January stash busting project.

Here it is!

I finished the blanket just in time.  High loft batting is a major pain in the ass to machine quilt, but it was free, so I'll stop complaining.  Plus, it's out of my stash now!  Woohoo!

The binding is actually blanket binding, since that's what was in my stash.  Hopefully it will hold up.  I suppose I could have made up some binding strips, but I barely got this project done on time to begin with.  The kid was ambivalent, but then again, he has a huge lego set occupying his attention at the moment.  Not sure what I'll tackle next.  I have a craftster swap project on my table to complete, then I'm back to stashbusting for the forseeable future.

My stash spot

Okay...here's my stash:

Damn you, Jomar!  Why must you have such great sales?

There's some scraps under the ginormous cat.

A few things are becoming clear to me.  One, I need to stay the hell away from Jomar until this is manageable.  Two, I need plastic bins with lids unless I want everything pretreated with fur.

I'm making good progress on the kiddo's quilt.  It's made from scraps of his outgrown clothes and some fabrics he liked from the stash.  I'm aiming to make this a zero-spend project (all stash, nothing else bought).

Only issue, my batting is all pieces I've freecycled or got from estate sales.  I have some solvy left over from a previous project that I'm going to try to bond it all together with when I do the quilt sandwich step. 

So far, so good!

Stashbusting sew along!

The other day I was in my sewing room pondering the mess it had become.  In just over a year of getting back to sewing, I have amassed a stash that is threatening to take over my workspace.  So when I read about the Stashbusting Sew Along, I knew I had to sign up. 

My stash is ridiculous.  I've been to one too many Jomar fabric freakout sales, and I live a short bus ride away from Gaffney (awesome) fabrics.  I've got stuff still in it's bags!  Pics will be forthcoming once I locate the camera, provided my son hasn't chucked it in the pet water dish (again). 

I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone here, because I had another dumbass "closet full of clothes and nothing to wear" moment last night when preparing to go out. I'm tired of reaching for a t-shirt because I have no nice blouses.  There are so many gaping holes in my wardrobe it isn't funny.  If I can fill my clothes gaps and stash bust at the same time, that would be excellent.

I'm shooting for one project a month.  I think I can pull that off.  I'd rather set the bar low and surprise myself, then set a sky-high goal and kick myself for not meeting it.

First up:  a mini t-shirt quilt for my son.  I'm about halfway through the piecing.  His birthday is the 26th of this month, so that's my deadline.  I'd better get sewing!

Beauty products detox update

So I've been reading the labels on my grooming products and doing some research into what's in the stuff I slather on my hair and skin.  I've decided that for my peace of mind to make a personal "big 3" list of things to avoid:  Phthalates, Parabens, and Sulfates.

Why did I choose these three?  Out of all the reading I've done, these things stand out as being the most questionable to me.  Parabens have been found in breast cancer tissue, and may mimic estrogens in the body.   Phthalates have been found to mess with the endocrine system.  Sulfates in shampoos and personal care products can irritate the skin and eyes. Plus it gets absorbed into the skin easily.

I've been phasing out my old products and trying out new ones.  It's been a bit of a mixed bag.  I did find a few decent shampoo and conditioner options that were easy to find and not terribly expensive, although they all cost more than the "whatever's 2 for 5 or 2 for 7" I had been using.

So far I've tried:
Walgreens Ology Shampoo and Conditioner:  Pros:  Nice smell, occasionally went on sale.  Cons:  I can't seem to get my local Walgreens to stock enough.  Either they have all shampoo, or all conditioner, but never both.  Really irritating!!  Although to be fair, I think my local walgreens is one of the crappier ones.  When I found it, I paid 6.99 each

Aveeno Pure Renewal:  Pros:  Nice fragrance, Made my hair look nice and shiny.  Very easy to find-I have had no trouble tracking it down.  Cons:  When not on sale or I don't have a coupon, it's a bit on the pricy side.  It set me back 7.99 at my local Rite Aid.

