I Got Some Help On These....

Below are a bunch of solutions that were sent to me for blog by my fans and supporters, basically my family. Or really, just my family. 

*Pack boxes with old plastic bags

You've probably got a stash of plastic bags somewhere in your house. Use them to cushion items your mailing or to fill in empty space in boxes. It's an free alternative to pricey bubble-wrap—just don't try this with fragile items.

*Remove crayon marks with WD-40

The next time your little one goes wild writing on your walls, don't stress! Instead pull out WD-40. This household product, that you usually use to stop squeaky hinges, also works brilliantly in removing crayon marks from most surfaces. Simple spray and wipe crayon right off. (You may also want to wipe surface with a soapy rag to remove any oil residue.)

*Clean your toilet with Alka Seltzer

So you're having friends for dinner in 20 minutes, and you've just noticed your grimy toilet? No worries, drop in a couple of tablets Alka Seltzer, leave for ten minutes then easily wipe scum away! The fizzing action of Alka Seltzer works as a powerful cleaning agent, so you don't have to get your hands dirty.

Alka Seltzer

*Use dryer sheets to freshen stinky shoes

Good News: You're making good on your promise to hit the gym every day. Bad news: You're running shoes and gym bag smell to high heaven!

Until you can give them a good wash this weekend, air out those bad boys by stuffing dryer sheets in them and leaving over night. The sheets will absorb the odor so you can hit the gym tomorrow, odor free!

Just in time for the holidays! 

Now all the tubes I save have another purpose....
My roommates hate this

I usually colored my keys with permanent marker
but after a while it would rub off, so this was a
long term solution.

Don't know about this one, but it's worth a shot.

YES YES YES
This completely and totally works!  My nails always get
destroyed trying to open the ring, so I was very excited about
this one!

The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

 

 Happy Holidays to all! 

The season is upon us, and has actually been staying quiet warm.  I made someone promise me that we would go cut down a real Christmas Tree this year, and so did some research on real tree etiquette and impacts of real vs. artificial trees and lived to tell the tale via blog. 

The basic ideas of keeping a tree nice and healthy while in your house is to:
1. Water it.
2. Water it some more.
3. Do not keep it by any major source of heat like a vent or tv.
4. Before putting it into the stand make a fresh cut from the trunk so it is willing and able to drink.
5. Light and decorate.

Here are some of the websites that helped/is helping me with the care of my lovely Balsam fur.

>Handy Watering Tricks. 

>This one was to make a homemade tree stand consisting of a bucket, sand, and water which I was not brave enough to do, but for those are possibly could be, here you go!

>I had also heard that vodka in your stand is a great way to preserve it, and make it live a little bit longer for the holiday season, but after doing some googling, that is actually the opposite of what it does. An e-how about that. 

>Lastly, this was a neat watering system if you were willing to do a little DIY, and hate bending over to fill it with water.  http://www.ehow.com/how_7228542_diy_-christmas-tree-watering-system.html

 Real Vs. Fake

One of the biggest struggles that I had was whether it was good to go cut down a tree every year, or to use the artificial tree we already had. What to do! So I went to the internet again and found out that yes, cutting down a tree is taking away a tree from the environment, but the plastic that artificial trees are made from are not great either. Don't get me wrong, I also have a fake tree, but here was a great article explaining it.  The plastic is basically non-biodegradable and non-recyclable and will therefore sit in a landfill for a VERY long time. 

The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer Is To Sing It Loud For All To Hear!

What's The Deal With Stained Wood, and Bumper Stickers??

The clocks have changed, it gets dark ridiculously early, and here I am doing things around the house because we can't hang out outside.  

In lieu of the outdoors, I decided that all the cabinet handles and closet door handles needed to be replaced. Well, in the kitchen not only did they have the handle, but there was a nice gold broach like piece that was underneath each handle. It left a little stain on some of the cabinets and I wanted to fix it. My solution was toothpaste and baking soda.  All you needed to do was mix the two together so it formed some sort of super paste. Grab an old but clean toothbrush and just scrub those babies out.   Supposedly, slow and circular movements. Here are some before and after pictures:

Before

During

After.
Obviously it is not completely gone,  because it leached in the wood, but it definitely made an improvement! And made me feel a little better. 

