Crochet Headphone Covers

 

SO!!! Last year we went on a trip and took the DVD player for the kids. At some point we looked back and the foam pieces of the headphone covers were missing. Looked at my 2 year old, and the evidence was in his mouth! He ate them! This was our 3rd pair of "cheap" headphones for the kids, and they are NOT cheap! $5 a pop. They get lost, stepped on, etc. But I was not about to replace these AGAIN!

 

Searched for some covers to buy or make, and voila! Found these on ravelry.com (my favorite knit and crochet site for patterns!). Was able to make these with some yarn I had on hand and just in time for us to go on vacation. Original pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein, and found on her blog here.

Cat in the Hat Costume Tutorial

I searched on pinterest for costume ideas for the Cat in the Hat. I found a tutorial for the hat, but nothing for the costume. It looked fairly easy though... so I used my favorite costume as inspiration and set off to make a costume.

 

Have I ever mentioned that I can be cheap?! Many put it delicately, and say I tend to be frugal. Whatever the word, I wanted to make these as economically as possible. Using things that I already had or could buy for cheap. I saw costumes at ToysRUs for $30 a piece! And they wouldn't even fit the kids. I used lots of things I already had and bought a few pieces of material and a plain black shirt. I think the total cost of this costume was under $10.

 

Hat

I found a good tutorial on pinterest, which led me here. I changed the color pattern to match the Cat in the Hat book. My son is especially particular on details like that! I couldn't figure out how to attached the hat to the brim. I did something crazy, I'm sure. But it's attached and wearable! On the brim, I cut out a ring that was sandwiched inside the brim. I didn't like how floppy the brim was by itself. I have some mesh plastic canvas (available at the craft store) that I used in a knit hat with a brim. Works great! and it's washable too.

 

Shirt

I didn't have it in me to make a long sleeve shirt. I had plenty of black fabric, but I thought a $3 shirt from WalMart was worth it! I used white felt (from the hat) for the belly. Cut an oval shape for the belly and pin. I did a single stitch around the edge and done. You can probably do a zigzag stitch around the edge too. This will probably launder better.

 

Bow Tie

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures for this part! I did it in parts over the course of a couple of days, sick as a dog, and I just spaced on grabbing some pictures. But here's the jist. I used red felt (from the hat) and free handed a basic bow tie shape. I used the book as a guide. I also free handed the piece of the bow tie hanging down, because I wanted to make that separate and attach it later.

 

I sewed along the outline of my bow tie on 2 pieces of red felt, sandwiching them together. I left one side of the bow tie open so that I could turn the bow tie inside out. Then I did my best attempt of a blind stitch to close it up (felt doesn't iron well). I was being cheap and didn't have red thread, so I used white. I have some parts where the white is showing a little, but it not very noticable. But red thread definitely would have been better!

 

I did the same thing for the piece of the bow tie hanging down, flipped it inside out. I cut out a small strip of the red felt and wrapped it around the center of the bow tie to look like the knot of the bow tie. Hand sew that onto the back of the bow tie. Then hand sew the dangling piece to the back.

 

Hand sew the entire bow to the shirt, and done!

 

Gloves

I think WalMart sells winter knit gloves in the baby section for .99 cents. I can't remember if they had white ones or not... I feel like they did. But Ethan wanted 3-fingered gloves, like the cat. When I looked through the book... sometimes Cat has 3 fingers, sometimes 4, sometimes 5. But Ethan requested 3, so here we go!

 

I had a white t-shirt that my husband let me use for a pair of pants for a different costume. I was able to cut out enough fabric for a pair of gloves too. I outlined another pair of gloves that I already had, just for size guesstimation.

 I pinned 2 pieces of fabric together and cut it out with a thumb, and 2 fingers together on the top. Often in the book, Cat looks like he has a thumb, 3 middle fingers together, and a pinky. But I thought that would be uncomfortable and difficult to put on.

Fold the bottom hem of the gloves twice and sew.

Sew the outline of the glove. Try on for size, and adjust sizing as needed. I needed to sew closer on the fingers. Trim the excess fabric. Get especially close on the inside on the fingers.

Flip inside out, and gloves are done! Not form fitting, but good for show.

 

 

Pants

I used a template here for how to make pants out of an old t-shirt. There isn't a real tutorial on it. Basically you cut out the legs, sew the inner seam (where the crotch is). Then sew each leg shut. Sew an elastic band on the waist and hem the bottom. Pants done!

 

I had to think of a way to have a tail, but still have it comfortable. We plan on going to a couple harvesty events, and I didn't want his tail bothering him while in his car seat. I decided to make it detachable with a button. Sew a button on the back of the pants on the waist band. He doesn't seem bothered by the button. Then you can attach the tail for show.

 

Now buying a $3 pair of Granimal pants from WalMart would have been much easier! But I wanted plain, black pants. Everything has a design or stripe down the side. This wasn't that hard, and made from an old t-shirt.

