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MaryAnna 05-08-2010 11:54 AM

No wonder everyone was healthier back then! I think we all need to look back to see the future! Yes, we are a wasteful society, but hopefully things are turning around.
Kind Regards,
MaryAnna

watterstide 05-08-2010 12:00 PM

when tye dying was a big thing in the 70's we used red kool-aid and mustard..grapes and whatever else we could find!

my grandmother also used to toss the dish water water out in the veggie garden.
she had old pieces of kitchen tools in the garden with plants in them..old tea pots/metal colandar etc..

Pam 05-08-2010 12:56 PM


Originally Posted by SherriB
I would love to make a quilt using only natural dyes. I wonder if using a good quality white muslin would work. I think it is something to put on my "Someday I will make this" list.

Blueberries for blue
Yellow onion skins for yellow
Red onion skins for red........

Think how special this would be if you laid it out in the yard, crushed each item on the fabric itself, and squashed and squished it all together. Designer fabric, I am thinking.

BellaBoo 05-08-2010 03:54 PM

I've tried natural dyes. A big mess and it didn't take me long to realize it wasn't fun. I guess if I lived where I couldn't get pretty colored fabrics I'd do it. But where on earth would that be?

quiltlin 05-09-2010 06:21 AM

One year my DD had to do a science project and she did natural dyes We just went out in the field and garden and started collecting things and then went through the refrigerator and cabinets. Onions skins make a great yellow. By the way, she got a second-place medal in the science fair.

Ramona Byrd 05-09-2010 07:02 AM

When she went into the assisted care, her daughter gave me silver butter dishes, platters, etc. They were still in the original package with the cards from their wedding over 50 years prior. They kept the good stuff for later.
------------------------------------------
Over 40 years ago when I married my half Portuguese husband, my dear, old
world MIL told me to always use my "good stuff" for my family and not wait
till "later" or "for company". What did I think I was saving it for, his next wife?

After thinking that over, I did use all the good stuff, and very little was broken,
usually by me and not the kids!! And the kids grew up liking nice things and
knew how to take care of them!!

bstanbro 05-09-2010 08:02 AM

I have always thought that I was born about 100 years too late. I think I would have been very content to live in such austere and simple times. Our lives have become so complicated in order to be able to afford timesavers like microwave ovens and things to entertain us like televisions. Back then, people worked and enjoyed an activity simply for the doing of it--as the Amish still do. Families spent more time together because everyone wasn't going off someplace else to earn a living. I'm not complaining because I have a good life. I've just often thought that I would have been happier in a less complicated world.

Lorraine babuick 05-09-2010 11:20 AM

I remember dying Easter eggs with onion skins.

gollytwo 05-09-2010 02:04 PM


Originally Posted by AnnaK
I remember Mama using old quilts as 'batting' for newer ones. And I loved a skirt I had in kindergarten made with flour sacks. My parents still have only one credit card that they use as a an i.d. If they don't have the cash they don't buy the stuff. You're right, we can learn so much from the older generations.

I've used a couple of old quilts as batt; they had sentimental value and were no longer useable.

dsb38327 05-09-2010 02:23 PM


Originally Posted by no1jan
This is a little off topic, but my previous next door neighbor, now in assisted living, was like that. Both her and her husband who's gone now, used to recycle everything.

We kind of thought it was funny when we put something in the garbage then saw them using it. We put out an old metal trash can because it split, and the next day they had a bird bath. Even down to doing dishes. She would use a dishpan then throw the dirty water on her plants as the detergent would keep the pests away.

Too bad we didn't pay attention more! :) :) :)

When she went into the assisted care, her daughter gave me silver butter dishes, platters, etc. They were still in the original package with the cards from their wedding over 50 years prior. They kept the good stuff for later.

I like this story.


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