Wordless Wednesday: Memphis Near the Zoo - Awesome Upcycling Arch

Removing letters from a shirt - Easy way to revive old school spirit shirts

Not long ago we attended our church's annual children's clothing sale, and my daughter found a volleyball sweatshirt for the school's team that was to die for. She begged for it.

It was cute, I admit.

And 50 cents. I couldn't argue much. So I said yes.

And then I got home and realized. The sweatshirt was personalized.

Luckily it had vinyl lettering, which is typically heat transferred, so I wondered if the vinyl letters could be removed with heat too.

I went basic-basic and started with my hair dryer, heating the letters on high.

And it worked...After I heated the letters, I was able to peal the letters off the shirt! Now we have a low-budget way for my daughter to wear a team sweatshirt this winter.

Use Up Your Granola: Chocolate Chunk Granola Cookies

I had granola to use up, and was not interested in yet another yogurt granola parfait.

Instead we added a little sweetness to our day with this Chocolate Chunk Granola Cookie recipe. I based this off a recipe for Copycat  Kashi Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies I had found on Pinterest, and it was a great way to use up not only the stale granola I had on hand but the chocolate bunnies from Easter. (Yes, it's the same chocolate as those prebagged chocolate chunks you'll buy the rest of the year - just much cheaper after Easter in that packaging!)

Even better, this was portion-controlled, only making two dozen. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Granola Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup vanilla almond granola
2/3 cup chocolate chunks (or chopped chocolate bunnies or bars)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, butter, egg and vanilla extract together. Add egg and mix until batter is smooth. Mix in granola and chocolate. Drop by heaping tablespoons on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Makes about two dozen.

Find more ideas at Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Recipe Writers and Party in Your PJs Linkups.

DIY Darth Vader Pinata for Star Wars party

A Star Wars themed party means bright plans for a soon to be six year old. The biggest wish on the list these days is a pinata.

Trouble was I couldn't find one, and even the generic pinatas were at least $20 to $25 in prices. I shuddered to think what I would be asked to pay (and would refuse to do so) for a Star Wars themed one.

I stopped at a party store that was going out of business and found two lowly pinatas left in the store. 

Trouble was they were Transformer-themed. A problem...until you looked at it upside down. Then I saw a striking resemblance to Darth Vader himself.

Six dollars later I presented the birthday boy with a task: We were going to make a Darth Vader pinata for the party.

We used a lot of leftover acrylic paint (both navy and black, I confess) to layer over the old design.

 Both sides were painted solid black.

Then we added silver paint to copy off an image of Darth Vader off the Internet. It got the 5 year old stamp of approval.

When it dries, we'll add a new cord or wire for the new top and fill it up.

The next challenge? Convincing my son we shouldn't hang a pinata from a Christmas tree!

This posted linked to the More the Merrier Mondays and Nifty Thrifty Tuesday.

Upcycled desk system for kids

My daughter has struggled her entire life with organization. She gets it honestly, as my coworkers who have seen my desk can attest.

We have tried everything to help her. Planners. The Brownie organization badge. You name it.

Our latest project came courtesy of the school pizza fundraiser. No, it wasn't a prize for selling, either.

You see, each year, we're stuck with the question of what to do with the boxes leftover from the pizzas we buy for our house. And then I got inspired by Pinterest. Somewhere, along the way, we'd seen a project about project drying racks out of pizza boxes. Granted, the post has long since left me, but the idea stayed pinned in my brain.

So this year, I took a stack of pizza boxes left over from storing them in my freezer (I don't put the boxes themselves in due to space.)

I folded in one side and stacked them, then went nuts taping row after row of peace sign, heart and flower duct tape I'd bought at the school supply clearance.

Ten minutes of effort and a few dollars' worth of duct tape later, and my daughter was blessed with a surprise on her desk: A new organizer for all of her random papers.