 

Tail

 



Sew 2 pieces of fabric together, with a rounded end for the tail. This will make a tube. Flip it inside out and stuff it with poly fil.

 

I found out the hard way that the fabric I had on hand would leak of fuzzy pieces of poly fil. So I took all the stuffing out, and put a plastic inside the tail, and then re-stuffed the tail. It's a crunchy-sounding tail now. Oh well! And it doesn't have white fuzz seaping out anymore.

 

Leave the opening of the tail without poly fil. You can do a blind stitch to close it up. I just did a single stitch with the edges folded in to make for a nice seam. His shirts hang over, so you can't really see the stitching anyway. Then sew a button hole to attach the tail to the back of the pants.

Newspaper Seed Starters

I saw this and thought it was an awesome and cheap way to start seeds. I have SO MANY newspaper from couponing and thought this was a cool way to re-use them. Although, it only used like 4 sheets :) It will break down in the garden when transplanted.

Here is the tutorial I followed: http://www.instructables.com/id/Biodegradable-Seed-Starters-From-Newspaper-anothe/

I used old cereal boxes to hold the starters and lined with saran wrap to try and keep the cardboard from getting wet. (I was being super cheap, this was a free starter!). I see some moldy spots... yikes! But just on the paper, so not too worried about it. I think I would try a waterproof container next time, just didn't have anything lying around that would fit on my window sill.

The tomatoes did great! Basil did well, as well as some of the other herbs. Some didn't germinate at all. I did have Ethan plant the seeds :) So I will do another starter set soon.

I want to try making seed blocks next time. No need for paper=no mold. I can get the plastic clam shells from my husband's work (hopefully!). Here's where to find that tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Super-Cheap-Seed-Starters/http://www.swagbucks.com/?t=w&q=&p=1&b=1

Converting to Cloth

This is my cloth diaper journey...

Growing up, all I had ever known in diapering were disposibles. I knew when first dating my now husband, that his mom was still using cloth diapers, but I didn't really grasp the idea of it. At 15 years old I had no interest in babies or diapers! So I never gave it a second thought. It wasn't until after I had my first son that I realized how expensive diapers were! And since he was a breastfed baby, he went even more! Even with the abundance of gift diapers, we were constantly going to the store to buy more diapers. I had thought about cloth diapers, wondering if they would really save us money... but I read things that said it's not really that much cheaper when you factor in the water costs and detergent and the investment of the diapers. Plus the thought of poopy diapers soaking in water grossed me out. From what my husband told me about cloth diapers, they were disgusting and stinky.

I was reading a parenting magazine and came across an article about the evolution of the cloth diaper. They were totally cute! And from what I was reading, they were easy. I took baby steps in trying cloth diapers out. I was given used prefolds and covers at my local kids consignment shop. So far it seemed ok, but it was a hassle to do part cloth, part disposible. There was a lot to store, 2 diaper pails, AH! My husband thought I was just going on one my crazes, getting obsessed with learning about cloth diapers and trying to convince him (and myself) that they would be a good investment. Not only would they be free diapering once they paid themselves off, but they are better for the child and the landfill. I'm not a major environmentalist, but I do think about my carbon footprint. I try my best to be a good steward.

This website helped me a lot with an array of products and links to cloth diapering information. It was my local cloth diaper store at the time.

http://www.simplecloth.com/Home_Page.html

From what I gathered, a pocket-type diaper with a cover and insert or prefold would be easiest and most cost efficient. The covers can be used over again with wet diapers (and poopy ones too if the mess doesn't get on the cover). I went into a diaper shop in a nearby town and told the owner what I was looking for. She suggested the Flip diaper system made by BumGenius. I slowly added more to my stock, as needed. I also added things that I needed over time. A pail (which is a tall kitchen garbage can) and 2 liners (which I made from 1 yard of water proof fabric, $9.99), a dry/wet bag (Planet Wise, $20), doublers ($3 each) and a diaper sprayer (bumGenius $45). Almost 2 years later, I ended up with about 30 inserts, 9 doublers and 11 covers.

I did some rough calculations on my start up costs, we spent about $250 on cloth diapering, for everything. (Of course I have added things over time, and each day they pay themselves off!) Because I was diapering 2 in the beginning of this journey, we spent over $100 a month on bulk diapers and wipes. So the cloth diapering paid itself off in less than 3 months! Wow! We have a well now, so water is free. No guilt or cost for washing diapers. I usually line dry, and in the summer I like to hang them outside. My house never smells like diapers, and it's not any harder, really, than using disposibles.

Another thing I contemplated was making my own inserts. And I spent many hours on the computer looking at different patterns and fabric choices. For a pattern that had similar fabrics as my StayDry inserts, it would cost about the same to make as it would to buy. So I thought I would save myself the trouble and buy them from CottonBabies.com. Plus, they have a resell section (which I didn't know about until AFTER I bought 2 dozen inserts). So you might be able to save a little money there. Even though homemade patterns may seem easy or less expensive, I find assurance in the quality of the fabrics used in store bought inserts, prefolds and covers.

