Home & Garden

I just read this great idea on my money saving ezine:  Pet Sweaters Take an old sweatshirt and use the sleeve for a sweater for your pet. Just cut off the arm at the shoulder. Cut off the cuff. With the seam

Tired of finding hula hoops that are strewn all over the yard.  Here's an innovative way to store them so they don't get stepped on or run over by the car. Pick up a standard cast iron plant hook

It's been pretty hot here in Wisconsin the past month, so much so that my air conditioner seems to be running all the time. I already have the thermostat set at 80 degrees, but I figured there must be

EasyBloom Plant Sensor: Want to know what is really going on in your garden? Are you interested in what the correct amount of water is for each of your plants and are you giving that to them? How about sunlight?

This gorgeous looking small grass is a wonderful addition to your garden. With its attractive blue foliage and small size (1' x 1') there is a spot or two for this grass in any garden. Blue Fescue prefers

Begonia - Shade Loving Annual Talk about foolproof: Annual begonia is about as it gets. Where others will fail, the begonia will never let you down. This most versatile of annual plans is about as diverse

Compost Materials To make composting even easier, we've included this handy list of compost materials to help you remember what's green, what's brown, and what you shouldn't add to your pile

Cloth Baby Diapers Cloth baby diapers used to be what everyone used...until disposables came along, and everyone switched to using them. Disposable diapers were more convenient and easy to use. Of course, at

Centaurea - Bachelor Buttons: There are hundreds of varieties of Centaurea, but there are only a few of them that are planted on a regular basis. Most of the plants came from Europe and Asia, but a few have

Root Cuttings Perennials: If you wish to obtain the maximum amount of plants from your perennials, you should take some root cuttings from you perennials. This method will give you the maximum amount of plants

Aura Paint by Benjamin Moore I have specified a lot of paint over the years and Benjamin Moore has always been one of the paints that rates the "Top of my List". Benjamin Moore has an excellent reputation

Canna - Tropical Lily If you are looking for a plant with a tropical-like appearance, then you should consider adding the Canna Bulbs to your landscape border. These are bold-leafed plants with flag-like flower

Bellflower - Campanula The Bellflower's showy flower clusters are striking massed at garden's edge or used as a prominent flower in the classic cottage garden setting. Flowers can be tube-shaped, bell-shaped

Astilbe: False Goats Beard Ranging in height from a few inches to 3' or more, Astilbe are topped by feathery-plumed flowers and have very lace-like looking leaves. They are one of the shade-lovers that

Now that winter has finally passed we've been putting away our heavier clothes, blankets and things of that nature. Well, one of the original plastic bags that our comforter came in finally died, so I thought

Building Green Making the decision to build a green home is one of the wisest decisions that a homeowner can make. Building a green home not only has a positive affect on the homeowner - it affects everyone

Planting Perennials - What is a Perennial? A perennial is a plant that does not die after only one year of growth. Each fall the plant dies and comes back up the next spring or growing season. Typically perennials

Organic Fertilizer Selections When used in reference to fertilizers, the word organic typically means a fertilizer that is derived from the decomposition or by-product of an organism. Inorganic means that the

Balcony and Roof Gardening: A flat roof garden is an extremely eco friendly way to utilize flat space on the top of your house. In fact, roof and balcony gardening are becoming more in demand as a greater portion

Backyard Composting: So, you want to learn how to do backyard composting? Since we've already gone over all the great reasons to compost, let's "dig" right in! If you are interested in outdoor

Practice Prevention: Before we treat a condition, even with an organic solution, you should analyze your lawn and landscape to try to avoid garden problems in the first place. So the place to start in avoiding

Plant Division - Plant Type: Shallow Rooted Plants These can be perennials such as the Primrose. This is perhaps the easiest type of perennial to divide. Just dig the clump up with a shovel or a garden digging

Ajuga (Bugleweed) Groundcover I'm always anxious for spring to come and have my carpet of Ajuga bloom and fill the landscape with color. These are very easy care plants, make for excellent ground cover and

Achillea (Yarrow) Achillea is one of those hardy perennials that is so easy to grow. Just give it the sun it needs, and pay attention the to soil conditions and it is hard to get rid of this specimen. What I

