I wrote the sage reads below a few days ago, and in the interceding time have come to realize that while I love blogging and this blog was such a great friend when my babies were little and I had lots of free time in the house during naps and limited contact otherwise with the outside world, I need to focus back in on my family full of almost-toddlers, a stellar preschooler, and a husband who I love to pieces but has always (and unfairly) had to compete for my attention in all of this.

I’m going to continue to write at BeCentsAble every other week and to tweet when I can. Thanks for reading!

crafting

What I love about the Apartment Therapy family of blogs (including re-nest and ohdeeoh) is the focus on making something useful, chic, fresh, and functional out of something else you already have, extolling the values of both design and of reuse. A perfect example is How to: Make Shades Out of Mini Blinds. I can’t even tell you how many sets of mini blinds I’ve thrown away in various homes, let alone the custom roman shades we spent weeks making in our old condo, doing all of these steps by scratch. Never again!

Craft: inspires me similarly with the maternity top –> wrap tee. I have a few shirts I haven’t been able to sell on Craigslist (and one I didn’t really want to part with, anyhow) that are going to get this treatment now.

Craft: links I’ve also had open forever and are really helpful how-tos for some persistent problems in my life:

• How to sew your own bedding (too much twin bedding for P, who now sleeps on a full/double bottom bunk)
  
• How to sew a blind hem (I’m looking at you, gray wool pants!)
• How to darn (and possibly resurrect my favorite, favorite sweater-coat-wrap-thing)

What an awesome rainy day activity, the yarn bowl! I remember making something like this but with paper mache. This looks at least slightly neater.

eating

Lemon bread and other yummy things are featured in the recipe box post at i have to say… Lemony baked goods always fit the bill right at the start of spring. Almost time to dust off my Passover Lemon Squares recipe!

If I were feeling more birthday-crafty this week, I’d definitely be making this cute dot cake for my triplets. Definitely saving the frosting trick for future reference though, especially the idea of using stencils to make letters. And these dot cookies would make such cute matching favors! (Crafty Crow also links to a how to on making stencils out of plastic lids, helping me to imagine actually decorating a cake someday, something I’ve always been rather challenged at.)

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Tiny Choices hosts the Green Moms Carnival and they’re talking spring cleaning. Lots of great ideas for eco-friendly cleaning, organizing, and more. And $5 Dinners has more homemade cleaning products recipes, one of which I’m going to try out as soon as a Dawn coupon I’m expecting in a trade arrives in my mailbox.

While you’re making your own, Crafting a Green World has links to some DIY beauty supplies.

Re-nest shares a list of plants good for xeriscaping, meaning they would be drought-tollerant and save money and resources since they require less watering, in general. As our yard emerges from the last clumps of snow, I am definitely giving this list more than a quick glance, since we have some persistently weedy areas that I would like to fill with perennials and then forget about.

Also outdoors, I have a rusty-but-cute mailbox that is screaming for some of this lower-VOC spray paint. I’m thinking of doing the porch light fixtures, too. Color suggestions to match a cream brick exterior?

I’m writing this on Monday because on Wednesday, I’ll be busy: MY BABIES ARE ONE! What a sweet and wonderful year it’s been, although I have to admit, I’m glad it’s over

parenting

I absolutely love this idea from Tiny Decor for turning larger pieces of art into different silhouettes. Very Eric Carle!

Mommy Making Money has a great run down of inexpensive art supplies, including the always-popular colored pasta for necklaces and other projects.

crafting

Craft: shares the must-do lengthening of a kids’ t-shirt. What a great idea for a sentimental favorite or great thrift store find. I wonder if I could get anymore mileage out of our now-outgrown 9-12m “Former Wombmates” shirts that I love so much!

The spring rains are reminding me we have a broken umbrella in our Prius, a nice one at that. Just in time for Craft: to come through again with a patterns for some bags from a recycled umbrella.

eating

lifehacker discovers newer versions of cookbooks have recipes with 40% more calories! All the more reason to stick with the family heirlooms and used book store classics, right?

$5 dinner mom breaks down the mystery behind bone-in chicken breasts. I admit I’ve been too leery of butchering to try this myself, until now when we have a source for organic whole chickens at wholesale prices. Too many puns about being chicken and needing to bone up abound

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Thinking about starting some seeds? GiveThemRoots has some tips on a store-bought kit, although I’m wondering how feasible the eggshell version truly is! Absolutely the ultimate in waste-free reuse from instructables.

