Last spring, when I started my seeds for my garden, I envied my parents' greenhouse, because they can start their seeds extra-early without any chance of frost killing their seedlings.

Since I don't have a greenhouse (yet; it's on my list), I spent a week or so trying to figure out how I could create one of my own without too much trouble and effort.

And then I remembered the old aquarium that I had in the shed. And I realized that it would fit my seed starting pots just fine--and my 'make do' greenhouse was born.

Not only did it work, but it worked quite well. In fact, I'm planning to add another aquarium to the collection next year, so I won't run out of room. It was a wonderful idea, and cost me nothing, since I got the aquarium for free.

There is only one caveat: The aquarium you use cannot be watertight, because when you water your seedlings, you want the water to drain. So an old, unused aquarium would probably be best. I did line it with paper towels, just to soak up a bit of the overflow, and it worked just fine.