DIY Life

Keeping tomatoes and citrus fruits in the fridge is a big no-no. Besides the fact that I hate cold tomatoes, their shelf life will be so much longer if it's not refrigerated. But did you realize that you should be storing them as far away from the refrigerator as possible? It's true --- keep tomatoes and citrus fruits away from the fridge (preferably on a sunny window's shelf) for the longest shelf life possible.

I don't know why it works, but it does. You should see your fruit's shelf life almost double if you test the theory. Plus, your fruit will be juicier, which means it will taste yummier. Bonus!

Want more kitchen hacks for smart food storage? Read on, friends:
-Like to buy in bulk? You need a vacuum in the kitchen! Make an 'Alvin' Vacuum Sealer.
-Want to know how to store cheese (and yes, there's a special way!). Cheese: There's More to it Than You Think.

I've got apples on my mind this week, and it's not just because I visited an orchard yesterday. There's something about fall that makes me crave the delicious red fruit in any shape or form, whether it be bobbing for apples, sipping a warm cup of cider or engaging in a few, fun apple-icious crafts! I've rounded up a few of my favorites (for every room in your home!) below for your autumn enjoyment. Let the apples begin!:

In the kitchen:
For a delicious apple recipe, try apple and cheese pancakes. They sound a bit odd, but are both healthy and indulgent at the same time. I love waking up to a Saturday morning batch of these yummy pancakes when the weather turns colder!

In the bathroom:
Try Grandma's Apple Pie lip balm! All you need is a few key ingredients, including apple scented oil, beeswax and jojoba and aloe vera oils. The tutorial is right here and is easy as pie. Grandma's Apple Pie, to be exact.

In the craft room:
Have a spare paperback book? Why not turn it into a statement piece with this easy paperback apple tutorial from Cheeky Magpie. Better yet, surprise your favorite teacher or librarian with this homemade gift. They'll be touched... if not offended you've defaced literary work. But probably just touched.

In the bedroom:
You've closed your windows with the cooler weather, and now your room smells stuffy and stiff. Mix equal parts apple cider vinegar and tap water into a spray bottle and mist your room with the solution. The vinegar will absorb any unwanted stenches and replace the odor with apple cider goodness!

In the backyard:
Of course, there's a use for rotten apples, as well. Ever heard of apple golf? Pretty self-explanatory, so head to your backyard driving range and let the games begin! (Watch out for disgruntled neighbors and play fair. No one wants surprise apple juice on their property...)

In the living room:
Want instant artwork with pizazz? Take a cue from this first grade classroom's recent art project and create apple prints worthy of framing. Put your own spin on the craft by experimenting with colors, textures and frame sizes.

That decorative bowl of fruit on the end of the table has suddenly become a haven to a horde of ravenous fruit flies. You get rid of the over-ripe fruit that attracted them, you clean down the area, but you still have the little wretches. You can swat them, but wouldn't it be fun to trap them?

The people at Chow.com have a great tip for making a fruit fly trap, which involves a small dish of wine, a sploosh of water, and a drop of soap, stirred up with a finger. It would take about 10 seconds to put together.

One of the commenters suggests putting plastic wrap over the surface of the bowl, and making pin pricks in it -- apparently the flies can get in the holes, but are too stupid to get out again.

In fact, once you've watched the video, read the comments. There are a few more very creative fruit fly trap ideas there, too!

I love strawberries, both as a food and as a motif.

Recently, two separate summery strawberry stitching projects were posted over at WhipUp within a couple of days of each other: a pattern and tutorial for felt strawberries from Mr. Monkeysuit, and a felt jam-jar topper with a strawberry applique by Amy at Lucykate Crafts.

Even though they aren't by the same person, they seem like a perfect pair to me! You'll find further suggestions for this adorable project, including links to supplies, after the break.

Do you remember those scented markers that were on the market during the 70s and 80s? Everything smelled great except the black licorice marker... that was utterly vile. While I'm sure there are still scented markers available for purchase, why not try painting with Kool-Aid?

Jacki wrote about this fun project over on That's Fit. Have your kids outline a picture with markers, but don't color it in. Mix different colors of Kool-Aid in different cups -- use only two tablespoons of water for each packet. Using paintbrushes, let your kids color in their masterpiece with the Kool-Aid "paint."

After about 20 minutes the paintings should be dry. Your kids can lightly scratch the surface of their painting and enjoy the scented colors. Fruit makes a great subject for the paintings because, as one young Kool-Aid artist exclaimed, "the oranges really smell like oranges!"

Sunday is Father's Day and, yes, despite what your dad (or spouse) says, he probably does want a gift. Time to shop!

First piece of advice: skip the big box stores unless you're utterly desperate. Check out their websites and you'll see what I mean. Lowes has a pretty good Father's Day gift-finder page. You can search products based on the type of dad you have. (Lawn dads, wood-working dads, etc.) However, it's hardly inspiring stuff. Example: their suggestion for the dad who has everything? A gift card.

The Home Depot does a little better with its online gift center, but the suggestions are uniformly dull... or just plain stupid. I mean, do you know anyone who would buy dad a $699 pressure washer for Father's Day? Oh, but it's not just Home Depot and Lowes pitching dumb Father's Day gift ideas. Amazon: come on!

