Condo Blues: saving money
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts

Thursday, May 21, 2015

How to Make Clever Bottle Cap Placemats

I have a large bottle cap collection and it’s all my Husband’s fault. Shortly after we bought our condo and were enjoying our traditional TGIF bottle of craft beer he put the empty bottle into the recycling, looked at the cap and said, “It’s a shame we have to toss the cap. Can you make something cool out of bottle caps?”

10 years of saving bottle tops later, I have hundreds of metal bottle caps to recycle into arts and crafts.

I need new placemats and I like polka dots and penny tile. Do you know what looks like cheery polka dots and penny tile? Bottle caps!


make recycled bottlecap placemat craft
Pin this post to find my bottle cap tutorial after you collect all of the bottle tops you will need for this project!

Let’s Make Painted Bottle Cap Tile Placemats!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Recycled Kitchen Cabinet and Wood Pallet Workbench

I needed a workbench in the garage. I also wanted one place to store all of my tools in my workshop. I’m low to the ground at 4’11”. It makes more sense to store my tools in my workbench than above the workbench on shelves or peg board.  

Originally my plan was to buy matching bathroom cabinets at the Habitat Restore since bathroom base cabinets aren’t as tall as kitchen cabinets.  I would finally have a work surface that is at the correct height for my size!

kitchen cabinet wood pallet workbench

Pin this idea for later!

Father in law said there were  two mismatched kitchen base cabinets that have been forgotten in his garage for years and offered them to me.

Change of plans. Free is good.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

How to Make Reusable Rosacea Makeup Remover Wipes

April is Rosacea Awareness Month. Although for me the horrible scars on my forehead that I shamefully hide with my bangs reminds me that every day is Rosacea Awareness Month.

You can’t cure rosacea (bummer) but you can control it and minimize breakouts and flares. The problem is that everyone who has rosacea may have different things that trigger it and it may not respond to the exact same treatment for every person who has it (another bummer.)

In my personal experience, the only way I got my disfiguring rosacea under control was with a specialist dermatologist after years of trying every home acne treatment I could find. Once my doctor got my skin cleared up with medication, we moved on to ways I can reduce my rosacea flares without meds.




make rosasea makeup remover pads



Before we go any further, let me remind you that I’m not a doctor. I strongly suggest that you see a dermatologist if you have acne that never goes away or you suspect your constant red face is rosacea.

The National Rosacea Society has some good information and resources if you need them.  This isn't an ad. I find them helpful if I have a question in between doctor's appointments.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

How to Make Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

I use disposable face wipes when I travel for the convenience but once I’m out I forget to buy more until the next time I go on a trip. Besides, I try to limit the amount of one time use disposables I use on a regular basis and let’s face it, wash cloths are reusable and face wipes are not.

Too bad I have a bad habit of by passing the wash cloths at night and not washing the makeup off my face before I go to bed. Why? Laziness I guess. 

make reusable makeup remover rounds

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Fortunately, I found some leftover terry cloth fabric during one of my Spring decluttering and cleaning binges. I turned that into a reusable and green answer for my lazy face washing problem – reusable terry cloth makeup remove pads.

 

How to Sew Terry Cloth Makeup Remover Pads

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

How to Organize Your Closet and Clothes in Three Easy Questions

I am convinced bedroom closet organizers are made for tall people. If you are short forget it. You are doomed to live in messy and unorganized squalor.

how to organize a closet in three easy questions


Or at least it feels that way to this short person.

I loved our Elfa closet system when we first installed it. Husband and I can share a closet and not fight over space. It the custom design works but we later learned it sorta doesn’t. 

Monday, March 30, 2015

How to Clean and Disinfect a Yoga Mat Naturally

My husband and I recently joined the YMCA so I can take their fitness classes to rebuild my balance and muscles for my adult beginner ballet class.

Given my recent history of buying a new stuff for working out and eventually quitting, I’m making do with what I have until I get past my ”what have I gotten myself into? I don’t think I like this” hump. In the meantime, I’m borrowing the yoga mat Husband has to do floor exercises at home. Sharing is working well since we use it at different times. It doesn’t hurt that we aren’t cluttering our space with extra stuff either.

Although there is one teeny, tiny problem with two people sharing the same exercise mat. IT REEKS OF TWO PEOPLE WORKING OUT AND SHARING A YOGA MAT.

I became aware of our problem during my second Face Plant Piyo class.

can I wash a yoga mat
 Pin this post to Pinterest for later! Share this tutorial with your friends!



