The Practicality of Preparing

Good Afternoon! Today's post is going to be a week in a glance. We will be gone tomorrow and obviously we missed the past two days. So, today is going to be a Bam! All at once party! Tuesday's Thrifty Task is about creating a Homemaker's Journal or Brain in a Binder as it is sometimes called at our house. This is a thrifty task that I began approximately one year ago. It is still in the developmental stages; we are experimenting to discover what works best for our family. Free templates and pages are available to print out in various places online as well as instructions and ideas for creating a binder that works for you. There are also kits and premade binder/journals available for purchase. However you choose to obtain your homemaker's journal, the savings of time and money it provides will be noticeable. Just think of all the minutes we as homemakers spend looking for various telephone numbers, immunization records, and school info. What about those receipts and bank statements? I well remember the scramble to locate the phone numbers of the pizza delivery store in years gone by. Having all of a family's information all in one location will save literally hours each year. Remember, thrift isn't only about money. Though being able to find important papers and receipts may indeed save money as well. A Homemaker's Journal, Brain in a Binder, Mama's Map, whatever the name you give it, it's a task of thrift. The focus of Waste Not Wednesday has been given much recognition over the years. Very few households haven't made good use of this item in some way. Without further adieu, we bring you The Brown, Paper Bag! It's uses are practically endless. This grocery store staple is a true workhorse in the home. However, since plastic shopping bags can also prove useful, you may want to alternate between the two when the checker at the grocery store asks "paper or plastic?" Just like their cousins the plastic bags, paper bags also make handy trash can liners. Soggy bottom syndrome can be significantly reduced by placing the bottom of an egg carton in the bottom of the bag to catch drips. Here is a list of some of the Brown Paper's Bags most popular uses: book covers, envelopes, cards, gift tags, gift wrap, fire starter, and crafting paper. Cut so that it lays flat, the brown paper bag can also provide a disposable work surface for a number of household and shop projects. Many a noodle and donut have been rolled out and cut on a brown paper bag. Their absorbency also makes them useful as a blotter underneath oily objects. More than once I have used a brown paper bag to remove candle wax from the floor or a table cloth. Using a warm iron, lay a piece of brown paper bag over the wax. Place the iron on the paper for a little bit. Lift, move paper to an unused section and place iron on it again. Continue the process until no more wax soaks into the paper. Because the paper of the bag is a bit stiffer, useful stencils, patterns, and templates can be made from brown paper bags also. Torn into small pieces, crumpled up, smoothed out, and pasted onto the wall, brown paper bag works to create a faux leather finish for a fraction of the cost of wallpaper. The paper can be painted or varnished to achieve the desired finish. Be careful of bags which have lettering printed on them. The lettering may show through in some uses. This technique isn't limited to wall coverings. I have successfully used this same process to recover a three ring binder as well as to create a leather look on the outside of a greeting card. Try giving a lampshade a western update using this same technique. Brands could be burnt into the paper using a craft size soldering tool or western cutouts could be adhered. Trimming the edge with rope or lacing it with strips of leather would provide a finished look. The Brown Paper Bag, its uses are too vast for one posting. We'll have to explore more ideas later on. For now we'll move on. It looks like it's in the bag! Thursday Thrifty Tip! Today's tip is not only thrifty, it's quick! Yea!!! The tip for today is this: When beginning anything new, don't attempt to change too much at one time. Take it one step at a time. Maybe the entire house does need a major overhauling, but trying to accomplish that overhaul in one day, or even one week, probably won't yield the best results. Slow down, take a deep breath, and realize that most likely, things didn't become this way overnight. Expecting them to change that quickly may not be a realistic plan. Assess the situation. What change is truly necessary? Are any absolutely a must? Which alterations to the schedule are NOT a must? While helpful, can any of the areas needing adjusted wait until later? Beginning with the most necessary, choose one change and begin. This may be a big adjustment or it may be a really small tweak that will yield big rewards. Just don't allow yourself to become overwhelmed. Remember how to eat an elephant; one bite at a time. The best advice I can share on assessing your own situation and choosing the target of change is to spend time in prayer and ask the Lord which area He would have you change. If you can't see any way that change could be possible, then ask Him. He knows everything you need to know, and He will lead if you will hear. Tomorrow is Fabulous Friday! A couple of us are headed out of town to participate with their drama team in a Fine Arts Festival. The rest of us are going to be busy as well. So, here is another FABULOUS project for Friday - early. Usually, we feature a specific project or idea theme. Since Passover and Resurrection Sunday are rapidly approaching, this post is taking the form of a decorator's challenge. We at Living Large on Less are challenging you, our readers to decorate your home for Spring, Passover, and/or Resurrection Sunday. Even if you take a very simple approach to your spring decorating by running a clean sweep through your home, do something. Thoughts of "that isn't my thing or that's not really my cup of tea" may be running through your head right now, but don't quit reading yet. Give the challenge some serious thought. Why isn't this your cup of tea? What keeps you from doing something that you have never done? So what if your family doesn't notice, you will. After the cold and often dreary, dark days of winter, every home needs to have a fresh breath of Spring brush through. Don't know what to do or where to start? Go back through the archives here at Living Large and choose something. We have some quick and simple ideas to choose from. Take a peek at a magazine or go online and see what someone else has done. If nothing else, take some time to perform a clean sweep through the main living area. Maybe all that is needed for a fresh, new look is a bit of rearranging. Who knows, maybe a bit of scrubbing will make the entire house seem brand new. Whatever you do, do something! When you're done, send us your pictures and let us have a look see! An email address for you to use will be posted in a new post later this afternoon. We'll be back on Monday with some more munchies. You won't want to miss it; a recipe for some tortilla chips to go with the refried beans from a while back will be there as well as a little something or two for Spring celebrations. Well, at least the chips will be there. Have a blessed weekend.Enjoy your family. Thank you for joining us in our journey of Living Large On Less! Blessed Mama