| How to Make Pet Food Dishes from Plastic Containers Posted: Avoid the cost of purchasing food dishes for your four-legged friends and do a bit of recycling good by reusing unwanted plastic containers from your recycling. This is a really simple activity to make versatile pet food dishes in a short space of time, enhanced by your own creative edge. Steps - Find a suitable unwanted plastic container. The plastic containers should be food grade, durable and stable. Hence, the best ones are those containers that have held your own food initially and are strong enough to be reused, such as ice cream containers, or other frozen food storage containers. Avoid any containers that won't clean, are stained, appear weak, or that have any sharp edges. Never use containers that have had toxic products in them (which includes knowing which human foods are not good for pets) - stick to food grade containers only. When sizing, consider:
- Cats - remember their whiskers, which are wide and sensitive. Cats need a shallow, wide container that doesn't obstruct their head access with whiskers included, but don't make the dish too deep. The water dish should be slightly deeper than the food dish.
- Dogs - dogs need a dish that has enough room for a single meal. Things to think about include not having too large a dish to avoid the temptation to over-feed your dog, and floppy eared dogs should be give a dish that doesn't cause their ears fall into the meal. The water dish should be twice as big as the meal dish.
- Peel off any labels from the chosen container. Use a non-toxic adhesive-removing solution if there is any sticky residue left behind. Wash the container with warm sudsy water, inside and out, thoroughly. Leave it to air dry.
- Lay out newspapers where you'll be working. These will protect the work surface. Keep your pet away from your workspace - you don't want him licking glitter or paint!
- Decorate the container. Use anything you have available or that inspires you, to make your designs, such as stickers, non-toxic permanent markers, glitter, non-toxic paint, sequins, rhinestones, whatever! Enjoy this process and remember that your artwork doesn't have to be perfect; it's not like the dog cares if a letter is a fraction of a millimeter shorter than the rest! Keep in mind, however, that it is very important to make sure that whatever you decorate the container with is securely attached to the container, to prevent your pet from pulling it off and chewing it or swallowing it. If in doubt about a stick-on item, don't use it at all, especially not for puppies and kittens.
- Use clear packing tape to seal everything onto the container. This means covering your decorative work in neat layers, being careful not to leave gaps. This will let you to wipe off food stains easily. This step is optional if you'd rather not apply tape; just be sure that your decorations can withstand being wiped clean.
- Wash the container. Wash it twice, for good measure. Be careful with the outside - wiping will be better than washing the external surface. Allow the completed container to air dry again. Fill it with food or water, and watch your pet enjoy their first meal or drink from the new container.
Tips - If you make two dishes, label one "water" and one "food", or whatever you'd like them to be labeled. Be creative: "Foofoo" and "H2O" are more exciting labels than plain "food" and "water".
- Be aware that plastic containers don't last long with continued usage. Given that it is really easy to replace these containers, however, it shouldn't be too difficult to continue updating fresh versions for your pet as needed.
Warnings - Plastic contains Bisphenol A. In humans Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor, which can mimic the body's own hormones and may lead to negative health effects. Many mammal species' biology, especially dogs and cats, are similar to human biology so use your own judgment when using plastics. If you don't want it in your body, do you want it in your pet's?
- Plastic containers probably aren't the best choice if your pet has a habit of pushing the dish around and making a big, spilling mess. You'll need to invest in something sturdier and heavier.
- Do not put any decorations on the inside of the dish. The adhesives, etc., might contaminate the food, and if they come loose, your pet might accidentally ingest them.
- Cats are more sensitive to plastic and can develop allergies or "feline acne" from plastic containers (even commercially made plastic pet food dishes); check the cat's chin regularly to make sure there are no black lesions forming.[1] Cease using the plastic dish if you notice any such problems. Dogs are less sensitive but, with that said, they can also be impacted by degraded plastic, (see following warning).
- Dispose of all chewed, bitten, broken, etc., plastic food containers - once the plastic is split, broken, or torn, it will quickly harbor bacteria growth and should be disposed of - clean and recycle it where possible.
Things You'll Need - A container that has a reasonable size in relation to your pet
- Decorations such as stickers, sequins, paint, markers, etc. Make sure that the markers and paints are non-toxic and do not use sequins and other raised objects if you have any concerns at all about chewing, etc.
