Homemade Do It Yourself Blogs – Make Your Own Shampoo and Conditioner, Household Cleaners

I absolutely love do it yourself blogs, where easy to follow instructions and “recipes” are given to learn how to make your own this or that. Whether it’s making your own shampoo and conditioner, do it yourself style, or making homemade “green” household cleaners and homemade laundry soap to avoid harmful chemicals or just to save money, I love them all.

Even though we haven’t yet tried some of the homemade shampoo and conditioner recipes quite yet, experimenting will be fun, in order to find which recipes for shampoos and conditioner’s work the best and don’t strip color from color-treated hair.
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Cast Iron Cookware: The Best Purchase You Can Make

The modern culinary scene has erupted into a bouquet of gimmicky, re-invented wheels. Balls whisks, toaster ovens, garlic peelers, salt pigs, bread cookers, Panini presses…. with most the only question is whether they have been reduced to uselessness through generalization, or specialization. In addition to being more novel than they are useful, these items tend to be either cheaply produced or very expensive. Unbelievably, some are even considered toxic to their owners. This landscape is reminiscent of a jungle where it is difficult to tell which resources are nutritious and which are poisonous.

But despite their needle-in-a-hay-stack status, there are still items that represent extreme value, and none more than a cast iron skillet. This item is inexpensive, durable, aesthetically beautiful, and capable of performing a wide variety of tasks extremely well. If there is one highly specific item that belongs in every kitchen, it’s a skillet or Dutch oven composed of heavy, black, cast iron.
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Door Draft Blockers – How to Make Door Draft Stoppers with Door or Window Draft Dodger Patterns

Door draft blockers are called by many different names. Door draft blocker, door draft stopper, door draft dodger, door draft stop and even a “bean snake”. Simply put, a door draft dodger, stopper or blocker is a long tube of fabric that is sewn and stuffed with various materials and used to keep the cold and windy outside air from coming into your house or apartment through drafty windows, doors and fireplaces.

Using door draft stoppers under doors, along drafty window sills, to cover any cracks where cold air leaks in or around fireplaces helps keep warm air in and cold air outside where it belongs, and helps consumers save money on heating bills and energy during cold and blustery winter months. During hot summer months, cool air conditioned air can leak out through the same cracks around doors, patios and windows, substantially increasing your electric air-conditioning bills.
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How to Make a Fleece Blanket Throw – No Sew Fleece Blanket Kits, Instructions and Patterns

Making a fleece blanket is a quick and easy craft project, so easy that kids and grandchildren can make a no sew, hand tie fleece blanket in less than an hour or so. I’ve been making fleece blankets myself since the standard size throw blankets found in stores are just too small and thin for us to keep warm during cold winter months snuggled up on the couch watching football or movies.

The fleece blankets I usually make are extra large, extra long two layer polar fleece blankets, larger than the much smaller standard sizes. The single layer throw blankets typically found in stores are not thick enough, large enough or warm enough, so it just makes sense to make your own do-it-yourself blanket throws for added warmth.
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Recycling Coffee – 25 Ways to Recycle Coffee Grounds

There are many new and commonly known ways of recycling coffee grounds. Recycled coffee grounds is an effective way to become more eco-friendly by reducing landfill waste and lavish garden plants and vegetables with natural, nutrient-filled compost for gardens. It doesn’t matter what coffee brands you use, and I’ve even heard that using decaffeinated coffee grounds is okay for composting too.

Coffee drinkers who brew their own grounds know that a week’s worth of used grounds add up fast, and there is no better way to dispose of old coffee grounds than to recycle the grounds instead of simply throwing brewed grounds in the trash. We usually brew two pots of coffee each day, which adds up to a lot of used grounds in a weeks time, creating lots of waste.
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Beginner Baby Blankets – How to Make a Baby Blanket – Easy Baby Blanket Sewing Patterns

As a sewing beginner and the recipient of one of the best sewing machines on the market, I’ve jumped head-first into finding a variety of sewing craft projects that are simple and easy to do. Baby blankets! Baby blankets are simple, easy things to make for beginners like me.

Considering the fact that a baby blanket is a simple square or rectangular shaped sewing project, I figured there wasn’t much chance of making a baby blanket that wouldn’t turn out cute and usable. Even if I had to rip out out seams and start all over again until I got it just how I wanted the baby blanket to look. To date, I’ve made three very easy baby blankets in pink and other pastel colors with flannel fabric since flannel isn’t stretchy, and another blanket out of soft, stretchy fleece material.
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