Plastic Bags

Even though I use reusable bags when shopping, I still end up with a ton of plastic bags. To contain this mess I use the "triangle fold method".

Before and After

Triangle Folding Plastic Bags*

Step 1: Begin by flattening the bag.

Step 2: Fold the bag in half lengthwise (matching up the handles). Fold it in half once more (photo 2).

Step 3: Starting from the bottom of the bag, fold the bottom corner up (photo 3). This is your first triangle.

Step 4: Continue folding triangles until you reach the handles (photo 4).

Step 5: Tuck the handles into the pocket created by the last triangle fold (photo 5).

Viola...triangle plastic bag.

* Thank you, Karen, for teaching me this nifty trick.

Crayons

Before and After

Finding the "right" color crayon from a caddy/box had always been a challenge for my son. To help, I stacked a bunch of them upright, wrapped them with a rubber band and put them in a small tub making it easier for him to eyeball just the right shade of green.

Plant Stand

Last year I planted freesia bulbs in my back yard; sadly squirrels dug up a lot of them. I recently planted the survivors into pots. I mounted an old spice rack to a wooden frame (my husband actually mounted it). I fastened a screen to the front to help deter unwanted pests. Fingers crossed...

Gardening Tip - Fingernails

Before heading out to your garden, scrape your fingernails against a bar of soap to prevent unsightly dirt from getting under your nails. This will make washing your hands a breeze with a lot less scrubbing.

Regrowing Onions

Here's a handy little tip from my FIL (father-in-law), the bulbs of store bought green onions can be replanted. I planted this one last summer, and it still produces healthy stalks. If you plant one be sure to cut it back every once and awhile or it will flower.

Tree Peony

I've waited for over three years for my Kamata-fuji tree peony to bloom. It was worth the wait.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

After washing and drying strawberries, I skewered them with wooden coffee stirring sticks. Then I dipped the strawberries, and bananas, in melted chocolate and let them "dry" on a cooling rack (place the dipped fruit in the middle of the rack and work your way to the edges).

I left the sticks in them to make it easier to pick up and eat.

Toy Sandbox Planter

When my son was two we got him a sandbox table. He loved it for years, but sadly he's outgrown playing with sand in a box.

This year, we drill a few holes on the bottom, filled it with dirt and made a strawberry planter box. The best thing is that I haven't seen any signs of slugs nor snails...yet.

DVD-R Spindle

Question: what would you do with the stick that comes with the DVD-R Container?

Answer: plant seeds.

Use tape to mark 1 1/2 inches (the planting depth according to the seed package) on the end of the stick.

Insert the stick into the soil and carefully pulled it out (the dirt will fall into the hole if you aren't careful). Drop the seed in and cover it with soil. Repeat.

It's Like Pulling Weeds

Spring is here and so are dandelions. I use my husbands OLD flat head screw driver to dig out weeds in our lawn.

I push the weed to one side. Insert the screwdriver into the dirt approximately an inch below the base of the weed. Push the screwdriver toward the grass while pulling gently on the weed stem.

My mom always tells me if I don't pull up all of the root the weed will grow back, but I believe that the weed is going to come back no matter what I do.

Spinning Fruit

I'd been looking for a small salad spinner to dry a single-sized salad portion. I swear, the one I was using could dry a whole package of Costco romaine at one time.

I found the perfect spinner at Ikea for under $3. Last night I used it to dry lettuce, today, strawberries.

True Blue Gloves

I couldn't resist reposting the True Blue Gloves post back in January. Seriously, don't go to the snow without a pair.

On our snow trip last week, I was able to dig out this big hole and still have toasty warm fingers/hands.

White Egg Thingy

My auntie uses pair of cheap wooden ohashi to remove the chalaza, the white thing that keeps the yolk in the center of the egg (it actually is not an embryo). It really works!

Where's Perry?

My son's newest interest is golf. My husband found the perfect junior starter golf set, which includes: a driver, two irons and a putter.

I could resist making a Perry the Playtpus putter cover. Now whenever we're looking for the golf club bag we say, "Hey, where's Perry?".

Lego Stormtrooper Alarm clock: priceless.

I was so tired of my son waking up grumpy, forcing him to get dressed, eat breakfast, and brush his teeth, then have to rush to get him to school on time. It was becoming such a problem, until I got him a Lego Stormtrooper Alarm Clock.

Mornings are completely different now. When the Stormtrooper alarm goes off, my son knocks him on the head (or turns it off), jumps out of bed, puts on pants and socks and waits for me to come get him (I've even found him reading). It's been working for over a month!

I HIGHLY recommend giving this a try if you have a grumpy "waker" like I used to.

