Frugal finds and fixes, and some letting go

Fixing: Besides fixing the jean buttons yesterday, I'm trying to cure a bad case of salt stains that afflicted my old-but-otherwise-okay winter boots. I gave them a spa morning on the balcony, with repeated vinegar-water spraying and wiping, and it did help quite a lot. I may give them a return appointment if tomorrow's sunny again.

Fun find: Another mostly-there craft pad of punchouts and boxes.

I like printed bits and pieces for gift tags and card making.

Money well spent: A doorbell for the apartment, ordered online. Beats listening for people politely tapping. You can even change the ringer from ding-dong to tunes, if you're in the mood.

Still blessedly free, more or less: Radio stations. Watching monarch butterflies migrate past the balcony on September evenings. Wearing fall clothes you already have but that it's been too hot to wear since May.

Letting things go: I do make thrifting mistakes, or end up with too much the same, or trade up to something I like better or that's a better fit. So I'm filling a bag with clothes and books to re-donate.

Made and treasured (Fashion Revolution Week)

Fashion Revolution Week: April 23-29, 2018

These cushion covers (from Ten Thousand Villages) are not clothes, you say.

Yes, I know.

But they have something in common with the aims of Fashion Revolution Week.

They were loomed by hand, by artisans in India who used the ikat dyeing-weaving process. If you're not sure what that is, take a look at the crafting footage in this video from My Green Closet.

Besides the fact that making ikat cloth seems incredibly difficult and time-consuming, which unfortunately makes it expensive, there's another point to consider: it's valuable because real people used their eyes and hands and tools and skills to create it. Like the Fashion Revolution slogan "Loved Clothes Last," it means that items made with that much artistry are for keeping. We put them to use, but we also treat them with care, out of respect for their makers, for the materials, and the creativity embodied in them. Like hand-knit slippers, or hand-penned calligraphy. Or a recycled-iron owl (also from Ten Thousand Villages, but not currently on their website).

Things kept and used in this way take on a meaning outside of words like "sofa cushion."

And clothes kept, worn, worn again, maybe mended or dyed or altered, take on meaning as well. It's not just a jean jacket; it's your jean jacket. 

That's a long way from fast fashion.

Frugal finds and fixes...and to be fixed fixes

Finds, clothes: I may have mentioned before (ahem) that I have bought my share of thrifted things that didn't work out so well. Either I misjudged the size (the too-small leggings, the baggy tank top), or I tried them on (again) at home and wondered what I was thinking (the old-lady pants).

So I dropped those things off this morning (volunteer day). And afterwards, I found a few things that do fit and that I do like.

Dark grey leggings with pleather trim:

A grey (maybe taupe) cotton t-shirt from "Gran Canaria," and a necklace with the same flower shapes:

Finds, not clothes: I was cleaning out cookbooks in the back room at the thrift store, and came across this box of recipe cards.

I didn't care about the cards; I just wanted the pretty box for a kitchen decoration.

But I might use some of the recipes too.

I brought home just one book: T.S. Eliot's play The Cocktail Party.

Fixes: Remember the thrifted necklace on the right?

I was putting it on last Sunday, and the thread broke. Luckily, only a few of the beads came off, and Mr. Fixit says he can mend it with some knots and fabric glue (on hand).

Proofreading a new book also counts as fixing. (Coming soon.)

Frugal finds and fixes: Which way round?

Finds: I bought this vintage teal and pink paisley dress at the thrift store today. It doesn't look like much on the hanger, and my colour-erratic photographs aren't helping; but look closer. Can you see the nice front tucks, the dolman sleeves, and the stand-up collar? (This photo is closer to the real colour; the others are a bit too blue.)

 It's also much improved with accessories, like a scarf and a belt:

 What if you turned it around, opened the zipper partway, and layered it over a top or a scarf? Instant shirt-dress.

 What if you belted it up, to look more like a jacket?

 What if you turned it back around again, to look more like a blouse?

 I think I like it best as a dress, but I will probably wear it the other ways too.

Finds: a makeup book for Lydia

Fixes: Our iron is thirty years old. It had been temperamental for awhile, and then stopped heating altogether. Mr. Fixit took it apart, and said that the cord and the plug needed to be replaced. He stopped in at an older hardware store that still assumes people want to fix irons, and found this funky-looking new cord. One less appliance in the landfill.

 Finds: Magazines are a great bargain at the thrift store, even when they're a couple of years old.

Frugal Finds and Fixes

Fixes: A hole in Lydia's jeans.

I wasn't going for completely invisible, just functional.

Finds:

A thrifted sweatshirt, for a dollar. The coloured-tag dollar deals are one of the best bonuses of the thrift store we go to. It also helps to know what you're looking for, so you can make even short visits more productive. I needed a sweatshirt, I like this shade of grey, and I didn't mind if the label said Large.

Household habits and changes:

We donated most of our marriage-long accumulation of music CD's, keeping just enough to fit into one end-table drawer. We got rid of a VCR, a record cabinet, and a 40-year-old toboggan.

