Experimenting with Fused Plastic

I have quite a few fabric shopping bags, but I don't always remember to take them with me when I shop. I usually recycle any plastic bags we bring home, but every once in awhile I experiment with fusing plastic bags into fabric. I have made a few really useful things so far!

I made my daughter an apron, perfect for painting and crafts because it just wipes clean!

I made a hair cutting cape since I usually cut my family's hair at home.

I like to play around with the designs, and it's so easy to do - just cut colored pieces of plastic and place in between layers of clear or white pieces, then fuse them together. The patterns stay put and show through, so it's like creating your own fabric!

Here are some yellow and orange flowers:

 And some hearts!

Have fun, and remember to recycle your unused plastic when you're done!

How to Make an Easy Gift Container

I recently made some bath teas to give as gifts (more about that later), and I found myself in need of containers for them. Rather than using a ziploc bag or something similar, I thought I'd reuse a few plastic containers from our cabinet to create something pretty (and airtight!).

What You'll Need:

-Plastic container

-Paint (I used spray flat enamel for the white and tinted wall paint for the border)

-Ribbon or other decorations

-Sharpie / Marker

-Glue

This was what I started with - it once held cheese. It isn't recyclable in this area, so it feels good to dress it up and use it for something nice.

All you have to do is paint the lid, glue on your bow or other decorations, then write the recipient's name on the lid using the marker. I chose the font I mentioned in this post to fancy it up.

That's it! I filled it up, gave it, and the recipient loved it!

An Easy iPad Stand

I'm in the process of Ebaying quite a few supplies from  my Etsy shop. I like to sometimes have Netflix or Hulu running in the background while I work, and up until now I'd been leaning the iPad against boxes or stacks of things.

While preparing my plate stands for sale, I realized I was looking at the perfect iPad stand.

Awesome. I'm keeping this one for my iPad.

DIY Reusable Swiffer Cloths

We recently replaced the carpet in our den with laminate flooring. It looks great, but with 3 pets and a preschooler, I found myself in need of something to quickly and easily clean it every day or so. I picked up a Swiffer Sweeper and loved how easy it was to use (the preschooler loves to use it, too!).

It came with samples of both the dry and wet cloths. Between the vinyl flooring in our kitchen and the laminate in our den, we quickly used them all. I fell into the marketing trap and picked up a package of each the next time I went to the grocery store.

Once I got home and started using the packages (and, of course, tossing the used cloths into the trash), I realized that I could most likely find a reusable solution for the cloths. Thankfully it wasn't too hard!

I picked up a pack of utility dishcloths that are perfect! I was able to get this 9-pack for $3, and they should last a long, long time.

I can use them dry to pick up dust or pet hair, or I can lightly spray them with a vinegar/water mixture for light cleaning. When I'm finished, I just toss them into the wash and they're ready to use again.

For wet cloths, I put a few of them into the empty Swiffer Wet cloths container and added some of the vinegar/water solution. Whenever I want to mop the kitchen or bath, I just pull one out, wring out the extra water, and it works great.

I'm sometimes bothered by scented products, and I hadn't been able to find an unscented version of Swiffer's wet cloths. So this solution also solves that issue!