The Lost Art of the Repurpose

Last weekend we were doing our normal errands and my husband begged me to break down and buy us new bedding. I begrudgingly complied and bought a set on clearance. He's been complaining for awhile now because we have a super awesome down comforter I bought as a splurge to keep me warm while he was in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he's a space heater shaped like a man and it's been an unseasonably warm winter up here in Maine and is basically sweating out bullets every night. Fine, husband, I suppose I can spend a few dollars to make you happy.

Anyway, that caused a huge reorganization of the space under the bed where I hide our other sheets in a space bag (so classy) and I found that I had kept the sheet that was on our mattress in the moving truck which got all sorts of dirty spots on it. I tried washing it but it isn't salvageable. Oh well, I though, it pains me to throw out this beautiful Martha Stewart fitted sheet, but it lasted us two years. Then, LIGHT BULB, didn't I just see something on Craftsy about making a crocheted rag rug out of an old sheet? You mean, I don't have to throw out this nasty stained sheet but can instead repurpose it into something else I can love? SIGN ME UP!

Sunday morning was spent hunched over on our tiny floor cutting back and forth along the sheet, turning it into  strips I could roll into a ball and use as "yarn". That's the only difficult part, and by difficult, I mean a little bit repetitive and knee crushing. Then I had this GIANT ten pound ball of old sheet. So I made a simple crochet ring, and double crochet increased each row so that I now have this awesome (but small) circle rug!

So I've decided, who needs the flat sheet that matches it anyway? I'll cut that up too to make a larger rug. Then I thought about all the fabric scraps in my stash...I could make one out of those too! The options are endless! You could use old t-shirts, or jeans, as long as all the fabric weights you use in your rug remain similar. 

To think I would have thrown this sheet out to take up space in a landfill somewhere, but instead I have turned it into a handcrafted decoration for our future home with just a little work. What can you find around your house that is headed for the dump that you can turn around and reuse? Next time I'll show you my new use for beer bottle caps!

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

Hookin' and Other Fun Stuff

HOORAY! My taxes are done! I got home from work yesterday and after running a few errands I sat down and did both Federal and State. I'm super excited because we're getting a bit more back than I expected which is actually deserved considering that the Marine Corps didn't reimburse us for most of our move. So glad to wash my hands of that, seriously.

On another good note my husband went from unemployed to having two jobs! One in pretty far away, which stinks especially in winter but it will open more opportunities and doors for him farther down the road so we'll make it work for now. Hopefully in a few weeks we can meet with the loan officer and see what our mortgage options are. There is a house right down the road from my parents that is really perfect, basically turn key there's nothing that needs to be done to it, but it's a little higher priced than what we'd like to spend. Maybe since it's been on the market awhile so they'll come down in price. Take a look. I'd like a little more land, but with that amount we could do everything we want so there's no need to have more just to pay more taxes.

Like always, I've been hookin' like a madwoman! I finished these cute slippers along with another yellow and green pair for myself.

Since my mom learned to knit she hasn't crocheted much so she has a half finished blanket she's going to give me to finish, so that's my next project. I still want to make a giant ripple stitch afghan for the bed (like this awesome one) but the yarn cost really just isn't in the budget right now. I still have so much yarn to use up I think I'll just stick with little projects for now. 

I've also been cooking a lot more, which is nice. I budget fifty dollars a week for groceries and almost every week I am under budget. I should probably post some recipes here because who doesn't love cheap good food? I made stuffed cabbage casserole (based off this recipe) and everyone loved it and there was plenty for all four of us and leftovers. Plus, it was super inexpensive and relatively healthy because I switched the ground beef out with ground turkey. I'm so good at being poor! 

Well, that's all that's new in this neck of the woods. Does anyone out there have any cheap recipes they want to share? I'm open to trying new things!

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

Oh, Mother!

Hey there kids, it's been awhile! Since my last post I've been working and making ends meet on my meager budget, which actually makes me feel good because I can manage to pay all our bills, put money away, do something every once in awhile, and feed my yarn habit at around $800 dollars a month (give or take). It's going to be pretty great once the ol' man finds something. He actually has an interview at the Post Office tomorrow afternoon which is pretty exciting!

I've been hookin' like a crazy person whipping projects out left and right. I'm saving my money up now to buy lots of yarn to make a HUGE ripple afghan to cover our full bed. So I'm trying to use up all my Christmas gifted yarns and bits and bobs so I can justify it. Last night I whipped up two slippers (I'm tackling the edging today) which unfortunately were too big for my tiny little feet. So, now I'm set for my aunt's birthday at the end of February! I'm way ahead. =D

This morning my dad sent me a link to a Kimchi class at the Urban Farm Fermetory in Portland. I am super excited! Only 25$ and you get to take home a jar of Kimchi at the end of the class. It's at the end of February so I may wait and see what's going on with Adam and then sign us both up. My father went to a mushroom growing class there this weekend and said it was fantastic. Plus, they have house-brewed hard cider AND Kombucha on tap. Be still my Kombucha-lovin'-heart. To all those who don't know, Kombucha is a fermented tea drink. I got my dad a kit to make it for Christmas and let me just tell you, the bacterial "mother" (aka scooby) is kinda creepy looking...like a water bound alien life form. But it makes something delicious so it's all good!

See that creepy mother thing on the top? Yikes! 

