Craft Corner: Fourth of July Windsock

I was inspired to make this windsock after seeing one recently on the internet. 

I used three plastic table clothes from the dollar store and my boyfriend made me a ring out of some scrap wire he had lying around his shop and a bit of fishing line to hang it! First I cut the table covers into about one inch wide strips ( I didn't unfold the table covers). I used a hitch knot to attach the pieces of table cloth and because I did use dollar store stuff a single layer broke when I pulled it tight to the wire so I doubled each piece just to make things easier! It did take me about two hours to complete this project as it is fairly labor intensive. Happy crafting!

I tried that!: Vinegar and Dawn tub and shower cleaner

Today I came across a miracle bathroom cleaning solution that I haven't tried yet using warm white vinegar and Dawn dish washing liquid. Ingredients: 12 oz white vinegar,12 oz of blue Dawn dish soap.Directions: 1) warm up 12 oz of white vinegar in the microwave. (2) add in  12 oz of Dawn dish soap (the blue kind) and mix together. (3) Put this into a spray bottle and then spray down the tub and/or shower let sit while you clean the rest of the rest of the bathroom and then scrub and rinse.  This stuff worked really well, however, the smell was more than overwhelming for me. I had to cover my face with a wash towel because I was gagging so much I thought I might get sick!

I tried that!:Homemade dryer sheet

  This didn't work work as well as I had hoped. But here is how you make it, soak a hand towel in liquid fabric softener. Squeeze out as much of the excess as you can then let the towel dry over a chair in the house or outside on the clothes line. I dried mine inside and it took about three days for it to dry our completely. Be sure the towel is totally dry before using it. Then just throw in the dryer with your clothes. It should last about 40-50 loads.

  I have been using this for 5 loads of laundry and I have noticed it is not helping much with the static (mostly with polyester) and the scent is hardly there. I don't know if brand makes a difference as the person didn't specify but I use Downy Ultra fabric softener.  

I tried that!: Organic weed killer spray

I was thrilled to come across this recipe! I don't like having to poison the earth with toxic chemicals but, at the same time I don't enjoy pulling weeds.

Organic Weed Killer
1/2 gallon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup table salt
1/2 tsp Dawn liquid dish soap

Mix and pour into a spray bottle. Spray weeds thoroughly.



 Yesterday I mixed up a gallon of it and sprayed all around the beds in my garden and around the front yard.

This morning all of these little weeds in the above picture were dead! The one pictured below where still fairly green first thing this morning but now they are looking sickly! I think it's working pretty well I am pleased enough that we will not use round up in our yard again!!

Welcome to my garden!:Progress

I am amazed how well everything in the garden is doing. I was so worried that I would over/under water and kill it, but I have a green thumb when it comes to houseplants and this isn't that much different! I spent a little bit of time looking up how to care for each plant so I have a good idea of who needs how much water and so forth.
 I haven't yet put any fertilizer in the garden. I have been using an Epsom salt spray on the tomatoes and peppers and the peppers are looking good! There are about 8 on the plants right now and more coming!

 Last night I had to have my boyfriend add some more wire around the tomatoes. They are getting big and have lots of new fruit. All bugs are being controlled with an all natural spray that I made myself and it is very effective. I can't wait until we are harvesting fresh tomatoes.

 The basil plants are doing well they are however, looking a little bare after yesterdays harvest!

 I have also added cucumbers to the garden. I know the timing is not right but they don't get too much sun right there and I can always build them a little shade shelter if its not enough and if they die that's ok too!

 I just recently found a website that tells you when to start seeds according to zip code. This will be very helpful come fall because I want to try some fall crops this year! No reason to stop gardening because summer ends!!

Happy Gardening!

I tried that!: All natural bug spray

I have always been one to not want to spray chemicals bug repellents on myself or my family. Last year I went with an all natural repellent that I bought at the health food store. While the product worked well the scent was not one I could deal with. So I found an all natural one online using essentials oils and I love it! The smell is great, my seven year old likes it so well I finally had to put it up because he was spritzing himself with it all day!!

