Weekend's almost over..... and a couple of frugal things

The weekend is almost over again.... No wait, I forgot tomorrow's a holiday at my office. I'm off! Its a 3 day weekend! Whew!!! That was close!


Yesterday was another busy Saturday, aren't they all?


I was up really early and had laundry going by 5:00 A.M. I spent part of the morning listing some books I had laying around on Amazon. That's the first time I've tried to sell any books online, so we'll see how that comes out. I have nothing to lose and maybe can get rid of some books.


I also worked on setting up an ETSY Shop. I've seen these linked to on other blogs and thought I'd enjoy having one. I need to work on some more items to sell there, but lack of time is a problem. Anyway, soon I'll have a "Homemaking Dreams Store" for home made items.


Yesterday's lunch was clam chowder. We usually have some kind of soup, stew, chili or chowder for lunch on Saturdays during cold weather followed by a football game on TV, preferably one that our team wins. Our team started out badly this year, but has won the last 4 games. If they keep this up they might even go to a bowl game. Who da thunk it? :o)


The football game yesterday was a big rivalry game between N. C. State and UNC Chapel Hill and was a nail biter. I kept my mind off it by working on the deer place mats I needed to finish, while my husband kept yelling at the TV. It must have worked because our team won!


I did finish the place mats, so now the set is complete. (napkins, place mats and coasters)

Today has been busy as well. I was up early again! I cooked most of my Sunday dinner before going to church. I made crock pot roast. The way I cooked it was to place peeled and cut up onions, potatoes and carrots in the bottom of the crock pot. I then placed the roast on top of the veggies. I sprinkled a package of dry onion soup mix on top of the roast. I sprinkled just a little salt and pepper through out . I added about 1 cup of water and cooked on high for about 1 1/2 hours and then turned it to low while at church. Before serving the roast I removed the meat and veggies and placed them in serving dishes covered with foil on the stove to keep them warm. I placed cornstarch (about 1 1/2 tablespoons per cup of liquid) dissolved in cold water in the juices left in the crock pot and let it cook until thick and bubbly. This gravy was delicious on the roast!


I also made a chocolate cake before church and left it to cool while I was gone. When I got back from church I iced the cake with cream cheese frosting and placed it in my pretty covered cake plate. I also peeled some sweet potatoes and made Sweet Potato souffle. I needed something green, so I just opened a couple of cans of green beans and potatoes seasoned with ham.


We had some of our children over to eat. All together we had me, my husband, my daughter, my son in law, my stepdaughter and sweet grandbaby.


I took care of the baby so my daughter and son in law could eat without getting up and down. I remember how it was when I was a young mother. When we went to family dinners, I never got to eat with everybody else, because the baby needed attention. So I usually wait to eat if the baby is awake. I enjoy taking care of him anyway! He is growing so fast and is getting so sweet. He smiles and coos all the time.


It is so nice not to be thinking about preparing to go to work tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to sew some. I also need to be preparing for a road trip we are going on later this week. You see, I'll only work 2 days this week. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday My husband and I will be away on our annual anniversary trip. We'll be in the mountains of Tennessee. My favorite thing is to visit all the MANY craft shops there. But I'm especially looking forward to going to the little church thrift shop we discovered last year. I hope the shop has as many little treasures as it had last time.

I want to get some sort of hand work ready to work on while we are driving. Its about 7 hours to where we are going and I'd like to work on a Christmas gift. I've been thinking that I'd like to give my children, stepchildren, son in law, husband and grandbaby something home made this year. I've already got some ideas in mind.


Now for the frugal things:


1. The cake I made today cost a total of about $1.90. I got the cake mix at Food Lion last week on sale for buy one get one free. This made it $.75. I had a coupon for $.75 off one cake mix with the purchase of frosting. The frosting was on sale for $1.29. So the cake mix was free and the only cost of the cake was the frosting, butter and eggs. It was a hit with my family too.


2. I have a brown blazer that I wear all the time in the winter and last weekend my sweet grandbaby spit up on the sleeve. The tag says "dry clean only". Well I only paid $12.00 for the blazer about 2 years ago and it irritates me to pay the dry cleaners what they charge to clean clothing that I paid very little for to begin with.


So I checked the fiber content and this is what it was made of: 62% polyester, 33% Rayon, 5% spandex, Lining 100% polyester. Well I knew none of these fabrics would shrink and I've washed many slacks and tops made from these fabrics.


So I decided to take a chance on washing the blazer at home, ONLY because the blazer wasn't an expensive piece of clothing (None of mine are :o).


I washed it on the "hand washables" cycle on my washing machine with just a little detergent with a low water level. I took it out, hung it on a hanger to dry outside and it turned out perfect. I might touch it up with a lint brush just a little bit and press it just a little bit, but it really isn't necessary.


I have read somewhere that clothing manufacturers will put the "dry clean only" label in their clothes to protect themselves if there is any question that the article might not launder well.


NOW I DO NOT WANT TO RECOMMEND THAT YOU HAND WASH A DRY CLEAN ONLY item of clothing if its a nice piece of clothing that you paid a lot for or if its obviously not a washable item like something made of wool, silk or cotton that would shrink, be hard to iron or would stretch out of shape. But it might be something you could do with an old piece of clothing or something you purchased from a yard sale that's made from polyester, rayon or spandex.


This is the blazer after being washed and air dried.

I would be very careful about washing "dry clean only" clothing at home, but it worked well on this particular item.

Hope your weekend is going well!