A Very Pinteresting Edition of Lovely Links

I have a new addiction. Okay, two new addictions. Make that three.

The first addiction is Pinterest. It is awesome.  If you're like me, you find all sorts of great ideas, recipes, tutorials, patterns, photos, books to read, and bits of wisdom when you're on the Internet. How do you keep track of it all?  Bookmark it? Print it off? File it away in your brain and hope to remember when the need/time arises? Not anymore. Now you can "pin" it.

When you have a Pinterest account, you can collect all the neat things you find whilst surfing the web and keep track of them. It's like a virtual corkboard. What's addicting about Pinterest is that you can see other people's boards and pins. It's amazing what other people find! I'll scroll through the popular pins on my iPod Touch while I'm feeding the baby and find the coolest/funniest/most random things. I love it!

It's kind of hard to get how useful it really is until you see and experience it yourself. You can check out my boards by clicking on the Pinterest widget in the sidebar (or you can click here). If you want to set up an account, go to Pinterest.com and request an invite. It didn't take long to get my invite after I requested it.

Why mention this on a blog about frugality?  I think it's a great way to keep track of the myriad of ways you can save money through things like cooking at home, cultivating a garden, and sewing, among many, many others. I know having a Pinterest account has helped me in this way already!

To get you started on your pinning adventures (or if you're already pinning), here are a few things I've found on Pinterest that I've either tried already or am going to try in the near future.

Lemon Sugar Cookies -- Une Gamine dans la Cuisine
These are addiction #2.  So, so good. Perfect for May, in my opinion. Try them, but consider yourself warned. It's hard to only eat one or two.

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry -- Tasty Kitchen
I made this for dinner last week. Really easy and really delicious.  Definitely part of my recipe repertoire now.

Monster Knee -- By MiekK blog
Torn knees in jeans are inevitable -- especially with boys. Usually, I'll just cut my four-year-old's jeans off above the hole and hem them into shorts, but I've been kind of stumped about repairing one pair that's lined with fleece.  Then I found this solution on Pinterest. It's so fun, I'm almost kind of glad he has a hole in his jeans. Almost. Another reason I love this post -- the blog is in a different language (German? Dutch?) and the monster says, "Klaar!"

Easy Knit Produce Bag -- delia creates
Back in the early days of this blog, I did a post about turning old t-shirts into reusable grocery bags. I love those bags -- they hold a lot, are easy to store, and are crazy-easy to make (hardly any sewing at all -- I made them back when I had my sewing machine phobia).  Anyway, I came across this post on Pinterest about making produce bags out of old t-shirts.  I was so excited to see this because I've been pretty good about using reusable grocery bags, but I was still using tons of those plastic produce bags.  Just like with the bags I made, these ones require only a tiny bit of sewing.  It's a great reuse and I'm making a bunch of them soon!

Check out Pinterest. I'll bet you'll love it. And if you're on already in on it, let me know so I can follow you!

Oh yeah, addiction #3:  It's completely unrelated to Pinterest. My baby is smiling now. Real smiles -- not just the gas-induced kind. I just can't get enough of his little, dimpled (yay!) smile.

The Easiest {and Best} Roast Chicken Recipe

I have to share this recipe for roast chicken. It's ridiculously easy to make and the results are so delicious. Plus, roast chicken is a fabulous frugal dinner. On the first night, you enjoy the chicken hot from oven. After that, you can get all that's left (well, if there's any left) and use the leftovers in any recipe that calls for shredded chicken (I'll be using my leftovers for this recipe). To top it off, you can use the bones to make chicken stock.  Just the savings of making your own stock pretty much covers the cost of the chicken. What's not to love?

Anyway, here's the recipe for the easiest (and, in my opinion, the best) roast chicken ever...

Roast Chicken with Lemons

from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Serves 4

A 3- to 4-pound chicken
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 rather small lemons

Preheat the oven to 350.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. After you've rinsed it, let the chicken sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate so the water can drain from it. After the 10 minutes, pat it dry with cloth or paper towels. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry with a towel.

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and pepper on the chicken, rubbing it in with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.

