Five "Shirt into a Skirt" Ideas

As I was rummaging through my closet this morning, trying to decide what to wear on this cold day, I ran across a pair of fleece lined leggings. They seemed so cozy and perfect for today's weather. The only problem was, the only skirt I had to wear with them was too big because of all my weight loss this year.

I hopped on Pinterest and searched for "DIY no sew skirt." A ton of pins came up with everything from drawstring skirts to t-shirt skirts. The t-shirt idea seemed easiest and really inspired me. So I went into my closet and started looking through my shirts to see if I could come up with any ideas. I tried on about 8 different shirts and 5 of them looked good!

From experience, let me suggest that if you are a curvy girl, it may be best to slip the shirt over your head and arms instead of trying to step into it... The basics: You just roll up the collar of the shirt around your waste until it is the desired length and then tuck the sleeves into the part that you rolled. Once you put a shirt or cardigan over it, you can't even see the little bit of extra fabric.

My first try was with this tunic shirt. This is the one I've been wearing all day and I'm here to say that it stayed this way without a problem!

My second try was this light weight, sparkly black sweater. I was pleasantly surprised by the results! Because of the stretchy material, it was easy to put on and tuck into the right shape.

Next I decided to try something without sleeves. I found my sweater vest/tank topish thing (I'm actually not sure what it was originally designed for, but I use it to layer over button-ups). I really like the look and it was an added bonus not have to deal with tucking sleeves in anywhere!

 Fourth was a cardigan. I was not sure how I would like it with the buttons going down the front, but I actually don't mind the buttons. If I was going out somewhere, I probably would not pair it was another cardigan on top though. All those buttons look a little funny to me, but with a solid top, I think it would be cute!

Lastly, I grabbed my poncho. I thought the asymmetrical fabric might give a cool look. It's harder to see in this picture because of the black, but I felt cute in the outfit! It was definitely something different from all the other looks, but still very fun.

This was such a fun way for me to invent new looks without having to pay a cent or spend time sewing anything! I'm sure you have some unique things to try in your closet, so I hope you were inspired by this post to have some fun and try on some different looks!

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

I don't know about anyone else, but Fall is one of my most favorite times of the year! One of the reasons its my favorite is PUMPKIN! I love all things pumpkin! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin chai tea lattes, pumpkin chili, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cider (that's right, I have recipes for alllll these things and I plan on sharing!).

So when I started getting the pumpkin itch, I checked out the prices on canned pumpkin. I was not thrilled, to say the least. I bought a few cans, but at $1.88 a can (the small ones), I knew it was going to be a budget buster if I bought enough for all my recipes. 

The next time I went to the store, they had put those huge bins of pumpkins out in the front of the store. I saw $0.25/lb and I was struck with a brilliant idea! Why don't I make my own pumpkin puree? Now I know what you're thinking. Those are carving pumpkins. Wouldn't they taste funny? Well, I'm here to tell you that they don't!

I picked out two small ones, about 6 lbs each and paid $3.

When I got home, I preheated the oven to 375 F. I cut off the top of the pumpkin to remove the stem and then cut them each in half. I scooped out the guts and saved them to make roasted pumpkin seeds later. I cut each piece in half, so that the pumpkins were in quarters. I laid them on a cookie sheet, no need to be fancy about. I just smooshed them all on there. 

After baking for 45-60 minutes, they got nice and soft in the oven. When a fork easily poked through the skin, they were done. After they cooled slightly, I took one section at a time and laid it on a cutting board, skin side up. The pieces will still have a bend to them, which makes it difficult to cut the skin off. I just flatten each section with my hand and then used a sharp knife to cut the skin off.

       

After removing the skin of 2 or 3 pieces, I tossed them into the food processor. I blended until the mixture looked smooth. I poured it into a big bowl and repeated the whole process until all the sections had been processed.

