Never too early to get ready for mosquito's!

Practically every week I read about a new horrifying disease that is spread via mosquito's.  While I realize it's winter, it's never too early to begin planning for the inevitable "mosquito" weather.  Keeping yourself, your loved ones and your pets safe from these disease ridden creatures does not require dousing yourself with harmful chemicals or locking yourself indoors.

There are many types of flowers, herbs, and grasses that naturally repel mosquitoes due to the plants naturally occurring essential oils.  The oils are released into the air, particularly when a plant is cut or “bruised.” Higher temperatures also cause more of the oils to be released.  Coincidentally, higher temperatures are a mosquito's favorite climate.

Here are a sampling of plants that naturally repel mosquitoes:

Marigolds

The flower’s aroma not only repels mosquitoes, but marigolds are easy to care for and add beauty to your yard.  If you live in the warmer states of America, you can actually leave these in the pots outside all winter.  Once the weather begins to warm, most of the time these will regrow.  

Lavender

Many of us love the scent, but mosquitoes can’t stand it. Lavender is great for people who are lazy about watering since it is drought resistant. Crush the leaves and rub them on your skin and clothes for personal mosquito protection.

Citronella and lemon grass

These related herbs have a lemony scent. Lemon grass is widely used in Asian cooking.  The Citronella plant is sometimes called the mosquito plant.  If you have ever bought a citronella candle to put on your patio to keep the mosquito's away, you will be familiar with the scent of it.  Also many of the mosquito repellent sprays that you buy to smear all over you when you go outside contain this in them. If you buy citronella, make sure you get the varieties Cymbopogon nardus or Citronella winterianus. They work best.  Both of these plants are hardy and fairly fast growing.  they should last for years with a minimum of care.

Garlic

Contrary to popular belief, a 2005 study found that eating garlic does nothing to ward off mosquitoes. However, garlic plants do repel them. You can plant the edible form of garlic or try society garlic which is an ornamental garlic that is not edible but has pretty purple flowers that these insects hate.  Edible garlic also sprouts flowers just before harvesting time but they aren't as long lasting or as pretty.

Rosemary

The pungent pine-like scent drives away mosquitoes. It does well in the ground in warm climates. But if you live in the north, grow it in a pot and keep it inside in the winter. Use it generously in cooking. As a bonus, rosemary is a powerful antioxidant. As a bonus, this plant has been linked to improved memory functions.  This can be grown in any size pot or you can plant it directly in the ground and allow it to get as large as it wants depending on the size of your outdoor space.

Basil 

Bruise a few leaves on your basil plant to help repel mosquitoes.

Catnip

Mosquitoes can’t stand it and your cat will love you for growing it. It can be invasive and take over your yard. So restrict it to pots or plant it in between hardscape to restrict its growth.

Mint

Mint is another plant that is usually best grown in a pots because of its aggressive growing habits. There are tons of variations of mint.  Lemon, spearmint, peppermint, even strawberry.  For mosquito control, I would stick with the traditional mint.  This is a great plant if your yard is mostly shaded or contains a lot of pine trees because this plant if left to its own devices will become a hardy grown cover.  However, if allowing it to take over your yard isn't your thing, then you should truly plant these in pots in order to control their growth.  The great thing about having this as ground cover, is the scent you get from it every time you walk in the yard or mow your yard.  It's really heavenly.  If you have a bit of "lawn" between a walkway and the house or by your patio and a fence or wall, this would be a wonderful place to plant it directly in the ground.  Or you can use it to fill in the spaces between pavers or bricks and still reap the scented rewards.

Lantana

Lantana just may be the best mosquito-repelling plant of all. Researchers in Africa found it was so effective that it helped control malaria. Scientists planted lantana outside 90 homes in Tanzania. They used another 231 homes as a control group. The lantana-planted homes had 83% fewer mosquitoes.  All of these plants will thrive in most parts of the country in the summer months when mosquitoes abound. An excellent strategy is to keep pots of them near doorways to keep mosquitoes out of your house. And plant them in high traffic areas throughout your yard.  Some states such as Florida have labeled Lantana as an invasive species so planting it directly into your ground may be prohibited in your community, so it's best to check on that prior to planting.  However, I'm not aware of any community that has forbid this plant from being kept in a container.  Lantana comes in many colors so the hardest part about having them is deciding which color to buy.  They are hardy plants that thrive in most conditions/soils.  Another great thing about lantana is the fact that butterflies, hummingbirds and all manner of wonderful creatures love their flowers.

