Hot Out There? Bake Cookies in the Car!!!

114 degrees today, and a friend of mine decided to use the car as an oven for cookies! How cool is that. (Obviously, if little kids are around, be aware that this may entice them into a hot car and that would be bad!)

Directions : Have a 100 degree day, Start Early, Be around several hours later (friend said 4), Make sure you're in full sun!

Here are directions I posted earlier on using your car as a dehydrator.

And if you just think my friend is the coolest, visit her blog at The Treasures of My Heart

Make a Coyote Call out of PVC and plastic trash

Today, my hubby has been kind enough to give me some blog content! Yeah. Most likely though, most of my readers won't have a use for an animal call, but the men in your life might. He does his coyote-call-making just like my sewing, everything is eyeballing it.

This call will make a rabbit-in-distress call, coyote barks and coyote howls. Video at the end of the post will demo.

Gather materials: Scissors, 3 inches of 1/2" PVC pipe, rubber band and that heavy plastic trash containers you take off of toys, electronics etc. by screaming and yelling and ripping and jabbing and pulling, yeah that annoying stuff. Unless you get the nice ones that have the pop apart tabs.

Then mark 2" from one end. Then in a vise, make your cut diagonal length-wise from that mark to the tip with a hacksaw. See these two images for direction.

It will look like this when done.

Then perpendicular to the previous cut, cut 1/4 to 1/2 the thickness of your PVC. You're making a shelf for the reed to sit on.

Then take a file to make the cut part smooth and slightly rounded and to take out saw marks. Then sand with a 400 grit sandpaper to knock off burrs.

Take your plastic trash and find a flat piece. Cut out a rectangle about the width of the cut out area on your PVC.

Then set it on your reed shelf and cut it to the length of the end of your PVC and shape it to the end.

Wrap a rubber band around it to hold it in place on the reed shelf. The rubber band is siting on the reed shelf.

Then using a file or sand paper, sand the excess off the edges of the reed to match the sounding board. You don't want the reed to overhang the sounding board. It should look like this, click on the picture to see the nearly invisible reed.

Give it a test blow. If it doesn't make a sound, you may have to shorten the reed a little or change the angle of the reed shelf with a file to where the reed comes further away from the sounding board. And this is what you can do with it:

Not bad for making it out of trash.

Here's an audio track teaching how to blow on a coyote call. I'm sure typing into YouTube "How to use a coyote call" will get you plenty to look through.

More Dog Food Bag Reuses, Butcher Paper and Hunting Seat

Just thought I'd share two more uses that we use our Chicken Feed or Cat Food bags for.

Last week, we butchered a chicken, but had to bring it inside because it was too dark. I cut open a cat food bag and did it on the kitchen table. No mess! After finished, just wrapped the unused carcass bits up in the bag to transport it back outside.

I have now learned that my husband, when going out hunting, uses his food bag apron as a seat. Silly man. Now, I just roll one up for him and he takes it with him and unrolls the bag to sit on the ground so his tush doesn't get wet. This could be used for fishing or camping or whenever you might be sitting on the ground. Compact water barrier.

Chicken Plucker

May not help too many of you, but if you have your own chickens for eggs and meat and you pluck them (we just skin them whole, I buy skinless chicken when I buy at the grocery store, so what's the point of keeping them with skin), look at this guy's cheap chicken plucker. Now, if you are like a friend of mine and kill a hundred at a time, you might want to invest in something much better, but if you are like us and only kill a handful at a time to put in the freezer and want to pluck them, check this out:

Forum Thread and Video

Snow Paint

I am sure some of my readers have had or about to have snow. When I was a kid, we loved building elaborate snow men. But they needed color. So, in a spray bottle, we mixed up some Kool-aid and sprayed it on our snow man when we were finished. It kind of melts it and makes a glossy colored ice sheen. Here's one we did of Elmo probably when I was about 14 (I'm on the right).

Food Bag Waterproof Barrier

Use animal feed bags anytime you need a waterproof barrier, like:

Under indoor plants so the water doesn't seep into the object it's sitting on
As a crib protector between the mattress and the sheets
As a drop cloth
Under messy kid paint projects
Under a sand box to make a barrier between the sand and the ground so weeds don't come up through

Can you think of other similar uses? Put them in the comments to share.

Food Bag Arrow Target

Are you an archer? Turn a feed bag into a target. Get together an animal feed bag, cushions or old clothing, duct tape and a sharpee.

