Saturday, May 25, 2013

Fugalista - Home Baked Cinnamon Rolls

It's no surprise to most of us that cooking and baking from scratch is so much cheaper than buying a similar product ready made.

In the spirit of keeping costs to a minimum while still enjoying the finer things in life, I fired up the oven and baked some cinnamon rolls.


Home Baked Cinnamon Rolls
I found the recipe here and used it as is however, in the future I'll make a lot less icing as I had a heap left over. It wont go to waste though, it's in an air-tight jar in the fridge awaiting the next batch of cinnamon rolls.

I haven't purchased a cinnamon roll for a while but I'm guessing a mass produced commercial one would cost between A$2.50 - $3.00. I'd estimate my total ingredient costs to be not much more than that (Aldi flour, bulk cinnamon, etc.) and in return I produced a dozen good sized rolls. The rolls froze really well, too.

Being frugal isn't about being 'cheap' it's about spending your money (and time) wisely. 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Studio / Office Renovation

As I'm now working from home exclusively, I ran out of excuses for not getting the old dilapidated outbuilding (circa 'around the same time as Stonehenge') on my property spruced up. 

The goal is to use this outbuilding as my office, warehouse and studio. 

Unfortunately, in order to rebuild one has to tear down. And, that my friends has been a herculean task. Partly because I can always find something other than hard work to occupy my time and partly because it really is hard work! 

Luckily, wrecking stuff takes very little skill, just determination and as you can see from these images, I am getting there.
Outbuilding Interior - North/East

Outbuilding Interior - North/West

Outbuilding Interior - West


Now that I can see real progress, I'm getting excited about having a dedicated area in which to work.

What a luxury it will be to be able to shut the door on work at the end of the day rather than being surrounded by it 24/7.

Better get back out there!

Diane