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

A little of this, a little of that

Basically, I'm cheap. My mom taught me my percentages in the clearance section of every store. As I mentioned in my last post I love to just throw things together for dinner. Oftentimes because of that I can open my fridge and look at what's left and build a meal around it. This helps keep my food costs down as well as reduce my food waste. There is nothing in the world I hate more than seeing myself, or someone else, have to throw something away because it went bad before it could be used. First of all because it's a WASTE OF MONEY but secondly because it's a waste of resources. To think of the energy that went into growing and shipping the spinach that is now wilted and getting tossed makes me feel so terrible. So, tonight I am trying to avoid waste and create a tasty meal...here goes!

I have found;
a 1/3 of a can of diced tomatoes sitting in a plastic container in the back of my fridge
day old home baked bread
leftover Parmesan and  Mozzarella cheeses from making lasagna
a tube of pre-chopped basil (this stuff is pretty cool, might I add)

Are you thinking what I'm thinking...oh yeah, BRUSCETTA! Mmm mmm....

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut bread in 1/2 inch slices. Cut the top off of a clove of garlic and rub each slice of bread generously with it then drizzle on some olive oil. Toast the bread in the oven for about 5-8 minutes, keeping an eye on it to ensure your fire alarm doesn't go off.

Meanwhile, mix together the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning to taste (I also added red pepper flakes because I love them),  and about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

Once the toasted bread is out of the oven spread on some pre-chopped basil (or just add basil leaves to the diced tomato mixture, totally up to you and what you have on hand). Spoon on some of the tomato mixture, then sprinkle on the cheeses. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.

You can eat this alone for dinner or serve with salad greens.

Easy, delicious, cheap! My favorite kind of food. How about you? Do you often clean out your fridge with a certain dish? What is the weirdest combination of leftovers you've ever served?

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie