Filling My Gift Shelf

 

I have been busy using up items I already have on hand to create thoughtful gifts to refill my small gift shelf I keep in my bedroom closet.  This is not only practical and an efficient use of my resources, but it is saving me a lot of money.  More importantly I’m having a lot of fun and getting to really tap into my creative side.  Working on these little projects recharges my spirit and fills my heart with joy.

 

Earlier this year I purchased a flat of twelve cute little four ounce jelly jars.  This month I picked up two pounds of strawberries on sale at the grocery store.  I pulled all of my four ounce jelly jars plus the flat I had purchased from the garage and after figuring out how many jars I wanted to give this year I washed up the jars and got busy.  On hand I had chopped frozen rhubarb from last year’s harvest, some organic cane sugar, a cup of leftover cranberry juice and a cup of leftover sweet wine (both in the freezer) and a package of pectin.

 

I whipped up a batch of strawberry rhubarb preserves and with all the juice and wine added in the flavor was amazing!  I filled and process ten of the four ounce jars I had washed up and even had a bit the preserves leftover to add three half pint jars to my pantry.  Lucky me!  BTW - It tastes amazing on vanilla ice cream.

 

I had some label stock in my office supplies so I made cute labels for each jar and using circles of fabric I had cut from scrap Christmas fabrics with a pair of pinking shears I decorated each jar.  I think they turned out so pretty and it was a lot of fun to make these up.  I love having them all lined up on the shelf waiting to be given out this Christmas.

 

Something I truly enjoy making and giving out are journals.  Everyone I have given a journal to have told me over and over how much they enjoy using them.  They all use them for a variety of different reasons, there really is no right or wrong way to use a journal, and I think having something pretty to write in makes it even more enjoyable.  My scrap drawer on my craft organizer was stuffed so I made a point to use as many of these scraps as I could to make three new journals to add to my gift shelf.  It was so much fun!

 

I had already added a couple other journals I had made earlier in the year.  I’m glad I had done that because I’ve already had an occasion to give out two of those journals.  Decorated notepads were also on the shelf but after finding a forgotten stash of paper pads and half size composition books I have added even more decorated and notepads as well as some mini journals.

 

In my sewing stash I had some fabric scraps as well as a pile of hand towels I had purchased a few years ago to make hanging dish towels.  One weekend I was able to get some stitched up.  I like to take one or two of these towels and pair them with a foaming hand soap from Bath & Body Works.  This year I have a $25 gift card to Bath & Body Works and I plan to use it to buy some of those hand soaps to put on the gift shelf as soon as the fall scents are back in stock and on sale.  Those are my favorites.

 

Earlier in the year I had picked up a couple jar candles I found on sale for $2.99 each to add to the gift shelf.  After some thought I decided to whip together a couple of cute padded candle mattes to go with the candles using up some of my scrap fabric.  I love these and use them myself as a way to protect surfaces from hot candles.  I am planning to pick up a couple more candles when I find them on sale and will make mattes for them as well.

 

Another gift I like to give is a wash cloth, a hand towel and a nice bar of soap.  I took a plain hand towel and jazzed it up with trim from my sewing stash.  I was able to make two sets of these to add to the gift shelf using soaps I had in my linen closet.

 

I’m quite pleased with the progress I have made to refill my gift shelf and all of the stuff I’ve been able to use up.  It has really tickled me to eliminate two banker boxes and a plastic storage bin from my craft and sewing room lately.  I’m even more pleased with all of the joy and happiness I enjoyed while doing this.  Do you have a gift shelf?  If so, what’s on it?

 

REAL Food Recipe - Homemade Lemonade

 

This is the time of year when I really enjoy a glass of icy cold lemonade.  I really enjoy my lemonade with a shot of gin in it.  I learned that from my grandpa, it was his favorite summer cocktail, and it is delicious!

 

Store bought lemonade tends to have a lot of ingredients I’m not interested in consuming.  My favorite is the frozen lemonade concentrate that you add your own water to, but unfortunately the first ingredient on the list is high fructose corn syrup.  Because I’m very much into to a REAL food lifestyle I felt it was a good idea to make my own lemonade from fresh lemons I bought from the produce section.

 

It is surprisingly easy to make your own lemonade.  I began by using my grandmother’s glass juicer and squeezed four large lemons.  I removed the seeds and left all the pulp.  To that I added three cups of cold water and ¼ cup of stevia sweetener.  After stirring it together I gave it a taste and it was perfect!  I ended up with a liter of lemonade which I stored in glass bottles in my refrigerator until I was ready to drink it.

 

To me nothing is more refreshing than to enjoy a glass filled with ice and your very own homemade lemonade.  I like my lemonade less sweet and more lemony, but you could always add a bit more sweetener.  I also have organic cane sugar which I’d happily use as well.  Do you ever make your own lemonade or any other homemade summer beverages?

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 168

 

Oh my gosh you guys!  I had another great week.  I was fresh off of a fun and very productive staycation.  My tank was full and my heart was happy as I headed into work on Friday (my BFF flew back home that morning).  It felt good to hear that I was missed at work and it was so nice to see everyone.  When I got home from working all day I reheated leftovers for my supper and then found myself working on and completing a gift for the gift shelf.  I watched a little TV while I worked on it.  By the time I was done I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.  It had been a great day!

 

I still have a lot of socks, but now I can easily get my drawer open and closed

Saturday morning I awoke still feeling charged up and itching to do a bit of decluttering.  I needed to get back into my closet and pull out a few things that I haven’t worn in well over a year, possibly two.  I also went through my socks and undies drawers and pulled out some items there as I was a bit overstocked.  In fact, I could barely open and close the sock drawer and I keep a bin in the laundry room on the shoe rack with all of the socks I am currently wearing.  I may have had a bit of a sock hoarding issue.

 

Well not anymore.  I put ten pair of socks into my donation bag, four pair of undies (brand new, but I don’t like the material), a pair of shoes and a pair of boots.  I then tossed out my “project pants” that I paint or work on the vehicles in and replaced them with a pair of faded ones I no longer feel are good enough for work or anything else.  I have kept one outfit “for good” and a pair of Clarks shoes to wear with it.  I took one pair of trouser socks and tucked them into the shoes and donated the rest of my dress socks.  When I was done decluttering I gathered up all of the donations and put them in my car to drop off on my way home from work on Monday.

 

One of the things I decided to declutter was my coin jar I kept in my undie drawer.  I no longer want to save change and I no longer need to hold onto all of the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars, half dollars and two dollar bills.  They aren’t worth anything other than their face value and my kids aren’t interested in them, I’m sure.  So I am Swedish Death Cleaning them by putting some of them in my wallet to spend and the rest in my savings account.

 

After all of that decluttering and some lunch I was able to get back into my sewing room and made up three more gift items as well as that extra apron I had cut out.  I love that I was able to use up scraps and supplies I already had on hand to make the gifts.  It makes me even happier that I was able to make the apron with fabric I had left from another project I had done several years ago and it is no longer in my stash waiting for a purpose.

 

A big project to complete was listing all of the vintage Pyrex I am ready to sell on eBay.  I didn’t even get a twinge when I did it so I’m thinking I was ready to let it all go.  After a quick little coffee break I wrapped it all up in bubble wrap and added cardboard to protect it even further.  I was able to get all but two pieces ready to ship before I ran out of boxes.  What a job!  I not only emptied the box I had been storing some of  the Pyrex in, but also the same size box full of bubble wrap I had been saving and a bunch of cardboard pieces from the garage.  Win-win-win!

 

After all of that I decided to poke around in the hall closet to see if there was anything I should declutter as it had been awhile.  I nearly croaked when I opened up this enamelware container and discovered loads of notepads and half composition books I had forgotten about.  Well, I had to get busy and make a dent in that stash.  When all was said and done I had completed five mini journals and six decorated notepads to give as gifts.  I think they turned out so nice and it was a ton of fun to put these together.

 

Loads of new gifts for my gift shelf

I worked in the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, but that didn’t stop me from doing some more work around the house.  I had loaded all of the donations into the car and was able to drop them off on my way home from work.  I was able to put the finishing touches on my will and print it out on some nice white stationery I already had in my office supply stash.  It was just enough to do the job and I was happy to get it used up.  With my decluttered coins I headed off to the bank early Wednesday morning to deposit my pile of hoarded coins and then have my will signed, witness and notarized.  I cannot tell you how much better I feel crossing that task off my list.  When I got home I filed it away and got busy on another part of that same project which was to upload my Advanced Medical Directive form and get that into the state registry.  I also printed out a copy to have filed in with my will.  Check and check!

 

Too much stuff!

Much better!

Thursday I headed back out to the garage and spent a fair bit of time out there doing more decluttering, cleaning and organizing.  I also spent some time in the downstairs bedroom going through some art work, childhood toys and was able to part with pretty much all of it.  I no longer want to hang onto those things.  I still have a ways to go, but I’m making progress going through the things that I’ve shuffled into that room.

 

With that my week came to an end.  I have a pretty good size pile to take to the thrift store so I’ll need to load it up and make another trip.  I am so happy to have made all of the progress I’ve been able to make in so many different areas of my life this past week.

 

Summer Staycation

 

Initially, I had planned to actually go on a vacation, but after I got my house back to myself, gave it a good clean and got my marbles all realigned all I really wanted to do was stay home and just enjoy it.  So that is exactly what I did.

 

Saturday was Day One so I headed upstairs to my craft room and spent some quality time doing something I had wanted to do for a long time which was to sew myself an apron.  There is a story behind this particular apron and why it took so long for me to finally make it.  I might share that story with you all because it involves someone who was very special to me.  Anyway, my apron turned out so darn cute and I thoroughly enjoyed making it, so much so I was hoping to make another so I’d have an extra one to use while the other one was in the wash.

 

Thank you for helping!

Once I had the apron made I went ahead and installed the hook I had purchased several years ago for hanging my aprons on.  It was in the garage waiting for me to actually have an apron to hang on it and now I do!  So up it went!  I was so happy to have that pretty little hook out of the garage and installed in my kitchen where it belongs and holding an apron!

 

Before

After

After dinner I went outside to do yet another item on my “to-do list” that used up another item I had loitering in the garage because I purchased it well over a year ago.  I had a million reasons for putting off this job, but because it was so old the dryer vent cover on the outside of the house was literally crumbling and once one of the louvers fell off I knew I could procrastinate no longer.  The BFF was impressed as he watched me do this quick little job that left me wondering why I hadn’t done this a year ago when I bought the replacement cover (sigh) in the first place.  It really doesn’t matter now because it is done!  I’d say Day One was a roaring success!

 

Sunday was another (golf) day spent in my craft room preparing to work on a few projects I had in mind that would use up a pile of fabric scraps and supplies I had collected and stored in a box in there.  I’ll be sharing a post with you on all of the gifts I’ve been making so this post isn’t too stinking long.  Suffice it to say it was another day of fun.  After using up nearly all of the cute fabric jar covers on some gifts I had made the week prior I was able to restock by cutting some more using the last of my scraps.  I told myself not to do any other chores or household projects and just enjoy my craft room on this day and I stuck to it.  I was able to empty one banker box and the collapsible bin I had been storing my smaller scraps in as well as make a dent in another box.  Whoo hooo!  Day Two was another success!

 

Monday I wanted to get the cars washed deciding that would be my only project for the day and the rest of the day would be devoted to fun stuff.  Since I had a helper it wouldn’t take us long to get them done using the power washer and a bucket of soapy water, right?  We ended up vacuuming and wiping down the interiors first, which was completely unplanned then got to work doing the exteriors.  While we were at it we rinsed off the motorhome, the bikes as well as the trash and recycling wheelie bins.  The garage also got swept out and tidied.   It took us nearly three hours and by the time we were done the heat of the day was hitting and we were hot, sweaty and exhausted.  We rewarded ourselves with a shower and a nap declaring our day was shot and we just wanted to stay inside where it was cool.  Day Three was successful, but I think we were a bit overly ambitious.

 

Laverne got some love too

as well as the  bicycles

and then the skies opened...

Early Tuesday morning I snuck outside ahead of the heat to finish up the Subaru by applying tire shine to the tires and protectant to all of the black exterior trim pieces.  She’s a beauty!  I was also able to finish cleaning up and reorganizing the shelves in the garage and purged some cardboard boxes I had emptied.  I was able to sneak in a few more small chores.

Selling

Keeping

One of the things I wanted to do was go through my vintage Pyrex collection and take a good look at what I had and make some tough decisions.  After a little research I collected several pieces that will be going up for sale on eBay.  I also managed to get back into the kitchen and go through the lower cabinet where I keep all of my baking pans and purged several things from there that I no longer need or use.  This prompted me to do another project the next morning which was to make more shelf liners.  Additionally, the extra apron I wanted to make was completed which made this girl very happy.  Lots of creativity!

 

Along with all the fun things I wanted to do there was some serious stuff to discuss and work on, not the least of which was to start updating my will now that I am a retired empty nester.  It was a chore I know I am long past due working on and I was very happy to have help on hand to get me through it.  Making some important plans for my future was another hot topic and something I worked on as well.  I will be sharing more about that later, but suffice it to say it was all good, very good.

 

Throughout the week we enjoyed some really good summer meals made with loads of fresh and nutritious ingredients.  Most of our meals consisted of a simple salad and a protein like steak, salmon or taco meat which not only made them easy to prepare but also very tasty.  There may have been a couple of ice cream desserts too.

 

Overall, it was a very calm and relaxing week.  We both got to do some of the fun things we wanted to do, some things I needed to do, enjoyed some great food and had a lot of good, meaningful and much needed conversations.  It was so nice to have some extra help around here too.  I came into my staycation feeling physically worn out and emotionally exhausted and now I feel like I’ve really recharged all of my batteries.  I’m ready to take on the world!

 

A Sweet Little Kitchen Upgrade

 

This little project was one I’ve been wanting to do for ages.  For quite some time I’ve wanted to make washable shelf liners for the shelves of my dish cupboards.  I’ve long wanted to have a sweet place to arrange my curated collection of Corelle dish ware and vintage Pyrex and Corning Ware pieces.  I don’t care for store bought shelf lining material or contact paper as it gets stick and tacky on the surface as it ages and it is really hard to make it look nice without wrinkles and bubbles.  I also wanted custom made liners that actually fit the shelves and are ones I can just simply toss into the washing machine whenever they need a good clean.

 

About three years ago I found this darling flannel fabric in a nice kitchy theme that was perfect for this project.  I knew I had plenty of coordinating cotton calico fabric for the back, which sadly you don’t really see so I just used what I already had on hand.  After measuring my shelves I bought a yard and a half of the flannel when it was on sale for 50% OFF so this project was not expensive at all.  Unfortunately, it had been sitting waiting for me ever since.

 

I put this task on my list of projects to complete this year and once I got my guest room back in order I was itching to get in there and get busy.  I selected a backing fabric from my stash and cut rectangle pieced of both fabrics based on the measurements I took of each of the shelves adding a half inch to the width and length for the 1/4” seam allowance.  I placed each piece right sides together and pressed with a hot iron before pinning them together.  I stitched them up leaving an opening, trimmed the corners, turned them right side out and pressed them nicely before I topped stitched along the edges of each one using a simply straight stitch.  No hand sewing required.

 

Initially I made four liners as I had originally planned but then I realized I had plenty of fabric left to make two more for the very top shelves of each cupboard.  Rather than saying I’d get those done later I just headed right back upstairs and got those two additional liners cut, stitched, pressed and ready to go.  Mainly because we all know how “later” works and after all this time I wasn’t going to take a chance for this project to get stalled any further.  I’d waited long enough.

 

Now that the cupboards are all nice and clean, the dishes all got washed and the shelves are all neatly lined I am absolutely thrilled.  It makes me so very happy every time I open the cupboard to get a glass our or pull dishes out for supper.  It was so much fun to make these and it is even more fun to put them to use.  I love these!