SUPPORTING MY HABIT....

Shortly after I retired my dear husband bought me a new sewing machine capable of doing all of the "little things" I can no longer do...like threading the needle on a sewing machine, hand quilting, hand embroidery and even sewing on buttons!  My "Ellie" is a wonderful machine that will give me hours, days, weeks and YEARS of sewing enjoyment!  I had begun sewing again (I had sewn/quilted in my early to mid twenties) in an effort to keep my mind active and "save my sanity".  I had worked long hours six, sometimes seven, days a week for many years and being "sedentary" was driving me nuts!

I am just not the television and bon-bon type (although the lady above and I have a lot more in common than I would like!)

Sewing, quilting and just about any "hobby" usually comes with inherent expenses...some costing much more than others!  I have since jumped back into quilting and sewing with both feet and have attempted to support my "fabic habit" as cheaply as possible.  The best method I have found for obtaining cheap (actually FREE) fabric has been Freecycle.

 

I have received many yards of wonderful fabric from fellow quilters who were more than happy to help a "newbie" establish her stash.

My second source of cheap or FREE supplies has been to purchase the fabric and notions I need with gift cards earned through reading emails, doing searches, making required purchases and doing surveys. There are hundreds of websites that say they will pay you to read emails, do surveys and make purchases.  The ones I use most frequently are MyPoints, Swagbucks, Inbox Dollars and Recyclebank.  While I don't do as many surveys as I really should (I do occasionally leave my computer to do something else, lol), I do a LOT of searching and reading... and all four of these sites have points that add up quickly.  Just this past week I purchased some needed, and some just plain "wanted", sewing supplies and books using $40 worth of "free" gift cards received as awards from these companies! 

My next favorite supplier of fabric are our own closets!  Eventually all clothing wears out and the areas that are still in fairly decent shape can contain large pieces for crafting.  Sheets also provide quite a bit of material for quilt backings and piecing.  Worn out jeans from our family alone have been used to sew up a twin sized and queen sized denim quilt...and I still have an entire trunk full of perfectly good denim cut from worn out jeans! It seems THAT supply is endless, lol!

My fourth source for a cheap fabric "fix" are our local thrift stores.  There are many yards of fabric available in the form of clothing that has been donated to the thrift shop.  If possible try to get mens XXXL (or larger) shirts to provide the most yardage.  Garage sales also offer a wide variety of clothing that can be cannibalized for sewing and crafting.  Many times, if you hit the garage sale near closing time the homeowners will be more than willing to drastically drop the price just so they don't have to carry everything back into the house and then find someplace to store it until the next garage sale.  At the end of my garage sales I have almost always left unwanted items on the driveway with a large sign stating that everything is free for the taking.  I have never had many leftovers that I had to then donate or discard.

My last ready source of supplies are the big stores such as JoAnn's.  JoAnn's usually mails out sale brochures and coupons on a monthly basis.  A coupon that is good on "sale items" is a goldmine in disguise!  When I have one of those puppies in my pocket I make sure to spend extra time scouring their remnant bin and their mark down bins.

  

My final suggestion is just to "put it out to the universe".  I began doing this several years ago and have found that frequently when I express a desire, the desired item magically comes into my possession, without even mentioning it to others!  Of course, if you spread the word among your family, friends and coworkers you have an even better chance of finding what you need! 

So, how do YOU support your "habit"?

FREEBIES 2013

 

One of my goals for 2013 is to acquire as many "free" items as possible, thus establishing a "trickle income" to subsidize my disability income.  Every freebie I get is either adding cash to my coffers or reducing money I would otherwise have to spend!  I hope to accomplish this by either completing offers for free samples, posting "wanteds" or accepting "offers" on Freecycle, searching the web through paying browsers, reading emails, or doing surveys to rack up points to be exchanged for gift cards, magazine subscriptions, etc.  I will update the tracker in my sidebar as each item is received, but will give details of my "scores" in this post.

