Use up those broken crayons

Candace at Crafty Daisies presents a marvelous way to use up broken crayons while making something much easier for a young scribbler to use. I won't spoil it with my own explanation; go there and read about it.

Less expensive cold frame

For a year or so I've been drooling over greenhouses; but it's just not feasible for us at this point. Not only is a decent greenhouse more expensive than our current budget allows, but it also takes up a lot of space. Cold frames seem like a decent alternative for growing small vegetation into the cold weather, but they're still a bit costy for their purpose, considering their size limitations.

So now, with the cold frame idea in mind, I'm looking for an alternative. Specifically, I'm looking for lidded storage tubs that come in clear plastic. Depending on the size, there are limits to what size plants I can grow, but I can put pots or a seeding system on the overturned lid, and then use the tub, overturned, for a top. I haven't tried it yet, but as soon as I can find the tubs in clear, I'll do it. I'll let you know how it turns out. If you get to it first, let me know!

Sticky Hair

Every kid eventually gets it: sticky hair. I'm not talking about bubble gum; I'm talking about that mysterious stickiness that you suspect is probably some sort of food. And it inevitably happens when you have ten minutes to get out the door looking nice.

Quite often, the hard, sticky clumps are sugar. If you don't have time to give your tot a bath, wet that brush and you'll be amazed at how much easier it becomes to manage the clump and remove some of the stickiness. That's because the water dissolves the sugar.

How to take a self portrait

From my daughter:
Stand in front of a clean mirror, with the camera out to the side but facing the mirror. Smile at the camera's reflection. It will look like you're looking directly at the camera.

save closet space

Have you seen those tandem hangers that have hooks in the front? You can hang one hanger from another, saving tremendous space in the closet, or enabling you to put outfits together to find easily. But the hangers are usually considerably more expensive than other plastic hangers, which in turn are of course more expensive than the wire hangers that seem to reproduce on their own.

The answer? Buy a cheap package of cable ties. You can find them at places like Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart for good prices. Make a loop around the neck of your ordinary hanger, and attach it to the shoulder of the hanger with a twist tie. Voila! You now have your own, much less expensive, tandem hangers.

Weevils

Ew. Yuck. No matter how clean you keep your home (and I wish I could claim a shiny clean home, but I'm afraid it's more of a dream than a reality) one wrong purchase, and you have a problem that can take months to take care of.

In our case, the purchase was boxed macaroni, an off brand, that does not come in a plastic bag inside the box. Before we knew we had them, the weevils had spread to boxes of everything else. In some cases, they'd even gotten into plastic box liners, closed jars of pasta and flour, you name it.

The solution takes time, but it can be done. First, invest in gallon ziplock bags. Put any box of dry goods that will fit into a sealed bag immediately. If any bugs have gotten into the box already, you'll very quickly be able to tell because you'll find traces inside the bag. Next, empty and clean your pantry thoroughly. I recommend Lysol, because it does a pretty good job of wasting pesties, without really contaminating your shelves. Make sure you spray the corners very well. Finally, keep plenty more plastic bags on hand and immediately seal any further boxes of dry goods you buy, before you even put them away.

Finally, I'm going to try this one that I just heard about from a lady at a local store: wintergreen gum. She said her mother always kept one stick of gum in her rice canister and another in her flour, and the smell would keep away the weevils. I'm willing to give it a try. If you've done it, let us know how it worked, please!

You have a toddler who removes her diapers?

Try taping them on backwards.

The Ink Blot Test

No pencil can ever escaped it: eventually, a pen will leak into your cute little cup, and you won't notice it. You'll pick up one of the other pens, do a little writing, and then discover that your hand is covered with black goo.

To minimize this sort of damage, try something simple. Put a wad of bathroom tissue at the bottom of the cup. It won't keep your pens from leaking, and it won't guarantee that the ink won't coat the other pens; but it should absorb at least some of the ink, creating a layer of protection between the ink and the clean pens.

Some ink may be too thick for the tissue to absorb, but in that case, at least the tissue will protect the bottom of the cup.

sunburn!

I don't have any magic cures, I can't prevent emergency room visits, and the only advice I can give about prevention is the standard cover up and/or use sunblock. But this week, my husband and two of the kids came home from fishing with nasty lobster skin, and we at least found a few things that offered temporary relief.

1. A spray bottle of water does absolute wonders. Mist those legs frequently. (It also offers the advantage of cooling the skin and slowing the burn's progress, which continues after getting out of the sun.)

2. Everyone's said it, and I'll say it too: aloe vera. Use it liberally and often. It not only cools longer than water, it also moisturizes the skin skin and helps reduce drying and damage. Keep a big bottle of the stuff (look for pure, no additives) on the bathroom counter beside the toilet, and slather yourself every time you use the bathroom.

3. A cool bath. Soak till just at the point of pruniness, then use a gentle lotion while your skin is still moist. That locks in the water that your skin has absorbed.

4. Standard health advice especially applies: drink lots of water and get plenty of rest. The water will help hydrate you (and your skin) from the inside out, and the rest gives your body a chance to heal on the cellular level.

5. An anti-fever medicine like acetaminophen or ibuprofen may help you to cool down.

Finally, do not do any of this in substitution for medical care if needed. Sunburns are serious business, and you really should do what you can to avoid them.

Book Repair

I warn you, this is not the kind of professional repair you'd use for a keepsake, but it's good for books that get lots of use and wear.

I've found nothing more useful than clear packing tape, preferably the thick stuff. One strip down the spine will repair most torn off covers, and another strip on the inside will usually prevent them from tearing again. If it's a thick book, go ahead and do the other side also, so that the other cover won't tear off. If you really want heavy duty protection, cover the whole thing, then, with clear contact paper.

If you're using the packing tape, go ahead and do the edges of the book cover while you're at it. It will help prevent fraying along the edges and bent corners. Cut the strip of tape a little longer than the length of the edge, from front corner to back corner. Let it overhang. Then fold the extra bits over the corner for extra-extra reinforcement there. Your books will last a long time this way, and paperbacks will be almost as sturdy as hardcovers.

Magic Soil

Yesterday, we were short on groceries; but not to worry! I went to the garden and dug up a load of potatoes. Mind you, I never planted potatoes, yet there they were. You see, we compost. And compost is one of the funnest ways of discovering the potential of your yard. It improves the soil dramatically, and has other, surprise, benefits.

Some people will tell you to invest in a compost barrel and fully degrade the organic matter before mulching it into your soil. That's one way of doing a nice, neat garden. But for the messy gardener, direct composting has its advantages. One of them is that it is far less work and far less cost. Another is that the things you compost tend to be the things your family likes to eat, and some of them will grow! We move our compost area periodically from one end of our front garden/planter (it's about 8x3), and we discover new foods growing where the previous pile was. Onions can grow out of the ends that you throw away. Potatoes can grow from the eyes you toss. It's very little work, and free food. And who doesn't like free?

If your bread molds too fast...

If you have a problem with not being able to get through a loaf of bread before it goes moldy, consider rice cakes. I found some at a local discount grocer, for a really good price; I bought a lot. Now I wish I'd bought more. They last in the pantry for a long time, because unlike bread they do not have moisture. They make a great lower-calorie sandwich type food, with spread or toppings served open-faced; and they come in a variety of fun flavors, too.

The sponge is dirtier than the dish.

Yeah, that's right. Scary, isn't it? All those bacteria that make your sponges smell so bad also can carry disease, and you wipe them right back onto the dish when you wash by hand. Solution? Well, there are several.

One possibility is to replace sponges with dishrags, and wash them regularly in the laundry. That works well if you can handle that level of change in your life, and if you wash in hot enough water to kill germs.

If you don't use hot water in the wash (which is bad for most of your clothes), you might consider switching from cellulose sponges to the foamy kind, the ones that resemble cheap chalkboard erasers. They don't hold nearly so much bacteria, and are much easier to wring out.

Step two is to throw them into the dishwasher regularly. Even if you wash clothes on cold, hot water is still better for your your plates. And your sponges.

They won't last forever, but you will get a bit more use out of them than if you never wash them.