Now she has plenty of space for her looseleaf notebook paper, her construction paper, and her various works of art in progress!

The best part was SHE was inspired to do something as well. She took a McDonalds Happy Meal Halloween bucket that was otherwise destined for the Goodwill bin and redecorated it with Monster High duct tape for a storage bucket for her rolls of duct tape. She even took a toilet paper roll and made her own pencil holder.

What ways have you creatively reused or upcycled items to organize your home?

Recycled denim pet toys

When November brings you tornado watches and warnings, you tuck into the bathroom and work on your Christmas gifts!

My oldest had wanted to make a gift for her "dog cousin" and a pair of well-worn jeans provided just the opportunity to do so. We had seen this great idea for a fleece rope toy from Parents magazine and had tucked the idea away in our "emergency" binder of ideas.

For a few short minutes, we had a great distraction from the day's storms.

Each side of the leg was cut lengthwise into three strips, which were knotted and braided.

We wound up with simple gifts for four of our closest four-legged friends!

Kansas City with Kids - Frugal Edition

Our trip to Kansas City was derailed before it began.

Instead of spending Fall Break with our family, we were waiting in the car shop. That, coupled with some unexpected expenses, meant we were going to have to tighten down on the trip to Kansas City.

I'd lived in KC for a decade, but we found great ways to enjoy the days with Grandma and Grandpa even on a budget. We weren't completely perfect - we did eat a few meals out and did stock up on some local foods to take home for the year - but these were great budget extenders, and even better activities to do!

Getting Crafty At Kaleidoscope

I'd heard of Kaleidoscope in Crown Center but had never been, as we were childless when we lived in the Kansas City area. An afternoon at Kaleidoscope was just the trick for creative types with a big case of the wiggles.

Kaleidoscope is basically a huge kids craft playground, filled with the leftovers from Hallmark's projects. Paper crafting with glow-in-the-dark paints, making cards, designing your own puzzles. It was the fastest hour spent all week. Everyone from my rambuncious 5 year old son to his preteen cousin and grandfather enjoyed experimenting and creating their own works of art. Best of all, it was free to the public - just requires a timed ticket.

(As an aside, Girl Scout leaders and educators take note: Kaleidoscope offers themed packs that you can take home - for 50 cents per child. For frugal troops, this is a great idea, and they do ship!)

Betting on Basketball in Lawrence

One bet failed, but the other was a hit.

We had hoped to attend the (free!) open scrimmage for the basketball team, but weather and a sick cousin derailed our plans. Luckily, our little jock had the chance to enjoy some KU basketball earlier in the week.

The Booth Family Hall of Athletics at Allen Fieldhouse has a stuffy name, it's far from a boring monument to basketball. Sure, there's 100 years worth of sports memorabilia to peruse, but the kids loved the interactive exhibits. Their favorites? Pretending to call some classic basketball games - from the tie-breaker game against Memphis in the Final Four to a game from Wilt Chamberlain's days. They also loved checking out their wingspan and attempting to palm as many balls as they can in 10 second's time. Mostly, they loved wandering the stands around the hallowed basketball court - site of many a memory for their mom and dad.

Other Free Things to Check Out In and Around KC

Family time is just that, so while we had a lot of ideas on our list, we also kept things simple: a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, with ample time at the local park.

On our list to do this fall but didn't get accomplished:

• University of Kansas Natural History Museum (free, though donations encouraged)
• Louisburg Cider Mill - Washed out by a rainy day, my daughter wanted to return so bad she wrote her social studies paper on it!
• Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Kansas City natives: What are your favorite ways to spend a week with the kids?

Patience and My Pew

I confess: I am a Country Living kind of gal. I have wishes and dreams of old-fashioned furniture, modeled just so, like the pages of a magazine.

The reality is I live in a six-year-old nondescript house, dressed with a blend of old woodwork, cheap, packed bookshelves and worn-down sofas and chairs. 

