Unusual ways to use the usual home appliances

Cardmaking – heat embossing. Until I was able to buy a craft heat gun to melt the embossing powder, I used to hold the card with the embossing powder image over the toaster and it melted the powder perfectly. (Of course you can’t turn the card over, which you can to get a less smooth image by using a craft heat gun or the powder would fall into the toaster and you would have a right mess.)

You can also use an iron (with the steam turned off) to heat an image stamp once you have placed a craft product made for the job over the stamp, it doesn’t take long and the image of the stamp is transferred to the craft material, and with rubber stamps and some specialized clear stamps, there is no damage to the stamp.

I’ve also started using washing tablets etc. boxes as ‘altered art’ (which just means you are doing up something that would normally be put in the bin. I’ve painted them and laid squared/oblong pieces of paper (smaller than the area painted so both will show). I added a tassel to the front of the lid of the box and then decorated the top with paper flowers. It looks stunning and I’ve got orders for more.

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How to make safe use of household appliances

A friend puts a freshly plucked cannabis leaf in her microwave for a short time to dry it out enough to crumble into her roll-up.

When doing woodwork, shelves, beehives etc, I wax the wood using an electric iron in one hand and a lump of beeswax in the other. The wood, when warmed up, opens its pores slightly allowing wax to penetrate. The application of elbow grease before it hardens provides a permanent good looking surface that never needs any other attention apart from an occasional dusting.
When next using the iron on clothing, put a sheet of kitchen towelling betwixt iron and garment until you are sure that any residual wax has gone.
It isn’t every month that I iron clothes. If flat clothes went out of fashion they could probably close several power stations!

My tumble drier is currently used as a platform upon which are a barrel of cider and another of cyser, and a scattering of fossils I have collected. It is the biggest part of a decade since it has been used for the original purpose. In terms of food (drink) miles the cider has travelled about as far as one could toss a biscuit.

Do coat hangers count as household appliances? I have a pair which support 4 horizontal bamboo poles. They hang below pulleys on cord strategically knotted. In my conservatory the device dries washing when the weather outside is not suitable. Total cost under a fiver for poles, pulleys and cord.