Soften each lemon by rolling it back and forth with your palm on the countertop, applying a good amount of pressure as you do so.

Poke the lemon with a sturdy toothpick, skewer, trussing needle, fork, or something of the like. Poke at least 20 holes in each lemon. Put both lemons inside of the bird's cavity.

Close up the opening with toothpicks or skewers (see picture below to see how I did it) or, if you're feeling fancy, with a trussing needle and string. The recipe says to close it well, but not so that it's completely airtight because it could make the chicken burst. I don't know about you, but whenever I come to that part in the recipe, I can't help but laugh. It's just a funny mental picture for me. Okay, moving on...

With kitchen string, tie the legs together by running the string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling too tight. If the skin is unbroken, according to the recipe, the chicken will puff up as it cooks. Don't let this stress you out though -- even if you do break the skin, the flavor will not be affected. It's mostly just for the presentation of the thing.

Put the chicken in a roasting pan (I use my cast-iron skillet when I make this and it works great), breast facing down. Here's the thing I love about this recipe: you don't have to add any cooking fat because the chicken bastes itself. It doesn't stick to the pan and it stays moist without any effort on your part. Place pan (or skillet) into the upper third of the preheated oven.

After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over so the breast is facing up. Again, try to not break or puncture the skin -- but if you do, don't worry too much about it. Cook the chicken for another 30-35 minutes.

After the 30-35 minutes is up, turn the oven up to 400 degrees and cook for 20 minutes more. You don't need to turn the chicken again. The total cooking time for this recipe is between 20-25 minutes per pound.

After the 20 minutes are up, take the chicken out and enjoy. You can either carve it into nice slices or make like a carnivore and pick at it like we usually do. Be sure to spoon the juices at the bottom of the pan all over the chicken before you eat it, too -- completely delicious. Serve it with a nice side salad and you've got a frugal meal that doesn't taste frugal.  Trust me, you'll be surprised what some salt, pepper, and a couple lemons can do.

Down the Drain with the Turbo Snake

I have long hair. I've had long hair all my life, with the exception of that bad early 90s haircut + perm that left my hair looking like a frizzy pyramid on top of my shoulders. Oh yeah, and that one time my former sister-in-law got scissor-happy. Anyway, with the long hair comes an inevitable problem: clogged bathtub drains.

The clogged drains aren't entirely my fault. Between my long hair and my husband's post-haircut showers (since he cuts his own hair), it doesn't take too long before we notice the water draining slowly, which is followed by standing in a couple inches of tepid water. Ick. Never fun. To deal with the slow drains and back-up, we would routinely buy a jug of Drano every other month or so.  At anywhere from $5-8 a bottle, it adds up.

I've never liked using Drano. Take a whiff of liquid drain cleaner and you know it's toxic. I became extra sensitive to this once we had our first son. I didn't want bottles of chemicals like that anywhere near him, nor did I want the fumes of it hanging in the air. It's scary stuff. But I figured I had to use it if I wanted a clear drain. Using a plunger for the bathtub drain worked pretty well, but sometimes that didn't even do the trick.  We tried boiling water, baking soda, and vinegar and it still didn't completely fix the slow drain. 

Then we learned about the Turbo Snake.

I'd heard about something like this from a comment in a previous post and finally bought one at Bed, Bath & Beyond not too long ago. Then one day, I walked into the bathroom and nearly screamed -- for a second, I honestly thought there was rodent on the lid of the toilet. Nope. It was a huge, digusting clump of hair and other miscellaneous gunk. My husband, who was bending over the drain in the bathtub with the drain snake in hand, laughed at me and then said, "This thing is awesome!" 

The drain snake is really easy to use. It's basically just a kind of coated wire with Velcro-like thing on the end. You feed it down the drain and the Velcro end latches onto the clog. Don't be afraid to use a little force to get it really down in there. Pull it and out comes all the gunk slowing down your drain.

The package we bought came with two snakes, plus a little hook for them that you can hang on the inside of your cabinet. It cost around $10, if I remember correctly. That's about the cost of a bottle of liquid drain cleaner, so it pays for itself after a use or two.

