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Creating a Handmade Home

KatieC — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 05:01:46 +0000

Written by DIY contributor Katie Clemons of Making This Home.

When we were young, our families often ate our food off of china. That’s what we called our very best dishes. Today, most of us are eating food on Made in China plates with Made in China forks.

This transformation in our culture makes everything cheap and abundant. It also means we’re spending more time trying to figure out how to simplify and declutter on a constant basis, more than anyone in history.

The best way we’ve started simplifying at our house is to just flip an item over and see where it was made. We start wondering:

1.What’s this item’s story?

Each dollar we spend is a vote YES to that company and the way they’re doing business.

For example, we have a local wheat farm that makes flour and bread. They’ll let you tour their farm and facilities. You can buy their products at any supermarket in the state. I know their story. I know many of their values. Their products don’t cost any more than all the other options. My dollar goes to them.

2. How about the stories of the people making it?

We can’t know how products are being produced in undeveloped countries. They lack a lot of the environmental and workers’ rights laws that developed countries have. Incredible bribes and masks are created to block the truth from consumers and even the companies employing these factories.

You and I often just don’t know the stories of people building these things. But with each dollar we vote, saying that we’re okay not knowing.

That’s why I love places like Etsy.com. We’re constantly getting peeks into peoples’ shops and methods. They tell their stories — their products are a piece of who they are, and we know that the profits are going to those makers.

3. Can we make it ourselves?

Making handmade brings your family together.

Photo by Katie Clemons

My husband and I built the kitchen shown above. We hauled sheets of wood up to our Berlin, Germany apartment together. He used the table saw while I balanced out the window, holding cut wood. We sanded together. We varnished together. We talked and dreamed together.

Choosing to make things yourself (from cookies to the kitchen itself) connects family. It also teaches future generations how to create and to cherish the gifts they receive.

4. Do we know someone or can we find someone who makes this item?

“China” at my grandma’s house was really the clay plates and bowls she’d thrown on her pottery wheel in the basement. The real paintings on her walls came from artists exhibiting in outdoor art shows. Her jewelry was all always handmade. She had little sculptures, furniture, containers, clothing, blankets, and even switch plates for her lights; they were all handmade by the craftsmen she met.

She used to tell me:

“Katie, artists carry these incredible, enriching stories. They put those stories into the work they create, and you just can’t find that flavor anywhere at the mall.”

She proved that handmade is very alive and very available. With the Internet, it’s only gotten easier.

Go to art and craft shows
Stop by local galleries and fabric shops
Ask artists for recomendations for something you want to find
Check the newspaper and Chamber of Commerce
Visit Big Cartel or Etsy
Visit tourist shops and coffee shops
Contact the senior centers in your community (they often have guilds of knitters, embroiderers, and sewers)

Photo by Katie Clemons

But what about the extra costs?

It’s true — handmade is often going to cost a little more. Yet for us, we’re actively trying to make it a priority at our house. It means:

we’re buying a little less at the store so we can save up,
we’re really, truly loving the things that we are bringing home,
items are (generally) lasting longer because the quality of workmanship is better, and
we’re hanging onto items longer because they carry stories and mean more.

Is there anything handmade in your home? What’s the story it brings to your family?

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Creating a Handmade Home is a post from Simple Mom

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5 Essential Make-from-Scratch Foods for your Health and Budget

Katie — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:01:46 +0000

I’m on maternity leave from June 11 to July 16: The following is written by Simple Organic contributor Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship.

I never thought I would bake my own bread.

After my first passing attempt at homemade whole wheat bread years ago, I got reviews like, “Wow, that’s dense.” I happily submitted to the fact that bread-making wasn’t for me. I knew where all the bread outlets in my city were, so I had a frugal option for whole grain bread anyway. Why bother with all that work?

I am shaking my head in disbelief as I write this: I haven’t bought bread in months.

What changed?

I realized cooking from scratch isn’t exclusively for frugality, but also for health. Even if they won’t save me pennies (or dollars), there are some homemade foods that so far surpass any store bought variety in nutrition, I just have to make them myself.

