The Everything Machine and Some Blog Browsing

Okay, I was inspired this week by a guest post over at The Nesting Place. Oh, yes the Nesting Place. It was titled 'Debt Free is Beautiful' and was posted by Angela at the Grocery Shrink. Its a great post on how Angela and her family in a matter of months got themselves out of debt. She shares a bit on how they did that in the post and more on her blog but what stood out to me is the savings and ability to make so many items for our families at home. Items like yogurt, breads, your own homemade cleaning products, etc. I know many of you blog about this exact thing but this post in particular reminded me of a Children's book by Matt Novak. It's called The Everything Machine.


On the planet of Quirk there is a machine that does well everything. From brushing your teeth for you to cooking your dinner this machine does it all. The machine makes life so easy that most don't even bother to get out of bed each day but that all changes when the machine breaks down. The Quirkians call for the repair man but its going to be a lengthy repair. They are forced to do things for themselves like mow, cook and kids even have to color their own coloring books! But they learn that they actually enjoy doing things for themselves. It’s brightly illustrated with full page pictures of quirky characters that live on a quirky planet. There's flash back pictures done in browns and blue tones and vivid color for present time. It’s great for discussing with your kids why we should do things for ourselves and the joy that you can find in it.

I'm going to be rolling up my sleeves here. I'm looking forward to tackling bread making (I've so tried before but I'm going to learn) and even try my hand at home made cleaning solutions. Who knows I may even enjoy doing it and like my home made better than the store bought kind. I hope you add something new to your DIY repertoire too! And don't forget to check out The Everything Machine with your little ones and then try to make something new together!


I even have a link to a making your own gum post and a giveaway from Elizabeth @ http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/2010/07/giveaway-blast-from-recent-past.html, click here for just the gum making tutorial. How fun is that, might be the perfect project to try with the kids.