Meet Mr. Cicada...
Or...at least what's left of him. I haven't heard the incessant buzzing sound of an impending cicada infestation this year so you can imagine my surprise when I walked outside to see this juvenile cicada exoskeleton on my back deck. Later that afternoon I inadvertantly squashed a teneral (ie. teenaged) cicada on my floor. That unfortunate fellow could very well have been the same one that left it's skin outside my door and scared the bejeebus out of my kids (the looks on their faces when they saw this were priceless.)
The last outbreak of cicadas here was in 2007 and I had these exoskeletons all over every tree in my yard, every tree in the orchard, and several on my house, barn and shed. It doesn't seem as though we should be due for another outbreak like that for awhile, methinks these guys will be out in very limited numbers this time around. Now, for a Thrifty Thursday (yes, I know it's actually Wednesday but I try not to get bogged down by technicalities) update.
If you have hard floors anywhere in your house then you probably own a Swiffer or some kind of Swiffer equivalent. If you don't, you should, they are handy little things to have around. Of course, if you have one of these then you probably also realize that buying the replacement pads can start to get a bit expensive. I bought a 12 pack for $4 on sale yesterday and while that sounds like a lot they don't last as long as I would like. The answer: Make your own Swiffer cover!
I made this one for my Swiffer Wetjet and it works for dry dusting and wet mopping.
It's made out of a small amount of 100% cotton yarn ($1.97 on sale). One small skein will give you about three replaceable covers.
I crocheted this in half double crochet (hdc), back loop only to produce nice dust catching ridges. You can check out the pattern here.
The little straps hold the pad onto the mop and are stretchy enough to allow for easy removal.
So when you are done and your cover is dirty, instead of throwing it and your moeny away, you pop it into the laundry and then reuse it.
5 comments:
That last Anon (and this one) was me, Craftivist ...HossBoss. I'm signed in on my blog, but your blog doesn't think so. Hmmm.
What a great idea! I have mostly carpet, so don't use the mop version of swiffer but I used to love the swiffer dusters. They just got too expensive. I used to crochet ...about 100 years ago. Is it like riding a bicycle? Do you think I can relearn? LOL
I think blogger has been having a myriad of issues recently. Hopefully they get it all straightened out though.
Crochet is definately something you can relearn! You should definately give it a try. :D
I love the swiffer idea! I hate spending the money on new ones! Only problem is that I don't know how to crochet. :( Maybe I can talk a friend into making one for me. :) Thanks for the tip!
I'm so glad you liked it! If you are ever interested in learning crochet there are a TON of books out there that can help. I had help learning how to crochet but I taught myself to knit so I know that it can be done :) Also, if you know how to knit or sew there are patterns out there for swiffer covers in those areas as well.
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