Frugal Friday offerings....

on this sunshiny Friday. Two more Fridays this month *VBS* Today's offerings are a bit different, but frugal none the less. To my way of thinking, being frugal does NOT equal "being cheap". I think "cheap" is a state of mind, and that the value of something lies within the giver and the receiver. It would be very hard not to find value in this... my first Frugal Friday offering. Friend Jean was in need of something for a grandson's birthday. I happened to have a couple of things that were perfect for the age and purpose she needed. Altho I would have been happy to give them to her, that was not acceptable to her. In her mind they had cash value. I suggest a "swap", some of her home canned tomatoes and a jar of applesauce. On her way to work today, she dropped off 4 qts. of tomatoes, 4 packages of frozen corn, 2 jars of applesauce and 2# of hamburger. She was thrilled with the toys and I was thrilled with the very useful food items *VBS* Frugal for both of us!
  Off in a different direction, I pulled this piece of homespun from my ample plaids stash and turned it into a tea towel. It was never "just right" for whatever project I was doing, and it had been in the stash for many, many years. The dark spots are moisture, as I put it right to work this afternoon *VBS* Along that same line of thinking, my friend Libby, of A Simple Girl, turned some older tablecloths into generous sized napkins for everyday use. I've made many napkins to line baskets for dinner rolls, etc, but had never thought to recycle older tablecloths(so few people have use for them anymore) into napkins. They wash and dry beautifully and you don't have to buy paper ones!
 Yesterday I was invited to lunch with friend Betsy. They had just returned from a trip to Philly to see that sweet granddaughter. Having found a nice quilt shop, she bought several K. Fassett prints to feed her stash. Betsy cranks out many more quilts in a year than I do, and her scrap bin is always overflowing. She offered and I took!
I'm not comfortable pulling for myself, as I'm always afraid I'll take too much or take something she wants to keep. I asked her if she would pull some scraps and strings for me, and she did. Her comment regarding the amount was "I'm always happier when I can put the lid on the bin", and after filling this basket, she could. Over the years I've come to realize that while I'd rather work exclusively with scraps, rather than stash, Betsy prefers to cut for a specific quilt. She only does the totally scrappy thing when her scrap bin gets out of control. It worked for both of us. What a fantastic win-win Frugal Friday I've had *VBS*