DIY Life

Most of the time I throw my used coffee grounds away. This is not a problem in my household since my husband and I drink about 2 pots a day.

There are times I save them because they come in handy for many household and outdoor hacks. Here a few alternative ideas for using coffee grounds besides putting them in your garbage.

I find personal organizers to be quite expensive for my everyday needs. Rather than throwing my money away on a fancy organizer with extra categories and fillers that I usually have no use for, I have found it easier to create my own. I would rather not end up paying for categories or inserts that I don't need. If necessary, I can always add those as I go along. Here's how to make your own.

Basically, any stationery store, dollar store, and even some grocery stores have all the items you will need to make your own personal organizer. All you need to buy is a small loose-leaf binder, loose-leaf paper, some dividers, and a small calendar. I get a free calendar from my bank every year, so I don't need to buy one, which saves a couple bucks. Consider buying a binder that will hold a calculator and your business cards.

Identify the categories you need for your organizer, such as addresses and telephone numbers, appointments, errands, ongoing or even upcoming projects you have going on, travel expenses, you name it, it's your organizer.
Fill in your divider tabs and insert them into the binder along with enough paper to get you started. You can always add or take out paper for each category section you are making. Take your calendar out of the outer cover and punch holes along the inside crease to fit the rings of your binder. It can help to make an outline of what you want to create and what you want your personal organizer to achieve for your busy life.

This inexpensive idea will help you get started on your personal organization project. It is easy to carry, easy to keep track of, and easy to add all the essential information you need on a daily basis.

Becoming a parent means that your life will never be the same. Having a child comes with bigger financial responsibilities and if you are on a tight budget, means sometimes feeling a little overwhelmed. Finding alternatives to basic baby needs can help a family that might be struggling harder than before the baby came along. That was my case when our first born came along 4 years ago. It was even tougher when we had another child 2 years later. But a personal friend was kind enough to give me a tip on how her sister made her own baby wipes, thus saving quite a bit of money each week. By choosing name brand baby products for your materials, the end result will be quality homemade baby wipes.

The first thing you need is a good roll of paper towel. I use Bounty paper towels because they are soft and gentle. Find a towel you like, get it wet, wash your face with it, and if you are happy with the result, then you now have the paper towel you will use to take care of that little baby butt. Remember, if it doesn't feel good on your face, it sure won't feel good on their bare bottom.

Cut your roll of paper towels in half, using an electric knife. Pull out the cardboard and place a half roll into a round air tight plastic container, or an empty baby wipe box. Sometimes it is hard to get the cardboard out, so I take a large chef knife and work my way around the cardboard, cutting the paper away so that the cardboard easily pulls out. If you are careful and take your time, the paper should not tear.

Let's face it. What little boy or girl doesn't like to get dirty or slimy? I know my little toddler sure does. Help yours along by starting your own slime making project. Just be prepared for them to go right in the bathtub after this fun and easy project gets them...hmmm...what's the word? Slimy!

When I was a kid we lived across the street from a fellow who had what I thought was an uncanny ability to park his cars in his garage with perfect accuracy every time. There was always room to open all car doors without striking the other car and there was always room to get in and out of both cars from either side. His garage wasn't any larger than a standard two car garage and he also had some of the extras in there that many people do, such as a snow blower, a chest freezer and of course the lawnmower and some lawn tools. So how did this fellow get his cars situated in perfect fashion as a matter of course? I went one day to find the answer.

What our neighbor had done was to park his cars in the garage one day in the exact position that he wanted them. Then he took two tennis balls, threaded each one on a string line and hung them both from the garage rafters in position so each one would just touch the windshield of each car right in front of the rear view mirror. From then on, all he and his wife needed to do was ease in either car until the tennis ball came to rest on the windshield, in front of the rear view mirror. Presto! A perfect parking job every time.

Check out 17 good uses for a Tennis ball, from DIY Life's own Dan Chilton.

