Posts Tagged ‘thrifty’
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What would grandma do? Make a granny blanket!
Last year the crafty blogosphere went a little bit nuts over Cath Kidston’s £160 vintage-style crochet square blanket (see left). I actually liked the colour palette so much I cut the pic out of the catalogue and stuck it in a scrapbook for inspiration. Now, I can’t crochet to save my life, so I’m not exactly an expert on crafty stuff, but a lot of bloggers were talking about how easily you could make one yourself – and for a whole lot less than the hefty £160 price tag.There are a load of online resources to help you get started on making a crochet square from scratch. One of my absolute favourites is Pip’s tutorial for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS over at Meet me at Mike’s.
It sounds unbelievably straight-forward, and Pip gives excellent advice on such matters as crochet hook size and exactly what kind of yarn to buy. She’s also posted here as well.
She also links to some other cool resources for making granny blankets. Check it out – it might just get ya hooked (geddit, geddit?).
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Thrifty food: ‘Left-overs’ muesli
Will you just take a moment to admire this superb-looking muesli? It’s actually a totally thrifty home-made recipe masterfully created from left-overs by Sydney-based blogger/chef/foodie/stylish girl about town The Likkle Girl Who Wurves Pwetty Things (hereafter known as Likkle Moola).
In an extremely kind and blush-worthy post, Likkle Moola explains that she was inspired by Oola Moola to clean out her pantry where she discovered “bits of grains, seeds, nuts and dried fruit left over from previous baking projects”. She used all the bits to make herself a huge batch of healthy, crunchy toasted muesli. We applaud her “make do” efforts. (And we also applaud the inclusion of peanut butter in her recipe.) Luckily, she was kind enough to share it with us. Take it away, Likkle Moola …
To make your own, you’ll need:
~ 200g nuts (make up that amount from what’s left in your larder - I used a mix of macadamias, slivered almonds and pepitas)
~ 250g rolled oats
~ 100g bran
~ 50g shredded coconut
~ 150g dried fruit (again, use what you have - I threw in sultanas and dried cranberries)~ 100g vegetable oil
~ 50g peanut butter
~ 150g honey- Preheat oven to 150°C.
- Place all dry ingredients (except dried fruit) into a big bowl.
- Add oil, peanut butter and honey. Mix well.
- Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper. Divide mix evenly onto trays. Spread mix out as thinly as possible to ensure even cooking.
- Place trays into preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Pull trays out and give muesli a good stir and spread it out thinly again so all the bits get a chance to brown.
- Place trays back in oven and repeat the stirring and spreading every 10 minutes until the muesli is golden.
- Oh, remember to mix in the dried fruit in the last 10 minutes, when you think the muesli is nearly done as the fruit burns easily.
- Leave to cool completely and store in airtight container.
There, done and can be kept for at least a month, if stored correctly (but I think it’ll be eaten way before that!). What I like most about making my own muesli is I can choose what I want to put in - there’s always at least one ingredient in store-bought ones that I don’t like and have to pick out before eating.
Total spent: AU$0.00 (had everything in the pantry)
Cost of a 1kg bag of our usual macadamia muesli: AU$19.oo
Savings: AU$19.00Thank you Likkle Moola, you’ve done us proud!
Posted in Food
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Car boot sales – the best for thrifty booty
Last weekend, my challenge was to put a car boot sale to the Oola Moola thrift test, so I headed off to one of London’s biggest in Battersea. My objective was to see what I could get for 10 quid, and to be honest, I didn’t really expect to be blown away by what was on offer. However, I was not only pleasantly surprised by the volume of quality thrift, but the prices were also extremely reasonable. (It’s an interesting sign of the times when one is used to paying high prices for other people’s tat.) But Battersea offered loads of bargainous gems, including vintage costume jewellery brooches for 50p, old Gina and Prada shoes for £20, and antique pewter for a couple of quid.
For a full directory of car boot sales in the UK, head over to carbootjunction.com.
If you’re thinking of visiting your local car boot sale over the long weekend, you might like to read my tips for success:
- Get there early.
- Be prepared to rummage – and haggle for a better deal.
- If the seller doesn’t want to reduce the price on a single item, try asking them to do a deal on a couple of items (e.g. “Would you take £10 for the dress and the brooch?”)
- Go with an idea in mind of what you’re after, and what price you’d expect to pay elsewhere (ie. you don’t want to pay antique shop prices.)
- Sunny days will be busiest – so cloudy, drizzly days are your best bet for coming away with a good haul.
- Don’t forget to take a couple of canvas shopping bags for all your thrifty finds.
I really loved having a good nosey around all the stalls, and I managed to pick up some really great bargains. I’ve had my eye vintage dog on wheels for a couple of years, and I finally got one! The asking price was £8, but I managed to get it for £6 - although I had to give him a bath when I got home! I also picked up a couple of vintage English chocolate tins for £1, and a pair of vintage ‘Empire Made’ cotton gloves for £2 (I talked them down from £3). To round it all off, I picked up a couple of old books (Oliver Twist and an English guide to birds, with the most beautiful colour illustrations) for another £1. Pretty good haul, don’t you think?
Battersea car boot sale
Battersea Technology College
Battersea Park Road, London SW11
Every Sunday from 1.30pm.
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The best thrifty investment
Here at Oola Moola we’re always on the hunt for clever thrifty tips, budget buys and easily-digestible money management advice. So we were naturally thrilled to discover that the latest book by author India Knight, The Thrift Book: Live well and spend less, rather brilliantly ticks all the right boxes.India’s known for her exquisite taste and sense of style – after all, she penned a book all about shopping! So she’s quite the expert guide in showing you exactly how to dress on a budget (and still look fab); make your own awesome gifts; travel the world with very little money, and grow your own delicious food.
And more. So much more, in fact, that you’ll just have to run out and buy it. But be warned – you might just surprise yourself and save quite a lot of moolah!
Posted in Beauty, Crafting, Decor, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Gifts, Health & Fitness, Travel, Vintage
