Archive for the ‘do it’ Category

I have been hearing about some wonderfully innovative ways to “Make it Do” lately, and I wanted to pass them along.  Friends of ours are thinking outside the box and doing things they might not have considered a few years ago.

Richard, a friend and colleague of my husband Drew had to leave work early the other day… he had to go milk the cow.  “But you don’t have a cow.” Drew said.

Richard then told him how his family has just joined a “co-op” with six other families in his community.  He pays $20 a month- money that goes to the upkeep and care of a dairy cow.  Then once a week, his family has a day they are in charge of milking the cow.  For that, they receive between 3-5 gallons of milk a week for their family.  Did I mention the milk is hormone free, is not from a genetically modified cow, and would only have antibiotics if they were necessary?  That means they are paying between $1 to $1.50 a gallon for really good milk.  Plus, what a great opportunity for the family to milk that cow.  Don’t you think milking a cow at 6 am has just got to build your kid’s character? (Hee, Hee)

I’ve also seen families in our area getting chickens for the first time… and honey bees.

Down the street from our home, our family watched this spring as fencing when up around previously empty lots, making two large fenced areas.  One area was plowed and planted with tomatoes and peppers.  Then one day we were driving down the street and my kids began to shout.  In the other fenced area were some Texas Long Horns!  Not something you see around here very often.  The man who owned those lots must have decided it was better to turn them into something useful than to have them sit gathering weeds.

Seeing my friends and neighbors innovate is so inspiring.  It makes me think, what else could our family do to save money and have new experiences?  What innovative things is your family doing to “Make it Do?”

It’s an old joke that children have more fun with the box their gift came in, than with the gift itself.

I can vouch for that!  My children have always had a thing for cardboard boxes.  Apple boxes became cars when they were smaller… shoe boxes have been made into leprechaun traps… and they love to paint boxes and cut out windows and doors to use with their favorite action figures…

That’s why I knew I had hit a jackpot when I found Mr. McGroovy’s Website.

Ben’s birthday was coming up and he wanted a pirate party.  I was looking for ideas and ran across Mr. McGroovy’s instructions to make this pirate ship out of refrigerator boxes.   I know our ship isn’t fancy… especially compared to the the ones on the website… but it was a major hit and lasted for almost 2 months after the party.  (…and saw many swashbuckling adventures, I might add.)

I had to call around town to find the refrigerator boxes.  I finally found them at a large furniture store’s delivery warehouse.  They were free.  Then all it took was a little time and paint.  I didn’t order Mr. McGroovy’s grommets, because I didn’t have time to get them before the party, so we made two holes about an inch apart and looped a cable tie through the two holes.  We did this at every spot you were supposed to use a grommet.  Once it was constructed and everything pulled snug, we trimmed all the loose end of the cable ties.

We made the pyramid for Ben’s 8th birthday party last year… an Indiana Jones party.  The door looks ripped because it is.  I created the door with butcher paper covered with hieroglyphic symbols that the kids had to decode before entering the pyramid.  Once inside it was filled with plastic snakes, green glow sticks to make a spooky aura, and glow in the dark paint hieroglyphics on the walls… and their treasure of course!  This party goer said he didn’t like the snakes…

The pyramid was equally fun and long lasting. And even though I didn’t take the time to paint the pyramid, the kids didn’t seem to mind.

If you are looking for cheap adventure for your kids… why not transform an old cardboard box into something really fun.  I know we enjoyed making the projects as much as the kids loved playing in them.

Check out Mr. McGroovy’s very groovy site… there are lots of free instructions for wonderful projects.