DIY: Christmas Card Boxes

This is a craft idea I learned many years ago at an Advent Craft Night at our church.  These Christmas card boxes are a great way to create an ornament, a small gift box or advent boxes.  It is also a way to reuse old Christmas cards!

The instructions:

• Tear or cut card in half. 

• Overlap front of card over back of card and draw a line to create a square.  Do the same for the back of the card and cut along line.  (Note:  Cut bottom square 1/4" smaller on all four sides than top square.)

• Using a ruler, draw a line from corner to corner on the inside of the card.

• Fold card from each corner to the center of the "X".
• Unfold card.

• Fold card up to crease you just created on all four corners.
• Repeat on all four corners.
• Unfold card.

• Fold card up to original crease on opposite side corner.
• Repeat on all four corners.
• Unfold card.

• Cut along line created by the folds.  You will stop cutting once you reach the corner of the box.  (This will be visible by the lines created when you folded the card in the previous steps.)

• Fold up sides along the crease created by folding the card until you get to the edge of the top/bottom of the box, then fold in the sides to create the box.
• Repeat on the opposite side.

• Once you have folded up the two sides to form the box, fold over the other two sides to finish and secure the box.
• Repeat all the steps to create the bottom of the box.

• To make box into an ornament punch two holes on one corner of box.  Thread ribbon thru box and tie.

To see more DIY ideas from Saving Family Green, check out Sustainable Saturday - DIY Fleece Hats & Scarves for Kids (& Adults)!  

Originally posted by Saving Family Green in December 2010.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here. Tweet

DIY: Children's Fleece Blanket (Christmas Gift Idea!)

 

 
Two years ago, my children received "child size" fleece tie blankets for Christmas from my Aunt. They are the perfect size for our 3 and 5 year old to curl up on the couch on a cool winter day. Looking for inspiration for a Christmas gift for our new niece and my children's cousin, my daughter and I made a "child size" fleece tie blanket.

We started with a little over 1 yard of two different coordinating fleece fabrics. We trimmed the fabric. Then we measured in 5 inches from each side and cut 1/2 inch strips around the entire perimeter of the fleece. We removed the four corners (5 inch x 5 inch) and then began tying knots joining the two different pieces of fleece together.

My daughter and I worked on this project together. I cut the fabric and she did the majority of the ties adjoining the two pieces of fleece.

The end result is a really cute and soft fleece blanket that we hope our niece and cousin will really enjoy.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here. Tweet

DIY: Preserving Green Beans

This is yet another effort to preserve food for the coming winter months. We purchased lots of green beans at our local Farmer's Market with the intention of blanching and freezing the beans.

This is probably one of the easiest vegetables to preserve for the freezer.  You simply wash the beans, place them whole in boiling water for 2-3 minutes and then place them in ice water (this is what I chose to do anyways) to stop the cooking process.  Then place them in quart size freezer bags and place in the freezer.

It's really that easy and you will have fresh green beans (these were picked the morning we preserved them) for months to come.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here.

DIY: Crockpot Applesauce vs. Stove Top Applesauce

Each fall we make lots of homemade applesauce at our house for both enjoying in the moment and for the winter months that lie ahead. In past years I have made applesauce in both the Crockpot and in my stock pots, however I have never done both simultaneously to observe if one method is truly better than the other from the perspective of time, consistency and taste. This year, we did exactly that, cooked applesauce in both the Crockpot and the stock pot(s) to create a side-by-side comparison.

We first purchased two large boxes of apples from a local vendor at our local Farmer's Market.  We purchased a variety of apples as I believe this makes for the best tasting sauce and they were considered apple "seconds".  We paid $7 for all of the apples pictured below.

We washed, peeled and cut the apples.

Then we placed apples in the Crockpot with a little more than 1/2 cup of water.

And then in two large stock pots with a little more than 1/2 cup of water.

The Crockpot Applesauce took approximately 4 hours on high and then an additional 2 hours on low.  We added 1/4 cup raw sugar and organic cinnamon 3 hours into the cooking process.  The overall consistency of the applesauce was chunky and the taste was excellent!

The Stove Top Applesauce took approximately 2 hours to cook down.  We also added 1/4 cup raw sugar and organic cinnamon to each pot and allowed to simmer.  The overall consistency was smoother than the Crockpot Applesauce, obviously took less time and was equally as delicious!

Overall the Stove Top Applesauce took less time, however I will say that the Crockpot Applesauce allows you to turn it on and basically forget it until it is done.  As far as consistency and taste goes, both methods lead to the same result, Delicious!

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here.