We have also begun seriously stepping up our recycling habits.

Looks funny, but it makes you think twice about putting something in the bottom pail (garbage).

I also put my name on the library wait list for Bea Johnson's Zero-Waste Home book. Any ideas help!

Frugal finds and fixes, long-overdue update

It has been awhile since we posted a Frugal Finds and Fixes, so here is a new installment.

Our public library is subscribed to the Lynda.com video-teaching website, and I am planning on using it to improve some of my computer skills. Homeschoolers might find some of their techie courses interesting. They also offer quite a bit on photography and videography.

We had a homemade pizza night this week instead of getting takeout. Pizza dough is easy in the bread machine, and pizza is a very forgiving, use what's in the fridge kind of meal. We topped ours with mushrooms, peppers, salami, canned pasta sauce, and some mixed bits of grated cheese on top. The only bad thing about baking pizza at home is that it always sets off the smoke alarm, and even after we push the "never mind" button, it continues to hiccup for awhile. This never happens with frozen store pizza, just homemade (I think because we set the oven higher).

Tonight's dinner was sausage, ranch potatoes, frozen green beans and carrots, and blueberry muffins that I thought of at the last minute. This is nothing new, but we continue to use the toaster oven, slow cooker (s), and microwave as much as possible, turning on the big oven only when the food or the pan won't fit into anything else.  That would include cookie sheets, muffin pans, and the roaster (the handle makes it too tall).

Yesterday we dropped some of our clearing-out stuff at the thrift store, and had a look around inside. Mr. Fixit found a vintage Polaroid camera. Lydia (who was off school due to predicted bad weather that took its time appearing)* found some books. Mama Squirrel found a t-shirt for herself, and a black shirt from the dollar rack, that looked nice on Lydia but was missing a cuff button.

*When the storm finally showed up, it was a midnight thunderstorm with pouring rain. Basements were undoubtedly flooded, but, thankfully, not ours this time.

That's what button bags are for.

I also mended some leggings while I had the needle still threaded. I hate threading needles, but every time I buy needle threaders, they break. Somewhere out there, there must still be some decent ones for sale.

Finally, stay tuned over the next week or so, because it's almost time for a new Project 333 update.

Jeans fix

Not perfect, but not bad.

Frugal Finds and Fixes: Learning Curves

Sometimes frugality means learning something new. Or taking a risk.

For the past few years we paid someone to figure out our income tax returns.  This year Mr. Fixit used free online software and did it himself.  Besides saving money, it made him feel that much smarter, once he figured out how the program worked.

Ponytails has a favourite embroidered sweater, but the ribbing at the neckline was separating from the rest. She asked Mama Squirrel to fix it.  Mama Squirrel said she had no idea how to do it without ruining the sweater, especially since the pulled-apart spot was on the front, very visible.  The sweater sat unmended. Ponytails reminded Mama Squirrel that she really, really liked that sweater, and she couldn't wear it at all with the collar coming off.  Mama Squirrel decided that there was nothing to lose by trying, and rounded up a needle and purple thread.  It worked!  The repair required two stages: I sewed it together with thread, tucking in all the rough edges; then I went back over it with fine yarn, as close to the main colour as I could find in the scrap bag.  There was what looked like a running stitch at the base of each rib of the collar, and without the extra yarn stitching it would have held together but the repair would have been more obvious, so that's why I did both. If you look really closely, you can see that the stitching and yarn is slightly different; but you'd have to be looking for it.  So Mama Squirrel learned something this week too.

Dollygirl also picked up a project that had lain dormant for quite awhile: a small stuffed doll about five inches tall, meant for a dollhouse, with clothes to be sewn separately.  She had cut out two dolls from the same pattern (one I bought in the 1980’s and had never actually sewn); we had sewn the bodies, arms and legs together, and then she tried to embroider a face on one but it sort of got away from her and she packed the whole thing away for a long time.  This week she pulled the dolls out, finished the face on the other one, got it stuffed and sewed on the hair; she's now working on the dress which is a bit challenging--it is small, but it has a few tucks and pleats. I am really proud of Dollygirl for not giving up on what seemed too hard at first.  (photo to come when the dress is done)

What else have we fixed and found?  The usual baking and cooking experiments, this week featuring cranberries since they were the only reasonably-priced frozen fruit.  Ponytails discovered that her favourite microwave-in-a-mug treat works just as well without the egg that the recipe calls for--always good to know.  Mama Squirrel also noticed that the next-size-up bag of sugar offers a decent saving over the size we usually buy--that sounds too simple to mention, but sometimes you do get into a rut and don't think about small changes.

Oh, and we have been appreciating a variety of frugal entertainment, from free lunchtime concerts (we brown-bagged our lunch) to old radio shows (we had never heard "I was a Communist for the FBI" before), and even some vintage sitcoms online.  We recently upgraded our Internet service (the provider offered extra online time as an incentive to stay), so that makes it more feasible to watch whole shows sometimes.  This week it's been The Partridge Family.  Never say I don't tell all.