Here is a super simple recipe for a creamy delicious pumpkin soup that doesn't include any crazy spices.  There is also an easy recipe for super buttery roasted pumpkin seeds! 

Use the button under the recipe cards (below the video) to download the pdf file. It will print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 paper, preferably cardstock paper.  Cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards and put them in your recipe book!  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! 

Don't want to print them?  No worries, just copy them down and enjoy!

Check out my video showing how I used every part of the two sugar 'pie' pumpkins - nothing went to waste!

Recipe Cards (pdf file link button below):

Thanks for visiting! 
Please like and subscribe :-)
Sincerely,

We recently purchased two kayaks and having never kayaked before we really did not know what to expect. However, the truth is....we are absolutely hooked!  

We love it and can't wait to get out there every chance we get now, and especially to get a chance to go fishing :-)

The Kayaks cost a little money to start with (though these were a relatively inexpensive model), but if we take care of them they will literally last forever so they were definitely a worthy purchase that will be fun for a very long time to come.

They are light-weight and can easily be transported using a small trailer or in the back of our pick up truck so we can just pick them up and go to any local lake or river we choose at any time we choose. Of course, in the Adirondack park there are so many FREE access points for people to drop in their kayaks and go that we could choose a different one every time and never run out of options.

There were a lot of reviews online about these particular kayaks and we took the time to reach through each and every one before deciding that these were still the best kayaks for us. In the video we address the common complaints and show you how we either fixed them, or discuss why we didn't have an issue with it. 

Check out our YouTube video review and watch us paddle around for the first time ever!

You won't believe how easy it really was (And how great these kayaks are too!).

Oh, and did I mention the best part? THEY ARE MADE IN THE USA!

Click here to watch the review on YouTube!

Made in the USA clip art from ​http://www.clker.com/clipart-418724.html

Check out our second trip as beginners!

And check out how we fixed the tracking problem!

Thanks for visiting!
Sincerely,

So we have hollow logs and trees on our land and this can be a real problem. We honestly had no idea that this was even a thing until we started clearing the land to put our private driveway in. Turns out this is a pretty common problem. It is also a dangerous problem, but I will get to that in a minute.

Why are the trees hollow?
This is a question that I needed an answer to. I guess this is why I am a science teacher....I need reasons and answers. I not only wanted to know why, but exactly what causes it, how to prevent it if possible, and how to recognize trees that might be hollow inside and pose a danger.  

Ok, so the reason they are hollow is because they literally have a fungus eating them from the inside out. Yup, sounds gross. But apparently that is what it is. It is sometimes called heart rot because it is eating away at the 'heart' of the tree.  

There are actually different circumstances that can cause the fungus to eat away at the inside of the tree quite rapidly. For example, too much water will allow the fungus to thrive and this was one of the most common answers I was given when I asked people who live in the Adirondacks - it's caused by too much water. The answer makes sense if you have ever been in the Adirondacks in the spring. Have you ever heard of the muddy season? When the snow melts the Adirondack park becomes a giant mud puddle. It was even hard to walk around our land in the spring - only high spots could be navigated without sinking in. 

But the water just helps the fungus to grow, it is not the cause. 

What causes the fungus?
The Adirondacks can be a pretty dangerous place when the weather suddenly changes and the winds pick up. Especially in the spring when the ground is so wet and soft. The trees tend to be very tall and the roots are not necessarily deep due to the bedrock being near the surface in a lot of areas. During this time trees can fall very easily.

Seriously, I know this first hand. We were hiking around our land this past spring when this happened. I was standing in what is not our clearing listening to trees crack as they began to fall. It was one of the scariest moments in my life. I heard it, but I didn't know where it was. I just stood still urning in circles to see what was falling so I would know if I needed to run or not. Luckily it fell a good 20' away from me. I was also fortunate that it did not hit another tree and cause it to also fall (also a very common occurrence). So anyway, as we spend more and more time on our land we are learning more and more about the dangers that lurk beyond the beauty and peace of it all.

