Monday

Easy No-Sew Fleece Baby Blankets for $2 Each


I have a super easy DIY project for you today.  I'm so excited to share it.  As you all know I love saving money by DIYing everything so when it came to baby blankets I made no exception.  I am due in just 6 weeks and I realized that I still needed baby blankets.  Blankets at the store run at least $5 each and the nice soft ones can be as much as $20 even at Walmart.

I was able to make my own easy no-sew fleece baby blankets for only $2 each,  Let me share how.

I bought the fleece from Joanne Fabrics at 70% off.  Every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving they run the 70% off sale on anti-pill fleece so that is how I scored each yard of fleece for only $4!  I was able to make two blankets out of each yard.

First lay out a yard of fleece.


Cut the two ends off that have the words and the odd stitching.
Then cut the fabric in half.


That's it!  No sewing and no tying.  Just make sure you cut straight lines.  There is no need to stitch it and it will not fray or unravel.


These blankets are super easy to make, super soft and super cheap!  You can make them any size you want and you can pick the pattern of fleece you use.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Don't forget to comment and share any DIY baby blanket ideas and tips you may have!

Saturday

Using Christmas Lights at Your Outdoor Wedding


Any outdoor wedding and reception that lasts into the evening needs lights so why not create a magical ambiance with Christmas lights?  It is an affordable and easy do it yourself option.

We hosted a wedding of one of our relatives at our farm this past summer and the lights created such an amazing effect after the sun set.  To see all the amazing ideas used at that wedding click here.


The lighting is everything when it starts to get dark out.  String lights are simple to hang and are budget friendly.  You may have enough Christmas lights in your attic so that you don't have to buy any.  If you don't already have some try borrowing them from friends and relatives but make sure they label them with their names.  If you are planning long enough in advance you may even be able to buy them right after Christmas when they are significantly discounted.



I wish I had gotten better pictures of the lights when it got much darker out.  It was just so beautiful!

The First Few Weeks of Raising Quail

Have you considered raising quail?  Not sure what to expect the first few weeks?  Keep reading to learn about my experience with buying day old quail chicks through the mail.


Day 1

We ordered 50 day old quail chicks for a total of $115, which was $1.50 for each chick plus $40 shipping.  We ordered them from here.  It took 2 days to receive the chicks at our local post office after they were shipped.  Upon opening the box there was one chick that was dead and 4 others that were barely hanging on to life.  Those 4 died within an hour or so of getting home. 





The brooder box was ready to go when we got them home.  We just used an old plastic tub with wood shavings at the bottom.  We also had a heat lamp with a red bulb in it.  I chose the red bulb because I read somewhere that they preferred red bulbs.  I don't now if that's true but it works and was the same price. 

For the water dishes I just used some old small tupperware that I had.  I put little glass stones in the bottom of the water dishes so that the chicks wouldn't drown.  Apparently quail chicks are not very bright and will drown in even a little bit of water.

For food I just put chicken starter in a blender to make it very fine and put it in another small tupperware.

I filled the water 3 times a day and the food once a day.  After losing 5 chicks within the first hour, 5 more died throughout the day.  I was consistently checking on them so I could see them as they started to get weak.  I would dip their beaks in water and show them the food but for some reason they just wouldn't move much.  It didn't help that the other chicks seemed to like to stand right on top of the weak ones.  Because of this I put the weak ones in a tupperware so that the healthy ones couldn't trample them.  It did not help.  So by the end of the day we lost 10 of them out of the 50.

Day 2

By the morning 3 more chicks had died.  I don't know if I had done something wrong but they seemed fine the day before and then they were just dead.  All the others looked fine.  I kept their water and food filled.

Day 3

By the end of the day, 3 more chicks died so out of 50 chicks we have 34 left.

Day 7

Today we decided that the chicks were big enough to handle a bigger feeder and waterer.  They are doing just fine with it and none have drowned in the waterer.


