A window sill garden would make a great Christmas gift. And while you are at it, make one for yourself too.

The black “tray” used under this plant was fast food waste. Plan ahead and reuse your trash!

Plant Your Own Herb Garden Kit: Made With Recycled Materials

How to:
Include in the window sill kit everything needed to grow this herb garden: one Clementine box, six- 1 pint ice-cream containers with lids, potting soil, and seed packets.

Poke a drainage hole in the middle of the bottom of ice-cream containers. Fill with potting soil. Decorate the lids with pictures of herbs cut from last year’s seed catalogs or use the inside of a cereal box and write your own label. I used a circle cutter (found at craft stores) but you could cut the rim off an extra cover for a stencil that you can then trace. Line the Clementine box with plastic or reuse plastic cups from your recycle bin. Often times companies offer mixed seed packets but if making several herb gardens, you could repackage seeds: giving each kit a few of each kind of seed. A pretty ribbon adds to the presentation.

Note: You will need to put a spacer in the bottom of your Clementine box. Use whatever you can find to raise up the bottom of the box about an inch. Salvaged peanuts and a piece of scrap cardboard will do the trick. The spacer is needed to lift the containers because the covers are on. Once the lids are removed, the spacer can also be removed; the containers will now fit.

A Gift Tray of Seedlings

How to:
Alternatively you can pot some small herbs either store bought or share from your garden; just skip the lids.

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My daughter couldn’t wait to build herself this hide-away stocked with books, pillows and a flashlight. She even constructed a roof out of flattened boxes.

This photo shows part of a multi-room playhouse.

Give a kid a pile of boxes and he or she will be busy for hours and it doesn’t cost anything.
Such play allows children the opportunity to be engineers, architects, and builders. Boxes stack up to become walls, holes left become windows (or peep holes)… I love seeing all the creative ideas they come up with, such as strings that pull the door closed from the inside and then lock, built-in kitchen cabinets, box tables, and so much more… Today they may choose to build a multi-room palace and tomorrow a cozy reading nook fort. The possibilities are endless.

Are you expecting kids over for the holidays and don’t have any toys or you have toys but want something different to do? If so, introduce them to box blocks.

How to:

Collect the boxes prior to their arrival. Have a few things on hand like scissors and markers. There is nothing more to it!

Store the boxes stacked against the wall in an unused corner or in the garage.
Reuse or recycle boxes when done playing with them.

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Using a clothes line can save you a lot on energy bills. Better than that, using the sun to dry your clothes doesn’t produce any pollution.

We’ve come up with a clothes line situation that works well for us. First off it is close by: right out my door. Second, it is located under an overhang of the roof so my cloths never get re-wet by an unexpected rain. Third, it is located out on the side of my house so it is not in immediate view of visitors.

A carport might also be a good location for a clothes line if there is plenty of air circulation.

How to:
A. Screw an eyehook(s) into the wall: one for each line you intend to string. Remember to place the clothes lines high enough so you can walk under them without hitting your head.

B. Use a carabiner because it has one side that has a spring-hinge (that opens) making it easy to take down and re-hang the clothes line. (optional)

C. Tie a clothes line to the carabiner.

D. Attach an eyehook to the opposite wall at the same height and matching location on the wall. Lace the clothes line through.

E. Pull the line tight and tie off the clothes line(s) on a cleat.

*All supplies can be found at your local hardware store. Pick out hardware that will be resistant to rust.

