Sewing a new cash spending billfold

I sewed a cash spending envelope system about 2 years ago and have been using it ever since.  It worked pretty good but had a couple of flaws and was also getting worn from so much use. 

you can see it here and read a little about my method.

my first cash spending system on my old blog

I wanted a new one and searched for some tutorials.  I did not ever find one exactly like I wanted but I did like this one

my inspiration is from this tutorial

Except hers is made from oilcloth. I like oilcloth but I tried  to buy some in my town a few months ago and no store here carries it. 

I used that tutorial, but for fabric.  So I added a 1/2 inch for seam allowances to all the pieces,  added some batting to the base and back pockets for a little stability and used less pockets. 

Since I am trying to use-down my craft supplies,  I made this strictly from supplies on hand too. 

a little larger than a regular wallet or billfold
but I think this size and number of pockets will suit me.

to make the labels,  I just used some bias tape and rubber stamps,
 then I machine-sewed on the labels.

I put my rewards cards in the front pocket.
Change is in it's own pocket and the only one with a zipper. 
On the oilcloth tutorial,  she used zippers on 6 pockets,  but I did not need that many pockets. And the pockets that hold paper money and receipts are deep enough that I don't think mine will require zippers to be secure. 

the back has a pocket for my checkbook. 
The checkbook cover already has a spot for my license, insurance cards and money cards
so I did not make special pockets for them on this wallet.

It may seem silly to mainly use cash for spending and then to also carry credit cards and a checkbook but this system works for me.

If you have any questions,  I will be happy to try to answer them
but I don't have any plans to do a real tutorial.

What $10 bought

Back in August,  I started a makeover of this dining room.  We changed out the carpet for tile. 

Jeff built the shelves for his plate collection.

I sewed up some new curtains. 

What we still needed was chairs.  Not just any chairs, as this room is not big and has 2 odd angles that look nice but take away from the square footage.

I've been patiently looking and hoping to find the right style.....

and it paid off'
we got 9 chairs for $10 for all of them!
They were an Ebay auction - surplus stuff our city was selling. 
I bid a lot higher because I really wanted them but nobody else bid on them so we got them for almost nothing.



small dining spaces need chairs with staight legs,  not the kind that flair out as they require more floor space.


yep - that is a vinyl tablecloth,  this is a real house with real people living in it. 
I like fabric cloths but with little ones and sometimes messy adults,  the wipe-off vinyl is just more practical.   



the flowers are a flat of dianthus that I got at Lowes last week.
They will soon be planted outside but our weather has been cold so they are staying inside for now so they don't freeze.
I think the flowers may of cost about the same as the chairs.  hmmmmm 

quirky things

All our bath towels are white, 
except for a few beach towels and old towels used for messes and Theo's baths.
White towels can be washed in hot water and bleach to kill germs with out fading
and they match any bathroom.
This week,  I found white hand towels and washcloths on clearance
-both of these were things we need and I have been looking for at a good price. 

I unwrapped them and then I cut off all the tags before washing them.
anybody else like white towels and no tags?


and even if you don't have to have white tagless towels,
if you do buy new towels,
 be sure to empty your lint screen if you machine dry
them the first time you wash them. 
it will be full!

use what you have

Don't we ALL have too many craft supplies? 
Well,  I am trying to use up some of mine. 
Over the last week or so,  I made up a batch of greeting cards. 

all the supplies were things I had on hand
I don't have time to go shopping any way

I have been bad about not writing thank-you notes and thinking of you notes.
Now, I am all set and plan to do a better job.



Gavin had fun with the leftovers from these card projects.
He really liked the glue stick. 



Making my kitchen easier to work in

My kitchen is a rectangle. 
Sometimes I had the trash can at one end of the kitchen
and other times I kept it under the sink. 
Then I figured out that for this kitchen.....

It makes clean up and life in general easier
if we have 2 kitchen trash cans.
The bigger one is on the north end of the kitchen
near the stove and by the counter where I do baking.
The smaller one is under the kitchen sink.

Gavin is a big helper with shaking out the new trash bag and putting them in the cans.

I've had the smaller one several years, I don't know if this kind is still being made.
It has notches on the side so that a plastic shopping bag can easily be used for the liner.