I'm also potentially turning Adam into a Buffy fan. We have no cable in the room we're staying in so we delved into the DVD collection and decided to start from the beginning. I can't even count the amount of times I've watched the series through, honestly. My friend Cait got me into it when Adam was deployed and now I can't get enough.

How is everyone getting along with their taxes? I've got Adam's USMC w-2 and our 1099s but we're waiting on THREE more w-2s. I hope they get here soon, because I can't wait to build our poor savings account back up from the EAS move.

Well, that's about it folks. Thanks for reading, I know I've been a crappy blogger lately. I just like crocheting more than anything else. =D

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

Strawberry jam and other projects

I am a terrible, awful, no good, very bad blogger. Oftentimes I find little things getting in the way of sitting down and writing here. I'm trying to make myself take some time to write here, mostly because I feel I do have some good things to say (here and there, anyway).

Last weekend my friend Nicole and I went down to the Farmer's Market (ah, I love Saturdays!) and I bought a whole load of strawberries to make jam. We toiled the afternoon away washing, cutting, cooking, boiling, etc and now I have these beauties on my canning shelf ;

Sorry about the picture quality, my camera battery is dead and gosh darn it I was posting something today! So lo' and behold; a crappy cellphone picture! I am a big ol' sucker for those gingham caps and the dark red yumminess inside the jars as well. Last year my strawberry jam didn't set and I had to reprocess everything. Thankfully this year it turned out perfect! I even had some left over after eight jars that I put in the fridge and have since been smearing on my morning toast. Delicious!

I've also finished two crochet projects, which I'm proud of. I'm getting much better at reading and figuring out patterns. Ever since my mom came down and we crocheted socks I've gotten way more comfortable with a hook. Trying something really difficult when you're still a beginner makes you feel that you can tackle almost anything!

Here is my first project, a beer cap hot pad ;

It was pretty easy and I just sat in front of the TV watching Buffy knocking each one out. The only part that was tedious was sewing them all together. The reason I wanted to do this pattern is that it was very reminiscent of a hot pad my grandmother had that was made of beer caps and shaped like a bunch of grapes.

Next I made a cute little shell stitch baby hat for my friend who is expecting ;

I really like crocheting baby sized things because they come together really quickly. I still have over half a skein left of this yarn so I'm looking for a baby bootie pattern to use the rest up.

Now I'm working on Lion Brand's Acorn Shrug which, although a larger project, uses just one stitch and is simply folded and sewn to make arm holes when finished. I'm hoping to wear it to my husband's homecoming to wear over a small strapped sundress. Well, now that I have "official" homecoming dates I need something to keep me from jumping up and down with glee.

I've also had a lot of success with my container gardening! I can't wait for the lettuces to get big enough to pick and eat and for the other plants to start bearing fruit.

From the top down I have a patio tomato planted with Purple Ruffles basil, mesclun mix, bush beans, Black Krim tomatoes, basil, garlic chives, marjoram, and bush cucumbers. Not pictured is my sweet pepper mix which just wouldn't fit. Oh, and that's Sookie the infamous weenie dog looking upon her jungle with that, "I want a bite", look in her eye. As you can see things are coming along nicely in the gardening department.

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed seeing some of the reasons I've been lost to the blog-o-sphere lately. Plus I think these are some of the first (albeit crappy) pictures I've put on here! Woo-hoo!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie

A little update...

As much as I absolutely adore having family stay at our apartment it's nice to be able to write again! My husband's grandmother ("Meem") and her boyfriend came to visit this week and it was so great to see them. They're very low-key guests who are amused just by sitting around and chatting. We did end up giving Meem the ol' Lejeune tour (thank you to my friend Nicole who made it possible). Unfortunately it was drizzly and a little cold but we still made the best of it, even walking down Onslow beach.

Today it was supposed to snow and they closed down Camp Lejenue so the man got to stay home and sleep in. I think they jumped the gun a little bit though because it isn't even sticking to anything! I can't complain though because it's nice to spend time with my husband.

Yesterday I had my first job interview since moving down here in September 2009. Believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying. It seemed to have went well though and I'll be hearing back early next week. It will be so nice to have more money going into the savings account. My husband and I save with the very lofty goal of being able to buy a house in cash. For how long we've been married and how much we've saved I'm beginning to think it's entirely doable!

I've been staring blankly at my project board putting off starting things because company was here. I like to have one-hundred percent concentration on a new project and I knew that with people here I'd never get to anything. I just had to take apart a purse for my aunt's birthday because it was uneven (must I mention I'm a perfectionist?) so that's next up. I also have to squeeze in the shadowbox frame project for my husband's Valentine's Day present. I just got an email from Lion Brand Yarn and now I have a wrap I want to make after that. It seems I have projects planned out until 2012, yeesh!

Lastly, I've got four books sitting on my bedside table in the works. They are as follows;
Jon Katz "Izzy and Lenore"
Maggie Stiefvater "Linger"
Various authors "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 1"
Shannon Hayes "Radical Homemakers : Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture"

The Jon Katz book is a little bit sad so it's taking me a bit to get through it. "Linger" seems as though it's going to be burned through in a couple of days. I love when authors take something like a werewolf and put a whole new spin on it. I definitely recommend picking up the first in the series, "Shiver". The Buffy book just doesn't have the same amazing quality as the show so it's slow going. Shannon Hayes' book is simply wonderful and if you're someone who loves self-sufficiency and thinks that it's not worth the sacrifice to keep up with the Jones', you should definitely pick it up. It's a great read!

Until next time,
xoxo Stacie