So back to the fungus. When winds blow and trees fall, branches also tend to break. Trees can also be damaged by vehicles and work equipment, and even humans when clearing a path. Anywhere a branch has been broken or cut off an open wound is literally left behind for the fungus to grow and enter the tree.

The fungus is always out there and is referred to as shelf fungi or fungal conks. They come in different shapes and sizes and can also be beneficial in some ways. However, the conks are how we are going to be able to identify the trees that are most probably hollow. All we have to do is identify the trees with a lot of conks going up it and that would be the one we want to cut down because it is not healthy and has the potential to fall easily in the next storm.

What to do?
Well, we will begin harvesting the trees that we believe to be hollow or damaged and we will use the wood! It could simply be burned, but we prefer to be more creative. I have already made some beautiful picture frames (video and post coming soon) and we have plans to make some end tables and maybe even a coffee table. Nothing goes to waste! Even the soft material inside is great for the garden!   Check out the video we made of us harvesting the wood, laying it out to dry, and even cutting a few slices to make picture frames and please subscribe to our YouTube channel! It would help us out a lot :-)

Here is a video of the photo frames I made with some of the slices my husband cut:

Thanks for visiting!
Sincerely,

Sources: 

• https://homeguides.sfgate.com/hollow-tree-fungus-64419.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rot
  

So we recently had a new well drilled on the homestead we are building from scratch and despite going down 680', we are only yielding about 1/2 gallon per minute. Ideally a well should get 5 gallons per minute or more so we are not anywhere close to what we really want, or need for that matter.  So now what?

This leaves us with a couple of options.

1. Over the course of the weekend the water in the well filled up to 15' below the surface. At a depth of 680', thats about 900 or so gallons of water (1.5 gallons per foot  in a 6" diameter hole).  That is a lot of water! We could just leave it as is and use what is there. This would require buying a very large expensive pump because it would have to go so far down and it would also need a larger, more expensive wire. But it would be doable. However, with a lot of animals and a small homestead farm we would run the risk of running the well temporarily dry, especially if there were to be a leak anywhere causing the water to run.  
2. We could have the well hydro-fracked (also called hydro-fracturing). This sounds ominous...after all we all know how bad fracking for oil and gas is! However it is not the same and this difference is very important to understand (I will explain the difference later). Basically a 'bladder' is placed in the well 50' below the well head. This seals the well up. Ours would go 70' down. Then water is pumped into the well to build up pressure until the existing cracks enlarge or, basically fracture, allowing more water to flow. The pressure can go as high as 3,500 psi (pounds per square inch), however on average it only reaches about 1,000 psi. This method works 98% of the time.

We have a difficult decision to make here because drilling the well was a very expensive endeavor and whether we choose to hydro-frack or work with what we have we are looking at several thousand dollars more.  

Here is a video we made about the process so far:

And our decision....

Thanks for visiting!
Please remember to follow us on social media!
Sincerely,

Now that the road is done we were finally able to put our trailer on our land for the duration of summer and fall. We will be bringing it back to Long Island for the winter because we have it set up on the snowmobile trails that pass through our land and we want to make sure that is open and running for our local community to use!

We absolutely love this little Jayco trailer and are very happy with it. We have had it (and been using it) for several years now and have not had any problems at all with it.  Be sure to check out the video tour of our little trailer at the bottom of this post!

It is not an expensive trailer to start with, but since purchased it as a left over from a dealership we were able to get it for just under $10,000.  Now I know that we could have purchased a used one for half of that but at the time were were looking we only had the Jeep liberty to pull it with. That limited us to finding a very small and very light trailer.  

We used the Jeep to pull it for several  years and mostly that was fine. There was a bit of a struggle pulling it uphill (The mountain roads in upstate NY can be brutal!) so we were really careful about how much we filled it up (water, etc.).  But that's all changed now.

