Recycled Garden Art

Source

How original and cheerful is this? It couldn't have been cuter, could it? It is made using recycled items and is a perfect garden art piece to enjoy, in my opinion.

If you visit the original source of the photo (http://twowomenandahoe.com/recycled-tires-in-the-garden/), you will also see that there are step-by-step instructions to making one of these.

Have a fun weekend!

Care Tips for when Heat Hits

As most of you have been experiencing or are aware, the heatwave has been affecting quite a few people in the Southern Hemisphere in general and in Australia in particular recently. It is not very easy to keep cool in this heat. I hope everyone is trying to look after themselves as well as others these days. Caring for others in this heat could be as easy as  knocking on the door of especially some elderly neighbours just to check up on them and also see if you could help them with anything to stay safe. 

However, we also need to keep in mind that us human beings are not the only living that feel the heat.  

Dark red dominates this image, indicating temperatures that were significantly higher than average between December 27 and January 3, especially in Queensland and New South Wales. (Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82790)  

According to this article here, the heatwave also had some deadly impact on the wildlife. For instance, 100,000 bats have died from the heat in Queensland.

Here are some suggestions that come to mind that I would like to share with you with the hope of making a small difference in the life of a living creature. My suggestions are mostly on keeping your pets and also small sized wildlife safe.

* Keep your pet hydrated. Make sure your pet has an access to some fresh water at all times. In our case, we have chickens and we leave them a few extra sources of water in their pen where they can freely access to in case one gets dirty or evaporates quickly and we don't realise it soon enough.

*Add some ice to their water source at times, if possible/applicable, as the water will warm up quickly in this heat.

*Depending on the type of your pet, you can wet them at times to cool them down.

*Try to offer some cool ground for them. It could be that you have a cool place you can keep them in, or you can put some wet sheets underneath them etc. We wet our chickens' pen as well as the ground under trees at times as they are the places they often stay at.

*Offer some green leafy vegetables if possible as they contain water and are often easily consumed by many types of animals.

*Leave some water outside for lost/homeless animals.

*Leave a shallow bucket with some sticks and/or rocks in it in your garden so that smaller animals such as ants can drink some water too without drowning as Wildlife Victoria has recommended.

Stay safe!

Guest Post: HEALTH BENEFITS OF GARLIC

When discussing the aromatic personality of garlic, the question remains, would you be willing to smell a little like this potent herb if you knew that it has gobs of health benefits?  Many would answer yes when they consider what this miracle food does.

Photo: Home of Homemade Treasures

For centuries, garlic has been prized around the globe for its distinct culinary taste and the wonderful flavor it adds to many sophisticated dishes.  Additionally, because of its sustainability, garlic has been shipped and traded across long distances.

Now scientists from several countries, including France, Italy and the U.S., are confirming the plethora of health benefits gained from garlic, specifically because this herb helps to facilitate detoxification and acts as a powerful antioxidant, stimulating immune responses and reducing inflammation.

Studies are finding that the components in garlic, called Allyl Sulfides and Bioflavonoids, may be key to lowering incidences of heart disease and cancer in those who consume large amounts of it.

Many of our modern-day cancers are thought to be caused by damage to DNA, often induced by environmental toxins. A study conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that eating a teaspoon of fresh garlic a day increases the levels of a key enzyme for removing toxins in the blood cells.

Clinical experiments have shown that regular consumption of garlic decreases calcium deposits and the size of arterial plaque in coronary arteries, prevented unhealthy blood clotting and improved the circulation of the subjects who were studied.   

What's the Magic Behind Garlic

Garlic produces a chemical called Allicin, which is what seems to make garlic work. Allicin also makes garlic smell. There is a lot of variation among garlic products sold for medicinal purposes. The amount of Allicin, the active ingredient and the source of garlic’s distinctive odor, depends on the method of preparation.  

Garlic also has germanium in it. Germanium is an anti-cancer agent, and garlic has more of it than any other herb. In lab tests, mice who were fed garlic showed no cancer development, whereas mice that weren't fed garlic showed at least some. In fact, garlic has been shown to retard tumor growth in human subjects in some parts of the world.

Taking Garlic for Health Reasons

Current research has shown that garlic not only has major impact on cancer prevention, but it also reduces the risk of other major maladies. Not surprisingly the presence of all these antioxidants in garlic have a very positive effect on the immune system in general and can therefore protect the body against all types of bacterial and viral attacks. Allicin has been shown to not only lower blood pressure, insulin and triglyceride levels in laboratory animals fed a sugar rich diet, but also to prevent weight gain.   

