4 Sweet Sisters

We've been making water kefir soda (WKS) for a couple of months now and I've learned a lot. 1. Make a fermenting container . Really important if you plan on making WKS! check this out 2.Play with the types of natural sugars out there: a) Sucanat - It was our sugar of choice because of the being rich in minerals. We found that it has to pungent of a flavor for making WKS. It actually ends up tasting more like a beer. We even tried adding more fruit syrup but it became over carbonated and we would ended up with exploded bottles! ** We do use it whenever we think our kefir needs a little extra feeding.** b) Sucanat with Honey - Much lighter flavor but it does have honey in it which can kill your Kefir and it's price is well to pricey now. c) Turbinado or Raw Sugar - This seems to have just the right amount for daily use. We tend to taste more of the flavor of the fruit syrup and less molasses. WKS taste like a sparkling fruit cider with this sugar. 3. Leave a good 3 inch head ...

My good friend Angela over at Loving Legacy was cleaning out her fabric stash a couple of months ago. Whenever she does this my 4 sweeties seem to come to her mind. It seems someone is always creating something around here. In this batch of odds and ends there was some very country looking patchwork fabric that the Little Chef just fell in love with. Not her usual style or colors but she really liked it! She even said it would be sooooo nice to have a skirt made out of it. I ended up having a free evening and this is what was created. She was so surprised. It's very simple. I was in no mood for a pattern. I doubled her waist size and tripled it (waist size) for the ruffle. I used and inch and a half more elastic than her waist. I wanted her to have at least 2 years out of the skirt. The Little Chef really likes it. We went out shopping last night and she wanted to wear it. She said it just somehow makes her feel different then when she wears it, even more so than a dress or skorts...

Take a look at the results of our first try at making Kefir Cream Soda. So simple and only to 2 days to go from kefir water to soda. Have you ever made Kefir Soda and do have a favorite recipe? Julie

Does anyone remember my lovely craft room that Superman created for my birthday a couple of years ago? Click here , if you need a reminder. Well today my lovely room that has been continually abused and misused is changing. It's becoming the School Room. Superman still isn't sure about all of this...the house is torn apart and quite frankly I'm a bit nervous myself. I'll post the finish projects (there are 3 intertwind) next week or so. My goal is to have the two and 1/2 basics done by Saturday! See you Soon. Julie

It's time to get crafting! I find that my younger girlies really like to craft almost anything. My older girlies do it with more purpose. They need to be motivated. Hopefully they'll have clutter free homes. We decided that every Friday would be Craft Day here at our home. Opening the house to friends and practicing a bit of hospitality. This is a very laid back event. Other than the fancy punch bowl and dessert. What we've made so far: rosettes, rings, headbands and pin cushions. Here's a few pictures of our pin cushions. Very simple project: Scraps of fabric, elastic, pillow stuffing, needle and thread. Cut 2 rounds of fabric. One the size of a bowl and the other the size of a drinking glass. Stitch around each circle on the outer 1/4 inch edge. Make sure you're smiling it makes it more fun! Stuff larger circle with pillow fluff and pull ends of thread together tying it off. At this point I sewed more stitches to make sure it would stay. It doesn't have to ...

Last week we had the opportunity to go to our local hydro farm. This past fall we had taken a field trip Co-op there and really enjoyed ourselves. They let each child pick a basket of strawberries as gift. They were delicious. Now they were opening there farm to everyone in our community for one last day of picking and it was free. What a way to be a blessing to so many! Here is some of what we picked. Hot peppers (before) Here is a bunch of chili peppers. Some purple, red and green bell peppers and jalapenos. After the hot peppers were done dehydrating I popped them in my blender. Pretty huh? Mid grind. I should have done three batches because I had to take off the top a couple of times to jostle them around. Needles to say I had burning lips and nose by the end. The end result. A sweet, very spicy, smokey flavor. I decided to mix the habenaros and the chilies.I can't wait to cook! Urban Girl will be turning seventeen this week and we will be having stuffed jalapenos to celebra...

As promised an update to our Bug Jars. The girlies found these cute stickers in the school room and decided to go that route. So easy and no mess. Can you see the difference in personalities? These stickers on the sides are to make the bugs happy.... As they drift off into dream land. Hopefully we'll have some neat bug boards by the end of summer. I'm pretty sure I'll be making new jars at some point. Note to self. No getting upset when/if these break. Get some plastic jars. Have a terrific weekend! Julie

Have you ever made a Bug Jar? It's been -- something years since I made one. What, you really didn't think I was going to share how long ago it was did you? Actually it's been since Grade School and then again in Junior High. Do they even have Junior High anymore? Anyway back to the project at hand. My younger girlies are really interested in nature right now and would like to make specimen boards. Okay they didn't even know what those were until I told them about having to make them in school. They thought that was a really cool idea. (I told them about this months ago and am now just getting around to it. Just in case you thought I was all organized and on top of things.) So here we go. You'll need: - 1 jar glass or plastic per etymologist -plaster a Paris -water -nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol Clean jars. I would have used plastic had I had them. I don't recommend this brand, but it was given to me free from someone who didn't need it anymore....