Green Living Made Easy So, you're interested in living green? You've come to the right place! Whether you are interested in lowering your carbon footprint, lowering your bills, or you just need more information

Band Saws: Again, as with a lot of my workworking tools, I have had a number of Band Saws over the course of my woodworking career. I started with a little Sears Craftsman 12″ and graduated to a 18&Prime

Dreadnought Guitar While the classical guitar has a lot more variety in bracing patterns than does the acoustic guitar, there are a few notable bracing patterns that have become a standard in the acoustic

000-28VS Grand Concert or Parlor Guitar: These Guitar Building Plans are for a Martin Classic 000-28VS Grand Concert Guitar. This makes for a tremendous fingerstyle guitar and it is set up for just that. It

000 Grand Concert Guitar Plans Source: Guitar Plans Have you ever wondered how to build a guitar. Well we have the answer as to how you can make your own guitar. If you are on this site, you are definitely

Ultimate Guitar Building, which is the blog spin-off from Ultimate Guitar OnLine, will help you through the entire guitar planning, building and question process. We will be updating this site very frequently and

I used personalized fortune cookies from http://goodfortunecookies.com/ at my last party and they were a huge hit. I had seven different personalized messages in a font and color of my choice, and the cookies

Have you ever went to make a bed and discovered all the pieces were not there?  Here is a tip I have used forever but find it amazing that people have never thought about it.  After you have washed

This is something fun that I think everyoe can get something out of.  I found this quirky list of little things that can make you happy on a daily basis.  Some of them are so simple, but the thought of

I had heard that you could remove the odor of garlic from a cutting board by rubbing it with coarse salt. So I tried it and it worked. Of course that meant there had to be other applications as well

First of all, I have to admit that Listerine is a fantastic mouthwash. I had been having trouble with my gums and the dentist even started talking about the possibility of some serious dental work. But he suggested

Parabens and phthalates are common chemical additives used in many different household products. While they make products smell better and increase their shelf life, they are associated with many health hazards

Here's an interesting site I happened to come across that has links to name brand free samples at absolutely no cost to you. Since I'm a member of Costco, I was able request a full sized bar of Lever

This website has a great list of suggestions of alternative uses for everyday items. Many of them are very clever and are so simple it's a wonder I never thought of them. For example, most digital cameras don't

Are you planning a special event such as a shower, wedding, bar mitzvah, or engagement party? I have used this invitation company for two bar/bat mitzvahs, and the owner Peter is fantastic. He is so helpful, and

With the frigid temperatures right now, it might be a good time to investigate whether or not you could use a hot water heater blanket. If your water heater is in the garage, there's a good chance it's

According to the weather channel, it seems as if no matter what state you're living in right now, you're experiencing a cold snap and the heat in your house is running constantly. If you want a quick, easy

If you haven't made the switch yet to CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) because of the cost of the bulbs, here is a link to an article that clearly explains how quickly you'll recoup your investment. Since

I just got a Zoku popcicle maker for Christmas and we all love it!  Not only can you make delicious pops in under ten minutes, you can regulate what goes in them to make healthy fun treats for the whole family

Actually, the tips at this link apply to all kinds of sap. I just thought that since right now the sap you're most likely to encounter is from the Christmas tree, especially when taking it down, to put the words

Today I managed to knock over the measuring cup of cooking oil. It was only a quarter cup but it made a huge mess on the counter. I figured it would take an entire roll of paper towels to clean it up so I

We just bought a nice pine bough wreath and I want to make sure it looks nice and fresh into the New Year. I did a quick search on google and found this informative article. All you really

This useful stain removal guide was recently featured in Family Circle Magazine and I thought it was well worth sharing.  Tips are from a book called "Talking Dirty Laundry With

Joan Barber is one of my favorite artists. Her figurative, floral and landscape oil paintings that are available as fine art prints. They make great gifts for the holidays (or for yourself!). They start under

If you haven't finished buying all of your gifts yet, here's a suggestion that will save you money in the long run since you will be conserving water and energy. The Delta Faucet 75152 Adjustable Showerhead

This is perfect beause the holidays are coming up!! Also ths website has all sorts of family activities that you can enjoy. Here you can get Free Tips on Family and Holiday Activites & Parties at this website: