I dream of boxes! (and sweeping!!)

The cross-country move is now behind us, and as we settle into the new home we are swimming in corrugated! Literally, I spent one night unpacking in my sleep ... and was quite disappointed to see that dream-time productivity did not translate to the real world.

Sigh. But no bother. It's not like the towers of boxes are going to go anywhere on their own! They'll wait for me, I am sure.

But in addition to the logistics puzzle of fitting all the old stuff into the new space(s), I am also realizing that my housekeeping routines are going to need some updating as well. Luckily I did some prep work (before I even knew I needed it), when I created my set of washable and reusable Swiffer dry sweeping cloths.

The bottom floor of the house is all hard floors - tile and wood - and with a long haired dog, two kids, pollen from countless trees, etc., the daily sediment buildup is impressive!  I like the concept and simplicity of the Swiffer sweeper, but I didn't like throwing all their expensive, single-use cloths away. Still, it took a friend to wonder aloud what could be done about it before I turned to my fabric stash for the answer.

Using one of my last sweeper cloths as a pattern (dimensions noted on tub in pic, below), I cut new sheets from scrap fleece. Ta da!! Swiffer sweeper cloths that can be used and washed over and over, and will probably last forever. I cut six cloths for the set, intending to use scraps only, but got talked into using a piece or two of "premium" from my 4 year old helper. :-) All in all, it took about five minutes. Sweet!

Now to find a place to set up the sewing machine, so I can get cranking on that again as well. Happy crafting!

Self-Diagnosed Craftitis

So, I'm starting to think there's nothing wrong with my to do list, per se, other than the fact that I keep putting things ON it! To wit, here I am 10 days before Christmas, weighing the implications of my new-found obsession with plarn ... the ultimate way to merge recycling and crochet!

You start with plastic bags, lots and lots of plastic bags. And through a nifty little process described HERE you can turn the bulk of the bag into a plastic yarn (hence "plarn"), and from there you're only limited by your imagination! My first goal is to make a mesh-style tote bag out of old plastic bags, and maybe just maybe actually have it finished in time for next summer's farmer's market.

Until then I'm going to keep using the Envirosax reusable bags that I already own and LOVE, and will faithfully mutilate any stray plastics that happen to wander into my house. It's fun shredding them at any rate, and yarn doesn't go bad. Plarn either, I'm guessing. :-)

Glue, by any other name, is just as sticky.

I can't take credit for this idea, but it's such a good one I wanted to share it! At a recent crafting event, the glue for the kid's project was set out in individual "servings" via bottle tops and Q-tips. The containers really set a cap (ha!) on the potential mess factor, since each child no longer had access to an entire bottle of glue. And the provided tool made it a lot easier for my 3-yr old to make precise applications. (No more giant glops that will never, ever dry no matter how long you wait!)

And maybe my favorite bit? This finally gives me a useful way to recycle all the milk gallon and other bottle tops that the recycling place won't take, even though they take the bottles. Hooray!