This past fall we purchased ourused Chevy truck and well, honestly, you hardly know the trailer is behind it!  Now we like the trailer even better and we have absolutely no intention of upgrading to a larger one. We just don't see the need at all.  

So, let's talk about the positive's and negatives!

Negatives first:

• The bed - I sleep by the window and unfortunately this means I need to climb over my husband in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. This inevitably wakes him up, but we manage.
• The mattress was awful. We fixed it by adding a 3" gel mattress on top and now it is so comfortable we don't want to get out of bed!
• Limited room for walking/changing etc. We solved this by only one of us dressing, cooking, etc. at a time. The other one either sits down, lies down, or is outside!
• Low ceiling. This is fine for us (my husband is 5'8") but we have had visitors that are over 6' and the ceiling is just too low for them. So for tall people this might be a problem. It's the same with the shower ceiling, 
• Tiny bathroom. This can be a real problem for anyone with a large stature. We don't even bother closing the door if nobody else is in there. It can be claustrophobic.
• ​The AC blows on us in bed. This is probably our fault because we face the wrong direction (see the video for why) but it can make us really cold. We usually open the closet door next to it and that deflects the cold air off of us.
• The refrigerator is really small. Because of this we also use a cooler for certain items that don't have to be super cold (fruit, etc.).
• It is kind of a no-frills camper so it didn't come with silly things like drawers, a rack to hang your towel on, or even a toilet paper holder! It didn't even come with a TV or a place to put one! We just added what we needed! Check out our post about Making Our RV Like Home!

Now the Positives:

• Queen size bed. This is huge for us as we absolutely could not share a full size, which is what most small R.V.'s come with.​
• The bed is always there. We refused to deal with having to set up our bed every night (by breaking down a table area or couch). We knew  (I knew) that was just not feasible.
• The small 5,000 BTU AC cools the camper down wonderfully and requires only a small generator to run (we have a 2,200 watt).
• It heats up super fast too. We have the propane heater it came with and we have a small electric heater as well.  
• ​There is a lot of storage. I know ours looks really cramped, but that's because we stocked it up to actually live in for periods of time. If it is just being used for camping it's more than enough (For us anyway!).

Upgrades We Made (affiliate links for some):
**NOTE - No modifications were made to any outside wall - any holes drilled were only on inside walls (between bathroom and closet) or through the sides of cabinets (TV Mount and shelving unit).

• LED light bulbs in every single light (every trailer is different!)
• Paper towel holder
• Metallic Knife Bar next to stove (FREE from Harbor Freight)
• Hooks to hang utensils in the pantry
• Towel and toilet paper holder in the bathroom (and a bathroom rug)
• A mat (that we had to cut and fit) inside the front door.
• Outdoor step rug
• Hanging closet organizer in the closet.
• Bins in the closet and all the cupboards for organization.
• Over the door hooks on the closets for hanging towels, robes, etc.
• A utensil holder and plate holders in the kitchen cupboard.
• A key and mail holder right inside the front door (for keys, flashlights, etc.).
• A Shelf for DVD's.
• A small TV with DVD player on a moveable arm wall mount.
• We made a foam headboard with luan, foam, and fabric.
• Queen Size Gel Foam Mattress
• We purchased a nice bedding set that matched the trailer interior.
• A body pillow and other small pillows to make the couch comfy (there is no back or sides for it so that is what we use all the pillows for). If we have the table set up then the pillows just go on the bed.
• We upgraded to a 30 lb. propane tank. We had to customize the tongue a little so it would work.

