Why Do I Make Stuff that is Cheaper to Buy Already Made?

As I was looking around my home, gazing at some of the kooky inventions I've made over the past few years....I began to realize that perhaps some folks might wonder....just why does this chick feel the need to make so many things herself? Doesn't she know that it's easier and usually cheaper to just buy the same things conveniently in the store? Why is she just such a diy crafter/maker???


Well, I began to ponder again....as I looked at our living room garbage can and wondered if I could make one of my own from scrap wood.... perhaps there is method to my madness.

Perhaps this is my attempt to de-construct modern life.....perhaps so that I can begin just to understand it a little bit better. Maybe....just maybe if I can reverse engineer and make from scratch many of the things we buy from stores so quickly...I just might be able to prepare for a time when "stuff" might be harder to find or afford.

Maybe if I am able to make up to 50% of the items I use on a daily basis, I could actually survive if my comfy modern society collapsed. Maybe that's why I insisted to learn how to fish and caught one for the first time this summer ....since I was a little. Perhaps that's another reason why I relish those reality shows that teach foraging and "freegan-ism". Perhaps that's why I applaud the City of Toronto so loudly for launching a "back yard chicken" pilot project  in 2017..

I hate being dependent.....and that includes being dependent on all the luxuries that all of us folks in my Province of Ontario, Canada....take utterly for granted.....like being able to buy fresh food in the grocery store and plug in an appliance into the wall and poof Voila.....it works perfectly and at a pretty low cost for the electricity too. At this point, I merely dabble in Urban homesteading......but I brag loudly about growing my own food....but the total food I glean from my home gardens could probably be packed into about three shoe boxes per  year.

But yes, I must impress myself....there is no need to impress anyone else. My dabbling has purpose....it has an energy all to itself. It's the reason I will drive to the next town to shop at my fave homespun dutch farm to buy fresh apples, kale, local honey and frozen pie. Having an apple orchard within a short drive is a great idea......no matter if you are a prepper or a preppie.

It's the reason I read with eager anticipation any media blurbs about the "good food box" program that runs in my city, even though I have yet to buy even one.....

We have to be forwardly energized to take care of ourselves and each other....no matter what the future holds.

 Well, ....what does that look like?
Does it mean that we all need a bigger patch of land in our community gardens? Does it mean that we re-learn so many of the pioneer skills that early Canadians shed once the commercial stores were fully entrenched into Canadian modern life?

Do we need to re-learn how to sew our own clothes? I've gotten pretty good at knitting bags and hats.....freestyle from memory of an old pattern I learned 20 years ago and have since re-engineered to be more me-ish.

I know how to make my own homemade soap....but with store bought lye...( just not ready yet to force myself to cook up some diy lye from hardwood ashes....for some ideas click Diy lye )

And at the end of the day....I am still not satisfied.....not satisfied that I/we am ready.....that I am prepared for "whatever" comes.

For the record....I am not afraid.... I would prefer the word "concerned".....as I see the lethargy...the passivism, the brand name worship and the droves of young folks who can't name even one handy skill that they have mastered other than how to post their fave pics on facebook. I see us so utterly dependent on a very complicated city wide infrastructure...water systems, roads and hydro to name a few.

What we can't make....we can't understand....and what we can't understand....we can't repair or modify in case of emergency.

I must lament....... the shame of it all....the wasted talent, time and creativity that young and old people need  to reclaim. It is still there....lying inert and docile.

Young people CAN be empowered to build their own homes, however lopsided or code violating, but none the less....their own shelters complete with home made floors and roofs..

My son just turned 19....and he and his friends still love to build forts in the woods. And yes, he is tech savvy and wastes too much time on video games...but he has cornered the market on his own creativity.....enjoying the thrill of building, planning, and yes, hanging out in his own self built fort up in the trees.

I don't worry about my son, because he knows how to make stuff. He knows how to create and he's not afraid to scuff up his shoes.

I worry more about my middle aged generation who were taught to get rid of the flip flops and don
pumps and leather lap top cases to impress a faceless corporation while someone else raised their kids, chasing Preppie Nervana.....propped up on pillows bought from Pier One Imports.

