Door Snakes!

It's just barely starting to get cold. I love the cold season; it always means special things and exciting holidays.

But where I live, cold weather can be a problem, so one of the things I do is make "Door Snakes". These are little "tubes" that lay at the bottom of doors to keep the drafts out. You can buy them, for a pretty hefty chunk of change, or you can be stingy like me, and make them!

First, measure across the bottoms of the doors these will be used on.

Now, go through your scrap material, old clothes, whatever, and find some fabric. You will need a piece of fabric that is 10" x (the width of the door) + 8". You can use 1 piece of fabric, or you can sew a lot of little scraps together to get this size.

You need 18" of ribbon, cute string, or whatever else tickles your fancy, to tie the ends of your snakes.

You need old grocery bags, batting, old stuffing, or cut up fabric scraps for stuffings.

Now, lay out your piece of fabric, right sides together, in a long rectangle. Sew down the long side, and then turn and sew back. Turn it right side out.

Now you have a tube. Stuff it with your stuffins! Pack the stuffing fairly tight, from each end, until it's as wide as the door. Remember to leave about 4" free on each end.

*If you are completely NOT into sewing, then you take a piece of cloth that is 20" wide instead. You put your stuffings on it toward one long edge. Then you roll it up like a burrito or a sushi roll, and tie the ends as below*

Take your ribbon or string and gather the end of the snake tube. Wrap the ribbon twice round the tube, and pull tight, then tie a hard knot, then a bow. Repeat on the other side.

You're done!

These can be tossed in the washer BUT if you stuffed your snake with plastic bags DO NOT put it in the dryer unless you un-stuff it first!

Fall Potpourri and Spiritual Refresher

A lof of people like to use simmering potpourris in their homes, or bowls of dried potpourri to just smell yummy. You can buy all kinds of fancy scents, and you can find scents labelled everything from "Christmas Tree" to "Spiritual Uplift", and so on. And a lot of them come with an "uplifting" price tag, too!

But I like to make my own scents and I enjoy collecting the "bits" to use in smelly-goody things, so I thought I'd share one of my recipes with you!

Who can't use a bit of "prosperity" in today's world? Maybe you want your fall bulbs to "prosper" over the winter so they'll be bright and blooming in the spring. Maybe you want a little mental kick-start to help you get a job. Maybe you just want to feel "prosperous and rich", because after all, positive thinking goes a long way!

Well, these little mixtures should do that. If nothing else, the scent will give you a bit of a boost, and that's never bad.

Click here for two different potpourri recipes.

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Once everything's all mixed around, put your potpourri in a plastic zip-top bag, seal it, and label it. After about a week, the scent will have developed and you can use your potpourri.

You can simmer a handful at a time in your potpourri pot, or you can fill sachet bags with it, or you can put it in bowls around your house. And who knows, maybe the scent will inspire you to do well at a job interview, or remind you to take extra care of those bulbs you set, or make it more pleasant to pay your bills so you don't get charged a late fee or something!

Enjoy!