Garlic is an invaluable medicine for coughs, difficulty of breathing, asthma, hoarseness and other disorders of the lungs because this herb promotes expectoration.  The positive effect of garlic on your circulatory system is extremely well documented and it has been proven to decrease platelet aggregation,plus it stimulates the production of nitric oxide in the lining of blood vessel walls, a substance that helps them to relax. As a result, garlic helps to prevent arteriosclerosis and thereby reduces the risk of heart attack and strokes.  Finally, because garlic is famous for reducing inflammation, the herb is an excellent natural remedy for those suffering from arthritis.

Garlic is one of the most valuable and versatile foods on the planet. Known as one of the oldest medicinal plants, garlic is a widely recognized health enhancing supplement, and if you can stand the odor, is considered one of the best foods around to promote your well-being.

David Novak is a international syndicated newspaper columnist, appearing in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV around the world. His byline has appeared in GQ, National Geographic, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, USA Today, among others, and he has appeared on The Today Show, the CBS Morning Show and Paul Harvey Radio. David is a specialist at consumer technology, health and fitness, and he also owns a PR firm and a consulting company where he and his staff focus on these industries.  He is a regular contributing editor for Healthline.com.  For more information, visit here.   

VINEGAR AS A CARPET CLEANER

To clean some small and mild stains on your carpet, use half a cup of water and two table spoonsful of salt and clean the carpet with this mixture. Leave it to dry before vacuum cleaning the area.

LEMON AS A WHITENER

Lemons act as a natural garment whitener. You can use lemon in whitening coloured clothes as well as whites. Here are a few recipes for you. 

Photo source

Try boiling some water with a few slices of fresh lemon. Once it boils, turn the heat off and add your garments to be whitened (eg. socks, linen, table clothes etc) (The lemon mixture should be approximately 5 sliced lemons or 1 cup of lemon juice for 3.5-4litres (1 gallon) of water). Leave them to soak for up to an hour and then wash as usual. Drying your garments in sunlight also helps whitening.

Alternatively, you can rub some lemon into the stains directly before washing them. If you add some 
salt to it, it will perform as a scrub and may work better if the stain is tough (eg grass stains). 

VINEGAR FOR BAD ODOUR

To get rid off bad odour from rooms, fridges, cars, drawers etc, wet a slice of bread with vinegar and leave it there over night.

HOMEMADE WATER FILTER

The video above shows how to make a water filter at home. In my opinion, it doesn't seem to be much complicated and it would be good to know how to make your own water filter in case of an emergency.

CLEANING STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES

If you have stainless steel kitchen products such as pots, then put some white vinegar in a bottle with a sprayer head spray it to the surface you need to clean. Use a piece of clean cloth to wipe it with.

VINEGAR AS A RUST CLEANER

To clean rust on furniture and walls, use undiluted white vinegar.

RECYCLED CRAFTS: An Egg Carton Turned Into A Skateboard

                               

Here in Melbourne, we have been having lots of cold days and the flu bugs are having a very successful season. We have had our share as well and it all started with Mr. Junior being unwell the other week. On the positive side, this sickness gave us a lot of opportunities to stay mostly at home and do something together. 

As a family, we try our best not to waste anything or waste as little as possible as you would know from many of my previous posts. We love the idea of using the unwanted rather than wasting and here is another example of what recycled craft Mr. Junior did with my help using an egg palate. Just as a dip-note, we made a skateboard (Mr. Junior is very much into scooters and skateboards this year), a bookmark, a turtle (or does it look more like a snail?) and a finger puppet using the same palate. We still have so much more egg carton left for more for later!

This tutorial is visual and the step-by-step instructions hidden in pictures explain it all. I will only list the materials and then leave you with the pictures!

Materials used:

• an egg carton
• a pair of scissors
• glue
• sticky tape
• 4 bottle caps
• some tissues (to be stuffed in bottle caps)
• a disposable wooden chopstick (to be broken into two)
• a piece of decorating paper for decorative purposes(we used an old colouring book's cover page) (optional)

Do something fun today!

HOMEMADE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

What a great homemade playground equipment design idea! I so want this for my backyard!

