Repurposing A Shirt Into A Clothespin Bag

Sweet summer time! In the summer, and on nicer days during the other times of the year, I like to hang dry my clothes to help offset the air conditioner as well as keep it cooler in our home. The dryer makes it hot!

One thing I hate about line drying is how my clothespins always get nasty out on the line, with dirt and muck, and the worst of worsts, spider webs and spiders. I remember when I was a little girl (do I sound like an old lady now?) my Nanoo would have this nice little purse looking thing that hung on the clothes line and she would take it in and out with her. Her clothespins were always nice. I wanted one. But the problem was, I never thought about it while I was out, plus, if I can make one, that would save at least ten bucks, according to Amazon.

Well, today my machine was already out because I've been working on making some more baby wipes, so I decided to give it a shot.

I went through the boys' outgrown clothes and found a fleece pajama top. I chose fleece because it is somewhat water repellent, just in case it would get wet from the clothes or a surprise shower.

This is a 3T, but I think any smaller size would work.

Then I cut off the sleeves, leaving a little room to sew them together, and cut off the top, above Buzz and Wood's head. I would have cut below the sleeves, but I didn't want to behead the guys, plus the bag would have been smaller.

You can toss the scraps, unless you want to save them for something else.

I then turned the square inside out. I trimmed the sleeves that were left a little more, then sewed the holes shut, I also sewed the bottom shut. Leave the top open.

Inside out.

Then, while it is still inside out, you want to roll the top down to form a cuff around the entire bag. Then sew all the way around the cuff to hold it down. Be careful to not sew the bag shut. 

You don't have to do this if you use fleece, I just think it looks better this way, but if you use a different fabric and you don't do this, it will probably start fraying eventually.

After you get the top sewn, then you cut out two pieces of ribbon the same length. Mine were about 8 1/2 inches long.

You want to sew the ribbon into each side of the bag. 

I sewed them about a half inch down to give it plenty of room in case the ribbon frayed.

Ribbon placement, you want one ribbon on each side of the bag. The other ribbon is on the other side, near the other hem.

Make sure to sew the ribbon on well, it is what will hold your bag to the hanger. I sewed it twice and then back-stitched.

Then flip the bag right side out and it is done.

Clip off any extra strings. Hang the bag on a baby hanger, and there you go! Easy peasy. It took me roughly 5 minutes start to finish. It isn't perfect, but it works well. Alta saw it and wanted it, so I guess I change the ribbon placement and make her a purse out of one. 

Nice, new, clean clothespins!

I'm planning on bringing mine in when I gather my last load of clothes off the line and hanging it in my laundry room. Now I just need a few more lines.

The Chickens Have Arrived!

Well, all our efforts have paid off. We have now added a mommy hen and 7 baby chicks to our family. The mom is a Buff  Orpington. I guess the chicks are as well, but maybe not, I'm not sure who the rooster was.

But before they could come, we had to get the coop in working order. First, Sam had to clean the coop out, it was filled with trash and general rubbish such as dirt, leaves, mud dauber nests, sticks, and the like. Then he built a door for it and put up chicken wire in the windows. This winter we will cover the windows with plexi glass. He cut out a chicken door and made a clever door that slides up and down and locks for the night. After putting up a temporary run made of chicken wire and fence poles and a few coats of paint, the coop was ready! We put together a kit of nesting boxes and Sam put up roosting poles. We used river sand to cover the floor of the coop, which when it is changed out, it will go in my compost bin (another post).

Sam fixing the door jam

Inside of the chicken coop with the chicken door up

Nesting Boxes

Roosting bars

"Fluffy" and her babies

Baby chicks eating food and proud momma watching.

Making Babyfood: sweet potatoes

While pregnant with our littlest piggy, Sam and I discussed what we wanted to do differently with this baby. Making our own babyfood was one. Little did we know, we would almost have to make our own food. Ali has reflux and has a hard time eating food, especially stage 1 babyfoods. She gags, chokes, and throws up. So at 7 months old, we are trying to get her to eat solids. I try to feed her at least once a day. However, it is slow going and the foods need to be the right consistancy, not to thick and not to thin.

So today, I made some sweet potatoes. Who needs the baby bullet? I just have a small 4 cup hand food processor and it works very well. *disclaimer: I blog from my phone, which means that I can't get my pictures to show up with certain texts, they have to show up at the bottom, I will try to remember to fix it on the computer, but no promises*

First, I cooked a large sweet potato in the microwave until soft. Then I peeled it and saved half for Parker and my lunch (with butter and a pinch of brown sugar, amazing!). With the other half, I cubed/cut up and plopped it into the food processor. I added a smidgen of water (maybe a tablespoon) and started chopping. I checked periodically and scraped the sides down. About 2 minutes later, I had sweet potato baby food, made just for my princess. Then I scooped it into my baby food jars, I use Tomee Tipee, but whichever brand/jar works just fine, I like the colors of TT and that they can stack.  But I digress. Then I put the lids on tight and stuck them in the freezer. They would stay good about 2-3 months, but we will hopefully be using them along with the bananas I made, in the next week since we only have 8 jars.  A half of a large sweet potato made enough baby food to have about 2 tablespoons in 5 TT jars.

Laundry Detergent

Our family as a whole has been trying to move to a greener life. This spring and summer we had our first garden, which didn't amount to much, but it was a start. We are trying to eat healthier. We are trying to make do, make homemade, or do without. With that said, I started making my own laundry detergent. It is similar to every else's homemade detergent. Here is what I do.

1. Gather ingredients. Borax, washing soda, oxi clean, and fels naptha.

2. Grate the fels naptha finely. In a bucket (I use an empty oxi clean tub) add 2 cups each of borax, washing soda, and oxi clean. Then add half of your fels naptha shavings.

3. Go wash clothes, add around 1/8 cup of mixture. I also add tea tree/ lavender essential oil for smell goods.

4. Enjoy the savings!