thank you, thank you. I have to give the credit to nanatricia, she posted one quite awhile ago that I just fell in love with, I tried to find it, but it looks like the link to the picture is broken. Anyway, its a bowling ball, I took candy wrappers -foil type ones, and oreo and nutter butter lunch pack wrappers :), though on another one I'm working on, I discovered that gum wrappers are a dream - siliconed them down on the ball, took safety glass (courtesy of my Mom breaking her patio table as she got it out this Spring) and siliconed that over the wrappers, then grouted it. One thing I did discover, if you find you have a loose piece of glass, its very worth your time to go back and re-silicone it, don't expect the grout to hold it there - it won't. I still need to seal it, then I'll put it out in the sun and watch it sparkle!! Before I give it to my cousin ;)

Ya! BB&B coupons. Quarters. I forgot those things! I just bought a new car this weekend but don't pick it up till Sunday so I have all week to clean out my old car which I've had for TWELVE years. I'm thinking that I'm going to find all KINDS of stuff in the nooks & crannies that I'd forgotten I had. I'll report back if anything interesting pops up. Just thinking about it now, I do also keep some CDs hidden away in there that I almost never listen to. LOL Plus hard candies that I might grab on the way out of a restaurant for later... and then never eat! I keep 2-3 pairs of reading glasses and yes, a pair of scissors too. I have to admit the reason for the scissors is very specific. One of our favorite local Mexican restaurants prints a coupon every week in the local throw-away paper that is local to their area. Houston's pretty big and we're not in the delivery zone for that paper although we're really not that far from the restaurant. The paper's office is very close to the eatery though, so we always swing by there and grab one from their dispenser (free) on the way to eat. Thus we need the scissors in the car - to cut out that coupon!

they seem to be very popular once again.....I've seen purses and belts selling for huge bucks in online stores. kudzu check out these links http://www.makegizmos.com/things%20to%20make/how%20to%20make%20a%20paper%20chain.htm http://www.victoryseeds.com/candystore/nostalgiagum_chain.html http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tramp-art.com/folk%2520art%2520class/00-151.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.tramp-art.com/prison_art.htm&usg=__p-YX7CcEa6mWx88enEGbokuH840=&h=385&w=380&sz=37&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=925pUKOieA5EkM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=121&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgum%2Bwrapper%2Bchain%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

"cynic- Why do your put your pasta, sugar and flour in the freezer? Is that to kill any pantry bugs? That's exactly why maire_cate! We don't have anywhere near the problems that some states have with the bugs but I've been in the back rooms of enough grocery stores to say, in the freezer! I actually put them in a plastic bag to bring them home, then into the freezer, plastic bag and all for 2-3 days minimum. I've never had to clean out flour bugs from my house and hope I never will have that duty. Or should I say dooty? Say Wildchild, about your comment "Like my friend the people I see using the cheap non washable bags are those who can least afford them." Are you talking about paper/plastic from the store? Usually they're "free", but with reuseables, many stores here give a 5 credit. We all know the cost of these bags are factored into the overhead, therefore into pricing at the store. If you're referencing the reuseable bags you buy, I haven't seen one yet that can't be washed so if that's the reference, where do you get this idea? I've even washed plastic bags from the store! (The cheapie "free" ones.) Also, I have to question your position: "But if you follow the money you will see that this is just another way for stores to save money on regular bags and make a profit on cheap reusable, most of which will end up in the landfills taking more space than plastic or even paper." *If* the store has you bring a bag, AND not give you a credit for not taking a bag, then yes it's another way to save money and to that I say why not? Stores *are* in business to make a profit. However, if the store gives the credit, then I dispute your position since the bags probably cost the store less than 5¢ each so in many cases, it can cost the store money for people to bring the bags in, to say nothing of the loss of bags people don't purchase - grab, use and not mention it to the cashier. Next I'll take issue with the landfill: Yes, one reuseable probably takes more space than one paper or plastic, but I don't think it's fair to say we'll throw the reuseables away after only one use! Or for that matter after 2-3 uses even. Therefore they would keep a number of bags out of the landfill so, are you suggesting that one reuseable takes more landfill space than 50-100 other bags? I don't know what the ratio is, but I know I've used mine now at least 10 times each and they're still like new. Granted there's some wobble room there since some of the other bags would get reused as trash bags. Sometimes get reused even several times (for Aldi trips, carrying things to the vehicle and the like). And yes, sometimes I'll take a bag on top of it as mentioned. But I can't "buy" the theory that there's more landfill space used. You'll have to "sell" me on that one! For the toilet paper core, I agree completely. I've said they should have a minimal size tube in it, 1" maximum. For that matter, make the toilet paper holder thinner. 1/4" would be more than adequate. However, people buy from looks. They tried reducing core size years ago and are trying it again but in the past people rejected it as they did compaction of the laundry detergents. Didn't think they were getting their money's worth. I buy Scott 1000 sheet cheekscrape and it takes less room in the closet, costs less and is as good quality as most any other and far better than many. Compare how many rolls you need to get 1000 sheets sometime folks and you'll see what I mean. On cardboard, Aldi let's you (encourages you actually to) take and use the boxes in the store. Saves them trash costs. You dispose of it. And finally, I can't hit submit until I address the "China Syndrome"! I keep seeing the woe-is-me posts on here about all the business going to China and although yes I think it's sad, I realize what's going on. Why do we get so much from China? Because that's what people BUY! I remember the tearful threads about Walmart not carrying fabric in some stores anymore. That's not carried because people don't BUY it! Trust me, if people bought fabric and made their own clothes and such, Walmart would probably have a store called Cloth*Mart, charge you $75/year to enter it, make you check out 3 times to leave and charge you 50% more than buying it somewhere else! And people would brag about how much they save! But until people buy, they won't keep selling. Stores need "turns". It costs them money to keep the lights on and every item has to carry its weight on profit. Oops, one other thing. I found the comments on that link about sanitation of the reuseable bags to be quite interesting and I think they made a valid point. Don't forget to read the comments there if you read the article.