DIY Life

So -- you're craving a ham sandwich but notice your bread is going a bit stale. Don't worry --- it's not bird food quite yet; you still have time to save it! Place a stick of fresh celery in the bag and store the bread for a few hours. Next time you pull it out, you'll notice the bread is fresher than before, and your celery hasn't changed a bit! Add some peanut butter and you've got yourself a fresh, non-stale meal (but don't tell the birds we told you!).

And since we're talking bread, did you see Monday's video tutorial on How to Make a French Baguette? So easy, yet so scrumptious. Luckily, our stale bread hack works equally well for any sort of bread, so if you happen to make a fresh baguette and haven't had time to devour it, you know what to do!

Proof that celery can work wonders both for your diet and your starch!

Who, me? Yes. I'll admit it -- I'm a cookie monster and am seeking help. I like to keep our cookie jar stocked and fresh, and although there usually isn't much of a chance for stale cookies in our home, it does happen time and again. Turns out my grandma has a secret trick for keeping cookies fresh longer --- a wad of tissue paper!

Simply wad up the tissue paper and place it at the bottom of the cookie jar, then pile the cookie goodness on top! We both have no idea why it works, but can vouch for the fact that it does!

And of course, you'll need a yummy recipe to try out our tip, won't you? Try these peanut butter butterscotch cookies from Cooks.com; they are simply delicious!:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup Nestles Butterscotch morsels
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Enjoy!

Sure, bananas grow in bunches, but should they stay in bunches? Never! Bananas release gases which cause fruits (including other bananas) to ripen quickly. Separating them will keep them fresh longer, so separate those bananas and place each in a different location.

Of course, if you have a few less-than-desirable bananas laying around, you could always put them to good use, even if they're not the freshest fruit in your home. Turns out that bananas contain potassium, which is also a key ingredient in shoe polish. To polish your shoes, all you need to do is rub a banana peeling on your shoes, buff with a soft cloth, and then sit back and admire your shoe polishing job.

Fantastic, right? Check out a few other fun, banana-related posts here on DIY Life:
-Fix a CD or DVD scratch with a banana
-A banana amigurami? Yes, please!

Eggs are one of my favorite foods; perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and of course, in between). Scrambled, fried, over-easy... any way, any how. Of course, the little trick I'm about to share is a Godsend for someone as egg-crazy as myself, so I'm committing it to memory as I write this.

Did you know that expired eggs float, rather than sink? Grab a bowl filled with cold water and let a few eggs soak in the bowl for two minutes. The freshest eggs will stay at the bottom, and any expired eggs will rise to the surface. Eggs should stay fresh for up to three weeks when properly stored.

Easy enough, right? And don't worry -- for all of you egg lovers, I've scrounged up one of my favorite (and healthy!) recipes: the skinny omelette. It's not only delicious, but super easy to make. Especially with our new floating egg trick! Go forth and cook, DIY-ers!

Join me each week as I explore the naturally aromatic side of DIY. Helpful recipes for your "scentual" pleasure: from essential oils, herbs, and other botanicals to soap-making, body care products, and other useful blends.

There's nothing like a cool drink to refresh on a hot summer day. Last week, we explored drinks made with fresh mint and essential oils. Now it's time to think beyond the mint.

Did you know that most citrus and herbal essential oils are sold to large food companies as flavoring? Hydrosols, which are the water left behind when plants are steam-distilled into essential oils, are also safe to ingest in small quantities when they're organic and top quality, according to Suzanne Catty, author of Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy.

Make sure your oils and hydrosols are organically grown and of good quality, then read on after the break for drink recipes -- citrus, herbal, and even some floral -- made with essential oils, herbs, and hydrosols.

Mmm-mmm. Fresh basil. It's so very fragrant -- the indispensable ingredient in a host of mid-summer recipes.

My basil is lush, green and ready for picking. Okay, I don't have a whole lot of it out in my garden; however, I'm planning on growing a lot more next summer. In preparation for that lofty enterprise, I thought it'd be cool to find out how the expert basil-growers harvest their beloved herb. Here are some tips I picked up:

1. Know your basil. There are lots of varieties out there, and it's always good to know which one you have, as the flavors vary quite a bit between them. Chances are good that, like me, you've got the most common variety: Genovese sweet basil.

This is the first year we've used a CSA, and every Tuesday we get a delivery of fresh-from-the-farm vegetables. Last week, however, our delivery came the night before we left on a camping trip.

Since I wasn't sure all those goodies were going to last until we got home, I decided to freeze what I could. That's when I had a "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" moment.

