Four girls on the hunt for deals!
Posts tagged recycle
Thinking outside, inside and on top of “the box”
Jul 1st
Are you tired of the same old boring towel bar in your bathroom? Are your bath salts and candles taking over the space? Here is a great idea that we came up with that cost only the price of an anchor bolt.
We got an old wine box free from our local Sam’s club and I knew I wanted to do something in the bathroom with it. The old towel bar was removed and the original anchor bolts left in place. The box we had wasn’t as wide as the original towel bar so only one original hole could be used.
Two holes were drilled in the upper inside top corners of the box. We then marked on the wall where the box would hang, one hole in the original towel bar hole, the other one in a new hole in the sheetrock. Once the second hole was marked a new anchor bolt was installed to reinforce the box and anything you might want to put in or on it.
Then screws were put in the holes with washers and everything tightened into place. Now I have a place for extra towels, candles and other bath items.
Reusing Current Items To Plant Your Garden
Mar 18th
For some people the whole idea of having a backyard garden can be scary…and costly. But it doesn’t have to be either. There are many items you already have that you can take the seeds from or part of the plant to create new ones without spending a dime. Below are a few of the things we have been growing.
Celery! Cut the top stalks off celery leaving about two inches of the bottom. Place in a bowl of water and see what happens. Within a few days you will see little leaves popping up. Keep changing the water frequently.
After two weeks this is what we have. There are some roots coming out of the bottom, so I am going to plant this in the garden now to see what we can get from it. You can pull off the rotten part or just plant it as is.
We did the same thing with Romaine lettuce and this is what we have after a week. Salad anyone?
Here is a super easy one to do….potatoes! How many times have you had a potato sprout an eye? Cut off the sprout part, soak in water overnight then plant that spud in the ground. You will soon see leaves emerging. When it gets bigger you will have potatoes from it.
For a whopping 25¢ investment I will now have green onion the rest of the season. Just cut the tops off and leave the white part intact. Submerge in water and make sure you change the water every few days. To harvest just take your kitchen shears and snip off what you need.
We are also growing garlic, onion, and avocado from stuff we already had, so no further expense to see if this works or not. What other items can you think of growing?
Milk Jug Herb Garden
Mar 1st
As I mentioned before, we love fresh herbs but they are so expensive that we are growing our own. I asked neighbors to save milk jugs for us so we could have them in pots and not the gardens since some herbs, like mint, will grow and take over your entire garden.
Dill that I planted about a week ago is already sprouting. To have a continual crop of herbs plant new seeds every 3-4 weeks.
Cut the tops off milk just so that the handle is still intact. Cut drain holes in the bottom so excess water can escape. Fill halfway with dirt and then add your seeds. Label each milk jug with contents (or not for a surprise). Keep dirt moist and you should see sprouts in no time.
I am lining mine up on a sturdy piece of wood then attaching that to the fence to keep it up off the ground and make better use of the garden.
Working In The Garden – Recycling and Repurposing
Feb 28th
Since we had such excessive heat during the summer last year, my garden didn’t do well at all. This year, with the help of my boyfriend, we decided to expand our garden to 208 square feet. We are putting in an irrigation system to help it stay watered better. In addition since we love fresh herbs so much but don’t love the price at stores we are growing our own herbs as well. I am going to be doing a few posts on what is going on in our garden.
A lot of what I want to do is recycle and repurpose stuff in our garden versus paying for new stuff over and over. One way to do that is to make your own seed starer pots vs buying them in the store. You most likely have everything on hand that you need, newspaper and a small can.
Tear the newspaper so you have one full sheet and fold it in half. I wanted smaller seed starters so used a tomato paste can. Just roll it up in the paper. Make sure the can is just to the edge of the paper.
Once it is rolled up, you want to flip it so the end with the gap of paper is facing up.
Begin folding down the sides of the paper, overlapping them.
The bottom (which is currently the top) should look like this.
Make a bunch of them up, they go by quickly.
Add dirt halfway up then add your seeds. Water enough so that the paper stays moist and doesn’t dry out. I started beets last week and already have sprouts. These can be kept outside or brought in if gets cold, then the entire thing can be placed in the ground when ready to plant.