Hmm, I lost the original source of this link since this site is new to me, but 3 recipes for making your own shampoo. Fun!

Just when I think I’ve had the most tabs open in my browser possible, I outdo myself with 20 more. Here are 2+ weeks of things that caught my eye…

parenting

Ohdeeoh has a great end of season project, turning gloves into little stuffed animals. I have 3 or 4 right now and can imagine a fun “Make a Monster” project with P and a friend where we pick buttons, yarn, and other trim to apply faces and then stuff and sew them. We did this on a larger scale at a community event and making a full-sized stuffed animal was a little too complicated for the 4-6 year olds, but this is just the right size.

Another project that a preschooler could do with just a little help: creating a puzzle from a cereal box and magazine picture.

crafting

A hanging book display from some fabric and wooden dowels. Simple and wonderful. This definitely goes in the queue for P’s room.

We have oddly shaped cubbies under our sectional in the family room (very deep, pretty long, but only 8″ high) so I think this is custom cloth solution. Now I just need to figure out what great fabric to use!

I’ve been going to yoga again most weeks, but I almost always forget my mat, even though it lives in the backseat of my car. Maybe if I made this cute mat holder from a pants leg, I would want to show it off a little more?

resources

I absolutely loved Green Bean’s detailed run down off all of the ways to consume more consciously at the Green Phone Booth.

Eco Child’s Play writes up a household cleaner and home remedy I never gave much thought to, but has great possibilities — apple cider vinegar. Can’t wait to try it out. And house+made has 39 uses for baking soda, some I’ve never seen before, and I definitely need some nontoxic deicer in these parts!

Re-nest shares 10 ways to reuse tights or pantyhose, reminding me to hold on to a recently departed pair for my tomato plants this summer, and 10 ideas for pillowcases. The skirt and cafe curtain patterns are definitely in my future.

Treehugger has a guide for the green stuff the stimulus bill will help you buy. Too bad there aren’t any hybrid minivans on the market yet! (Eco Childs Play also discusses how the Prius is the perfect family car, which I completely agree with unless, like us, you happen to have 4 kids. Now, the Prius is our perfect 2nd car.)

We have been so sick around here, I’m actually worried you might get norovirus just by reading this post. Hah! Except I’m not sure if I’m kidding. It’s been a long couple of weeks and I’m sorry my posting has been a little light. I’m not going to be able to make up for it today, I still have a fever and glands like rocks in my throat (I don’t think it’s strep, but at this point you could tell me it was the Plague and I’d believe you.) I will, however, toss out a few links for your sage reading pleasure.

Absolutely love the tutorial for turning paper bags into recipe cards at Crafting a Green World. Just the idea of cutting 8.5×11 sheets for reuse is brilliant.

I was just about to get rid of our gymini when Parenthacks suggests attaching the bars to the top of a Pack n Play! I’m going to see if t works with what we’ve got and then the rest is going to our babysitter (her brother’s wife is due in April and we know our bouncy seat and other stuff will get generous reuse at Grandma’s house).

Skip to my Lou breaks down the process of using a fabric scrap to make a simple applique monogram. I’ve saved all of our plain onesies just for this purpose, I think they’ll make sweet baby gifts in the future.

Kiddio shares a project I was just think my kid is finally old enough for — the indoor treasure hunt. I think I would put simple, block letter words for his clues that he would sound out, since he’s a prereader.

That’s all I got. Please send us some healthy vibes and hopefully I’ll be back in the game soon!

parenting

The scrap paper family tree tutorial at Crafting a Green World caught my attention. If your pre-to-grade-schooler can cut a circle (or other shapes) or operate a large punch, this is a really fun family project. I’m imagining it with extra artwork or other kid-friendly papers, too.

I was also inspired by the Learn to Print My Name stamp featured on Tiny Decor now that my oldest wants to print his name on everything! Like me, he has a not-so-typical name and spelling, so the fact that so many products are so customizable for kids these days is really cool. I haven’t ordered a stamp, but I did find and download a “trace font” so that I can print out any word he’s interested in writing. He has a lot of trouble with the “R” in the middle of his name and this is really helping.

resources

Tiny Choices shares a resource for recycling old jeans — they’ll be turned into building insulation! Send one pair or hold a drive, they’ll put them to good use. Fantastic!

