"The Garden"Big Girl Toys

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 Play Dough

2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons food coloring
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt

Cook on stovetop over medium heat for 4 minutes.

Finger Paint

4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups cold water
food coloring
containers for finger paint

In a medium saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch together. Add water. Heat over medium heat for 8 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Will thicken more as it cools. Divide into containers such as baby-food jars, and add desired food coloring to each container.

SIDEWALK PAINT

You'll need 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/2 cup water and food coloring. Combine the cornstarch and water. Using a small container, mix until smooth. Add a few drops of food coloring. You can make a few batches of different colors. Kids can use paintbrushes, foam paint rollers or sponges to paint the sidewalk.

WINDOW PAINT

Mix together equal parts dishwashing liquid and washable liquid paint or powdered tempera. Mix until it's a creamy consistency. Use paintbrushes. Easy to clean from windows with a moist paper towel, too.

 Online Party invitations

 My Punch Bowl

 Smile Box

 Making Giant Flowers

     Site

Homemade Bubbles

1 gallon water
2/3 cup liquid dish soap
2 to 3 tablespoons glycerin or corn syrup

Window Cleaner

2 cups water
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap

Combine all ingredients in a dish-soap bottle.

Homemade Laundry Stain Pretreater

1 clean, empty dish-soap bottle
1/8 of the bottle filled with lemon ammonia
1/8 of the bottle filled with liquid laundry detergent (Make sure that it is not the bleach-added version.)

cold water

Pour in ammonia, add laundry detergent, and then slowly pour in the cold water. Swirl gently until all ingredients are well combined. Use this on stained clothing except silk or delicate fabrics. Saturate stains. Leave pretreater on for a bit, and then launder in hottest temperature possible according to fabric-care label.

Miniture Greenhouse

In spring, I reuse plastic milk jugs in the garden. In order to get a short jump on the growing season, I plant heat-loving vegetables as early as possible. I can get a two-week jump on the season by placing a plastic milk jug over each of the plants. Just cut off the bottom, and place over the plant. I leave the cap off for better air circulation. You then have a mini-greenhouse! Remove as the temperature warms, and clean/stack/store in an out-of-the-way place. Often, I can get several seasons out of these milk jugs. — Kelly,

HOLIDAY DECOR: I repurpose plastic gallon milk jugs in several ways. I use them for driveway luminaries. I leave the handle and top intact and the bottom bowl intact, cutting into the side and making a large opening. I fill partially with sand, and use a tea lite. Cutting the same way, I use the jugs as chicken feeders. I hang the jugs on the side of the chicken-wire cage, and the shape prohibits the chickens from sitting on the feeder. I never have dirty food or food waste with the milk-jug feeders. Also, since I make my own laundry detergent, I use cleaned gallon milk jugs to hold the homemade liquid detergent. — L.