I have cushions from an old couch, long story on why I still have them, but I do. But clothing or leftover carpet padding (Oooo! I have leftover carpet padding, that's what I am using next time!) or something similar will work I am sure. Turn the bag inside out to show off the white plain surface. Then cut your material to size if it's a cushion or pack it with your material until it's tight.

Then, fold up the top and secure close with duct tape and draw on whatever kind of target you want.

Then have at it. I had to go take it for a few shots to see how it went. I did poorly since I couldn't find the arrows that went with my bow. (I know excuses excuses, but got to brag on hubby, they were both hand made, I just didn't want to wield the 60 pound bow that went with the arrow I found that evening.), but you can see the holes. It's not exactly self healing, you will have to redo it in the future, but I think you will only have to replace the bag, the inside would be just fine to reuse.

Food Bag Tarp

Do you need a tarp in a hurry? Or did the last one get a hole and you're frugal enough to make your own? Forgot to buy one to cover up your yard sale tables the night before so they don't get damp?

Well, just cut open a whole bunch of animal food bags and duct tape them together until you get the size you want. Easy!

Yard Sale Tips

When a friend of mine heard I was doing a yard sale, she asked what tips I had for a successful yard sale, so I will give you mine, if you have good tips you believe increased your sales, leave a comment.

• Have very large specific signs, I've only done one yard sale with an ad in the paper, and I'm not sure I had a better turn out because of it. I have always been given compliments on my signs, which I assume means they came because of them. I know when I see a yard sale sign there are a few things that determine whether I follow them or not (excluding if I have time or money in my pocket):
  

1. Very Large Print. I made these last signs out of 2' x 4' scrap lumber and spray painted black lettering. I have also used very large cardboard moving boxes or large brown grocery sacks written on the side and rocks in the bottom to keep them from flying away. I use the biggest signs I can at the start of the trail. If I can't read it until I've driven pass it in the car, I'm most likely not turning back.
2. There is a date on the first sign, not just "Saturday" but the actual date, I don't want to go down the road and find out that it was last Saturday.
3. Post a time on the first sign. If you plan to be open past lunch put it on there. If you don't, your traffic will start to disappear at lunch, too many close at noon, so they won't follow unless there is a time. Don't put "8AM - ????" That tells me nothing. Hang out an actual time to end. If you want to change your mind later, just staple a piece of paper over that time to the new time.
   
4. Distance on the first sign. I don't want to wander down 5 miles and not see any signs and wonder if it was last week. When if I had known ahead of time it was 6 miles, I would have crested that hill and seen your sign instead of turning back.
5. Signs at every intersection. Even if they shouldn't turn, tell them to go straight, otherwise they may give up. Start from every nearby busy road and lead them in from all directions.
6. Homemade or Unique Signs. For some reason, I don't like following the premade ones, unless there is an embellishment like balloons, probably because I have found that these are often the ones that are left up forever or are so vague or so few that I can't follow them to the sale, so unless I really want to go yard saleing, I am more likely to follow the homemade signs with distinct signage, bubble letters, etc. And don't do a hodgepodge of signage, make them all the same, all have blue bubble letters or all have balloons or all are made from boxes. This keeps me following your trail.
7. Be Ready. As soon as you put those signs up, people follow you home, I don't care how early it is. Once I put them up at 5:30 AM thinking I had 30 minutes to get ready for the early birds, nope, they saw me put up the sign and since they had nowhere to go for 30 minutes, they followed me home. So don't put them up unless you're ready.
   

• Work with a Partner. I would recommend getting together with a friend and doing the sale in one yard, "2 yard sales" on your sign will entice drivers. Separate your stuff by some kind of obstacle, the driveway, a barricade or something to keep money gathering simple if possible. If you can't hold two or more sales, still have a friend or spouse or child work with you. They can change, take down, or put up your sale signs, get you lunch, cover for you for potty breaks etc. And they are there to chat with when the traffic hits a lull. I did one sale completely alone, and I can tell you, it was absolutely not easy and no fun.
• Coordinate with other sales. At the beginning of summer, ask the neighbors if they intend to have a yard sale, try to find a day to do it all together. More signs on a curb entices drivers more than a single sign. If your city plans city-wide sales, do it then, catch people when they are already yard saleing. You'll get more traffic.
• Set up before hand. The more stuff you can get out the night before, the better. You aren't missing sales by still carting out stuff or arranging it. Buy some shower curtains or dropcloths at the dollar store to drape over your items to keep them from getting dewy overnight.
• Accommodate Early Birds. I know there are a lot of ads that say "no early birds", but rethink that. Some of my best sales are to the early birds, these are the shoppers who mean business and are out to buy stuff.
  
