Pin 204, Toilet Paper Roll Bird Feeder

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, Green Tip, kid friendly and tagged with bird feeder, Pinterest April 18, 2013

I’ve been saving up discarded toilet paper and paper towel rolls for a while now so its time to make the bird feeders with Riley. As soon as the weather starting warming up, all the little birds came flocking to our forsythia bush that lines the side of the house. We have several bird houses nearby that they build their nests in every year and throughout the season. I know you’re supposed to feed them in the winter when food is scarce but its always nice to welcome them back with a nice treat. This is a great craft to do with the kids and I love the idea of using something that you would normally toss out. I’ve made similar bird feeders using pine cones as well but these are a little easier to hang since they slide right onto branches.

Here’s everything you need to make these environmentally friendly bird feeders:

toilet and/or paper towel rolls
smooth peanut butter
bird seed
a kid that isn’t allergic to peanuts and loves to get messy

First things first, put your peanut butter into a bowl so that you’re not dipping back into the container. Then put your bird seed into a container for easy rolling. Start by spreading a thin layer of peanut butter all over your roll.

Then dip the coated roll in your bird seed. Roll it around and coat it completely. Riley liked this part better than spreading the peanut butter. She’ll pick up worms all day but she doesn’t like peanut butter on her hands.

Now your finished. That was easy right?

Slip them over branches throughout your yard and watch the birds flock to your place. Remove them when they’re spent and toss them in the trash. Here’s the original Pin.

203 to go……….

Green Tip: Reusing Soap Pumps

Posted by suzyhomebaker in Craftacular, Green Tip April 9, 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Green Tip. And its not like I haven’t recycled something in a while. A lot of my Pins and posts deserve to be a Green Tip. But here’s a genuine one I’ve created all by myself.

I had this giant size shampoo bottle with a great pump on top. I saved this bottle for a while in the hopes of repurposing it. So…….I screwed the pump onto my dishwashing liquid bottle and Ta Da!

Now my dishwashing liquid is pumpable. And I’ve even created a new word. good for me! Now to find a new use for the squeeze top from the dishwashing liquid.

Pin 208, Homemade Bubbles

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, kid friendly and tagged with bubbles, Pinterest April 8, 2013

Its the first really nice day of the year so we were out blowing bubbles. The bubbles I had were less than bubbly. They were more water than anything. So I hopped onto Pinterest to find a bubble recipe.

And the recipe worked. Three ingredients and the girls were blowing bubbles all afternoon. One thing Riley noticed though was that the bubbles, when popped, left what she called, an ash in the air. It was weird and my dog was covered with these ashes but they seemed to rub right out.

May I suggest you go outside with your kids and blow some bubbles. No excuses. Except of course if you don’t have a bubble wand. Can’t help you there.

courtesy of rustsunshine.blogspot.com

Ingredients

2 cups water

1/2 cup liquid dish soap

1/8 cup corn syrup

large container for mixing

Directions

Pour all the ingredients into a large container and shake it up. (Empty milk bottles or Tupperware containers with a tight seal work great.) Allow the bubbles to settle for a few minutes before using.

207 to go………

Pin 223, DIY IPhone Projector

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular and tagged with DIY, IPhone projector, Pinterest February 28, 2013

Add this one to the list of Pin failures. I could not get this to work. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, but this one just wasn’t happening.

I’m just glad I did not go out and buy anything to create the projector. I followed all the directions to a T. I had all the materials including the exact magnifying glass from the dollar store. It just didn’t work. I set up the IPhone in the box as instructed and even reversed the image on the phone. I walked back and forth with nothing but blurry light projecting onto the wall. There was never a visible image. If you can make it work, please, by all means, send me an email with your secrets to success. Here’s the link to the site for instructions.

Even the shoebox is the same color. What’s up?

I thought the kids would love to see their images projected on the wall. Instead, I have to buy Riley a new magnifying glass.

Here’s my proof. What a perfectly good shoebox that’s gone to waste.

222 to go…….let’s hope the next one works out.

Pin 228, DiY Brass Nut Bracelet

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular and tagged with bracelet, DIY, Pinterest February 18, 2013

This post will be short and sweet, simply because I could not make this bracelet and this Pin was a big FAIL for me. The instructions were very limited including the vague materials used. No sizes, no specifics, but I thought the bracelet looked simple to make and cool to wear. Well. I sat on the couch trying to make this bracelet for an entire episode of Bob’s Burgers and I never got it to work. As you can see in the image below, my nuts just never lined up. Good luck to you. If someone out there was successful, please let me know.

My brass nuts are a jumbled mess. Not pretty.

Here’s the materials I used. I bought the cording at Michaels for $2.99 and three bags of brass nuts for $1.18. Hopefully, I can use these materials for something else.

227 to go……..

Pin 232, Crayon Heart Valentines

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, Green Tip, kid friendly and tagged with craft, kid friendly, Pinterest, Valentine February 8, 2013

Yet another day home from school. Ughh! Only this time it’s from a snow storm, not a sickness. Translation: I need to keep the kids occupied. What better way than to make Riley’s classroom Valentines. Great idea.

I’ve had this one pinned for a while and was waiting to collect all our nubby crayons. We have a lot. I mean, really a lot. There are lots of crayons at my house. Making these was a necessity.

Before we get started, here’s what you need for this project:

crayons, preferably broken, any and all colors
silicone heart mold (mine was an ice cube tray from Ikea for $1.00)
cookie sheet or tray
exacto knife
paper to mount the finished crayons on or heart doilies, whatever you prefer
glue stick
glue dots
a kid to sort and help, it takes a while

If you are ready to start, preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Once I collected the crayons I had to strip the paper off. Not really easy with just fingernails so I opted for an exacto knife. It worked very well. Be sure to do this step yourself. Those knifes are quite sharp. Then use the knife (or your own strength) to break/cut the crayons into smaller pieces.

