Catching Rain

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     Once upon a time, I spent a fortune for a Shade Canopy so I could set up at fairs and arts & crafts events for my sewing and embroidery business. It was a good shade canopy and served me well. Then one weekend, I went out to an event in early March. It was cold and windy. The children and I sat in our truck, no customers had come for the hour that we were there. We were FROZEN and miserable but we stayed because the director of the event promised a big turn out as soon as the sun came out. (It was 8 a.m.) Final straw happened when a huge gust of wind flipped up my Shade Canopy, spun it around in the air, and slammed it on the truck next to me. It bent one of it's legs to the point that it could not be used anymore. Luckily, the vendors in the truck it landed on were very understanding and helped me wrangle it back together enough to pack and and transport home. We were defeated... 
     Since that day, I have tried to come up with ideas to use my 'slightly bent legged' canopy. It cost a small fortune and was in really good shape otherwise. Over the summer, we popped it up to shade our sugar snap peas from the harsh afternoon sun. It was a little off looking; it does not open fully because the bent portion is above the side post that pops it into place. It worked though. 
     This winter, the tarp that goes over the open end of the chicken coop kept lifting up and allowing wind into the chicken coop. They have a large nesting area that is completely enclosed, but, I still wanted to keep the cold wind out. One day, Zoey helped me lift the canopy up and over the coop. The legs of the canopy fit perfectly around the screened in coop, holding the tarp nice and snug. People that have come over have laughed at me, but I do not care cause that sucker WORKS! :D 
     A few weeks back, it rained. Suddenly the canopy's tarp was weighted down with all of the rain it had collected. It also became more comical looking. BUT, it also gave Zoey an idea! 

     She came running in one cold morning and said, "Mom, I need some empty gallons!" 
"Why?"
"I'm going to collect the rain!"
     I followed her outside with a few empty water jugs to see what her excitement was about. The top of the shade canopy had collected the rain from the night before and formed a large pouch. She had already pulled out a big chunk of ice that had formed on top of it. Then she explained she wanted to fill up our empty water jugs with the rain water so we could water our house plants with it. Zoey said, "It will save us money!" Smart kid. 
     Although the water was near freezing temps, she filled all 5 gallons up by hand. (You have to love her working attire of pajama bottoms and Croc shoes! It's a homeschool thing :D )

      She has suggested we put in a water catchment system. I would love to water our summer garden with the rain from winter and spring, but right now it is just not possible. Our house does not have gutters, and our only source of catching rain is my shade canopy. I am very happy to have finally found a good use for it!  Tonight it is raining. We have saved up TONS of empty gallon jugs to use. 

     So you have an easy and inexpensive water catchment system? We would love to see what others are doing! 

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online. 

Wrapping and Recycling

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Say What?   

     We are very much a recycling family.  Reducing our foot print on the Earth is important to us. According RecycleWorks.org  "From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons all add up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills..."  Whoa! Really? 

How does my family try to make a difference on a daily basis?  

      How we try to eliminate the waste products we use in our house is through recycling and upcycling. Zoey makes most of her doll house furniture from recycled food boxes and other 'trash can' items. We shop at local resale shops and garage sales for items we need before buying new. Our animals consume our kitchen food waste when possible and the rest is composted. The trash my family creates is either burnt and the ash used to improve the soil on our land, or what is non-burnable is sent to the scrap yard. What the scrap yard will not except (ours will not take tin cans from canned goods or glass) are the only items we actually send to the landfill. However, glass jars are recycled to hold our herbs and self dried foods, and fresh fruits and vegetables are used as much as possible in place of canned. Coffee cans are being reclaimed to help organize the garage. (I drink A LOT of coffee!) Really, only a 50 pound chicken feed bag, recycled into a trash bag, is sent to the dumpster maybe once or twice a month. 

But what about Christmas?

