Crafts & Hobbies: Zines

I've seen and read a few zines over the years. For the most part, they just aren't my thing. If I were to do something along those lines, it would probably be craft related. I have enough with trying to blog, for work and for myself. Trying to do something else, just not enough hours in the day.
I don't see a problem with having them in the library if they are well done and an appropriate subject. They should also come out with some regularity.

Crafts & Hobbies: Digital Scrapbooking

I've done a tiny bit of scrapbooking with paper, etc. Unfortunately it's very time consuming, plus you need a lot of supplies. It's not really a craft I want to do. At least with the online sites you can play around and edit everything easily. Also, no scraps or mess to deal with. I have looked at a couple of the online sites and they look like they would be fairly easy to use. There are a lot of great pages in their galleries to give you ideas on things to make. I don't know how much of this I would do, but it might be fun to make up a few pagers.

I signed up for Scrapblog to practice on. I have trouble getting things done at one sitting, so it's easier to be able to save and work when I have a chance. OK, I finally finished a page and have hopefully loaded it. Finally got it to load.

Crafts & Hobbies: Craftspiration!

The video is a real hoot!

The One Hour Crafts has some fun ideas and some good links. Found a cute easy to make scarf that doesn't require knitting, crocheting or anything but winding yarn. I like the Curbly Video on using paper nakins to make coasters. I love the garland idea from Kiddley, can be used for any season, especially Christmas. There are also some good organising ideas for crafts. This is a good website for making bias tape.

craftzine had an interesting yo-yo crocheted afgan. Maybe more time consuming than I want to do. I don't crochet much, but from her site, she had a recipe for cream cheese mints that looks easy to make.

A really cute Valentine pin craft and easy to make. Another craft with buckets and pictures decoupaged on to the outside.

One website I like when I have time is from the PBS series Bead, Baubles & Jewels.

I'm also finding good stuff on Repurposeful including what to do with leftover coffee.

I like these kinds of sites, there is just never enough time in the week to do everything I would like.

Recession Busters: Food, Fun & Frugality

While there are lots of things to do in Houston, the surrounding areas can be more of a challenge. For the most part, I'm not interested in driving into town to do stuff. I also stick close to home for eating out and don't go to expensive restaurants in the first place. Many of the suggestions may be good for families looking for things to do this summer, but not really my thing. The Houston Meetup Groups did find a couple of possibles in my area, but they don't seem to meet very often.

Looking at some of Clara's videos, I'm reminded of some of the stories by grandmother told about the depression. I kind of like the bread recipe, but would want to cut it down, I don't need 7 loaves of bread.

Looking for recipes, I found a vegetarian blog, vegetarian on the cheap, where the blogger has put up some of her recipes. Some are more complicated than I want to deal with, but there were a couple that looked good. One is TVP Sheperd's Pie and the other is Granola Bars. The basic info for the Granola Bars follows, she has more info in her blog.

So, pick one or several favorites from each group and get mixing. The recipe I used is geared towards my son’s taste - notice the absence of dried fruit. Go ahead make your own and share your favorite combinations.
Granola Bars: makes about 20
3 cups rolled oats = $1.38
½ cup shredded coconut = $0.30
½ cup pumpkin seeds = $0.48
1 cup walnuts = $1.89
½ cup almonds = $0.79
¼ cup flaxseeds = $0.12
1 teaspoon sea salt = $0.05
1 teaspoon cinnamon = $0.09
¼ cup agave nectar = $0.64
¼ cup peanut butter = $0.68
¼ cup dark brown sugar = $0.03

Total for 20 granola bars: $6.45 or $0.32 per granola bar
1. Heat oven to 325º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange oats, nuts, seeds and coconut shreds and toast for 15 minutes.
2. Combine the wet ingredients - agave nectar and peanut butter - with the flavorings salt, cinnamon - leave out stuff that would melt such as chocolate chips - and combine with the sugar - stir over a low heat until the sugar melts.
3. Combine the dry toasty ingredients with the guey ones and mix well. Spread out in a baking pan - so the mixture comes up about ¾ of an inch on the sides. If you like your granola bars thinner use a bigger pan or a smaller one of you like them chunkier. Press down well so there are no air pockets. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. After the baking sheet has cooled down completely - cut with a very sharp knife - pressing down with your weight to produce clean cuts. Enjoy!

She also has a cracker recipe using flaxseeds and Super Easy Bean Chili that would be good in winter.
She even has a recipe to make your own Automatic Dishwahing Detergent.


As far as what I've seen, the car dealers seem to be having some good deals. Store keep saying stuff is interest free for a long time. I'm not sure how this is any different that what it used to be and people are probably still buying more than they can afford. Memorial weekend is a tax free weekend for some air conditioners and other appliances. This may help some people out.

My main money savers are washing clothes in cold water, air drying clothes, don't run the A/C more than I have to and use fans to circulate the air. I try to shop for stuff on sale and try to make sure I really need it before I buy stuff. That said, I still eat out about once a week and go to the movies once or twice a month.

Money & Finance: Credit, Money Management, and Saving

Read the article How Credit Scores Work and took the Credit Score quiz. Scored 100. Also read How Identity Theft Works. It was very informative.
I have in the past checked my credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, but I'm past due to check them again.
Looking at some of the pages off of the Mymoney.gov website, I found one on savings, and it lead to a page by the SEC on Tools and Calculators for Investors. Some of them should be helpful.
Some of the budgeting plans seem very labor intensive. I have done plans years ago when I was first learning how to handle money. I guess they would be helpful for people that have problems with their spending habits or want to save for something specific. I want to look at some of them to get an idea if I can do better, but for the most part, I don't have problems.
Using the TCDRS website would be great, except I have no idea where my 2002 annual statement is to find my pin number. Some of the general info is good and I like the page of links. And why use Social Security numbers, why not our id numbers. I finally called to get a pin mailed to me. This seems complicated for a part of a training session. Finally got to log into my account. Finally found a place to see Statements of Depost and other info. It does tell you how much you'll earn depending on when you retire and how to set up your beneficiaries. As I'm not planning on retiring soon, not so much interested right now.