The Tinley Park Reptile Expo offers more than reptiles. Vendors sell rare houseplants, terrarium vining plants, and carnivorous plants. A great stop for collectors and plant lovers. Rare plants at the Tinley Park Reptile Expo? Several vendors sell rare houseplants alongside reptiles, including terrarium starters, carnivorous species, and collector-grade foliage plants like Thai Constellations and variegated philodendrons. At the Tinley Park Reptile Expo, I always end up spending as much time looking at plants as I do reptiles. Across the three times I’ve been, I’ve found a surprising number of vendors who specialize in rare or enclosure friendly plants. Some bring small starter plants meant to thrive in amphibian or reptile tanks, while others focus on rare tropicals for collectors. The booth shown in the photo had several variegated philodendrons and monstera types, and I picked up a Thai Constellation for $25, which used to be almost impossible to find. There are also carnivorous plants, terrarium vines, and occasional orchid vendors selling from private collections. Last year, I met a woman offering rare shingling plants she’d imported and grown herself, the kind that creep up the sides of glass when the humidity is right. Even if you don’t keep reptiles, it’s worth going just for the plants. The crossover between reptile hobbyists and plant collectors makes it an unexpectedly great place to find something rare and affordable. Corky Lorenz October 21, 2025

Fernwood Lights 2025 runs November 28 through January 2 at Fernwood Botanical Garden. Adult tickets start at $14, and visitors can reserve timed entry slots to walk the illuminated mile-long garden path. Fernwood Lights 2025 Ticket Prices and Dates Fernwood Lights runs from November 28, 2025, through January 2, 2026. Adult tickets cost $14 on regular days or $16 on peak days, with discounts for members and reduced pricing for kids. On November 1, I visited Fernwood for the first time and noticed that they were actively setting up lit trees and Christmas lights along the main path. After I looked it up, I realized this is a whole event that I didn’t know about called Lights at Fernwood. It’s a mile-long loop that you walk at night as a Christmas lights season experience. You buy tickets in one-hour increments ahead of time, and then you can go enjoy the amazingly lit paths through the gardens. It seems like they put a ton of effort into this display, because when I was there, I saw several people working on assembling the lights, wrapping archways, setting up artificial trees that are lit, and wrapping trees that can support the lights without any damage to the trees themselves. From the pictures I’ve seen in previous years, it looks like a really beautiful experience. You can get tickets from Fernwood Botanical Garden’s website. They list them as $14 per adult who is not a member, but most of the days are labeled as peak days where the tickets cost $16 per adult. Children’s tickets are $5 on off days and $8 on peak days. There’s a reduced cost for people who are members, and kids under two years old are free. Most of the available days are Thursday through Sunday, but around Christmas they also open some midweek nights. Each evening has a few different entry times, and you can buy your ticket for a specific one-hour slot all the way up until that time, as long as spots are available. The first night of the show is November 28, 2025, and the final night is January 2, 2026. Corky Lorenz November 9, 2025

In cloth pad sewing, pinking shears are used to trim the seam allowance before turning the pad right side out. The zigzag edge helps reduce bulk so curves lay flat and the pad topstitches smoothly. What are pinking shears used for? When sewing reusable cloth pads, pinking shears are used to trim the seam allowance before turning the pad right side out. The zigzag edge helps reduce bulk and allows the seams to lay flatter inside the pad after turning. Using Pinking Shears in Pad Sewing If you’re sewing your own cloth pads, pinking shears are most useful right after stitching your layers together. With the turn and topstitch method, you place all the layers of the pad right sides together, sew around the shape, and leave a small hole to turn it right side out. Before turning it, you trim the seam allowance. Some people like to use pinking shears to remove excess fabric so the pad isn’t bulky once flipped and topstitched. Why Trim the Seam Allowance Trimming the inside edge helps the pad turn more smoothly and sit flat when topstitched. It also prevents that stiff, lumpy feel that can happen when too much fabric builds up inside the seam. You’ll also want to clip into inner corners to release tension so the fabric doesn’t pucker after turning. And if your pad shape includes sharp corners, clip those tips off so they form clean points when topstitched. Which Pinking Shears Actually Work I’ve tried a few pairs, and my favorites are a cheap set I bought on Amazon years ago for around $12. They cut cleanly through thicker fabrics. The pinking shears I’ve bought locally, like from Hobby Lobby or Joann, didn’t handle multiple layers well. When sewing with cotton velour or bamboo velour layered with fleece or flannel, the Fiskars ones especially had trouble cutting through that thickness cleanly. Things to Watch Out For Don’t trim too close to the stitch line, you don’t want to weaken the seam. Pads go through a lot of washing, and if you cut too close, the edge of the pad can fray, especially if made with woven fabrics.. If you don’t have pinking shears, you can just use regular fabric scissors to trim down the seam allowance evenly, then clip curves and corners to reduce bulk. The pinking shears just make the process quicker and keep the inner seam more uniform. Corky Lorenz November 11, 2025