When Euan was about 1 and a half, we were just using disposibles at night since he was a heavy wetter. I was almost out of disposibles and I dreaded the thought of buying another pack of diapers to use at night. I figured there had to be an answer to overnight diapering. I stopped by Cotton Babies and Hurrah! Hemp diaper doublers, used for naps and overnight wetting. I bought enough for 3 nights worth so I can have a set even when washing diapers. Since Ethan rarely wets at night, he would wear one Stay Dry insert and cover. Even if he tinkles, it's sufficient. I use 2 doublers and an insert for Euan and so far so good. He has nights were his cloths are a little damp. He wets SO much! His overnight diaper weighs a ton! It really absorbs.

I still use disposibles when we do date swaps and I don't want people to have to bother with cloth diapers. Or if we go away for a weekend. I used to use them for diaper rashes too. Rash cream and create a lot of build up in the cloth diapers. They make a disposible fleece insert for that purpose. They are cheaper than disposibles too! Some people like to use them regularly so that their diapers won't be a mess when baby poops.

I plan on being 100% cloth from here on out. It's become a part of our routine now. And I love that I am doing the best for my kids and for our wallets. Any way I can help out with saving money, I'm eager to do it.

Homemade Bar Soap

I was given a bar of homemade soap once. It was pumpkin scented and smelled delicious! It had coffee grounds mixed in as an exfoliant, and it felt great! I was shocked when I found out that it was homemade. Buying all the start up ingredients wasn't easy or cheap. The sodium hydroxide (used to make lye, which is used for saponification and makes the soap, soap) had to be ordered online and some of the ingredients weren't carried in the same store, so I had to make multiple stops. But once I had everything, the process was pretty easy. (And once I found a recipe I liked, like the grocery store soap, I could find most everything easily and in the same store.)

The cold process method is what I use. I found the link below to be very useful. It's a great tutorial. It also has a grocery store recipe (which I've used many times), so you can find all the ingredients you need in one place! With the exception of the sodium hydroxide of course. I buy that from http://www.brambleberry.com/default.aspx along with any essential oils. Occasionally I will make a batch of specialty soap. But I dread having to buy extra ingredients and fragrances. I make soap for our everyday use and typically make a simple recipe with coffee grounds and call it good. One batch usually lasts many months.

I did the math and a simple bar of soap is about .50 cents per bar. A specialty bar is over $1 per bar. We usually bought Lever 2000 from Sams (because it was the best price). It's about .42 cents per bar. Just a tiny bit cheaper than homemade, and a lot less work. Store bought soap bars are a little bigger too. But ick! It makes my skin super dried out. And to buy something like Dove or Dial is almost $1 per bar, even from Sams.

I get so freaked out when I hear about the crazy ingredients in everyday things that end up being bad for your health. I know all the ingredients that I put in this soap.

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soaprecipes/a/grocerysoap.htm

A great resource is a book called The Soapmakers Companion. It's on my list of things to buy! It has everything you need to know about soapmaking and recipes.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was getting low on All Free & Clear liquid detergent. I was dreading a trip to Sam's. Not only do my Sam's trips turn expensive really quick, but it was the end of January, which meant the end of our monthly budget. I just wanted to hold off until February. We made a trip to WalMart and my husband said "Why don't you just buy a small jug of detergent to get you through until February and it won't cost very much." A valid idea. But I of course think of value when I buy. Groceries are shopped for by the unit price, not the listed price. And something like laundry detergent is bought by price per load. I think All was about 11 cents per load.

I use Country Save for my cloth diapers. It's a detergent free of dyes and perfumes, it's a detergent for clothes, but safe for diapers as well. I did the math on how many loads I do, how many boxes I had left, and if I would need to buy more by the time I was done with diapers. I figured I would, in fact, need to buy more detergent, so I could always use that for my regular laundry too. When I did the math, Country Save was 10 cents per load. Hmm...

I remembered that I had made my own detergent once. I wasn't impressed by it. It didn't clean my clothes any better than other detergents and I found it to be a hassle. Stirring and dunking a scooper in a huge bucket with every load. And now with 2 kids, I do a lot of laundry. I need laundry time to be easy and quick. I hate how the liquid detergents (like All) always leak and create a soapy mess on my shelf. So I contemplated homemaking a powdered detergent. My math came out to 5 cents a load. Wow! I did the math on homemade liquid detergent... 1 cent per load. Yikes! That sold me right then and there. But only if I could find a way to easily mix and dispense. I remembered a watching the Duggar's on TLC. I googled the Duggar recipe and it suggested filling an old liquid detergent container and giving it a shake before you dispense. Here is the recipe:

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

Ingredients; cheap and all found at WalMart. Process; quick and easy. I bought a 5 gallon bucket with a lid at Lowe's to store my gelled detergent. Every time my dispenser runs out, I just fill it half with water and half with detergent. Shakey shake and done. And for a tenth of the price! Oh, and it does clean our clothes very well! Even my husband's work clothes come out smelling fresh and clean.