Make It From Scratch Carnival

Welcome to the Make It From Scratch Carnival! What great fun it was hosting this week. The English major in me had to go read every last post. So I can say with authority that there are some helpful, creative, and delicious-looking entries in today's roundup of frugal, eco-friendly, do-it-yourself ideas.

Gardening:
Putting some seeds or seedlings in the ground and wondering how to keep costs down in your garden plot? Melanie Rimmer presents Recycled Plant Markers posted at Bean-Sprouts.

Laura Williams presents Plantin' Season around the Ol' Homestead posted at Laura Williams' Musings. It's a snapshot into the garden tasks of an established vegetable gardener as spring emerges.

Decorating/Crafts/Gifts:
Silvia presents Gourd Basket from Mother Daughter Weekend posted at Po Moyemu--In My Opinion. It's a step-by-step description of how she uses her home-grown gourds to make baskets from them with pine needles. Sylvia says, "This can be a fun and easy first basket project for kids and adults!"

Cindy presents Recycled Plastic Hobo Handbag at MyRecycledBags.com. Cindy comments, "It's a crocheted handbag that is a variation of the knockoff hobo bag from Dao. But this one is done with plastic bag yarn or plarn. This project has a free pattern and I hope crafters out there have as much fun as I did making it. It's a great summer handbag."

Rosemary Rugnetta presents Creative Interior Painting posted at Her Home Blog. She suggests we use varying shades of one color to lead from one room into the next, and to vary the curtains to easily change the look of a room. Since she's got a whole section on her blog called Going Green
I'm betting she wants you to use low-VOC paints. ;)

Kellie presents Patchwork butterfly card with tutorial(ish) posted at Greenhab: The Browns Go Green. It's a thorough look at a DIY craft project to make your own greeting cards from repurposed scrap paper.

Eco 'Burban Mom presents Best. 40th. Birthday. Gift. Ever. right here! She says: "I made from scratch one felt envelope using scrap halloween costume felt and some leftover scrapbook paper. Inside the envelope contained 40 handwritten wishes for my husband from each of my 4 boys and myself. Some were very silly, such as "I wish you a home run at wiffle ball", while others very insightful "I wish you no stress at work". My boys had to think hard about their Dad and he loved reading every one of them. Twice! Homemade and worth every penny!" Check out her blog at Eco 'Burban: Going green in the suburbs, one plastic bag at a time. She's got lots of local food tips and waxes nostalgic about cute glass bottles of organic cream.

MamaBird presents Nature Art Bag at Surely You Nest. An easy sewing project for a beginner, this bag made out of old pants will allow your child to sketch, paint, and collect acorns to his or her heart's content.

Recipes and foodie tips:
Gotta start with the attention-grabber from the minister's wife. christinemoers presents A buttload of hoes posted at welcome to my brain. Now, before you think it's NSFW, head on over to the self-described "ramblings from a pseudo-crunchy woman" 'cause she's right. This (hoecake recipe mmmm) just might be up your alley. Christine comments, "If you have never blessed your home with some hoecakes ... baby, you are really missing something!"

FoodieTots presents At Market: Strawberries posted at FoodieTots...The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree... Mouth-watering-looking recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. My mom used to make the most unbelievable strawberry-rhubarb pies, and all I can say is that the combo of that tart-and-sweet flavor in an easy recipe I have hopes of throwing on the table is a winner in my book. Unless someone wants to come make my pie crusts, that is....

Cathy presents Chocolate & Zucchini Cake posted at Chief Family Officer. You know I love that she modified the recipe to use fair-trade cocoa!

Lynn presents Stinging Nettles Need a New Name at OrganicMania. Says Lynn, "This post includes a simple way to cook stinging nettles. That's the easy part. The hard part is getitng a kindergartner to eat them!"

Sher presents Lefty Treehugger Granola at wrekehavoc and although she's been blogging since Al Gore invented the internet, thought you'd like to read it right here instead of posting it on her own blog. The sweetness. You should still head on over to her blog, though, since you can see her humor shine through - even in a granola recipe.

heheh, well, you know me to be a granola head lefty treehugger. it stands to reason that i make my own granola. and it's E-Z. i borrowed from a recipe i found on the web and do it MYYYYYY WAYYYYYY.

feel free to steal it.

