Country Living {Frugal Tips - Going Paperless}

Living frugally can be quite the endeavor, but with some imagination and lots of helps and ideas from close friends it certainly can be done – and be fun!  Over the past several weeks I’ve been trying to find new ways of saving us money and living below our means.  This will, of course in the end, allow us to pay off our student loans and mortgage faster – and that is a good thing.  It will also allow us to start investing into home improvement projects and into homesteading. 

One of the families at our church has begun to move away from paper products as much as possible and so have we.  Most people already know that we use cloth diapers, but over the past few months I’ve been cheating and using disposables.  It seems like we’ve been hit with sickness after sickness (colds and Sofia had the German measles) that laundry has been piling up – so disposable diapers were much easier.  Charlotte is potty training and using Gerber cloth training pants during the day and a disposable pull up at night.  So far she is doing such a great job with minimal accidents throughout the day. 

Obviously toilet paper will still be a must – and in our new house it MUST be septic safe.  This is great for us because it means we are forced to use less of it so that we don’t clog up our septic system.  It was hard at first to teach my almost 6 year old that she didn’t need mounds and mounds of toilet paper to wipe after using the bathroom, but she caught on quickly. However, we do not “need” paper towels or paper napkins. I bought several packs of basic terry cloth wash clothes from Walmart – 18 clothes for $4!  We are using those for napkins and I use them to wipe down the counters and clean just about everything – including my floors!  Yes, I get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floors with a wash cloth.  I actually enjoy it because I can make sure the floors are getting cleaned instead of using a mop that just smears dirt everywhere.  When I’m done I just toss the wash cloth in the washing machine.  It is super easy and I like the manual labor – I’m noticing muscle tone in my arms!  These are also great for wiping sticky hands and faces - just keep a damp wash cloth rady at the dinner table and after everyone is done eating wipe faces and hands.

Yesterday I took the time to make my husband some handkerchiefs.  His seasonal allergies are raging and he usually goes through an entire roll of paper towels in a couple of days!  So, I bought some flour sack towels from Walmart – 4 for about $2 and used those to make his handkerchiefs. (One towel made 4 handkerchiefs)  They turned out really nice and he loves them!  I plan on hand embroidering his initials on them to add a special touch.  I’m going to make myself some as well, except I will use some crochet tread around the edges to make them more feminine. 

Soon we will put up a clothes line and I will begin drying clothes out on the line.  This will help to keep our energy costs down as well.  I’m thankful for a husband who is savvy on appliances as he bought me an energy star washer that uses less water per load, saving us money on energy and water!  I was skeptical at first about the new fancy machine – but I actually love it.  Our clothes are cleaner and it uses under half the amount of water as a traditional washer. 

So, there you have it.  Some ways that I’m learning to save us money by cutting out unnecessary paper products.  More tips to come soon!

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <><

My Cozy Cottage Kitchen {New Curtain}

When we moved into our house there was a curtain already hanging in the window.  It appeared to be handmade by the previous owners.  It was cute but very dusty and dirty.  I found an old bed skirt while unpacking and decided to make a new kitchen curtain with it.  Here are the "Before and After" pictures.

It took me about 45 minutes to get it cut, sewn and hung up.  I love it!  It really did change the entire feeling of my kitchen.  I can't even describe just how excited I still am about our new house - the kitchen is my favorite room of the house - we just so happen to spend most of our day in it too!

Before

After

Love my New Curtain

Aromatherapy Compress

 

I had so much fun making this today!  I added a few drops of my Young Living Essential Oils to the rice and not only will it come in handy when I get a migraine or when my neck, shoulder and back start acting up - but it will be a great way to benefit from the aromatherapy of Lavender Essential Oil and Purification Essential Oil Blend.  

If you'd like to know more about my therapeutic grade essential oils - check out my new website

Serving God and My Family,
Crystal <><

Matching Aprons

Apron I made

I very much enjoyed every minute spent making these aprons for me and my girls.  The girls are so excited that we all have matching aprons to keep our clothes clean throughout the day.  I did not use a pattern, I just made everything us as I went along - makes things more interesting and exciting!

