Tightwad Tip | Lids Instead Of Foil

 

Lids for baking. Save foil. No waste!
In this post I am sharing some of my ideas for how to save aluminum foil and use lids instead of foil.

For a conservative on the political scale I sure live a "green" life. Haha! From cloth pads, to cloth diapers, to cloth wipes, to flannel "Kleenex," to fabric napkins, to using rags instead of paper towels I am pretty waste free. I recycle and upcycle at every opportunity. 

Frugal people hate to spend money on stuff that is going to be thrown away after one use. This applies to aluminum foil, too. I have reused sheets of aluminum foil several times over by wiping them clean and folding them up neatly after each use.

Having a few nice, oven safe, lidded, casserole type, cookware pieces are a valuable addition to your kitchen. By keeping your eye out at thrift stores and garage sales for pieces like this you can find some nice lidded casserole dishes. 

I recently found two smaller corning wear dishes that are good size for leftovers. By storing leftovers in containers like this you can save yourself dishes later by being able heat the leftover's in the same container that they were stored. I also have a few larger lidded casseroles. One large size and one medium size. I use them when I am baking potatoes, heating up leftovers, bringing dishes to fellowship meals. Dishes like mashed potatoes, baked beans, stuffing, or macaroni and cheese are good candidates.

Having lidded casserole dishes helps cut down on the need to use aluminum foil, but sometimes I have to get a little more creative to avoid aluminum foil.

I can use sheet pans to cover 9×13 pans and even my really large roaster.

Using sheet pans as covers can be very handy when I am short of space. The rigidity of the sheet pans allows me to stack the different pans of food on top of one another. This is helpful in the refrigerator where space is limited, as well as counter tops in a small kitchen.

Covering pans with rimmed sheet pans can be really useful when transporting food to fellowship meals. The sheet pans don't slide off during the drive and they can survive being stepped on, which may happen by accident in our van.

When it comes to rising dough, I have used a bowl turned upside down to give the dough plenty of room to rise while blocking any drafts, and keeping the dough from drying out. These bowls are oven proof and I have used them in this configuration to cook a ham. Hams come in such awkward shapes. It is really difficult to cover them without using foil. 

For smaller batches of dough I just use a plate over my kitchen aid mixer bowl.

Iron skillets are a versatile solution for cooking on a grill. Sometimes the cleanliness of grill grates can be questionable and lead one to cover the grates with aluminum foil. We recently faced this situation. Mr. In The Mid-west wanted some aluminum foil for the grill, but  we were out of aluminium foil. I brought him an iron skillet. Problem solved! Iron skillets can handle open flames. It takes a little scrubbing afterwards to get the smoke and soot off the the outside of the skillet, but I love to use my skillets to cook over a campfire. 

These are my ideas. Do you use any of these strategies? Please share your ideas in the comments! 

Making Old Stuff New!

 I have a pile of clothes that I want to make alterations to for my little girl to wear. 

This is a massive pile of sewing for me to get through! We'll see how far I get on one Saturday. 

Piece 1

Description: Justice brand, girl's size 10, white dress with a lacy over layer. The construction of this dress is better than most clothing I work with. I don't buy by brand name, but this makes me think that some brands are better quality than other's.

 The length of this dress just about right for my daughter. I am just going to take in the side seams a little bit, cut off the excess, finish the edges and topstitch the seam allowance towards the back.

Pieces 2+3

Description: Two Candies brand dresses. Size 7. If it wasn't for the straps these dress would fit my girl just right.

I cut the straps free from the back of the bodice.

I shortened the straps significantly and stitched them in a V orientation at the center back of the bodice.

These two dresses fit my daughter now!

Piece 4

Description: A Faded Glory, size 12, shiney, skirt with a zipper closer in the back. This was a good length but, too wide.

I put some tucks in the waistband in a few places that I thought that tucks would be inconspicuous. A couple in the front and a couple in the back.

Piece 5

Description: Black and white, ruffled, size Large, skort with a wide elastic band at the waist.

Once again the length is good, but it is too wide.

I took in the sides, trimmed off the excess material and finished the new edges. I also cut the middle out of the shorts lining. I didn't finish the edges on what was left of the shorts because it is a knit material, therefore, I don't have to worry about it unraveling. Obviously, I am not trying to win any prizes with these alterations I have made. The sewing that I have done is practical, not always pretty.