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

6 Green and Frugal Things for March (and a Few That Aren’t!)

 Sometimes I post a list of little frugal things we do each month on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef and thought I’d do it today on Condo Blues. Some of these things are big, most are small. You don’t have to look to closely to see that most of them are green too!

real life green and frugal things that save money


1. Turned off the heat Saturday when it reached 60 degrees ( F) outside. Husband and I did a little dance thinking we were good to go until Fall.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

8 DIY Fire Starters

Last summer during a impromptu gathering, my friend  Tim and his neighbor Marc when out side to start a fire in the backyard fire pit.

eight recycled homemade fire starters


From the kitchen, we hear unintelligible squabbling followed by:

Tim (raised voice): No, you are doing it wrong!

Marc (bellowing): Well then put on some more!



FOOM!



A HUGE fireball erupts over the fire pit!

The rest of us tumble out of the house and into the the backyard. Fortunately our friends weren’t charred crispy critters. Oh no. Instead  Tim and Marc were a safe distance away and laughing like two naughty kids playing with too much lighter fluid.

Husband turns to me and says, “THAT is why you will never have a fire ring.”

Au contraire my dear Husband, there are ways to start a fire without lighter fluid. You can start a campfire with homemade fire starters!

How to Make Fire-Starters


Friday, March 13, 2015

Make Candle Wax Warmer Melts, Tarts, and Cubes: The Complete DIY Guide!

I got a candle warmer for Christmas and fell in love with it. I use it every night after dinner to clear cooking smells from the kitchen. 

The candle warmer it is more convenient than candles because it is flameless. Unfortunately I don’t quite know  if wax cubes I melt are phthalate-free and paraffin-free. Two things I try to avoid.

everything you need to know to make wax warmer melts

Pin this tutorial for later!


Being a candle maker, it didn’t take me long to clue in that the only difference between a candle and a wax melt is the container and a wick. Since I make non-toxic candles, I knew I could make non-toxic wax cubes too. Here’s how.


How to Make Non-Toxic Scented Wax Melt Cubes

Sunday, February 1, 2015

6 Smart Strategies to Organize a Garage and Workshop

Our garage and workshop was an unorganized mess!  I put the organize the garage project off for long time because I was overwhelmed by the clutter. Where do I start? Ack!

six steps to an organized garage

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By accident or design (I’m going to go with by design because it sounds like I had a plan all along instead of a make it up as I go along series of happy accidents) I broke my big garage organization project into several smaller, less overwhelming projects.

Guess what? Three days later (I had a lot of stuff to deal with) I had an organized workshop I can use without tripping over anything. I discovered some things I thought were working weren’t and why. I made changes according my needs and organization style. My garage is now neat and stays that way.

Yay!

This method worked so well on helping my clear my garage clutter madness that I’m using it to organize other parts of my house. You can too!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

20 Warm Winter DIY Clothes We Love

Trying to buy warm winter clothing and accessories after Christmas is difficult because all of the stores are selling bathing suits!

Which is great if you live somewhere warm enough to wear a bathing suit during the winter.
For the rest of us, if we want warm winter clothes it’s recycling and DIY or die freezing time!

20 winter DIY recycled clothes projects
 Save these ideas to your Pinterest boards for later! Share them with your friends!

20 DIY Must Haves to Keep You Warm This Winter

Sunday, January 11, 2015

17 Resources that will Motivate You to Declutter and Organize


17 easy way to motivate yourself to organize and declutter
 Pin this list of ideas to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!


Winter is a great time to get organized. Since most of us are stuck inside because of the snow and the cold and a little restless, why not use that energy to clean and organize the post Christmas carnage in my craft room, right?

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Small Space Industrial Open Pantry Yay or Nay?

A worn valve on our water heater flooded the utility, laundry, and kitchen after Husband started the dishwasher on Christmas Eve Eve morning.

Husband shut the water heater off while I called plumbers. Apparently plumbers are crazy busy with smart people who have plumbers do pre-emptive work on their pipes before overloading their plumbing with guests, cooking, and cold weather. It was a Festivus miracle I found a plumber during regular business hours that day!

That didn’t make my cranky feeling go way as I mopped the rest of the water, hoped we didn’t need to buy a replacement water heater (fortunately we just needed to replace a valve – whew!), and pulled a mountain of chaos out of the utility room so the plumber could find the water heater had room to work.

how to find organize pantry space in a condo kitchen


Monday, December 29, 2014

My 10 Best DIY Projects of 2014

Wow, 2014 was a great year for Condo Blues! I made a lot of changes behind the scenes to bring you the best projects and content possible. My hard work paid off because more of you have stopped by to my virtual home to say hello.

top 10 DIY projects of 2014

 
Let’s look at the 10 most popular posts on Condo Blues in 2014!