Other Items We Use For Our Off the Grid RV (affiliate links):

• Water jugs (for filling the water tank)
• Hand pump for jugs​
• Propane tank splitter and extension hose (so we can connect to the barbecue)
• Propane tank guage
• Weber Grill
• Igloo 5 gallon Jug (for doing dishes over a bucket)
• Reversible Outdoor Rug
• Lifetime Picnic Table
• Generac 2200i Generator (check out our review on our YouTube channel here!)​

Thanks for visiting!
Please go to our YouTube Channel and subscribe! This is the way we will be communicating most of what we do as we move forward with building our homestead :-)
Sincerely,

Well, it's official. Our land is cleared for building! The road has been completed and now we have about a 1.25 acre clearing to begin building our future homestead.  

There is still a lot to do though. We are meeting with the well drilling company this weekend and we are still waiting to meet with an engineer to design our septic system. Yes, this is a new thing as per the New York State Board of Health. Everyone needs a system designed by a specially licensed (NYS) engineer. Of course that means that you can't hire any ole' engineer. Only an engineer that has taken a special septic design certification in New York State. Ugh...very annoying. Anyhoo....the engineer we want is so backed up they can't even come until mid August or later!  So we will just have to wait.

We have also made our application to National Grid to have underground electric, but of course this is on hold because of the septic. We didn't know it originally, but if we have three out of four things (foundation, road, well, and/or septic), National Grid will cover a nice chunk of the cost of underground installation including the transformer, and a cost equal to 100 feet of above ground wire connection. That totals a few thousand dollars (And an additional savings of the $800 fee we would have had to pay for temporary service.).  So, bottom line, the electric is on hold! No brainer there.

But either way, we are off to a great start. We have a road. We have a clearing. And we put our little trailer on the land so we can now enjoy it even more!

Check out our latest YouTube video showing the land clearing and please, subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all future videos! 

Sincerely,

So, we joined a collaboration on YouTube for the first time. This is very exciting for us because it is the first time that we have connected with other homesteads around the world. It is really fascinating to see all the different ways of homesteading there are today. From small homesteads like ours here on Long Island, to really large homesteads with hundreds of acres, everyone is different, but the common theme is the same: they all want to be self sustainable. This is a really big deal today because there is so much dependence upon the world for basic survival that to do it like the pioneers did has become really important to individuals, couples, and families, that only want to depend upon themselves. 

In our video below we talk about the homestead we currently live on that is located on Long Island in New York, USA and we talk about the homestead we are currently building in the Adirondack Park of New York for our retirement in a few years! 

If you enjoy it and are interested in upcoming videos please subscribe to our YouTube channel "Creating A Simpler Life." 

 About The Collaboration:
The collaboration was started by two homesteads as a way to connect with other homesteads so that everyone can share what it is like to homestead where they are located because who knows, maybe someone else might want to try homesteading there too!  Check out there YouTube channels and their videos below and subscribe if you like what you see!

The collaboration is open to any homestead around the world that wants to make a video and join the playlist. They really want participation from different countries and different states. The more the better! No matter how big or small your homestead is, you can join. You simply need to answer a series of 15 questions (see below) and upload a video to your YouTube account. There are particular ways of titling the video and you will need to reach out to Danny and Wanda and/or Liz to have them share your video on their playlist. You will also need to create your own playlist and add all the other videos that have already been contributed. 

Questions To Answer:

1. Where in the world are you? (Country)
2. Where approximately is your homestead located? You do not have to give specifics but and east of a major city or west of would help.
3. What is the size of your homestead?
4. Is your homestead rural or urban?
5. What is the climate and weather like?
6. What is the growing season? ( first and last frost)
7. Do you have any animals?
8. What fruits, veggies, grains do you grow?
9. How do you grow your crops? organic, intensive, commercial, raised bed, container, row gardening, BTE, Greenhouse, etc
10. Do you sell any produce, animals or things you create for income?
11. Do you grow solely for your own needs?
12. Do you have health issues that impact or guide your homesteading? Do they affect how you live and work your land?
13. How long have you been homesteading?
14. Do you like homesteading?
15. What homestead activity do you like the most?
    

No experience making videos? Nobody cares! You can use a cell phone, a camera, or even set up your computer to record. It doesn't matter and it's never too late to try!

