Sunday, September 15, 2013

Tips, Hints and Favorite Things

The master list of tips, hints and favorite things from our September 11th activity is here! Thank you to everyone who came with ideas to add. Hope you learned something new!


Cleaning
  • When rinsing dishes, the coldest water helps to rinse things off best, unless you have something really greasy, then hot water will do the trick.
  • Water and white vinegar cleans everything!
  • Use white vinegar instead of Jet-dry in your dish washer.
  • Use white vinegar to get rid of hard water stains in your bathroom.
  • Dissolve a dish washing detergent tab in hot water for extra clean windows and cabinets.
  • Magic Erasers really are magic!
  • To clean your microwave: Place a wet a paper towel in the microwave for 5-8 secs.  It loosens the stuff on the microwave and allows you to wipe it clean.
  • Use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner in your shower for a great clean. (Don't use on metal!)   
Home and Family
  • Ants don't like chalk.
  • Make dinner after lunch so you don't have to fight with fussy kids during the 4-6pm cranky hour.
  • Apple cider vinegar, soap and water kill fruit flies. 
  • Take pictures of children's artwork and put it in scrapbooks instead of keeping big, bulky art projects.
  •  During off-seasons, use frozen strawberries and raspberries from Costco for making jam.
 Other
  • For insomnia, listen to brain wave music to help you fall asleep more quickly. (Binaural Beats)
  • Eat almonds to prevent heartburn.
  • The "wet brush" (on Amazon) really works for brushing wet hair without pulling.
  • Sephora has colored bobby pins.
  • Bring eggs to room temperature by covering them with hot water in a bowl for 5-10 minutes.
  • Store 1-2 onions in the refrigerator and replace them as they are used. Cutting a cold onion helps you avoid tears as the odor doesn't burn your eyes!
  • Check out Pinterest.com for lots of great ideas.
  • Check out www.webstaurantstore.com/ for restaurant quality supplies with bulk pricing. They ship to residential addresses as well as commercial ones.
  • Use a toilet paper roll cut in half to keep your wrapping paper from unrolling or tearing.
  • Dry erase crayons and coloring pages in page protectors are a great quiet activity at church and are easy to clean.
  • 1canoe2 for lovely letterpress. (https://1canoe2.com/)
Caring for Roses
  • Always cut stems at a 45 degree angle under running water.
  • Choose flowers with tight, firm petals.
  • Leave the bottom petals on so your flower opens all the way when it blooms.
  • Don't let greenery touch the water. "Less is more."
  • Cut flowers at least 1/2 - 1 inch from bottom of the stem.
  • After cutting, let roses sit in room temperature water for a few hours, then put ice cubes in your vase to keep flowers extra fresh.
  • Use extra flower food (3 packets every time you change the water).
  • Costco roses are the best deal. (62 cents a stem.)

*The flowers from the picture above are tissue paper flowers that were used as decorations for our dinner.
 

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