We're never buying a bottle of Drano ever again.

Cookbook Review: How to Cook Without a Book

{The Cookbook Review:  Let me introduce to you to some of my favorite cookbooks - to the ones that have broken spines, splatters on the pages, and wavy dust jackets from spills. We all know cooking at home is a huge money-saver and there are few things that get me more excited to cook at home than a new cookbook!}

As I've said before, cookbooks are a weakness of mine, especially when I can get them at a great price on Amazon. My latest acquisition has quickly become a staple of my cookbook shelf (pictured above). I'd been mildly interested in this cookbook for a while, but when I read it was one of the Pioneer Woman's favorite cookbooks, I had to get my hands on it. It's How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson.

If I were going to sum this review up in a single sentence, I'd simply say:  this cookbook is a game-changer for me.

A good friend and neighbor of mine totally has a knack for creating her own recipes. Like her pasta version of hot artichoke dip. Ridiculously good. The idea just popped into her head and she whipped it up one night for her family. I was awestruck. How do people do that successfully?  I consider myself a pretty competent cook, but I always have depended heavily on others' recipes. 

However, my way isn't the most economical way to cook -- you have to buy specific lists of ingredients that tack on extra money to your grocery bill. Plus, cooking this way doesn't offer a whole lot of flexibility -- instead of adjusting my meal plan to what we have on hand or the amount energy I have on a particular night, I have to stick to that specific recipe I bought and planned for. I've made it work for us and our budget, but it's not perfect.

But that's all changing now because of this cookbook. Ms. Anderson is gently coaxing me away from the security of someone else's recipes and is teaching me how to create my own meals with a few techniques, combinations, and methods.  In the last few weeks, I've been using the techniques outlined in this book almost exclusively for my family's dinners.

Each chapter of the cookbook features cooking techniques and formulas to help you create your own recipes, using the things you have on hand already. Just buy on her master list of ingredients -- just the basics, really, nothing fancy or outlandish -- and you can make anything in the book. As outlined in the introduction of the book, each chapter consists of five components:

• A mnemonic rhyme
• A step-by-step narrative of how the technique works
• A recipe, presenting the technique in its simplest form
• Simple variations, exemplifying how the technique works
• The key points of each technique at-a-glance

I'll give you an example of how it works -- one of the chapters is about making frittatas, something I'd always thought about making but never had. I thought they were fussy and difficult to make. Nope.  Anyway, the mnemonic is simply: "Cook eggs without stirring till set around the edges. Bake until puffy, then cut into wedges." The first time I made a frittata, I followed her master recipe, using her suggestions for fillings. However, the next time I made a frittata, I improvised and added my own mix of vegetables, meat, and cheese. It was so easy! 

The other chapters in the book teach how to make pan sauces, soups, pasta sauces, stir-fry, sauteed meats and vegetables, ravioli, lasagna, salads, and more. I love how adaptable this method of cooking is -- I can adjust the recipes according to what leftovers we have, produce we need to use up, if I want to make a meal meatless, and so on.

Last week, I followed Ms. Anderson's basic outline for simple tomato sauce: "Heat fat and garlic, then cook it for two. Add canned tomatoes and simmer for a few." I added some cream and basil and ended up with this --

A light, clean-tasting dinner -- better than the sauce from a jar and almost as easy. Almost.

I mention this, though, because I want to share the technique we've been using a bunch these last few weeks -- how to make a simple lo mein dish.

I love this recipe/technique for so many reasons: One of reasons is that one of the main ingredients is leftover cooked spaghetti.  How great is that? So often leftover spaghetti has languished in my fridge, only to become slimy and/or rubbery. Another reason is that I can improvise with whatever I want. When I made this last night, I used the last of the asparagus that was starting to look tired, some celery, carrots, and leftover meat from the shredded pork I made over the weekend. I also love making this lo mein because it's super-easy, takes hardly any time at all to make (maybe 10-15, including prep time), and my husband and four-year-old son love it.

Here's how you make simple lo mein:

"Lo mein ratios are different -- 1/2 pound of vegetables and 1/4 of meat. Add 1/2 pound of cooked spaghetti and don't forget the heat."

