Using the Good Stuff

A spirit of frugality is a wonderful thing. Most of the frugal who I am lucky to know are creative, resourceful, thoughtful souls.

There does seem to be a hidden danger to frugality, though; a subtle trap that many of us seem to give in to. Come closer and I’ll whisper it in your ear.

Hoarding.

Perhaps it’s because we truly appreciate the value of our dollar. Maybe we’ve had a few too many years of a few too few of those dollars to ever be loose and careless with them. Or perhaps it’s a simple matter of our being so good at saving and waiting that we simply forget that it’s good to use…in fact, it’s good to enjoy the things we have so carefully earned, saved and treasure.

One example of this is the concept of having “everyday dishes” and “Good China”…I’m guessing you know what I mean. There are the simple, indestructible, sturdy dishes that we use three meals a day, 364 days a year — and there are the lovely, beautiful, delicate dishes that we bring out on holidays.

Isn’t it ironic that it’s the bland, everyday dishes that our families will really remember? What messages do we send when we rarely bring out the “special” dishes? Isn’t the fact that we’re sitting down to eat together special?

Life is short. My kids will be grown and gone before I’ve managed to figure out a meal that they’ll all actually eat.

So I’m going to use the good dishes. In fact, I’ve repurposed a dish-drainer and put out a family-sized place setting of the good china on top of the dining room cabinet. Instead of being hidden away safely (and forgotten), we are going to use the good stuff.

When I’m gone and the kids are sorting through my “treasures”, I want them to say, “Remember these? They were the dishes we used at supper time. Remember when we…” and not, “Hey, aren’t those the dishes mom wouldn’t let us touch?”

That’s mine. What’s yours? Are you knitting though the bland yarn in your stash, refusing to touch the “good” stuff? Are your most luxurious sheets hiding in the linen closet? The best wine never opened?

Go for it. Use the good stuff.

It’s just stuff.

A Secret Crush…and I need help!

…I can’t deny it any longer. I adore vintage textiles.

I love the worn softness,

uniqueness,

the sense of history.

I especially love finding hand-embellished ones. It reminds me that our generation — especially us young moms, largely on our own and away from our families — are another link in the chain of women and mothers who have lived, created, and driven the world.

And will continue to do so.

We’re part of a long history of women who have faced up to hard times and determined not only to survive, but to thrive. To take the simple and ordinary and make it beautiful, using only our creativity and the resources at hand.

Amazing what thoughts a simple thrift-store treasure hunt can bring to mind, isn’t it? 

I’m planning on using the chenille bedspread for my daughter’s “big girl bed” that we’ll be setting up this weekend.

The tablecloth, I’m not sure about yet…it’s in lovely condition so I might use it as is…or perhaps it will become a sundress for my daughter this summer. Time will tell.

Oh, and I have a question for you — what should I do with this jug? It’s been sitting in my kitchen since our hot apple cider at Christmas, and I need to repurpose it…but as what?

Razzle-dazzle Dough-ya

This is a conglomeration of different recipes I’ve tried over the last six years. It’s easy to make with the kids, you don’t have to cook it over the stove,  it doesn’t smell disgusting and allows you to make different colors within one batch of dough. The glitter adds a fun bit of sparkle but you can easily leave that out. Consider jazzing it up with other small, non-perishable items — sequins, small beads, etc. You could also use peppermint or almond extract for a different scent.

As for playdough tools, I let the kids use my plastic cookie cutters and wooden rolling pin…they seem more interested by the “Real” tools than they have been by fancy little ones. They also love using cups, blunt children’s cutlery, and other randomly shaped and textured household items…just make sure whatever you give them is easily washable.

Razzle-Dazzle Dough-ya Recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 tbsp Cream of Tartar (4 tablespoons would extend the shelf-life, but I personally don’t like playdough to hang around more than 6 weeks or so. Little fingers put a lot of ickies into it.)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups boiling water
• Food coloring and glitter (optional)
• Mug and teabag (optional, but you’re probably going to need it if you’re making this with little helpers. )

Put the kettle on to boil. Prepare mug and teabag. Gather a large mixing bowl, wooden spoon, measuring cups and dry ingredients. Combine flour, salt, cream of tarter , vanilla and cooking oil in the mixing bowl.

When water boils, start your tea brewing, then add 2 cups of boiling water to the mixing bowl. Stir until the mixture is a big lumpy glob and cool enough to handle. Turn it out on the table or counter and knead well until smooth and supple.

Roll dough into a log and cut into four equal size pieces. Squish them into a fat pancake shape, and add a few drops of food coloring and maybe some glitter to the middle. Fold the pancake over on itself with the food coloring inside, then knead it well until the color is evenly distributed. (If you are concerned about stains, protect your work surface. If you don’t want technicolor hands, wear gloves.) Repeat with the other sections as desired.

Store in an air-tight container. Keeping it in the fridge will extend the life but isn’t mandatory. Now sit and enjoy your tea in the 10 minutes that all the kids are going to play happily before they start arguing over who gets the blue dough…

Really Look

When I preparing for the birth of my first child, I remember reading about having a “Focal Point” — the suggestion was to bring a picture or vase of flowers, something inspirational to focus on as a pain-coping technique.

I’m sure it would have worked wonderfully if my eyes were open. As it was, it turned out I coped best by ignoring everyone and everything in the room.

I have, however, found that having a focal point is a wonderful coping technique for THOSE days…you know, the days when it’s 9:30am and you’ve already had two toddlers in a half-hour meltdown each, couldn’t find your keys, had to scrounge up a lunch for your school-age child because you don’t want to take aforementioned toddlers grocery shopping, and subsequently skipped your own breakfast. You then caved to temptation, went through the drivethru for coffee and a muffin, and had one of the toddlers start puking while you ordered.

Yeah, THOSE days.

The days when you wonder how on earth mothers have survived for so many years. How your own mother survived. And why aren’t we paid more?

What I’m learning is that on days when it’s all falling apart around me, and it seems chaos might just win for the day — it helps to have a focal point. Something beautiful, simple, fresh — something that reminds me I am capable. I am skilled. I can and will survive this.

Sometimes it’s a recently completed knitting project. Other times, a really great picture one of my kids drew. Or, it can be as simple as this — freshly baked bread on an old vintage plate, the softly golden crust of the bread set off by the old blue-and-white of the plate. The textured crust against the smooth, aged finish.

Inspiring, in a very simple and tangible way…nice, isn’t it? Enjoy. I’m going to go clean puke off the carseat. And maybe ask for a raise.

Editing to add the link for Amish White Bread — it’s a moist, sweet bread. I made one loaf and did an 8×8 pan of rolls instead of a second loaf. Kids loved it.