Serving God and My Family,
Crystal <><

Making Aprons

"When I slip on this apron and tie the strings, I am making a conscious decision to have a mind to work. I have a job as a keeper at home. Titus 2. 3-5 tells me a bit of why I put on this apron. I do love my husband, I do love my children, I do work here, I do guard and guide the home and in doing so, I do want to represent them well. That’s what my uniform says to them and to the watching world - and to me. It says I’m right here, right where I belong, doing what I was meant to do."

~ Pamela Spurling 

A Christian Home - The Apron: The Mother's Uniform

          Today I've been working on making aprons for me and my girls.  After posting a couple of pictures on my facebook of my daughter's modeling them, I ended up receiving two orders for custom made aprons!  The two aprons shown above are not completely finished yet, I still have to add the waist ties and a pocket on the second apron.  My daughters are super excited that their mommy has taken the time to make special aprons just for them.  I will be making a matching apron for myself sometime tomorrow, which has the girls all tickled to match mommy! 

          After watching Homemaking 101 I've made it a point to put my apron on every morning and surprisingly it does help to keep me in the mindset of "work" - and it keeps my clothes from getting flour, food, and other dirties on them!  This is such a great thing because it means whenever my sweet husband arrives home from work, he is greeted by a neatly dressed wife - another tip from Homemaking 101.  

Use coupon code 25off for a 25% off discount!

          I will post a picture of me and my cupcakes wearing our homemade aprons as soon as I get them completed!  If you would like a custom made apron feel free to email me at servinggodandfamily (at) gmail (dot) com.

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <><

I'm Still Here

         I know many of my readers have been wondering where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to in recent months.  I have been quite busy; or busy at least by my standards.  So, in an effort to catch everyone up I thought it was time to get a “real” blog post written.  

        Life is definitely fuller since Eleanor graced us with her sweet presence.  I forgot how delightful having a new baby in the house makes life.  Don’t get me wrong, that delightfulness is not without its attached friend “sleep deprivation”, but it is totally worth it.  I have to say, Eleanor is the perfect little 5 month old baby.  Her first word was “Momma” and she is on the move and nearly crawling!  It is funny to admit that in the first few weeks of her arrival I felt like I was a brand new mother all over again; panicking at the silliest things.  My sweet midwife has been so sweet to take ALL of my frantic phone calls, even ones crying, and reassuring me of my full capability through Christ to mother my new little baby.  It is quite the revelation to be reminded over and over again just how vulnerable I am to trying to measure up to other mother’s standards of “mothering”.  I think every mother falls prey to this at some point, and it is just sad that we feel the need to measure ourselves by anything other than Jesus Christ.  I often find myself romancing over how other mothers have these lovely schedules filled with visits from friends, play dates, visits to the park, etc., and what that would be like in my world.  Then I am reminded that that simply would not be as lovely in my world because I actually don’t like all of that.  I enjoy being “at home” with my babies and husband (when’s he off work).  The running around that other families do on a daily basis, or even semi-weekly basis would bring such chaos and dysfunction to my world and family, and in my humble opinion defeats the calling to be “keepers at home”.  I prefer the solace and predictability of being at home and it is our sanctuary.  

        At the beginning of this month I had the honor of opening my home up to a dear friend and 5 of her 6 children.  It was true fellowship and it was much needed.  This was the first time meeting my friend in the flesh and it was such a blessing.  I made a big supper, and some yummy gluten free brownies, and then had the pleasure of preparing a big wholesome breakfast for everyone before they got back on the road.  This is the type of fellowship that Malachi and I crave with like-minded families.  The Lord worked it all out, as He always does, by convicting us of the way we eat.  My friend and her family eat pretty much the same way we do, except I don’t grind my own grains.  It was so nice to know that I was providing this family with a good meal that wouldn’t cause any stress or worry about inconveniencing us with specialty foods or allergy considerations; it was all planned out in advance by the Lord!  I am now preparing to open our home once again to a woman that I dearly love and I’m so excited to have her and her new husband in our home for two nights.  She taught me how to crochet and is bringing me some goodies to help me with sewing!  