DIY: Puppet Theater

This is a super easy project that we created one day because we had a large piece of cardboard.

I scored the cardboard approximately 8"-12" from each end to create the structure for the theater.  Then I cut an opening to use as the place where the theater would take place.

Then the kids colored and decorated the inside and outside of the puppet theater.

Next I took a couple of pieces of fabric we had leftover and cut them to be a little larger than 1/2 the opening.  I taped a string across the top of the opening and used safety pins to secure the fabric to the string.  I also taped two loops of string on each side of the curtain to create hold backs for the curtains.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here. 

DIY: Freezing Peppers

So another step towards preserving food for the winter months included chopping lots of peppers and freezing in quart size freezer bags.  This is a super simple way to include great produce into your diet for minimal cost.  My husband makes a terrific pasta dish with red and yellow diced peppers and when he makes this in the winter it costs a fortune (in my opinion) to purchase from our local grocer.  However, by preserving these peppers now we will also save money.

I purchased two large baskets of peppers for $14 at a Produce Auction.

We chopped the peppers for my husband's pasta dish, chopped green peppers for use in texas chili and strips of peppers for use in other dishes and for fajitas. 

Want to hear something really sad?  After placing all these nicely cut peppers in my new deep freeze, the deep freeze stopped working and I lost it all!  Fortunately since our local Farmer's Market is still in full swing I was able to partially replenish the chopped peppers.

Saving Family Green's 2011 Food Preservation List to date:

DIY:  Freezing and Canning Tomato Sauce
DIY:  Freezing Corn 
DIY:  Homemade Pesto 


Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here.

DIY: Freezing & Canning Tomato Sauce

After our adventure to a Produce Auction we had some work to do in regards to preserving this fresh produce for the coming months.  This is yet another DIY post related to the Produce we purchased with detailed information on the process we followed.

We purchased 20 lb. of Roma Tomatoes at the Produce Auction for $10.

First we boiled water and allowed the tomatoes to boil for 30 seconds - 1 minute to allow the skins to break open to easily remove.  After removing the tomatoes from the boiling water, we placed them in cold water.

We peeled the skins off the tomatoes and then cut them into quarters.  I did not remove the seeds from the tomatoes.

Then we placed the tomatoes in the blender to puree them (I currently do not have a food processor).

We preserved the roma tomatoes several different ways:

• After removing the skins and cutting into quarters, we canned pint size jars of tomatoes.
• Making tomato sauce by simply cooking the tomatoes for 2-3 hours until they formed a sauce consistency.  This sauce we froze in quart size freezer bags.
• Making tomato sauce using a recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which you can find here.  This sauce we froze in quart size freezer bags and we canned in pint size jars. 

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here. Tweet

DIY: Freezing Corn

After our adventure to a Produce Auction we had some work to do in regards to preserving this fresh produce for the coming months.

We shucked the corn and boiled water to blanch the corn for 2-3 minutes.

After allowing the corn to boil for 2-3 minutes, we then placed the ears of corn in a ice water bath.  (Most of the ice had melted by the time I took this picture.)  Another blog I read mentioned freezing water in old butter containers or the like to have larger chunks of ice to cool the water that wouldn't melt as quickly as ice cubes.  You place the corn in the ice water to stop the cooking process.

We then placed the corn in a bowl until we were ready to cut the kernels off the cob.

After removing the kernels from the cob, we placed 3 cups of corn in each quart size freezer bag.

All of our loot from the Produce Auction ready for our new deep freeze.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here. Tweet

DIY: Homemade Pesto

Back in the Spring we purchased several basil plants with the intention of both using the fresh herbs this summer and for making pesto for the remainder of the year.

We started by picking two of the basil plants which we actually had to pull out because we planted them adjacent to the tomato plants and there just wasn't enough room in our garden for both come mid-summer.

We washed the basil and laid it on a towel to dry.

Then we placed the basil in the blender (because I don't have a food processor . . . well I actually do my mother-in-law has it at her house in NY).

We used the Joy of Cooking recipe minus the pine nuts because I didn't have any on hand.  I think the pesto tastes fine without them and there is another recipe in this cook book for red pesto sacue which does not call for pine nuts.

Pesto Sauce

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Process to a rough paste in a food processor.

With the machine running slowly, add 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.  If sauce seems thick, add olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The finished product!  We purchased Pesto Storage Cubes from Gardener's Supply to store the pesto in the freezer in family portion sizes.

Note:  Some of the links referenced in this post are my referral links.  You can read Saving Family Green's Material Connection Disclosure Policy here.

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