Madame Theresa’s Handy Craft & Recycle Tips

When I first heard the word,”blog” a little over 3 years ago, I didn’t give it much thought.  The owner of one of my favorite rubber stamp companies took his online catalog and site off from where I once knew it, and switched everything over to his “blog”.  I was about as interested as a 3 year old at a turnip festival, and about as savvy, too!

Well, not much has changed. I have *somewhat*  graduated from the turnip festival, although slowly, and have moved past the stage of “blog” rhyming with “nog” stage, where I was on the constant lookout for a winter beverage booth at a Scandinavian Festival. ~SKOL!~ LOL!

It was only last night (and 30 minutes,)  when I learned how to put my blog in a category.  Don’t test me on it now… I’m not sure that it won’t take me 30 more minutes to go back and change it!

Anyhow, the blog category that I have chosen is “House and Garden”.  I picked that over “art”, because not everything  that I recycle or craft, is made into ”art” .  

I didn’t feel like “environment” was right either, because although a lot of what I create is made from recycled goodies, sometimes my techniques aren’t “all that green”.   Sometimes I’m doin’ good to apply  “poison stuff” outdoors or at least “well ventilated”…

And last, sometimes I like to write about recipes and household stuff unrelated to anything!  So, that’s where I came up with the decision to put this blog under “House & Garden”.

What do you all think? Should I leave this under “House & Garden” or do you think another category is better suited? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. 

 In fact, let’s make this worth your while to comment.   I will pick a random number, out of a hat,  next Monday, according to how many people leave comments on this blog entry.  That lucky person will win 2 of my decorated garden party peat pots!  ( I will arrange delivery after the contest.   Contest only for residents of the continental USA, sorry…)

So, get with it- let me know what category I should be listed under.  Please write “stay here” (for house & garden) or list the category that  you think would be more appropriate for what I write about. 

As always, its fun to be a junk collector!

Thanks for your time!

Here’s a tip of the day for ya!
Buy 3 or four boxes of baking soda and dump them in a plastic coffee can that you have saved from the trash! Keep the “Bucket O Soda” underneath your kitchen sink, where it will be handy to use.
After chopping hot peppers for a recipe, all of the “handwashing with soap” isn’t going to help you much…. when you go to scratch your eyelid… THAT’S when you’ll notice that!
*
So…. don’t waste your time and soap. Grab a handfull of soda outta your can and moisten it under warm water, making sure you keep it IN your hand, and rub the paste between your fingers, under your fingernails, and REALLY SCRUB your palms together.
*
When you’re done with all THAT, as a cool “multi task” kinda thing, rub the soda you have left in your hands around in your sink. It is an excellent scrub powder for your sink and also will help freshen drains as you rinse it all away.
*
Besides being a wonderful cleaning powder and swiftly removing the burning stuff from your hands, the baking soda is natural and gentle on your hands. It smooths your skin, as it acts like a gentle abrasive polishing compound!
*
Plastic containers, such as these ugly red coffee containers, are hard to recycle into anything “pretty” or “gifty”. But they are ideal when serving a utility purpose like this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other uses for the “ugly” red containers:
To get rid of the coffee smell-
*
Make a thick paste out of baking soda to coat the inside of the container. Let the paste coat the whole inside, when rolled around a bit with the lid on.
*
Remove the lid and let the paste on the lid and container fully dry.
Put the lid back on (Do NOT wash out the dried soda paste) and store the container for 2 weeks or even longer, and this will remove the smell of coffee from the plastic.
*
When you need a container for cookies or large batches of snack mix, wash out one of your containers, dry it well, and use.
(Remember to wash it out in your sink and use the soda as a “sink wash”.)

Shreaded paper looks darling in Easter baskets, gift baskets, or any container you want to use to present a fabulous gift in!
*
Make your own shreaded paper, in multi colors that you can customize, with your paper shreader. Use gift tissue papers you may have leftover or saved from gifts you’ve unwrapped from the holidays, or go buy some colorful new packages at the famous over-rated box store!
My favorite colors are hot pink, lime green and turquoise- those wonderful colors from the Peter Max days of old.
*
If you shread tissue paper you have recycled, smooth it out, fold it so it will go through the shreader, and feed it in! If you have a shreader that doesn’t want to turn itself on because it cant “sense” your paper, put a small stiffer paper scrap in the center and activate the shreader switch that way. Use a contrasting color so you can pick the bits out easily afterward.
*
New gift tissue is already folded, but you might want to divide the pack into 2 batches and refold it so it is sized to a better width for the shreader. Length of your batch doesn’t really matter, as long as the batch you are feeding into the shreader is not too long, as to get all crooked and cock-eyed as it feeds into the machine.
*
Recycled gift tissue shread has a more “crinkled up” look to it, and the new gift paper shread has a slicker, less-worn look to it. I like to reach into my bin of freshly shreaded new paper and grab handfulls to crinkle it somewhat, as this adds body to the shread and makes a nicer presentation in your gift container.
*
Other papers look cool shreaded,too. Paper grocery bags make neat material. The handle-type paper bags that are printed with seasonal graphics, or just plain advertising, make interesting color combos. Be sure to cut off and discard the handles and the bottom of the sack. You may also want to trim the glued seam off and discard that too, so that all your kraft paper shread will have a uniform look to it.
*
Experiment and have fun making your own shread. When your housemate, mate, or kids come in and look at you like you’re crazy, and ask what it is,exactly, that you are doing, get creative in your answer! Tell them you’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a hamster! Or tell them you’re stocking up on confetti for the next Macy’s parade. Or just tell them that lettuce is just too dang high at the store and you figured this would be an excellent way for them to get more fiber in their diet. LOL!
*
Remember, till next time; “If you can’t craft it, cook it, eat it, or boink it, you may as well throw it away.”

Hello, mass pilgrims.  I have created a blog in the hope that I will one day be computer literate enough to use it. 

Actually, I like to make stuff and reuse stuff, and I am interested in a whole lot of unique crafty- artsy techniques that I’d like to share with the world. 

Recycling is a hot topic with me, and a few of my projects use recycled materials in their construction. 

I also teach a variety of paper art workshops that I will write more about later… and look  forward to adding more here as we go.

Thank you.