I’ve written before about the curious nature of my kids, but what I didn’t say was that they come by it naturally. A couple weeks ago I looked through a copy of 5280 Magazine. They were running their yearly “Great Stuff Cheap” issue, where they have all kinds of money saving tips. One in particular caught my eye. The item stated that you could save money on shampoo and conditioner by replacing them with baking soda and vinegar. Hmm. Really? The article said that you make baking soda into a paste, work it into your hair and rinse. Then, if you need some conditioning, just follow that with a rinse of vinegar and cool water.

Sounded simple, but would it work? I was interested enough to find out, so I did what any sane person would do: I tried it on my children. Yes, during their showers I came at them with baking supplies. It turns out if you add too much water to baking soda it dissolves and goes down the drain, so making a paste was tricky the first time. Once I had that figured out, I found that it’s hard to shampoo hair if there is no lather. Really, it’s tough to know if you’ve gotten everything. But when we rinsed the baking soda out, it was surprisingly squeaky clean! Next was the conditioning vinegar rinse. I dumped a bit onto my kids heads, worked it around a little, then tried to follow it with a cool water rinse. In each instance, my children’s yells and screams told me that kids don’t like cool water rinses in the shower, so we did warm rinses instead. I was skeptical when my daughter’s hair looked like a tangled mess in the back, but it combed right out! Both kids had very manageable hair- it worked! (The article in 5280 said “We promise your shiny locks won’t smell like salad dressing” after rinsing with vinegar, but I found that a slight smell did linger.) After such success, I tried baking soda and vinegar on my own hair. It was as clean and well conditioned as with my regular products, which makes me wonder about the cost of shampoos!

But the bottom line is, would it save me any money? When I washed my hair with baking soda, I used a few tablespoons. I calculated that I’d get six or seven shampoos out of an 8 oz. box, so about 1 box a week. At about $2 a box at the grocery store, that’s $8 a month for shampoo. The shampoo I buy is not that expensive, so really, as a money saver, this one isn’t for me. (Although you can get a good rate on 21 pound bags of baking soda online, if you have room in your bathroom cupboard!) Really, I’m not sure when I’d use baking soda as shampoo. Maybe if I took baking soda camping I could leave my shampoo at home (assuming I would wash my hair while camping, that is.) Or maybe if there’s a blizzard and I’m trapped at home without shampoo for an extended period of time (and it’s imperative that I look my best) I can whip out the baking soda. Maybe I’ll try it on my dog. But practical or not, it was a fun little experiment, and I’m happy to say it works very well.

I am rarely given to hyperbole, so you can believe me when I say our local utility company is turning my husband into a raving lunatic. No, really, he’s gone crazy! The utility company has a new program which, at first glance, seems like a great idea. Each month they send us a letter comparing us to 99 of our neighbors in similar sized houses and give us a ranking based on energy use. The letter is complete with graphs and charts showing us how our kW/H (kilowatts per hour) usage stacks up against others in the community. The first one we got showed that our house was 34th most efficient among our 100 comparable houses. Not great. At first, my husband seemed only somewhat interested in this news. Then I noticed some changes.

It started off slowly. First, he could be seen wandering around the house with a notepad. I later learned he was adding up the wattage of every light in the house. One evening, my husband took our daughter out to run errands. When they got home, I found out that they’d taken a trip to the home improvement store and he and his little helper got to work replacing light bulbs in one of our bathrooms. In each of our bathrooms, there is a strip of round, incandescent bulbs above the sink. They look nice, but they are very inefficient. Slowly but surely, they had been burning out in various bathrooms. He bought enough high efficiency bulbs to redo one bathroom, and we took the surviving incandescent bulbs into the other bathrooms to replace dead ones. I thought that was great! Our bathrooms are really the only places in the house that don’t have high efficiency bulbs yet, mainly because of the shape of the bulbs. But now, high efficiency bulbs come in all shapes and sizes, even for fancy light fixtures. Thus far, my husband was making responsible choices to save energy, which I am all for (and he got our daughter excited about it, which is a great bonus!). And he said “That should help out our rating.” It did- last month we were #26. He was not satisfied.

Two days ago, when my husband got home from work he undertook another project- something we’d been talking about for a long time but hadn’t gotten around to. He vacuumed out the dryer. It was a major undertaking, but he got out a lot of lint! The next day he vacuumed out the refrigerator coils. Again, something everybody should be doing but we hadn’t gotten around to. It’s filthy work, but he seemed very satisfied. And he’s confident that both will run much more efficiently now and improve our rating a little more! Still, nothing I was concerned about.