Knitting Guide

I thought I would attempt to knit a really cute sweater, Mariah, that I found on Knitty.com. I've successfully knitted a few items from this site and I thought I was ready to tackle this project, but I've never knitted from a cable chart before. My first couple of tries didn't go very well. I had a hard time keeping track of which line I was knitting on the chart.

I decided to make a guide by using two pieces of card stock. I cut a small slit in the top piece and taped the two pieces together. I use it to highlight the line I'm knitting, sliding up as I complete a line.

I also wrote pattern notes on top of the guide, so I wouldn't have to keep referring back to the original pattern.

We received a gourmet gift basket for the holidays this year. It included fancy cheese, salami, fruit, chocolates and wine, but the thing that I liked most was the mini cutting board. I use it in the craft room for small projects like hammering snaps and rivets and cutting with an Exacto knife.

T-Shirt Wipey

I thought of making wipeys out of my husband's old t-shirts because my iPod touch always looked like a CSI's dream come true with fingerprints galore. Who knew my fingertips were so greasy?!?!?!

These logo t-shirts that were past their prime, but still had sentimental value. Now every time I clean my screen I think of the day I met my husband at MacWorld distributing this t-shirt!

T-shirt Hoodies

My son's favorite shirt is a hoodie with a pass through pocket in the front that I'd found on a discount rack over a year ago. Of course, I haven't been able to find another one like it anywhere.

So, I made a template out of the fav shirt and took three of my husband's old t-shirts to make a hoodie.

I made another out of an old sweatshirt using some extra t-shirt material to make the hood.

Trip to the snow, before you go...

...take a pair of these True blue household gloves with you:

These gloves will keep your hands warm and dry while playing in the snow for hours. I was able to make this toddler sized snowman and still feel my fingers. I also brought my gardening knee pads. I wasn't pretty, but I was warm and comfy.

Useful Ohashi

I often use my trusty ohashi (chopstick) when I'm crafting. I've used it as a straight edge, a bookmark, a tool to get something from the other side of the table, but most times I use it to poke things.

I poke things inside out (making straps, or parts of angry birds):

I poke the corner of a sewing project to make it nice and neat:

My mom uses ohashis in her garden to hold up plants and my hubbie used it with a piece of gum to get a Lego bit from a crevice in my car.

T-Shirt Scarf

I immediately loved the look of a scarf made from an old T-shirt that I saw on one of my fav sites, Dollar Store Crafts. Unfortunately, the link to the tut didn't work, but with a little creative sense I was able to figure out how it make it.

I took and old T-shirt and cut it into 5 x 5" squares (20). Then I overlapped the center diagonals and sewed straight up the center. I did mine in two strips (10 squares each strip) and fastened them together in the middle so that the ends would "hang" in the same direction.

Next time I might try to cut circles...

DVD-R Container

In my craft room, I'm always looking for a place to put little scraps of fabric, thread, paper, etc... I turned a few empty DVD-R containers into mini trash dispensers and strategically placed them around the room.

Bookmarks!

Up until now, I've been using scrap pieces of paper as a bookmark. They serve their purpose and are free, but not very creative. Nikki, over at WhiMSy love, has tut on how to make fast, easy and cute bookmarks.

I even made one with an Angry Bird!

Mad About Angry Bird

I'll be the first to admit, I am obsessed with Angry Birds, a very challenging video puzzle game where a player uses a slingshot to hurl birds at pigs that have stolen their eggs.

Not only have I been playing Angry Birds, but I've been making them, too! I found an awesome tut on Obsessively Stitching . I used felt that I had on hand (rather than fleece), and they turned out great!

Of course, my son likes to play the real life version even better than the video game.

Mom's Baking A Pie!

I get a lot of inspiration from my mother; yesterday she baked an apple pie.

My grandmother taught her to roll out pie crust dough between two pieces of wax paper, and generously flour, to keep everything from sticking together. I would add one more step and outline the pie pan on the top sheet of wax paper, to get the basic shape.

The lattice topping didn't turn out quite the way mom wanted it to, but it was delicious all the same!

Down to the Last Drop

A few years ago, my Aunty Carole gave me a really cool spoon rest. Normally, I use it to hold a spoon above a pot on the stove, but today I'm using it to drain the last drops of oil out of a measuring cup.

Thank You Cards

Thank you cards can be made more personal with a photo of the recipient with the gift and a hand written note.

Velcro Protector

I got a cute rain jacket over the holidays. It has everything I was looking for: hoodie, media pocket and lightweight. It also has velcro patches to hold the zipper flap shut, which was a great thing until I put a scarf on (the scarf kept getting stuck in the velcro). I cut rectangles out of craft felt and covered the hard side of the velcro. I think it might also be cute to use felt colored shapes.