Helpful Handy Tips

I have a hard time throwing stuff away. That's probably why I like scrap craft ideas so much. To give me excuses to buy more junk at thrift stores and hold on to more crap than I really don't need I have compiled a list to repurpose and reuse stuff. Here are some hints revolving around children that I came across:

*Use a softly lit fish tank as a night light in a child's room.

*Make a Hawaiian 'grass' skirt from cutting narrow strips up the side of a large, green plastic lawn bag. Tape to fit.

*Add food coloring to milk or pancake batter to mark special days-red for valentines day and green for St. Patrick day for example.

*Turn an old necktie into a snake toy or sea serpent by making a face on the large end and stuffing it with soft odds and ends. Sew shut.

*Make an embroidery kit for a child by drawing a simple design on a foam or paper plate. Punch holes and let the child sew with yarn along the line with a blunt needle. Keep all the supplies together in a large ziplock.

*Protect your Christmas tree from a toddlers inquisitive hands by setting the tree inside an unused playpen.

*Use several layers of transparent tape to make fake finger nails for Halloween.

*Use toothpicks to construct foods such as marshmallows, cheese cubes or grapes into silly creatures for fun.

I am definitely contemplating doing the Christmas tree in the playpen thing. I was thinking about hanging some child safe ornaments around the outer parts of the pen for my son to pull off and play with. Another tip was to use those lemon and lime juice containers that are shaped like the fruit for Christmas ornaments. My idea would be to make the Christmas tree themed after baby stuff since it's in a playpen. The whole thing sounds so white trash though so I will have to see how desperate I get. Maybe I could just hang the tree from the ceiling upside down and call it done.

These hints where adapted from "Don't throw that Out!" a penny-wise parent's guide to creative uses for over 200 household items by Vicki Lansky.