Making A Home Made Swing From Things Around The Home

When the children were young, every time we'd go to town, we were obliged to spend a considerable amount of time at a park, playing on the slides and swings. 
And when we got home, the kids would repeatedly ask to go back to the “city swings”. So, when we couldn't play outside due to gale force winds one day, we decided it was the perfect time to make our own swing. 
It took us about 30 minutes to build, using things we had around the place, and they never seemed to tire of it. 

An Awesome Concept For Those Who Have The Time - Making Baby Crawlers Out Of Adult Socks

I was so impressed with results of my Baby Legwarmers in 5 minutes for $3.50 project that I got to thinking about all those lovely stripy and patterned socks and how stretchy and forgiving they were to sew.

I came up with a crazy idea, and what do you know …

…It worked!

So here it is …

5 MINUTE BABY AND TODDLER LEGGINGS

This project is very easy and takes about 5 minutes to make. You will need one pair of adult knee high socks and some 6mm elastic (I used clear swimwear elastic but I am absolutely sure that standard braided elastic would work just perfectly).

There was a sale on socks so I got a few different sorts to test out – This lot (8 pairs) cost just over $15

Step 1:  Pick a pair of socks and cut the toe section off as shown

Cut the toe section off your chosen socks(both of them)

Step 2: Cut along the centre sole of the sock (where it is folded) from where you have cut the toe off to the centre of the heal section as shown.

Cut straight down the sole of the socks (again, both of them)

Step 3: Turn one sock inside out then insert the other sock (the one that is still right side out) inside the first sock and line up the cut edges as shown in the picture

Put one sock inside the other and line up the cut edges

Step 4: Sew (using a zigzag stitch) or overlock around the seam that will become the crotch seam – leave the top (where you cut the toe off) open. Then you should have something that looks like the pic below.

Sew the crotch seam

Step 5: Sew (using a zigzag stitch) or overlock your elastic to the inside upper edge of your leggings (the open edge)

Gently stretch the elastic as you sew it on, no a lot, just enough to counteract the sewing machine stretching your fabric out as you sew.

Note: If you are using your overlocker for this part, make sure that the cutting blade is disabled and that you have adjusted the differential feed so that the stitching will still allow the fabric to stretch right out after you have finished. On my overlocker a setting of 1 is considered standard and I used a setting of 0.75. You need to remember to stretch your elastic gently as well, as mentioned above.

Sew your elastic to the upper edge while gently stretching

Step 6: Fold the the edge with the elastic sewn to it to the inside and zig zag around the edge. This will create a neat and finished edge as shown.

Fold the elastic in and zig zag the top edge

The finished top edge

Now you are finished – One pair of baby leggings in 5 minutes (you will notice in the picture below that the top is a bit wobbly – this is what happens if you don’t stretch your elastic enough. it doesn’t really matter because they are still snug when they are on bubs)

The finished leggings

One thing I did think is that these would probably not fit that well over a cloth nappy, so I tried some using mens size 11-13 dress and sports socks – these give more room in the top part although the legs are shorter – more like 7/8 leggings. Check out the results below

Mens dress sock leggings

Mens sports socks leggings

Keeping Your Car's Rubbish In One Place

Keeping your vehicle clean isn't always an easy task. Here is an effective trash can that fits easily in the car without taking up too much room and closes to prevent spilling or bad smells.
Just line a large snap lid food storage container with a plastic grocery bag, add the cover and place in the car. It fits nicely on the floor or in the backseat behind the console. The lid snaps shut to prevent smells and spillage. 

Home Made Spaghetti Sauce In The Crockpot

If you've ever wanted to make your own spaghetti sauce and freeze it (or can it) here is rich, thick, delicious sauce that can be made in your slow-cooker. There are several things to love about this recipe, first- you don't have to have access to "fresh" tomatoes as it uses canned. That's not to say

 that you can't use home canned tomatoes if you'd prefer. 

Secondly, it's a very 'forgiving' recipe, the seasonings can be altered to your taste preference and if you accidentally add "too much", you can fix it easily by simply adding 1 more can of tomatoes.

You'll Need:
4 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or red wine if you happen to have some on hand that you love the taste of!)
2 Tbs black pepper
1 Tbs salt
3 Tbs dried red-pepper flakes
3 Tbs dried basil
8 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs fennel seeds 
3 Tbs dried oregano*

Slow-Cooker
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and simmer on low until thickened and slightly darkened, about 6-8 hours.

Stove Top:
Combine all ingredients in a large, thick-bottomed stock pot and simmer until thickened and slightly darkened, about 2 to 3 hours. Adjust seasoning as desired.
This combination creates a spicy, slightly tangy sauce that is excellent on pasta, pizza, zucchini noodles and much more. The red wine vinegar really packs a nice kick of flavor.