Perhaps the most important part of mosquito control is standing water. This is the most common breeding ground for mosquitoes.  It doesn't take a swimming pool worth of water for these creatures to call home.  Things as shallow as your pets outside water bowl, an empty flower pot, birdbaths, your house gutters that have become a bit clogged thus creating small pools of water, anything that is thumb deep will suffice and these horrible things will lay their eggs and grow more mosquito's before you know it.  If you are vigilant about ridding your property of standing water and plant some of the above plants near your windows and doors, you should have as mosquito free environment as possible.

As always, enjoy your space!

No money in the budget for Holiday decorations?

The Holidays can be enormously expensive.  There are presents to buy from a long list of friends and family.  There's the food.  There's the holiday clothes.  None of these things are cheap.

What about the decorations??  Uh oh.  No money left for that!

Try some old fashioned DIY decorations!  I've shown a few below just to get your creative juices flowing.  You know my motto.....there's no case of ugly that a can of spray paint and some glitter can't cure!

A beautifully decorated home is simply a home that feels comfortable as soon as you walk in the door.  In my book, there is no right or wrong to it.  If you smile when you walk in, it's a winner.

Tree skirts really make or break a Christmas tree.  The last one that I bought cost $40.  It lasted a couple of years before the colors faded and I tired of the look.

Below are a couple of cheap ideas that look amazing.  The first one is just cheap felt that has been cut into strips and sewn together.  If, like me, you don't want to sew....staple them together.  Nothing easier than that.  The second one is an old quilt that was cut to size and a couple of strips attached to act as a tie fastener.  If you don't have an old quilt laying around, head for the thrift stores.

Every year I head to the nearest pharmacy a day or so after Christmas and snap up all the cheap decorations.  I say pharmacy because I don't have the nerve or patience to head to a larger store.  The pharmacy's generally don't have the parking issues, long lines and crowded stores like the larger stores do.  It doesn't really matter if the ornaments are glass or plastic or even if they are pretty.  A can of spray paint and a bottle of glitter later, they will be gorgeous!  Ornaments aren't just for the tree you know. 

Nature's bounty!  I love walking in the woods or the park in the fall/winter.  I always carry a bag with me and pick up all the pine cones, nuts and interesting foliage that I find.  Then when I get home, I use them for decorations.  Pine cones are so great!  You can glue them together (regular old Elmer's glue will work just fine), you can sprinkle glitter on them or you can just leave them natural.  They add to any Holiday decorating.

Faux presents are another way to bring Christmas cheer to any room.  All it takes are empty boxes and either paper or even fabric.  Wrap it up and show it off!

I love stockings hung by the fireplace!  I do get tired of the same ones year after year though.  My solution?  I go to the thrift stores and find sweaters that have an interesting color or pattern.  I then cut off the arms and make my own stockings!  I use the body of the sweater to wrap some of my faux presents.  This can cost as little as $1.00 per sweater.

Don't forget outside!  My front door has a full glass storm door and the space between the wooden door and the glass door is very very small.  I can't really have a full thick wreath because of the space issue.  I don't want to put the wreath on the outside of the glass door.  I want it protected from the elements...and any thieves.  Wreaths are expensive.  So I say, make your own!  The picture below is nothing more than a very decorative hard plastic plate that was spray painted, a hole cut out and hung.  Whole thing might have cost $1.00....Christmas over?...toss it in the trash.

Catch some great deals on plain wreaths last year after Christmas?  Using twisty ties, affix them together and create a snowman for your lawn!  Super cute!

Jars...I love jars.  Pour an inch of so of salt in the jar then sit a votive candle in there.  Instant walkway lighting.

So now you have a few very inexpensive and super cute ideas for your Holiday decorating!  Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving Decorating

Decorating the house is my favorite part of this season.  There's Halloween, then Thanksgiving and then the big daddy of all holidays....Christmas!  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Halloween is now over so let's start thinking about decking the halls for Thanksgiving!

You don't have to spend a fortune on Thanksgiving decorations.  Anything with pumpkins, fall food inspired decorations and, of course, candles.  Let's start with the candles.

