Homemade Living Series

Welcome back to the 

Homemade Living Series.
Each Wednesday we share our homemade notions.

Remember to stop by the two other bloggers who are participating this week:

Staci@Life at Cobble Hill Farm

and

Sue@The Little Acre That Could

 We enjoy making homemade gifts and decorations,
(although this cute guy was a gift).
We decided to add a handmade holiday sign to our outside decor this year.

The needed items are a piece of scrap wood (any size would do),
a pencil, a drill, a string of lights (or a spotlight), and spray paint.

 The wood is easier to work with if it's not too thick.
We had this laying around the garage from another project.

 We don't have a workshop or shed, 
so we just fashioned a work area by laying the wood on top of a plastic tub.
Just draw or write your message on the board
and drill holes over the pencil lines leaving a small gap between the holes.

 Feel free to customize your message.
Here's how it looks with the lights behind it.

We ended up painting it red
with some leftover spray paint,
then I added some white trim.
 This project only took about an hour,
so you still have time to conjure one up! 

Hope you're enjoying the magic of the season!

Next week, these gals post their Homemade Living ideas:

Jackie@BornAmbitious
Mary@HomegrownontheHill
Tammy@OurNeckoftheWoods

Wordless Wednesday

       


Check in with our fellow bloggers in the
Homemade Living Series today.

Jackie@Born Ambitious
Mary@Homegrown on the Hill
Tammy@Our Neck of the Woods




Next week we will be co-hosting with: 

Staci@Life at Cobble Hill Farm
&
Sue@The Little Acre That Could 

Homemade Living Series-Krunchy Kale Chips

Welcome back to the 
Homemade Living Series.
This week Staci, Sue and I share our homemade ideas.

This Red Russian kale was acquired from my farmer friends Faye & Lynn.
I've never been able to eat anything in the brassica family
because it just plain, tears me up.
After a bit of research on this true superfood,
I decided to give it a try.
Kale is rich in fiber, calcium and iron, all nutrients I could use more of.
Kale chips seemed like the way to go.

I rinsed the greens.
They are pesticide-free, so a quick bath did the trick.

Drying is the most important step in the process.
The greens must be totally dry or the chips won't crisp up.

I even laid them on tea towels outside for a bit.

I tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and garlic powder.
You can make them spicy or not.
They were baked in a 275 degree oven for 10 minutes,
then turned over and cooked another 10 minutes.

They fill the need for that crunchy craving 
while adding so many good nutrients.
Hmmm, what else can be made into chips...




Next Wednesday Jackie, Mary and Tammy
  will share their ideas as our Series continues.

Wordless Wednesday

Head on over to these blogs today
for a taste of Homemade Living:
Jackie@Born Ambitious
Mary@Homegrown on the Hill
Tammy@Our Neck of the Woods





Next Wednesday,
Staci, Sue and I will be contributing to the series.

Homemade Living Series-Oxygen Bleach

Welcome to the Homemade Living Series, 
featured here every other Wednesday.
  Be sure to stop over and visit with Staci and Sue today too.

Homemade Living Series

  The switch to safer, homemade cleaners was made long ago.  With Lil' Guy's allergies, it only made sense to find another way to keep the homestead spic-n-span.
About a year ago, we made the decision to stop using chlorine bleach.  
Along with being harmful to those with sensitivities,
it's not a great thing to add to the water supply.

Chlorine bleach does kill bacteria and remove stains, 
and does so in a way that is harmful to animals, plants and people. 
Due to the corrosive effects of the oxidization process, chlorine bleach will burn skin 
and cause lung, nasal passage, skin and eye damage 
as well as discolor and rust metals, certain finishes and leave ‘bleach spots’ 
on surfaces when used incorrectly.  
Oxygen bleach is just as effective as chlorine but without the  side effects.

I found this recipe for Oxygen Bleach at Chiot's Run.
Suzy is also intent on creating as many of her own cleaning products as possible.

Oxygen Bleach

(Chiot's Run)

1 1/2 gallon bottle

2 C hydrogen peroxide

 distilled water

Pour peroxide into bottle and fill with water.

Use 1 C per load of clothes.
It's best kept away from light,
or stored in a dark bottle.

Here are some other cleaning recipes that we utilize

to keep our home clean as a whistle!

(well, most of the time, anyway)

Glass cleaner 

Grime cleaner

Laundry detergent 

Shower head cleaner

and, in case you're interested,

here's how we keep our home in order:

daisy's cleaning routine

Check in with Jackie, Mary and Tammy
next week as our Series continues.

Wordless Wednesday

Hop on over to these blogs
for a taste of Homemade Living:
Jackie@Born Ambitious
Mary@Homegrown on the Hill
Tammy@Our Neck of the Woods



Next Wednesday,
Staci, Sue and I will be contributing to the series.

Homemade Living Series-Lego Scarecrow

Welcome to the Homemade Living Series, 
featured here every other Wednesday.
Make sure to visit Staci and Sue today too.

Well, it's Hallow's Eve
and we've created a scarecrow with a twist.
What else would one expect from our crew?.

It's all about the Legos in this house.

We took two pieces of pvc pipe of different lengths,

some baling twine,

and a bit of pine straw mulch
(we only used a little of this and the rest went into the garden).

We joined the two pieces of pipe in a "t" shape to form the frame
and fastened it with tie-wraps.
(Sorry it's a little blurry.)

We used the baling twine to help hold up the britches
by looping one end on the cross piece of pipe,



 and threading it through the belt loops in the pants.
Then it gets tied up back on the pipe.

The pipe is fed through the pants,
("This won't hurt a bit, little fella.")  

and the shirt is placed on the cross piece.

We stuffed our guy with the pine straw mulch.
Ah, he comes to life!

We manipulated the straw until we had the shape we wanted.
He's a stocky fella.

For extra support, we added a small bunjee chord from the cross piece
to the top of the tall pipe.
Once the head is placed, it adds a lot of weight,
so we found it necessary to give it a little help.

Ready to greet trick-or-treaters!

We had the head that we made from Lil' Guy's costume last year,
so we just reused it for our Lego scarecrow.
The rest of the stuff we had just laying around,
so it took no time at all to craft. 

Have fun and be safe out there!




Check in with Jackie, Mary and Tammy
next week as our Series continues.