Monday, December 22, 2014

42 Homemade Christmas Gift Tags

I like wrapping a pretty gifts for Christmas. I keep a box of gift boxes and bags I reuse every year and another box of wrapping paper and things like silk flowers, fabric ribbon, and bows I recycle into clever gift toppers for the Christmas gifts I need to ship.

  42 handmade printable gift tags r


For the gifts I deliver in person, I made gift wrapping easier on myself by using the reusable cloth gift bags I sewed from my historical costuming scrap stash. I still get the pretty and fancy look I like but with a time and sanity saving green twist because I reuse my homemade gift bags year after year.


I sewed my cloth gift bags as a post- Christmas cabin fever project and used them the following year. Read my homemade cloth gift bag tutorial here.

With all of the attention I pay to buying meaningful gifts and their fancy wrappings, I’m ashamed to say I have long history of phoning it in when it comes to Christmas gift tags.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Christmas Kid Craft: Waterless Mason Jar Snow Globes

Last Christmas my nephews Mr. 5 of 10 and Mr. 9 of 10 surprised Husband and I with a homemade Christmas gift. My sister-in-law said that they wanted to make a Christmas gift for me because I often make gifts for them. Yay!

My sister-in-law tried to hedge things a bit by saying, “it might not be very good…” as I unwrapped our gift but I cut her off with a happy squeal. “Look the boys made us a mason jar snow globe! I love it!”

Because I do. 

diy waterless Christmas snow globe


With a little adult help, your kids can make waterless mason jar snow globes too. They make fabulous gifts and even better Christmas decorations!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Captain America On Your Left T Shirt

Not a week goes by after Husband comes home from a training run that he has a story about how someone refuses to follow the rules of our running/biking/walking/rollerblading trails and almost causes an accident.  Apparently folks like to use the center of the trail instead of keeping to the right hand side. Verbally signaling when they are about to pass someone, which should be on the left, doesn't always happen either.

The first time we watched Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (we see every Marvel movie at least three times in the theater) Husband leaned over and excitedly whispered in my ear, “See! See! Captain America has good running etiquette!” during the scene where Steve Rodgers is out for a  jog and calls out, “on your left” every time he passes a fellow runner.


Captain America On Your Left Freezer Stencil Shirt


I knew right then and there I needed to give Husband a Captain America On Your Left t shirt as a gift. I couldn't find one in a store so I made one! You can too. Here’s how.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Behind the Scenes of My Good Day Columbus TV Cooking Segment


Last Sunday, Good Day Columbus asked me to do a Lazy Budget Chef five minute crock pot cooking segment on their TV show.  I thought I’d give you a peek on some of the things that happen and what you should be aware of when you present a tutorial or recipe on TV.

When I worked in TV, I was on the other side of the camera. This felt weird.
All photos in this post are courtesy of my food blog Lazy Budget Chef.

First, before I commented to anything, I ask the producer a bunch of questions. They wanted me to teach the show anchors how to cook a comfort food slow cooker meal viewers can make later in the week during the upcoming Arctic cold front.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

How to Make Bottle Cap Pattern Weights

I use some of the same sewing patterns more than once and if I use straight pins to pin the pattern to the fabric before cutting it out - holy pattern pin holes Batman! My patterns get pin holed to shreds.

how to make magnetic bottle cap pattern weights


Pattern weights keep sewing patterns from slipping and shifting on the fabric when you cut it out. They don't leave holes or marks in your fabric either. I have a lot of Christmas sewing coming up. I figure it was about time I used pattern weights instead of straight pins.
handmade gift idea
I tried using metal bottle caps as pattern weights. I wanted my weights to be be heavier.  I could have filled the bottle caps with plaster of Paris to add weight but I didn’t want to deal with the mess. 

Friday, October 31, 2014

Santa $1,000 Paypal Cash Giveaway! Closed

One of the things I cherish most is that just like my IRL condo, my virtual condo is full of diversity. You, yes you, the one reading this right now, makes making Condo Blues not just a blog, but a community.

I'm always looking for giveaway opportunities to thank you for being part of the Condo Blues community. A bunch of my blogger friends want to find a way to reward their readers in the same way.

We got together and thought what would people like? The December holidays are coming up. Everyone has a different opinion on what is and is not the perfect gift. Many of you don't celebrate the same holidays  or live in the same country as I do.   We thought....

What would you do with an extra $500 to spend this holiday season?

Santa $1,000* Paypal Cash Giveaway!


I know Santa implies Christmas but that's the majority of us celebrate in December. Please don't let this stop you from entering the giveaway. It is open to world wide entries!