Holiday Season Has Come..."BOO!"

NOT "boo" as in thumbs down, but "BOO!" as in ghosts and goblins and pumpkins!  When money's tight you have to find creative ways to cut pricey corners.  It's especially hard to justify spending money on "wants", instead of "needs", which is the category holiday decor falls in.  So, I went to searching the web for self-made alternatives.  I found two different Halloween DIY wreaths I like..this ribbon one (CLICK HERE), and this tulle one (CLICK HERE).  I actually like the ribbon wreath better than the tulle one, but the toulle one was less expensive to make...so that was the winner.

Now, I'm not going to type all all the instructions when you can just click on the link above, but I will share a few of my observations while making this thing.

- First, she says to cut the tulle in 18 inch long strips. I felt that was a little too long, and after knotting a row at 18 inches, I started cutting my tulle in 16 inch strips. I liked the results much better.

- Don't use the glittered tulle unless you're some kind of masochistic crafter who likes to deal with that $h!t. The glitter tulle, which was only the orange tulle for me, was such a pain! Glitter every where, and it was also stiffer, which made it more difficult to work with. As you can see, I got so sick of working with that glitter tulle, I pretty much just stopped, hahaha. Lazy crafter!

- The ten yards of ribbon will be just enough to wrap around the straw wreath, so don't waste it by it over-lapping your layers too much.

-  I used corsage/floral pins to secure my ribbon after wrapping.

If I were to do this again, I would complete the wreath all the way around (which I could do now; I just needed a break..hehe) and probably only use one color. All in all, it was fun (except for the glitter), cheap, and you could adapt this idea to any holiday or event by simply changing out the tulle color.  Honestly, my favorite part was right after I wrapped the ribbon around the straw wreath before adding the tulle.  Think I might adapt that idea with some real pretty ribbons, and different size wreaths, as a cool wall decor idea.  Hmmmm.  Anyway, the snow ball affect in my brain has started....

DIY Compost Bin...I'm hoping.

I've been wanting a compost bin real bad for a while now, but I just couldn't sacrifice the $200 they seemed to be running.  Fed up, I went to the web for a solution.  I knew I didn't want to make a compost "pile" in my backyard for a couple reasons.  First, I rent my home and don't want to put a lot of effort into anything that isn't "mine", and also, I feel like those "piles" aren't as efficient in turning over the compost as a bin is.  While surfing the net, I came across a lot of trash can DIY compost bin projects, this one in particular.  Hell, I could do that!  And so I did....

Ingredients:
-  1 outdoor strength plastic trash can w/lid
-  Drill
-  2 bungee chords

Directions:
Go to your local home improvement store, and scope out their trash can selection.  I bought an "indoor" strength trash can by mistake, and in hindsight, I would have definitely bought an outdoor strength trash can instead....so do that.  Basically, the indoor purpose trash can's plastic isn't as heavy duty...and you need heavy duty.  You'll also need a couple bungee chords if you buy a trash can without a locking lid.

You'll also need a drill, and a super cute helper, like Fred, here.  Don't ask me how big the bit was, or any of that jazz.  I just went over to my folks' house, stole my dad's drill, and he wasn't there to advise me so I just grabbed whatever I found.

"Mom, I don't know about this...."

Basically, all you do is drill a bunch of holes into your trash can for ventilation purposes.  Make sure to drill some in the bottom, too, for drainage.  I drilled holes vertically up the side panels.  If you don't have a locking lid, like me, this is where the bungee cords come into play.  Simply drill a hole at the top near the lid large enough for the bungee cord hook to go in.  Then, when you place the lid on your trash can, you can secure it with the bungee cords.  It's pretty self explanatory.  And really, the reason for locking your lid is in case you want to roll your trash can on its side so to mix the composting material.  Otherwise, you can always use a shovel, or pitchfork, to mix upright.

Alright!  Holes drilled!  I saved my juicing scraps from earlier, coffee grounds, and learned you could use fireplace ash, too.  So, here's my pot of organic goodies I'm going to add to my compost.  When starting your compost, you need to put some potting soil, maybe some dried leaves, shredded newspaper, and fertilizer in there with your organic "trash" materials.  The fertilizer helps jump start the process.  Mix it all together, and water the mixture just enough to make it  moist.  Don't place your bin in direct all day sun.  It's probably best to put it somewhere where it might get morning sun, and shade the rest.

Here's a good website listing all the material you can compost.

Well, we'll see how this project goes.  Fred's real happy about composting.  He just knows there's all kinds of trash and edibles in there hiding!!!