Credit Crunchies - With milk on...
Credit Crunchies is just now getting it's snap and crackle to pop into place. Once that is done we will be taking a fresh look at living on less and doing well in a degrading economy. What that should mean to you is - we are on your side.
Grow your own: Part 1.
Growing your own food is one great way to reduce your bills and make your money go further. I intend to talk a lot about living a low impact lifestyle that has small needs and can be sustained even without a full time job. It's how I live.
Right now I'm helping one person have a nice garden with a (small) vegetable patch. The garden started bad (take a look and is now looking quite fine.
I'll be posting all over the web about this and other topics in a distributed blogging effort I like to call Matt's Big Garden (look for posts tagged MattsBigGarden)
How should the smart person finance a business during a credit crunch?
If you are thinking of starting a business during this (or any other) credit crunch then you are going to be doing so with less resources thn at other times. That's not to say you are crazy (far from it) but you do have to be damn good at planning.
I've just recently found a story on online.wsj.com - "Credit Woes Hit Home" which looks at how business credit card facilities are being stripped back just when they are needed most.
So a question arises: how should the smart person finance a business during a credit crunch?
For example would Micro Finance be the way to go? If so how much might the "average Joe" hope to raise?
Could you start with a limited and sell shares? How would that work and how far could you go?
What could you advertising support that is not usually supported that way?
How can you innovate with this? What can you do without, outsource, cross-promote, co-work and co-brand? Could you exchange tasks with another company so that you both work more fully to your skills maybe without money?
What about trade exchanges?
It's a credit crunch folks and the innovators come out ahead. What innovative ideas can you share?
Green life is economic life
One way to over come the current out of control inflation the West is "enjoying" is to side step money and own the means of production. Before you suggest I sound needlessly like Karl Marks or something let me explain.
The means of production was never the factories. Communism got that wrong (I think).
The means of production is direct access to the land.
By leaving the simpler life, the life more in tune with nature one has much less need for money in the first place as the land can and should directly provide for you and your family. It requires effort and "doing a job" and "saving for a rainy day" is easier even now.
However living life close to the tree, the soil and the wind is something I dream of. Fellow Good Moral blog Green Moral has a new article My Green Dream and in that I wax lyrical about the dream of a simpler life.
I have no idea the path required to get there but as I start to find it I will share with you.
How to build a house for £4,000
I have already reported this story here but I think it will bare being said as part of Credit Crunchies too.
The BBC have a news story of another person building a house for pocket change. A good ecologically friendly house. this is something I want to do. Deeply and desperately want to do. I am determined to find a way (land is a big issue).
Here is the BBC story
Compost more, bin less.
Assuming you do compost things you can further overcome the limits of your bins capacity by following this handy dandy list of 30 unexpected things you can still put into compost.
For more inofrmtion on composting you might like to see this page.
How to Make Your Own Unusual Cocktail Coaster
How to Make Your Own Unusual Cocktail Coaster
By Sarah Martin
When it comes to choosing a cocktail coaster, your choices are virtually unlimited for ways of livening up a party. Unusual coasters will undoubtedly become the focus of conversation and bring about a few laughs depending on your choice.
How about glass coasters that have been treated with silicone? Such coasters are made from two layers of glass that are fused together. Once the glass has been annealed and cooled, then silicone feet are added to the bottom of the coasters to provide the protection that your furniture needs.
Your guests will surely delight in using a beaded cocktail coaster that you made yourself. If you have a talent for crafts, this is one area in which you can really shine. The best type of beads to use for this reason is seed beads called rocailles, which you buy in hanks.
You do need to make sure that all the beads you choose are about the same size so that you have an even coaster. Since they come in a wide variety of colors, you can customize your decor with these coasters.
In addition to beads, you will need to collect the following materials:
• cork for the backing
• waterproof glue that dries quickly
• pins to hold the beads in place
• small paintbrush
• felt in the color of your choice
• scissors
• pencil
• construction paper
Cut out the shape of beverage coaster you want to make by tracing the shape on the construction paper. Take off part of the string of beads - enough to completely cover this shape. It is easier to cover a circular shape in this way than any other, but you can use a square or rectangular shape as well.
Take care when you cut the string of beads that you tie a slipknot in the end to prevent the beads from all falling off. This refers to both the portion of the hank that you will be using and the portion that you want to use for another coaster.
Use the construction paper form to help you cut the felt. Place a thin layer of glue in the center of the felt circle and start gluing the beads in place by arranging them in circles from the middle to the outer edge.
