AMANDA'S BASKETS: RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE DOWN MEMORY LANE!!!

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE DOWN MEMORY LANE!!!

Well, it rained again today...seems like 'GroundHog Day' all over again!!! Tomorrow and the next two days are supposed to be bright and sunny and then thunderstorms for four days...just in time for Memorial Day Weekend!!!

So, yesterday I updated the Project 365 Something Challenge. Here's last week's tag challenge...

I tried some collage for that week...mostly torn from five pages of a single magazine. I like to challenge myself to use a limited amount of recycled resources. Guess that's a way of testing myself to see what I can come up with!

I should be good at that because for most of the time when the kids were growing up, I followed the reuse, renew or recycle theme not because it was popular but out of necessity. We simply had no extra money but with four kids, I was bound and determined to make sure they had the best life we could give them.

The bonus was that we did have a lot of fun. Oh, we didn't go to Disneyland or DisneyWorld...the kids were grown when I and my husband experienced it for the first time. And we were like kids, living a dream come true.

But we always found things to do, pets to adore, games to play, crafts to make, walks to take, picnics to enjoy, movies to watch (at home), music and, of course, fishing. Oh, that was definitely my thing, not my husbands.

So I find that recycling is right up my alley. I like to make containers out of tin cans. Doll houses out of cardboard boxes. Fabric pictures out of old clothing and fabric scraps.

We always had a garden...well, when the kids were young. My folks and their folks always had a garden too. I think that's why I want to move out of the apartment and into a home with a little land that I can raise a small garden on.

Home grown is always better than the stuff you get from the grocery store, unless they carry local. And even then, the produce is not usually from real heirloom seeds with fruit that looks...well, in some cases pretty disgusting...but the taste. Oh, you can't compare the taste especially with fish gene crossed tomatoes that grocery stores stock.

Wow, what a trip down memory lane. Well, I have today things to do right now so I will close...

Thanks for dropping by on this journey down memory lane...
Talk with you tomorrow...
Keep dry...unless you need the rain...I'll try and send some...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?