http://www.angelfire.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html/ I’ve never seen so many free patterns in one place! 

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/Free_Sewing_Projects.htm About.Com’s Free Sewing Projects page

http://www.craftfreebies.com/sewing.html Many, many more sewing patterns

The above sites include patterns for children, dolls, babys, adults, objects, kitchen/bathroom/bedroom/home, and so much more.  I’m a woman on a mission, preparing for Christmas a bit earlier than usual this year because I want to sew a lot of my gifts (for my children and family and friends) and time for sewing is incredibly limited between homeschooling, raising three small children, taking care of my husband, trying to rest while pregnant, taking care of our home, gardening and running a busy business… But I am so inspired thanks to these links!  So many cool things I never even considered making, and things that I’d never buy, but if i can make them out of the fabric I already have, it may be worth making!

http://tipnut.com/35-reusable-grocery-bags-totes-free-patterns/

Grocery bags, all purpose carry bags, produce bags…  My favorite are #1 and #2 so far.

I was thumbing through one of my favorite country living books, Storey’s Basic Country Skills, and came across some great curtains for the country home.  These are great because they are #1 functional, #2 cute, and #3 Very easy to make.  I’m going to start on mine tomorrow I think - I need curtains on one of my windows and am just sick and tired of making simple straight curtains!  By the way, if you want really easy directions for making curtains I’ll include them here (how I did them, anyway).

To see tab curtains in action and how to make them, visit Here and Here.  If you shop at wal-mart, the one in Monroe has $1/yd fabric and I love their selection. 

To make basic, simple no-frills curtains you need to start off with your window measurements from the rod to the bottom of the window (or a few inches below it) and from side to middle (or a couple inches wider)

Cut your fabric according to those directions (you’ll need two peices), but be sure to add extra length and width for hemming.  If you plan to use these curtains from one room to another and mix them around a bit, make them long enough to fit your longest window, and just hem it up if you move it to a shorter window.  For a super wide window moving to a narrow window this idea may not work so well though, so keep width in mind.  Fold and press the edges, and fold and press again to hide the raw edge.  Sew the edges.  Then for the top you want to create your opening for the curtain rod by folding the top down a couple of inches and sewing again.  You can line the edges of your curtains with a color or pattern that compliments the main curtain color if you wish.  I did this by measuring my edges before folding the top down for the curtain rod, figuring out how wide I needed this strip of fabric including width to fold in the raw edge and press to keep it in place.  Then I lined the strip of fabric up with the edge of my curtain and sewed it on.

Boy it seems all I’m doing these days is posting links instead of explaining things myself.  But I’m finding so many great links I am hoping you’re all enjoying them.

I came across a neat site with gardening projects for kids, and also easy instructions to make your own newspaper pots. http://www.global-garden.com.au/gardenkids.htm is the link, which gives you a bunch of great educational activities AND projects to make useful stuff.   Want to make a barometer?  Garden pond?  What about a scarecrow?  Autumn leaf wrapping paper?  I’m going to have a fun time planning some activities for the kids from this site!  We homeschool and I bet you can figure out what our main focus is this time of the year! 

I thought I’d share some of our recent and upcoming projects!  I know I’ve been pretty pathetic at blogging lately, so here are some projects to keep you busy until my next post

Homemade Peanut Butter

Make ‘Puffed Rice’ and What you can do with puffed rice

How to make essential oils & Another technique that most of us can use at home

Make Yogurt in a crockpot, Buttermilk, Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese

Yummy oatmeal recipes

Mmmm.  Not exactly low in fat!  Very mmmm though - and freezes great!  I usually eat half of this recipe and freeze the other half - still raw - to use in a future meal.  To cook the frozen recipe I stick it in the fridge overnight until thawed, then cook as directed.

 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 bunches of broccoli
2c grated cheddar cheese
2c grated mozzarella cheese
4 cloves garlic
2-3 tsp. paprika
3-4 tsp. italian seasoning
1-2 tsp. black pepper

Enough breadcrumbs to coat (Do NOT include in above mixture)

Using a sharp knife, slice a hole in one end of the chicken and carefully open the inside of the breast up by sliding the knife around the inside - trying NOT to cut through the edge.  The idea is to create a pocket.

Steam the broccoli until tender.  Mix above ingredients well except breadcrumbs - I use my fingers to flip the mix around so the broccoli doesn’t get too smooshed.

Stuff those chicken breasts full of the mixture.  Roll well in bread crumbs.

Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

You can also add seasoning to your breadcrumbs.  Sometimes I add basil or parsley (or both), a bit of salt and pepper, whatever you like.

I just found this new resource, “You Grow Girl” which is a very informative website on gardening and the things you can do with what you grow.  I stumbled upon her post about how to make your own seed starting mix.  Judging by how many big bags I have to buy each season, this may turn out to be a better option!  I think I’m set this season, but the next time I’m at the right store I’ll try to find and price these materials, and report back

See it here: http://www.yougrowgirl.com/thedirt/2008/02/14/mix-up-your-own-seed-starting-mix/#more-1213

Found from www.giftsfromyourkitchen.com

Beef Stew Seasoning Mix recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons oregano
2 tablespoons basil
4 1/4 tablespoons salt
4 1/4 tablespoons black pepper
4 1/4 tablespoons garlic powder
4 1/4 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons celery seed
4 1/4 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl. Pour into a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

To use: Add 2 to 3 tablespoons per 2 pounds of meat

It’s live!  Finally!  I’ve gotten around to creating a resource website on the things my family and I do to ‘work with the land’ and save money.  It’s no where near done - I have a ton of articles I am still working on but felt I had enough content to put the site up.

http://www.motherhoodnaturally.com/homestead/home.htm is the link.  Bookmark it and check back often.  As I go through my day I keep getting reminded of things that might be helpful to add to there, so I add it to my list and when I have a few minutes to write it up, I will!

Let me know what you think!

The kids and I made bagels today.  My oldest, Alexis (she’s almost 4!) did a great job of forming the balls and poking holes in them, and my middle kiddo, Andrew, did a great job of watching my mixer to let me know when the dough was all done (and stopped our kitchen timer when it went off!).  My mom got me a KitchenAid for Christmas so we’ve been having fun using it for nearly everything (I’m not a big fan of tons of appliances for my kitchen - I like my food processor, my kitchenaid and my crockpot and pressure canner… Those are about the only ones I have and use)

So bagels were todays project.  It’s a simple recipe and a simple doing:

Mix 3 cups warm water, 2 packets of yeast (or 4.5 tsp.) and 3 teaspoons of honey or sugar.  Let this proof until foamy.

Add in 1 tsp. salt, 4c unbleached bread flour and 4c whole wheat flour.  Knead until smooth.  Grease a bowl, flop your dough around in it to coat all sides and cover with a towel or plastic. Let rise until double, about 1 hour, in a warm place.

Punch down and break into 18 equal peices.  Get a big pot of water with 2 tablespoons of sugar boiling.  Form your dough bits into round balls, flatten and poke a hole in the middle.  Once water is boiling, add your flattened rounds a couple at a time and boil 1 minute on one side, flip, and boil another minute.

With a slotted spoon, remove your bagels and set on a greased cookie sheet.  Once they’re all done boiling, cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.