Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/paper-beads/
How to Make Beautiful Beads From Recycled Newspaper
January 23rd, 2008 by admin
paper mache beads
I love finding ways to turn everyday common items, which would otherwise go into the garbage, into beautiful items that everyone can enjoy!
So… when I came across a gal who was making beautiful beads from recycled newspaper, I had to share the idea with you!
When I saw Helen’s beautiful beads, I asked her if she would mind sharing how she made them. After hearing from her, I realized that the methods used for these beads, were the exact same methods that I have used for several different projects including; costumes, handcrafted paper, and sculpted home decor items. I think what I love about her beads though… is the natural earthy look that they have. Please click on the pictures & visit Helen at her Flickr space!
What better way to pamper yourself than to make something so beautiful that costs nearly NOTHING! It would also be a great way to make some beautiful gifts for less than pennies - while recycling those pesky piles of old newspapers :)
Perhaps you could also earn some extra money by making a nice little business out of your beautiful new creations! I’m sorry… there I go again… always the business mind ;)
paper beads
Step #1 - Gather a small pile of newspapers from the recycling basket.
Step #2 - Rip the paper into small pieces
beads
Step #3 - Put the pieces of newspaper in a large stock pot
Step #4 - Pour enough boiling water over the paper to cover
Step #5 - Allow to sit for an hour or so
Step #6 - Stir the paper to help break it down a bit
new beads
Step #7 - Drain as much water out of the paper as you can
Step #8 - Add enough glue to the paper to help it hold together in a ball shape (any glue that is clear when dry - such as Elmer’s, or PVA)
necklace
Step #9 - Roll the paper into round balls being sure to squeeze out as much moisture as you can while rolling (you can make any size you would like)
Step #10 - Let them dry for a few days - rolling them every several hours - until they are completely dry
Here’s a mix of paper & felt beads. I love the look of this mix!
felt beads - and paper bead necklace
Step #11 - Sand each bead down with a bit of sandpaper to remove rough edges
Step #12 - Drill a hole in each bead that is big enough for the material that you want to string them with
new bead necklace
Step #13 - Paint them with left over craft paint
Step #14 - Give them a coat of varnish
beautiful beads made from recycled newspaper
Think of all of the different variations that you could make with this technique! The colors & stringing material possibilities are endless! I think some pretty pink beads strung on black velvet ribbon will be my first pamering self indulgence ;)
And… don’t stop at just making beads!
How about…
- Little hearts for a Valentine’s Day banner, or to grace the front of your handcrafted cards
- Tiny beads to make earrings
- Little snowmen with a coat of cream paint - drenched in chunky glass glitter
- A nice chunky key chain made from beads & ribbon
- Snowballs strung on a ripped piece of homespun fabric - to make a snowball tree garland
Well, I think you will agree when I say that these little bits of recycled newspaper are some of the most beautiful bits I’ve ever seen!
[116 comments and good photos on site]
http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/penny-rugs/
Penny Rugs - How to make these great gifts for pennies!
August 29th, 2007 by admin
Vintage Style Penny Rug
Recently I received this email request from a dear friend. I wanted to share my response with you - especially since the holidays are coming up & this would be a nice gift to give - for very little cost!
Hi Pearl,
I was wondering if you had or know of a place where I can get some directions on how to make a Penny rug runner. I thought this would be an interesting project to make. I just don’t have a clue how they are made.
I love the look of the wool and the colors for fall. I’ve found places to buy them but I would like to try to make one.
Hope you had a great vacation.
Lois
Dear Lois,
Good to hear from you! Yes, we had a wonderful time visiting with family over the last few weeks. We spent our time participating in a youth conference at my parents church, resting, visiting, and a quick trip to Baltimore. We especially loved the aquarium! I’ll have to post some pictures here real soon.
I hope the information below will help answer most of your questions. I just love penny rugs, especially when they are made out of all of the vintage “prim” colors! I especially love to see them used during the Autumn season with all of the rich golds, browns, and reds!
What is a penny rug?
felt penny rug
As we all know, women are by nature extremely creative & very resourceful.
Ok…well, most women ;)
But back in the 1800’s most women had to make the best of the resources that they had, especially when it came to things such a “splurging” on decorations for the home. So, they would keep the small bits and pieces of the wool and felt that they collected from their clothing, hats, coats, blankets, etc., and then use these precious bits of fabric to make beautiful decorations for their homes.