Since most recipes call for a can of pumpkin, I checked how many cups were in the small can I had left: 1 3/4 cups. So I measured that into small freezer baggies and ended up with 6 baggies worth! That's $0.50/bag and saves $1.38 compared to the price of the small off-brand can! I simply stored them in the freezer and they have kept and defrosted beautifully!

Before I went shouting about my savings from the rooftops, I wanted to make sure it stood the taste test. I wasn't totally sure it would, since the color of my homemade version was considerably lighter than the canned version. Donald decided to try it in a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. We loved them! He took some to work the next day and his co-workers begged him to bring more! 

I also noticed that my local Kroger store (Smith's) just lowered their pumpkin prices to $0.18/lb! This actually included their Sugar Pie Pumpkins!! So I grabbed 10 and plan to stock up the freezer with more pumpkin puree for the holidays! I have heard rumors that pumpkin prices drop dramatically after Halloween, so it may be worth stocking up then too!

 Happy pumpkin cooking!

How We Got Here: The Homemade Lifestyle

Since moving to Nevada, Donald and I have taken a particular interest in being more self sustaining and living the homemade lifestyle in order to become healthier and save money. I'm sure many of you have seen the postings on my Facebook about homemade this and DIY that. Being so far away from many of our family and friends makes it difficult to share this new lifestyle we are so thrilled about, so we started talking about a blog. 

Our inspiration for this kind of lifestyle really was inspired by us moving in with Bryan and Becca (Donald's brother and sister-in-law). We lived with them for our first 8 months in Nevada. Becca introduced me to a diet (more a lifestyle) called the Weston A Price diet. It is based around eating whole foods and getting back to some of the more traditional dietary practices. Becca and I also spent time discussing different DIY projects we'd seen on Pinterest. They piqued my interest, but I didn't do much with them at that point. At the same time, I started working for a great family who ate the Paleo diet, which has a lot of similarities to the Weston A Price diet. After hearing and observing so many of the benefits to this kind of lifestyle and being sick of dealing with my own chronic illness issues, I made a drastic step. I cut out almost all of the processed foods I was eating and switched to a whole foods diet. I also stopped using the conventional medicines I was taking for my chronic illness and switched to a combination of homeopathic supplements. Within weeks, my chronic illness went from almost everyday flare ups to one every week or two (and eventually got to the point of only one or two flare ups a month).

I also started losing weight! I didn't watch my calories or start working out. I just ate clean, which included a lot of healthy fats! My weight loss started in January and as of October 2nd, I have lost 51 pounds!

All along, Donald was open to the idea of eating clean. He was very supportive and proud of my efforts. When we moved into our house in August, I decided to turn things up a notch and start making almost every meal entirely from scratch. It was at this point that Donald decided to fully commit to eating clean and he has lost 20 pounds since then!

After moving into our new house, our jobs did not worked out quite as we expected (which now looking back is quite a blessing), so our budget was tighter than we had hoped. I had been looking for more work, but was having difficulty finding it and Donald's promotion was postponed. So I approached him with a money saving idea: homemade and DIY as much as possible, everything from household cleaners to toiletries. He told me to go for it and was excited to see what I came up with. With a little help from Pinterest, I found and tweak recipes to meet our specific needs. I started making things like homemade deodorant, stain remover, fabric softener, and decided to try the no-shampooing challenge myself. Even as our budget has gotten a little less tight, we have no desire to go back to buying commercially made products. In fact, we have made plans to continue to expand our self sustaining ways! We love this homemade lifestyle, with the health and savings it has given us! 

Many of our family and friends have expressed interest in the recipes we use and how we have achieved our weight loss. So this is where we plan to share them and hopefully inspire others to take the homemade lifestyle challenge themselves! Here are just a few things you can look forward to seeing in future posts:

Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Jams and Canning

Freezer Preserving

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade Cultured Cheeses

DIY Cleaning Wipe Recipes

How I stock the freezer with meat for cheap

We hope that you will join us on this homemade journey and be inspired by our lifestyle!