The PDA that never needs charged

This one is from my son. He got tired of a handheld machine that lost its battery charge too quickly because it held everything in ram. Not only that, but when it lost its charge, it also lost any data that wasn't backed up on the computer. He made, with duct tape, a "wallet" just the right size for 3x5 cards. (A small makeup case or pouch would work, too, or even a large change purse.) It allows for quick note taking, easy reading, and rearranging and disposal for convenience. And it never needs charged.

Terrible twos

How do you handle a two-year-old tantrum? They can be frazzling.

The thing to remember is that the child has three possible reasons for having a tantrum:
1. For attention
2. To test you and your reaction
3. Fatigue

The fourth reason, being "spoiled," generally does not appear until later, if the parent reacts in a way that rewards the child's desire for negative attention or gives the child what he demands.

Now, I recognize that children are not one size fits all, and that works for one kid might not work for another; but one method I've found very effective may work for many other parents as well. When my son hit the terrible twos and began throwing tantrums, I responded (calmly -- it is important that they know they can't push your buttons!) by saying "go cry in your room." This deprived him of getting attention for outbursts, making angry tears unrewarding. If he really needed to cry, he wasn't forbidden it; he just had to do it on his own and calm down before coming out. He very quickly learned how to turn off tantrum tears and say "I'm all done crying!"

The caution, though, is that you have to be careful to recognize when fatigue is the root of his behavioral problems. Sometimes he really will need outside calming, because he's too tired to be in control of his own emotions. At those times, a hug and a nap will often do wonders. Just don't let him learn to manipulate you into thinking that all tantrums are fatigue!

Thyme border

My project of the week is planting thyme. It isn't just part of the herb garden, though. It's a decorative, fragrant border for the lawn, to make maintenance much, much easier.

Here's how it works. You know those places on your lawn that the mower just can't seem to get? Up against a fence, or a planter, or the house... the mower can't get close enough, and you are stuck either picking tall grass by hand, breaking your back with a weed eater, or letting it go to seed and anger the neighbors. With just one afternoon's work, you can make it a non-issue in the future.

Buy creeping thyme. It comes in a number of varieties, which you can sometimes find at local garden shops, but otherwise you can buy online from seed companies. Make sure it's a creeping variety, not a bushy variety. You can also plant several kinds, to get slightly different fragrances, leaf colors, and even blossoms.

Then you dig the area you want to plant. Take a lawn edger to break the sod first, then just dig the sod out. Plant your thyme according to directions, about a foot apart, and add compost, potting soil, or other seed and root-free planting material around it to level it. It should quickly grow and spread, making a trouble-free ground cover in the area that your mower can't reach. It is sturdy enough to take some foot traffic, and it lets off a lovely smell when the leaves get crushed. And it lies flat enough that the mower will do little damage when it comes into contact with the edge.

For the reluctant veggie eater

You want your kiddie to eat healthy, balanced meals, but he has other ideas. No veggies. (Red isn't a veggie, so pizza sauce is ok.) Nothing green. Even mint green ice cream is suspect. Whatever can you do?

Well, spinach is the perfect stealth veggie. You can buy it frozen, chopped pretty small. Too small to pick out of a casserole. If that's till too visible, the blender can work wonders. A whirl in the blender, and spinach, or just about any other green vegetable, can be added to any brown sauce almost unnoticed. It adds nutrition, and even flavor.

Don't forget to use green onions and garlic greens, too. Diced tiny, they add flavor and zing -- and necessary "green" nutrients -- to anything from a soup to a pizza.

Pastry Seeds!

Ok, not really... but a good idea for germinating seeds, in a pastry tray.
If you've ever bought a grocery store pastry, you know what I'm talking about. It's a plastic container that has a metal tray inside, and holds a coffee cake or some such thing. They snap closed, and many of them are a really good size for germinating seeds. Just put in peat pots (or some equivalent with a biodegradable pot and planting compound or soil). Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pastry plastic, and when the self-contained planters are completely damp, add your seeds. Close the lid, and it will give you a humid, warm, greenhouse environment for your seeds to start in. When the seedlings get too tall for the "greenhouse," they're ready to plant.