Amanda from Kiddio writes at her new blog, house+made, about the advantages of shopping at Costco. Now that we’re a family of 6 people who eat (at least some) table food, we’re really reaping the benefits.

Re-nest introduces the beta of LendAround, a service that tracks sharing items between friends or neighbors or whoever. We have a tight-knit group of families on our block, this looks like a really fun way to save money on books and DVDs, and maybe kid stuff we’re not currently using. (The beta is for DVDs only, but the final release will cover more items. Excellent!)

No matter how pretty the flickr photostream is, I haven’t been able to get into the clothesline habit. I have to admit, the tips at Eco Childs Play addressing some of the common downfalls, it helps.

And if you’re feeling the last minute strain, tons of printable Valentines!

My camera cord has gone missing, so my swap bounties are going to have to wait to be shared until it turns up. Considering that the last person who had it in this house was my MIL, and she’s notorious for misplacing things, it really could be anywhere. Sigh.

But on to the reads, after two big highlights!

Firstly, there has been a stay in enforcement in some areas of the CPSIA, so that is a great victory. Even better is that Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is filing legislation to amend CPSIA permanently. More info about his bill and calling your Senator (really, I promise, it won’t hurt!) is at Etsy.

And second, I love it when people do my job for me. Another round up of all coupons organic is posted, this time at Affluent Pauper. Turn on your printer and head over there! I’ll still be here when you’re done.

parenting

We’re starting to use the creative discipline button jar discussed at kiddio, but my problem is setting the appropriate reward. My nearly 4 year old is not quite time-aware enough to get very excited about working towards something really big in the future. Meanwhile, we go on so many adventures around town as it is, trying to keep him busy and not feel frustrated with so many babies around, that a lot of lower-level rewards (a trip to the museum, a special meal) are the kinds of things we do daily. He doesn’t want or need new toys. So what’s a good reward for kids at this age? Have any ideas for me?

The brilliant Parenthacker have another one: Google line drawings in an image search to create your own coloring books at home. Too much fun!

crafting

Little House in the Suburbs has a free printable Handmade Gift Calendar. It’s fantastic in it’s simplicity and would work equally as well for planning some kid projects ahead of holidays or birthdays so you know that your in-laws will be well stocked with Valentines or handprint turkeys or whatever. Even if they lost your only USB cable

Meanwhile, I have a pretty cubby system of old formula cans going in my home craft/office. (We need a name for this space, I don’t have a good one.) I’m definitely going to use this calendar to help me keep a catalog of what’s going on in that space, since each can is ostensibly a project’s raw materials, as well as those that don’t fit in a metal can, like Craft:’s fantastic kids smock from a dress shirt I have brewing right now, or the vintage sheets earmarked for a small quilt. Meanwhile, re-nest’s drawers-into-modular storage has me thinking about the last stretch of open space in that room (which has cinder block walls) and what I can finally do with it.

Makes me think, I suppose I have a repository of my projects in process already, and her name is sage.

resources

Say it isn’t so, Disney! It looks like they are folding Wondertime. I just started getting a free subscription a few months ago. If I’d known, I would have paid!

Eco Child’s Play covers the Save Money while Buying Organic angle while managing to bring up a few things I hadn’t thought of. I already shop frequently on Tuesdays so I can get a Rotisserie chicken when it is on sale for $5.99 (and then use it for 2 meals and make preseasoned chicken broth to last us a week or more), but I never thought about what days they might mark down other sorts of products. I love food for thought.

parenting

Thinking of different ways to say thank you for holidays or other occasions? I’m loving the printable calendar with coloring book-esque pages for P to personalize and then send off to his many grandparents. (Thanks, as usual, to Crafty Crow for such inspiring finds.) I also loved the painted picture frames at plum pudding. I always look at the not-so-pretty ones at Goodwill and think about how they could have another life.