Most of my finds haven't taken much effort at all: an old school desk and chair found at an antique store; old dressers that belonged to my husband's grandfather. But really, nothing that screams "me."

And then I found Freecycle. Or it found me.

Until this point, Freecycle had been just a novelty to me, a way to put out calls for strange things like the long-lost DVR remote or to get rid of the random item that just hadn't made its way to Goodwill as yet.

And then one day a magical moment happened.

Someone was giving away pews. Lots of them. Free for the taking.

I'd idealized having a pew in my home, more of a decorative element than anything functional. And I figured when the time was right - when there was no college or grade-school tuition to pay; our debts were paid down - we would get one.

But on this day, Broad Ripple United Methodist Church was doing a massive renovation, and pews - handcrafted in the 1960s - were free for the taking.

I have to say, I've been impressed with the coordinated sweep it took to get those pews out to the homes in just a few hours time. And even more impressed that they thought to donate the wood to those who were interested. Pews found homes in everything from start-up churches to homes like mine.

Right now, my pew has found a temporary respite in the front of my house, while I make arrangements to pass along an old love seat to a new home. And I haven't decided still whether to keep the original finish or to strip it and stain it a nice cherry.

And while it may not be picture-perfect, I've been pleased with the moments this pew has already found - from my children playing "church" to little boys sneaking under it to play. And that beats a picturesque magazine shoot any day.

Wake up with this body scrub

A simple shower scrub idea that doesn't require sugar, which always makes me feel sticky afterwards. Even better, it reuses those coffee grounds that my husband would typically toss in the trash.

Wake Up Shower Scrub

leftover coffee grounds from one pot of coffee

approx. 2 Tablespoons doTerra Fractionated Coconut Oil 4 Ounces or grapeseed oil (more or less depending on desired consistency)

15 drops grapefruit essential oil

Mix. Makes enough for multiple batches. 

It sounds strange, but trust me on this.

Looking for grapefruit essential oil or fractionated coconut oil? You can buy these online by following my affiliate link.

American Doll clothes for pennies

Sophie is one admittedly unstylish American Girl knock-off.

Since she joined our family two years ago, she's gotten not one name-brand outfit.

Sure, Santa's bought her an outfit or two, and she got a Girl Scout sweatshirt for a birthday. But largely she's been spared of high-priced duds.

Lately my daughter has been begging for more clothes for Sophie. Admittedly these can quickly break the bank. But I found a simple solution: hand-sewn clothes for pennies.

Liberty Jane offers a small selection of free doll clothes patterns on its website. I downloaded the pants and tank top patterns and used some worn khaki shorts of mine to make a pair of pants and a pair of khaki shorts. Sophie also got several tank tops and T-shirts cut from a layered shirt she'd taken a pair of fabric scissors too, and she'll also be getting a swimsuit this Christmas season too.

The patterns are fairly easy for a rusty sewer to work with; in fact, I hand-sewed mine while catching up on Revolution. The only out-of-pocket costs were for elastic.

So if you have an hour to spare and an old piece of clothing, you might consider reinventing it as a Christmas present for your favorite American Girl-type doll.

Book character costumes from the closet

Costumes - whether for Halloween, school plays or book character day - don't come cheap. But a little creativity can help your little girl become a favorite literary character. Here are a few ideas that don't involve a trip to the store, nor a hunt for a fairy or princess costume:

Junie B. Jones: Cardigan, T-shirt, skirt, socks pulled up, dress shoes and hair bow. Combed hair or matched items not necessary!

Fancy Nancy: Take your pick of your frilliest accessories to dress up your fanciest of skirts: baudy necklaces, clip-on earrings, hair bows and barettes, dress shoes. The more details the better!

Thing 1 and Thing 2: Repurpose two long-sleeve red shirts and write "Thing One" and "Thing Two" on the front. Use hair products to create a wild look!