Kiss My Face Big Body conditioner in Lavender:  Pros:  It seems to be a little cheaper than the other options I've tried, my hair did look nice and full after using it.  Cons:  Seems to be a little harder to find-seems to turn up more in fancier grocery/drug stores.  I don't really care for the fragrance, but I have yet to try the other varieties.  Paid 4.99 at Wegmans.

Next up, what's in my foundation?  And what will I do about it?

Homemade Laundry Soap

Last post I mentioned my "is it green, cheap, or local?" quandary.  I've started taking small steps to become more aware of what's in my house, what it contains, and where it came from.  I'm really not happy with how toxic some of my household cleaners are, and how damned expensive some of them have gotten.

One example is laundry soap.  Up until recently, I was a strictly Tide woman.  To me, nothing else was satisfactory.  Until I read about the levels of dioxane your average bottle contained.  Also disturbing was the fact that I never could find out what was in that "fresh" fragrance.  (Small sidetrack-this is the case with SO MANY things-you look at the label and all it says is "fragrance".  Vague much?)  Oh yeah, and this shit's expensive!  Your prices may be different, but I was paying around $20 for a big jug.

So I decided to give making my own a shot.  There are tons of recipes out there.  Through trial and error I came up with this one.  Seems to work great for me.  Not only is it eco-friendly, it's cheap, too!  I think my initial outlay was $15, and after a month I'm still on my first box of Borax.


Recipe:

1 large bar Ivory soap
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
1 cup Borax

You'll also need a container to put your mix in, and something to scoop it with.  I used an extra rubbermaid box and a spare tablespoon.

Grate your Ivory with an old box grater.  I had one lying around that had gotten too beat up for food use.

Mix in your powdered ingredients really well.  You'll want to give this another stir right before you use it.  I add 2 tablespoons per load.  That's it! 

This is easily scaled up, so if you find a mega sale on Ivory or a pallet of Borax, you can make a ton at once.  The only downsides I've found are the fact that it doesn't really work in cold water, and the lack of scent in my clean laundry.  For some this might not be a big deal, but I kinda miss the fake mountain spring aroma of fresh clean clothes.  I'm toying with the idea of adding a few drops of essential oil to the mix for a little freshness.

Look what I found!

I hit an estate sale this morning and struck gold.  Real Shetland wool.  It's soft as buttah!  There's just enough there for a cute swing jacket pattern I cut out last winter.  Estate sales rock!!!!

Object in picture is more awesome than it appears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to find the intersection of green, cheap, and local

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day.  We were discussing a post on a parents mailing list we belong to, where a poster asked where to find "locally produced, organic produce, at a reasonable price".  Hmm.

Despite living in a big city, I'm lucky if I can hit two out of the three.  Organic produce is all over the place, but it's usually fairly expensive and shipped in from other places.  Cheap produce is also plentiful here, but it's not organic or local.  Local produce is getting easier to find, but not always organic or cheap. 

When I think about it, a lot of "green" things are neither local nor cheap.  Take household products-I am blessed to have plenty of opportunities to buy "greener" cleaning and paper products, but your average bottle of "green" cleaner is going to cost 1-2 dollars more than the cheap, Earth ruining alternative.

And then there's the whole "greenwashing" bullshit that's going on.  Every company is jumping on the bandwagon and slapping "green!!!11oneone" on their label.  I just bought some shampoo the other day.  I picked a brand that touted itself as being "earth friendly".  I looked up the ingredients on the website Good Guide, and my shampoo is full of all kinds of nasty shit!!  I am pissed!!!!!

However, I don't have unlimited funds(oh, how I wish.) and I have to stick to a budget.  I've begun digging deeper in to what's in my food, what I clean my house with, and what I bathe in-and what my family eats and bathes in.  I want to find that mythical spot:  green, cheap, and local.  It's going to be difficult, but I'm going to give it a shot.