        I am very thankful that the Lord has provided a bigger home for us, even if it is an apartment.  We literally just move up the sidewalk from our other apartment which made the move the easiest we’ve made yet!  I still do not have our home completely the way I want it, but that is ok, I’m in no rush.  We’ve enjoyed utilizing the extra space by making the third bedroom a play/homeschool room, and we’re getting Sofia and Charlotte a queen size bed for their room.  After my friend and her children departed, both girls decided they wanted to sleep on the queen size air mattress we had set up for our guests.  I think it is super sweet that the girls would prefer to sleep in the same bed; it is just the cutest thing to walk in before I go to bed to check on them and they are sleeping so sweetly next to each other.  They really are the best of friends, and that is the way it is supposed to be.

        As you may have noticed in the past week or so, I’ve been crocheting a lot!  I’ve listed several new items to my Etsy Shop online and praying the Lord will provide some extra income through it.  This would greatly help with my desire to can and preserve foods as I have to buy my fresh produce because we do not have the room to grow our own garden.  I’ve made Lemon-Honey Jelly, Pomegranate Jelly and Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam and have enjoyed it so very much.  Today the girls helped me make the Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam.  It was so much fun having them in the kitchen with me today teaching them something of true benefit for the future.  Malachi and I have a vision of being self-sustaining some day and learning the basic art of canning and preserving our foods is an honorable work that will greatly benefit our family.  I’m even thinking about starting an Etsy Shop to sell some of the jams and jellies I make; but that is still a mere “thought”.  

        Yesterday I worked all day (9 hours) on making the cutest rag quilt for Eleanor.  It really was a labor of love.  There were moments where I didn’t think I’d ever get it done.  Slowly but surely I finished it and it turned out so stinking cute!  I’m thinking about making more and selling them, BUT I won’t try and make it all in one day anymore.  I’d love to just buy fabric and get lots of squares cut out and ready for sewing instead of trying to cut them out as I make a quilt.  It is still all just in the “thinking” process as to whether I will sell them or not.  I am going to make one for Sofia and Charlotte, and then after that I will revisit the idea of selling them.  I’ve thought about how I could make them and keep the cost down, but with the amount of time it took for me to make one, I’d have to greatly factor that in as well because “time is money” as well.  So many things to think about, but how fun it is to have ideas!

Front of Quilt

Back of Quilt

I made a little pocket on one of the squares

         I will be completely done with my Bachelor’s degree in December!  I cannot believe I am nearing the finish line.  I can definitely say getting my degree, even though I did it solely online, has been hard work, often times stressful.  No accomplishment will ever top my homebirth will Eleanor, but getting this degree sure has been an accomplishment.  While I don’t have any grandeur ideas that having it will bring more respect or fame to my life, but it sure will be something I can look at and say “I did it!”  I did it without abandoning my family.  I did it without compromising my beliefs.  I did it and still maintained my intellectual and religious integrity.  And I only did it by the grace of God and the support and encouragement from my husband!  I will have a Bachelor’s in Social Science with a Concentration in Education, but don’t let that last part confuse you; I can promise my philosophy on education was only strengthened by learning about how our public school system was constructed and how it is maintained.  I am even more convinced that homeschooling is the only option for Christians.

         I am having some medical issues; the same ones I was having back in May.  I will be seeing a specialist soon and we’re praying that the problem is nothing serious.  Please keep me in prayer that the doctors will know how to get things under control, and that Malachi won’t need to miss any work.  In May he missed an entire week of work, and we really don’t want this to happen again.  

        I will end my post here, and I am grateful for all my readers who have remained faithful in prayer for me and my family! 

Serving God and Family,

Crystal <>< (SAHM)

Wordless Wednesday - Shirt I Made

Worldless Wednesday - Sofia's New Dress