After doing an internet search to find out if my green onions and garlic scapes could be frozen (they can, though they should only be used for cooking, not raw, afterwards), I discovered Biggie at Lunch in a Box. She recommends freezing green onions and chopped herbs in plastic bottles, so that they are simple to pour out and measure when adding them to a recipe. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?

The last few weeks, I have been waking up at night, cold and unable to figure out why. Part of it is that with the warmer weather, the heat comes on less. I get that. I think, though, that the real culprit is my down comforter.

What used to be a fluffy, warm, and cozy part of my bed now looks flat and lifeless; all the insulating properties have gone with the poof.

I know I was not supposed to lay or sit on top of the comforter so as not to damage the down fibers. Since we neglected to tell the 90-pound dog who sleeps with us, we've got one flat comforter. So I took these steps to help re-fluff it, hoping for more insulation and warmth:

You may not know it, but there could be a tea garden growing in your very own yard. Many weeds make excellent herbal tea, and they are medicinal to boot.

In my yard, I have a variety of chocolate mint that is my favorite tea, but I also have rosemary and sage that come up every year. Oh, and the plethora of dandelions, but I suppose I shouldn't admit that.

Country Living has some fresh plant blending ideas that you can use to make your own herbal teas. They include weeds, herbs and even edible flowers. They also include an extensive list of edible -- and drinkable -- plants, some of which may surprise you. I've never thought of steeping young birch leaves or pine needles, but according to Country Living, they'd make some great tea.

So, whether for medicinal or culinary purposes, fresh plants can make delicious tea. Now, who is baking the cookies to go with this delicious fresh tea?

(via Lifehacker)

We have a real Christmas tree. I love opening the door and smelling the fresh pine scent that fills the living room. I wouldn't give up using real trees, but I am tired of their short life (mainly cleaning up all the needles!). The challenge: keeping a tree fresh.

This homemade tree preservative recipe saves money and keeps the tree healthy for weeks. There are many store-bought solutions, but why bother with those when you can make your own? Here's what you need:

1. 1 quart warm water
2. 1/2 cup light corn syrup
3. 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach

You'll want to top off your tree every day. This simple solution will help you enjoy a lush, green tree right through New Years.

My homemade spa experiments started with a deep condition, then an apple face mask, and finally the DIY'er manicure. The face mask disaster reminded me that sometimes we're better off sticking with a simple recipe rather than adding in all the fancy ingredients. This exfoliating salt body scrub is exceptionally simple and I was certainly impressed with the results. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

What you'll need

1. Table salt
2. Oil - recipe calls for olive oil but I used grape seed oil
3. small container

What to do

1. Pour table salt into the container
2. Fill it with oil just until the oil passes the top of the salt
3. Mix it thoroughly
4. Spread over your body
5. Rub in gently with your fingers
6. Rinse off
7. Reveal your new skin

After the break I'll let you know what I thought of this homemade exfoliant. I'll also let you in on the secret powers of grape seed oil and why I replaced the olive oil in this recipe with it.

Yeah, I know -- exercise seems like odd placement in a DIY blog. But, let's get serious: do you sometimes find that doing the same thing over and over again gets, well, kinda boring? Scratch the thought of going to work every day and picture something else. As in, trying to find a way to juice up that regular exercise so that you don't get bored, lose interest and end up a non-exercising couch potato again.

If you're an athlete, routine and extreme may be the top two words in your vocabulary. If you're an average joe like most of us, then change and variety may be something you'd like to inject into anything that remotely resembles exercise. Instead of push-ups, crunches, bench presses and free weights, isn't there more to your exercising life? Sure there is, if you let that brain get crankin' and set your creative juice ablaze.

DIY Maven combines the best tips from Reader's Digest and Garden and Hearth and brings us this great list of 10 ways to dust proof your house. First it's important to treat dust as a health hazard, rather than simply a cosmetic issue. If we're looking at dust accumulation as a aesthetic thing, then it's easier to put off or devalue. If we think about all the ways that dust can affect our health, it's a little harder to ignore. Many people have allergies to dust mites, some don't even know it.

So, what exactly is a dust mite? Well, it is pretty nasty. According to the Ohio State University Net Wellness site, the dust mite is a microscopic, spider-like creature which is found in homes. It is primarily in carpets, mattresses and upholstered furniture and thrives in humid and warm conditions. The dust mite feeds on shed scales from human skin! The waste products produced by these mites are highly allergenic (able to cause allergic reaction). These waste products continue to cause allergic symptoms even after the mite that produced them has died.