I am adding a new category to NewAndLostCrafts.com called ‘Lessons Learned’. I think it meets the spirit of what I’m trying to relay here:
Information to save money, to save time, to save ‘face’, or perhaps save your life.
This particular post will be far different from the rest I have so far because no video :(, just a simple pic, a story and a recommendation.
Here is a picture of our family mini-van after hitting a boulder in, you guessed it, Boulder Canyon! My lovely wife and daughter were coming home from a great day in the city. They came around a canyon corner to find a large rock in the road which, because of time and traffic, they could not avoid hitting!
I got a phone call at work and both of them were terrified! Lex, my daughte,r was in tears. Apparently it almost rolled the car – thank god they were alright!
All considering it does not look that bad right? Wrong! After three straight weeks of insurance and auto-body shop prodding, the car is considered to be a total loss.
We actually lucked out in several ways: neither of us have ever had an accident so our deductible was NOTHING! Also, we got far more from the settlement than we had expected.
BUT, we did not have rental car coverage as part of our policy. In fact it is ironic because no more than a week earlier a good friend of ours was mightily frustrated because she and her husband had dinged up a brand new vehicle and had made the same mistake. I should have listened and reacted.
This little extra to your insurance is worth it – believe me!!!! I am no insurance salesman, and I am not pushing anything here except a little advice. The extra, literally, couple of bucks a month could have saved us three weeks of headache. This is certainly a situation where you “don’t know what ya got till its gone”. Maybe even a reason to have a beater vehicle if that is in the cards for you.
I hate being the taxi driver
Have a great day.
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
Today I am showing you a short video of my solar backup system. I got interested in this concept because it was a way to dabble with solar energy that I could afford.
The system is small but useful. I have already used it in a few power outages and was able to run a few lights and even watch a movie! Now you not going to run a refrigerator off of this thing, but it sure is nice to have a little illumination and some entertainment. Then once the sun comes up it’s back to the window for a charge up.
Another great thing about a system like this is that you can always add to it. A few more solar panels and a few more batteries and it just gets more and more capable.
We have a great little driveway fireplace to film this upcoming epic. I’m excited – it is one of my favorite ways to relax in the evening. Also, with that video you will see the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Seeing is believing, right?
As always feel free to ask any questions you may have. I love this stuff thats why I’m doin it.
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
I have become a huge fan of having a decent amount of food storage. With that comes the responsibility of knowing what the heck to do with that food if you ever really need it.
That’s why I’m excited about sharing this with you. I love beans in general, but to be honest I have always FAILED preparing the dried version. The instructions on the package do not work for me – they are always way too firm and disappointing.
I got lucky one day – watch this.
The key is use a pressure cooker! This truly is a lost kitchen item. Once upon a time it was an essential tool, but, since the advent of the microwave, it has lost popularity. The fact still remains that it is a much faster method of cooking than ‘normal’ stove top methods.
In this video I am showing you how to make a small heater/firestarter out of a tuna can, some cardboard, and some wax.
I purchased a candle making kit from Candle Creations. These things are kinda hard to find anymore but if this video gets you fired up to get one click here –> Candle Maker
It’s funny to me that a lot of the retailers out there list this as a toy, in my opinion it is a work horse.
I chose to show you how to use this to make a ‘buddy heater’ instead of a candle today but I will post a future video on how to make a nice candle with this thing, they turn out very very nice (they make great gifts).
As you can see we have used this contraption HEAVILY for years. It is reliable and safer than the traditional double boiler method (in my opinion), especially is you are crafting with kids.
I am also going to make another video where I combine using one of these as a fire starter, and burn a few newspaper fire logs from my stash (earlier post). I figure that way I can show you how all of these can work together to keep ya’ nice and toasty!
A great source for candle wax is yard/garage sales! Seems you can almost always walk away from a day of visiting garage sales with a ton of wax for a buck or two.
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
Here is a tour of my tinkering with solar window heaters. I have been messing around with these for a few months and am really very pleased with version #3.
There is a lot of speculation about how maybe these things don’t really do anything because they ‘block’ the sun from coming into the room where it would naturally heat furniture etc… I could see that if the system were just passive as with the first two attempts but once you add the fan it is a whole different ball game.
Also, my end goal will be to have a much larger version which is not in a window but rather mounted to the south facing wall on my home, and an opening near the floor and the return near the ceiling. That should work very well based on my experiments so far!
Advice and questions are all welcome!
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
Today I am showing you a fun thing to do, how to cobra weave (cobra stitch) a paracord keychain fob!
I am a big fan of paracord and believe everyone should have some. This is a great way to use up the left-overs you might have laying around from larger projects and ensure friends and family always have a little ‘cordage’ on them.
One of the most popular projects out there is making bracelets out of this stuff. There are a TON of videos on this out there, so I decided to do something a little more unique.
Check out this guys youtube channel if you want to dive deeply into this craft. His videos are great, almost mesmerizing.
If you want to try this and need some paracord you can get it here –> Paracord
Thanks for watching, and as always feel free to ask me any questions you may have!
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
Todays video is of me using a Whirley-Pop popcorn maker!
This thing is great, as I mention in the video it was a Christmas gift which I at first kinda looked at with the ‘when the heck will I use this?’ attitude and boy was I wrong! We use it all the time! What a great way to same some money. My whole family prefers this popcorn to any sort of chip, it is significantly better popcorn than the microwave baggies.
A few notes after reviewing the video again:
1) We have great results with literally the cheapest popcorn.
2) I did not have a great view of the whole Whirley-Pop, basically there is a crank handle at the end that you turn. You ARE NOT reeling in a fish! Slow and steady is all ya need!
3) This makes a LOT of popcorn, we fill two gallon size Ziploc bags (not crazy full but easy to manage full). This is a great method for seasoning,, put your popcorn in, put your seasoning in, shake!
I’m excited about this post mostly because I am so proud of the results I get!
My family and friends rave about these! I even brought these to my daughters school event (they are studying Mexico) and the TEACHER wanted to hide them just for the parents (she was joking, I think)!
Here is the recipe:
2 Cups Flour (White all purpose)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp veggie oil (actually the fat of your choice)
3/4 cup warm (important) milk
The recipe makes 8 large tortillas or 12 taco sized ones. There is no issue making a bigger batch!
Watch the video for the instructions, that’s why I made it!
I’m not completely proud of the video,, but I wanted to get something out. I think it conveys the most important aspects of the tortilla craft. Here are a few I wanted to stress:
1) Let the dough rest!!! This was my biggest mistake for years of trying to do this. If you don’t they will not roll out properly.
2) I did not emphasize the tortilla press enough, it really does make life easier, especially if you want any chance of having them round! Click here for a nice one –> Tortilla Press
3) It is easy to over cook these! As your pan gets hotter they go even faster! Pay attention, flip often at first and you will get the hang of it quickly.
Now get to making! Please send me any questions you may have!
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
Subscribe to get updates! They happen several times a week!
Check this video out. I know of a few ways to make old newspaper into a newspaper log, nice fuel for the fire (and not just to start it). I will make videos in the future of some of the more basic ways.
This gizmo I picked up from one of my favorite gadget sites Kotulas.com is a very cool way to do it. The ‘logs’ take a while to dry but what a neat way to use old newspaper and junk mail! In our little patio fireplace two or three of these will burn quite nicely for 30-45 minutes.
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