    One of our big ways of keeping all of the Christmas waste from piling up is to use granola bar, pop tart, cereal and other food boxes in place of buying holiday gift boxes. We also use inexpensive paper because it is thinner, therefore, it produces less waste. Presents bought for all the nieces and nephews are useful items, like jackets, pillows, or stuff that gets them out of the house and/or using their imagination skills, not just a bunch of expensive toys that end up lost or broke and in the trash. My crew is getting sports balls and personalized pillows to cuddle with this year. (SHHHHH... don't ruin the surprise!) But we can't pack them into a granola box! Shirts, CD's, and other small items can be though! Here! I'll show you! 

Wrapping a T-shirt in a recycled granola bar box

Step 1

Gather your box to recycle and the t-shirt in which you are wrapping. My daughter and her PaPa Clifton share a love for wolves, so she picked out this shirt for him. Made sure your wrapping paper, tape and scissors are handy. 

Step 2

Lay your shirt out flat. Remember to remove any stickers that may have the price tag on it. That is a very important step! My mother is notorious for leaving price tags on. My siblings and I joke that she does this on purpose, but I seriously doubt it. I have been known to leave tags on myself :) and I definitely do not do this on purpose. Then, flip your shirt over to begin your folds.

Step 3

Start your first fold on the right, by deciding where the imaginary line of 1/3 of the shirt is. Then fold the left side over. Use the box to check that your folds equal to the same size of the box or just a little less. If the folded shirt width is too wide, then refold your shirt bringing the side over farther. If it is too narrow, fold the side of the shirt less. It might take you more than one try. 

Step 4

Now this step can get a bit tricky. Usually, I then fold the shirt in half from top to bottom, and then again in a 3 fold. Sometimes, it does not work out perfectly. If this happens to you, don't worry, just adjust your folds. It just so happens that my half fold and then 3 fold technique worked perfectly. Play with your folds until you get it right. The object is to have your shirt flat enough to easily slide into your box. Don't worry if it takes you several tries.  

Step 5

Slide that shirt right on in! 

View from the top. 

 Then secure the top of the box with a piece of tape. 

 Tad-ah! 

 Step 6

Now let's wrap it up! You will have to excuse my wrapping queen's wet head, it is another way we help to reduce our footprint on the Earth! 

 

Secure it with a piece of yarn. So Pretty! 

Now don't you feel good about giving a perfectly wrapped gift that also helps the environment? Got a pair of jeans that needs a box? Try a cereal box! 

Want to see other ways we have used recycled items? 
Check out our posts: 

Recycle, Re-use, Re-purpose! Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk! 

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I may receive a small compensation if you chose to buy from my link. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online. 

Tuna Can Burner

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PROBLEM: The power is knocked out from a bad ice storm! What do you do? How will you cook hot meals for your cold family? 
SOLUTION: Tuna Can Burner! 

I saw this on a homestead/prepper type page, thought it would be a good idea to try. 

We used old candle wax, cardboard from a 24pk of Pepsi,  and a tuna can the hubby ate for lunch!  

  We turned a pan of water on low to melt the candle wax.

After cutting a 1 in strip off of a pepsi can she rolled it into coil.

We decided it was not enough and added another strip around the first coil.

She then poured the hot candle wax around the coils.

Setting up to make chili! We used 2 rocks to hold the pan high enough above the flame.

She lit the burner,

and put the pan on the rocks.

After about 3 minutes the chili was hot and ready!

Declared 'BEST CHILI EVER!'

NOTE TO FUTURE TUNA CAN MAKERS! This burner is amazing! It cooked quickly and once blown out and cooled, there was barely any used. So it is also makes it cost effective. Especially when all the materials used are recycled and re-purposed! HOWEVER, I do not feel this should be used inside your home. It gives off a lot of black smoke. Use a pan you will not get upset about getting a lot of soot on the bottom of as well. 

     Now I am sure I will have to put in a disclaimer here. I do not allow my child to play with fire. I do feel it necessary for her to learn to use it properly though. When she is pouring the melted wax into the tuna can, I pretested the hotness of the jar and found it to be very cool. I allowed her to pour it with out the use of a glove, because, it was easier to see what she was doing. 

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online.