>The election season was heavily upon us, and what happens to all those bumper stickers that are all over cars? Do people keep them on even if their candidate does or doesn't win? Do they keep it on until the next 4 years roll around and they can show their support again?  I would imagine some remove them so here are some way to do so if interested.  It is basically the same way of taking off a sticker from a container but on a bigger scale. It also calls for automative adhesive remover, but goo gone works just fine and doesn't hurt the paint.

Here is the WEBSITE!

Thanks for hanging out! Until next time. 

Who Would Of Thought? Safety Pins?

There was a great article in Women's Day which I thought was chock-full of neat uses for safety pins, and I am going to share them with YOU!

1. Prevent Static Cling! To keep your skirts or pants from sticking to the inside of your tights, put the safety pin on the inside of the clothing. One or two should be good because the metal is a good conductor for electricity, so it will divert the static away.

2. Deter Pickpockets! If you are going to a crowded place, and pick pocketers are something that really concerns you, safety pin your bag shut. It is also a great way from keeping everything from spilling out every time you set the bag down.

3. Open Tricky gadgets! Use the sliver end to open the back of your cell phone or television remote when it is not cooperating with your plans.

4. Clean Kitchen Implements!  Keep a safety pin in your utensil drawer to remove dried garlic from a press or clumped salt in the shaker.

5. Decorate Cakes! Use one to trace Happy Birthday into a cake before you frost it right up. This way it will be nicely spaced, and serves as a great tracer to make sure your designs turns out great!  



>Do you hate when all your plastic lids for tupperware are falling all over the place and driving you CRAZY!?  Here is a great solution also from Women's Day. This blog is basically going to be devoted to them. You can use a letter holder to sort the lids, even by size, and a great way to keep them organized and under control.  What a awesome idea!

>Want an easy way to hang your silk or any type of thin scarf so they stop falling all over the floor because the coat hanger is just TOO slippery? A great way to prevent this is clip shower rings together, or binder rings, and hang them through the binder ring. It keeps all the scarfs together and the rings are thin and keeps them hung up beautifully!




Thanks for reading, and until Halloween........

Brides Against Breast Cancer

I went to this event and I wanted to write about it because my experience was great, and if I could spread it's amazing-ness then why not blog it!

It was a wedding dress expo that was called Brides for Breast Cancer.  People and designers donate their dresses, ALL out for the taking.   They only do certain cities at certain times, so you have to catch it if you can or plan ahead if possible.  Tickets are $5, and the proceeds go towards treatment programs for cancer patients and their families.  It is also tax deductible!

THE SCOOP ON THE DAY!
We arrived a little early, to beat the crowds, which was no problem even though our ticket said we couldn't start searching til 12pm. Already a super awesome aspect!  They immediately handed us a bag of things, and told us to proceed to the vendors for all sorts of stuff. Flowers, make-up, more flowers, jewelry, shoes, more jewelry and shoes.  After passing that section, a volunteer takes you to another personal volunteer that helps take dresses to the dressing room and makes sure you are A ok the entire time you are there!  All the dresses were sorted by sizes which made looking through them a breeze, but you were only allowed three at a time. I would imagine this was too insure that everyone has the chance to see as many dresses as they can.  The dressing rooms were no big deal, shower curtains with mirrors in the main area so you can see how B E A utiful you looked.

I tried on dozens of dresses, and ended up finding the ONE, which is really pretty and costed the whopping price of $300.  It was a little big, but nothing a few threads and needles can't fix.  If anyone is getting married, or know someone who is and this is something they would be interested in, this organization is all over the United States, and I would recommend over and over again.   Here is all the information!

Brides Against Breast Cancer!

Thanks for reading.

PS- The worms are doing great!