When they had a nice basket full of little snippets of fabric to work with, they would sort them into piles of similar colors. Then, to form the desirable circular shapes, they would use a coin as the template to cut their fabric pieces from. Using something as small as a coin would insure that the smallest of scraps could be used in the project. This is how the term “penny rug” came to describe these little pieces of art.
What’s also interesting is, the penny rug was not normally used as a rug at all, but rather, as a decorative cover for a bed, shelf, wall hanging, or table runner.
Pink and black penny rug
After cutting all of the different circle shapes, each color was put into it’s proper pile, where it would wait for it’s turn to become a part of the finished design.
The finished size was determined, then a piece of fabric (wool or felt) was chosen as the base for the rug. Each circle was then placed on top of the base in the desired pattern, so the creator could decide what the final design would look like. Once satisfied with the design, each piece was then secured with a straight pin so it could be stitched together.
Although any style of embroidery stitch could be used, the one most commonly used to applique the individual pieces of fabric in the penny rug was the blanket stitch. Bright colors of thread, that were different from the piece of fabric being stitched, helped the pattern to stand out even more, and also added another creative layer to the piece. Depending on how intricate the creator wanted to be, the circles might also be stacked in several layers, each smaller and a different color than the one below it. Sometimes the rugs were backed with a piece of an old burlap bag or feed sack, and on special pieces, an actual penny was stitched under one of the circles to help weight it down.
Although circles were the main shape used in early designs, any shape imaginable could be used in current designs. I have seen some beautiful pieces made with shapes such as; stars, hearts, snowman, crow, and trees. There’s really no limit to the designs that you could come up with, you simply want to be sure that the pattern can easily be hand stitched around each edge.
snowman rug
Materials to use in making your penny rug
Most penny rugs were made using wool, and felted wool. Although felt was handcrafted in years gone by, we are blessed to be able to buy felt by the square (usually a 12X12 square) or by the yard in most craft/fabric stores. Last year, I picked up some wonderful thick felt yardage, which came in colors such as dark mustard, chocolate, deep red, and cream. Check the prices, but I found that buying my felt by the yard was much cheaper than buying it by the square.
If you’re an adventurous soul, you could try your hand at felting your own wool!
Have you ever thrown a wool sweater into the washer/dryer without realizing it? Then, when you took it out, wondered who the tiny cute little sweater belonged to - only to realize that it used to be a human sized version of YOUR new sweater? Then you already have all the experience you need in felting wool ;)
Simply go to your local thrift store, yard sale, or your own closet, and pick out a cheap wool sweater (I suggest 100% wool) of your color choice. Keep your eyes open for sweaters with small holes or other damage, as these will turn out to be real bargains for you. First, cut down the side seems, separating the front from the back. Then, remove the arm sections, and cut down the long seem. Throw these pieces into the washer, and wash on the hot cycle with a bit of laundry soap. If you’d like, you could also throw the pieces into the dryer as well. You can expect the pieces to shrink up to 70% in size! When the material is dry, you can cut it into the desired shapes for your penny rug.Penny Rug Pattern
Embroidery floss makes the best choice for sewing the pieces together, and you can buy nice large bundles of different colors at your local craft/fabric store.
Patterns for your penny rug
Here are a few how to articles to help you with ideas, but the best patterns come from your own creative ideas - just like the gals in the 1800’s ;)
Christmas Tree Penny Rug
http://www.patchpieces.com/minipennytree.pdf
Circle Table Runner Penny Rug
http://www.kuninfelt.com/dfiles/projectsheets/penny_rug.pdf
Autumn Leaves Pattern
http://www.kuninfelt.com/dfiles/projectsheets/autumn_leaves.pdf
[has photo]
http://www.littlecountryvillage.com/Cottage-Gardening/free-garden-plants.shtml
From A Better Home and Garden
Cottage Gardening
Fill Your Cottage Gardens With Free Plants!
© Copyright by Pearl Sanborn
I love to dream ~ and one of the things that I love to dream about is my cottage garden.
I pull out back issues of my favorite magazines, gardening books, and seed catalogues to add to the plethora of ideas already stored in my mind’s eye. There is one small problem however. When you start shopping at the garden centers & from all of the plant catalogues, you start to see a growing trend - all of these beautiful plants add up to lots of money!
I need to be honest with you for a second. You see, I’m not really good at waiting several years to add a plant here & a plant there to my garden. I’m the kind of person who sees something beautiful, then tries to find a way to make it happen in my own garden. Sometimes the ideas work out wonderfully, and sometimes I learn a lesson from the whole process. In any case, my garden is always better because of it.