I lament myself....and gave myself a good lecture today...because I was a part of the brand name revolution. I loathed home made clothes and was eager to use debt to buy shiny clothes in order to impress the invisible folks that only existed in my imagination.

I might have thought twice to learn more....how to create my own fashion, my own style and patent that...this crafting-making-stubborn-seed saving-urban-homesteading-mama style that I am toting.

Well...I gotta run...... there's still time...... society has not collapsed and our beloved high tech infrastructure still stands.....for now.

In Peaceful productivity,

C.



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3 Easy Steps to Chop $ FAST OFF your Household Bills

This is gonna be a REALLY short post...so pay attention.
If you implement only these 3 EASY Steps, you will IMMEDIATELY start saving money OFF your household bills:
NUMBER 1: 
 Start doing ALL your laundry in COLD water. Not cool water, not warm water...but COLD WATER.
This will immediate start saving you money on whatever your home uses to heat your hot water.
If using COLD water to do your laundry makes you uncomfortable, I would encourage you to run a personal experiment and do one full day of laundry using ONLY COLD water and see if you can notice and lowering in the quality of your laundry. I dare ya! Most most most people can not notice ANY difference at all in the quality of their laundry after switching to washing in cold water!

NUMBER 2:

 Unplug STUFF that you don't use on a daily basis. What kinda stuff you may ask?
Well, stuff like your electric blender or your DVD player. Why? Because when electrical items are plugged in, even if the power button is "off", still drain a small electric current from your outlets ....and that constant tiny drain of electrical current is called "PHANTOM" power.
PHANTOM POWER costs you MONEY! So, anything that you don't utilize personally on a daily basis can be happily unplugged RIGHT NOW and only plugged back in WHEN YOU NEED IT.
Stroll through your home and see what items are plugged into EACH electrical outlet in your home. Is there a lamp that no one uses? UNPLUG IT! 

NUMBER 3:

Start super duper shopping and stocking up on the LOCAL LOSS LEADERS. What is that you say?
LOCAL LOSS LEADERS are items that grocery chains and department stores sell "BELOW COST" in order to draw customers into their stores. They don't make money from selling those items, but they use them as a very effective method of getting more humans into their stores. The stores know that once someone is physically present in their stores, the odds of them buying ONLY the loss leader items is very low....so the know that  the customers will wind up buying at least several other items while they are in the store. The stores know that they will earn a profit from these other items, even if they lose money from the "LOSS LEADER" items.
So what, in your local stores are the LOSS LEADERS? For us, it is totally BANANAS. Literally, bananas are a very effective high volume sales item that almost EVERY large grocery store and/or department store in my city carries. The prices are literally ROCK BOTTOM and there is even a price war going on to reach the lowest of the lowest LOSS LEADER PRICES.

So, in closing, stock up on these items...whatever they may be in your city.....
( some plentiful and very low priced well stocked items) and use them to keep your pantry full. Your family will thank you for it and your wallet will too :)

Peacefully productive,
Carla.


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Doggy Bone Soap....Homemade and EASY PEASY

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Well, this is my second batch of home made soap. Looks like a doggy bone but smells like a gingerbread cookie and lathers up great.
You can see the link to the recipe below and all I added was my own preferred amounts of dried cinnamon and clove spices. Then I cut it into pieces after it hardened enough after 24-48 hours and I've been letting it dry and cure for at least 4 more weeks. I was hoping to wait 6 weeks before trying it out, but just couldn't wait!

And yes again, I did NOT have to go out and buy expensive items in order to learn how to make my own soap.
No weigh scale was needed, and I stirred it myself with a wooden stir stick. No need to buy a stick blender unless you really want to.....
The only curious thing about this soap is that due to the spices I used it does have a brownish tinge to the lather... Hmmm I wonder if it would leave a bit of color residue on cotton clothing if some dripped onto it by mistake. Not sure yet how that all works ")

Want to learn how to make your own soap from scratch like I did?The old fashioned way? Just go to
www.diynatural.com
Their instructions are easy to follow and in my estimation...superb!