As I was perusing the store’s Christmas shelves for ideas (because of course I’m not willing to pay for those ornaments), I noticed these beautiful red plastic stars.  They were so simple but stunning.  So I decided to make some myself.  I headed off for my garage for wood scraps.  Using an old cereal box, I made a few quick star templates and cut out a bunch of star shaped wooden pieces.  In my backyard, I laid out several old newspapers (to save the grass) and spray painted my stars bright Christmas red – 2 coats on each side.  Then I sealed them with some acrylic sealant, let dry, threaded through silver embroidery floss for hangers and hung them out on the porch (to air out).   These should look amazing on our Christmas tree.  They actually look pretty nice hanging on our porch too!

I’ve discovered that a big drain of energy in the house is located right in your electrical sockets and light switches. Those little holes that are cut out for these electrical devices also allow big drafts into your house. I had actually never thought of this until I found a package of foam outlet and switch sealers at a garage sale. The lady selling them said that her husband had never gotten around to installing them – and after reading the box, I decided to take the chance that I would. After I got home and did some quick research on the internet, I’m glad that I did! These drafts can be a huge waste of energy in heating and cooling your home and I’m looking forward to some great savings after dropping just 50 cents and spending a few minutes of my time.

They were incredibly easy to install because they were precut foam. I just popped out the pieces to throw away, unscrewed the outlet covers with a flathead screw driver, popped the foam piece on, and put the outlet cover right back on.

From my reading on the internet, these aren’t too expensive – running about $3 for a 24/pack if you pay full price and appear to be well worth the expense.

I just found out how to make your own tasty apple butter (when you don’t have the space or time to whip out a gigantic kettle over an open fire)

You need:
4.5 lbs apples

4 cups of sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

Quarter the apples and peel (or don’t if you like the peels). Put the apples into your crockpot, cover with the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt and carefully stir to coat. Cover and cook on high until hot, then low for the day (7-10 hours). After cooking all day, put small amounts into your food processor and pulse until the apple butter is smooth. Can if desired.

I’ve always wanted to find a use for this stuff!!

Stir 3 cups of dryer lint and 1 cup of hot water in a saucepan to moisten all parts of the dryer lint.  Add 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, stirring to avoid lumps.   Add 2 drops of clove oil.  Cook over low heat and stir until moisten begins to stiffen and form peaks.  Allow to cool and press into molds or use in a manner similar to paper mache over balloons and other shapes.  If it is pressed into a mold, it will dry smooth.  If used as paper mache, it will be slightly fuzzy.

Bubbles are such fun for kids! Make your own bubble solution to pour into a reused bubble container.  Better yet, twist a bread/trash tie (or pipe cleaner)  into a little bubble wand and start your own bubble kit.

1/2 cup water

1 TBSP light corn syrup

2 TBSP liquid dish soap

A great use for all of those eggshells that would otherwise just be thrown away:

Grind 6 dry eggshells in a bowl (mortar and pestal work great).  Toss any large unpowderized pieces.  Mix 1 TBSP eggshell mixture with 1 tsp flour, and 1 tsp hot water.  Add a drop of food coloring if desired.  Mix until a thick paste is formed. Roll into a chalk shape and wrap tightly in a paper towel.  Allow to dry for 72 hours before removing from paper.

This is a great dough for kids to make scultures with. We especially like it since we live near the beach and have an abundance of sand!

Mix 4 cups of sand, 2 cups of cornstarch, 1 1/2 TBSP cream of tartar, and 3 cups of hot water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir constantly until it begins to thicken to the point that you can no longer stir. Allow the dough to thoroughly cool before handling. Mold the clay or use a flexible mold. Clay air dries within 1 week or may be placed in the oven at 350′ for approximately 15 minutes – allow to cool fully before handling.

I can’t bring myself to pay 50 cents for a tube of lip gloss for a kid who is likely going to eat it, lose it, or otherwise destroy it.  Here is a great recipe for little girls lip gloss.  This isn’t the best recipe for adults (mainly because I haven’t found the colors to be so flattering…although if you use more shortening I guess you probably wouldn’t notice.)

Mix 2 TBSP shortening with 1 TBSP kool-aid type mix in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high until the mixture becomes a liquid (approximately 30 seconds).  Stir together to blend.  Pour into final lidded container and let sit until the mixture hardens and cools.

While my son and I are visiting in West Virginia, I was reminded of something delicious from my childhood – raspberry tea! It was always delicious whether hot or iced.  What I found most satisfying about the tea though was that I picked and dried the tea leaves myself.

Thankfully since it is a little bit chilly in West Virginia right now I don’t have to worry about getting bit bit a snake while I go climbing in the thorny vines to pick the leaves off.  When I pick them, I always make sure to leave 2 leaves for every leaf that I pick because I want to make sure that the vine stays healthy enough to regenerate new leaves & berries in the future…I don’t know if this really matters in the Fall or not.

I ended up picking at least a pound of leaves which should equal a decent amount of tea once it all dries.

The leaves are air drying right now.  Once they’re dry, I’ll crunch them up a bit and will use them just like storebought loose tea.  Delicious!

I just searched online to get an idea of how much this actually saves me.  A 4 oz. package of loose red raspberry tea is $10.96!!

I think every parent probably has a collection of broken crayons that they can’t bring themselves to toss. I’ve found a couple of uses for them:

1. Preheat oven to 400′. Line muffin tins with foil baking cups (or foil…) and place broken crayons into the foil. Place in the over for approximately 5 minutes or until the crayons begin to melt and mix. Don’t allow them to melt too long or they will overmix, resulting in an ugly crayon. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool. Once they are completely cool, remove the foil. You now have a multi-colored crayon.

2. Save these little wax gems – along with any other bits of wax (such as candles that have burned out). Once you have enough, place a wick in the bottom of an empty juice concentrate can, melt the wax in a microwave safe container, and pour into the juice can. Allow the wax to completely cool and harden. Peel away the cardboard from the juice concentrate can. You now have a recycled candle.