From Winnie the Pooh: Abbie at the Farmers Daughter quickly created a Kanga costume from a sweatsuit.

Little Mermaid: Take that old prom dress or other formal and convert it into a mermaid costume.

Star Wars: OK, in my world, it's a stretch, but given the popularity of the book series, I'll add it too. Here, Suburban Greenmom shows off her Annakin Skywalker costume.

Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Dressed from old PJs and mom's T-shirts.

And of course, there's the simplicity of the eternal vampire.

What are your favorite costumes that came from the closet?

Easy worm bin for vemicomposting

Vermicomposting has been on my list of things to try, but I will be honest in that I've been a bit reluctant to step foot into the world of composting with worms.

After an evening composting class where I saw a worm bin - created out of a file box - I figured it was worth a try. My oldest child is obsessed with worms, and after all, didn't they want a pet?

The owner parted with a cupful of worms, and armed with directions, we created our worm bin in about five minutes.

I reused a styrofoam cooler that was used to ship insulin to me. It's been collecting dust in my garage for a year, as I've never really known what to do with it. 

I poked holes for air in the lid.

Inside, we added the recommended mix of worm food: Shredded papers (newspapers and others), a banana (covered to deter fruit flies) and some dill and weeds. We mixed in the container of worms and, well, worm poop, and are letting them do their thing!

My little guy's job is to feed the worms - I learned that  a pound of worms might eat 1/2 pound of food each week, and they love banana peels and eggs. My oldest's job is to make sure the environment stays damp but not drippy.

It will be an interesting experiment to say the least!

Sit-upon sewing tutorial

Sit-upons - the name says it all: Something to sit upon to keep yourself clean and dry (and hopefully itch-free) when sitting on the ground. 

I remember my mom making these for camp when I was a Scout. That sit-upon lasted through several summers of camping, storms and mud pits, and I finally tossed it when my volunteering at camp days were over.

Flash forward two decades, and my daughter got her camp letter. Sit-upon topped the list. Of course, now it was cushioned with the "You can use a stadium cushion" line. Which we don't have in our home. 

Granted, I was tempted by the on-sale Jayhawk stadium seat cushions that were selling for $5 each. Really tempted. But knowing I was buying not only for my daughter but my son and I, that's a lot to store over the next few summers. Especially if we didn't know if we'd ever require multiple ones again - and that I knew these were easy to make.

How easy? A Brownie could do it. Seriously.

My old Brownie Girl Scout book has directions on how to do it. And supplies cost me a mere $3 for cording at Joann's.

Here's how:

Spread out an old vinyl or plastic tablecloth or shower curtain, folded in half, and lay several layers of newspaper on top. Trim to fit to a preferred size. (You know what you need!)

By hand or machine, stitch the sides together. Include a piece of cord on two corners so you can easily tie around the waist. (Great for campers who are hiking a lot!)

A few minutes of work later, and you're set. I made three sit-upons in roughly an hour. My only delays were a cranky sewing machine!

While sit-upons are great for camping, I've found since making them that they are fabulous to use when you're weeding or gardening and you prefer to sit down rather than kneel.

Halloween is over...Now what?

Halloween costumes may seem worthless on Nov. 1, now that the Halloween parties are over and the candy wrappers are stacking up.

But this year's costumes don't have to be doomed. Here are just a few ideas on what to do with your "last year's" costumes.

• Princess, cheerleader and other "dress-ups" in good condition can be shared with little girls in need. In our house, we've collected a bag of "dress-up" clothes and costumes that are going to two little girls our day care has adopted for Christmas. (You can always pair them with accessories from the clearance isle, if desired.)


• Store and trade your costumes in for nearly new ones on National Costume Swap Day 2012, held in mid-October.


• Donate or sell them to a resale shop, particularly if they're individual items like pants or shirts in good shape. Even period pieces can find a reuse.


• Those "bloody" shirts your teenager created? Bring them back to a new life as rags to use around the house.

