Tuesday 14 July 2015

Hand Warmers, Some Eco Shopping

You Northern Hemisphere people will laugh at us, but we are starting to feel the cold here, with it having got down to one degree at night (I think that's 33.8 Fahrenheit).

Brown rice filled hand warmers - a good way to use up fabric scraps


I made my daughter a couple of little pocket handwarmers, and when the other girls saw (and felt) them, they wanted some too, hence the little birds, and not shown, one more manly and larger dinosaur for the grandson.



I filled them with brown rice, and each little bag heats up in a minute in the microwave, along with half a cup of water alongside to stop them drying out and presumably catching fire. The warmth lasts nearly half an hour.
They can be kept in the freezer to use as an ice pack too.
I'm sure in colder climes these are something you have been using for years.

Yesterday I kept my friend Di company on a shopping trip to Auckland. I just have to show you this shop she took me to called Junk and Disorderly, at 18 Kawana Street, Northcote (you can find them on Facebook). Di found the old tap and a crystal droplet she wanted to make her water feature. All I bought was some rolls of washi tape, as they have a section of new things as well as a massive amount of preloved but nicely displayed stock.
Junk and Disorderly, Northcote, Auckland


Washi tape is great as it is paper tape, biodegradable, you can use it to stick things to your walls and it wont take paint or paper off when removed, or for lots of craft ideas and it comes in so many colours and patterns.

washi tape


Next was a visit to a place that sells everything for water features, and I couldn't resist this photo of the prices of driftwood!



 We could be rich! Derek, you can retire right now!

4 comments:

  1. I like your hand warmers. I put wheat in mine as I like the smell but I made owl ones for my grandsons a couple years ago and had to replace the wheat with rice because they said they "smelled funny"! I have a bunch of different sizes, like a long skinny one for draping around the neck and shoulders. What a great name for a shop, Junk and Disorderly. It looks like a really fun place to explore. The driftwood prices are crazy!

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    1. ooh, I like your idea for the long warmer for the neck - I could start getting orders from the family for those too.

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  2. I love the name of that shop, I don't like shopping, but that's the kind of shop I could spend a bit of time in! In Darwin there is a shop called The Sticky Beak Shop, it was one of the best shops I've ever seen, everything was new, but it was unlike all the usual stuff you see in most shops!

    $30 for driftwood!!! I'd like to see what sort of fool would pay that!

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    1. Yes, I'm not much of a shopper these days - more one of those annoying customers who wanders around admiring things. Somebody must pay that much?? Maybe the time poor.

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