Piece 6

Description: Art Class brand, size 5, cute smock style dress, with embroidered design and ruffles at the shoulders.

This dress was too wide in the shoulder area. I stitched two pleats in the back of of the bodice on either side of the buttons.

Now it fits perfectly.

That's it for this Saturday. It is getting late. I have to pick up my mess and put the children to bed. I'll wait for another Saturday to finish my pile of alterations! See you then!

Finding A Pretty Planter

 

A sweet lady from Church gave me a couple starts from her house plant several weeks ago. I have been keeping these poor starts in a jar of water. I don't think they were very happy, but they were surviving.

I wanted some decorative pots to plant them in. It took me a while to do a thrift shopping outing. I don't know about you, but I am a home body through and through, plus, I don't like to drive. It takes me a while to work up enough gumption to go shopping especially when I am not shopping for such necessities as food. 

Mr. In The Mid-west and I were out recently for our anniversary and we did some thrift shopping. I found this pretty blue and white ceramic container for $3. Score! The inside of the pot was not fully glazed, but I came up with a plan to protect it from moisture.

I cut the bottom off of this plastic cup that we got as a freebie at a car show several years ago. We have 3 of them and I was about to throw one away. I have a use for the other 2. One lives in the bath tub for scooping water to rinse hair. And the other is the crayon container. I digress,.......

I put the red neck water tray in the bottom of the ceramic pot.

I poked drainage holes in a plastic sourcream container.

I potted the plant in the sourcream container, which fits perfectly into the pretty pot.

I also found a cute metal bowl with stenciled blue duck embellishments. Now my house plant starts both have a home. I bet they are happy to get out of the jar of water and have their roots in some soil!

Skirt Make Over

 I worked on turning this skirt into a skirt for my two year old this past week.

This skirt was a thrift store find. It was a size 10/12 girls and much to wide for my little girl.

Upon further examination I discovered that this "skirt" was actually a pair of shorts. A very short pair of shorts, at that. Check out that tiny inseam!  I decided that the skirt would just have to be a split skirt, because I didn't want to figure out how to eliminate the inseam and you can't really tell when it is being worn.

I used a seam ripper to take out the elastic casing stitches.

I unrolled the casing. The elastic was serged onto the edge of the fabric.

I cut the elastic off at the serging with sewing sheers. I was not about to pick out all the serging stitches! 

Once the elastic was off I put in some gathering stitches.

I searched for some material in my stash that would make a suitable waistband and casing.

I found this peach colored material with cute butterflies scattered throughout.

It is very light weight and silky. And it matches perfectly!

I made a waistband and sewed a casing at the top. Then I pinned it onto the skirt, pulling up the gathering stitches to fit. I stitched it and finished the raw edge with a zigzag stitch.

I cut a piece of elastic to fit my little girl's waist.

Using a safety pin hooked through the elastic makes feeding it though the waistband really easy.

I stitched the elastic into a loop once I had pulled the elastic all the way through the casing.

A little tip that I have come up with, is stitching the elastic straight in one place, through the outside of the casing.

This makes it easy to straighten the elastic out when it tries to roll and twist inside the casing. I hate it when the elastic gets all twisted!

It fits really well,

And, I think it is super cute on her! :)

How To Sew On A Button And Add A Shank

 

This is how you sew on a button and make a shank with the thread. 

The trick is to use a darning needle to hold space.

You could also use a toothpick or something of that diameter.

Adding a shank makes the buttons easier to manipulate and put through the button holes.

Double the thread on your needle. Place the darning needle across the top of the button.

Stitch three stitches through each set of holes in the button going over the darning needle.

The last time you make a stitch direct the needle out under the button, 

between the button and the garment 

Pull the darning needle out from under the stitches.

The loops of thread will be loose.

Take the needle and thread and twist it around the button.

Go around 3 to 4 times. 

Now there is a shank on your button!

It is hard to see in the picture, but the shank allows

 for some space between your garment and the button itself.

Shanks make it easier to button and unbutton closers.

After creating the shank, 

push your needle through to the back side of the garment

 and tie off as you normally would.

Tada! Ready to wear! :)