Using a crafting hobby to help recycle.....

With school time around the corner and summer winding down, I just wanted to take a few minutes and let my fellow blogger readers out there know a little more about paper beads. This is how I used my crafting hobby to help reduce waste and help recycle. I wanted to share an easy way to help reduce the amount of waste that is thrown out. This is a great rainy day project and the kids will love to help too. It's so much fun for everyone to do.. be creative and come up with a recycling project of your own and see how much fun you can have.

Who knew recycling things could be such a fun hobby?? I know have found new ways to help reduce the amount of old cereal boxes, and other like boxes from being thrown in the trash. I have been working on paper beads the past few months as a way to recycle, but soon realized that I loved to make the beads. They are really quite easy and very fun to make. It doesn't take long to make them either, and the kids love to help with making them and decorating as well.

This can also be a great rainy day project for the kids or anyone... young or old. So many interesting things can be made using paper beads. You can create unique crafts, jewelery such as bracelets, earrings.... even belts. They make a great and awesome way to create a curtain to hang over a doorway. If you're crafty, inventive, and creative... the the possibilities are absolutely endless.

They can be painted and covered with either clear coat, polyurethane, or mod podge to help make the beads more durable. I have used clear nail polish on some of the ones that I have made. Also, for a different twist on your paper beading decor.... fimo slices that are glued onto the surface of the beads and then covered with a coat or 2 of a clear coating of your choice, to help make the bead durable. I have enjoyed working with the fimo slices on my beads as it gives them a 3-D looks and feel to them.

You can also decorate them with pictures, designs.. basically anything that your heart desires. The coolest part about the beads is.. they are tiny pieces of art, that are one of a kind..... so don't be afraid to get beading and be creative. This is sure to be a great conversation piece in your home... I know it is in our home. People just can't believe that beads can be made using paper or old product boxes. :) I've gotten alot of questions and odd looks when I am making them or decorating. The end result is always an amazing product.....

This was a very interesting way to let my creativity run wild and I had fun just seeing what all kinds of designs I could add to each bead to make them all one of a kind pieces of art. I have sold a few of them and several friends are speechless by how the beads look once they are strung together for a necklace. This is a splendid way to use what you have on hand, as well as helping to reduce waste and recycle. The kids will love helping you make this awesome hand-made beads. Perfect idea for a rainy day craft... or just whenever you need a quick and easy craft project. The possibilities are absolutely endless with what you can do when making paper beads. I hope that you enjoy reading my blog posts as much as I enjoy writing them. I would love to hear from readers, so please feel free to leave me a comment. Until next post.... May God bless!!

Can't Wait For School To Start....

You may not think that you can actually learn things from watching t.v., but there are some great educational shows that you can learn a lot from. Some of the shows can even be informative or mildly entertaining. I'm not one that will usually watch a lot of television, but there are a few shows that I catch in between or while I am cooking or cleaning. It's rare for me to have the time to sit down and watch an entire show or movie from start to finish. When I hear a certain word or phrase that catches my eye, I will usually take a break long enough to see what is being told about what I wanted to hear about.... in this case, the words "Wild Mint" caught my ear as I was preparing dinner the other night. I was watching a snippet (what I call a bit of any t.v. show or movie while I'm doing other things) from an episode of Call Of The Wildman, and learned that the weeds that we have growing all over various places in the yard were actually wild mint and that it can be used to deter rodents. Now I know why there have not been any rats or mice seen in any of the areas where the wild mint is growing. It was finally nice to be able to put the reason as to why the what we thought were weeds, were smelling like mint when we mowed those areas. This was amazing to learn, because I've been into learning about outdoor foraging and what purpose various weeds have.

There was a really great show that just went off that was talking about where many of the words that we use came from. I was not able to catch the name of the show because I was.. as usual cooking and doing dishes. I was however, able to catch a few bits of information about words and sayings that I would have never guessed where they came from. This has inspired me to look more into where we got most of our words from and use that as part of a lesson in our home-school studies. I was not aware about some of the things that was shown about many of the sayings and words that we use in our everyday language. This was something that I wished that they had taught us about in school. That is the great thing about home-schooling, you can teach things that are normally not taught or considered important in public school curriculum.