Thanks for visiting!
We hope you click the like button and join us on our journey to creating a simpler life now, and for our future retirement in the Adirondacks!
​Sincerely,

Now that we own 30 acres in a somewhat remote location in the Adirondack Park we started to think about the "what if's." What if someone is on it and gets hurt. What if a snowmobiler goes off the trail. What if someone hunts on it. What if someone goes on it without us knowing.....ugh. There were just too many things to think about so I started to do some research about the laws regarding vacant land, ownership, and trespassing in New York. Of course we wanted to be friendly with our future neighbors, and we certainly wanted the snowmobile club to continue using the trail running through our land but we just didn't know where to start or how to go about posting signs on our land properly. What I found in my research was quite interesting and not what I expected at all.

Here in New York the trespassing laws are controlled by the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and this is what I discovered:

• Posting is not required to protect landowners against liability.
• Posting is not required to make trespassing illegal.
• Should someone trespass on the land they can be prosecuted under the law and if you see them and ask them to leave, they must leave immediately. You are responsible for reporting them to the local environmental conservation officer (click the link to find your region in New York State).
• Should a person known to you continue to trespass you are responsible for sending a certified letter with respect to the boundaries and warning against tresspass.
• Land owners are also responsible to report poachers and polluters. Remember there are seasons for hunting and, well, dumping any type of garbage is just wrong! Land owners should call the DEC to report this at 1-844-DEC-ECOS (1-844-332-3267).
• Should you choose to post your land it will generally only work if you use signage that is conspicuous every 100 feet or so along all boundaries, however you are not required to do this.
• But, If you do choose to post your land you need to know that there are regulations and requirements with respect to sign size, what is prohibited, and it must contain your name and address (contact information). Do your research for your area so you know exactly what you need to do.
• You also have the right to give people permission to use your land.  You can choose to add a sticker to your posted signs that say "Ask Permission." The NYSDEC provides these stickers for FREE. They come with cards to fill out for each person that is granted permission. You keep a portion, and the permitted party keeps a portion. This is a way to share your land with others in a controlled fashion. Download a printable version of the cards here. Check out this pdf brochure about the DEC's Ask Permission program and how to call to get FREE stickers.  If you don't want to download the pdf's you can go directly to the DEC's website here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8371.html​​

We Chose To Post...
In New York State, if you choose to post your land, the signs must meet the following requirements:

• Signs must be a minimum of 11" x 11"
• They must have the name and address of the owner.
• They must state the word "POSTED" or warn against entry for specific purposes
• All wordage on the sign must cover a minimum space of 80 square inches or 9" x 9" of the sign
• One sign must be set on each side of the protected area and on each side of all corners.
• Signs shall be a maximum of 660' feet apart and along the boundaries of the protected area
• Signs should be conspicuous and high enough and spaced closely enough to be seen without turning the land into an 'eyesore.'
• Illegible or missing signs should be replaced once a  year

Since the land was already posted with appropriate signs along the road, we just left them as is and added our name, address, and phone number to the ones we could reach without a ladder. 

We also purchased enough signs to post a minimum of every 100' all the way around the entire property. With a border measurement (including both sides the back and the front) of approximately 4,780 feet we purchased 48 signs (they come in 12 packs). We glued the signs to a thick plastic backing as support. It was scrap that we had laying around so that didn't cost us anything.

Since there is a snowmobile trail on our land and we have an agreement with the local club, we also purchased three special signs you see to add to the locations where there are entrances onto our land and at the junction where the trail splits in three directions. We did however add that this was for the 'snowmobile trail' to the signs. Hopefully this works and people respect our property when we are not there.

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

How We Posted...
We hiked the entire border of the land and posted it! The first half we did with the company of family and then Rich and I finished the rest on our own.  This was a great way to get to know and become familiar with the border of our land. We chose rather large trees that looked like they would be around for a while and galvanized nails to post the signs. The signs were posted facing out, away from our property, to prevent trespassers. 