Simple Lo Mein --  from How to Cook Without a Book

1 medium-large onion, halved from pole to pole, each half cut into eight wedges
4-6 oz. beef, pork, poultry, seafood, or tofu, cooked or raw, cut into bite-size pieces
8 oz. vegetables, cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 recipe of Lo Mein Flavoring Sauce {see below}
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 heaping cups of leftover cooked spaghetti

Flavoring sauce:
1/4 cup chicken broth (she calls for low-sodium broth, but I used my homemade stock)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (I use a little less to keep it kid-friendly)

Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over low heat while prepping onion, meat, vegetables, garlic, and ginger, and the flavoring sauce. Marinate meat in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. A few minutes before stir-frying, turn on the exhaust fan (do it -- it gets kind of smoky) and increase the heat to high.

Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook the onion for about a minute. Add raw meat and stir-fry until lightly brown, about 1 minute. Add first vegetable, stir-fry until tender-crisp, about 1 minute. Add second vegetable; stir-fry about 1 minute longer. Add garlic and ginger. Transfer mixture to a plate and set aside. {If you're using cooked meat, add it between the two vegetables.}

Put the other tablespoon of vegetable oil in the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the spaghetti; stir-fry until heated through, about 2 minutes. Return meat and veggie mixture to skillet; add flavoring sauce. Stir-fry to combine and heat through.

Yum. So easy to make and so good. This is the third time I've made some variation of lo mein for the family in the last month. It's such a great way to use up leftovers and produce in a delicious way. And I've gotten to the point where I just whip it up on my own, using whatever I want, making it (dare I say?) without the aid of a cookbook.

I still love cookbooks. They'll always be a weakness of mine. I'll still collect recipes and try new things. That said, I'm really enjoying the freedom I've found in cooking without a book. Try it. I think you will, too.

8 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Frugally Fatigued

Living frugally is a lifestyle choice, plain and simple. There are various ways to live frugally and simply and you can take it as far {or not so far} as you want to.  For some, living frugally is a means to an end, something that is only temporary until a debt is paid off or major purchase is made. For other people, living frugally is a matter of necessity -- the result of a job loss or change, an illness, a new baby, an unexpected expense. For others, it's a more permanent thing, a way to balance and prioritize. No way is right or wrong, per se. Like so many lifestyle choices, it's a personal decision that only you can make. You know better than anyone what will and won't work for yourself and your family. 

No matter where you fall on the frugality spectrum, just about everyone who tries to have a more thrifty and simple lifestyle are prone to burn-out and fatigue. If you don't stay focused, it's easy to fall off the wagon and go back to old, not-so-thrifty habits.  Here are just a few ways you can sabotage and sink your frugal efforts. Trust me, I've learned from experience. 

1. Don't have clear, specific goals.

In my opinion, living a frugal lifestyle is pointless if you don't have clearly-set goals. For example, if I'm going to stand over a toilet and rinse a dirty diaper with a homemade sprayer as many times as I already have, you'd better believe that I have good reason why I'm going to the extra trouble. I'd rather use the money we'd spend on diapers to pay off our car. I'd rather save the money for my family's emergency fund. Heck, I'd rather spend the money on something I actually want instead of wasting it on diapers. 

 

Why go to the trouble to cook from scratch, use homemade cleaning products, cloth diaper the baby, sew for your family, grow a garden, or any other frugal practices if you don't have something to motivate you?  Just having extra money isn't enough. Be specific. Ask yourself: What are you going to do with that money?  How will it benefit you and your family? What is going to make your efforts worthwhile for you?

2. Forget your limitations and overwhelm yourself.
You can't do everything, no matter how hard you try. I'd like to sew clothes for my kids, cook homemade meals every night, bake bread, get crafty and decorate my house, build up my emergency food storage, create a beauty routine using homemade facial masks and exfoliators, scrub down the bathtubs, balance the checkbook, create works of fingerpainted art with my son, plan a month of dinners, and organize my closets, all while finding time to go out on a date with my husband and write the the great American novel. It ain't gonna happen. At least not all at once.

