Frugal Gift # 2 ~ Baby Sweaters

I love baby sweaters. A homemade sweater is even sweeter. The green sweater is one I made a while back and actually gave to a friend for her baby. After her daughter outgrew it she gave it back to me to use for my daughters.
This is one I knitted. There are some details on it that you can't see in the picture but it makes it one of my favorites. I have made several others to give away but I don't have pictures of them. Baby sweaters are pretty fast to make, don't take a lot of yarn so are very economical and have always in my experience been appreciated.
I found some links with patterns that you can go to for ideas and how too.

• A basic guideline for making a sweater in either knit or crochet.
• An easy crochet baby sweater.
• A crocheted hooded sweater.
• A hooded knitted baby sweater.
• Fran's hooded baby sweater (knit).
• A 1 hour sweater.

Have fun!

Works for me Wednesday ~ Bathroom organization

Today I am going to give you a tour of our upstairs bathroom and some of the ways that we organize there. Bathroom are a nice area to organize as usually they have quite a few shelves and drawers. They can also be challenging because we try to put a lot in them. Here are some ways to organize that work for me.

This top picture is of a toilet paper holder that an older lady from church made for us. It is made out of several small coffee cans with the bottoms cut out and taped together to make a long tube. We can store 4 rolls of toilet paper in it. We have it sitting next to the toilet and try to always keep it full. We never have to worry about sitting down and then realize that the toilet paper is all used up!

Next we have a picture of an old orange bag which we put all of the bath toys in and then hang it up on a hook. This works very well because the bag is plastic and full of holes so it allows all the toys to drain. The kids enjoy having the toys to play with and I enjoy having them all in one place and not scattered around the bathroom. It is not the most decorative but it is generally hiding behind the shower curtain and it works for me!

This next picture is how we store our hair things. The basket holds the big scrunchies and rubber bands and the little container holds the metal barrettes. These look fairly decorative and get to sit on the bathroom counter. This has helped us to easily keep all the hair things in order.

In our upstairs bathroom we have no medicine cabinet so when we moved here I had to figure out what to do with medicine, first aid stuff and so forth. I ended up buying these plastic containers which I then filled with our various stuff and we stored in the linen closet. I have one container for first aid stuff, one for extra bought ahead toiletries (I like to buy stuff when it is one sale and have it ahead of time rather that just buying as needed at full price. I also have lots of shampoo bought on sale lined up under the sink and toilet paper in bulk on the floor of the linen closet), One has bug spray, sun screen and things like that and the other has shoe polishing stuff. We did have one with medicine to but now that we have a bathroom downstairs with a medicine cabinet I have moved it there.

Underneath my sink I have a caddy with cleaning stuff in it so it is always ready to go. I also have a bucket of cloth rags which I use for all my cleaning.

Another way that we stay organized is that everybody has their own towel hook. We hang up our towels after a bath or shower and then they can by used again. Rather than having to do tons of laundry because the towels all get thrown on the floor.

I don't think I probably shared anything that is to new or different but maybe It might help you in some way. Anyway it works for me!

Even when life gets crazy, we have much to say Thanks for.

We have had an interesting last day or so. Yesterday was a busy day, I had oodles of laundry, I was cleaning and I had some violins lessons to teach. On Monday morning I also arranged to have some friends come over for supper (some of whom where friends from college who are now missionaries in the Ukraine but are back visiting.). About 10 minutes before they were to arrive for supper (My supper was running a little late anyway) Aaron threw up in the hallway. Ken had been a little sick on Saturday night and then friends at church on Sunday were just getting over it or just coming down with it - so we were definitely exposed. I quickly got him in the tub and tried to get my supper done. After getting in the tub he threw up again. Anyway our company did arrive and they decided they wouldn't worry about the germs.