So far in 2013:

1. Two free AMC movie tickets from one of my husband's friends (he had more than he could use).
2. Two $5 Amazon gift cards - Swagbucks
3. One $25 Paypal gift card - MyPoints
4. One Starbucks coffee - Online Freebie
5. Five free K-cups when I ordered coffee for me, a machine for DS (I owe him one for his apartment as I have confiscated "his" for my sewing room), and coffee for DS to go with the machine. 
6. One $5 Amazon gift card - Recyclebank 
7. One full sized shampoo
8. Eight samples of shampoo and conditioner
9. Two packages of veggie seeds
10. One sample of toothpaste
11. One toothbrush
12. One dental floss
13. Two baby safety locks (they never came in time to give as part of a shower gift)
14. Two protein bars
15. One sample shaving cream
16. Six samples of fabric softener

MY THRIFTY LUMBAR PILLOW

Between time spent at my computer, time spent at my sewing machine and time spent in my rocking chair resting, I spend a LOT of time sitting down!  Whether the results of genetics, posture, my neurologic issues or alignment of the stars, lol, I have a bit more "swayback" to my lower spine than most people.  As a result I find it uncomfortable to lie on my back, or sometimes even sit, without a little something to fill in the gap.  When I finished the cover for my sewing machine (you can see a bit of it in the photo below) I had quite a few scraps left over.  The scraps of each charm square could easily be cut to yield two additional 2" squares, finally leaving me with only a very small sliver of material to discard.  I believe in getting the absolute MOST I can out of any piece of material!  Fabric is too expensive to waste!  Because the back of my chair is really curved (see picture) I needed something to fill in the space right at the bottom of my back... my lumbar spine area.

 

Using the scrap 2" squares, some FREE batting and stash muslin I pieced and quilted the front of small lumbar cushion.  Frugal, right?  It gets even  better!

  

 I used some more of the FREE blue "linen-like" material I had gotten from a fellow Freecycler to make an envelope style back to the cushion. This blue material also lines my sewing machine cover. 

I made a pillow insert from some muslin I had lying around for eons.  But now it was time to "stuff" my insert and I wasn't quite sure what I would use.  I needed the pillow to be very pliable so that it would curve to fit the contours of the chair and my back.  No firm overly stuffed pillow would work.  Then I remembered a "frugal tip" regarding using "old stockings" to stuff pillows...and I thought I knew just where I could find some "very old", but never worn knee high stockings!

About 26 years ago I was working in a medical office and wore knee high stockings to work every day under my white uniform pants (this was before the days of "scrubs, socks and sneakers".  For anyone who wears stockings on a daily basis you know how expensive replacing torn hose can become!  A local store was going out of business and was offering a 4 pack of generic knee high stockings for $1.00.  I bought 20 packages of stockings, figuring 80 pairs of knee highs would last me for years!

I had only used 6 packages of hose when our son was born and I stopped working outside of the house.  My new "mommy" uniform was shorts, t-shirts, sweats, SOCKS and sneakers! My "dirt cheap" stocking supply sat untouched.  Just a year and a half later I found myself boxing the stockings for a move to our new house.  And there they sat...forgotten in a sealed box....until a little "memory" nudged at the corner of my brain.  Could it be?  Maybe I had plenty of knee high stockings that I could use to stuff my pillow (if I hadn't already sold them at a garage sale, lol)!  After 25+ years it was probably all they were really good for anyway, as I'm sure they would have ripped from dry rot within a few hours of slipping into my shoes!

Sure enough...the box containing 14 packages of knee highs was still there.  I quickly emptied out all of the stockings, mixed them with a bit of FREE cut up batting I had gotten from a Freecycler and stuffed my muslin pillow form.  When I thought I had reached the right ratio of firmness and pliability I folded over the open end and used masking tape to seal the muslin.  I can add more torn up batting or polyfill as needed.   Smiling to myself at my thrifty accomplishment I stuffed the form into my new pillow cover, placed it on my chair and sat down.  Perfect!  Just one more instance when ingenuity and frugality solved a problem AND added to the decor of my "Scrappy Happy Place".

MY SCRAPPY, HAPPY PLACE...

When I dismantled my business in 2010 I emptied out the small bedroom that I had used as my "office".  I decided that the room would become my sewing room.   I had always been "crafty", as my mom put it, though I had not engaged in any significant hobbies in many years.  There just wasn't time!  The only sewing or crafting I had undertaken was the denim quilt I made for my son when he went away to college four years earlier.  And between my proofreading job and my own health issues, there really wasn't much time to devote to hobbies.  I had the "room", but didn't have the time or energy to put it to much use. 

