Pack Rat loves blowing bubbles in our chocolate milk

Don’t forget! Only two weeks left for our Birthday Contest!

Happy Monday before Thanksgiving my little Pack Ratters (I’ve been toying with changing your collective name to Pack Ratteers, but I’m a little worried that a team of Disney lawyers will come in and bust my kneecaps with a lead pipe for copyright infringement). I’m sure most of us have pumpkin pies in our eyes this week and don’t even want to think about the inevitable clean up yet, but I figured I would share this blog at The Simple Dollar for an affordable, easily made DIY laundry detergent recipe. Produced from the common household/grocery store cleaners of bar soap, borax (Jak sie masz!), and washing soda, this is a basic recipe that anyone with a large bucket can make. Use it to clean all of your table linens after the guest have gone. And, for only $10 (give or take) for 5 gallons you can save a few dollars you can use on holiday gifts.

photo copyright by The Simple Dollar

Pack Rat says, “King me!”

All right, so I don’t know how to play chess. But you know what? It is probably better this way, because if I actually knew how I’d have to confront the fact that I am a terrible tactician, ruled ultimately by my whims and a my hair-trigger sense of impatience. And frankly, I’m already peripharally aware of those short comings, I don’t need any high-falutin’ game pushing them in my face. That being said, I do like a good chess board and pieces, just for the asethetic quality most possess. Whether they are hand crafted, or plastic Star Wars figures there is something pleasing about seeing the two opposing families staring at each other across the board. So that is why, even though I don’t play the game I can still enjoy Claude Rieth’s tutorial on how to DIY chess pieces from common nuts and bolts. Not only is putting a personal touch on a common game cool, but the industrial quality of the pieces are a nice melding of new and old (although, since we’ve left the industrial revolution behind in favor of the technological one, maybe somebody should go about looking for a way to make pieces out of computer parts? I’ll leave that to you, Pack Ratters).

To quickly jump subjects, I want to remind everyone that our Birthday Scavanger Hunt is still on going. It’s free to participate and if you win, you’ll get a free copy of the book,  Handmade Nation. So start the hunt now! Entries due in by Dec. 1st.

When Pack Rat thinks about you, we just can’t get enough!

Today’s pick comes from Breconstructed, a delightful play on words as shop owner Bree reconstructs outdated second-hand clothes into modern vintage. Although that might sound like an oxymoron, the pieces at Breconstructed retain their vintage appeal, but with some contemporary tailoring and detailing that make them less costume-y and more easily integrated into a modern wardrobe. We are especially drawn to this Blue Polyster Sundress ($25). The romance of the ruffled collar combined with the geometry of the stripes makes a combination that is the cat’s pajamas. And Breconstructed just opened on Monday, so expect more great design in the days to come.

photo copyright by Breconstructed

Pack Rat takes a look at cake in a cup, and reminds you that the deadline for our Birthday Scavanger Hunt contest is December 1st!

Oh man. Here we go people. I just came across what could potentially be a life changing blog post. Dizzy Dee has posted a blog detailing how to make chocolate cake in five minutes. In a microwave. In a mug. CHOCOLATE CAKE. I am so screwed. Can you imagine, in the time it normally takes to nuke two mugs of tea you can instead have one of nature’s best desserts? The only thing that’s stopping me from leaping over to the kitchen and trying it immediately is my lack of cake flour in the house. And don’t sweat the eggs and milk in the recipe, vegan friends. Dizzy Dee has some helpful readers indeed; one reader named João Taborda modified the recipe for vegans, so that everyone can benefit/suffer from the world’s most easily assembled guilty pleasure. It’s a weird to be excited about, and dreading something at the same time. All I can hope for is that it doesn’t taste as good as the real thing. Fingers crossed.

photo copyright Dizzy Dee

Read the new issue of Pack Rat, and join in our birthday contest!

Today’s frugal find comes from a fellow nut megger (if you can’t tell, I love my home state of Connecticut. Don’t underrate the Constitution State!). Carissa Black’s checkbook cover ($10) is just perfect. The design is neat, no frills with plenty of storage space, but the fabric is bold, bright, graphic and makes me smile. Black’s Etsy shop can be found under the title gardencris27 and she has more than a few bags, wristlets, and such that I covet. She is helped along by the modern, eye-catching patterns of Amy Butler’s fabrics, but Black has a great eye of her own for matching patterns and textures. Add one of her pieces to your outfit and you’re sure to get stopped several times by people dying to know where you got your awesome wears.

photo copyright by Carissa Black