Apply the glue with the small paintbrush or with a glue gun and then arrange the beads in place. When the glue is dry, turn the drink coaster over and coat the bottom with glue. Cut a piece of cork in the same shape and stick it to the bottom. If you want to provide a protective coating, you can apply a small amount of clear varnish to the beads.
This type of cocktail coaster is very absorbent. The liquid from the glass will drip through the beads into the felt and into the cork. The felt will allow the water to evaporate into the air, as will the cork. However, if you want to clean this type of coaster, you will have to wipe it clean with a damp cloth. The beads may come off the coaster if you put it in the dishwasher where the heat will melt the glue.
When you experiment with this craft, you can make a cocktail coaster for every color of the rainbow. Guests will surely want to know where you bought them and this could even be the start of a profitable home-based business when they place orders for coasters.
Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer that specializes in arts and crafts, home improvement, interior design, and entertainment. For a wide selection of cocktail coaster sets or for a monogrammed drink coaster, please visit http://www.thirstycoasters.com/.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Martin
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Make-Your-Own-Unusual-Cocktail-Coaster&id=1751154
Finish Your Blue Jeans Purse With a Personal Touch!
By David Urmann
You may have an old pair of jeans that have been hanging in your closet for years and you value them so much. Why not get some more use out of them by turning them into a Blue Jeans Purse? Native American accents are common designs for blue jeans purse. But don't limit yourself. Be creative and unique!
Look around a craft store for hundreds of embellishments you can use to adorn your purse. A pack of cheap fabric paints can also be used. They come in tubes and you no longer need a brush to paint and draw the design with the paints. You just let it dry and a new look will have a glittering effect.
Procedures in Making the Purse: Try to paint a string of upturned "V's" in white or red on the strap so as to embody tee-pees. Use colored russet paint to make three sticks coming out on top of each teepee. Get a coyotes, wolves, or rubber stamp depicting deer. Wet the rubber stamp in the fabric paint and stomp the animals walking across the bottom front of the purse. Use a big teepee together with numerous smaller ones bordering it as the picture of your purse's background or front. You may also use rub-on appliqués' to make tee-pees, moccasins, feathers, and headdresses at random places all over the purse.
If you still want to add more ornaments to your blue jeans purse, American bead patterns in shades of red, turquoise, white, and black will look extraordinary when sewn onto a denim purse. However, if you really want your blue jeans purse to look expensive in this pattern, you must sew it properly. At times you can find the tiniest of beads already strung and with a backing for sewing, and these are sold on a roll at some department or craft stores.
Use these beads to insert the purse strap or to decorate a pocket on the purse. String the beads and attach to purse. You can also make the most out of your unused jewelry to add inflection and unique touch. Put a bracelet or necklace on a string with turquoise accessory that can be tacked to a pocket on a purse, setting a dangling result outside your purse. You don't have to spend a lot of money in redecorating your purse.
If you still want to add décor and depth on your blue jeans purse, put a Conchos with bands of leather hanging from behind your purse. Apply beads and feathers or strip of rawhide to create zipper pulls. Strand the beads through the zipper heave hole. Thread the ends of the rawhide half way through wooden bead. Then paste it so it will be attached to the purse. At the opposite hole of the bead, squeeze the glue inside. Then insert feathers.
Many craft stores have an aisle where you can acquire pieces of feathers, leather, and Indian decorations. Engrave animal shapes from the leather pieces to attach to the purse using fabric glue. Draw round the animals with fabric paints.
Explore your local craft store for more ideas. There are dozens of rubber stamps that can be used with hundreds of different paints and inks, and thousands of bead choices and Indian decorations. Why not finish your blue jeans purse with a touch of your artistic quality and wealthy resources!
For more information on Blue Jean Purse Patterns and Knit Purse Patterns please visit our website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Urmann
http://EzineArticles.com/?Finish-Your-Blue-Jeans-Purse-With-a-Personal-Touch!&id=1752101
Winter Home Improvement Tips
Most people wouldn't think of the end of the fall or early winter for home improvements, but making small home improvements can save you big on your home energy costs this winter.
Let's look at some winter Home Improvement ideas:
The fireplace - Getting our fireplace ready will certainly yield to better savings. Make sure that the dumper is tightly sealed when not using it. A small space would let the cold air rush in and send the warm air out. If you are using an electric heating system, an opening in the fireplace will mean a lot more work to maintain a warm, energy efficient home.
When you decide to use the fireplace, you can turn down your heater. This will save you as much as 8% on heating cost.
