At an upscale garden center the other day I saw the cutest UFO-style toad house for sale. For, like, $90. Ack!! Really nice if you have the money for something like that. However, you can actually encourage toads for just pennies down. Any small, toad-sized container offers toads the shelter they need to feel safe. Meanwhile, something more elaborate need only set you back a few bucks.

Need inspiration? Check out these photos of toad villages posted by readers of About.com. These are so cute, aren't they? Personally, though, I'm into a more naturalistic look, something I think might be more likely to attract wildlife, too. In the photo above you can see the toad house I made using polished stones. I'll talk more about that in a bit, but also be sure to check out my gallery for step-by-step photos!

Before going any further with the toad houses, however, let's backtrack a little. Why encourage toads in the first place? Well, first of all, toads are suffering as human habitats (cities and suburbs) suck up more and more land. Second, toads are also being harmed by exposure to chemicals used in landscape maintenance. By giving a toad or two a safe place to hang out, you're helping boost their numbers.

Concrete and terracotta flowerpots look better as they age. Plastic pots? Hmm. Not so much. Let's face it: although they're light and durable, they lack style. They also look terrible when they get old and faded. Well, member Melody of the wonderful gardening website Dave's Garden has submitted a fantastic how-to article on flowerpot makeovers with spray paint.

Melody recommends Krylon's Fusion® spray paint because it's designed to bond with plastic, which means it resists chipping and peeling as time goes by. She used the Hammered Finish line with beautiful results! I love how this looks, and I'd like to give it a try with one of my own aging and faded plastic pots.

Tip: be patient with your prep work. For the paint to bond with the plastic, it's critical to start with a smooth and completely clean surface. Therefore, allow plenty of time for scrubbing old pots down, washing them thoroughly, and leaving them to dry completely before cracking out the spray cans. I know, it's hard to have prep work patience -- because the spraying is definitely the fun part!

For more easy crafting ideas involving flowerpots and spray paints, check out Francesca's post on decorating flowerpots with your kids and Anna's post on stenciling with spray paint.

CDs are wonderful things. Beyond providing 800 MB worth of storage for your growing lolcatz picture archive, they can also be used to make gaudy desk organizers, tacky Christmas ornaments, and, of course, flimsy wind chimes. Let's face it, the majority of used CD projects are pretty lame (said while placing coffee cup on an old AOL disc), which is why I was so surprised when I found two that were actually pretty cool.

The first tutorial uses old CDs and a 6" fluorescent bulb to create a really cool lamp. Now, I know you're probably thinking to yourself, "why would I want a lamp made out of CDs?" And to that I say, "I don't know." Typically lamps are used to provide light, but I'm not sure how much usable light this little guy's going to spit out. Even still, there's something eerily calming about the light it gives out -- kind of like a futuristic lava lamp, but without the lava. You'll probably need about 60 or 70 CDs for this project, so if you start saving AOL discs now, you should have enough by Tuesday of next week (*rim shot*).