UPCYCLED FRAME JEWELLERY HOLDER

      

Here is an idea to utilise your unwanted frame beautifully. The materials needed are a frame of your choice, some wood to fit in the frame, some spools, a power drill to put the spools in place, a piece of fabric to please your taste to cover the wood with, a stapler gun or a hot gun glue and some nails. 

This site here has all the instructions for this tutorial. 

Enjoy!

VINEGAR FOR SILVER

You can polish your silver with white vinegar. Make a mixture with half a cup of vinegar and two spoonfuls of sodium bicarbonate and leave your silver items in them for a few hours before you rinse them with water and polish them with some soft piece of cloth.

VINEGAR AS A SINK AND BATH TUB CLEANER

Mix half a cup of sodium bicarbonate with a glass of vinegar. Use it to clean your sink and bath tub. After that, pour some hot water on it and wait a few minutes before pouring some cold water on it.

TUTORIAL: Recycling Glass and Glass Cutting

This video shows how to cut a bottle using nail polish remover.

... and this video is a tutorial on how to make recycled glass cup at home.

TUTORIAL: (Recycled) Business Card Making

I copied these pictures from here. The idea and the result are great.

Here is what you need to do:

Using a used tissue paper box that has a nice pattern on the outer side and a plain inside, you can make your own business cards. All you need to do is to trace around a credit card (or a medicare card or any other card that has the desired dimensions and is not very fragile) and then cut them up to size. You can use a self stamping ink pad to stamp them with your business card details and all ready to go!

VINEGAR AS A WINDOW CLEANER

Add 2cups of vinegar into 1lt of warm water and use this mixture in window/glass cleaning.

RECYCLING AN OLD LADDER

A handmade bookshelf

This old ladder turned into a bookshelf that I have come across with online is a recycled design idea for you. You can sand it down and paint if you want to but the rustic look is a desired feature for many. It also forms a great contrast against the painted walls. You can preferably add more to it for example some picture frames or pictures hanging from it.

Enjoy something recycled today!

TUTORIAL: Homemade (Recycled) Paper

This video shows you how to recycle paper and make your own handmade paper at home easily. This is something that is good to know for everyone and is also a great activity to do with your children or students. It is educational, fun, not complicated, utilises recyclable items, and increases awareness. What else would you expect from a nice little project?

Note: There are paper making kits that can be purchased at some stores if you don't want to use the materials suggested in the video..

POMEGRANATE

Pomegranate is definitely one of my all-time favourites. I normally consume it as a fruit even though I can never say no to some freshly squeezed pomegranate juice either.

Pomegranate fruit has many tasty and beneficial seeds and each seed is surrounded by a sac of sweet-tart juice contained by a thin skin. There are layers of seeds which are separated by paper-thin membranes.

After opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the seed casings (arils) are separated from the peel and internal white pulp membranes.

I love the sweet and/or savory taste as well as the watery texture, and the delicious dark red colour of it. However, I am also aware of its health benefits which makes me even more interested in this particular fruit. Below is some useful information on pomegranate which is used as fruit, juice, in syrups, sauces, in medicine, ink making, dye making, vinegar and so on.

Health benefits of pomegranate:

Especially in India, the rind of the fruit and the bark of the pomegranate tree is used as a traditional remedy against diarrhea, dysentery and intestinal parasites.

The seeds and juice are considered to be a tonic for the heart and throat.

The flower juice, rind and tree bark are believed to be useful for purposes such as stopping nose bleeds and gum bleeds, toning skin, (after blending with mustard oil) firming-up sagging breasts and treating hemorrhoids.

Pomegranate juice (of specific fruit strains) is also used as eyedrops as it is believed to slow the development of cataracts.

Pomegranate has been used as a contraceptive and abortifacient by means of consuming the seeds, or rind, as well as by using the rind as a vaginal suppository.

Pomegranate aril juice provides about 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving.

It is a good source of vitamin B₅, potassium and natural phenols, such as ellagitannins and flavonoids.

Pomegranates are listed as high-fiber in some charts of nutritional value

 Its edible seeds supply unsaturated oils.

Pomegranate may be effective in reducing some heart disease risk factors.

Juice consumption may also inhibit viral infections.

Claimed to provide antioxidants.

Pomegranate extracts have antibacterial effects against dental plaque

The peel of pomegranate fruit may be used as tea to treat diarrhea.