Yes,  I have cloth bags that I mostly use when I shop but I still have a quite a stockpile of the shopping bags.
it almost seems that spontaniously accumulate like dust bunnies under the sofa 

Cute food just tastes better



One of my tricks
Pampered Chef Cut and Seal - I don't know if they even still sell them.. I've had this one for at least 10 years
it cuts around the edges, then crimps them to seal in the filling. 

Gavin is a little guy, little for his age. He eats pretty good and because I hope he keeps growing, I try to serve him  foods that are packed with good nutrition for a 2 year old.  I don't think he need any empty calories. 
I am not trying to bulk him up, just feed him what he needs and is best to help him keep growing developing.
He is a big fan of fruit and yogurt.  But he does not seem to eat protein foods to much at my house.  Last week,  I used this PC tool to make his pb on whole wheat.  He smiled when he saw his cute little sandwich and ate it just about fast as little guy should. 

the crusts won't go to waste. 
Our dog usually eats some bread with his supper everynight so I just saved the cut off parts for him.

Gavin's lunch today
PB on whole wheat, low fat cheese and apple sauce.
He had milk, oatmeal and a banana for breakfast.
Mid morning snack was pineapple and crackers.

He happily ate every bite of his lunch.

another masking tape label
the plastic lids on PB fit any standard canning jar
With the label,  if anyone else in this home finishes off the jar, they will remember to save the lid for me. 
thank you Carol -for the tip about the jar lids. 


anyone have any toddler feeding tips for me? 

turn the page

Today is March 1st, a new month.
Time to turn the page on baby Elizabeth's picture calendar.
Won't these pictures be fun to look at all month?

ROKU - or how we watch TV

We canceled our TV cable back in 2009 and now use an antenna to get the local channels.  We live in central Oklahoma and get channels from both Tulsa and Oklahoma City including ABS, CBS, NBC, 2 PBS stations,  local Fox, several Christian channels, 4 channels from ION and several others. 

My husband heard about ROKU boxes,  they run on the internet so they require either being hooked in your internet source or with wireless, we use wireless internet for ours.  The boxes are a one -time purchase,  I think ours was about $60 from Amazon, and then you own it. There are no monthly fees unless you have paid channels.



This is our ROKU box and it's remote,  that is a Santa Pez beside it so you can see how small the Roku is. 

My favorite thing to watch is photos on a loop from Flickr. 
Whatever groups you belong to on Flickr can be on your Roku box.
Gavin likes pictures of tractors and animals.
I like groups that feature Pyrex and sewing projects.
My mom liked looking at the quilt groups.
When I am rocking a baby, I usually turn on Flickr, it has no sound
so it is very peaceful.
Nina however is not a fan of Flickr, she says it is as much fun as watching paint dry.




Roku offers lots of channels and most of them are free,  a few require monthly subscription.  


 

Roku has news channels,  quite a few fitness channels and social network channels.

Here are some of the news channels.
It is not exactly the same as turning on CNN to see the news minute by minute. 
I like the NBC one best,  they broadcast the first hour of the Today show all day without commercials,
so if I am busy early in the morning, I can catch up on the news later in the day.
Some of the other news channels show feature stories as well as specials and repeats of their news shows.



The only paid channel we have is Netflix.  Netflix offers so many shows in their watch it now category.
Jeff likes movies,  Gavin likes Bob the Builder,  I've been watching  seasons of Hoarders,  Jamie Oliver and Cake Boss. 
When my parents were here last,  my dad really liked American Pickers.
Netflix costs about $8 a month and I think it is very much worth it.

One of the free channels is Blip.  The offer many independent shows,  some are just quirky but many are very good.
I really like some of the cooking shows. 





We tried a free trial of Hulu on Roku but they show so many commercials, we did not like it.

Shows on Roku are all on demand.  We like that we can watch what we want to when we want too. 

The only thing we really missed out on my not having cable is that most all the college football bowl games were on ESPN.  Roku has some sports channels,  some of them have fees, and we have not really investigated them. I am sure they are the right option for some viewers.

There are so many channels and shows on Roku, and they truly add more just about every week.  I have not looked at every single one to know all they offer.

We do sometimes watch programs on a computer and they are pretty much free that way,  but we like being able to watch shows on our big tv. 
So if you are already paying for internet and don't plan on stopping but would like to watch TV shows or movies on your bigger screen,  a Roku box might be a great option for your home.