Summer is here and it's berry season. Mmm: fresh blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are at hand! We went you-pick blueberry picking last June and had the best time, although it was incredibly hot. Are you planning to pick berries this summer? The best source for berry-picking tips is the website Pick Your Own. Here are a handful of their top tips:

1. It's summer: bring lots of drinks, plus snacks, hats, sunscreen and bug repellent.

2. Bend down and look up through the middle of the plant. You will find tons of berries other pickers have missed.

So let's see... we've got the green movement, the organic initiative, and hemp-wearing vegan naturalists. What could be next? I guess it had to happen; we now have guerrilla gardeners out there, doing their thing in the dead of the night under the cover of darkness.

Exactly what is a guerrilla gardener?

They're also called "pirate farmers" and they plant produce and flowers on land they don't own. Since this is technically trespassing, they have planting parties at night when they're less likely to get caught. These operations are called "troop digs", unless of course it's a solo renegade farmer. Then it's "seed bombing." Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Are you ready to start digging?

Groups are already acknowledged and active in Berlin, London, San Fransisco, and Miami. Who knows how many are still undercover? Why not start your own midnight garden club? If you do, I hope you're in my area; I'd love to wake up in the morning with a lawn full of free organic produce!

Think you're handy with a knife? Fiercely competitive? Sounds like you'd fit right in with this crowd of entrants in the Salon of Culinary Art, an annual fruit and vegetable carving competition held in New York. It's sort of like the Olympics...but with lots of produce and sharp cutting implements. And less exposure of gleaming, muscular flesh.

Saxton Freymann's books, especially Play with your Food, helped popularize this hobby/art-form. Freymann is known particularly for his fetching broccoli poodles and Brussels sprouts pigs. That's the kind of cutesie stuff that even I could probably master.

Leaders in the field, however, don't play around with such whimsies. Check out this New York Times slideshow to view the most intricately carved entries in this year's competition. Golden beet butterflies and rearing taro root stallions, anyone?

My daughter loves strawberries. She opens up the refrigerator when I am busy and proceeds to eat them straight out of the container. I shudder to think what pesticides are going into her precious tummy because she chomped away before I could wash the berries.

Produce wash can be very expensive, especially if your family eats a lot of fruit and veggies. You can take the pain out of buying commercial produce wash by making your own organic fruit and veggie wash. All you need is a spray bottle, one tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 cup water. Put the ingredients in the spray bottle and shake well. Spritz on your produce, and rinse well.

The dollar store has inexpensive spray bottles, perfect for your new organic produce wash. If you happen to have an eager toddler like mine, who just happens to have an independent streak a mile wide, you can spray your produce as soon as you get it home, and no longer worry about what nasty pesticides might be ingested into their tender tummies.

[via:Curbly]

A new juice bar just opened in our neighborhood. They serve any blend of fruit and veggie juice that you could imagine. They use fresh, organic ingredients, and present the drink in a trendy, branded cup.

For this, you'll pay $5.50. Seriously, for blended carrots, I just can't.

Vegetable juices are popular on health detox and other cleanses, but they taste great too, and can be a healthy part of an everyday diet.

To make this carrot juice, you don't need a juicing machine; any food processor or blender will do just fine. You'll find more information after the break.

Fruits, leaves, and cinnamon have wonderful scents. They make your home smell sweet and comfortable. You could go with scented candles or aromatherapy oils, but I think that these things are too creative to not show off. Don't grind down your dried fruit and leaves for potpourri. Instead, put them on display with this crafty dehydrated fruit garland.

First, you'll want to choose what items to dry out. Try red and green apples, some orange slices, and cinnamon. These aromas will go well together, and the color contrast will make for an attractive garland. The full instructables post teaches us how to prepare each fruit, leaf, and spice. There are a couple of ways that you can do this, but avoid my dried apple disaster and follow the instructions carefully the first time!

Yarn comes in many beautiful colors, weights and textures. Sometimes, you can go to every single craft store and still not find the perfect color that you need. If you are having a difficult time finding the perfect color, you can dye your own with fruit and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables that stain, such as onion skins, grape juice, and beets make very pretty dye, and yarn dyeing is a fun and easy craft that kids can help with. Lion Brand Yarn has tips and recipes using various fruits and vegetables and wool and cotton yarn. You need stainless steel pots, yarn of course, a timer, tongs to handle the yarn, and of course, a stove. the kids can help with the coloring, but adult supervision is needed around the boiling water.

It is amazing to me how the different yarn produced different color results. I would have loved to see strawberries make the list because I think the color results would be perfect for making baby blankets for a special new baby girl.

Every week, the sites Knitting Pattern Central and Crochet Pattern Central post new free patterns that they've heard of or that have been sent to them. Several dozen patterns are often posted each week, and sometimes it can be tedious to look at them all to find the good ones... so I've done it for you. Then I've categorized them, alphabetized them, and written brief descriptions for each.

These patterns were all posted to the aforementioned sites in October, 2007, though some may have made their initial appearance on the web somewhat earlier. A few may have been posted in late September or the first few days of November: they were interesting enough to include here!

If you prove to like this feature, I'll continue to do it for you every month. You'll find patterns of all kinds after the break: sweaters for men, women, and babies, handbags, scarves and shawls, hats, toys, animals, socks, mittens, you name it.

Solar innovations are a hot topic on DIY Life. We love learning about new ways to combine solar power with our DIY passion. The solar food dehydrator is a great product of this combination.

You can make this out of cardboard boxes or wood depending on your handy skills, and how long you want it to last. You'll also need a piece of a garbage bag and some clear plastic. If you want added performance and a longer life, add some Styrofoam insulation. The solar dehydrator plans detail the assembly and offer tips for getting the best results.

The dehydrator can also be used for fruit or vegetables. It's a fun project with a tasty outcome. For an added challenge, make the food dehydrator from reused or recycled materials. You probably have everything you need around the house.