Last night, he went off the deep end. He has a mental list of projects that will put us on top! For example, he wants to build wind turbines into the top of the roof. Then, he went on and on about how, if we only waterproofed the basement, we could fill it with ice in the cold months then use the ice to cool the house in the summer and water the yard when it melts (something about Yugoslavian ice caves used to chill beer?). This would involve a complex system of pumps and tubing. And if we build solar collectors out of old satellite dishes and hook them to batteries in the house, we’ll save even more. He said “We can go completely off- grid!” and grinned at the thought like a toddler on Christmas. Help!

Really, I think our utility company is on to something and I’m happy about the new information they provide. People are so competitive, it seems like a great idea to pit us against each other in the name of energy conservation. If everybody makes small changes, we’ll make a big difference in community energy consumption. On the other hand, if everybody waterproofs their basements for giant blocks of ice my husband will never be number one! If you decide to go that route, just remember you heard it here first.

(Photo credit: AZAdam on Flikr)

Last year our projection screen television died.  It was quite exciting.  What sounded like static during a TiVo show quickly escalated into electrical zapping and smoke coming from inside the big box.  After many phone calls, we learned that our model was not worth repairing and we had to get rid of an enormous and heavy TV.  We decided to take as much out of the inside of the TV as we could to make it lighter and easier to move.  As soon as we took out the inner components, my Rooster and I both had the same idea – with minimal effort we could turn this empty frame into a beautiful puppet theater!

This project was amazingly easy and low cost. We already had a few basic tools and I went to the local big box store for inexpensive accessories.  Our kids love the theater and our friends are calling their neighbors who own projection screens to put “dibs” on their TV when it goes.  What a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle!  Here’s how we made our theater:

Empty inside of television

After removing the back panel we found out that most of the components are in a large wood box at the base of the TV.  We just had to remove a few screws to slide the box out.  We used a screwdriver (and a hammer and chisel in some spots) to take out as much as we could inside the frame.  Turns out that dismantling stuff is fun!  We left the speakers in place and removed the wires with wire cutters.  We saved the front screen (it makes a great ramp for remote controlled cars) and the reflector panel (I decorated it with markers and the kids use it as a mirror).   We left the side speaker cabinets in the frame as they made great seats for the kids.  Finally, I flipped the front screen rails to hide any sharp edges.

Prepare frame

We used a jig saw on any wood pieces that were sticking out, and a hammer and pliers to remove anything sharp.  All that remained was to lightly sand any rough spots inside.  We were lucky that the inside of our frame was already painted black – perfect!

Accessorize

This is where you can spend a little or a lot on this project!  I used a staple gun to cover everything from the side seats to the floor with heavy-duty fabric.  I purchased three sets of inexpensive curtain rods, and used a drill to mount one on the outside front panel, one on the inside front panel and one on the back.  I also picked up some cheap curtains, two sets of black and one red.  I hemmed the curtains to length and hung the red set on the front and the black sets on the inside and on the back.  I also drilled pilot holes to install small eye hooks for the curtain tie-backs.  I used larger eye hooks to hold a piece of picture wire across the inside of the theater and used small binder clips to hang homemade backdrops from the wire.  Finally, I put two stick-up lights inside the theater so the kids can have backstage lighting.

All that was left was to pop the popcorn and give out tickets to the upcoming show!

Check out the lightbox slideshow below for images of our projection TV Puppet Theater.  Simply click on a thumbnail to start the slideshow. Details and information for each picture are located at the bottom of the image in the slideshow.

When I was a kid, I had a lot of fun dressing up our family dog.  I’ve got pictures of her in my brothers pajamas complete with winter jacket and hat.  I also remember how she would do the slow-motion high-step when I’d put socks on her paws, acting like she was walking through syrup.  Of course this was followed by tons of hugs and praise for her patience!  I’m sure a lot of you have memories of doing the same thing or have seen your kids attempting the same feat.

This past week I had the chance to put this dress-up knowledge to good use.  We experienced record cold temperatures in our part of the county, and this made the the required potty trips outside very difficult for our dogs.  Since our dogs are older and don’t like to spend much time outside in the winter, we don’t own any doggy booties.  I haven’t found any that fit them and I didn’t want to pay big bucks for something I’d use once or twice a year.  But with the recent cold snap, they could only get about 10 feet into the snow before it would freeze to their paws and they wouldn’t move.  They wouldn’t “go” and we would have to carry them back inside.  Of course this is at night after all the stores are closed.  Hmm, time to get creative…

I have two young boys, which means I have a bunch of little sport socks that used to be white, which are now relegated to a “wear around the house only” pile.  You guessed it, I put a sock on each paw, secured it with a rubber band, and out into the snow we went.  It worked great!  They not only were able to do their “business”, but they ran around and played in the snow for a while.  When we came inside I just slipped the socks off, shook the snow out and let them dry by the heating vent.  If they get dirty, I can just toss them in the wash.  I felt great being able to find a use for these old socks!

