Christmas will be here before you know it. If you are looking for a special DIY Christmas gift for a gardener, these giant jingle bells will ring in the festive season in a natural way. They are easy to make and are a great gift idea for anyone who loves to potter in the garden….
This fall table DIY project was a special treat for me to do. It features a very special plate that was given to me last Christmas by my daughter, Jess. I love to reuse items to make them into new projects. It makes me feel thrifty and pleases me to get more than one use…
This candy corn glass decoration is easy to do and looks great on any table. This is the time of the year when my candy dishes are full of candy corn. Nothing seems to say fall like a dish full of the sweet orange, yellow and white treats. I decided to use the leftover Halloween…
This collection of cheat sheets give you a handy way to find the info you want quickly. Sometimes, I just wish there was an easy way to have all the great information that you find online handy in one place, don’t you? Cheat sheets are the way to go. These helpful graphics and charts make…
I have a good sized yard now so I can pretty much do what I want with my garden beds. But there have been times in the past when I had just a strip of space between me and my neighbor, or a tiny back yard that could only hold a few chairs and couple…
There is nothing like the look of freshly washed windows, especially when there are no smudges on them. The light just seems to shine in more brightly when the windows are really clean. Many homemade products do just as good a job as those the retail products that you buy in stores. Things like disinfectant…
What else can I do with My Potato Masher? We all know that making mashed potatoes needs the use of a common kitchen item – the Potato masher. (affiliate link) The term “potato masher” seems to imply that this kitchen tool has only one function. In fact, a potato masher can be used for a…
These reader tested cooking tips and households hints will make sure that your time spent in the kitchen is fun and productive. I recently asked my readers on my Facebook Gardening Cook page to give me some frugal cooking tips. They did not disappoint. These are some of the ideas they came up with! Reader…
If you have never discovered Hometalk, you should check it out. Hometalk is the largest home and garden info hub on the web. The Hometalk team recently contacted me and asked me to curate a board for “Inventive Uses for Rubber Bands.” I was delighted to accept. Here are just a few of the…
These creative hummingbird feeders will attract the delicate birds to your garden with their colorful red designs. I am always fascinated when I see hummingbirds flitting around my garden. They are so delicate and seem to defy all rules of aeronautics as they hover over flowers gathering nectar. Hummingbird Feeders for any garden setting You…
Anyone can dunk strawberries and other fruit into melted chocolate. It is easy and fast to do and makes a great looking party appetizer. But perfectly drizzled chocolate looks so much more professional. These cooking tips will make sure that your drizzled chocolate will rival those on any dessert tray. Growing strawberries is much easier than…
Grating Soft Cheese is easy if you follow this tip Have you ever tried to grate Mozzarella or other soft cheeses and found it difficult to do? I have and the cheese seems to sort of “wobble” and this makes it hard to grate it. Well this does not have to be a problem at…
These backyard retreat ideas are perfect for a lazy day. From a simple stone chair to a lavishly planted shady nook, these are all my idea of a great backyard retreat. We spend a lot of time in our backyards. They are a place for relaxation and getting a recharge from the day. Why not…
This easy diced garlic is a great cooking tip that will help with that task. It can take quite a bit of time, too, when you need to mince a lot of garlic at once. Garlic…ahhhh, who doesn’t love its flavor. If a recipe call for some of it, I usually double it. But the cloves…
If you grow vegetables in your garden, it’s probably second nature to give them a wash when you bring them inside. After all, they are growing in the dirt and those that grow on vines often have dust and other particles on them. But what about the fruit and veggies that you purchase in a…
Hydrogen peroxide is one of those things which people have in their bathroom, that they use primarily for healing wounds and cuts. It is a shame to save this handy bottle for just medical uses, when there are so many more uses for it around the home. And it is so inexpensive too! Hydrogen peroxide…
Did you know that growing pineapples from a discarded top is quite easy to do? I love pineapples. They are so sweet and the fruit makes great salsas and is perfect in cocktails and drinks. It’s wonderful grilled with a barbecue too. And one of the beauties of this project is that, if you don’t…
We spend so much time in the kitchen and not all of it is fun. And yet there are so many things that will make what might be heavy duty chores into something much easier. I thought it might be useful to share some of my favorite tips for making life in the kitchen easier. …
When my daughter was young she had a swing set, sand box and playhouse on the left side of my garden. She loved playing there, and we chose this area of the garden so that I could see her playing from my kitchen window. All that is left of the set up is the playhouse,…
These are some more of my favorite Fourth of July recipes. They are sure to add a patriotic flair to any gathering with friends. July is a month for foodies. Lots of national days are devoted to celebrating the 4th of July with food. From delicious cakes to decadent cocktails, these recipes all use the…
One of my favorite things to do on Sunday morning is to meet friends for breakfast or brunch and catch up on the week. Normally, we go out to a variety of restaurants and alternate each week between them. This week, I wanted to have our friends over to our house for breakfast. I’ve been…
This project for making watermelon play dough is super easy to do. The project takes less than ten minutes to make and the end result smells great. Watermelon season is here and both adults and many kids love to grow them. (and eat them too!) Today we’ll be making red, green, white and black play…
I was born in Maine, and one of my fondest memories is the collection of fiddlehead ferns each spring. Even though I have moved away, each year my family boxes up a whole bushel of them and sends them to me by priority mail here in NC. It’s always a special day when that box…
The Garden Charmers is a great group of ladies who garden, decorate and cook with a passion. They all have a love for our environment, so Earth Day is special to them. In the Northern Hemisphere, Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 and the day always helps us to focus on environmental awareness. If…
Looking for a pretty way to dress up the pots that you use for growing herbs, and label them at the same time? These cute herb planter labels can be just printed off and then added to your pots in no time at all. Herb Identification seems at though it would be easy but you…
The weather is warming up here in NC and it makes me think of things to do outside. Gardening is my first choice, of course, but I also love hosting gatherings and coming up with outdoor games for them. I grew up in a family of six children and we were always playing games. When…