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I built this small greenhouse out of a salvaged wooden garage door some years ago. I used the existing windows on the door for the front and the top of this box: there is no bottom. Since then, I can really extend my growing season. It warms up nicely inside but when the temperature really starts to drop outside it helps to insulate around the pots with leaves or straw.
How to:
Since the garage doors are made already in strips approximately 20 inches wide, making this box is fairly easy. Take the door apart and cut three 54 inch long sections: top, front, and back. The front and the top of the box should be made from the part of the door with windows and the back without. Also, cut two more pieces 18.5 inches wide and 22 inches tall: the sides. I can’t remember why now but I put two strips along the bottom front and along the back top (see arrows) making a combined height of 22 inches.
Screw the four sides of the box together with exterior wood screws. Next place the top on but do not attach: this design doesn’t use hinges. Use a stick to let out excess heat when needed. The box opens completely for planting and harvesting. Paint or stain the whole thing inside and out. I topped my box with a piece of Plexiglas. This gives an added layer of insulation. To attach the Plexiglas to your top, pre-drill holes in it first making sure that your exterior grade wood screws can freely fit through. I learned the hard way that the fiberglass will start to crack if the drill hole isn’t big enough.
A good place to keep your small greenhouse is up against your house. It will be slightly warmer here. Pick a spot that gets a lot of sun. I like it on my deck for quick harvesting and convenient watering. I use mine in the spring to get an early start growing seedlings. And I use it in the fall and winter to grow lettuce and other cold hardy plants. I also love to keep a parsley plant growing most of the winter: I love fresh parsley. During the deepest part of the winter I store potted plants that have died back but can’t stand excessive cold.

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X-rays from my husband’s head MRI and x-ray from his broken elbow turned out to be perfect for making Halloween themed décor. X-rays by their very nature are great when put in front of a light so it wasn’t much of a leap to come up with these lighting ideas. You will need to ask around for unwanted x-rays. Your friends will think you are weird but who cares? Or, ask your vet if they have any animal x-rays that they will be throwing away.

Night light
How to: Cover a night-light with a portion of an x-ray. I used a creepy head x-ray because of the eyeballs at the bottom.

Candle Votive
How to: Cut the x-ray in a rectangle of desired proportions. The ones pictured here are 5 ½ inches tall. Bring the sides around and overlap a little. You could use a stapler or glue but I used a paper clip on the top and one on the bottom because I can easily unroll them for storage. Inside you can use small jars to put in tea lights or a votive. Be careful of where you place your candles because the bottom of the jars can get hot.
These x-rays are creepy looking and therefore provide great mood lighting for a Halloween party!

Lamp shade
How to: Get a second -hand lamp and use the shade as a stencil to cut out a new shade out of an x-ray. Use black electrical tape along the seam. Also, you can use the tape to trim around the top and bottom of the lampshade.

bones +skulls+innards = Halloween

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How to:
Set aside suitable single serving milk bottles. Make sure you wash them out really well; old milk smells really bad. I got these bottles at Chick-Fil-A. If you don’t eat at that restaurant, ask all your friends to save them for you or find a similar bottle elsewhere. Depending on your needs, you may want to start collecting well in advance. (I’ve been known to save all year or longer for projects.)
Paint on the faces with black acrylic paint and let dry. Your kids will want to make some too! I accidently discovered that if you paint the face and let it dry a little but not all the way, you can use your brush to slide around the paint to make even scarier faces.
When your paint is dry, use a hole- punch to make two holes at the top of the bottles (see arrows in picture). Then use scrap ribbon or wire to attach your ghosts to a set of string-lights: use the holes you just made. Put one ghost over each light.

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I made these from the pears growing in my yard.

When we moved into our house, we were lucky to find that the previous owners had planted a pear tree. But what to do with all the pears? -dehydrate! I love these dried pear chips. I think they taste even better as chips: probably because the flavor concentrates when dried. The nice thing about dried fruit is that it is very portable. Also, they are a healthy snack to give the kids.

How to: cut off the top and bottom of the pear and thinly slice. No need to peel. You can dry the slices in a food processor but I don’t have one yet. I lay out the fruit in a single layer on cookie sheets and put the trays in the oven set very low. It should heat the air but not cook them. Store the dried chips in a covered container. They don’t need to be stored in the fridge but I often do because they last longer.

The purpose of this post is to inspire you to make some of these tasty treats yourself.