What I didn't like most about attending a public school while I was growing up, was that if you had questions about something that you did not understand, the teachers would act as though they didn't have the time to help you come to a better understanding of it. There would also be fellow classmates that would poke fun at me when I would ask questions, so I decided to save myself the embarrassment and go to the library to research and learn more into what I didn't know. If I still had any questions after that, I would confide in friends who were in higher grades to see if they knew about the subject. If none of those ideas worked, I would try to find a tutor, but usually the library worked enough for me.

I just didn't like to be laughed at, and I think to this day, that was what made my outlook on things backwards. I was more of a book nerd, but I did have friends and I was extremely shy. I'm way more outgoing than I was 18 years ago, and sometimes I think that if I had been as outgoing as I am now, that things would have been better with school... and perhaps less teasing. I had my share of bullies, but tried very hard to make the best of things. I never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings (still don't like to do that to this day) and just tried my best to ignore much of the bullying. It made me stay to myself more and grow to dislike going to school everyday. After all of the bad experiences I had in public school, I just didn't want our children to have a similar experience, because it seems that peers of today are a lot more cruel than they used to be.

When I would tell the teacher or anyone else about it, they would just shake it off, so I just got to where I never told anyone or asked for help, since I knew it would do no good to tell anyone. When I was in 2nd grade, I once got stuck sitting beside a much older student who was in the 7th grade. The girl would demand most of the entire bus seat or else she would poke me with a pencil, which she did very often. I got to where I would sit as closely to the window side of the bus seat and just ball up, in fear that she would jab me with the pencil again at any second. After a year of such horror, she was finally riding a new bus route, which was fine by me... no more of that awful pencil poking. It was quite painful and I think that the bus driver should have really done more about the situation, because I had told the bus driver several times about it, but I don't think that they even cared. There's no way that I would even consider letting our son's have to deal with this kind of thing.

I know that not all school are alike and that not all teachers are alike either, but we know several people who send their kids to public school and they have had to go to the school due to bullying, problems on the school bus, and other kids trying to pick fights over needless stuff. I'm not sure why things are allowed to go as far as they do until bullying escalates. I think that if a child comes to any member of the faculty, that they should help better protect students from such incidents. It's not just older students that bully, but also students that are the same age or grade that are like this as well. I have had my share of bullying and jeering, enough to know that more should be done in the public school system. This was another motivation for us to choose to home-school our children. It's just a shame that teachers and other administration will turn blindly to the side once a student has told them that they are being bullied or ridiculed. I guess it was because I was nerdy..... or maybe my looks.... or how I dressed, that caused me to be the target of bullies, I really don't know. I know one thing, it did make my whole public school experience a total nightmare and I would never want to relive those days or have my children experience something like I did.

I have learned a great deal of things from watching educational shows on television and by also doing a lot of reading. I admit that there were some things that we were taught in school, that I was left wondering why this was even in the curriculum. There were a few teachers along the way that would just show movies (non-educational, by the way) and not really teach us anything. I was sadden by that because I thought that they were supposed to have been teaching us something. I guess that is why I turned to self-educating myself about things that I did not understand or know about. Most of the things that I know now are from reading, research, and educational programming. I'm still a little wonky on fractions, measurements, and percents, due to how these areas were taught or simply in most cases just never taught at all. I plan to continue my studying alongside my children and teach them about things that I had problems with. I plan to include counting money and telling time into our lessons this year. Along the way, I will slowly add in some fractions, percents, and measures. I want to home-school our children because I love to spend time with them and because there is so much more to offer them than just a basic curriculum.

Also, moral and financial reasons are behind our decision to home-school. There are a lot of families that home-school in our area and there is even a group that meets several times each month so that the children can meet with other peers and participate in various activities. No, home-schooling does not mean that a child will not get to make friends or play sports, because that is very far from the truth. With area home-school groups, our children will get to have as many opportunities as many other children. Yes, many area groups have proms, field trips, and even graduations. I have been researching about home-school options for many, many years and I plan to incorporate various different styles into our learning. Since we will be doing this as a family, we will all learn something and enjoy the time that we spend together. God has led us to the final decision to home-school and I think that we will not have made any mistakes by doing so.