Check out our update on our posted signs in the YouTube video below! Please subscribe to our channel too :-)

Products purchased through Amazon (affiliate links):

• Thin Plastic Posted Signs
• ​Heavy Duty Posted Signs
• Respect Property Owner Signs

Check out our other posts about our future homestead!
​Thanks for visiting and have a great day :-)
Sincerely,

Link to the DEC in New York for more information:
​ https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8371.html

We have bats. I know for a fact because they have literally flown past my head. This mostly happens ad dusk when we are swimming in the pool. The bugs just love to hover right above the surface of the pool so the bats just love to swoop in and "chomp" on them!  I don’t mind though.  In fact, I am actually thrilled because with all the mosquito born illnesses being discussed on a daily basis in the news we certainly want to get rid of them. So we welcome the bats because, well, they eat this nasty mosquitoes right up!!! 

Think about it.  Have you ever heard anything good about mosquitos?  I certainly haven't. I just 'googled' the question and the only good thing that came up is that they are part of the food web.  Yup, they are good food for birds, fish,frogs and, of course, bats!  Their purposes on Earth is to be food for other animals.  Sort of the bottom of the food web.  

So I guess it makes sense that we (humans I mean) do everything we can to either get rid of or to minimize their presence. On a community level they spray neighborhoods regularly where we live.  I don't really like this, but even with the spray the mosquitoes are horrible. On a personal level people use all kinds of sprays and lotions, burn citronella candles, buy mosquito zappers, and more. In our yard we make sure there is no standing water, we make natural DIY mosquito repellant (essential oil recipe here), and of course use citronella in lots of places.

And now, we finally have a bat house that holds up to 100 bats!  But we are not hanging it at our current house, we are hanging it on our future homestead! Yes, that's right, we have decided to hang the bat house on our land in the Adirondacks. We chose to do this because the summer is when the mosquitoes are the worst and last summer when we were working on the land we were literally eaten alive. So this summer we are hoping to decrease the mosquito population by luring bats in the area where we plan to build our house.

Check out our video on You Tube of How NOT to Hang a Bat House:

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

What are the benefits of a bat house?

1. One single bat can eat up to 600 to 800 mosquitoes an hour.  Thats an average of 6,000 - 8,000 mosquitoes per night! 
2. They also eat moths, gnats, and other annoying little buggies that bother us at night.
3. Their poop, called guano, is nitrogen rich and that makes it perfect for the compost pile or to be used as fertilizer in the garden! The guano will be easily found at the base of the house.
4. The bats will live in the bat house rather than in your house which could lead to destruction and other problems like bats getting loose inside.

What are the negatives?

1. Like raccoons and many other animals, they can get rabies.  For this reason bats should never be handled in any way, especially if the bat appears sick or can't fly.  If a person or pet is ever bitten, or just comes in contact with a sick bat in any way it is very more important to safely save the bat somehow in a container (so it can't bite anyone)  and bring the person and the bat in for rabies testing immediately.  The most common method for people getting rabies from bats was when he bats were sick inside the home. This fact makes a good argument for having a bat house in the yard away from the house!
2. Bat guano can grow a fungus and cause histoplasmosis.  Note that bird droppings can also grow this fungus and cause this as well! The fungus grows on the feces and if the spores become airborne and are breathed in they can be dangerous to anyone with a compromised immune system.  The Mayo Clinic stated not their site that most people feel no ill effects.  If this is a concern, just wear a mask when cleaning up the guano. We already wear a mask when we clean out the chicken coop so this is no big deal for us!​

Check out our YouTube video about why you NEED a bat house! Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future videos!