We all live such busy lives, and we do our best to have our obligations taken care of. Sometimes, despite all of our work & effort, we just don’t have the extra amount of money that it would take to have the garden of our dreams. I know that feeling personally, and that’s why I wanted to take this time to share with you some of the ideas that I have discovered for finding free plants over the years. Soon, with a little bit of creative thinking, you’ll have to start giving plants away due to lack of any more space in your garden!
- Weekly Clean Up
In our village, the city trucks come around & pick up yard debris that is set out for pick up. You’d be surprised at how many plants are put out to the curb! I’m still not sure of the reason? Could be a change in color scheme, or perhaps they just got tired of taking care of it? In any case, I’ve found many nice plants just by collecting them before the debris truck does!
- Cuttings
Either from your own plants or from your friend’s, small clippings add up to lots of free mature plants! I know one gal who offers to tidy up the gardens in her neighborhood in exchange for the clippings and extra plants that she cleans up. Most plants will grow from cuttings, and a small section a few inches long is all you need!
Just cut a small piece of the stem of most any plant - pull off all but the top few leaves - insert it into some moist sand. In no time you’ll have roots & a free plant! Mint, tomatoes, roses, hydrangeas, holly, and butterfly bush are all examples of plants that will grow from cuttings.
- Discards From Stores
Become friends with the person in charge of your local flower department in the big super centers! When plants get a little tired looking, they may give them to you free! All you need to do is give the plants some TLC!
Example: Recently in our local grocery super center, they were selling spring bulbs. In a short while the flowers had faded & the plants were no longer wanted by shoppers. Most folks have no idea that these plants can be planted outside for spring flowers next year! Just ask if you can have the “old” flower pots after the flowers fade! *Keep your eyes open for Easter lilies, outside they can grow up to 4 ft. with lots more blooms than you see in that little pot!
* My poinsettia is also still doing great from Christmas! I pinch back the stems as the red flowers (actually leaves) dry out. New beautiful sets of leaves bud have budded out already! I will plant it outside as soon as the danger of frost is past, then bring it in for a new round of Christmas blooms. I also broke off a few of the longer stems & stuck them down in the soil. They have already grown roots! I know everyone throws out their poinsettia plants after Christmas, but when I went to Africa some years back, one of the most amazing memories I have were the huge poinsettia TREES!!! So I am going to see how far I can take this little beauty ;)
- Restaurants & Parks
Most businesses replace their plants as the flowers fade. This year, start a relationship with the businesses in your area. Let them know that you are willing to take the unsightly plants off of their hands after they are finished blooming ;) We don’t mind since we know they will bloom again next year in our gardens!
- Greenhouses
While walking around larger greenhouses, I’ve noticed all of the large garbage cans throughout the place filled with soil, clippings, and old plants. Ask for their clippings for your compost pile, then use what you can to make new plants by rooting them, and throw the rest into the compost heap!
* Remember, as in the case of an African Violet, it may only take one leaf to start a new plant!
- Garden Exchange
Get free plants & seeds by trading them for plants that you already have. You could do this by starting a garden exchange in your area. Newspapers are always looking for news to print, and since a garden exchange is an event, you can even get your advertising free of charge!
Do a quick search & you will see lots of websites that post listings for free plants & seeds. Lots of times you can get wonderful expensive plants FREE!
There are many, but some of the larger ones are:
www.gardenweb.com
www.seedman.com
Get free shipping supplies to ship all of your plants!
Call - 1-800-222-1811
You can get free boxes, mailing labels, tape, etc., from the post office. It’s great to have these items delivered right to your door free of charge! Take a moment to see what other items you may need, by going to: http://supplies.usps.gov/
With these great ideas, you’ll be frugal gardening at its best!
Yes, propane stoves are good, it is what we use in the desert mainly, except in the cities or some of them.
Right now I am all electric and I hate it, maybe that is why the cook stove quit working.
Bill used the cast iron insides of a hot water heater tank to build a wood burning stove, it is about 3 ‘ long and 2’ wide.
He put a flat top of iron on it, welded in, where he cut out the curve and that works for cooking, except the wind pattern changed when they built the new freeway and it blows the stove pipe loose, even with guy wires on it.
I get freaky gusts, that take roofs off.
So it goes, survival is about all I can do right now.
All good ideas, I have to laugh at the mulch, as it is gone from my yard by day break.
I solved my gardening problems with an attached solar greenhouse, which has over the years managed to blow away too, along with a roof or two and the stove pipe.