I'm excited to get started working on some of the learning games that we will be using in the lessons. I'm glad to have found that most of the things that you can use to home-school are pretty much free and cost very little. You don't always have to purchase the curriculum, which are most of the time pricey. I began looking last spring and getting catalogs from some of the home-school curriculum companies. I was shocked to see that many of the studies were just way out of our price range. I dug deeper and was able to find out that a lot of the things that you can use are free.... with some even being found at the Dollar stores. As we prepare for school, we as a family are excited and can't wait until what I like to call "tee-time" begins. I've always wanted to be a teacher deep down, but I never really knew it until we had children of our own. What a great experience this will be, with God by our side throughout everything. Take care and have a great day!! Until next post..... May God bless!!!

Time To Relax And Unwind....

After a long day hard at work canning and cleaning the house, it's finally time to relax a little and unwind. Yes, there's still loads of laundry that are still waiting to make it into the washer, but while I'm waiting it's nice to have a few minutes to play a game, write a blog post, or check by the inbox.

Late nights are usually my most relaxing time, because everyone else is asleep and I can get a lot of cleaning done without any delays or distractions. It's been raining here off and on the past 2-3 days, so I've been trying to get the kid's room cleaned and somewhat organized so that when they wake up... they will be like.. "Wow, let's play with the toys!!!" That usually keeps them occupied pretty well during the rainy days.

It's been said for many years by several older people that I know: "A woman's work is never done." I have found that to be true... that and the fact that there are just simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. Even spending most of the day multi-tasking doesn't help get everything done.... At some of the busiest parts of the day, it's quite easy to have so many things going on at once, that I have overlooked and even forgotten things.

I'm always kidding that it's just old age catching up with me.... lol. My desk will usually have a small stack of post-it notes sitting somewhere with things that I needed to remember or will need to look back at for reference. I've gotten around to making time each week to clean and organize my computer desk.... at some of the busiest times during the course of the week, it can be a total jungle over here.

During the next week or two, I plan to sit down and make sure that everything is in order so that we can be ready for school to start. I know that each day has it's own schedule and whenever you plan to do anything, something always has a way to knock you off chart. I've gotten most things ready, but there are still some things that need to be straightened out and organized better.

One of the things that I have been trying to do for years is to stop taking on more new projects. It seems like each time that I find a new hobby or project that I really enjoy, something always has a way to delay me or keep me so busy that I can barely have the time to finish or complete anything. I used to love doing latch-hook rugs, but I still had a latch-hook rug set that I had begun working on when I was 10 years old and I never got the time to finish it.

Although I had worked on it and got probably 40% of the rug complete, I never could find the time to finish it. Sad thing is, I can't remember what I did with it. A few years later someone had given me another latch-hook rug set, but this time I was smart.... I did not work on it at all. I re-gifted it to someone else who happened to have a lot of free time and was actually looking to take up a new hobby.

I try very hard to not take on more than I can handle, but these days.... people seem to put more off on me than I can bear. It's not easy to stomach most days, but I'm certain that God has His reasons for why so much is being put off on me right now. I have taken up paper bead making since last summer and have come to find that it helps reduce stress.

I've made a lot of them and have even sold a few of them online, which made all of the hard work worth it. I plan to stick with this hobby as it's something that the kids' enjoy helping with, because it's a great way for them to practice their cutting skills. I just love to make them and decorate them... who knew that rolling paper beads could actually be relaxing.

Machine sewing quilting tops were one of my favorite things to do, but ever since the sewing machine hasn't been acting right... it's been hard to get back to finishing some unfinished quilting projects that I had started years ago.... arrggghhh My thinking about those lately is that maybe one of these days things will work out to where I can sew on them and finally get them done one day.

I wish that there were more hours in the day to take more time to relax, have fun, and enjoy life..... I think that all the stress that comes from bills, work, and life just can at most times keep us so busy that we forget to stop and smell the roses. I love the days that are slower paced, because those are the days that I can get more done and seem to get rejuvenated with newly found energy.