I hope you find this quick and easy idea for your furry friends helpful.  Just remember, this may not be the best idea if you’re going out for a walk in icy conditions, as they may need more traction for safety.  Also, if you don’t have little ones, a 6-pair bag of these sport socks costs about $6 at Target.  From experience, I recommend colored socks which makes it easier to find a missing one in the snow.

Over the years I have found that my medium of choice is simple, inexpensive cardboard and hot glue.  Using hot glue on unpainted cardboard is easy, dries fast, and results in an amazingly strong and sturdy costume.  It’s up to you how much to embellish afterward.  I cover my creation with spray paint as it gives an even coat and dries quickly.  Then I look around for unusual items that will add that special, authentic touch.  Remember to do all of your hot glue before you paint; it will not bond painted pieces strongly.

Here are three of our recent cardboard costume creations:

Robot

What You’ll Need:

• Large cardboard box
• Small cardboard box
• Utility knife
• Hot glue gun
• Silver spray paint
  

Optional Accessories:

• Silver dryer venting
• Black cable organizer
• 2 small, rectangular gift boxes
• Battery-operated mini Christmas lights
• Upholstery nails/thumbtacks
• Antenna
• Mini drain covers

How to Make it:

1. Cut off bottom of large box and cut out holes for head and arms.
2. For small box, cut off one side for face opening and one side for neck opening.  Check fit of costume, and glue head box onto body.  (Optional:  Glue small gift boxes onto front and back for 3-D circuit board “effect”)
3. Spray paint costume and let it dry completely.
4. Look around the house for accessories!  Use silver dryer venting for arms.  Add black cable organizer tubes for accents around the base and head opening, and inside the arms to hold the metal dryer venting in place and prevent scratches.  Upholstery nails or thumbtacks look like rivets (poke into cardboard with a dab of glue).  Print out pictures of circuit boards or other graphics for accents.  A special touch is to raid your Christmas wreath for battery operated mini-lights to have your circuit boards flash.  We put the lights inside the gift boxes so that the wiring was contained and out of the way.  Just poke holes through the cardboard for the lights.  This makes it easy to see your little one at night and I’m all for added safety.

Here’s a slideshow with more details for the cardboard robot costume.  Just click a thumbnail to see a larger image and start the slideshow.

Monster Truck

What You’ll Need:

• Newspaper or large sheets of paper for pattern (download our pattern here)
• Large cardboard box (appliance size works best or several smaller ones)
• Utility knife
• Hot glue
• 2 cans spray paint (black and your child’s favorite color)
• Silver paint
• Small paint brush
• 4 large plastic drink bottles – check the bottoms to see if they look like “wheels”
• 4 screws
• 4 nuts
• 5 ft. Velcro (1 1/2 “ thick)
• White and black construction paper

Optional Accessories:

• Foam pipe insulation
• Mirrors
• Reflectors
• Flame stickers

How to Make it:

Truck Pattern (click to download PDF)

1. Sketch the outline of the truck pattern on newspaper and check length for your child.  Make sure width of truck is large enough for child’s torso and “sunroof” opening is large enough for child’s head to fit through. To download a PDF of our pattern click right here. Adjust size of pattern as needed.
2. Transfer the pattern to cardboard and cut out with a utility knife.  Cut out side windows and a sunroof, but do not cut out holes for front and back windows.
3. Fold the pieces to shape the truck and hot glue together.
4. Spray paint truck with whatever color your child likes and let it dry completely.
5. Make front and back “windows” using black and white construction paper.
6. For the wheels, cut off the bottoms of large drink containers.
7. Using silver paint and a small paint brush, paint the inside, center of the “wheels” to create the hubcaps. Let dry completely.
8. Using black spray paint, paint the inside of the wheels to create the tires. (Note: you’ll be spraying black over the silver paint on the inside of the bottle, but on the outside, you’ll see the silver hubcap and black tires).
9. Attach the wheels to the truck with a small screw and a nut.
10. To support the costume on your child’s shoulders, glue a strip of Velcro along the inside front and back windows of the truck.  Stick two long pieces of Velcro “suspenders” between them.
11. Again, look around the house for accessories!  Print out some auto logos and glue them on.  Use pipe insulation tubes for the bumpers and roll bars.  Hot glue will melt the insulation foam, so put the glue on the cardboard first and then attach the foam.  We purchased mirrors, reflectors and flames from the auto parts aisle of our local discount store, but you could use bicycle reflectors or colored construction paper.   For some nighttime color and “tricked-out” special effects, tape glow necklaces/sticks along the inside bottom of the truck.

