UPDATE
Thanks to Big Family Homestead and The Simple Life with Kevin and Kristen for featuring my dryer balls on their You-tube channels!  I am so honored!  For those of you who are interested in ordering wool dryer balls please contact me at chellenel@yahoo.com.
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO A LOCAL NON-PROFIT YOUTH CENTER!  I DO NOT KEEP ANY OF THE $$.
Click on the links to watch the
 videos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snr34G2pUCw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl8L_yZUubM

Thank you and have a VERY BLESSED DAY!

Why use Wool Dryer Balls?

Wool Dryer balls are not only an all natural way to remove static from your clothes, protect you from the harmful chemicals in dryer sheets and fabric softener, saves you hundreds of dollars because they are reusable for years,  they also make your clothes dry faster the more wool balls you use!!  I use 4 as a minimum, but you can use as many as 12 to really fluff up your clothing, help remove static and make them dry much more quickly, using less energy.

As many of you have seen on my Facebook posts or if you have seen them at my farmer's market stand, I sell wool dryer balls made from 100% post-consumer wool. This is a great way to recycle, re-purpose and reuse something that may have ended up in a landfill........just like those disposable dryer sheets and large plastic bottles that held that liquid fabric softener! NOTHING is going into the waste stream or contaminating your air. To learn more about the toxic affects of fabric softener please visit this page:http://www.womensvoices.org/2013/04/04/ditch-the-dryer-sheets/


  I currently sell them 4/$10, 6/$15, 8/$20.   Shipping charges on up to 8 dryer balls in only $6.80.  Compare my prices to most sold on Etsy and you will see that this is quite a deal, then stop and think about how much you spend per month on dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener!  

If you are interested in ordering please email me at chellenel@yahoo.com

How to care for your Wool Dryer Balls.

Caring for you Wool Dryer balls is easy!  You can use your dryer balls repeatedly!  If they get linty or you want to change the scent you put on them, just throw them in a load of hot water wash and back in the dryer.  Simple and Easy care.....It is a no-brainer....Contact me if you would like to give them a try!!

Titus couldn't even wait for me to straighten the edges of the rug out.....he claimed it as his own as soon as I laid it down!

Rag rug weaving

In my never ending quest to revive lost arts, I came across a YouTube video of a woman weaving rugs using a simple hand made loom similar to the one pictured. She used leftover fabric remnants, cut up old clothes, sheets, even plastic grocery bags!  Well, I was hooked and couldn't wait to give it a try. Instead of having the DH make a frame from scratch, we used an old picture frame. I began creating the welp by tearing fabric in 1 1/2 inch strips and connecting them using a rather unique manner as explained in the video.
       I will continue to let you know, as I progress, how it is going. I just love starting new projects and gaining new skills, don't you?

Why I Quit My Job. (My journey to radical simplicity)

Yesterday was the last day of school for the year.  I have been looking forward to this day for many months now. In November, I took a position as a personal aide to a special needs child in a public school. I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. I have worked for over 20 years with children of all skill levels and abilities, but nothing like this have I ever come across.  It pushed me both physically and mentally and challenged my teaching skills, forcing me to grow outside of my comfort zone.  This is usually a good thing, however, pushing myself physically caused my fibromyalgia to rear up its ugly head.  I was constantly sick, in great pain and drained mentally.  I had very little to no time  or energy to spend with my family or on the things I love: homemaking, baking, creating, gardening, reading, exploring and worship. I stopped spending quiet time with God in the mornings, I stopped making plans to expand my business and our homesteading. I stopped cooking from scratch and clean eating.  It all STOPPED!  The exact opposite of what I want to do, what my Dear Hubby and I planned from the time we met.  A few weeks ago, after great discussion, the DH and I decided we would hand over the finances (once again) to God and allow Him to lead and take control.  It is usually me that wants to take them back.  I am blessed with a man who knows God will not let us starve or go without.  I too know this in my heart, but sometimes let my head get in the way. 
     So today begins the RE-start of my journey to radical simplicity.  A re-boot if you will.  Our journey may make some think we are making things too complicated.  I want to begin grinding my own Non-Gmo grains for bread. I want to hang my laundry on the line again. I want to grow our own food, or at least know exactly where it came from ( and yes, probably pay more for it). I want to cook with a wood stove or over an open fire.  Some might consider buying everything premade from the local HUGE store as simplifying. Doing it myself gives me a sense of peace and harmony with what God has given us. To me.......That is radical!  Have a blessed day.