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I made this box from a brightly colored poster found at a garage sale. It was damaged but I only needed part of the poster to make the box.
Cut the bottom square ¼ inch smaller than the top square. (I used an 8.5 inch square to make the top and an 8.25 inch square to make the bottom.

Remember to line up corners and sides exactly and run the back of your nail across the folds.
1. To make this origami box you will need a perfectly square piece of paper. A paper cutter works great but if you do not have one you will need to measure carefully and then cut with scissors.
2. Before doing your first fold, place your square so the back side is up (the good side is face down). Then bring opposite corners together and make a nice crease.
3. Unfold and bring other opposite corners together and make a nice crease.
Your paper should now have fold lines in the shape of an x.
4. Again, with the back side up, fold your paper in half vertically.
5. Unfold. Fold paper in half horizontally. This means fold the bottom corners up to the top corners. (I forgot to take this picture: sorry.)
6. Unfold. Next fold in one of the corners. Point the corner to the exact center of the paper. You will know where that is by looking at the fold lines that you already made.
7. Fold in another corner.
8. Fold in another corner.
9. Fold in last corner.
10. Fold the bottom up to the center as shown in the picture.
11. Fold the top: they should meet in the center.
12. Unfold. Fold one side to the center.
13. Fold the other side. They should meet in the center.
14. Unfold last two folds. Pull open opposite corners.
15. Fold up two (opposite) sides. These will be two of the sides of your box.
16. To finish your box you will have to fold the paper in as shown.
17. I thought another view might be helpful. This is the hardest step to figure out. Hold your soon- to-be box top in the same orientation as shown in the photo and you should be fine.
18. Bring the corners up and around to the inside.
19. Completed box top.
20. Follow the same instructions to make a bottom for your box; remember to cut the square for your box bottom ¼ inch smaller that the square you cut for the top of your box.

Project ideas: Valentine card reused to make origami box, vintage Valentine embellished origami box, and magazine page made into Valentine gift box.

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If you are trying to grow cabbage and/or broccoli in your garden (maybe for the first time), it is likely that you have found these caterpillars devouring your would-be dinner. These almost cute green guys are the caterpillar of the Cabbage White butterfly and they are hungry. They love to eat cabbage, broccoli, and other brassicas.

We decided to try growing cabbage as part of our fall garden. Well it didn’t take long before holes started appearing on the leaves. I handpicked the critters off (and fed them to the chickens) but was surprised at how many I collected. I haven’t resorted to chemicals yet. Apparently there is an organic Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis) spray called Dipel (Brand name) which is a microbial spray that will kill the caterpillars. I’m still hoping I won’t have to resort to spray; even if it is organic.

Check your plants daily and hand pick off any of the caterpillars you find. You must check daily!
Other critters like to munch on your greens such as slugs (see my post on slugs) and other caterpillars. You will need to pick those off too.

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How to:
Set aside suitable single serving milk bottles. Make sure you wash them out really well; old milk smells really bad. I got these bottles at Chick-Fil-A. If you don’t eat at that restaurant, ask all your friends to save them for you or find a similar bottle elsewhere. Depending on your needs, you may want to start collecting well in advance. (I’ve been known to save all year or longer for projects.)

Paint on the faces with black acrylic paint and let dry. Alternatively this might be an activity for guests at your Halloween party. Even young children can do this simple craft. Make a few in advance to set out as examples. I accidentally discovered that if you paint the face and let it dry a little but not all the way, you can use your brush to slide around the paint to make even scarier faces.

Print out ghostly messages on your computer, cut into strips and glue to the bottom of each bottle (See photo.) Write “Find a trick or treat inside. Maybe both”. Or write ” No trick, there is a treat inside!”
For fun, you may want to surprise your guests with a “trick” inside. Take a strip of paper and fold it accordion style with the word “Boo!” at the end. Glue the other end to the inside of the bottle cap. Children will find it when they open their bottle.

Fill these Halloween themed party favors with gummy worms or other treats.

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