Here’s a slideshow with more details for the cardboard robot costume.  Just click a thumbnail to see a larger image and start the slideshow.

SpongeBob SquarePants

(with thanks to my neighbor Jesse)

What You’ll Need:

• Three pieces of yellow poster board
• White poster board or construction paper for decoration
• Green paint
• Craft paint (Green, brown, black, pink, and red)
• Sponge
• Circular foam stamps in two sizes
• Large rectangular cardboard box
• Utility knife
• Glue

How to Make It:

1. Add “texture” to the three yellow poster boards using green paint, sponge and foam stamps.
2. Using white poster board and craft paints, decorate one yellow poster board as the front of SpongeBob and one as the back of him.
3. Measure location of “eyes” from the top of the poster board to match up with your child’s and cut them out.
4. Cut open holes in the side of the box for arms.
5. Cut third yellow poster board to fit on the sides and top of the box, making sure to leave the arm holes uncovered.
6. Glue all three poster boards on box.  Cover top and sides of box with pieces from third piece of poster board.
7. Cut out eye holes in box to match the eye holes in the poster board.
8. There you have it.  Or as Spongebob would say “Oh barnacles Squidward! Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets!”

Here’s a slideshow with more details for the cardboard robot costume.  Just click a thumbnail to see a larger image and start the slideshow.

Why do we refuse help?  I thought my Rooster and I could move our entire house into two PODS without any problem.  Who could possibly need MORE than two PODS, or help filling them?  We are a one item in, one item out family.  We reduce, reuse, recycle and donate like the dickens…

But if it weren’t for the amazing support of all the Hens and the Roosters, the house we sold (within three hours of listing!) would NOT have closed on time today.   They came through the house last weekend like a small army and got us all packed up.  Even with all of that help, moving is a big deal, and we could not have stayed sane without some essential items.

So, here are the top five things we needed to help with the move:

1. The Five Hens, who are the friends you wait a lifetime for and will push to help you even when you say no.  Friends that will haul out trash, run for lunch, watch all seven kids, cook you soup for the week, take the plants (not the goldfish), smile and laugh at the end of an exhaustive day and leave wanting to help with the move at the other side.

2. Scotch Brand tape by 3m, which didn’t peel off the boxes within a day like the cheap stuff.   With Scotch, we used less and it was twice as good.

3. Sharpie band markers.  I may have marked more boxes the dreaded “miscellaneous” than not, but at least they are all labeled, and no pens last like Sharpies.

4. Reused moving boxes and recycled moving paper.  They are everywhere, in great shape and cheap. In addition to those we got from friends, we got over 100 moving boxes and unlimited paper in excellent condition for only $18.00 on Craigslist.

5. PODS, for storage and moving combined.  While we are blessed our house sold so quickly in this economy, the closing date on our new house is still uncertain, which means we have to do something with all of our stuff.  PODS allowed us to pack our belongings, store them indefinitely, and then will transport them conveniently to our new location (soon, hopefully) for a reasonable, flat fee.  Customer service was great, timing was prompt and professional, and storage is at a secure location.

5a. A great place to stay when you don’t have a new house to go to yet.  We get to stay with my sister and brother, and the chicks, no kidding, keep saying it is even better than the Broadmoor! And they are right, which makes the transition so much easier, so make sure you have a Plan B in case Plan A doesn’t work out quite as planned.

So, readers, have any other tips or essentials for a successful move?  If so, we would love to hear them.  And thanks again to the Five Hens (plus Roosters), who knew I needed help when I didn’t know it myself.  I am eager to help whoever is next— as long as they stay nearby.

My little guy and I just had a blast making playdough together. It’s a fun, easy activity that everybody can help with, is easy to clean up, and has an end result you can enjoy for a long time. And it’s cheap to make! You will probably have to experiment with colors a bit. My son wanted orange, and we had to add a lot of yellow before it didn’t look like a big spaghetti dinner followed by a stomach virus. I got my recipe from Discovery Toys a long time ago.

Homemade Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
3 dessert spoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Add a few drops of food coloring if you like. Keep mixing until all lumps have been blended (I use a whisk). Put the mix in a saucepan (or just mix it in the saucepan) and cook it very slowly over medium heat. Stir continuously, and when the dough starts to come away from the side of the pan, take it off the heat. Remove the playdough from the pan (ADULTS DO THIS- IT IS HOT!) Let it cool a bit on plastic wrap, then have fun!