Vela Creations is an in-depth resource for off grid living. The site documents our research and experiences, hoping that they might help others interested in pursuing this lifestyle. This blog is designed to document our day to day experiences as we build our new, sustainable homestead. If you are interested in seeing more photos and videos, we have a flickr account at the following url: http://flickr.com/photos/35090117@N05/collections/

Showing posts with label instructable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instructable. Show all posts

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Cider From Scratch


Cider From Scratch - We live in an area with lots of apple orchards. Picking season has consequently become one of our favorite times of the year, when we gather as many apples as we can. We dry quite a few of them in our solar food dehydrator, and we also can some for pies and such to eat during the winter. However, th...
By: velacreations

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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Preserving Prickly Pear


Preserving Prickly Pear - Prickly pears, also known as nopales for the pads and tunas for the fruit, are truly one of the world’s most amazing plants. They have what seems like a hundred beneficial uses and require next to no additional water or care. In some countries, they go a long way towards feeding the populace with a ...
By: velacreations

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Monday, March 9, 2015

Mealworm Farm



Mealworm Farm - If you are looking for a way to raise your own protein cheaply, easily, and with almost no space or infrastructure, look no further than mealworms. When food is scarce, you’ll want livestock that are efficient, take up small spaces, and can easily be hidden.For more information, view How To: Mealw...

By: velacreations



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Friday, February 27, 2015

Cheap and Easy Solar Heater



Cheap and Easy Solar Heater - Converting electricity into heat is one of the most inefficient uses of energy. If you’re not convinced, look at the power usage of electric appliances like microwaves, space heaters, water heaters, ovens, or coffee pots. The difference can be seen between your electric bill from a cold month, when ...

By: velacreations



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Friday, February 13, 2015

Squash Candy



Squash Candy - This simple, delicious and healthy candy is the answer to two challenges that our family faces. The first is that both of our kids, just turned 2 and 5, LOVE all things sweet. They get sugar candy as a treat every once in a while, but we hate to give them too much. This squash candy is a great comp...

By: velacreations



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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Fur and Leather Fanny Pack



Fur and Leather Fanny Pack - I’ve been wanting to make a fanny pack for a while now, something that gives me easy access to coins and notes on market day. So, the other day I set to it and had it finished in less than a day.It has rabbit fur exterior, leather bottom and straps, and fabric interior. There’s a zippered pocket for...

By: velacreations



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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Fur and Leather Fanny Pack



Fur and Leather Fanny Pack - I’ve been wanting to make a fanny pack for a while now, something that gives me easy access to coins and notes on market day. So, the other day I set to it and had it finished in less than a day.It has rabbit fur exterior, leather bottom and straps, and fabric interior. There’s a zippered pocket for...

By: velacreations



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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Fabric Formed Foundation



Fabric Formed Foundation - A lot of the home we've been building over the past 7 years is made of concrete. The downstairs rooms have ferro-cement walls and a concrete roof, upstairs has a latex concrete roof, with concrete mortar used in the brick walls. Plus there's countless examples of poured concrete throughout, like flo...

By: velacreations



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Friday, May 30, 2014

Treasure Hunt for Kindergarten Kids



Treasure Hunt for Kindergarten Kids - For our eldest son’s 6th birthday, we decided to throw him a party, with the theme of hunting treasure. The kids were aged from 3 to 6, so everything had to be geared towards that age group. There were 10 kids and 11 clues (which were also puzzles or activities), with treasure at each clue.We tried ...

By: velacreations



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Friday, May 23, 2014

Forest Gardening



Forest Gardening - The basic principle of homesteading is to create a home and lifestyle that are as self-sustainable as possible. There’s no point producing your own food, water, energy or shelter for just a month or a year; if you and yours are to survive on the fruits of your homestead, you need it to keep producin...

By: velacreations



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Monday, February 10, 2014

How to build a Rocket Mass Heater



How to build a Rocket Mass Heater - There are two main factors that differentiate a Rocket Mass Heater (RMH) from a regular wood-burning stove. One is that the combustion that takes place is far more complete in an RMH, due to the increased draft and insulated burn chamber. An RMH can consequently be up to eight times more efficient, ...

By: velacreations



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Furry Foot Warmer for your desk



Furry Foot Warmer for your desk - Unfortunately, most of us have to spend at least some time sitting at a desk or table. Whether we work full-time in an office, or have to catch up on odd jobs like accounts, writing, sewing, artwork, even eating. And when sedentary, our circulation tends to be less effective, which at this time of y...

By: velacreations



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Oyster Mushrooms in a Laundry Basket



Oyster Mushrooms in a Laundry Basket - Mushrooms often get overlooked in the grand scheme of gardening, just because they're not plants. However, they are extremely beneficial to your garden's soil, are highly nutritious and make a tasty addition to almost any meal. The high levels of protein also make them especially valuable to vegetar...

By: velacreations



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Wild Grape Jelly and more



Wild Grape Jelly and more - There's something infinitely satisfying about gathering food from the wild. I guess part of it comes from an instinctive drive left over from our hunter/gatherer days, and part of it from the lazy man in each of us that likes getting something for "free", without having to work or pay for it. No mat...

By: velacreations



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Smoked Bacon from Scratch



Smoked Bacon from Scratch - Every meat-eater I've ever met has a very special place in their belly for bacon. Quite simply, it is delicious, almost any way you cook it. In fact, we love it so much that we raise a couple of pigs each year to meet all our bacon needs, not to mention ham, lard, sausage, pork chops, ribs, etc. Wi...

By: velacreations



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Make a Rabbit Fur Hat from scratch



Make a Rabbit Fur Hat from scratch - When it comes to staying warm, there's nothing quite like home-raised rabbit fur. If you tan it correctly, it comes out soft, pliable and extremely beautiful. We've made bags, kindle covers, cushions, blankets, and slippers. But, for the sake of this article, we'll describe not only how to tan the f...

By: velacreations



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