What are you planning to do with this year's costumes?

Sew what? Stuffy and the Sandwich Bags

Last weekend I was excited to have scored both a "grown-up" and a kids book on sewing at our local library's Friends sale. To which my very own mother retorted, "Will your daughter learn to sew first or will you?"

First off, I can sew. And my sewing machine? It's been lovingly packed in its box since I got it...11 Christmases ago. (Of course, I was in graduate school and working full-time, then in the middle of a move, then became a parent...blah blah blah.)

Last year, I decided my first dive into actually using it as a sewing machine instead of a potential first step for my son in his closet would be making reusable sandwich bags for school lunches. I had the chance to review a few last fall, and realized that they are fairly simple contraptions...if you have the time to make them!

So with the best of intentions, I picked up nylon scraps and velcro at a fabric store...last fall. Summer passed, and I realized that I really could use a few more sandwich or snack bags, but was hesitant to pay for more cloth wraps (or for their plastic counterparts).

So this weekend, armed with $4 worth of materials, the fabric from my beloved pink wrinkle-free Coldwater Creek shirt that ripped after four years, and a hovering six year old, I went to work. Without a pattern. Or reading the instructions for the sewing machine!

My daughter, to her credit, made felt finger puppets patterned (loosely) after those in her kids sewing projects book. And that's when I learned a few things:

1. My daughter doesn't like directions any more than I do.
2. Imperfect is OK too.

For a few hours' of work, four dollars and minimal swearing, we wound up with two sandwich bags, two snack-size bags (great for crackers or the dried mango she loves), and Stuffy and Floofy (her names) finger puppets.

For two girls who don't listen, I don't think we did bad work! And, thankfully, I have up to another year to convert my other ripped wrinkle-free shirt into blue baggies for full-day pre-K. (Oh, and mom, I guess you could say it's a tie. And I could use a few more Coldwater Creek wrinkle-free shirts for my birthday.)

School supply savvy

The end is here!

School, that is.

Today, my baby will come home with her bag bursting with the last of her drawings, worksheets and half-used school supplies. Sure, from a clutter-busting perspective, I could recycle the papers and toss the rest. But I think there's a better purpose for my school supplies.

Last year, local story featured a public school teacher determined to have supplies ready for each of her students this fall. So determined she was, and knowing that many of her students were impoverished, she ended up dumpster diving at the very affluent Carmel Public Schools. She ended up with three carloads worth of school supplies, many of them in wrappers.

The reality is, in this case, your trash could be someone else's treasure. So if you're determined to toss your half-used school supplies before summer strikes, at least do it with purpose. Donate it to:

1. Scout troop.



2. Freecyle.



3. Vacation Bible Schools, preschool programs and Parent's Day Out.



4. Day care centers.



5. Homeless shelters.



6. Any social service organization - many clients may have to take their children with them, and art supplies and notebooks would occupy them while they are waiting.



7. Goodwill.



8. Garage sales.



9. Survival packets to take to church (or any other place where kids have to be quiet but struggle.) It's great to be able to hand a frustrated parent some extra crayons and pages to color on!



10. Retirement homes. You'd be surprised what craft supplies will do to help our older generations who just need some stimulation!

Any place else I missed?

Bye, bye baby

Thursday I did the unthinkable. I said goodbye to the idea of a newborn. For nearly six years, I've had a crib, baby swings and car seats in my possession. And you don't realize how much space little ones take until you start gathering supplies. But after two years of telling my kids not to play in the infant booster seat or turn on the baby swing, it's time to quit hanging onto the idea of the nebulous infant #3. And the realization that my son is finally over the idea of sleeping in his crib, and he's finally comfortable in his "big boy bed," it was time for me to cut the cord. We loaded up the van and took it to St. Elizabeth's home. It's a surreal feeling knowing all that's left babywise is the changing table (now housing organizing boxes for toys) and some infant/toddler clothes, but even those are getting picked over too. It's like saying you're officially done, even though the winds of fate can change at any minute. But the uncomfortableness of the moment was gone when I arrived and visited with the staff. Saw the reminders of the families they serve on a daily basis. Heard how equipment and baby supplies come out the door as quickly as they arrive. The drop-side crib, which aren't being sold anymore? An improvement over the risk of SIDS from co-sleeping. The infant car seat, which you truly can't resell? Will go to a family so they can take their infant home from the hospital - and legally, they can't discharge until the family has one. It makes you sleep a bit better knowing your things will help another family grow together and create memories...safely.

