy!

For dishcloths a thinner quality of t-shirt works best.

***

Here are a bunch of area rugs made from t-shirts

and

handbags.

Learn How to Crochet

Fiber art is anything that includes stitching, weaving, quilting, sewing, rug making, crocheting, knitting, spinning, etc…

Each Monday we can share ideas, patterns, finished projects and ask questions about fiber arts in the comment section.

You can also link up to your blog post or photo account that is related to fiber arts, I just ask that you link back to the most current Fiber Arts Monday post. Just leave your post link in the comment section and tell us what it is.

So how ’bout it? Do you have a project you are working or want to work on? Let’s share some inspiration!

Share the Love… Shop Amazon Here

Just a friendly reminder, if you do any shopping through Amazon, I’d GREATLY appreciate it if you go through my Amazon link in the sidebar, or here:

For every sale through this link I can make a dollar or 2…or more if your spending a lot of money! ;o) Share the love!

Many things have free shipping of over $25.

Salt as a Weed Killer

Salt is a great alternative to chemical weed killers and much less expensive.

This is our front sidewalk.

I poured salt on the weeds. It’s best if it can sit for a day or two without rain.

The dew helps it penetrate slowly. Then the rain will let it get down deep.

Several days letter the weeds are dead.

I usually do this a couple times during the summer.

3 Secrets to Increase Your Worth This Summer

There are three things that all of us need to be doing so that hard economic times (and they will come and go throughout our lives) will not devastate us.

First, live debt free. If you have debt, do all you can to pinch every penny to get the debt eliminated. The best source for how to go about doing this is Dave Ramsey. There are also tons of websites/blogs to learn how to be frugal. My all-time favorite is Money Saving Mom . I’ve also started using Southern Savers to help me with grocery shopping…love it!

Second, increase your ability to make money and save money. The more things you are able to do for yourself and for others makes you more ‘valuable’, not in the sense of human worth, but the more skills you have the more ways you will be able to increase your income.

The key is to have multiple streams of income. I do not make a lot of money making quilts, but I do make some. I don’t make a ton of money making cakes, but I do make some. I do not make a lot of money teaching classes, but I do make some. You see it is being able to do many things that keeps money flowing in while I also help my husband, homeschool, care for our home and so on; it all adds up!

This same thing goes for my husband. Several years ago when we were considering having a reversal Jeff was concerned about his ability to ‘provide’ for more children. His boss at the time, who was a very wealthy man, looked him square in the face and said, “Jeff, you are much more equipped to provide for your family than I am mine. I can only do a couple of things, you can do many things.” Oh, how true this is!

The best time to learn is when you are young, BUT you are never too old to learn something new. As parents we spend so much time and money making sure our children are educated academically (which is a good thing), but so often the practical things are ignored or even perceived as menial.

We have an older German lady that we do some cleaning for, she was a child during WWII in Germany. She will often tell us what life was like there, especially after the war when their money was worth nothing. It was their ability to work and know practical skills that got them through that time.

Third, and most importantly, remember that God is our provider. As long as we remain faithful, seeking His Kingdom here on earth He will provide for our needs, that is His promise!

Summer is the perfect time to learn a new skill, not just for the sake of knowing how to do something, but being able to use that skill to make money, or the very lest save money. The more skills you have, the more versatile you are, the more secure you can be.

What are your plans this summer? What life skills will you equip your children with this summer? What do your children need to know before they get married?

Before He Cleaves

Before We Give Our Daughters Away

Draft Stoppers

Everyone needs a draft stopper.

They are needful and easy to make, and a good project to give some sewing practice.

This is a very simple one I made using the pant leg of a pair of jeans.

I sewed one end (seam inside), filled partly with pinto beans (heavy and cheap), and some quilt batting. You could use small stones, rice or sand in a bag, and rags. Anything that will weigh it down and insulate. (Yes, this one is dirty, they are a couple years old.)