Day 9

Today I noticed that the quail started to fly up enough to get out of the plastic tubs they were in so my husband put chicken wire over the boxes so that they wouldn't fly out.




Day 12

I was so excited today because we finally were able to transfer the quail from their plastic tub brooder boxes to their permanent coop.  My husband made their permanent coop out of extra wood, tin and chicken wire we had laying around the farm, so although it is not the most beautiful coop it sure does provide them with a lot more room.  We did not open the doors for them to use the run yet because we want them to get just a bit bigger before they are able to go outside.

Day 17

Today we were able to open one of the runs for the quail.  They seemed very excited to go outside.  They had never been in the grass before or outside for that matter.  They did not rush outside but slowly we saw a few at a time go outside and explore.  We will leave the run open even at night because the weather is decent but when it starts to get cold we will close the run at night so that the quail can stay warm.

Our free range chickens were curious and went up to the run.  The quail could stick their head out through the chicken wire but they couldn't actually get through it.  I was worried the chickens might hurt them but there were no problems.





Day 25

We now have both doors open to each run.  The quail are using both runs and they all look healthy.  Sometimes when we open the lid for the coop a quail will fly out.  This hasn't been too much of a problem yet because when they fly out they just stand by the run where the other quail are so we are able to catch them right away.  I'm hoping they continue to do that when they get out otherwise they would not survive on their own if they fly away.  We are trying to be more careful when we open the lid.  

We haven't had any problems with the chickens, ducks or even the dog going up to the run.  They still poke their heads out of the chicken wire but luckily our dog doesn't bother them.  In fact our dog doesn't even bother the chickens and ducks, both of which are free range.

Although our quail are still too young to be laying eggs I look forward to when they do.  I plan to sell them at The Egg Shack (read about that here). 

I do not know how to tell if they are male or female so I guess I will get a better idea of their sex when they start laying and I count the number of eggs we get each day.

Overall, the first few weeks have been great.  I must admit I was very worried at first because so many of the chicks had died but after the first several days they all seemed healthy and caring for them is pretty easy.  Just feed and water them each day and make sure they have an adequate living space with plenty of room and a heat lamp.  They are such a nice addition to our growing farm!

Please comment to share any stories or suggestions you have about raising quail!

DIY Faux Wood Wall Using Vinyl Flooring


I started seeing a trend in wood flooring being installed on walls.  I knew that I wanted to try this but on a much smaller scale and much cheaper than some people were doing it for.  I started to think about how I could get the same look without it costing a ton.  That is when it came to me that I should use vinyl flooring that looks like wood.  It is an inexpensive alternative yet it still gives the appearance of wood.  



There was a small wall in my bathroom behind the toilet that was a perfect place for this project.  As you can see the wall is kind of boring and there isn’t much personality to the area.  I know, I know…it’s just behind the toilet but it just needed something extra.
Now I hope you are actually reading this post instead of just looking at the pictures because at first this project was a major fail!  My initial thought was that since vinyl flooring is so light I could just use liquid nails to glue the pieces to the wall.  At first that seemed like no problem.  So I measured and cut the flooring to size then I put the glue on it and then used painters tape to hold it thinking that once it dried I could peel the tape off and it would adhere to the wall with no problems. Boy was I wrong.  



Almost immediately the vinyl flooring did not want to stay on the wall.  I thought oh let’s just add more tape to keep it in place.  I did that and it held for the most part but when I started to take the tape off I noticed that although the vinyl flooring was sticking it was not flush with the wall.  It was bowing out in several places.  Each piece had some bowing.


Now at this point I couldn’t just peel the flooring off the wall and say never mind to the whole project.  The vinyl was connected to the wall with liquid nails.  This is when my project turned from a “DIY” to a “DIY + ask my husband for help”.  He suggested that we use a finishing nail gun to help correct the bowing and to ensure that the pieces would not fall off over time.  Thankfully he saved this project.  It went from a total fail to wow I love how the wall looks.


I love to hear from you!  Please comment and share any tips or fails you have experienced as it relates to installing faux wood paneling.