Getting through the austerity in an Old Style, practical way.

Pooky

wanchai wrote: »

What are the magnets from the fridge seal useful for? Just racking my brain to think lol.

Make fridge magnets with them - stick to the back of dominoes, scrabble letters, pegs, home crafted bits, laminated photos etc.

I use them on a baking sheet to hold cross stitch patterns in place, the nice long magnets mark my row.

In home furnishings, they're great for sewing into enveloped back cushion covers to keep them from gaping.

Just to play with.....cos magnets are cool!

Butterfly_Brain

Whenever I boil the kettle I always put what I don't use into a thermos flask or jug.

redlady_1

Im another one with a kettle that sits on top of the burner. Even if the burner is in slumber mode the water is kept warm enough. Although trying to get th OH NOT to use the electric kettle is difficult.

I also try not to buy meat in December as the price increases are quite obvious.

maryb

OOh Fuddle that first picture has inspired me to make some stained glass window cookies. You cut out stars from cookie dough with a large cutter, then cut out the inside with a smaller cutter of the same shape so you just have an outline in dough. Make a hole with a straw so you can hang it. Put them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment or, even better, a tefal non stick liner. Then you get some boiled sweets in different colours, sort them by colour and put each colour in a small plastic bag. Them give them a good thump with a rolling pin or a heavy pan until they are finely crushed. Then you fill in the centre of the shape with the crushed boiled sweets. Red works really well. You have to do that bit fairly carefully so that bits don't go onto the cookie dough. Then bake them for about 10-12 minutes until the dough is barely colured but the sweets are bubbling. You have to let them cool until it sets before taking them off the tray. (That's when a tefal liner really helps). They look nice hung from the Christmas tree but hung in a line from a branch across a window would look lovely in daylight as well

Aria`s_Tail

The old plastic drawers from fridges and freezers are also good for growing salad and other shallow rooted crops in if you are short of garden space.

wanchai_2

medusasmummy wrote: »

hi all,
i made myself a draft excluder this morning out of an old pair of jeans and the stuffing from a pillow. it took 20mins in all. Quick, free and effective

Lovely!

I made two draught excluders last winter from a beautiful heather-coloured tweed skirt that I saw in a CS. It was too big for me but I loved the fabric and it was only £1.99!! So I bought it, cut it in half and used the filling from an old pillow. I'm no sewing machine expert but it was easy peasy and they look gorgeous. I've had one or two people ask me where I got them!

Pooky wrote: »

Make fridge magnets with them - stick to the back of dominoes, scrabble letters, pegs, home crafted bits, laminated photos etc.

I use them on a baking sheet to hold cross stitch patterns in place, the nice long magnets mark my row.

In home furnishings, they're great for sewing into enveloped back cushion covers to keep them from gaping.

Just to play with.....cos magnets are cool!

Ah, right! Do you peel the outer plastic bit off then? Don't mind me, I'm a bit daft :rotfl:

I make magnets occasionally, and have quite a stash of both individual magnet backs and magnetic strips. Must get crafting again after Christmas, I got married in July and have neglected my craft box for months!

fuddle

Aw, stained glass window biscuits. I must do! :j

Saving my yoghurt pots from now on to begin growing seedlings come March. Although I have learned that my new garden is in the shade for a lot of the day :cool: I'm going to struggle growing anything I think

Toad in the hole? Chop up sausages. You don't need to add as many

Use powdered milk in water for porridge, with a special splash of milk upon cooking. Also soak oats overnight just in water - actually makes for creamier porridge

[Deleted User]

My smallest grandson Mikey (8) and I have a great time making 'biscuit boys' basically a biscuit dough thats rolled out like a pastry, and then cut out with a gingerbread man cutter.We put tiny choc chips for his eyes and dip his feet in melted chocolate for his boots.We decorate with coloured icing and turn him into a snow man a light dusting of icing sugar on top of his head and shoulders for snow .We made a couple of dozen of these last year and his two older brothers were mocking him a bit because he was cooking 'a Girlie' chore to an 10 and 11 year old but when they were done they couldn't wait to taste them. Then in the spring I found a big bag of cutters from Wilkinsons for £2.00 and we have since made Easter biscuits in the shape of rabbits and stars and trains and all sorts of things .Asdas do some tubes of coloured icing that you can use to pipe things on the top of the biscuits when they are cooled.At Halloween we made 'spiders biscuits' and used red liqurice string for the legs and just a round blob for the body.The gingerbread man cutter came out and we decorated a skeleton shape piped icing over the front which went down a treat with the trick or treaters.
Mikey loves to think up new sorts of ways of decorating the biscuits.We have even made them star shaped and put a small hole in them to hang on the tree wrapped in tin foil to keep free of any dust
Peppermint creams are another easy sweet to make as a present for someone.Kids love making them ,but more goes in the maker than the small box.They make them for presents for Mum and Dad.I save any tissue paper I get and have a big plastic box in the spare room full of odds and ends for letting the kids make things we even made our own christmas crackers last year with crepe paper and empty toilet roll tubes.I managed to get some long 'banger strips' from hawkins bazzre before they closed down, so we will make some more this year and decorate them with stuck on buttons and cut out shapes.I get the kids to find cut out bits from old christmas cards and once laminated they will stick on the outside of the crackers quite well with a small dab of glue.

fuddle

A bit dubious as whether to try this but I'm going to try potato pastry - wartime rationing for the pastry of my mince and onion pie for tonight.

The reason being is I have instant mash that isn't going down too well but I want to try to use it up in a way that they're not used to.

Potato Pastry (for savoury dishes)

8 oz mashed potatoes.
4 oz flour.
1 oz cooking fat.
½ teaspoonful salt.

Method-Mix the flour with the salt. Rub in the fat and work into the potato. Mix to a very dry dough with a small quantity of cold water. Knead with the fingers and roll out.

http://www.recipespastandpresent.org.uk/wartime/?p=313

Fingers crossed it works and if it does do you think it would be a money saver with only 1oz of fat? I'm thinking possible not due to having to use 8oz of potatoes.

Uniscots97

katieowl wrote: »

Hmmm. Wonder if I can get away with not having a tree??? There may be riots.

we did the no tree thing last year. OH and I were worn out with all the years of family shenaningans (long story) and christmas that year was made to not feel special thanks to one person. We put up our christmas cards and I filled a large clear glass vase with baubles but that was it. This year we're doing the tree and everything, said person is gone and can go make someone else's life a misery (I actually wouldn't inflict this person on anyone but they are good at not letting people see their true colours straight away until you're sucked in and there's no telling the people they are involved with now).