I have transitioned to making an awful lot of things from scratch, but it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing endeavor.

When I analyze my homemade recipes for both nutrition and budget, five foods come out on top as those that I simply couldn’t compromise on.

1. Homemade Yogurt

Dollar value…

I make nearly a gallon of yogurt a week for my family of four, saving $250-300 a year over the 32 oz. tubs. If we bought the little cups, I shudder to think how much we might spend!

Nutrition…

As a cultured food, yogurt is filled with power-packed nutrition and probiotics that keep my family healthy. It makes just about every “super food” list you can find and deserves a place in any healthy kitchen.

Simplicity…

Making yogurt is also an essential because it’s so very simple to do. Homemade yogurt has two ingredients and takes about 15-20 minutes of active work time, spaced out in four sections:

Pour milk into jars; set in a pot of water to boil.
Set jars on counter to come down to 100-110 degrees F.
Mix in plain yogurt, 2 Tablespoons per quart jar. Place jars into cooler with pot of hot water and a towel; incubate (keep warm/ignore) 4-24 hours.
Take jars out and freeze for 1-2 hours, then store in refrigerator.

It’s really that simple, and I never ever have to get out my recipe. You may want a bit more detailed instruction for your first few times, which you can find at this homemade yogurt tutorial.

2. Chicken Stock

Homemade chicken stock is another sure winner: it’s fairly simple to accomplish, extremely good for you, and takes garbage and transforms it into food – clearly a frugal feat.

Simplicity…

I only buy chicken with bones now days, partly because quality meat is so expensive, but mostly so that I can keep my freezer stocked with stock (sometimes referred to as broth). Putting the bones in water with a splash of vinegar to draw out the minerals, boiling it overnight and then adding a few vegetables and parsley only takes about 5-10 minutes active work time.

Dollar value…

Straining the broth and freezing it might take another 15-30 minutes depending on the size of my batch, but since I can make two gallons of stock for mere pennies compared to 3/$2 for a 15 oz. can, I can’t help but gleam with frugal joy. Learn how to make traditional homemade chicken stock for yourself.

Nutrition…

When I learned that the fat in homemade chicken stock actually builds your immunities, I stopped skimming the fat and started making a conscious effort to include it in our family’s meal plans at least once a week. That was about the time my family started having a serious lack of colds and stomach bugs for an entire winter.

See more about the incredible health benefits of chicken stock and broth, including collagen, a truly rare food find.

3. Homemade Salad Dressings

I started making homemade dressing when I tried avoiding all white sugar one Lent. I had no idea there was so much sweetener in salad dressings!

Nutrition…

Now that I’ve learned about the high omega-6 content and frequent GMO status of soybean oil, the main fat in almost all purchased dressings, I’m committed to making my own with extra virgin olive oil. I go through about a gallon of EVOO every four months.

Dollar value?

It costs over $2.50 to make 16 oz., which is actually considerably more than a good deal on Kraft dressing. That stings, but I’m convinced that the nutrition is worth the premium price.

Simplicity…

Simple oil dressings like Italian or balsamic vinaigrette take almost no time at all. My favorites, homemade caesar and Asian toasted sesame dressing, take a bit longer but are well worth it.

When my homemade mayonnaise is available, I can whip up a pesto ranch in about a minute with equal parts mayo, sour cream and yogurt whisked with a dollop of thawed pesto from last summer’s farmer’s market basil.

An added bonus? The homemade versions taste incredible.

4. Homemade Tortillas

I feel like an elderly Mexican woman when I break out the rolling pin and make tortillas for taco night. This make-from-scratch food saves a bit of money and pumps up the nutrition considerably, but it is quite time-consuming. Mixing the dough takes five minutes, but rolling out 8-10 rounds is at least another ten.

Nutrition…

Here’s my sticking point: I can’t find tortillas without some sort of trans fat or questionable preservative in them. I avoid trans fat like the plague, and the corn tortillas I thought might be the answer had parabens in them, the same chemical I try to avoid in my shampoo.