Goofy Tid Bits

I did a bunch of goofy random things, or I should say I had to fix a bunch of random things, so here I am dumping it all on you.  The first of many was eating chocolate chips on the couch, and then someone sat on one or two and it congealed to their pants. Awesome! Of course chocolate on the butt looks like a big poo stain, so we needed to fix that.

>Chocolate on Clothing:  First, scrape off any excessive chocolate that was left on the clothing. Then rub an ice cube on the chocolate for a few minutes, freeze that baby, then scrap off any other other frozen chocolate that you can. Apply carpet stain remover and rub it into the stain. Rinse it off under water or throw it into the washing machine and it should come right out.  

That picture is similar to what I looked like eating my chocolate chips but significantly less cute. 

>Freezing for easy removal:  I like to burn candles but they are always in a candle holder, so when the candle gets all melty you have a waxy mess on your hands. For easy removal of the wax, stick it in the freezer for an hour or two, and it will chip right off when you take it back out.  This can also be used for any liquid substance that gets stuck on something and could pry off when it gets cold and hard. I am blanking on another instance it could happen with, but I know they are out there.

>Removing wax from carpet:  Heat up an iron, put paper towel on top of the wax, put the iron directly on top of stain/paper towel, and eventually the paper towel will "soak" up the candle wax.  As a heads up, you may need multiple paper towels. It takes a little while, but worth not having that nasty stain. 

>Mildew in clothes: The smell of mildew is not appealing to my nose, in fact, I strongly dislike it.  At times I have gotten attacked by the mildew gods and I found a pretty good way to fix it.  This relates mainly to clothes and towels.....wash your load with vinegar first, then follow with your normal detergent.  My washer has a short cycle that I use to rinse it with the vinegar, then I wash with detergent for a full cycle following. Dry as you normally would.  A side cause of mildew could also be the water residue that is left in the washing machine.  If dirty water keeps washing your already dirty clothes, they are never going to get fully clean. Wipe the inside of the washing machine with a water and vinegar mix or run the 'clean cycle" with vinegar if offered on your washing machines.  I know a lot of the front loaders have this option, and water does get trapped in the rubber that lines the door, so make sure you get in there and soak it up. The same goes for the residue that is left on the actual door. 

Did you spill something in the microwave?  To easily remove a spill from the micro, wet a paper towel, put it on top of the spill. Nuke it for 30 seconds, and the spill will get absorbed in the paper towel for an inpecable clean up! Yes! No one really likes cleaning out the microwave.  A piece of advice: Clean the mess right away so you don't have hard dried food on your hands, which is never any fun. 

If you didn't have time to clean it right away, microwave a cup of water and it will steam the food making it soft for a then easy clean up. Adding vinegar or lemon juice will take out any nasty smell that might have been left behind. Neat. 

Until Next Time....

Critters Snacking, Flatulence, And Tons of Useful Ideas!

Critters! I was having a problem with little critters eating my plants/peppers/tomatoes on the side of the house. I had read that you could sprinkle cayenne pepper on the leaves and plants and it would deter those guys from having a little snack. I did not have cayenne pepper around the spice cabinet, so I found a great alternative that also worked quite well.  Crushed Red Pepper. I sprinkled that all over the plants, leaves, pots, and it proved successful over the past couple weeks. A positive side note- if you use crushed red pepper it rinses off easily, and does not effect the taste of the leaves or veggies or fruits.

Flatulence! I had grown up using matches as a smell eliminator and I thought this was something that was common knowledge. Talking to some people, they didn't know that this could be something that rids the stank in the bathroom, so here I am telling you that matches are a fantastic solution.  The sulfur dioxide that is emitted when the match is struck is a very pungent smell, which does a great job of covering up the other really pungent smell.  Not too be fooled though, it doesn't RID the smell, it just masks it or fools our brains to think that it is riding it. Apparently there was a 2006 Mythbusters episode on this phenomenon and they concluded that the smell of the match being lit and then burnt really just masks our perception of the odors rather then the match neutralizing the gases.   Proof!

Tons of Ideas!