These colorful little fishies are made from felt. the entire project only cost me 75 cents for the felt pieces because I had all the other supplies on hand.

You need:

• Felt in assorted colors
• washers
• Embroidery floss
• A plastic grocery bag
• A strong magnet
• 1/2-inch diameter dowel
• Yarn

Cut out two matching fish shapes from the felt for each fish. Sew the designs and eyes on. I used beads for the eyes, but you can use felt if you need to avoid choking hazards. For my designs, I used different shapes and numbers of shapes. This is to allow my sister-in-law to make the game more challenging, by asking my nephew to pick up the numbered fish in order or to only catch fish featuring a specific shape or color.

Sew the two fish shapes together with a blanket stitch, leaving the nose open. Cut a bit off the plastic bag and stuff the fish loosely through the nose. The bag gives the fish some plush and makes a pleasant crinkly sound. Insert the washer into the nose, between the fish layers, and stitch it securely in place.

For the fishing pole, cut the dowel to an 8- to 10-inch length. Drill a small hole through one end and tie the yarn fishing line through it. Tihttps://www.google.com/e the magnet to the other end.

Make as many fish as you want! I’m packaging this in a small cloth bag I sewed so he can keep his game together and store it easily. This project is simple enough for an older sibling to make, as well.

Here’s a sneak peek at the holiday goodness going on around here. We’re all busy cutting, gluing, sewing and creating. Over the next few weeks I’ll share what I’m making and hope it inspires you to make a few things, too!

We have a small holiday gift budget this year, the smallest ever. Most years I spend $100 to $150 for gifts, but this year it was whittled down to $50 because we had to raid it for other expenses.

Thankfully, I can make and I have a huge stash to make with. I always craft a few of my children’s gifts. My children are also happy with second hand gifts. As Aioden is known for saying when he gets the I-wants: “Momma! I didn’t say we had to buy it, we can just make it or get it at the thrift store!”

My list this year:

Brandon- 11 years old, obsessed with Legos, Star Wars, camping, reading and art

Aioden- 11 years old, obsessed with Star Wars, building things, crafts and hockey

Jet- My oh-so-sweet 6 month old nephew that lives too far away, which breaks my heart.

Damien- My other sweet nephew. He’s 3 years old and loves a challenge. He also lives too far away

Andrew- My husband, the tehnophile. The most difficult person on my list.

My mom- One of the easier ones on my list

My dad- Another tough nut to crack, mainly because he never seems to want anything.

Assorted friends, neighbors and relative group gifts- Easy, sine something edible typically goes over well with this group.

I’m also making our holiday cards this year. My stash of purchased cards finally ran dry, but my stash of scrapbook papers and supplies will likely never run out. (I buy by the box at garage and church sales for assorted paper crafts). I’m excited about making our own cards. It’s something I have wanted to do but I had such a huge stash of purchased ones from an out-of-business sale many years back, I figured I should work through those first.

What are you crafting this year?

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the mad rush toward the December holiday season is upon us! I’m still operating on the tight grocery budget through the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean we are eating poorly.

Saturday: Enchilada casserole and roasted veg

Sunday: Steaks, mashed potatoes and salad(I have a couple of huge steaks still left from our last meat order a year ago. Must use these up!)

Monday: Soup, probably homemade chicken noodle, maybe vegetable beef, and bread. Easy crock pot meal for a scout night.

Tuesday: Baked mac n cheese and a vegetable. We were supposed to have this last week, but we ended up with leftovers instead.

Wednesday: Spinach and squash frittata, roasted carrots and cornbread. The other scout night, so this is a quick meal with minimal prep.

Thursday: Pizza casserole and oven-baked fries. Maybe a cucumber and tomato salad, too.

Friday: Hashbrown, sausage, egg and gravy casserole with fruit on the side.

On a completely unrelated note, I’ll be back tomorrow with the beginning of the frugal handmade gift guide! I’ve been working on a lot of handmade goodies for the kids and adults on my gift list this year.

If you see a recipe you would like, let me know in the comments!

