Candle stick, whats it good for?

    Often, how we perceive something determines whether it is useful or could be made useful. Take the image below of a couple of plates and the candlestick holder.

   




    Most people would look at it and think two plates and candlestick, what of it?  But my grandfather used to play a game of what if. The game was rather simple put two or more items together and what do you come up with? A cat and a refrigerator, what do you get? A cat that has a light come on when it opens its mouth. The person with the most unusual combination, wins.  Usually it was just to see if he could get me to laugh. But there would always be some combination that would surprise the both of us and always made us think,"could that actually work?"

  

    So if you were to use clear epoxy and glue the motive candle dish to the candlestick , what would you have? A candy dish or soap dish?

How about we glue the clear plate to the candlestick , what would we have then? A fancy serving dish or a raised plate to display something on?

How about a bowl and a candlestick ,what would you have then?  A fancy ice cream dish or a goblet for your kids play ? So the next time you're in a dollar store, just remember, a candlestick is not always a candlestick .  And on another note my grandfather always said; " Survival is not always a matter of what you have , but what you can make with what you have.

(NOTE: I always try to use a candle stick with a broad base or glue a flat plate on the bottom to make a broad base. This will help keep your dish from falling over . Also, I have found that clear epoxy works best, not supper glue.)

Homemade aluminum plant tags

Homemade aluminum plant tags

 

So you may have wondered why I didn't use aluminum cans?

Aluminum cans are hard to work with and leave sharp edges. That's not to say you can't use them, just be more careful. If you use an aluminum can be sure to bend the edges over to eliminate sharp edges. (note: If you can get cut on a piece of paper, you can get cut on one of these tags.) Sorry in this day and age with all the idiots out there, I have to put disclaimers on everything.

The aluminum I use is easy to work with and it's an aluminum that doesn't normally get recycled. It is not as rigid as aluminum cans, but still holds it's shape.
The plant tags will last for a long time. I have some tags that are over 10 years old. The following is an example of what I put on my tags.

• Name of plant
• date planted (moon phases and or planetary alignment )
• where purchased (note many stores guarantee plants)
• original location (if moved or propagated)
• herb, fruit,vegetable

Or

• Name of plant
• Ref number

Then have a catalog with the reference number and all the details about the plant that you could not include on the tag.

Other ideas are to use the tags on gifts, as Christmas ornaments, luggage tags, or anywhere you need a nice tag.

DIY floating solar lights and battery yard lights ideas

Floating solar lights and yard accent lights

These are inexpensive ways to light up your yard.

Note: glass, plastic, or even metal coffee cans with holes can be used to make yard accent lights.

Make your own stepping stone mold

Stepping stones

Make your own stepping stone mold.
Note: things not mention in video.

1. 1.Stones take up to 5 or 6 days to fully cure and be strong enough to walk on.
2. 2. When setting stones in place it is very important to set them on smooth level ground. any uneven points or rocks under the stone could break or crack the stone.

stinky sponges

Fix smelly sponges with hand sanitizer.

The next time your washing dishes and you notice your sponge smells bad. Instead of throwing the sponge out try a little hand sanitizer. Put two or three squirts on the sponge and work it into the sponge. Let it set for a day and the smell should be gone.

Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds

So let's talk coffee grounds.

For years I have used coffee grounds to acidif the soil around my plants. I would sprinkle my coffee grounds around my roses , tomatoes and evergreens. But I didn't know you could use coffee grounds to keep pests away from your plants. I was having problems with worms in my cabbages. A friend suggested that sprinkling some coffee grounds on and around my cabbage would deter the cabbage worms . To my surprise it worked and have used it ever since .

The paper towel is to help dry the coffee. It is easyer to sprinkle if the coffee ground are dry and I can reuse the paper towel or put it in compost.

Kids liquid soap bubbles recipe

 Kids liquid soap

bubbles recipe

Liquid foaming soap recipe

Liquid foaming soap recipe

   Save money by making your own foaming liquid soap from regular liquid soap. This is a secret that the liquid soap manufacturers do not want you to know.

Shampoo, body wash, and hand soap are the same ?

Shampoo, body wash, and hand soap are the same ? Keep in mind that the first thing listed in ingredients, is what there is the most of. And what is listed last on the list of ingredients is what there is the least of.
    With that in mind note that the above labels show identical ingredients, yet one is shampoo and the other is body wash. If you want to go one further, look at the ingredients on hand soap. A 64 fluid ounce bottle of hand soap that sells for $3.80 has the same ingredients as the 12 fluid ounce body wash that sells for $3.95. That's a 400% markup over the hand soap that has the exact same ingredients. Now not all soaps have the exact same formula but if the first five ingredients are the same I would say that's a very close match. So the next time you go shopping for shampoo and body wash, remember hand soap with the same ingredients sells for 400% less. Also note that store brands are more likely to use the same ingredients in their soap products. In the examples that I have shown here remember that it took several comparisons before I found an exact match but only the first 5 or 6 ingredients need match.
    The real question that we should be asking is how many other products are they doing this with?

sock bird feeders.MOV

Reusing aluminum cans to build concrete walls.

Reusing aluminum cans to build concrete walls.

        Using aluminum cans and bottles for constructing walls is not a new idea. Many ghost towns around Nevada show prime examples of construction with bottles. People had to get creative and use whatever there was plenty of. On more than one occasion I have come across ghost towns where bottles were used in construction of buildings. In some cases the walls were constructed using adobe clay and bottles. The type of material used to construct buildings were dictated by the cost and availability of materials. As the local dump usually had a surplus of whiskey bottles this was the primary item used but by no means was it the only item used. Anything and everything was fair game for reusing and in some cases entire towns were moved from one mining site to another, wasting nothing.

Reusing milk jugs and water jugs

Reusing milk jugs and water jugs to make hot caps for the garden. (Note) you should not use clear plastic bottles because they get too hot. Reusing plastic jugs is only limited by your imagination and once you're done using them they can be recycled.

My parents and grandparents were always recycling everything, nothing was ever thrown out or wasted . We reused soup cans, coffee cans and anything else that might have been thrown away. My dads mantra was " waste not want not." and "throw it away only if you can't recycle it." Recycling old mailboxes into garden toolboxes to reusing old garden hose for tool handles .

Don't recycle!

Don't recycle!

This blog is about reusing items that we would normally throw away or recycle. This is not a new idea but it is an idea that corporate America hopes will never catch on.