If you don’t want rainbow crayons, have your kids sort the crayons into like colors.

This is the time consuming part so make those kids do it.

It’s good practice too if you have a toddler learning colors. Although I should warn you, my five year old sorted and then threw all differentt colors into the mold.

But it was nice to see all the sorted colors together. Very calming. We filled two egg cartons. Told you we had a lot. We didn’t even use them all. Crazy!

Have your child fill the silicone mold. We started off with monochromatic crayons.

But they became multi-colored by the next round. Fill to the top and even above the rim of the heart shape. Once melted, they will only be half full, or half empty, however you look at it. Put the silicone mold on the cookie tray and put in the oven at 250 for 15 minutes or until melted.

Some of those thicker crayons don’t melt as fast and will appear whole after 15 minutes. Simply use a toothpick and carefully, cause that wax is HOT, stir up the liquid till the crayon blends.

Wait until they are completely cool before removing from mold. I can’t stress this enough. Do not put them in the freezer to speed the process. They will break when you remove them. Just be patient.

Next, assemble your Valentine’s. I used a cookie cutter and construction paper to make the hearts. I cut around the hearts using a scallop scissor.

Since construction paper is a bit flimsy, I cut 3-1/2″ squares from Valentine gift bags I had socked away and pasted the paper hearts to them. You can use a glue stick but I have this great ATG gun that rolls double stick tape on almost any surface. It’s just about the best tool I have in my toolbox. I found mine at an online framing supply company, United Manufacturers.

Using the glue dots, attach the crayon heart to the center of your paper heart. Be sure to have your kid sign the back before hand. Add your witty text and your Valentine is complete. Can’t wait to send these to school. Here’s the original pin.

231 to go……………

Pin 244, Peel and Stick Tiles Under the Kitchen Sink

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular and tagged with kitchen, Pinterest January 21, 2013

Under my kitchen sink it is gross. No matter how many times I (or my mom while she’s visiting) clean it, it always gets gross and dirty. The contact paper that covers the bottom is ripped, greasy and really gross. Gross is about the only word to describe it. I keep my garbage and recycling cans under there too so that’s where all the grit and grime is coming from. I had to clean it up for good and I needed a better solution to cover up whatever lingers under that hideous contact paper. And new contact paper wasn’t gonna cut it. So I found this Pin from familyhandyman.com that suggests using peel and stick laminate tiles. What a brilliant idea! So it had to be done, and here’s what I did: Continue reading →

Pin 248, 247, 246, 245, Natural Skin Care Made in the Kitchen

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, Green Tip, health and beauty, Processed at home and tagged with beauty, natural, Pinterest January 17, 2013

My skin has been a hot mess since High School. There I said it. I can’t remember a time when I haven’t had a little zit somewhere on my face. I’ve used every product out there and for some reason have avoided going to the dermatologist. I think that’s just laziness really. That and I don’t want to pay for whatever crazy manufactured products they’ll prescribe. Lately my face has been breaking out like crazy and after perusing Pinterest, I’ve found its probably hormonal. So, I thought I would eliminate all the products I was currently using and replace them with natural ingredients found in my pantry and medicine cabinet. Since I am just starting to use these tonight I will have to report back in a week or two with the results of my “experiement”. I am optimistic. Below you’ll find what I’ll now be using. You can find more information on the original pin’s websites. Here’s what I’ll be using: Wish me luck! Continue reading →

Pin 249, T-shirt Headband

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, Green Tip, kid friendly and tagged with headband, Pinterest, recycling, t-shirt January 16, 2013

I told you to save the scraps from the t-shirt infinity scarf. I hope you did because here’s something else to make using them. I used the bottom hem of the t-shirt that was cut off but you could probably cut thinner strips from other areas of the T. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the actual process so you can easily check out the original pin and the website it originated for those. I would suggest measuring your head or whoever’s head this will be on. I made mine a little too big for me but just the right size to go around Riley’s forehead. I think she sports that Fame look very nicely. Here’s how to do it:

Directions courtesy of thesundaysparkle.com

Supplies:

Scissors
T-shirt strips
thick elastic hair band
hot glue gun

How:

Create long strips about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick. Start with three strips and secure the three ends with hot glue. Start your braid and create a fairly tight braid. Measure the length by testing the length of the braid on your head. When you have reached your desired length glue the other end and you’re done.

My tip: I cut a short piece of fabric and wrapped it around the hot glued area securing it with hot glue. I thought it looked a little cleaner and now you can’t see any hot glue.

248 to go……….

Pin 251, Workout Tip Jar

Posted by suzyhomebaker in 261 Days Pinned Challenge, Craftacular, health and beauty, Transformation and tagged with crafts, Pinterest January 14, 2013

Wow, two pins in one day. I’m just avoiding doing all other important work around the house. That and I’m sore as hell from last week’s venture back into group training at the gym. And to reward myself (cause seeing my ass smaller just isn’t enough) I created a tip jar for every time I work out. I thought this was a good pin and a good motivator. Here’s how mine will work and here is the original pin:

$1 for every time I workout on my own at the gym or home

$2 for every time I take P90X or Functional Training and

because I love it so much………….

$3 for every time I put myself through Boot Camp, cause that class kicks my ass every time.

I’ll let you know when I hit $100.

250 to go…….

Suzy Homebaker

Category Archives: Craftacular