Improving the non-car garage

If you're one of the many people who don't park cars in the garage because it's too small or you have too much other stuff in it, consider weatherizing it. It will lower your electric bill (especially in cold or windy seasons), give you more privacy, and reduce the number of pests that get in.

The first thing to do is buy weatherizing caulk, the kind that foams up like shaving cream. Make sure that it's graded for windows. Spray the perimeter of any garage windows, to keep wind from seeping in around them. After it dries, you can cover the windows with a tarp or even shower curtains, attaching the edges to the wall to make more of an air barrier. This keeps curious eyes from peeking in to see whether you have anything worth stealing, and it further blocks the cold by providing a pocket of air between the window and the curtain. I recommend using something white and semi-opaque, to block the view from outside but still allow some light to come in.

If it's winter or almost winter, go ahead and caulk the perimeter of the garage door, also. If it's spring or summer, you might want to wait, in case you need to open the door to clean out the garage. If you find that you need to open it after you've caulked, don't worry. The cost of recaulking is minimal, and still worth it.

The total cost of this weatherizing can be ten dollars or less. The caulk tubes run about $4 each in my area, and even if you buy two (one industrial, extra-expanding, and one less-expansive window kind), it's not costly. If you use shower curtains, you can get them from a dollar store.

Uses for yogurt

This seems like a good time to mention that yogurt is good for preventing or minimizing most kinds of food poisoning. With the major exception of botulism (which must have medical attention), most kinds of food poisoning involve bacteria that cause stomach pain and loose bowels. Some also cause vomiting. Yogurt contains "good" bacteria that populate your digestive tract, and compete with bad bacteria. They also compete with yeast, preventing yeast from growing out of control and keeping yeast at a healthy level.

Weed control, non-toxic

If you want to control weeds without using poisons, consider a food byproduct that prevents seeds from germinating: corn gluten meal. It has to be applied before the seeds sprout to work, but that's a shortcoming worth working with in exchange for a non-toxic lawn.

Building blocks for the kids

A good way to save on building blocks for the kids is to get them for free. Yeah, that's right, free. Next time you're at a building supply store, go to the area where they cut lumber, and see if they have any ends ready to be thrown away. Take them home and sand them well, and if you want you can add a layer of non-lead paint. They're sturdy and big, and they're in sizes your child probably doesn't already have in the standard kids' set.

Planting tomatoes

A few tidbits about growing tomatoes, the favorite garden food in the United States...

If you plant starts, you will get a longer fruiting season but will pay more than if you start from seed. Bury your starts fairly deep. The more stem you get under the dirt, the more of it will become root, giving your plant a deep root system to sustain a bigger, more productive plant.

For best variety and longer growing season, plant more than one kind of tomato. Grape tomatoes are very sweet and fun to eat right off the vine, and beefsteak tomatoes will give you lots of "flesh" for cooking. Other varieties can be pretty, have unique flavors, or have earlier fruiting season. Experiment.

Tomatoes need support. A good steel cage will hold up much better than a cheap wire cage, and if you plan to grow tomatoes summer after summer, it's worth the investment. Also good is a trellis, or even a length of fence.

Don't plant tomatoes and potatoes together, because they are closely related and can share pests or diseases.

For real fun, plant onion, cilantro, and chili peppers also, and make your own garden salsa!

So you tripped and found yourself here...

Welcome to the ever-dull first post. For anyone who is familiar with my other blog, Confessions of a Hot Carmel Sundae, I want to warn you that this one is not going to be the same. If it were, I'd just post it there, right?

Feel free to read, or not. I won't get my feelings hurt, but your comments will be welcome.

As for content, this blog will be a little less organized and much more hands on. As Miss Frizzle says, "Get messy!" I plan to. I'll be offering ideas, plans, and quickie tips on all sorts of things, from housecleaning to homeschooling to dealing with spam.

I welcome other people's ideas here, too. The idea is to get helpful ideas out there, and if you have 'em, flaunt 'em!

Welcome, welcome, welcome.