To be successful at living frugally, you have to find a balance. It's all about give or take. You don't have to do everything. Consider the "season" of your life right now. What are your priorities?  Right now, as I'm trying to figure out how to juggle two kids, I'm cutting myself some slack. The house doesn't look perfect; it's just barely good enough. We've been eating out a little more than I'd like to admit, but it keeps me sane for now. I'm still doing a lot of the things I did before I had the baby, but I'm also scaling back a bit. Am I still living a frugal lifestyle? Of course. I'm just adapting.

3. Take on an "all or nothing" mentality.
I'm a perfectionist, so this is huge one for me. I'm constantly trying to overcome an "all or nothing" mentality in various aspects of my life. Let me speak from experience, it doesn't get you anywhere and it certainly doesn't make you productive.

For Christmas last year, my husband gave me a pasta maker -- one of those ones you turn by hand, straight from Italy. I love it. If you've never had homemade pasta, you're missing out. Plus, it's super-frugal -- all you need to make pasta is eggs and flour. I was determined to start making all our pasta from scratch (since you can make big batches at a time, dry it out, and store for later).  Yeah, that didn't last long. Granted, I'll still make homemade pasta from time to time (it's ridiculously good in lasagna), but not all the time.  I've made these types of concessions for a bunch of things: I'm pretty good about making homemade bread lately, but sometimes I just pick up a loaf at the store. I'm using cloth diapers all day, but I use disposables at night (it's just too hard for me to do all the cloth stuff at 2 AM). I'm taking a break from the homemade laundry detergent now that I'm doing a load of diapers almost daily. Not doing everything perfectly all the time isn't a cop-out -- it's being human .

4. Neglect and deprive yourself.

Again, I write from experience. It's so easy to get wrapped up in doing things for everyone else that you forget yourself. Playing a martyr won't make you feel better. That's why I think it's crucial to give yourself an allowance, or as Dave Ramsey calls it, "blow money". This is an amount of money in your budget that you can use to buy whatever you want. Every month, my husband and I give ourselves an "allowance" -- he spends his, more often than not, on the latest video game; I usually spend mine on books, clothes, or I save it up for a bigger purchase. {That red Le Creuset set will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.} Treating yourself goes a long way in keeping you from feeling deprived, which makes living frugally a lot easier.

5. Forget the old adage "Time is money."

Sure it's cheaper to churn your own butter (especially since the prices have gone up lately), but is it worth your time?  One of the keys to living a frugal lifestyle is to figure out how much your time is worth. I first came across this idea of figuring out the hourly worth of frugal tasks in The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. She explains it like this:

"Many people think of their hourly worth in terms of their gross pay and presume that any effort that provides a smaller hourly yield isn't worth their time. On the other end of the spectrum, some people spend all their time doing things that provide very small economic yields (and that they dislike doing), while forgoing activities that save a greater amount of money."

She goes on to explain how she figures out how much her tasks really are worth:

"I often time how many minutes a job requires to determine how many times I could, in theory, complete the job in an hour. I then calculate how  much money a job saves. I multiply the times per hour by the savings per job to determine the hourly value. For example: A 10-minute task saves $2. The task could be done six times an hour. The hourly worth is $12 per hour."

Now I'm not saying you need to get a stopwatch out, time yourself, and do the math for every frugal activity you do. But, it's a good thing to keep in mind. Go back to the homemade pasta I mentioned earlier: it's time consuming and it probably only saves me a dollar or two each time I make a batch. My hourly rate is probably not very high. But since I enjoy doing it and the results are superior to the store bought kind, I'll make pasta occasionally, but definitely not as part of my frugal routine.  Everyone has a different hourly rate because everyone has different priorities, strengths, talents, and resources.

6. Be the only one on board in your home.
This one doesn't need much explanation. If you're going to cut back when no one else is willing, you won't get very far. Same goes for budgets, spending, and goals -- if you're not the same page with the people in your household, especially your spouse (if applicable), you will find yourself frustrated and not nearly as successful. This is where clear goals come into play -- if you can explain that you're doing all the frugal things for a specific reason, you'll more than likely get some cooperation.

