Thursday, July 18, 2013

Fun with Salt Dough

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon.  The errands had been run, the lunch eaten... what was a mom to do? 

Since Nate was feeling crafty and I had all the ingredients on hand, I whipped up a batch of salt dough, and then another since the first was such a success.  FOUR hours later we moved on to other things.  Four hours.  Nate sat at the kitchen table and sculpted, built, crafted, and then (when dry and cool) painted his sal dough creations.  Everyday since then he has asked to make more.  This was a HUGE success, and it is so, stinking easy to do it is ridiculous.

You will need:

1 1/4 cup Salt (I used table salt)
1 1/4 cup Flour
1 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup Water

Mix all of the ingredients together, kneed until smooth and pliable.

Note:  You could add food coloring if you wanted.

After the creations have been made, rreheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake your creations on a  cookie sheet for 20 minutes.  Once they have cooled, they can be painted.




Saturday, July 06, 2013

Homemade Weed Killer That Really Works!

For years we used RoundUp to kill the weeks growing on the patio and on the driveway.  But for a few years I have been looking for a natural (and cheaper) alternative.  Last year the Internet steered me in the direction of white vinegar.  So I sprayed it on the weeds and nothing really happened.  I ended up just pulling out some and I think Jon sprayed what was left with Round Up. 

This year I was determined to find a formula, that used things I already had in my house and that actually killed the weeds. I have succeeded!



You will need:

1 spray bottle
Funnel
1/4 cup of salt (any kind will do)
1 generous squirt of blue Dawn Dish Washing Liquid(Only Blue will Do!)
White Vinegar

1.  Pour the 1/4 cup of salt into the spray bottle (the funnel makes this a lot easier)
2.  Squirt in some blue Dawn (1 Tablespoon is about what I put in)
3.  Fill the rest of the bottle with white vinegar.
4.  Shake up and spray on weeds. 

You will get faster results if you spray the weeds while in the sun.  If they are in a shady spot you might need more than one application.

Proof that my weed killer works... dead weeds!