(back to Front Page)

 Dr. O.K. Noggin          

Around and About the Home Tips

Dear Dr. Noggin,   Hope you don't mind if I share with you, yet another use for panty hose. They are excellent in the bottom of plants being rooted. It keeps the soil from dropping out of the holes and the water drains, as if there is nothing there. When ready to stick in the ground, the roots are wrapped around the hose and slide nicely out of the pot.   Panty hose are excellent for cleaning glass. The slight abrasive texture removes anything stuck on, without leaving lint. (mirrors, art glass ect... with a little windex, of course) "Switch"   ***********************************************          Dear Reader   Great Switchgears1 - All tips are welcomed! Here's couple more    Gardeners Luv Ol' Pantyhose Cut 1 or 2 inch circles all the way up the legs of old pantyhose, till you end up with 30 or more pantyhose rings. The pantyhose rings are fantastic for supporting limbs on trees, vines, vegetables. The polyester fabric is soft and will not bruise your plants yet very strong, better than string that will fade and break from the weather. ***********************************************  Add a bar of soap, in the pantyhose, and hang it outside by your water hose ( or anywhere else you might need to wash hands up quickly) to wash your hands with after gardening and other outdoor work.

Dr. O.K. Noggin       Recycle those  Old CD's Like the ones you get free or no longer use.   Use the shiny side up as a little mirror to reflect candles or wee ornaments. I stick a few atop my monitor, as mirrors.I have a corner desk unit and my back is to the door entry. This way I can see who is coming and a going without turning around!You can get crafty and make Christmas Decorations, hot glue two together, so the shiny side is out. Embelish as you wish.   Another crafty idea build a funky looking mirrored tower to hold pens ect. On your desk.  Hot glue the edges and start building that tower!Donate those old CD's to the charity or to a school for art projects.     ***********************************************    Dear Dr. Noggin,   I've used the excess AOL discs for a contest with bored co-workers.   Set up a cardboard box on the other side of the room, preferably one of those brittle, cheap Chinese boxes.   Draw a 8 inch circle on the side facing where you're going to stand.  Take turns throwing them really hard to make them stick in.  2 points for sticking one into the circle, 1 point for sticking one into the box but not in the circle.  When you run out, the person with the least points has to get out the broom and clean up the shards.    signed... Tom Ketchfish   ***********************************************    Dear Dr. Noggin,   Uses for CDs..? Analog clock faces: they already have a hole in the center for the hands and works   in craft projects, I've seen them used for everything from pin-backs to "Cooked Abstract" art pieces -- cut into shapes and then heated with a craft heat gun, and molded with tools.  Fascinating stuff.   in a related topic -- I once saw a craft project that made a Vinyl LP into a "chip / crisps" bowl by sticking it in a low oven over a ball of aluminium foil .... <SHUDDER> signed... VG ***********************************************    More Advice on CDs from Dr. Noggin     A DVD is very similar to a CD, but has a much larger data capacity, holding about seven times more data than a CD. This is why DVDs are used for the memory-intensive picture movies,  while CDs are used for music.  Both use the same technology. Because CDs and DVDs are durable, convenient, easy to carry and store, and cheap to produce, they are now being widely used and are replacing other types of data storage. It is likely in the future we will have more and more of these plastic discs, rather than fewer. And each one will sooner or later be disposed of. Reduce. If you are using CDs for data storage, look into using DVDs instead --  you can store more data while using less material, thereby reducing the number of discs needed.  If you use CDs and DVDs primarily for music and movies, rent them or purchase used CDs and DVDs. Each time the discs are reused, it reduces the number of discs that need to be manufactured and disposed of. Reuse. In addition to the obvious reburning of re-writable CDs and DVDs, you can reuse CDs and DVDs for a variety of craft projects. They are very easy to cut into any shape with ordinary household scissors and can be decorated with a variety of markers and paints. Here are some simple ideas: Drink coasters -- Buy a small piece of corkboard from a craft store, Cut four 1 x 1 inch squares and glue them to the printed side of the CD. Leave the shiny side up as your coaster. You can also use the pre-gummed felt circle table protectors instead of the cork. Bird chasers -- Hang CDs in your garden. The shiny surface moving in the breeze will scare away birds. This works very well by orchardists. Reflectors -- Use as reflectors on fenceposts, bicycles, driveways, or anywhere you want to call attention to something in the dark. Garden Row Markers -- Write the name of the vegetable with a permanent marker on the CD-ROM. Cut the edges of each into a flower shape if you want. Glue or tack the CD-ROM to a stick and put in the ground to mark your garden rows. If the CD or DVD is music or a movie and you just don’t want it any more, put it back into circulation by trading them in at a music store that accepts used CDs, or donate them to charity. Recycle. CDs, DVDs, and their jewel cases can and are being recycled. While they are generally not recyclable through local drop-off or curbside programs, there are a few well-established programs that separate and retrieve the various materials and recycle them. Cases and CD's are pelletized,  then end up as egg cartons and automotive parts. If you are concerned about proprietary data on the discs, you can cut them with a ordinary household scissors, or place them one at a time in a microwave oven with a small glass of water for 5 seconds on the "high" setting.   Turn the page

 (back to Front Page)