Candles can be your best friend when decorating for any occasion.  There's so much you can do with them and you can use them for every theme...over and over again.

You can wrap them with pretty leaves from your yard.....

You can tie cinnamon sticks around them with twine.....

You can leave them plain and simply decorate their holder.  How about layering corn in a glass candle holder?

 ...or various dried beans?

Pumpkins, squash and other like vegetables are another great way to decorate.  They aren't costly and hold up really well for about a month at a time without turning to mush.  You can paint them if you don't like them naturally, you can garnish them with glitter or glue buttons on them....the options are endless.  I will warn you...if you are going to garnish them...do not puncture them or the insides will begin to rot and you will have a horrible mess on your hands.  Always glue your garnishes on.

You can even make candleholders out of them!  This idea will require you to scoop out a bit from the middle in order to get your candle in there.  This will hold up for a week or so before it begins to rot so I would save this idea for a dinner decoration or maybe if you're planning a party. 

Or you can leave them as nature made them and surround them with other fall items for a homey centerpiece.

How about a fun treat for the kids?  Look how cute these Oreo turkey's look!  I saw this idea at www.ourbestbites.com  They look yummy!

If you're looking for a decorating project that the kids will enjoy, try turning pine cones and feathers into turkeys.  Easy, not at all messy and super cute!

All it takes to decorate your house for the holidays is a little imagination, a little scavenging for the items and a few minutes of your time.  Simple, inexpensive and gorgeous!

As always, enjoy your space!

Need some Halloween decorating ideas that are easy, cheap and unique?

I love Halloween!!  Love it!  The best part is decorating the yard so it spooks everyone out.  That can get really expensive really quick.  So......how about making some great decorations on the cheap?

It should also be said that I am not an artist type.  I can't sew, I can't draw, I can't paint a picture.  So these ideas are perfect for me.  They look really creative and artsy but I don't have to have talent to do any of them......I like.

Let's look at some!

Who's not afraid of a giant pumpkin spider????

Oh no!!!!  They're having a ghost meeting on my front lawn!!!!  

Seriously, stick some brook sticks in the ground, glue some felt on a sheet and then drape the sheet over the broomstick.  Done.

Now I have dancing ghosts??

For this one, do the same as the previous one.  Only this time, staple their "hands" together and tie some string to give them waists and necks.

With all those ghosts there has to be a cemetery near by

I prefer to use blocks of Styrofoam for this project but you can use 

cardboard, plywood, or anything else that you can stick in the ground.  I paint mine and 

then hammer a few paint stirs in the ground in front and in back to keep these from falling over.

ZOMBIE PUMPKIN!!!!

I think this one is really self explanatory

I need to bury this guy!

This is a cheap plastic skeleton, an old wheelbarrow, a shovel and some sand.  Done.

Man eating shrub?!!  Oh no!!

Again, pretty self explanatory.

I'm watching you!

This one is my favorites.  It's just so easy.

Now go out and terrorize the neighborhood!

Interesting Things to do with Used Books

Books are treasures to me and the thought of destroying one by making a safe or a side table or a shelf is nearly more than I can bear.  However, not all books are really worthy of saving.  I've read some pretty awful books in my life.  So these are the ones I choose to sacrifice.  Many thrift stores or even dollar stores offer hardback books at anywhere from $.50 to $1.00 each.

How about a book safe?  Easy to make!  Select your book, glue the pages together in two sections (one for the "lid" and one section to hold your valuables).  Then using an exacto knife cut the pages to a depth suitable.  Finally glue felt into the hole.  Done!

Now let's look at making a lamp base out of books!  Again, super easy to make.  Align your books to get the perfect angle, drill holes in the middle, glue the books together and thread your rod.  Done!

Another idea for books is making a book table out of them.  Same instructions as above.  Drill the holes, glues the books together but this time instead of inserting a rod, try using something a bit more stable like a couple of thick (and long) dowels or even a wooden pole or broom handle that you have cut to size.  Then you can either lay a piece of glass on top or put a thick coat of poly on the top book to keep any spills from ruining your work.  

Lastly how about making a shelf out of books?  Buy metal  shelf brackets.  Drill a hole where the screws go, screw the book securely to the bracket and install on the wall.  Done!  It really is as easy as that.

Now head to the thrift store and snap up some hardback books with interesting covers and get to work!

As always, enjoy your space!