Growing avocado trees from scratch

Avocados are delicious and very loved in our household so I was joking around with my hubby last night that I could grow it out of the 2 pits I used tonight for dinner :)

That said, I got the pits, glass of water, toothpicks out and prepared the pits for their long journey (few weeks/months) to becoming a yummy avocado tree.

I think the picture will show you enough detail of how it's done :)

I read I have to refresh the water every 2 days so hopefully I won't forget that ;) 

To let you be part of this progress I will every day take a picture and post it. This blogging is so much fun :)

Finally here are the "pits in progress" :)

Pimp up my picture frames

The picture frames I found yesterday are in need of a makeover to fit my beach interior decorations :)

So this is how i found them before I tackled the 6 picture frames:

(The 6th one is larger so you will see it in the next pictures)

I want them look weathered with some color coming through, you will see what I mean...

I used Gesso (white) since I have a big bottle of it, to set kind of a base to cover the brown of the wood.

(Instead of gesso you can use any acrylic paint in whatever color you fancy of course)

One coat done:

No I have to let it dry and apply a second coat of gesso.

Here is my setup on the dining room table:

This second coat needs to really dry so we all have to wait...:)

I will show you the next stages as I get there of course!

Your Trash could be my Treasure Day

So as my previous post told you I rescued two plants today from the trash :D

As I blogged and talked about this little adventure on Facebook, I had no idea that I would be ending up, getting my arm twisted to go "alley" trash shopping again...
We have sooooo many alleys in this area so I was only able, in 85F, to cover 4 alleys on my treasure hunt.

Well off I went, really 2 steps in the alley behind our house I found 6 picture frames and a "wreath" plastic container box...SCORE. And easy cos I could just turn around and leave it in our garage.

One alley over I found a big(ger) picture frame (no glass though) but some dunes/ocean pic (B&W) in it. Fine, mine!

Walking in the alley, made me giggle especially when I decided why not take all the empty bottles too. I go to the recycle center every 2-3 months anyway, it's cash money baby!! Well, picked up two big garbage bags of empty bottles up while treasure hunting in the alleys :D

I saw a lot of furniture, desks, tables, chairs etc...just needed a facelift.
Oh and all the things you can do with clothing, but that's for next time :D

So guess what I will be doing soon...YES!!! I will start refinishing the frames and use them!!

What a fun day!!! And it was so much fun interacting with everyone on my Treasure Hunt!!!
Thank you for participating!!!
See you tomorrow :)

Plant rescue mission - from trash to pretty

On my daily morning walk I notice, while crossing the alley, that someone threw out 2 perfectly nice house plants in some old wasted basket.

I hate seeing things go to waste and I love plants so you guessed it :)

Perfectly goes within my budget too (don't laugh...ah well...laugh!!!) FREE!!!

Immediately after I dropped off the puppy at home, I walked back and took the 2 plants.

I forgot to take picture of both ;)

Here is a pot I still had in the garage, with some soil too

Thrifty and free!!!

Here they are ready to go on my dining room table :)

Gotta look up what kind of plants they are though...do you know?

Better picture of my latest sewing project

Here is a better picture, taken in daylight of my latest sewing projects:

Another sewing project finished :)

I totally forgot to share with you the sewing project I finished yesterday.

Part of the reason was that they were used immediately :)

That's a good sign though...

Look in my Etsy Shop (the link is at the left top above the header "my Etsy Shop") for more of my creative sewing projects since that's the way I support my blog and projects here...thank you :)

Or click here: www.etsy.com/shop/calicreative 

First pillow case (the big one), I finished a few weeks ago already.

The smaller ones I finished yesterday :)

Sorry for the dark picture...:(

Frugal again: Homemade soap for the dish washer :)

I never thought of sharing my frugal recipes but I get some many emails to share more...well here we go...

One general tip:

Turn OFF the "heated dry" function on your dish washer!!

This saves you "etching" of your dishes and lower energy bill :)

SOAP FOR YOUR DISHWASHER

 

1 cup of Borax

1 cup of Washing Soda

1 cup of Baking Soda

1/3 cup of Kosher Salt

 

(MIX ALL INGREDIENTS VERY WELL!!!)

 

1 tsp. of Citric Acid added per dish wash cycle!!!

(you can get this at Dharma Trading Co. or check the canning/preserve aisles0

 

Instead of using Finish, I use just Vinegar in the Finish compartment :)

 

Just think with these ingredients how many loads of homemade laundry soap and home made soap for the dish washer you get for pennies!

CLICK HERE FOR MY HOME MADE LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE

 

I have more tips...stay tuned!!!