7. Keep it boring. Keep it tedious. Don't learn anything new.

To quote the author of The Tightwad Gazette again, "Frugality without creativity is deprivation." {If you're interested in the book, you can read my review here. I have mixed feelings about it.}  I'm constantly on the lookout for new tips, tricks, ideas, recipes, and techniques to help me save money.  I approach saving money as a challenge. How can I reuse this? How can I make do with what I've already got? How can I bypass this extra expense? Call me crazy, but if you get creative, it can be kind of fun. Really. You know that feeling when you find a really good deal for something you want and/or need? That's how I feel (to varying degrees, of course) about doing all the frugal things I do. Plus, it's extra rewarding when those efforts pay off, like when a debt is gone, when a big purchase is made with cash, or when you feel the peace that comes with living within your means.

8. Feel sorry for yourself that you have to do all of this.

It can be easy to start feeling sorry for yourself when you see others splurging on things you want, when you see how conveniently some people seem to live (Quick aside: Dave Ramsey says, "Don't even consider keeping up with the Joneses. They're broke!"). It's easy to feel sorry for yourself when you have to go without certain things. If you don't find some aspect of a frugal lifestyle enjoyable or stimulating, it's going to be hard to stick with. It's kind of like a crash diet. Sure, you can eat cabbage for every meal and lose weight, but you won't stick with it.  Same goes for living frugally: if you treat it like drudgery, something you -- poor you -- have to do, you'll be miserable. Who wants to do anything that makes them miserable? 

Don't get me wrong -- I don't get giddy over homemade cleaners (or do I? Anyone who's read this blog for any amount of time knows my fondness for baking soda and vinegar). I don't dance around the kitchen because I get to make another loaf of bread. You won't find me sighing with contentment as I dump yet another load of diapers into the washing machine. That said, the way I stay consistent is that I focus on the positive aspects of these tasks. I focus not only on the money saving benefits, but also the health, environmental, and family benefits, among others. I still get tired, I'm certainly not perfect, but I keep going. When you change your attitude, you can give the smallest tasks meaning. Just doing that will go a long way in helping you live a frugal lifestyle.

Lovely Links: 'Just in Time for Easter' Edition

I haven't done a lot in preparation for the Easter holiday. My hands have definitely been full (literally -- the baby wants me to hold him all the time now). We are going to decorate eggs this week at Grandma's annual Easter party and we're in the process of making and decorating the Easter sugar cookies (a process spread out over the course of a couple days). 

Easter really is a beautiful holiday -- both in the celebration of the arrival of spring and in the celebration of the greatest event in human history: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anyway, here are a few links I've come across to make the upcoming holiday even nicer.

Egg-cellent Homemade Dye
I actually posted this last year, but I thought I'd mention it in case you missed it.  Homemade Easter egg dye is so simple to make, whether you're using the food coloring that comes in a box or if you're using natural sources (as in, food and herbs) for coloring. I prefer going with the artificial coloring since we don't eat the hardboiled eggs -- I like the bright, vibrant colors. But both methods will give you nice results, so skip the storebought kits and whip up your own dye concoctions. Also, don't forget to save the water after boiling your eggs -- the minerals from the eggshells are great for houseplants!

Tutorial: Peeps Bunny Bunting and Door Hangers -- MADE
I think Peeps are gross. As kids, my brothers and I always got them in our Easter baskets, but we usually ended up giving them to our dad.  That said, there is something sort of iconic about the design of the Peep. I thought this craft was cute and it looks super-easy to make (a big factor for me since craftiness certainly doesn't come naturally to me).  Plus, you only need a 1/2 yard of felt, some brown fabric paint, and some ribbon -- hooray for cheap crafts!

Hot Cross Biscuits -- Joy the Baker
Last year, I mentioned Pioneer Woman's recipe for hot cross buns, the traditional pastry served on Good Friday. As much as I would love to make them this year, I just can't muster up the energy or find the time to make them. These biscuits, on the other hand, seem doable. As Joy put it, they're "the totally lazy version of hot cross buns."