The furnace - The furnace will work extra effort if the filter is full of dirt. This will equate to home energy waste since the furnace will consume more power against the service it brings. To avoid this, make sure that your filter is clean. The owner's manual will tell you how to clean the filter. A clean filter will let you breath clean air around your house. A clean filter saves you 5% on heating cost.
The duct - Small leaks in the duct will certainly result in lost heat so make sure that this is regularly checked. Insulate the ducts by wrapping it with R-6 or higher fiberglass. Never use cloth-backed tapes. You can also wrap them with UL-approved metallic or plastic tapes and mastic sealants. Note that leaking ducts make your heating system work 30% more so make sure they are sealed and secured.
Solar heat - You don't need to have solar panels on your roof to use the sun as a source of heat. All you have to do is use open your drapes during the day to warn your room without using electricity. Just close them at night to keep the warn air inside. Reduction of the use of heating system during the day will let you cut as much as 10% on your home energy consumption. Now that's being efficient!
Openings - Openings around your doors, windows, and joints will let cold air outside come in and the warm air from your home go out. Make sure that these openings are sealed with either sealant or weatherstripping. It will help reduce the work of the heating system immensely.
The Thermostat - A programmable thermostat or a centralized heating system will let you save on heating costs. The programmable thermostat will let you set your desired at a specific period of the day. This is very useful if you are leaving your home or are going to sleep overnight. The centralized heating system on the other hand will give you the ultimate control of the temperature of every room. These 2 will let you decide how warm any one room can be. One interesting thing to note is that a centigrade lower on your heating system will let you save as much as 5% on your heating cost.
Many people neglect to truly prepare their homes for the winter season, and as a result, they pay for it big time in sky rocketed utility bills. Why? Because you need to warm you home and that doesn't come cheap these days. This consumes the biggest portion of our electric bill. Fortunately, there are measures we can take to lower our utility bills during the winter season.
But for those who are conscious enough to notice, winter means larger electric bills. Yes, it is true. Aside from summer, winter is the season of the year where your electric bills skyrocket to digits that cost you financial burden.
As you can see, there are many trouble spots in your home which require some attention during the winter season.
Learn more about DIY home improvement at do-it-yourself-projects.info.
DIYHomepro
www.do-it-yourself-projects.info
www.energy-efficient-home-improvement.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jess_Petroski
http://EzineArticles.com/?Winter-Home-Improvement-Tips&id=1750033
Building a Dolls' House For Your Grandchildren
Dolls' House Building: A Magnificent Obsession
When I was a child it was just after the war and materials were in short supply. I didn't have many toys - and don't think I missed them, since I became an obsessive reader and never had my nose out of a book. An exception was when I was in London with my godmother, who took me to museums.
The day I saw that great big, gorgeous dolls house, which had belonged to Queen Mary, was a milestone - one I have never forgotten. I was completely entranced by the wonderfully detailed furniture, the little people, the wallpapers - all in 1/12 scale. How I loved it. I suppose I must have been about 8 when I fell.
Then I hit my teens, got into rock'n roll, (no sex and drugs for me!) studied for my exams and forgot about the dolls' house.
At forty I was ready to have another go. But this time I knew that I wanted to build a dolls' house. Not a dolls' house from a dollhouse kit, but one from plans, cutting the wood myself and truly being in charge of it all. Let's start at the top -why not?
Why not is because I had no experience at all with carpentry. I had made clothes for myself and others, I had knitted really complicated patterns, my cross-stitch was the envy of friends. But this was a different kettle of fish. I had no tools to speak of, an uncooperative husband, who in any case wasn't a carpenter, and a burning desire to make a dolls' house.
I went to the local friendly hardware store with my plans and explained myself. They were wonderful. I marked up the dimensions I wanted and for the price of the plywood, plus a teeny bit more, they cut my house for me. I bought a keyhole saw, for the window apertures, and a few little bits - tiny strips of prepared wood, sandpapers, glue, tiny screws, tiny hinges, one long piano hinge, a few small screwdrivers and a spirit level. Armed with all that and a lot of optimism I went home and made my dolls house.
I was immensely proud of it. I finished it with love, wallpapered the walls, made internal doors, painted the woodwork, including the skirting boards (something I would NEVER do now) and stood back and admired it. Then I made the furniture, using plans from a second book and copying some of my own furniture in 1/12 scale like the rest.
When it was finished - oh, maybe a year after I had started - I looked at it again and realised how bad it was! But I had learned the skills, and knew many little things that would carry me through the creation of the second, bigger and better house. And it WAS both bigger and better. When I saw how much better, I threw away my first attempt.
A station building (built from a photograph to my own plans) and a shop followed. Then I made just one house in 1/24 scale which was fun and quicker, but not so satisfying.