Bakerella and the Cake Boss we are not! But we sure enjoy pretending we are and acquiring some new skills a long the way! I really have to make an effort at times to just let my chickadees do it their own way. So I set a morning a aside a couple of weeks ago for them to practice there cake decorating skills. The white and chocolate cupcake pictures are from that day. Farm Girl concentrating... Isn't she sweet! Farm girl learned to make this and the flower cookie below. She had a great time at a birthday party with friends creating and decorating. I thought she did a terrific job on these little flowers. This was the Little Chefs first experience. It was all about squeezing hard and getting as much on the cupcake as possible. More chocolate please! Some of the finished product. Here is a beautiful cake that was created by a friend at Country Boy's . She loves to make cakes like the Cake Boss. What neat birthday gift for the Little Chef who really wanted a Pink Castle Cake ...

Creative juices are flowing down on the farm. The sewing machines have been buzzing with the chickadees homemade creativity. Today is all about making costumes for Chick-Fa -La's Cow Appreciation Day tomorrow. It caught us all by surprise, it's usually closer to the end of July. Kids of all ages get involved in it here. Even the High School kids get together and make costumes. Then they head out for some tasty chicken nuggets or a wonderful chicken sandwich. School Girl needed white shirts so she sewed them up out of a sheet. Yep, I needed the sheets for another project, but don't tell her. The chickadees have also started their couch quilts for fall and winter. We (I) made the fleece blankets about 7 years ago and they are looking a bit bedraggled. So we (I ) decided it was time to freshen it up a bit. So here's what we (they) have done so far: -Bought a $3 white sheet from Walmart. -Bought Sharpie style fabric paint markers with 50% off Coupon. -Cut out 9 x 9 square...

Oooooooooooo. I'm so into decorating the house for Valentine's Day. I never do, so this has come as a big surprise to me! Here at 4 Sweet Sisters frugal is the game. There are a ton of neat craft ideas out there, but the ole budget just wouldn't budge. So thinking cap went on and I headed to some of my favorite craft blogs( Skip To My Lou and Little Birdie Secrets ). I usually do not dream up the wonderful ideas I post here, but I do tweak them to make them all mine. So total cost was $5.00 for glitter and swirly hearts. 1st up: A rag heart wreath. I accosted all my FB friends looking for wire hangers and I had left over fabric from past projects. Farm Girl plans on making one after to school. I'll post her results later. (Bribery can be good!) Next: Glitter! I'm in desperate need of a glitter fix and I can't get enough. It's the dieting. I've turned to glitter. Can you see the red glitter? It really glistens in the sunshine. Here's another wi...

We officially ended our 2 weeks of eating out of our pantry. We did it with no problem at all. We could easily do a month, but I really don't want to deplete supplies I keep on hand. If we had gone a month I would have had to buy some milk and cheese. So that being said, we didn't spend any moola on food or other household supplies. We even had fresh produce (i thought i would have to buy) from our garden! Today's topic (if you haven't guessed) is Pantries . Do you have one? Do you want one? Why have one? I think we'll start with the why have it: Plan meals in advance or on the fly. When prices are high you can shop your pantry for deals you've already snagged. Eases your burden in a financial crisis or lean times. Prepared in case of short or long term emergency. This is a short list( it could be much longer). The reason why we keep our pantry? All of the above and I grew up seeing my Mom and Grandmother do it. It makes great sense for any budget conscious ...

Before I show you my beautiful (boring) pictures of my Mini- Pantry I wanted to to share Frugal Failure #2. Yes, two in 1 week.....sigh......... stop by here to read one . Last Thursday night we took School Girl out for a special Dad and Mom dinner and a movie. I was so excited because I had a gift card for the restaurant she wanted to go to and the movie was only $4! Yep, I was pretty pleased with myself. We went to Chili's and ordered the 2 for $20 meal plus a meal for Superman. They proceeded to have a "who could eat the most salsa and not cry" contest while I basked in the glow of my frugal accomplishment. Dinner was yummy ( i walked that day). School Girl received her family ring that night and we enjoyed our desert; brownies, ice cream and chocolate. The waiter asked if we needed anything else and gave Superman the bill. I whipped open my gift card envelope, brought forth the golden card and handed it to my adoring Husband. He looks at the card then turned it ove...

Has anyone else had a Frugal Failure out there? Well, we sure did! Despite all my best efforts and preplanning I still went over budget for the holiday season. Hmmmmmmmm .( Truthfully, I think we do every year, but we take it out of short term savings and pretend it never happened. ) Well not this year! Nope. We are going to buckle down and eat from our Pantry. The one that I, the Chickadees and Superman have created this past year. I've been meaning to post about this project and have even started posts and then things have come up that needed more attention. Well now is the time! Aren't you excited? I'm always up for a challenge. I thrive on them (most of the time). My goal is to eat out of our pantry, freezer and grain storage for at least two weeks. I do have moo la for produce and milk. I think the hardest part will be skipping the BOGO's and seeing things get depleted ... I like this little safety net we've created, but I think we should see it in u...