Just being able to slow down in today's fast-paced society helps make life run more smoothly. At times it's hard to do that, but I'm trying diligently to make time for everything and take time to really enjoy life. I have found myself wishing some days that I could just go back and slow life down to where just one day seems like forever to go by. It seems like now, days just pass by faster, with just one blink of an eye.. a whole month has passed by and that's scary actually.

Well.... with all of this said, always remember to take time for everything, whether it's to play with your kids more or to take time to finish things. One of these days you will have wished that you had spent more time doing things that you enjoyed and relaxed with your family more. I know that I have wished that a few times lately. Things that overwhelm us and drive us crazy, always have a weird way of making us appreciate everything more. Take care and have a great night!! Until next post.... May God bless!!

Another Crazy Summer's Day....

It's finally time to get started canning today.... I think that canning and preparing things will soon become verry important. I plan to can some squash for winter, but along the way, I will still always manage to put some vegetables and fruit into freezer bags to place in the freezer for later use. If all goes well, I plan to make some various types of jellies and jams... because who doesn't just love some tasty home-made jelly?? It seems that sometimes I can never seem to can enough fruit or squash for the winter months. Another vegetable that seems to be a favorite around here is okra, so we plan to plant larger crop in the garden this year.

I always try to can as much tomatoes, greens, potatoes, cabbage, beans, and fruit. We love to eat a lot of fresh fruit cobblers and pies, so making sure that I have enough fruit to last us the winter is important. There's nothing more tasty than fresh home-made soup.... I have found that when I fix a large batch of soup, I will put smaller portions of soup in the freezer to help make a quick meal when you're in a pinch for time. I also try to make up some extra pancakes or waffles and place on a cookie sheet to stick in the freezer for about 45 minutes. Then I also add the pancakes or waffles to a plastic zip-lock bag. The same thing can also be done to any extra biscuits so that you will have some on hand for later on.

To help make making home-made dressing a little less time consuming, I often freeze any extra cornbread in zip loc bags. That way when I need some cornbread for my dressing recipe or for any casserole recipe, I can whip it all up in a hurry, wihtout having to make another batch. It has helped me stretch everything, as well as reduce wasting anything. I'm not a fan of wasting anything, so when I am able to find ways to help conserve and put things back for later use, I will. A lot of folks find this to be strange, but with the way things are economically and financially for our family, every thing that I can save, can, or prepare ahead of time helps out tremendously. It may not make sense to everyone, but this is a great way for anyone who wants to try something new or different in order to help stretch whatever your budget can afford.

For us, canning and putting food up from the garden for future use just makes sense and is not really hard to do, as some would have you to believe. It can be done in smaller batches or large.... just whatever you have on hand at the time works even better. If you don't have a pressure canner.. don't feel bad, you can still put up vegetables, fruit, and left overs in plastic zip-loc bags. We have never had anything go bad or become freezer burned, because we always use whatever we have put up in the freezer. We have had very few things go bad with our canned items, but the few times that something has spoiled was due to someone bumping the jars over, which broke the seal, without being spotted in time.

Since we have pets, nothing scrap wise ever goes to waste. What the dog doesn't eat, the cats will always eat the rest of. Any fruit, pasta, rice, bread, or vegetable scraps go to the chickens. Not only has this been a treat for our birds, but they enjoy their treats, which makes for some very happy birds. So even scraps are not wasted, because there is always some eagerily, happy pets waiting for meal-time to arrive. If I happen to have bones left-over from a meal, I will wash them clean and put in a crockpot so that they will cook slow enough to crush easily and they can be added to the pets' food. They find this to be very tasty and enjoy this special treat.

There are lots of ways to reduce waste and stretch things, and I will talk about more ways to do this in future posts.... so please stay tuned. As a busy wife, mother, and homeschool family, it's often hard to write as frequently as I would like to, but when I get a few minutes to sit and write I do. As school times gets closer, I'm very certain that schedules will be crazy and things will be even busier, but I do plan to write as often as I possibly can. Happy Belated 4th of July weekend!! Take care and have an awesome remainder of your weekend!! Until next post..... May God bless!!!