How many times have you heard your kids tell you that they are bored? Shake them out of that whiny boredom on a rainy day by getting them into the kitchen and making some cool colored decorative soaps. They will enjoy this easy project, unless they really want to be out in that lousy storm. Here is a great idea for making glycerin soap.

First, gather all the materials you will need:

• 1 bar of glycerin soap (melt and pour)
• 1 box of food coloring
• Aerosol cooking spray
• Plastic mixing cup with spout and handle
• Utility kitchen knife
• Wooden cutting board
• Microwave
• Plastic candy or soap molds
• Wooden mixing spoon

All your materials can be found at an all purpose store or at your local craft store. Next, how you actually make the soaps:

I love weddings. I love to see the dresses and the flower arrangements and the cake. I have been to enough weddings to know how expensive they can be, and to enough low cost weddings (mine included) to know that you can save money on virtually every aspect of your happy day.

Reception centerpieces can become expensive, so here are a few creative ideas to help save on your special day.

The cost of curtains and valances can be very expensive these days. Thrift stores, white sales, flea markets, and remnant bins are perfect places to find inexpensive window treatments that don't require any sewing.

Here are some fun and easy ideas to make your own window valances:

Getting started on making a scrapbook is probably the most difficult part of the project. You may have all the photos, but you probably are not sure what to do with them, right? You may have the desire to be a scrapbooker but entering the scrapbook aisle at the craft store or walking into a scrapbooking specialty store can make you feel lost and unsure of where to start or how to find basic items you need to begin.

Considering that there are thousands of ideas out there, knowing what you want to accomplish or even how to organize, design your layout, create and actually finish the scrapbook can be a difficult task. Spend some time just thinking about what you might want your scrapbook and its pages to look like.

Buying gift wrap can become expensive. You buy the paper, tissue and the card and then realize you just spent as much money on these items as you did on the gift. This can get to be a costly project if you are invited to many occasions throughout the year.

As someone who dreads the job of house cleaning, simply because the toxic smells of most expensive products give me migraines, I am constantly on the lookout for "do it yourself" cleaning ideas:

1. Vinegar is excellent for removing odors from your clothing, as well as perspiration stains.
2. I also know that is a great way to get skunk smell off of your dog by using a mixture of vinegar diluted 50% with water. Rub the mix all over your pooch, rinsing with water and repeating as necessary until the skunk smell is gone.
3. For cleaning windows around the house, mix a spray bottle with half vinegar and half water. Use lightly crumpled newspaper or a soft, lint free cloth for wiping and buffing to give your windows a sparkling shine.
4. Placing a bowl of vinegar on your counter overnight will rid the room of odor. Just be sure to put it somewhere your kitty can't get at it!
5. The rust stain removing toilet bowl cleaners produced for the market today can be very toxic. Why not try using full strength vinegar instead and let it sit in your toilet bowl for about 15 minutes, then scrub the bowl as usual. That spray mixture you made for your windows will also shine all the porcelain and fixtures in your bathroom and works just great for killing bacteria.
6. Cleaning your no wax floors with a solution of 1 cup vinegar per gallon of water will give your floors a shinier surface.
7. Are you tired of your drains clogging and having to use expensive commercial cleaners? Try this method: First pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed with 1/2 cup of vinegar. After the mixture stops bubbling, rinse with warm water and repeat as necessary. Be sure to keep your face away from the drain while doing this and I even recommend safety glasses any time you use any drain cleaner.
8. You can clean your wood paneling with a mixture of 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 cups warm water. This will be awesome for us, because if we can buy the place, we don't want to tear down the solid wood paneling that my dad worked so hard to install in his house.

I am totally razzed about my new discoveries and can't wait to try out all the uses for vinegar I found. Right about now though, I should go clean my coffee cup with a mild solution of vinegar and salt before returning to the Internet to gather more excellent home cleaning strategies for you.