DIY Life

Help your pup keep cool during these long, hot summer days. Frozen concoctions – doggie popsicles, if you will – are easy to whip up. They're also very economical ... and dogs love 'em!

Most recipes for frozen dog treats include peanut butter. I like this basic recipe from the Humane Society best: combine peanut butter with a bit of water or mashed banana. Freeze your mixture in ice cube trays or just pop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. For really large dogs, you can make super-sized chillers using paper cups.

Think peanut butter's boring? Check out EHow's suggestions for more creative combos. How about garlicky tuna and yogurt? Or apples with yogurt and liver? Yeah, I think it sounds gross, too, but your dog will probably sell his soul for a taste.

Sometimes I avoid using the blender for smaller tasks because I dread cleaning it. Next time you whip up your favorite peanut butter hummus recipe (ok, my favorite recipe, but try it and I'm sure you'll love it too!), you can blend it straight into the jar.

Our friends at slashfood pointed us to this tip by Elise, suggesting that most blenders can be used with a standard canning jar. Apparently this used to be a common way to blend spices and other small quantity mixtures. 40 years ago new blenders even came with a canning jar and a collection of recipes. I didn't know that this was ever the case, so the tip is inventive genius to me.

Regular size mason jars will fit perfectly onto most blender bases. Simply blend your mixes, unscrew the jar, and store it as is. If you accidently break the carafe, you don't have to run out and get a whole new blender either, just use canning jars for all your blending needs. Brilliant, pure brilliance.

I was searching for ways to get peanut butter out of carpet and found these instructions claiming that peanut butter can actually be just the thing you need to get gum out of your carpet. I was just as shocked as you, but reading through the reasoning it sounds like a great solution.

Scrape off as much gum as you can, then rub on some creamy peanut butter. The peanut butter will take the stick out of the gum. It should wipe away easily. Reading trough the instructions I thought "that's great, but what about my original problem of having peanut butter in the carpet?" Well, it turns out that isn't quite the problem I imagined it to be. A simple, homemade solution will wash way the peanut butter and your carpet will be as stunning as it started (or in our house, will only have the stains that existed before the gum and peanut butter).

Since snow is now covering the ground where I live, I haven't seen too many birds. If I don't put out some special food for them, they will find somewhere else to find their food, and I won't be seeing much of them until next spring.

You can make your own pinecone bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter, and bird seed. Slather some peanut butter on an open pinecone, roll it in bird seed, and allow the peanut butter to harden. Hang up in a tree outside. If you aren't so lucky to have a tree, you can throw them on the ground. Trust me, the birds will find them. Be careful if you buy pinecones at the craft store, as they may be preserved with fragrance oils that could harm the birds. If you don't have any pipe cleaners, you can use yarn or even fishing line to hang up the yummy bird treat.

You can get the kids involved in this project. They will be proud of themselves, knowing that they are helping to feed creatures that otherwise might go south for the long (loooong) winter. What better way to spend a snow day than to watch the birds gobble up their man-made yummy treat!

[via: Craftzine]