Category Archives: Yoosta-Bee

Homemade all the way!

frugal food, upcycling, Yoosta-Bee

Hello Dear Reader,

We’ve had stunning weather today. I actually got the chance to put a dress on! My dress is a Rohan ‘travelling dress’ that I bought from a charity shop for £5, the necklace is a cheapy from M&S and the bag is of course, Yoosta-Bee! The pile of vegetation is the hedge trimmings.

It’s a great bag for college, for work, for shopping or the gym. It’s roomy enough and equally strong enough to be really useful.

The exernal fabric used to be a curtain sample.

The lining used to be an 80’s chintz curtain……and it’s Sanderson. Again, courtesy of a local charity shop.


I had to share a really favourite, easy summer recipe. Cheesy burgers, beetroot chips and ruby coleslaw.
To make the burgers finely grate a hard cheese, I used 100g of Parmesan. I finely chopped half an onion and beat one egg. Form into patties and fry in a non-stick pan without any oil


We love Beetroot. I buy it already cooked and often just eat it with salad or roasted instead of potatoes which I rarely eat any more.

Cut the beetroot into ‘chips’ and shallow fry, you could use an oil spray and oven bake them.

I cook my burgers in a pan but I use lean mince and there’s not a lot of fat.

The coleslaw couldn’t be easier. Finely shredded onion and red cabbage with grated carrots, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, a tiny amount of mustard and mayonnaise.

Serve the lot together with a heap of each of the items. A great supper to eat in the garden on a balmy evening.


Thanks for all the advice on the anti-social boy racers. We’re taking down car plate numbers and forwarding them to the police as well as keeping a log. We will be acting on some of the really useful advice we’ve been given. Hopefully, they will get home early tonight to watch the football!

Over to you Dear Reader, who’s upcycling? Who loves Beetroot? Who else has had a day in the sunshine?

As ever, it’s great to hear from you.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx

Nifty thrifty evenings

Yoosta-Bee



Hello Dear Reader,

Here are my latest bags. I think it’s really important to not only upcycle but to earn extra money too. I’ve made five bags now, one multi pocket, one large tote and three handbags.

I don’t ask much for them but I do have to remember that each bag takes an hour to make. As I’m not a bonded slave in foreign factory, I do expect to be paid a reasonable amount for my time and of course to make a small amount of money from my investment in the vintage fabrics that I buy. You may have noticed that jumble sales and charity shops are not cheap.

I would like everyone to think of how they can make some extra money. It might seem strange but now is the time to be making gifts to sell for Christmas fayres and table top sales. Carefully calculate what it costs to make. Remember to keep judicious receipts and records of costs and materials. Also, of any capital expenditure such as sewing machines, tables, scissors as all of these affect profits for tax purposes. You are allowed to offset expenditure and most home crafters would be years into manufacturing before you make any taxable profit.

Being thrifty and frugal isn’t just about saving money it’s about making money too.

I’ve already sold the two bags on the left of the screen and will be making more. I’ve set myself the target of three completed projects a week. I’m also going to make lap quilts to sell too. “Yoosta-Bee” will be setting up shop at a couple of summer craft markets in my school holiday. If you’re interested, the fabric above “Yoosta-Bee” fabric samples, lace sections from vintage tray clothes, part of an old curtain and a tiny selection of bought fabrics.

Over to you Dear Reader, how can you be nifty and thrifty and make some extra money from a hobby?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxx

Never mind the bag tax

Yoosta-Bee

Hello Dear Reader,

It’s about flippin’ time too! Supermarkets must charge for plastic bags! Hoo-flippin’-ray! I’ve been a bag for life user ever since I started shopping for myself. The thought of using a plastic bag is incomprehensible! When I go shopping, I take a shopping bag. I have a great selection of bags for life, mostly local supermarkets who sell them cheaply. I keep them in the car and a few in the house for pedestrian shopping.

As you know, I make bags. This is one I made tonight. They are so quick and easy to make. They make great gifts and I’m building up a collection, along with other items to sell at local craft fairs. These are all made of recycled fabric.Can you spot any vintage fabric here and there? This bag is made of vintage Laura Ashley curtain fabric. The embellishments are the lacy bits from a tray cloth. I bought a job lot of vintage linen on a £1 ebay bid.

Ready for a close up?

Here is more Laura Ashley, 70’s swans and some 70’s Sanderson curtain fabric. You can see the print of the date and the make on the selvage. It’s great to be able to date some of my jumble sale finds. Both of these are made from old curtains. All local jumble sales.


I ran again tonight, this time on the treadmill in the gym. Some nights are a ‘weight nights’ with a run for a warm up. When I do that, I run 1500m…………..all out! Tonight, I did it in 10min 28 seconds, which means my 1K is now ‘sub’ 7 minutes! I then did 45 minutes of weight training. Oh, it makes me feel momentarily virtuous which makes up for the hours I sit by a computer screen or sewing machine!

Over to you Dear Reader, who else is rejoicing that supermarkets must stop giving away free plastic bags?

See you tomorrow my lovelies,

Froogs xxxxxx

Making do and thrifting

Frugal Christmas, upcycling, Yoosta-Bee

Hello Dear Reader,

I have a sewing machine and bags of vintage fabric. I have several bag patterns and time on my hands. I intend to use this week off work productively. It’s also six months until Christmas!

I have a very low key festive period but I’m happy to make gifts for others to give to people.

I don’t charge much for my bags and they soon sell out.

I’ll be taking them to table top sales and fund raisers where you can rent a stall for a reasonable amount over the end of November and beginning of December.

I’ll spend the next few months making stock to sell.

All of it will be made by me and everything will be 100% homemade and recycled. It will be good to know that bags, cushions, bunting and lap quilts will be given to people as Christmas gifts and that I will have recycled and upcycled no end of fabric that Yoosta-Bee something else.

This bag is made from odds and ends of Laura Ashley fabric from my mum’s curtain making stage. She was adept at furniture covering and curtain making and also did it to supplement her income. I now sew to supplement mine. I make quilts from old clothes so I can sell them at a reasonable price.


There is no time to lose so I must get back to my sewing machine.

Even the label and ribbon are up-cycled. I make bags for the goodies to go away in from old magazines, I don’t buy them but fish them out of the recycling bin in the supermarket car park…………..I read them first and then use them for wrapping paper and to make carrier bags.


Over to you Dear Reader, who else is going to pull themselves out of the financial depths by doing some extra work? Who else is already making either for themselves and their family, charity or to make some money over the festive period. It’s not long so you’d better get going soon.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx