Tinker Around

Welcome to my blog. It is full of basic projects and tutorials for things that I have done and feel like others out there would benefit from learning too. Be sure to take time to leave me a comment. Thanx, Pam

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Recycling and Cutting Back!

Recycling and Cutting Down on Paper Goods.

Seems to be a lot of trash going out as far as paper products. My niece has been making changes in this area with her four kids for quite some time and I decided to follow suit some time back.  I read today where someone was cleaning the fridge quite often with Clorox wipes.  Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Lemon Fresh, Tub of 75 Wipes (Google Affiliate Ad)  Can go here to see where, cost and count on getting them.  Having wipes around can be very helpful, but I am going to share an alternative to using these all the time.  I also love Bounty paper towels, they are a quick picker up, but again...there are alternatives. Bounty Select A Size Perforated Paper Towel Roll, 2-ply, White, 11 (Google Affiliate Ad) 

Oh, and if you would click the links, I do get credit for it!  lol...just working the system here.

Now, on to what I wanted to share.  I went to the store and got a couple of packs of the all white cheap wash rags.  I got some of the microfiber ones also, but to be honest...I just do not care for them as well.  They seem to feel like they snag on my skin, just got one package of them and use them on tiny faces and soft skin of the little ones.  But, I am getting ahead of myself.  I am using these instead of paper towels for clean ups around the kitchen.  Then, I started using them instead of napkins too.  They are so easy to just toss in a basket under the sink and then throw in the washer every few days.  So, then comes the comment of the microfiber ones working great on baby faces!  lol



Here, on the right, you can see the picture of all my white rags piled up.  Oh, the ones beside them?  The ones with the pretty birds??  Yep, I made those.  Let me show you a close up.


These are my "heavy duty" paper towels that I made.  I bought some flannel that I liked and a large bath towel, a nice absorbent one.  I cut them out in sizes ranging from 10x10 to 12x12.  I have enough to make more, but just have not needed them yet.  I put right sides together, stitched around (leaving a spot to turn them) them, turned, and top stitched.  After the top stitching, I did some free form sewing on the top to hold the two layers together.  These work GREAT!!!  I will say this, wash your bath towel by itself several times and be prepared to pull a ton of lint out of both the washer and dryer!

Going back to the subject of cleaning out the fridge.  I use the white rags with bleach water.  Then, toss it over the edge of the basket to dry with the other washrags.  I only need to do this bout once a month if that often.  Take care of little spills when they happen, you save so much time later.  

Here is a photo of one of my shelves in the fridge.  


Those are place mats from the Dollar Tree.  I just slide those out and wash them off in the sink, dry them off and put them back in.  No more pulling out the shelves and all that mess!!!  This was something that I had seen done on a pinterest post and it is a real winner!

While we are in the kitchen, let me show you my coffee filter holder...


IF you have been following me, a couple posts back when I did my pantry...you saw this embossed wallpaper.  I painted some more of it in the teal and wrapped it around one of our empty coffee cans.  Just put some tacky glue up the seam and slipped on a couple of rubber bands until it was dry.  Duncan 810 Aleenes Origi (Google Affiliate Ad)  There are lots of good glues out there and most any of them will work.  The filters just fit inside and it is really easy to get to them.  I plan to cover the regular coffee can too, and put some tags or labels on them.  Gotta say, I think that they look really nice!

Ok. That is it for this week.  I am working on a crochet blanket and taking lots of pictures of each step...it will be coming to this blog soon, just gotta get it finished up.  See ya back here in a few weeks, I hope...hey, do me a favor and invite your friends to come read and follow.  Thanx!








Monday, March 4, 2013

Just an update.

I guess there won't be as many posts as there have been in the past, just a lack of time right now.  I did a garage sale last month and was able to get both cars in the garage afterwards.  Our daughter, Sarah is on her way home from Korea...she has been teaching English there for the past two years.

I teach painting on Mondays, here in my home.  We have been working with Prismacolor Pencils for the past two weeks.  I think the ladies are ready to go back to painting next week.  But it was a fun change.  Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils, 48 Colored Pencils (Google Affiliate Ad)  My daughter can do wonders with these pencils, maybe I can get her to do a blog entry when she gets settled in.

Lots of blogs have contests and giveaways.  I want to be able to do that too.  So, here is the plan... when I reach 100 followers, I am going to do a drawing for one of my new key fobs that I have been making.  It will be free to anyone on the continental US.  What do you need to do... promote my blog and let's get those followers!

The other thing that I need from you - what would you like to see show up on this blog??

I am going to try my hand at a small container garden and canning this Summer.  So look for some entries about that with lots of pictures.  It is still just a bit too cool to put the plants out, so it will be a few weeks yet.  Yes, even for Texas, it is too cool.  Our winds have been very strong here lately too.

I think that is really all I have for now.  IF you are new to my blog, this is very unusual!  I usually have lots of photos and information.  Last entry really should have been split into two, but I know how you want to see the entire project through once you get started.

Hope that this doesn't sound as cluttered and rambling to you as it does to me while I sit here typing.  Please, leave me some comments!!!  All bloggers get into dry patches and need to know what their followers want, so help me out.

I will be back in a couple of weeks with some sort of craft or something.  Thanx for reading and staying with me on this!
-Pam