Holidays By Hand

This week Holidays by Hand is hosted by Kelly at Almost Frugal. She has a roundup of wonderful ideas to take a bit of ribbon (or thread) and create something unforgettable for the holidays. Go, check it out and get inspired!

Next Tuesday, I'm the host and I'll be featuring simple, fun knitting projects. If you have a project, no matter how humble, send me an email and the link and next week, I'll make you a knitting star - at least for a day. Plus I'll tell you the story of how I learned to knit!

Holidays By Hand

Today Holidays By Hand is hosted by Rachel at smallnotebook. She has a wonderful gathering of paper craft projects. Some of them look so easy, I think I might give them a try!

Click here for information about upcoming Holidays by Hand roundups and how you can share your own ideas.

Holidays By Hand

Change is afoot, oh internet of mine. Mrs. G is edging out of her comfort zone. Laura's moving to Arkansas and I am doing something I have never done before. Behold:

This is the song we sing at my house: Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and the next verse should probably be, and your wallet is getting very thin and worn out.

I'm hoping, this year, to gather and make a lot of holiday gifts with my own hands, to have a greener and simpler holiday and to give my wallet a rest. As some of you know, I'm not a particularly "crafty" person. I knit, not particularly well but with a weird kind of obsessive passion. (Do you want to see my sock? Do you?!) I can be all thumbs when it comes to holiday projects – I need some crafty help and if you need crafty help, do I have some good news for you!

I am participating in Holidays by Hand, a round up of tried and true, simple, handmade gift ideas hosted by some very crafty bloggers, and of course, me.

Here's the lineup.

Tsh at Simple Mom kicks things off on November 4 with SEWING projects. Contact Tsh at tsh at simplemom.net to join in.

On November 11 Rachel at Small Notebook will present PAPERCRAFTING ideas. Contact Rachel at smallnotebook at gmail.com to join in.

On November 18 Kelly at Almost Frugal will present projects using RIBBON and THREAD. Contact Kelly at almost frugal at gmail.com to join in.

November 25 is my turn to host. Come by and see some quick and easy KNITTING projects. Email me at lauraruthhealy at gmail.com to join in.

Nicole at Gidget Goes Home will host on December 2 featuring QUILTING projects. Contact Nicole at nicoleviola at gmail.com to join in.

Ann at One Bag Nation, on December 9 will be featuring holiday FOOD gifts. Contact Ann at lilyolil at comcast.net to join in.

So every Tuesday (don't worry, I will remind you), November 4^th through December 9^th, go get some ideas and contribute your own great ideas for the holiday season.

The Great Grocery Experiment

I am always looking for ways to save money on groceries. Recently I read an article that suggested, if you normally shop once a week, to shop for two weeks at a time. Suggesting that you would not just spend twice as much, you would save some money. This requires pretty serious meal planning and that is not one of my favorite things to do. But I sat down yesterday, planned two weeks worth of dinners and set off to the store this morning with a long list and more than a little skepticism.

I think I did spend a little less, but there are some major drawbacks to this plan. First, two weeks worth of groceries (at least for my little family) is a lot. There was a lot of stacking and rearranging necessary to fit everything in the cart and it was heavy. The grocery checkers may look at you like you're nuts. It was also a giant pain in the lower back to haul all those groceries from the car into the house. I put things away and now the fridge is quite full and the freezer too. The only thing I should have to buy for the next two weeks is milk.

Now I know, that just physically staying out of the grocery store will save me money. I like the idea of not having "grocery shopping" on my to do list for such a long chunk of days, and there's something really satisfying about knowing the pantry's full. It also feels pretty good to have made the "what's for dinner" decisions for awhile - no more 4pm hand-wringing.

So now the question is, can I really do it? Can I stick to my meal plans and stay out of the store for two weeks? I'll keep you posted.