So there's the history - until manufacturers began making wonderful, fairly cheap dolls house kits. At first I felt it wold be cheating. When temptation overtook me I bought my first and quickly made it up. Oh,how easy it is to make up a kit. It's square, it's complete, all the little pieces you forget you're going to need are there. The kit is built in no time at all, leaving you more time to buy or make the furniture. By this time eBay was operating and wonderful stuff for the dolls house could be bought for very little money.
And then I decided to share this with others. I'm no genius, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with other women. I had come to this with no formal training, and, with the advent of dolls' house kits, knew that none was needed. So I went into the business of finding out how to sell this idea on line. It has been a real educational journey, which continues. I am not there yet, but I know more and more each day. My website is up and running and now there are search engines to learn about.
What I do know is that women can build dolls' houses, and that they enjoy, no - love, doing it. I have a little group of people I know who share my joy of it. My grand-daughters both love the houses and the nine-year-old has built one with me. She became quite possessive about the colours we would decorate it in, and insisted on choosing the bedroom wallpaper. I bought a wonderful CD off someone clever on eBay, with which I can print my own flooring (which I do on matte photo paper) and wall coverings (ordinary paper works). So we have a wide choice of papers readily available on my pc and colour printer.
Bedding and cushions are fun little projects for us both, and I made (actually MADE) some people to go in the house. We have a father, a mother and one kid. (Oh, and lots of little babies who came on eBay). It isn't finished yet - well, the house is but the interior still lacks the odd thing, but I am already onto the next task, renovating an old house given me by a friend.
I have to confess, the storeroom is rather full. And I'm probably spending too much time on it. But what else would I be doing? I still go to the theatre, visit the family, play the piano, watch TV, read. Other times I work on the latest doll house project. And I wouldn't change any of it. Sometimes I forget the housework - you know, the real stuff. Who cares? I'm working on my dollhouses and having a wonderful time.
I am Dianna Moylan, in my mid-sixties, an ex-teacher who has fallen in love with dolls' houses. I live in a small house which is rapidly becoming swamped with doll house stuff. My site, http://www.diannadollhouses.co.uk is newly launched. I also sell on eBay. In addition to loving making dolls' houses I enjoy writing a lot and welcome this opportunity to have a say.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dianna_Moylan
http://EzineArticles.com/?Building-a-Dolls-House-For-Your-Grandchildren&id=1743432
Quilting Made Easy
By Chad Carroll
Have you ever been to a friend's home and admired their quilt and said I wish I could do that? Well now you can. You just need to know the basics and then you can get started.
First, a quilt has three layers of fabric that have been sewn together. If it doesn't have three fabric layers, it would be just a blanket. The top layer, also called the quilt top, is the visually stunning side. It can be made up of hundreds of quilt squares fit together in indicant geometric patterns. There are no limitations to the colors and fabric designs you can use. The easiest way to get started is to purchase pre-cut quilt squares or jelly rolls from online fabric retailers. Purchasing pre-cut quilt squares not only saves you time but also gives you a chance to make a quilt from several different designer fabrics without purchasing multiple yards of each style.
The middle layer or the batting is the inner layer between the quilt top and the backing. The batting gives the quilt its thickness and strength, not to mention it's coziness. You can purchase batting by the yard or precut to fit different bed sizes. It's important to remember to follow the manufacturer's instructions for pre-treating and washing your batting.
The third layer is the side that lays face down on the bed and is called the quilt backing. Even though the backing is not always seen the fabric color should complement the quilt design and be made of a durable cotton fabric that will not tear or fray when machine washed.
Now that you have the 3 layers of your quilt, it is time to add a fabric border to frame your quilt. When choosing the fabric for the border, pick a color that compliments the colors and style of your quilt. Many online fabric retailers that offer pre-cut quilt squares also have complementary Jelly Rolls which are pre-cut fabric strips. These pre-cut fabric strips are perfect to use as your quilt fabric border.
Finally, and the most important step, is putting it all together. There are really only two methods for stitching a quilt: hand and machine. Obviously machine stitching will be faster than by hand but when deciding which method to use you should consider how your quilt will be used. If your quilt is going to be used for everyday use and washed regularly than you should consider machine stitching. If your quilt is going to be an heir-loom than you should consider hand stitching.
Whatever fabric or method of stitching you choose is up to you. Just remember, it's your quilt so have fun with it.
For fabric and quilt squares please visit Imagine Fabric.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chad_Carroll
http://EzineArticles.com/?Quilting-Made-Easy&id=1764350