What next?
Buy or build a bat house – some links for plans and some links to buy it
   1.   Build a Bat house with one of these plans:     
     - Single Chambered Bat House by Bat Conservation International
            - Plans, Tips and More from from the Organization for Bat Conservation   ​
   2.  Buy a Bat house at this link (same one I have):
      - Single Chamber Bat House by Organization for Bat Conservation $49.99
​
Paint the Bat House:
Depending upon where you live and the average temperatures, the color you paint it will vary. We painted ours black because of our location.

Hanging the Bat House

• Install facing South or Southeast
• Must get at least 7 hours of full sun a day
• Should be high up on a pole or on the side of a building (preferably not your house) – minimum is 10 feet, but up to 20 is better

If You Build it They Will Come....Maybe
"What?" After all that work there is a chance that no bats will move in?
​This is true, thats a possibility.  So here's how to increase your chances of having bats move in:

• There should already be bats in the area. If you have NEVER seen a bat at dusk then your chances are slimmer.
• Make sure that there are trees around and available fresh water within .25 of a mile (a pool, river, stream, pond, etc.).
• The best time to put up a bat house is during the winter since bats will move in during the spring.  It gives the house a chance to acclimate to the weather and for any odor from painting to wear away.  
• Note that it can take up to a year for bats to move in depending upon when you put it up, so be patient!

Update! We have purchased a new ladder (Gorilla Ladder 22') and relocated the bat house! Check out our new video of us using the ladder to relocate the bat house :-)

Thanks for visiting!
I would love to hear if you have a bat house and how it has worked out for you :-)
Check out our Bats and Bat Houses Pinterest page for more information and tons of other plans and ideas.
​Sincerely,

Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/histoplasmosis/basics/definition/con-20026585​

This crochet plastic bag dispenser doesn't appear jumbo to start with, but the stitch it is made with will stretch to accommodate hundreds of plastic bags!  Well, maybe not hundreds, but definitely tons more than any other plastic bag holder I've ever seen. Look no further for an awesome FREE pattern!

I would consider this pattern to be of medium difficulty due to the fact that you will need to have some basic skills and knowledge to work your way through following the directions for the handle. However, to make it simpler, you could just add the handle completely separately!

Supplies (affiliate links):

• Size 4.5 mm crochet hook
• Red Heart Super Saver Aren Fleck Yarn 
• Red Heart in Hunter Green or Marroon  (optional)
• Yarn Needle
• Scunci Hair Band

Written Directions for Main body:
(pictorial directions and video below)

1. Chain 50
2. Connect into a loop with a slip stitch
3. Single crochet 2 and double crochet 49 times around connecting with a slip stitch
4. Sc 2. DC in front post, dc back post, and repeat all the way around. Slip stitch to connect (view video tutorial below).
5. Repeat above for 29 more rows (30 total rows) and finish off with slip stitch know.

Finishing the top & Making the Handle:

1. Switch to alternate color yarn and connect with slip stitch.
2. Sc 2 and dc in front post, dc in back post. Continue all the way around. Slip stitch to connect.
3. Sc 1 and sc in each stitch all the way around. Slip stitch to connect.
4. Chain 35 and connect on the opposite side with a slip stitch (this is the handle).
5. Sc along the top until you reach the handle on the other side (where you started)
6. Sc in each chain of the handle (widening the handle width) to the other side.
7. Single crochet on the top portion that you have not single crocheted into yet (you will have to pull the yarn through the bottom part of the handle to get there or you can knot off and start fresh depending upon how experienced you are).
8. When you get to the handle again you will sc up the other side (the bottom of every chain) until you reach the other side where you will slip stitch to connect and knot off.

Finishing the Bottom:

1. Repeat Steps 11 and 12 above for one row.
2. Chain 1, and holding the hair band, single crochet around it - put hook through hair band, then put the yarn over the hair band and pull through with the hook. This will incorporate the hair band into the row of single crochet. Skip every other stitch all the way around. Then slip stitch to connect and knot off.

Finishing:

• Use the yarn needle to weave all loose ends and fill with plastic bags!

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Pictorial Directions:

It will hold a lot of bags!!

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