Cheap fun on a hot day

What to do when the weather gets hot? Ok, so it wasn't that hot; 27 c, which compared to what my sis had in Perth the other day is not hot at all. But little boys running round get hot pretty quickly and what better way to cool off than with two mini spray bottles...







You can usually pick these bottles up at the $2 store or somewhere similar, I bought these from the local garden centre.

Woohoo for summer on it's way!

Have you heard of Etsy.com?

Many people I know have come across Etsy, yet I still bump into the odd person who's never heard of it.
And given that I'm not a huge social bunny, the people I DON'T bump into FAAAAAAR outweigh those I do. So there's a good chance there are others out there that have not stumbled across this marvelous mecca of unique handmade and vintage items.

Etsy.com is an online community/marketplace with buyers and sellers from all over the world. There are many gorgeous and useful items for sale there and you can even search for sellers that are local to you.

A lovely way to do some Christmas shopping, stay away from cheap plastic toys, and, have it delivered!
(my favourite way of shopping...)

Just try and stay within your budget...!

A great use for plastic punnets

Do you ever buy cherry tomatoes or strawberries, or just about any other berry that comes in a smallish plastic punnet?

The punnets I get are clear plastic, with a deep lid that closes over the top and holes in the top and bottom.

Absolutely perfect, as my elder sister told me (see comments on the last post!) to use as seed raising containers. They are a mini greenhouse all by themselves, with pre-made drainage holes.

Brilliant!

My baby tomatoes are getting there....

Just.



I plan this year to try and preserve my own tomatoes in an effort to get away from the canned variety, which by all accounts have BPA leaching into them from the can linings. At least, I cannot find any source that says cans sold in Australia do not have BPA in them, so I feel fairly safe assuming they do.

According to Food Standards Aus, BPA is not a great concern, at least not in the supposed levels where it is most often found, but the fact that other countries are making moves to ban it is enough to make me wonder.

And, home grown tomatoes taste sooo great!

Tomatoes are very easy to grow, and can be done so in containers with great success.
Get some seedlings in now, either some you've grown from seed or baby plants that are often available at markets and farmers markets. Baby them through the (hopefully) last of the cold weather if you're in Victoria, keep them watered by doing so in the morning to avoid fungus and with any luck you'll have a beautiful crop.

I've not yet done any preserving though, so that will be another adventure...

Check supermarket specials ahead of time

Ok, I happened to duck in to Safeway this arvo, only to discover they are trying (and succeeding) to beat the competition by having tim tams at $1.85 per packet. Also other packs of Arnotts choccy bikkies such as mint slice (my secret fave, shhh don't tell) are $1.85 as well.

A few other decent specials are going there, and some buy-two-for deals as well.

If you want to check out specials in Safeway/Woolworths for your area, you can see their catalogue online here.

To check out Coles catalogue online, go here.

$2 Tim tams - again!

$2 tim tams at Coles this week

Now, if I had any kind of self control when it comes to sweet stuff, I'd buy a swag of these and stash them in the freezer. But I don't. I may fool myself into thinking I do sometimes, but really, I don't. That once again became really obvious when I realised I had to make more caramel for topping my cupcakes, when what was leftover after making the cupcakes should have plenty. But it wasn't. Because in the end, there wasn't ANY leftover.

What to do with tim tams? Apart from eat them of course...

Tim tam cupcakes

Tim tam truffles - these would make a very cute gift

Tim tam thickshake - calories in a glass, anyone?

This version of a tim tam cheesecake

Or you could just do the tim tam slam



IF I had self control, I would buy these with the idea of making tim tam truffles closer to Christmas.
A cute, inexpensive, handmade gift idea.....the best sort.

Hmmm, maybe I'll have to put my self control to the test again....

Cheap and effective waterproof sheet protector

When my four year old first went into his big boy bed, along with some new sheets, I also purchased a waterproof mattress protector.

After the mattress protector had been laundered a few times due to some not-so-dry nights, the soft plastic backing developed a hole. I only noticed this after some investigation, when a wet spot appeared on the mattress.

$40 down the drain.

Now what I have discovered since I started cloth nappies/diapers, is that a length of PUL (PolyUrethane Laminate) makes a fabulous mattress or sheet protector.

PUL is the waterproof fabric that makes modern cloth nappies so wonderful, and it is available from most websites that sell nappy making fabric and equipment.

It's typically available in metre long lengths and is 150cm wide. So one metre is perfect for a regular single bed, I lay it on the mattress and it covers from just under the pillow, to both sides of the mattress and way past where my 4 year old's feet go.
You could even sew elastic tabs on the corners, but I find it stays in place without these.

It can even be placed over the bottom sheet, turned the other way and tucked in on both sides. It's soft to sleep on, breathable, thin and comfy.

And I just found that SnapsAustralia.com.au are having a sale and you can buy 2 metres of pul for $17.60.

That's 2 waterproof sheets for less than half the price of the one I bought at Spotlight that no longer works.

Here's some PUL in action.....

and the other great thing about PUL is you can now have waterproof sheets and protectors in a range of funky colours. Too cool!