How to Remove Ice from Steps and Walkways Without Using Salt

With a ton of snow (and maybe ice) headed our way, THIS is a tip that we can surely use. 

I haven't tried it, but considering we don't have any ice melter in the house, and we DO have these ingredients, I'm going to give it a try. Certainly worth passing along:

Mix together:

1 tsp Dawn dishwashing liquid

1 Tbsp rubbing alcohol

1/2 gallon hot/warm water

First remove whatever snow and ice that you can, and then pour the mixture on it. 

It supposedly works like this: The dishwashing liquid helps prevent the ice from re-freezing, and the alcohol makes the ice melt faster.

Again, I have not tried this and I will be trying it during this snow event. I will report back if it, in fact, works. So, if for any reason it does not work, don't shoot the messenger. :-) As with anything, you never know until you try it.

Good luck and stay safe. And if you haven't seen our snow cream recipe, that might also be something to try out if you're going to get snow.

***************************UPDATE TO ORIGINAL POST***************************

I promised that I would give this a try and let everyone know how it worked out. Well, first let me say that over the course of three days, North Carolina was walloped with a winter storm of epic proportions. It has already been documented on Wikipedia, if that tells you how significant this weather event has been in this area. So, it should come as no surprise that not everyone was exactly prepared (including yours truly), and we've turned to scouring the Interwebs for methods of de-icing steps and walkways.

My findings regarding this particular method follow. Here's the "before" shot of my front steps. I left these photos completely untouched:

As per the instructions, I shoveled off as much snow as I could and found that there was a good bit of ice on the bottom layer. I mixed up double the recipe using tap water that was as hot as I could get it and poured it on the icy layer that was left. That layer immediately turned to slush (no doubt because of the hot water that I used). I swept major bits of slush off the steps, and this is what they looked like later that same day and since.

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One Man's Trash - Vintage Playing Cards Turned Valentine's Garland

I suppose that these barely fit into the category of One Man's Trash. I mean, they're not all that vintage. 

But it is kind of neat to find an old set of cards and rather than leaving them in their current state of disrepair, a Valentine's garland seemed to be a fitting project for them. (And considering card players are always on the lookout for a "fresh deck of cards" - you might come across some of these easier than you'd think.)

Look at the date on the blue box of cards. Why they're marked as Atlanta 1996 Olympics! And look at the red box, it's marked as Rider Back - we'll get to that soon.

First you'll need to gather your materials:

• Playing cards
• Hole punch
• Ribbon
• Scissors

Remove the heart cards from the deck plus any additional cards to use for their red backs. Set aside.

Next, choose a card that you'll not be using in your garland. (This is in case you screw up the next step and have to try again - luckily I got it right on one try!)

Evenly punch two holes at the top of this card. You will use this card as your template for punching holes in the other cards for your garland.

Carefully line up the template card with each heart card and punch holes in the heart card through the holes on the template card. 

Cut a piece of ribbon that is the length you want your finished garland plus hanging loops. This length should equal the width of all cards (side by side), plus approximately 2 1/2 to 3 inches between the cards, plus extra length on the ends to make loops for hanging. (For example, my garland has 16 cards and my joining ribbon is 9 feet long.) 

Thread the cards onto the joining ribbon in random order, leaving 2 1/2 to 3 inches between the cards. Make sure to leave enough room on each end to tie loops. When finished threading cards, tie loops for hanging.

Cut coordinating ribbon into 6 inch lengths. Randomly tie 2 to 3 ribbons into each space between cards and on each loop knot.

Hang garland and enjoy!

Remember those Rider Back cards? Well, Bicycle Playing cards have several different back designs. Their Rider Back design features a Cupid riding a bicycle. When I noticed this, I decided to include some of those in the garland, which you can see in the photo below right next to the King and Queen of Hearts. 

But, if you happen upon a deck that is a little low on heart cards (or if you just want to make a bigger garland), red backed cards would be a great way to extend the garland, even if they don't happen to have Cupid on them.

Double Duty Fridge

Not too long ago, I discovered that one of Emma's favorite books had been the unfortunate recipient of some renegade rainwater.  It had such wonderful illustrations, we couldn't bare to part with it, so I carefully cut out what I could salvage and adhered them to magnets also cut to size.

Now Emma can put the story in order right on the refrigerator.  That was, after all, one of my favorite preschool past times.

I actually got the idea over Christmas when I had some nativity cutouts in the Christmas curriculum we used, so I went ahead and made those too!

Then, today I came across this awesome little article over on For the Family.  There were some really good ideas on how to incorporate prayer into a busy busy life.  The one that I was immediately drawn to was a prayer board.  They found the idea on Pinterest which I do use every now and then. However, I have taken note that some people feel this way about the Pinterest:

and I completely understand the sentiment.  The prayer board from Pinterest was beautiful and even the lady endorsing it said that she had not constructed hers yet, so I give to you my prayer board:

Note:  this is the side of my fridge.  (the one without the storyboard and nativity magnets)  I simply raided Emma's letter magnets, (and thankfully found the right ones) moved my calendar and weekly DG coupon over, and Voila!  (and, yes, that is binoculars hanging by my front door--you never know when you may need to scout something out!)  So, the general idea is to add prayer requests as you get them, and then, whenever you pray together as a family, say before meals, you have them handy.

Pinterest is a great tool.  I think people get sucked in to the "Keeping up with the Jones'" complex.  I see it, rather, as a jumping off point.  I usually just visit if I am already scouting something out, and while I do love a good craft project, I am also continuously on a minimizing mission in my house, so great ideas are always welcome, extra "stuff"-- not so much.