Where to park, hours, ticket prices, RV museum exhibits, and photo guides for visiting the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana. RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN A guide for the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart IN, including parking directions, ticket info, exhibits, and photo-based walkthroughs for visitors. The entrance in located at the back of The Northern Indiana Event Center building. Hours & Address Summer hours (April 1 – October 31): • Monday–Saturday: 9 AM – 5 PM • Sunday: 10 AM – 3 PM Winter hours (November 1 – March 31): • Monday–Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM • Wednesday: Closed • Sunday: 10 AM – 3 PM Phone number: (574) 293-2344 Address: 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart IN 46514 Entrance When you have made it to the correct entrance, you will see sinage on the front of the building that reads "RV/MH Hall of Fame" and "RV & MH Museums." The building that reads Northern Indiana Event Center is the wrong entrance to visit the Hall of Fame. Drive around the left side of the building to get to the correct door. Check in & bathrooms This is what the lobby looks like, with the front check in desk on the right, and the exhibit entrances to the left. You can hit the bathrooms by the front desk if you need to. Upper level If the gift shop, you can find the stairs to see the 2nd floor. In the upper floor, you can view all of the RVs from above or visit the library.

Soaking fabric in soda ash before dyeing for better results. Presoak process Fabric is soaked in soda ash solution before applying dye. Activates permanent bonding and color vibrancy. Tie dye links See all glossary items See tutorials for flowy ice dye and geode tie dye .

How fast dye begins to bond with fabric once it gets wet. Faster strike means less blending. Strike rate process How fast dye begins to bond with fabric once it gets wet. Faster strike = less blending. Tie dye links See all glossary items See tutorials for flowy ice dye and geode tie dye .

A young hognose snake mistakes a paper towel for food. Here’s how vinegar helped it release the bite safely. What happens if a baby hognose snake bites a paper towel? It might try to eat it. A little vinegar on a q-tip can help the snake let go without harm. When I was visiting my friend and asking about his hognose snakes, which are about five months old now, he got one of them out to show me how voracious these baby snakes are. Now that they're fully in the routine of eating well, he was opening the container and showing me how they're basically ready to eat every time he gets them out. They're posturing as though they're going to strike, and anything in their way they're interpreting as a meal. He was holding a paper towel above the container, and this baby snake struck the paper towel and tried to eat it as though it were a mouse. He wanted to get the paper towel out of the snake's mouth without just pulling on it, because he didn't want the snake to rip off pieces and end up swallowing it. To do that, he used a q-tip soaked in vinegar and pushed it near the corners of the snake's mouth. His goal was that a really smelly or repulsive scent or taste would make the snake want to give up on the item and not try to eat it. That's how he got his snake to let go in the past when it bit his hand. He just slowly kept dipping the q-tip into the vinegar and then back onto the paper towel, and eventually the snake let go and didn’t consume it. It took several minutes, but he was patient, not trying to pull it out of the snake’s mouth, just using the disgusting taste of vinegar to get the snake to abandon the perceived meal. It was interesting to watch the way the snake was trying to envenomate the paper towel. I could see it moving its jaw side to side as if it was trying to make its jaw bigger to accommodate the whole paper towel. It was trying to eat that entire thing, ratcheting it in farther, and it just makes it seem like snakes will take on something way bigger than they can handle. It’s amazing what they can actually swallow because their anatomy will expand to accommodate a meal that’s bigger than their head. So if your snake tries to eat something that it shouldn’t, don’t panic. See if you can find something that’s safe but repulsive to help them let go of the item. Corky Lorenz October 31, 2025

The Century Center car show starts March 28th, at 9am. Photos taken at the car show will be uploaded to this page, for vendors and guests to enjoy. South Bend Auto Show Photos at the car show, hosted in South Bend, happening March 28th and 29th, 2026, at the Century Center. Address Century Center 120 S Doctor M.L.K. Jr Blvd, South Bend, IN 46601 Date & Time 2026 Saturday March 28th: 9am to 7pm Sunday March 29th: 9am to 4pm 2027 Projected Date April 10th and 11th, 2027 at the Century Center, in South Bend, Indina. Car Show Photos Corky Lorenz is a local photographer. Photos taken at the car show will be uploaded to this page, for vendors and guests to enjoy. Check back to see new images added. For high resolution, PR, or commercial use, contact Corky. Event Gallery Below is a collection of photos from the show, inlcuding vintage cars, trucks, racing cars, motorcycles, vendors, and guests enjoying the display. Corky Lorenz March 28, 2026

Short for fiber reactive dyes, often seen in Dharma/ProChem brands. MX dye supply Short for fiber reactive dyes, often seen in Dharma/ProChem brands. Tie dye links See all glossary items See tutorials for flowy ice dye and geode tie dye .

Low-liquid dyeing for textured finishes. Low water immersion method A dye technique where fabric is soaked in just enough liquid to create mottled, textured color effects. Tie dye links See all glossary items See tutorials for flowy ice dye and geode tie dye .