Make Your Own: Ant Killer Shaker

Last week's post about Make Your Own Watering Can out of a milk jug got my creative juices flowing. I am super serious about my garden this year (thanks to my New Year's Resolution), so I've made me a little basket that carries my tools, my garden diagram (yes, I made one of those), my watering can, fertilizer, and now, the ant killer. Last summer was the summer of all summers to get eaten up by ants. For serious, I was a walking buffet every time I walked into the yard. Not this year, though. I'm determined to keep my feet (and arms, back, and face...yes, face) free of ant bites this year. So I bought this big mama-jama bag of ant killer.

Ant killer is scary. That is poison that I am carrying around the yard, and the bag I got is pretty big. The directions say to sprinkle only about a tablespoon or so on each ant bed, so I couldn't see myself really lugging around such a huge bag. After feeling so proud about my watering can, I knew I could do something similar with the ant killer. So I rummaged through my recycling bin (another NYR), and found exactly what I needed to make killing ants safer and easier to handle (not to mention easier to carry in my basket).

Ant Killer Shaker:

What You'll Need: 

• small plastic jar with a lid (I used a peanut butter jar)
• 1 coffee filter
• scissors
• a rubber band
• 2 paper towels, one of them damp
• a permanent marker 
• ant killer 

Instructions: 

1. Clean out the plastic jar and dry completely. 
2. Cover the opening of the jar with the coffee filter and use the rubber band to hold it on, binding the rubber band over the filter and around the rim of the jar. 
3. Make a few small holes in the top of the coffee filter with the scissors. Pierce the filter and turn 360 degrees. You need to make sure you make an opening, not a slit. The ant killer will not go through a slit. 
4. Remove the coffee filter and fill the jar with ant killer. Replace the filter and rubber band. Put the lid of the jar on top of the jar and tighten. Adjust the filter and rubber band as needed. 
5. Using the damp paper towel, clean off the outside of the jar. This is to make sure that if you did get the poison on the outside of the jar, you remove it to keep your hands clean. Once you have cleaned the outside, use the dry paper towel to dry it off completely for the next step. 
6. Clearly mark on the outside of the jar with the permanent marker "Ant Killer" or something similar to that. You want to make sure others know what is inside the jar. 
7. Store in a safe place out of reach of children. Wash your hands after each use to be safe. 
8. To use: take the lid off the jar and sprinkle over the ant bed. I have also"stirred up" the ant bed to make sure I get the poison close to the inside as possible. I want those bad boys to DIE. If you have a particularly large ant bed, you can carefully remove the filter and rubber band and pour more if needed. 

Make sure to always wash your hands after using. Although it is safely inside the jar, you never know how much may get on your hands in the pouring. 

I sure hope you and I can join forces and make a difference in the world by killing these pesky insects! 

I am not, in any way, advertising a particular brand of ant killer.
See that itty-bitty ant bed? That is at the end of my kids' slide. 

Here is a closer look to the Ant Killer Shaker. Five holes in the top works for us.
More or less for you, depending on your need! :)