We like it so much, we got a second Roku box for the bedroom tv. 



saving a little time in the kitchen

when I look over my blog,  it seems like I spend a lot of time cooking.  I do cook most everyday, sometimes I cook several times a day so I do look for ways to save some time.  If you know me or  read this blog much,  you know I also look for ways to use basic ingredients and to spend wisely. 

We like nuts in our baked goods.  Whole walnuts are a good value, as far as nuts go,  I know nuts are high-priced anymore. 


This is a  12 ounce bag of mostly walnut halves and a few pieces.  The halves are way too big for adding to baked goods. 



so instead of getting out a chopper and cutting board everytime I bake a recipe that we like nuts in,  I chop the whole bag of nuts when I open them. 

then all the extra chopped nuts go into a jar.
I store a lot of things in clear glass jars. 
The label is just a piece of masking tape,  with what is in the jar and the date it was put in the jar. 
If I am going to be baking a lot,  I just keep the jar of nuts in the pantry.  But nuts will go rancid if unused, so if it will be more than a month or before they get used,  I put the jar in the freezer. 

About the label,  I have seen some really cute printable labels online and if I had more free time, I would probably use them,  But for now, masking tape works great.  Just use some scissors to cut the ends straight, that looks much better than tearing the tape.  I use masking tape to label things in the freezer too. 






Lyn asked about the dishes the cut up fruit are in, I showed in them in previous post.  They are from Pampered Chef and work fine as you can see what is in them.  The only thing I don't like about them is the lids are not microwave safe and ruin if used in the microwave.  Mine are the one cup size but I think they come bigger, like 2 cups and maybe 4 cups. 

http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=9792&categoryCode=KW

 my other favorite container for snacks and lunchboxes is little jelly jars - mine are currently filled with jalapeno relish and pickle jalapeno relish though.  I think the jelly jars with screw on tops take up less room in a lunch box and it is very unlikely they would leak. 

More Feb. 14th pictures

Elizabeth looks especially extra cute as she models a special Valentines cap,
crocheted with love,
by her great grandmother RoRo,
hand delivered by her Great Uncle Bert,
just in time for her to wear on her first Valentines Day.

Snaps of my day

This sweet little guy spent the day with me.  Don't you love his blue eyes?

Little ones always look extra sweet when they are sleeping.

While Gavin napped,  I made binding for that quilt I started a week or so ago. 
Do any of you iron on your kitchen counter? 
I don't iron clothes on the counter but I do like to spread out craft projects on a big surface. 
Just be sure to put a couple of layers of towels underneath.

I cut up some oranges and grapefruit- now ready for easy snacks or to add to Jeff's lunch box.
I also mixed up some sugar free Jello in cups -
doing it myself means our snack cups are fresher and cheaper than the readymade ones at the store.

I washed the mud off the bottom of these cute little boots,
No problem for me,  I cleaned lots of dirty shoes when we lived in the country. 



Theo and Gavin accompanied me on my walk. 
We are having warm days now, just some snow left from the highest drifts that are mostly in shade. 





















On our drive to take Gavin back home,  Focus on the Family was on the radio.  Lysa TerKeurst was the guest.  I had never heard of her until Carol from Blessed Cottage recommended Lysa's  free Kindle book Craving God
I really like that book (the first 5 days of it that I have read anyway)   Lysa is also a really funny and heartfelt speaker.  Maybe all of you already know her and have read her other 12 books. 
She is new to me and I am really glad to of found her.  Listening to her on our car ride was encouraging and entertaining. 

change-a-roo



Grandbaby Elizabeth 2011
it looks like she is sitting in a red chair



Grandbaby Gavin 2010 in a white chair
looks like the same chair, but a different color and in a different room. 

hmmm,  these grandbabies must have a grandma that likes to change things around, 
could be worse!



I wonder what color that chair will be in 2012?

Happy Valentines Day everyone.

Sweet things

Nina left us some sweet things on her way to work this morning



carrot, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, baked in her kitchen on a snowday from   work.  She also left cupcakes at Jeff's work for his coworkers. 



homemade lemon curd 

the sweetest thing of all, baby Elizabeth.
 Nina let us keep the cupcakes and lemon curd but she took the sweet baby back when she got off work. 

Sweet Theo - laying in the hall outside of the room where Elizabeth was napping.
 We sort of got Theo from Nina about 7 years ago,   but he will keep staying with us.