Yes, I would like to move, but I won’t I waited too long and am now a shut in, so no moving for me in this life.
Thanks for the link, I will dig around there for more ideas.
Thanks for coming to visit, I hope you will join in the thread and help us learn, or return and read, you are always welcome.
You are welcome, thank you for offering to do a new one, finding an article was the hard part, and no matter which is chosen, it does not really show the intent of the thread, which is EVERYTHING there is to learn.
Thanks for pinging some of them, I will try get out a ping later too.
A generator transfer switch is your safest method here. I have an 8 circuit switch I installed in the house I built. Northern Tools has a decent selection of them. I can run my freezer and fridge, wood stove blower, well pump, a few lights and outlets for TV, microwave, etc., off of my generator without worrying about backfeeding into the grid. I'm in a fairly rural area, one house from the end of the line. We get power outages from ice storms and other foul weather at least a couple of times a year here. The transfer switch has more than paid for itself in the past 14 years. My water heater is an LP fired on demand type made by Paloma. Nothing quite like having a hot shower when everybody else is doing without....
We may not be that different from Argentina, as we have so many people from other countries, that we have lost some of the will needed to see the country survives, in my opinion.
I listen to the police in Denver, Las Vegas and all over the west.
It is all shootings on the street, an amazing amount of them and they do not make the papers.
You are blessed if you know your neighbors, I don’t and I have owned this property over 30 years and lived in it 20 of them.
I do know that across the street, living in a travel trailer, is a family that has all been in prison, more than once.
Next to them, someone is building an almost mansion, the garage is started and it is over size with 3 doors, so the house will be something to see.
A misplaced investment, as my mobile is 50 years old and shows it and there is no way that I can make it pretty, as I can’t even go outside.
Whatever you do, don’t get old.
If you want to get it, you’d better show up the day the sale starts. That’s unusual.<<<
I haven’t been able to go shopping in several years and have to rely on a son to do it for me, he does not chase specials, he hates shopping, so I do not ask him to do more than he is already.
Without him, I would have to be in an old folks home, so I am gentle with him.
Prices, go up, so the sellers can make more profit, they raised them when the gas went super high, as their costs were more and did not lower them.
Or that is my guess.
That is a nice system, solar is a good way to go for a lot of our needs.
And if one can’t afford the fancy solar systems, there is always a fire in the front yard and a bucket with water to heat it.
Or as I have to do, as I can’t use my wood stove and be on my oxygen machine at the same time, and I pass out, so don’t play much with fire, you will wear 3 layers of clothing, wear a layer of plastic and keep your head covered.
If it gets too cold to sit up, the bed is there with its sleeping bag and a plastic bedspread [a good Walmart paint drop cloth] to seal the body heat in.
One survives, if one wants to do so.
My old wiring will not support electric space heaters.
Welcome to the thread, your ideas are good and I hope you will continue to share them with us, there are several that are wanting greenhouses and a couple that have them already.
We will probably be doing more canning now and less freezing. If one were to lose electricity all frozen food has maybe a little more than a week before going bad. Canned food lasts for years.<<<
Yes, can or dehydrate as much food as you can.
You are right, when prices come down, it will be due to less money to buy the product with.
When the electric is going to be off for awhile, wrap the freezer in quilts and it will help it last longer, that is what we did in Wellton, it was outside in the summer heat.
All of your post makes good sense to me, I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with us.
Dela Where is the most up to date on canning, he has answered and added links for several who had questions on the thread #1, on the last 2 or 3 pages.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts?page=9919#9919
Shop only in sales tax free states or over the internet. We live on the eastern shore of Md. 20 minutes to great tax free shopping. WE save 6% on everything we buy...
Gun sales spike amid fears of federal regulation
mive | 2/6/09 | By Brian McVicar
Posted on 02/08/2009 7:50:16 AM PST by Flavius
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2180958/posts
Heads up to the Garden Ping list.
You might just want to bookmark this, if the 1st thread is any indication, this one will rack up posts fast and furiously!!!
Thanks for the link, there is no better source of survival and frugal living, than what the Mormons publish.
When I found Walton Feed, I checked to be sure that the Mormon’s also shopped there and have been happy with their service and products, both the bulk and dehydrated, in cans and in bags.
The last time I shopped there, and all the times, it was cheaper than buying it in Kingman, even after paying UPS to deliver it to my front room.
Fresh, one forgets what fresh oats and beans look like, not like they do in the stores.
You are welcome here, I hope you will continue to share you good links and ideas with us.
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