Thrifty and Vintage Finds

I have seen quite a few blogs posting about thrifty and vintage finds and reading more and seeing Dagmar's blog, I wanted to share what I found in my today's search.

I saw this and I wanted to buy it right away. It reminds me of old-fashioned bath tubs and also gravy bowls. 

I needed something for our dried fruits and now it is sitting on our dinning room table holding the dried fruits and nuts and hubby seemed please as he was snacking through the evening.

Homemade Air Freshener

Homemade Air Freshener

I have been thinking for quite awhile about making some air freshener, but I did not get around to make any. It is very handy for a family with small children, specially if you are still potty training a couple of the babies.

So today needing a gift for a birthday, I got the courage to make a batch. So far, I have to admit it smells and looks good.

Materials needed:

Small jars (I have plenty of babyfood bottles, so I used those. A good way to recycle ;) )

Wooden spatula (I used waxing sticks)

Measuring spoon 

Ingredients:

Unflavored Gelatin (I use Knox gelatin)

Food coloring

Water

Essential oil (I used lavender )

Preparation:

I put my bottles out and open the tops (don't through the caps away, you will need those). I opened my gelatin packages and emptied one in each bottle. 

Then poured 60ml of boiled water (had just boiled in teakettle) in each bottle and quickly stirred the gelatin in the boiled water (if you can get all the gelatin mixed, it would be good. I got some lumps in the water, I could not melt all the gelatin in the water. I think next time I might use a small whisk or fork for mixing). 

I put three drops of food coloring in each bottle and stirred. And added 60ml of cold water in each bottle and stirred some more with spatula. 

As you can see from the picture, there are some lumps in the liquid. 

Since the mix is not too hot and not hard, it is the best time to add the essential oil. I added 10 drops of lavender in each bottle. Then I placed my bottles on a tray and put them in the fridge as I needed them to cool off and get jellied sooner (the upcoming party in about 2 hours).  You can just let them sit over night and it would be jellied in the morning and ready to use.

Now you can see, the mix is jellied and staying in its place, put the cap back and package it however your want it. I just wrapped a strip of gift wrap around the bottle to make it more presentable. 

When you want to use it, you can just make holes on the cap for the scent to spread around your bathroom etc or you can just take the cap off.

Recycle the Hazardous Material

 One of the ways we can reduce waste and live greener life is through recycling. We recycle plastic, metal and glass; however, many materials around us can be recycled and should be recycled. Among these materials, hazardous materials come on the top of the list.

Hazardous material pollute the water, air and the land, therefore, we should make it our priority to recycle them first and foremost. While looking through some pages related to early childhood, I ran into list of materials listed as hazardous and interesting enough, many of them were news to me too. Here is the list:

Combustible Items

• Alcohols
• Antifreeze Compounds
• Camphor Oil
• Disinfectants
• Type Cleaners (fluids containing combustible materials, i.e. spot clothing cleaners, office machine liquid cleaners, etc.)

Corrosive Liquids

• Acids, photographic, used in film developing
• Etching Acid
• Iron/Steel Rust Preventing Compounds
• Muriatic Acid
• Nitric Acid
• Sulfuric Acid

Explosives

• Black Powder
• Cigarette Loads
• Dynamite, Plastic or any other similar explosive
• Explosive Auto Alarms
• Explosive Flash Bulbs
• Fireworks
• Small Arms Ammunition
• Primers
• Smokeless Powder
• Souvenir Explosive Instruments of War
• Spear Guns Having a Charged Head
• Toy Propellant or Smoke Devices
• Trick Matches
• Trick Noise Makers

Flammable

• Adhesives (glues, cements, plastic)
• Ammonia
• Charcoal Briquettes
• Cleaning Fluids
• Compound 3 Weed Killers
• Denatured Alcohol
• Enamel
• Gasoline
• Hand Signal Flares
• Kerosene
• Lacquer
• Leather Dressing or Bleach
• Lighter Fluids (pocket, charcoal, camp, stove, lamp, or torch)
• Liquors
• Matches
• Oil Stains for Wood
• Paint, Flammable
• Paint/Varnish Remover
• Petroleum Products (kerosene, gasoline, oil)
• Photographic Flash Bulbs/Lamps
• Polishes, Liquid (metal, stove, furniture, wood)
• Propane Tanks (nonpurged)
• Propane or Other gas Used for Cooking or Heating Purposes
• Shellac
• Shoe Polish (liquid)
• Solvents, Plastic
• Stains
• Turpentine
• Varnish
• Windshield Solvent
• Wines
• Wood Filler

Cases, Compressed

• Engine, Starting Fluids
• Fire Extinguishers
• Cases Used in Welding
• Scuba Diving Tanks
• Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Decorative Lamps

The list was taken from this site