We had a fun supper. It was great to visit with them. I had to jump up now and then to take care of Aaron, who lost an amazing amount of fluid. After supper we adults had a good time visiting while the kids (except Aaron) had a good time playing. After a bit Jonathan comes to me saying that he doesn't feel good. I quickly got him in bed with a bucket and he quickly threw up (many times). It made for a very interesting evening. The boys had most of it out of their systems by the time I went to bed. I only had to get up twice in the night with Jonathan.

In the morning upon awaking, Megan threw up all over her bed. And then she thinks that she wants to eat breakfast!!! We did have helpings of yogurt all around.

Our house was a little chilly this morning ( 62 degrees) so we checked the outside temperature and it was -20 degrees! We weren't expecting it quite that chilly yet. We figured that our furnace would get caught up soon and just dressed warmly.

I had oodles of laundry to do(bedding from the sick kids) and was very thankful that I am not a pioneer woman who would have had to got outside to get water for all of that stinky laundry and then have to wash it by hand and hang it outside to freeze dry.

The house never did get warmer and then mid afternoon it started to get colder. I called Ken to try to figure out what to do. He decided that he had better call somebody to check out the furnace. The guy came over and found that the lever to shut of the gas had been flipped!! We felt very silly that we hadn't checked that. I don't know how it would have been flipped but I guess maybe the kids might have done it.

Things are going much better now ~ Our house is warm and the kids are feeling better and thankfully Mara and I have not gotten sick. Also the laundry is all washed (though not all folded!).

Here are some things I am thankful for:

• A washer and dryer!
• Warm clothes.
• Hot Chocolate.
• Snow that we got last night.
• Sweet children - even when they are sick.
• Plenty of extra sheets and blankets.
• Friends who are friends even when we are not perfect and we have kids vomiting in the other room.
  

Frugal Gift #1 ~ Pinecone Skiers

I love making homemade gifts. I enjoy creating and I also enjoy giving, so homemade gifts puts the two of them together.

These little skiers are a fun winter decoration. They can be set on a shelf, hung on a tree ( add a loop to their hats), used as a place card at the table ( write the name on their ski) , be the finishing touch on a gift or whatever you desire. For a small gift these are nice to give all by themselves.

They are very simple to make, only taking a few minutes to actually put together. All you need is a pine cone (with a fairly flat bottom), Popsicle sticks for skis (you could also could use little pieces of cardboard cut out), a large acorn or some other round object for the head (a wooden ball, a nut, etc.) and material for the scarf (felt, corduroy or some other fabric), toothpicks for the ski poles, markers (or paint) to draw on the face and hot glue sticks and gun for putting it together.

To assemble line up the skies as desired and then put a little glue on each one where you want to attach the pine cone. Stick it on and the put a little glue on the top of the pine cone and firmly press in the head. Let it harden and then you can glue on the hat. For our hats we used the caps of acorns. You could also make one out of the finger tip of an old glove, a little bit of felt or make earmuffs using pipe cleaner or a twist tie and felt. Next you could tie on the scarf which you cut to be the length desired and then fringe the ends. After you tie on the scarf put a dab of glue on the end of each toothpick and stick it up under the scarf so that it comes out at an angle like ski poles. Next draw the face as you desire. Now you are all done! There are many ways you could do this differently- allow yourself to be creative! Use what you have on hand and maybe make a family of skiers each with its own personality.

I have a lot of different ideas for homemade gifts, I am hoping to post one a day for a week or so or maybe all the way until Christmas. Keep checking back and hopefully you will find something that you can use. Also I would love to hear about what you are making!

To see other gift ideas go to "Whats on your frugal gift list" hosted by Pure Joy.

Wise Words

"Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in in honor; Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practising hospitality."
Romans 12:9-13

What a lot of great advice in a few short verses. The whole chapter of Romans 12 is full of wonderful words of wisdom. My kids and the other kids in our Wednesday night class at church have been learning this chapter. It has been great review for me as well since I had grown rusty on it from when I learned it as a child. Have you been doing any memorizing lately? This chapter is a great one to do. I challenge you to memorize God's word, it is very useful!