Shortly after retiring in 2011 I realized that my brain needed stimulation!  I had worked long and hard for many years and I would go NUTS if I didn't find something to keep me occupied!!!  I just wasn't the TV and bon-bons type! So I decided to work on making my sewing room into a place where I could rest, relax and pursue hobbies as my physical limitations allowed.  However, now that I was no longer working...there wasn't much money to spend on creating my "Scrappy, Happy Place".   Soon, though, I discovered I could still have the warm, comforting sanctuary I wanted and needed...I just had to rely on creativity instead of money!

Join me for a tour of my sweet little haven as I share my creative, FRUGAL alternatives to high priced decorating!

Freecycle:
Before I get into any pictures and explanations, I want to mention a word or two about Freecycle.  It may be one of the best websites ever developed for all of us Frugalistas!  Many of the items used in my "Scrappy, Happy Place", along with many of the supplies used for my crafting, have come from this wonderful FREE resource!  For those who are unfamiliar with the Freecycle network, www.Freecycle.org is an online site where you can "Offer" items you no longer want or need to people in your general vicinity; or place a "Wanted" for items you do need.  There are Freecycle groups throughout the United States and other countries.  You simply sign up (free) for the group in your local area and then receive email notifications when people place items up for giveaway or ask for items they need.  If you wish to keep your email under control you can visit the Freecycle site for your locale and read the posts there.  I, personally, like to receive an email notification, as some things are taken quickly and I just hate to lose out on an item I really want or need...for FREE...simply because I didn't hear about it soon enough.   If you see an item you want, simply reply to the email.  The "Freecycler" will then choose who is going to receive the item and notify you by email of the address where you can pick up your freebie!  Most times I reply to posts that list "porch" or "curb" pickup, that way I never need to physically interact with the giver.  I always "Offer" items with "easy porch pickup" at my home.  If it is an item that is too large to move to the porch (furniture, etc.) I never schedule a pickup when I am home alone...only when I have my husband and/or son here with me.  As always....YOUR SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT!   Stop by www.freecycle.org to join and take a peek at the items listed.  It doesn't take long to feel comfortable with the process and begin to receive many of your own "wants" and "needs" at absolutely no cost. 


My "Whiteboard":
Despite being a family of only three adults, we live very hectic lives...where days can sometimes go by without seeing a family member face to face.  I needed a way to be kept up to date on my DH and DS's lives, along with being reminded of things that they needed me to handle.  A whiteboard on the outside of my SHP (Scrappy, Happy Place) door would be a perfect solution.  However, I refused to spend any money to acquire one!  So, with the hint from Karen at "Sew Many Ways" that unpainted aluminum works well as a whiteboard, I went searching my home for something of the required size to make my message center.   Inside my master bathroom vanity I found a pretty pink tin that once held a perfume and lotion set.  The lid was about the right size and I quickly discovered that the base would nicely hold my stash of business envelopes.  My new computer station had MUCH less storage capacity than my old office furniture and the pink tin was a cute way to corral these necessary stationery supplies on an open shelf.  Plus, the color was an exact match to a pink and green metal toy stroller (Or was it a ride on toy? Hmmm...will have to ask my mom!) I had as a very young child.  It is probably my earliest memory from childhood and those two colors evoke a "warm and fuzzy feeling" whenever I see them.  Not surprising that they are two of the three dominant colors in my home!

I then searched through the stash of free Home Decorator fabric I had received from a fellow Freecycler.  I wanted to make a "pouch" (almost like a fabric picture frame) that would hold my tin lid, along with a dry erase marker (freebie scored online) and a small scrap of batting (Freecycle score) to use as an eraser.  I made the pouch a loose fit for the lid, leaving room to tuck in the pen and eraser.

Using the remaining scraps of Home Decorator fabric I made a small stuffed heart to hang on the 3M hook already on the door.  For years the hook had held a small plaque that read, "Nothing is as overrated as natural childbirth and owning your own business!".  Oh How True!  But, as my business was now a memory, I wanted something that would express my feelings for my new SHP,... my haven,... my sanctuary...the place where I would spend most of my days.  A heart seemed just about right!

So, finally, WELCOME to my "Scrappy, Happy Place"...where my body can rest, my heart can soar and my mind can contemplate the ups and downs of daily life...with a creativity that has been dormant for way too long!

More of the tour to come!