Bug Off

Ingredients
4 drops citronella essential oil
4 drops of lemongrass essential oil
4 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
4 drops of mint essential oil
1/4 cup witch hazel

Directions
 Add all ingredients to a spray bottle (I used a plastic one but, glass is fine too!) Shake well before each use!

I tried that!: Time Out Bottles

My daughter and I decided to make these for my youngest son and my little granddaughter. I use the timeout method and find that a little quiet time is perfect to help reset a situation where the little ones are throwing a fit and are out-of-control. 

You will need an empty bottle or bottles, one bottle of glitter glue,some fine glitter,food coloring, and super glue for the tops when you are done!

Now fill the bottle 3/4 of the way full with water. We put about 3/4 of a bottle of glitter glue  in the big bottle and the rest in the the smaller bottle. Next we let kids add some food coloring to the bottle, just don't add to much or its hard to see the glitter. We added some super fine glitter and some regular glitter to the bottles. I didn't measure how much of each but it was about 1/2 a packet of the fine glitter and a whole tube of the other. 

Shake well and see how long it takes for your glitter to settle if it is falling to fast add more of the glitter glue until you have it timed right and then glue on the lids with some super glue and send them with the kids to their time-out place.

These turned out good the first time through, it take a little bit of shaking for the glue part to dissolve but by the next day the were working perfect! The big bottle takes 8 minutes to settle and the little one takes two minutes! 

I tried that!:DIY Taco Seasoning

I have decided this year to stop using packaged taco, chili and stew mixes. Its time I stopped cooking with all those extra additives and such so, once again I went to Pinterest and starting looking for recipes to make my own. Here is an excellent taco seasoning that my picky 7 year old actually likes and its super easy to make!

Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sea salt

Mix together and store in a container with your other spices! Happy cooking!

Welcome to my garden!: The Plot

Welcome to my garden!: The plot

   I don’t have a lot of sun in my yard for a garden but I have desperately wanted one for years. This year I decided I wanted to try and utilize the small patch of full sun that runs beside my driveway. My next challenge was to put together a garden as cheaply as possible.  So I found a web-site that has lots of interesting ways to reuse pallets and one way was to use them laid down flat and plant in them.  I loved that idea as it is cheap and fairly easy, so I showed my boyfriend the picture and asked him if he could help me get the pallets and fix them up. Well after a couple of hours of hard work I actually ended up with some raised beds made out of the pallet wood and the fencing material and posts came from my boyfriend’s dad’s house.  Love my recycled garden enclosure!!

The sticks all along the top of the fence are to hopefully deter the deer from jumping the fence and enjoying my garden. So far I have 5 varieties of tomatoes, jalapenos, Anaheim chilies,basil,rosemary,cilantro,peppermint and lemon balm. I was going for a salsa garden but there are always more things I want to grow. I have been spraying the tomatoes and pepper plants with Epsom salts and water and have about 8 peppers and two tomatoes growing! I have lots more room to add stuff and I plan on adding more as the summer goes along and look forward to trying some winter crops too!

For what ails you!: Brat diet pancakes

Recently my 16 month old granddaughter was ill with the stomach flu and a bad case of diarrhea so we put her on the brat diet.  If you haven’t heard of the BRAT diet it is bandannas, rice, applesauce, and toast.  Luckily she isn't a very picky eater but rice is one of the things she dislikes so I was talking to her mom about what else to do instead because the other stuff isn't as filling for bed time. She mentioned that she had once made BRAT pancakes for some of her younger siblings, who were picky eaters and that they ate them without any fussin! So this is how I made mine.

Ingredients

Pancake mix  (I make my own whole wheat mix)

½ cup mashed up banana

½  cup plus 2 tbsp applesauce  (I did put cinnamon in mine)

½ cup cooked rice (I put a little bit of ground ginger in the water I cooked the rice in)

I left out the oil that the recipe calls for but I did add the egg.

Mix all ingredients and cook on a griddle using pam instead of oil or butter.

My batter came out a lot thicker than the traditional recipe does so I did have to cook them longer.

My granddaughter liked them so much she was eating them without syrup or butter which is what you want!

Note

My Pancake mix calls for 1 cup mix, 1 cup milk, 1 egg and 2 tablespoons oil, I replaced the liquid with the bananas and applesauce plus a little extra applesauce to replace the oil.