I know, I know, baskets two weeks in a row! I have a good reason, though. There won’t be a co-op this weekend due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. My mom and I decided to buy a basket and split it. This week turned into an adventure, with our basket arriving three hours late because of the weather. (snow, already!) I got a few extras because I showed up when the truck did and helped the organizers speed unload and divide  up everyone’s veggies

So this week’s basket only reflects about half a basket worth of stuff, and it only cost $7.50 since I split the cost with my mom:

• Pineapple
• 3 lbs. pears
• 2 apples
• 3 orablanco grapefruits
• 4 lb. carrots (there were also sweet potatoes, but my mom kept those and I took all the carrots)
• 3 onions
• 2 yellow squash
• Grape tomatoes
• 1/2 bunch bananas
• 1/2 bunch celery
• half-bag green beans
• 1 parsnip
• 5 lbs. potatoes (not pictured)

Visit Bountiful Baskets to see if they have co-ops available in your area!

We’re on a limited grocery budget through the first of the year. Currently, I have enough in the budget to spend $20 per week on groceries, with an additional $30 a month for our co-op produce baskets. The pantry is decently stocked, so this should be achievable. Especially since it’s only short term.

Saturday: Sausage, potato & cheese skillet with an apple puff pancake.

Sunday: Pot Pie, green beans & rolls

Monday: Chicken noodle soup & Bread (Made in the crockpot to simplify our evening, this is a scout night!)

Tuesday: Biscuits and gravy, eggs, sliced fruit

Wednesday: Baked macaroni & cheese, roasted vegetables

Thursday: Thanksgiving. I’m bringing the green bean casserole & cherry pie to my mom’s house for the festivities.

Friday: Leftovers!

Surplus free pumpkins from our October farm visit. With a little effort, we will have enough pumpkin frozen for a winter’s worth of pies and breads. Both the process and the reward is a true simple pleasure.

Bowls of fresh fruit, both mundane and exotic, acquired thriftily for my family

Brothers working peacefully together creating life-size models of the internal organs. I am ever grateful for free and fun learning opportunities.

A hot mug of tea (with a bit of cream and sugar!) to warm my hands on a cold November day.

Our basket yesterday was awesome (and heavy)! I’m really excited to try the persimmons and orablancos, which are new to my family.

For $15 we received:

4 giant yellow squash

4 yellow onions

6 huge baking potatoes

7 sweet potatoes

1 head of celery

6 kiwis

2 oroblancos (those funny green things. They are a cross between a grapefruit & a pomelo)

3 persimmons

3 lbs. red grapes

3.5 lbs. apples

1 bunch bananas

1 pint blackberries

This should be enough to get us through the next two weeks, when combined with the leftover green beans from two weeks ago(which I froze), and the bag of carrots, potatoes and spinach I purchased last week at the grocery store. We also have six or seven green tomatoes that are just becoming ripe left from my mother’s garden and a whole English cucumber from the last basket pick-up. I love not having to buy produce all the time!

Check out the Bountiful Baskets website to see if the service is available in your area.

I know, I know…I totally flaked out on posting the last few days. I’m even posting my menu plan late! Things have been a bit crazy around Chez Turnip this week. A mistake or two from a few months ago coupled with some unforeseen circumstances have us tightening our belts a bit for the next few months. I’ll be posting more on this in the coming days and weeks.

A few things last week had to be bumped in favor of quick and easy leftover/sandwich/whatever you can find in the refrigerator meals, so there will be some repeats this week:

Saturday: Leftover macaroni and cheese, salad

Sunday: Pot pie and roasted veg

Monday: Chicken ad cheese quesadillas, salad (Boy Scout night, and it’s my turn to drive. Dinner has to be quick and easy!)

Tuesday: Sausage, spinach and squash quiche, roasted potatoes and carrot, rice

Wednesday: Pasta and bread (Cub Scout night)

Thursday: Scalloped potato casserole, veg

Friday: Soup and bread

As always, if you see anything you would like the recipe for, please leave a comment or send me an email! I’ll be back tomorrow with a Bountiful Baskets report!

I knitted up those two little tubes of fabric at the beginning of October. Fall was beginning to paint the trees with a little orange and red, and we had packed away our shorts although we spent most days without a jacket still.

Still, the first cool morning had me itching to cast on some yarn I had squirreled away. By the next evening I had finished off the second tube. I tucked them into my desk drawer, knowing the time was coming when I would need them.

