Five Great Gifts Made From....An Old Coat? That Hideous Sweater? Awesome.

Ah, the winter holidays. Even before your Thanksgiving turkey (or Tofurkey) has fully digested, retail stores have already sprung into full-on holiday mode. Garland arches over every aisle. Sleigh bells play overhead. Coffee shops break out the peppermint/eggnog/gingerbread lattes. In such a sweet environment, who wouldn’t be lulled into spending a fortune on presents and stocking stuffers?

Before you lift your credit card though, think about heading to a different shopping destination: Your closet. Do you have an old coat you no longer wear? If so, here are five ways to recycle it into cute stocking stuffers.

1. Button ring

We got this idea from Lorelei’s Blog: Inside the Studio. Check out theirexcellent button ring tutorial.

2. Button bobby pin

These hair accessories couldn’t be easier to make. Do make sure though that you use the right tools: Plain old pins won’t cut it, so read Lenny da Vinci’s step by step instructions for one-of-a-kind button bobby pins.

3. Fabric frame

By this point you’ve successfully de-buttoned your old coat; now it’s time to upcycle the fabric body. We like How Stuff Works’ directions for turning that fabric into a picture frame.

4. Wrist cuffs

Now put the rest of your coat’s fabric to work by making a slew of wrist cuffs. Cut Out + Keep offers a 4-step process for transforming scrap fabric into chunky bracelets.

5. Tea clutch

If you’re feeling really inspired, use your coat’s remaining fabric body and inner lining to make this sharp tea clutch. The Object Project recommends materials like tweed and satin (perhaps what your old coat was made out of to begin with), but feel free to substitute two different fabrics. Whip out your scissors, and read their tea clutch how-to.

For more easy homemade gift ideas, click here.

Build a Compost Heap

Originally posted by Annie B. Bond Apr 22, 2008 7:00 am

Adapted from Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman

So often, the obvious solution is right at our fingertips, but
it looks so simple that we fail to notice. Generations of
gardeners have consistently come up with the same chain of
logic: A fertile soil is the key to growing garden vegetables;
compost is the key to a fertile soil. The first step in the
four-season harvest is learning to make good compost. It’s
not difficult. Compost wants to happen.

Pick a site near the garden so the finished compost will be
close at hand. Whenever possible, place the heap under the
branches of a deciduous tree so there will be shade in hot
weather and sunlight to thaw the heap in spring. A site
near the kitchen makes it convenient to add kitchen scraps.
Access to a hose is handy for those times when the heap
needs extra moisture. If the site is uphill from the garden,
the heavy work of wheelbarrowing loads of compost will have
gravity on its side.

Build the compost heap by alternating layers of brown
ingredients (such as dried grass stems, old cornstalks, dried
pea and bean vines, reeds, and old hay) with mostly green ones
(young, moist, and fresh materials such as kitchen wastes,
grass clippings, fresh pea vines). Begin with a layer of straw
about 3 inches deep, then add 1 to 6 inches of green ingredients,
another 3 inches of straw, and then more green ingredients.
The thickness of the green layer depends on the nature of the
materials. Loose, open material such as green bean vines or
tomato stems can be applied in a thicker (6-inch) layer,
while denser material that might mat together, such as kitchen
scraps or grass clippings, should be layered thinly (1 to 2
inches). These thicknesses are a place for you to start, but
you will learn to modify them as conditions require.

Sprinkle a thin coverage of soil on top of each green layer.
Make the soil 1/2 inch deep or so depending on what type of
green material is available. If you have just added a layer
of weeds with soil on their roots, you can skip the soil to the
compost heap has both a physical and a microbiological effect:
physical because certain soil constituents (clay particles and
minerals) have been shown to enhance the decomposition of organic
matter; microbiological because soil contains millions of
microorganisms, which are needed to break down the organic
material in the heap. These bacteria, fungi, and other organisms
multiply in the warm, moist conditions as decomposition is
initiated. If your garden is very sandy or gravely, you might
want to find some clay to add to the heap as the soil layer.
As an additional benefit, the clay will improve the balance of
soil particle sizes in your garden.

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Butterfly Bait: How-To Formula

Originally posted by Annie B. Bond Jun 12, 2008 7:00 am

Adapted from The Butterfly Garden, by Matthew Tekulsky (Harvard Common Press, 1985).

We love butterflies! They have lifted human hearts for millennia with their fragile, colorful beauty. There are specific flowers that butterflies love, but what if you don’t have the space or time to grow butterfly-attracting plants? We can make Butterfly Bait! Because not all butterflies are only attracted to flower-nectar, this magic stuff will attract butterflies to your yard, even if all you have is a balcony.

Just wait until you find out the ingredients of Butterfly Bait! They’re not as pretty as the butterflies, that’s for sure–but this magic goop will have White Admirals, Mourning Cloaks, Viceroys and many others flocking to your place. Here’s the formula:

Many butterflies prefer rotting fruit, tree sap, dung, carrion, urine, and other non-nectar sources of nutrients. You can allow fruit from your fruit trees to decay on the ground, leave your pet’s droppings where they lie, or place a bit of raw meat or fish in a discreet part of your garden.

And here is the formula for Butterfly Bait:

INGREDIENTS

1 pound sugar
1 or 2 cans stale beer
3 mashed overripe banana
1 cup of molasses or syrup
1 cup of fruit juice
1 shot of rum

Mix all ingredients well and paint on trees, fence posts, rocks, or stumps–or simply soak a sponge in the mixture and hang from a tree-limb.

For more information about butterflies, including some fascinating facts, and a listing of plants that will attract them, see Care2’s How to Attract Butterflies.

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