• Accommodate the After Work Crowd. If you do a Friday sale, seriously think about staying open for those that pass by on their way home from work. They have a paycheck, and they are happy because it's the weekend. 5PM to 6PM on Friday had high traffic for me this last weekend.
  
• Tables. Use whatever you can to get stuff off the ground. Every spare table in your house, borrow tables from a church, rec center, etc. Make makeshift ones, I have made do with plywood propped up on a wagon, propped up with 5 gallon buckets, propped up with cinder blocks. I have even cut up really large moving boxes and used that as the table surface. You may not be able to get enough to put up your stuff, but get out as many as possible.
• Hang adult clothing. People will rifle through kid clothes since they grow so fast, but they usually won't with adult clothes. I have hung them off the edge of my porch roof, took out my portable clothes rack from the laundry room, tied rope between two trees and even set up two ladders across from each other and sat a third ladder between them across the top to use to hang clothes on.
• Kid's stuff low to ground. If you are making tables, put kid toys on the lowest one (like those on cinder blocks) or if you don't have enough tables, choose to put the kids stuff on the ground (if you don't want it to get wet, place it on wood, cardboard, plastic dropcloths or shower curtain). You want the kids to see Stuffed Snoopy and ask Mom for it, it's only a quarter! Don't put kid stuff above their heads were they can't ask for it.
• Spread it out. Piles and stuffed boxes don't sell unless someone is desperate for something and will dig for it. Spread things out as much as possible, so they can glance at it. Maybe they don't need any more movies at home, but they saw your copy of Dirty Dancing and got nostalgic and can't pass it up for $1. (R.I.P. Swayze). If you can't get it all out at once, spread it out throughout the day as people buy things and create space.
  
• Arrange and Rearrange. Put things out in categories. Guy stuff, home decor, baby clothes, etc. That way people with particular interests will spot that you have what they want and look. People will rifle through things and mess up your arrangements. Constantly monitor and put it back nice and neat. Also, if you have stuff on the ground, bring it up onto the tables when room is made. People don't like ducking or crouching and might miss it on the ground.
• Put guy stuff and home decor stuff out front and prominent. If you have guy things, put those out on the curb, so that the husband driving the wife around sees you have guy stuff and gets out of the car. I tell you, guy stuff sells like hotcakes, I rarely keep guy stuff around for long (must be because it's so hard to get guys to let go of stuff, there isn't much to be had.) Also, if you have decor/junk, put it out front. Don't put it in back, obscured by kids clothes. Not everyone needs clothes, don't let them drive by thinking that's all you got. Everyone is enticed to look through the junk.
• Spread out the movies and price them for less than a rental. I price all my movies at a $1, even VHS. It's cheaper to buy it off of me to watch at leisure then to pay for it at a rental store. Everyone likes to watch movies.
• Price tag as much as possible. People in America are leery about haggling. They won't often ask you to come down in price, nor will they ask you what something costs unless they really want it. This last yard sale, I had too many clothes to price, so I made a sign, but I have to say that didn't work, no one looked. I priced everything in my yard sale that I wanted more than a quarter for and said to every customer "If it doesn't have a tag, it's a quarter." This worked, my sign was ignored. If you have the time, price everything.
• Make it all even money. 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, $2, $3, $4 etc. don't bother with ten cents, quarters are cheap enough. Make it easy on yourself and everyone with simple pricing. Don't bother with putting change after dollars. You can haggle down to $1.50 is you want. Also, be ready for lots of $20s in the morning. Go take out change (bills) from the bank. You'll put it back in after the yard sale, none of it gets lost, but if you can't change a $20, you could easily lose morning sales.
  
• Give them a deal. If someone asks you for a deal, go down in price! Do you really want the stuff back in the house? The only thing I wouldn't do it for is stuff you want to sell on ebay that you have had success selling before that way or maybe nice children's clothes that the consignment shop will take and you intend to take it there. Otherwise, go down in price if they ask! If you don't, they are less likely to ask about any of your other stuff they are interested in. And maybe no one else will want that particular piece of junk, so you get to take it back home at the end of the day.
  
• Clothing Pricing by the Bag. If you have a lot of clothing, bring out plastic sacks and offer anyone who starts picking up clothes this line: "All clothes are (50) cents, but you can stuff as much as you want in a bag for $(5)." This gives someone a deal and an incentive to take away your junk.
• Greet People. This goes back to my work in retail. Greet people when they step into your yard, it lets them know you are approachable (they might be more likely to ask you about an unpriced item or have the guts to ask for a deal on something they want). Also, if you see they are interested in things, give them a price run down of the items if they are unmarked or the bag deals you have going or tell them that the prices are negotiable.
• Say Prices are Negotiable. Watch your customers, if they finger that vase for awhile or talk about it with their spouse for a bit but put it down, hurry up and say, "The price is negotiable." The word "negotiable" seems to work better than saying, "I'm willing to haggle." "I'll make a deal with you." "Shoot me a price if your interested." etc. I don't know why, but it seems like the magic word. More people will actually offer me another price if I say "negotiable" over any other combination of words I've tried.
• Have an extension cord ready. If you are selling gadgets, have an extension cord out for people to test things rather than making them take your word for it that it works. When they ask you if it works, offer them the plug in and test it themselves. They will less likely try to give you a lesser price on the item if you prove it works and therefore they feel it isn't a risk to take it home and find out it doesn't work like they wanted it too.
• Offer free stuff. I don't particularly know if this improves sales, but it makes people happy. If no one is wanting quarter items, you might want to replenish the free box with these items throughout the day. Also, if you include kid stuff in the box, a whiny kid who wants something can get it from there and not distract mom from looking through the stuff she is going to buy.
  
• Saturday end sales. Unless you want to do this again, lower your prices as the day wears down. Are you just going to dump it at the thrift store? Then after lunch or once you see a lull in the traffic, slash prices. Tell people when they walk up that everything is half off, or everything is a quarter, or everything's two for a quarter or fill a bag for $1. (If you do this and there are a few items you would rather keep or sell to a consignment store, gather these up and put them somewhere special or take them inside before starting the end of day sale). Why give it to the thrift store and get nothing, when you could get a quarter?

Hope that helps inspire you to think how to sell your stuff to the best advantage and have a better sale than you've had before!

Sharpening a Reel Push Mower

In this post, I talked about about using a reel push mower to mow the lawn without gas.

There is a cheap easy way to sharpen a reel push mower.

Buy valve lapping compound at the auto maintenance store like AutoZone ($5). Then adjust the mower's plate (the cutter bar) at the bottom of the reel mower to where it makes contact with the blades throughout the blades' entire rotation. Then put valve lapping compound on every blade using your finger, rotating it as you go along to get all the blades. And then on a smooth surface without cutting anything, push the mower until all the valve lapping compound is gone, keep doing that until it is sharp.

Automatic Chicken Door Instructions or USA Provider

So, in yesterday's post I showed you my scrap chicken coop, but I have to admit I bought the automatic chicken coop door. Quite a hunk of change in my book, and I normally regret spending huge amounts of money on things, but I don't regret this one. Because I'm such a lazy butt in the morning every day without this door my chickens were in danger of being roasted alive in their coops during the 100 degree weather we've been having. I'd prefer to roast them dead.

Besides, I found a good enough deal that it didn't cost that much more to buy it.

I bought mine from the Chickencoopdoor. The only US provider I found for $150.

Here are directions if you want to do it yourself. The second link says he paid $120 for parts. When I saw that, I decided $150 wasn't bad.

Dinousaurs and Robots Chicken Door and BuildEazy Chicken Door

Scrap Wood Chicken Mansion and Roost

We used our scrap lumber from tearing down our humongous balcony, leftover siding and metal roofing from the shed we tore down, a window and screen off of the window guy's truck from a house he'd replaced windows from, plus some new lumber to build a Chicken Mansion. If we ever get rid of the chickens; it's big enough for storage. The vents were made of PVC pipe covered with more of the extra screen from window guy. We still have to insulate the interior walls but that will have to happen later.

But the best thing about it is the automatic chicken door. It's set on a timer to let the chickens out in the morning and to put them in at night. Came in real handy while we were gone for the weekend a few weeks past, no one had to come let the chickens in or out and the best thing is I don't have to remember to do it!

But the really fun scrap project was the gigantic roost made from scrap lumber and tree limbs from off the property. We could roost peacocks or even emus in there I think. ;P Obviously, you could easily size this down for a normal sized chicken coop and normal sized birds.

Mow the Lawn without Gas

We were gifted with a reel push mower. You might think that it was replaced with a gas mower because it didn't work well or that it took too much effort, but the modern ones to me seem to be the same amount of work to mow the lawn as it is with a gas powered one. (Obviously, I have a ride on mower since I mow 5 acres of lawn, but this works on small areas I want to mow without getting the ride-on out.)

Plus, in the eight years I have been married we have gone through 3 lawn mowers, at minimum $100 each plus gas, oil, spark plugs and maintenance, (One kept losing its wheel nut, so we went through probably 5 bolts on that one, extra blades, and even a wheel tearing the sheet metal off making us go to a junk yard for a body to install the motor on). That's quite expensive and frustrating.

This isn't for lazy mowers though or people with huge lawns (half an acre or less is ideal). You have to keep up with the lawn, can't let it grow into a forest, otherwise you will have to haul out the gas powered one, but maybe that could be a motivator to get out and do it. It also doesn't do well on stick weeds it needs to be an actual lawn not scrub brush territory or get out there and mow before the weeds get big enough to become stick-like.

Here's a good site to research them if you are interested.
Heck, even Walmart carries them.

Wowser Wednesday - Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

We don't have pavement, so sidewalk chalk is not a big game around here, but if you have a driveway and love sidewalk chalk make your own. Mad Maggie Designs gives you the recipe.

Car Dehydrator

Don't have a dehydrator but would like to make fruit leather or dehydrate fruit and veggies? To make sure you get appropriate temperatures, just setting out in the sun can make it difficult, but if you have an automobile and it is high temperature summer time, you have a dehydrator.

Prepare your fruit roll up mixture and pour in a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Put cheesecloth over the pan (not touching) to keep bugs off. For veggies and fruit, put sliced pieces on a cooling rack in a baking pan and cover with cheesecloth.

Put food in back window in the sun. Leave window cracked to let moisture out.

Thin sliced fruit and fruit leather should dry in about 6 hours of hot sun in the car. Large pieces (like half of an apricot) could take up to 2 days.

Car Trash Bag Storage

In each of my cars' glove boxes, I have a toilet paper tube stuffed with 3 plastic grocery sacks. That way if I have a trash emergency or need somewhere to put wet clothing when I am away from home, they are ready when I need it and don't take up a lot of room.

Inexpensive Weed Killer

Take plain old vinegar, put it in a spray bottle and spray on weeds or plants you do not want at the beginning of a sunny day.

Before:


After:

Looks like more than one just a light misting should be used, bet if I sprayed it twice those few bits of grass would have died as well.

Caution: This will kill anything, not just weeds, so if you want to keep your roses, don't use this on them.

UPDATE: I left them dead and didn't pluck them, not sure if they came back or more grew but some greenery can be seen in the area a few weeks later, but it did better than last year's attempt with Roundup. After using Roundup, my area looked more beautifully green with weeds several weeks later than before I used the Roundup; it was like I fertilized the area for them. I am assuming I am supposed to pick the weeds, but just haven't the time.

Balance Beam

I pulled out a salvaged 4x4 that I had pulled all the nails from, took two cinder blocks and made a balance beam for outdoor play. I wedged in some bits of wood to make the beam snug and immovable and made sure it was on level ground. Even I got up on it with her and it seems to be a great outdoor agility toy.

Paint the Propane Tank

My propane tank with my new house was tangled with vines and rusty. Never had a propane tank before, so I called the company that I rent it from and asked if that was ok if I painted it so it would look nicer and what kind of paint to use to do so.

They not only told me it was ok (White or Silver paint is best), but that if I did it, to give them a call and let them know, they would check to be sure I did it and then they would take off the $60 rental fee for the year. So, left over white flat primer house paint and an hour of sanding off the gunk and an hour of painting equals a free year of propane tank rental.

So, if your propane tank needs painting, call your company and see if they won't do the same for you.

CD Bird Chasers

What to do with those junk mail CDs or scratched up ones beside throw them away?

As a kid, we used to hang pot pie tins from the garden stakes to keep birds away from the garden. I think I will be using CDs instead, much prettier. Does it work all that well? Mmm, not planning to set up a control garden and check out the difference in rates of birds pecking at the separate gardens, but it doesn't cost me anything so why wouldn't I?

Here are some other crafty ideas or these.