Dollar Value…

Homemade tortillas cost about $1/batch of 8-12, so compared to whole wheat tortillas in a store, they are more frugal, to be sure (along with the health benefits). Our family loves my homemade whole wheat tortillas, and I get strong “pipes” from rolling them out!

5. Sourdough Bread

Not only do I regularly make the bread I thought I’d never, ever make from scratch, but I use a method that’s known for failures and requires added skill and patience. My homemade sourdough starter needs to be tended carefully and takes much longer to rise than conventional yeast bread, but the health benefits of real sourdough bread convinced me it was worth it.

Nutrition…

The sourdough process breaks down harmful substances like phytates, tannins, and even gluten, and it makes the grains exponentially more digestible than any other kind of food preparation. Wheat bran is particularly difficult for many people’s systems, so expensive whole grain bread may be doing as much harm as good.

Simplicity…

I could never pull off homemade bread, especially sourdough, if I had to to knead it myself. Manual may be better for my fitness, but I’d stress out and make bread worthy of a doorstop. My KitchenAid mixer’s dough hook makes it all possible, and I only have to spend 10-15 minutes of active time, broken into four parts over the course of 18 hours or so.

Dollar Value…

I feel deeply satisfied when I can feed my kids homemade, 100% whole grain, ultra-nutritious sourdough bread, risen with yeast I captured from the air myself, for free. And if you’re wondering, my loaves do cost less than the bread outlet anyway.

Their prices recently increased.

What make-from-scratch foods would you never compromise on? What is your motivation for from-scratch cooking?

All photos by Katie Kimball

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

5 Essential Make-from-Scratch Foods for your Health and Budget is a post from Simple Mom

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Another Non-Scrapbook Project with Scrapbook Paper

Tsh — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:47:19 +0000

I guess all this scrapbook paper my mother-in-law brought with her has gotten me inspired again. Here’s my latest art project:

The colors are more muted in real life. The orange isn’t so orange, and the robin’s egg blue and chocolate brown really complement our room’s colors. Oh, and the splotches aren’t accidental – that’s the way the paper is, and that’s how I like it.

I completely, 100% got this idea from the wonderful Heidi at Mt. Hope Chronicles. She’s so crafty – I love everything she does. Go spend time at her blog. Here’s hers:

It’s better than mine.

I was going to write a how-to tutorial on this, but it’s too easy. I simply cut out circles (using a cereal bowl as the template) and glued them on. They’re all the same size, and they’re all (mostly) evenly spaced on the canvas.

Frugal, original, easy artwork to fill an otherwise blank wall in the master bedroom. Check.

A few hours exercising my creative juice and refreshing my bones. Check.

I have so much scrapbook paper, I may have to do one of these for each room in our place.

Works for me!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
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Another Non-Scrapbook Project with Scrapbook Paper is a post from Simple Mom

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Homemade Household Cleaners

Tsh — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:59:08 +0000

I’m surveying the dirty dishes on the kitchen counter and the dust on our bookshelves – that means cleaning is on my mind. Where we live, everything is expensive, including cleaners. To save money, and heck – why not the environment while I’m at it, I’m a big fan of homemade cleaners. I love the fact that I can clean right next to my kiddos and not worry about fumes getting in their systems or chemicals on their skin, especially my daughter’s, who loves to clean with me.

Here are the latest recipes I’ve discovered:

all-purpose cleaner

1 tsp. liquid soap
1 qt warm water
few tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar

glass cleaner (and I use newspaper to wipe off – it eliminates streaks)

2 cups water
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
1 to 2 drops of essential oil (optional)

dishwashing detergent

laundry detergent – several recipes, along with FAQs

veggie wash

even homemade febreeze!

I wrote this post awhile back with some recipes, but I’ve since decided I like the above recipes better.

There are scads of recipes to be discovered on the internet – if you find one that works for you, please pass it along! Be sure to check out more frugal tips on saving money here.

Happy cleaning.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Homemade Household Cleaners is a post from Simple Mom

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