Storage solutions: They aren't what you think

Originally published at the Green Phone Booth, April 2010

Organizational systems. If you've found one that works for you, great. For me, I've found my ever-evolving life has meant I'm struggling to keep on top of the changes.

What worked during apartment life failed in my first house. The systems I used in my first home didn't work in our second. Toss in a child or two, college, you name it. I find I'm continually having to reinvent myself. And, along with it, how I use the things I own.

Take my curio cabinet. It's been home to VHS tapes, cassette tapes, knick-knacks, photos (and film), baby bibs and burp rags. It's latest incarnation stores my Cricut cartridges handed down from my mother. Or our child-size suitcases that are perfect for storing and toting building blocks or play dress-up clothes around the house. Or baskets that seem to reinvent their purpose on a weekly basis.Sure, you're thinking. It's easy to find something new to put in a cabinet, or a box or a basket. It's a little more challenging to have a use for some of the other things that come to us in our lives.

Take my poor cookie jar. We got this Jayhawk jar as a gift many addresses ago. In fact, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I'm diabetic, and at the time we were childless. Instead, it was packed away for sometime when. Flash forward a decade or so, and it's found new uses - just not what you'd expect. It became home to a host of bottle nipples and diaper bin filters for a time in our Kansas-basketball-themed nursery (quite possibly the only one in Indiana). It recently found a new life actually in the kitchen - this time to house our bags of bulk spices. Yes, the exterior may say "cookies," but it's never seen a crumb. But it's found useful work nonetheless.

Or our latest find. The garage has been the bane of our existenance, as we've yet to install the cabinetry we'd wanted to store things that truly need to stay out of reach most of the year. In the interim, we've gotten creative in how we handle things.

Some of the smaller (not sharp) items have taken refuge on a discarded bookshelf from a coworker. Two little red wagons I'd found curbside a year ago with the best of intentions of repainting have found new uses holding soccer balls and other outdoor toys - in easy reach of little hands.

And just last weekend, a neighbor randomly offered us her microwave cart. I nearly said no but accepted, and am so glad I did. The old, beaten cart in a few minutes' time has become an organized home for my gardening gloves, supplies and pots that were haphazardly tossed around by my husband as he tried to find other things in our garage.

My point? As you're cleaning and determined to once and for all make changes in how you run your household, you might not need to make a beeline to the home improvement or container store. Or even for a resale shop, for that matter. The things that might work best for you may be right under your nose!

Recycled Nativity for the kids

Yesterday, our church had a display of more than 50 Nativity scenes for show. It only took a few minutes before I realized that Baby Jesus could be in jeopardy if He came out in our house this season.

Rather than risk my "good" pieces to the whims of a toddler and his 5-year-old partner in crime, we opted to make our own set this year. It took time, and leftover materials around our house.

With empty toilet paper and wrapping paper rolls, a shoe box for a manger, and the backsides of work paper, we created a Nativity scene worthy of any child's imagination. And the best part, the pieces are easily replaceable!

(You can find directions and printables here.)

Sending gifts of Christmas past

The 4 a.m. hits were large HDTVs yesterday, from what my weary eyes could see...but what are you doing with your old TVs come January? In today's Green Phone Booth, I'm sharing resources on where you can recycle or donate reusable TVs, printers and other electronics.