Boston Baked Beans from Scratch

I am SO obsessed with cooking from scratch. I have no canned foods in my pantry....CRAZY right?   I had recently made my sisters famous white bean and chicken chili (delish) and soaked more beans than I needed. What to do, what to do.....For dinner I had a roast in the crock pot, potatoes boiling for some mashed potatoes and what should we have as a side dish?  Baked beans sounded good....hmmm....I wonder.....so I turned to my favorite place to search out recipes ...allrecipes.com, and wouldn't you know it?  I found a recipe for Boston Baked Beans from SCRATCH and it have a 4 and a half star rating!  Well I was out of bacon, but had everything else and my beans were already soaked, so I tossed everyting into my small crock pot and let them cook away the rest of the afternoon.  The smell was a amazing, but they tasted even better.  I am hooked. I will never buy canned beans again.  ENJOY!http://allrecipes.com/recipe/boston-baked-beans/detail.aspx

The Hillbilly House

All of my life I have wanted a small piece of property in the country to have an enormous garden, fruit trees and chickens.  With limited finances and my husbands and my shared desire to stay out of debt we knew this would not be an easy thing to find.  However, we also know that the Lord wants to give us the desires of our hearts and knew that someday we would find our small piece of heaven here on earth.  I would occasionally look at craigslist and real estate listings, but everything was WAY out of our price range.  Then one day as I was checking out online listings I found a small piece of property was only 3 miles from our home and backed up to a timber!!  Not surrounded by corn fields!! In Illinois?  Was this even possible?  To top it off, it was something we could afford to pay cash for!  I couldn't wait to call the realtor to see it.  We drove out to find it immediately and OH MY, WHAT A MESS!  On this lovely 0.65 acres facing the lovely timber and privacy all around, was THE MOST horrible house you can imagine!  It looked as if they just kept adding on a few feet as they found the lumber. Built on top of dirt, the floors were caving in, the ceiling was falling down, critters had definitely made their homes in the walls and attic, and the wiring had been done with lots and lots and lots of electrical tape. DREADFUL!  But, as we looked at it we knew that the value was in the property and NOT in the house!  We made a low offer right away, he countered with a reasonable counter offer and the property was ours!  We immediately cut down the 3 plus foot tall grass inch by inche with our small riding lawn mower, put in a HUGE garden and starting planting blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and apple tree and a plum tree.  We got chickens and moved the rabbit production there as well.  It is still a huge mess though.  Transformation will take us several years and we will turn the horrible hillbilly house into a cozy cabin.  I am blessed to have a husband who can do anything.  I know it will be ALOT of hard work, but I am certain it will be worth it. I Praise God for that hard work and for giving us the desires of our hearts.  God is good........

Sharing my knowledge with others OR Why I Am Cheap.

I was approached yesterday about writing a cookbook or a How To book about all that goes on in my kitchen. This is not the first time I have been asked.  Actually, I get asked ALOT!  This is when I found out I was not "normal" or maybe typical is a better word.  I was raised in a household that clung to its traditional roots of cooking from scratch and making things last." Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." is my motto.  I realize that isn't a common or acceptable idea these days, but it is practical as well as good stewardship.  Not only does making good use of everything you have pleasing to God, ( who so benevolently provided these thing to us) it is also good for our world.  Here are a few examples.  We have a friend who makes fun of me (good humored of course) because I can make use of nearly everything that most people throw away.  I save drier lint!  YES, DRIER LINT!  I stuff in in toilet paper tubes and use it as fire starter when we have bon fires.
       I save citrus peels (orange, lemon) and add that to distilled white vinegar, let it sit a few days, then dilute to make a fabulous smelling, grease cutting all-purpose NATURAL cleaner with NO CHEMICALS!  These are just TWO of the many things I do in my household to be a good steward.  In the future posts I promise to share more about how we budget our money biblically,  how we plan meals,  give to others and still have money to save on just my husbands part-time teaching job and our odd jobs.  We are debt free and own two properties and God ALWAYS gives us more than we deserve. Praise God daily for all that you have.
 Until next time......
God Bless, 
Michelle