6 Good Things to Do with Your Kids for Easter -- Life as Mom
This link features some great ideas to help keep the focus of the holiday in its proper place.  I'm definitely intrigued by the Empty Tomb Resurrection Cake. Again, I don't think I'll have the time or energy this year, but I'll definitely keep in mind for next year.

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration
A beautiful message for this beautiful time of year.

How to Make Cloth Wipes & Solution

In the month before I had my baby, I was busy sewing up a storm in an attempt to distract myself from the ever-increasing discomfort and to keep me from going crazy with anticipation. One of the things I sewed in preparation for baby were these homemade wipes. (Note: post about cloth diapering a newborn coming soon.)  

Even though using cloth diapers saves a lot of money in the long run, the start-up costs can really add up.  You can buy wipes from the various cloth diaper companies, but I figured that I could probably make my own. I mean, how fancy do wipes need to be? As long as they get the job done, right? What's better -- I just reused some old fabric, so they were basically free.  Even though I made these weeks ago, I wasn't going to post about them until I'd actually tested them out. Well, we've been using them for the last couple weeks and I'm happy to say that they've worked out quite well. Plus, they're super-simple to make.

To make your own wipes you'll need:

• Flannel material - the amount you'll need will depend on how many wipes you want to make. I used a couple old, standard-sized receiving blanket and got about 20 wipes out of it, with still some fabric to spare.
• Thread, fabric, scissors/rotary cutter, ruler, sewing machine

The flannel receving blankets I used for this project were similar to the one I used for the homemade nursing pads (which, I might add, are doing their job well). The blankets were great when I used them with my first child, but they've since gotten faded and stained. This is why I don't feel bad cutting them up.

I cut the wipes into 6" x 6" squares using this handy-dandy ruler I got for my quilting class. You don't need one of these, of course, (any ruler will work) but it did make it go by really quickly.

Next, I did a zigzag stitch with my sewing machine as close to the edge as possible. This will keep your wipes from fraying in the wash. I've washed these wipes a lot already and haven't had any problems with fraying. They've held up really well.

Trim the excess fabric from the edges, cutting as close to the stitching as possible. That's it. Homemade wipes that work.

Before you use these on baby, you've got to wet them down. I mean, I guess they'd work dry, but I'd feel bad rubbing dry material on his cute baby bum. There are a few ways to do this -- the way we've been doing it is with the spray-bottle method.

When it's time to use the wipes, I simply give a wipe a few sprays with a spray bottle filled with wipe solution. You can find a bunch of wipe solution recipes online, depending on your needs (like if you want an anti-fungal solution or one with lotion for dry skin). For a list of recipes, check out this link.

To make your own wipe solution, you just need a combination of oil, soap, and water. The oil helps the wipes move comfortably against baby's skin and keeps it soft; the soap cleans away the pee and poop; the water dilutes the first two ingredients and helps clean the diaper area. If you want, you can also add essential oil to your solution if you want certain aromatherapy or antibacterial benefits.

Depending on what ingredients you use, you'll have different amounts of each ingredient. Here's the recipe of the wipe solution we've been using:

• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons baby soap/shampoo
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the shampoo and oil, then add water. Pour into spray bottle.  I love how fresh it smells. It seems to do a good job cleaning the diaper area, too -- we haven't had any problems with diaper rash yet.

I'll admit right now: using homemade wipes isn't as easy as using the disposable kind that come in packages and containers. Kind of like cloth diapering. Sure, it isn't as convenient, but it's not that bad and it doesn't take that much extra time. For me, the trade-off of saving money and sending a little less trash from my house is worth the few extra seconds it takes to use and wash them.

Another Hiatus Explained

Well, he finally came! (Nine days overdue, I might add.) And let me just say, he was totally worth the wait. My little Jonah is a week old today. He's absolutely perfect. Life is truly a miracle.

Anyway, I'll be back on Monday, April 18th, with a new post. Probably about some aspect of cloth diapering since it's a big part of my life right. A really big part. But don't worry -- I've got stuff besides diapering to write about.

So, until then...I hope your April is a lot more spring-y than ours is right now. The forecast here is highs in the 40s, with a mix of rain and snow. Still, I love spring, even when it's fickle.