Crafty Crow also shares a tutorial for making a kid’s drawing into a rubber stamp. My kid is in Montessori school. I need to get in with all of these super creative Montessori mamas, they seem like my kind!

crafting

Crafting a Green World offers up yet another cool yarn alternative — old cassette tapes! I particularly love the idea of knitting an iPod case from them

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Green Mom Finds posts the opposite of the Dirty Dozen, the 10 foods you don’t really need to buy organic:

1. Asparagus
2. Avocados
3. Bananas
4. Broccoli
5. Mango
6. Kiwi
7. Cabbage
8. Onions
9. Papaya
10. Pineapple

(I disagree on bananas because organic bananas are less likely to come from deforested rain forest, but that’s just me. Well, and organic broccoli just tastes *so* much better. Anyhow, I won’t quibble over every item!)

Mom is Broke shares a few more homemade cleaner recipes. And one that we tried this week that seems to work… Leave about 1/2 liter of cola in your toilet overnight and it will eat away at those stubborn stains.

Re-nest muses both on spiffying up an old cork board and donating corks to make more. We’re not big wine drinkers here in the land of beer, but I have more than one bulletin board hanging out in my home office that could use some prettying.

Ohdeeoh points out a good destination for the super-cute photos you took with your phone, only to realize they make terrible prints due to their low resolution: teeny tiles. I have so may cute shots of P when he was 2 living on my phone, with nowhere to go. The extra crafty types could even use them in a mosaic, I’d imagine.

I have to admit, I’ve been tweeting more this week than reading blogs… Like I needed another digital hobby! But I have gotten back in the regular blogging saddle, so not too bad overall, right?

Importantly, re-nest reminds us all that if you’re in the market for a CSA share this year, it’s time to sign up in most locations! Just looking at that box makes me excited for June and forget for a moment that the anticipated high temperature tomorrow is -3.

Thrifty Jinxy shares 10 reuse ideas for milk jugs, many of which hadn’t dawned on me. I could certainly use some refrigerator organizers to keep the baby food universe separate from everything else.

Doesn’t Crafting a Green World make sewing a quilt from t-shirts sound easy and fun? I’ve been saving lots of baby clothes for this exact purpose. I’m not even going to pretend that it’s for a keepsake for my boys, it’s definitely for the sentimental mama!

More tweets and other stuff soon

parenting

It’s the first week of what (so far) has been a good year! I’d like to see what’s on the mind of my big boy (self portrait above), so I think a yearly interview tradition is certainly in order. (At Let’s Explore, via Crafty Crow)

I was thinking about signing up for a rent-a-toy service since I like having new things for the little guys but hate the current buy-use-clean-resell cycle we are in with all of the clothes, diapers, gear, and everything else in our house right now. If just a few toys could go somewhere else without me having to worry about it, that would be so, so nice!

crafting

Lots to make from old sweaters:

• Diaper covers (via, of all places, msn Money), and
• Patchwork blankets (Martha Stewart via ohdeeoh)

resources

Mom is Broke has a few quick recipes for homemade cleaners, reminding me I need some more Murphy’s Oil Soap soon.

Baby Cheapskate shares a new bargain-a-day site: Green Baby Bargains. Mama needs some discount AIO diapers, people!

I’m off eBay right now after a bad experience with a seller (long story for another time, probably soon), so  SwapItShop caught my interest.

parenting

Oh-so-timely little projects to do with kids for the remainder of the school break –

• Parenthacks suggests customizing all of those give-away calendars with kids’ artwork you have lying around anyway. What a sweet thing to send on to grandparents!
• Treehugger reminds us how to make a dollhouse chair out of a champagne cork.
• Crafting a Green World has seven more ways to upcycle holiday cards.
• Skip to My Lou rounds up free printable Thank You cards that kids can color or customize to send of for all of their holiday gifts.

Tiny Decor answers a question looming large in my head since we just switched the little boys to their Britax Marathons from their infant carrier seats: Are there eco-friendly car seat covers? They site a number of sources and have links to sewing patterns as well! Considering these seats are with us for the next 3+ years, I’m going to have to make some matching covers.

crafting

Eco Child’s Play shares a few easy kids sewing patterns (for kids stuff, not necessarily for children to sew, although that might work, too!).

resources

Amy at MomAdvice has a playdough recipe roundup. That post is a keeper! So many great ideas.

I’m totally inspired by Green Bean’s description of how her house is organized for optimizing reuse of objects. I like to think we’re similarly laid out, although we are subject to a little less order to our chaos because of the ever-changing needs and supplies of the almost 10 month old set. I’m so inspired I’m thinking of writing up something similar myself, to give ideas to others but also to maybe help me see where the holes are in my various systems.