- Non-toxic adhesive for decorations
- Clear tape (look for eco-tape where possible)
- Newspapers
- Warm, sudsy water (use a tiny amount of your own dish washing formula)
- Sponge for wiping
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| Oatmeal's not as romantic as bubbles, but it's better for your skin! How to Make an Oatmeal Bath Posted: Oatmeal baths are both relaxing and soothing, especially when your skin feels itchy (such as during a bout of chicken pox or poison ivy rash), [1] or when it is inflamed (for example, as a result of allergies, insect bites, or sunburn). [2] Oatmeal is excellent for your skin, smells good, and leaves your skin feeling soft. With an oatmeal bath, you might just wish you could just sit there forever. As an added advantage, there are limitless variations on the traditional oatmeal bath, some of which are described here. Follow these steps to prepare an easy but effective oatmeal bath to soothe your skin in the comfort of your own home. Ingredients - Plain, unflavored, (preferably whole-grain) oatmeal; finer oatmeal is best
- Small lavender buds (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) (optional)
- Lavender (or other) essential oils (optional), for a relaxing bath, check for all usage precautions
- 1/2 to 1 cup of buttermilk or regular milk, for a relaxing, softening bath (optional)
- Epsom salts, for a rejuvenating bath (optional)
Steps - Pour about 1/3 to 3/4 cup of oatmeal into a measuring cup. The amount used will depend on how large your coffee filter or muslin piece is.
- Pour the oatmeal from the cup into a bowl.
- Push down on the dry oatmeal with the back of a spoon. This is to get rid of any clumps that might have formed in storage.
- You can skip this step if your oatmeal is already in smallish pieces.
- If the oatmeal pieces are really large, place them into a plastic bag and turn them into smaller pieces by running a rolling pin over the bag and mashing them.
- Add extras to the oatmeal, if wished. If you are having the bath for relaxation purposes, feel free to add additional elements. If you are using the oatmeal bath to treat itchiness, rashes, inflamed or sore skin, however, it is probably advisable to either avoid this step or to be very cautious, as these additions could aggravate the condition. Additions to consider include:
- Lavender buds. If you don't have lavender buds, take a stalk of dried lavender and break the individual buds off the branch and into the bowl.
- Add a few drops of your preferred essential oil to the bowl. Be sure to choose a safe essential oil for bath use. Although this step is optional, it does heighten the enjoyment of the bathing experience. If you are suffering from a skin condition, skip this step.
- Mix all additions in well with the spoon until the contents are evenly distributed.
- Spoon the mixture into the coffee filter bag or muslin piece. The filter bags used in the images for this tutorial were size 4 filters (suitable for 8-12 cups of coffee), and required four level soup spoons of mixture to fill.
- Tie it off with a rubber band, string, or ribbon. A rubber band is probably the easiest to use unless you have a friend to hold the bag for you while you tie it with string or ribbon.
- Fill the tub with relatively hot water. If adding milk as well, pour the buttermilk or regular milk into the tub under the running water from the faucet.
- Another optional step - add about 3/4 cup of Epsom salts to the buttermilk when you pour it into the tub to ease sore muscles and help achieve softer skin. Skip this step if you are treating your skin for any itchiness or soreness.
- Throw the oatmeal/lavender bag in the back of the tub, away from the bath end with the running water. Allow to cool. As the tub cools to a tolerable temperature, the heat will cause the essences of oatmeal and lavender to disperse.
- Step into the tub when it is tepid. Once in the bath, you can gently squeeze the oatmeal sachet to release more of the oatmeal liquid through the bath; don't squeeze too hard if you're using the filter paper version though, or it will break, leaving oatmeal in your bathtub. Enjoy the bath for as long as wished, although if you are treating a skin condition, don't stay longer than 10 minutes to avoid aggravating your skin condition.
- Light some pleasant vanilla or lavender candles for an even more relaxing setting.
- If you have a skin condition, dry with care, using gentle blotting actions with a soft towel over the itchy or sore parts of your skin.
- Repeat as needed. The beauty of oatmeal baths is that they are gentle enough to be enjoyed daily if wished.
Video Tips - Since the coffee filter is made out of paper, you can easily dispose this later without having a cooked-oatmeal mess all over the place. Muslin or cheesecloth will compost well, although you can also simply rinse it off, allow to dry and reuse until it is no longer useful.
- To make an oatmeal exfoliant, mix fine salt with ground oatmeal and lavender oil.
- Colloidal oatmeal is very finely ground oatmeal that can be added direct to the bath without encasing in a bag. This can be purchased from the pharmacy; follow the instructions accompanying it.
Warnings - Don't put the bag under the running water - the pressure will tear the paper bag open and you'll have a mess of cooked oatmeal to clean up.
- This is not a substitute for any medical treatment of any kind - it is merely a nice way to relax or to soothe the skin.
- Do not get into a bath of hot water with a skin condition; always check that the water is tepid.
- Use common sense around hot water to avoid scalding.
Things You'll Need - Oatmeal, instant or regular.
- Lavender or other relaxing oils
- A relatively sturdy paper coffee filter (or many not-so-sturdy ones); if you can't get coffee filters, look for generic filter paper, or use muslin or cheesecloth. If using cloth, pre-cut into a circular shape prior to undertaking this project.
- Some ribbon, string, or a rubber band (to tie the bag)
- Scented candles (optional)
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