That time came a few weeks later. Those two little tubes made it possible for us to go until Monday, November 7th, without heat! Nights have been below freezing for at least a week now, and daytime temps haven’t raised out of the 40s and some days have been in the 30s. Ahh, the great Northwest!

Throwing on warm socks and wearing warm clothes allows us to keep the thermostat set low. A well-insulated house and storm windows also helps, don’t get me wrong, but warm clothes are major part of the equation. I finally broke down and turned the heat on Monday morning when I woke up and it was 54 degrees inside. I didn’t crank it up to a toasty 72, but I did set it for 62. At night we adjust it down to 58.

Lowering the thermostat just a little bit can have a big impact on your heating bill. We have oil heat (which I hate. It’s expensive and it’s oil, neither winners in my book). We try to only run the furnace from November 1st through April 1st, although we do try to shorten even that window like we did this fall by turning it on a week later.

We use between 15 and 20 gallons to heat the house each month at the beginning and end of our heating year, but that number swells up to 50 gallons during the coldest, windiest months of winter. Some years we need 200 gallons, other years we manage on 150. I’m hoping for a 150 year this winter. We pay approximately $100 per 20 gallons of fuel, so we budget for $1000 a winter and save up that money all year.

My fingerless gloves keep my hands nice and toasty while still allowing me to type. Without them, my hands get too cold to write! If I can’t write, we can’t pay for oil or anything else. The effort was well worth it. The pair I knitted hurriedly last month aren’t the prettiest knitting I have ever done, but I consider them to be worth at least a $1000 heating bill!

He fought reading. We’re still not sure why, but he insisted that he would never learn his letter sounds or how to read. Thankfully, it began to click into place last month and he is now starting to get excited about it.

I use a lot of Montessori methods with Aioden. One thing we did do is stop all writing practice. He likes to write numbers, but hates writing letters. We allow him to spell out loud or with a wooden alphabet for now. As he gains reading confidence, we’ll introduce some writing practice.

Aioden (First Grade Level):

Math: We use a combination of Montessori materials and worksheets. Aioden especially enjoys the Montessori stamp game for addition and subtraction (he does both up to the thousands place).

Reading: After a lot of false starts, we finally purchased Click n’ Kids software. It’s normally $60 but I had a promo code for $50. The little monkey is reading now and he really enjoys it, so I consider it money well spent. We supplement with Bob books and easy readers from the library in conjunction with some homemade Montessori reading materials.

History: Aioden used the same DK world history spine and Brandon. At his age, I’m more interested in giving him an overview and piquing his interest in history, so he doesn’t delve as deeply into it as his brother.

Geography: We just wrapped up the continents and oceans, using homemade Montessori pin maps and puzzle maps. He’ll join Brandon on the 50 states study this January. I have a couple of thrifted books on the states and we’ll supplement with library books.

Science: I like to keep it simple at this age. Aioden has a nature journal and we perform lots of nature study and experiments as the mood strikes.

Literature: This is all read aloud. Currently we are reading Wizard of Oz. We may do Charlotte’s Web next but I’m not sure yet.

Art: Lots of crafts and projects. Art isn’t a problem for Aioden, this little monkey is an inventor and creator at heart!

Extras: Aioden just started Scouts. He is interested in a few sports, so we may add one to the mix next year.

Aioden only works on academic work for an hour or two a day. Basically, we move on to hands-on stuff once he begins to fidget. At six, I firmly believe quality is much better than quantity. Aioden is my stubborn kid and my dreamer. He’d much rather be doing his own thing than sitting down and doing school work. We’re slowly learning to adapt to each other’s learning and teaching habits.

So how much do we spend a year?

The priciest thing was Aioden’s reading software. Including school supplies, we spent less than $150 for the entire year’s curriculum. Last year I spent less than $50 for curriculum supplies, but I had a few books I needed to purchase (used!) for this year, plus our school supply stash was getting low. This is total, for both boys. With extracurriculars, it comes to about $500 a year, but we would probably spend at least that on extras even if they went to public school.

Home schooling isn’t expensive if you use the library, used book sources and a lot of creativity!