Yummy Granola That Doesn't Cost $5 billion at Whole Foods
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (preferably the old fashioned kind)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or whatever nuts you like. i like almonds. sue me.)
1/3 cup real maple syrup (or i suppose some day i'll try it molasses and see whether it works.)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix it all up. Spread it on an oiled/sprayed cookie sheet. Bake it at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring it a time or two while it bakes. Let it cool. Voila! Granola with the requisite crunchies that I like. You can probably add things, like coconut or dried fruit or, in my case, chocolate chips. Cos I'm evil like that.

Jane presents Home~Made Pumpkin Soup posted at Kidzarama. Jane comments, "This is a totally scrummy recipe that WonderHubby has developed over years of trial and error, with me as the innocent guinea pig."

Joanna presents Chive Flowers posted at Sunflowers in my Kitchen. Her blog is a welcome find, as is her recipe for chive butter (mmmm!) 'cause you know I've been gobbling those purple lovelies up!

Alison presents The Local Connection Saturday Night Dinner at Green Me. Alison notes, "I didn't think I'd have something to contribute, but then we went to the Farmer's Market!" Love that her post shows how easy it can be to make a "locally-based, gourmet dinner."

vh presents Cheap Eats: Delicious Veggie Spaghetti posted at Funny about Money. Mmmm, a sauce made with sage. I just bought some to plant!

Kate presents Easy, Cheesy Potato Chowder posted at Our Red House. Looks like total comfort food, which is good, since poor Kate's got a cold to kick.

Kathy Hester aka GeekyPoet presents Vegan Heirloom Carrot Salad with Seared Oyster Mushrooms posted at Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe. Check out her delicious-looking recipe; she cut out her toast rounds with leaf cookie cutters! I personally have never seen an heirloom carrot. Now I want to track some down.

Lisa K presents Beef Pot Pie posted at Lisa's Cookbook. It's a quick and dirty recipe using canned beef stew and biscuit mix for the topping.

Barbra Sundquist presents Edible Creations: How to Make a Fruit Bouquet posted at Edible Creations. Barbra notes, "Fruit Bouquets can be one of the easiest edible creations to make. The trick is to avoid the fancy cutting required by some edible creations design instructions. This article shows you how to make an attractive Fruit Bouquet using small fruit (plums and strawberries) wrapped in cellophane and wired to look like flowers on stems."

Jenny B (aka Mother Hen) presents Squash Eatin' Squid posted at Ship Full O' Pirates. It's a whole wheat-summer squash muffin recipe her 8 year old son loves. He even keeps tabs on the size of the squash in the garden, he loves them so.

Linda presents Cooking : Sébastien's first pizza posted at Mes crazy expériences. Linda notes that this "recipe of home made pizza" is her son "Sebastien's first time at it. Delicious!" Never seen a pizza with eggs on top!

Stephanie presents Keeping Guacamole Fresh & a Recipe posted at Stop the Ride!. She's the creator of the Make It From Scratch Carnival. Thanks, Stephanie! I'm with you, there can never be too much guac in the world.

Mama Bear presents Speedy Triple Decker Clubs posted at I've Got a Little Space to Fill. Quick and dirty club sandwiches, with a side of financial freedom (MamaBear paid off her credit card debt today - congrats).

Meta of food:
valereee presents Time, Money, Recipes: Experience is the answer posted at Cincinnati Locavore. Valeree encourages all of us," Don't be daunted by the challenges of eating locally!"

Health and Beauty:
Stacy presents Non-Petroleum Jelly posted at Teaching Diligently - Homeschool Blogger.

Auto Repair:
Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog presents Repair Your Car With Used Auto Parts which brought me back to the halcyon days of driving my older brother's rolled Honda Civic. He gave it to me for free! All I had to do was use a bungee cord and get a driver's side rear view mirror from the junkyard (and my find was easier than Money Blue Book's 'cause the junkyards I called looked for the parts for me). It really horrifiedimpressed the high school kids (do you really drive that?!) Anyhoo, if you want to read about how to repair your car via used parts aka junkyard scavenging, just jump on down to the 4th paragraph of the hotlink.

Check out next week's Make It From Scratch Carnival over at The Miller Way....