Archive Category: 'Household Tips'

• 27 Ways To Use Citrus Fruit Around The House: Today’s feature is from Re-Nest with 27 Household Uses For Citrus Fruit: A staple in most homes, citrus fruit, including oranges, lemons and limes, makes a beautiful, fragrant display that can piled in a bowl. We also like to use them in a flower arrangement. Peeking out from the bottom of a clear glass container, they [...]
• Recycle Makeup Compacts Into Perfume Carriers: Today’s feature is from Planet Green with Turn a Used Makeup Compact into a Perfume Carrier: With his usual knack for creative recycling, Danny Seo, author of Simply Green Parties (2006, Collins), demonstrates how a used makeup compact can be turned into a solid perfume carrying case, whether it’s as a last-minute gift, or for you [...]
• How To Make Fragrances Last Longer: Here are a few quick tips to help perfumes and colognes last longer when you wear them: First rub in a dab of vaseline to the areas that you will be applying perfume to, then spray or dab on the perfume. The vaseline will moisturize the skin which helps hold the perfume longer than dry skin [...]
• Plant A Sunflower & Help Bees Thrive: Today’s feature is from The Great Sunflower Project, they’re giving away free sunflower seeds and hoping you’ll help them out a bit in return (and bees too): By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. It takes less than 30 minutes. It’s [...]
• Tipnut Mailbag: Help! Fine China Cracks When Pouring Tea: Sharon emailed me with this question and I have a couple tips for this problem, but if you know of any more–please share them! And PS: Do you put milk in first before pouring tea or do you do so last? I had no idea there was such a debate about it! Help Prevent Fine China From [...]
• Ideal Week Planning Sheet: Today’s feature is from Organizing Without Agonizing sharing a tip for planning the week ahead using a Planning Sheet: Creating an ideal weekly plan can help you have what I call “life rhythm”. Periodically I design my “ideal week” as a target to shoot for. I realize that there will be changes, but deciding what is the [...]
• Frugal Recycling Ideas For Gardening: Today’s feature is from Nature Moms with some neat tips for Recycling “Stuff” for Your Garden : There are actually many things around the house that can be used to get seedlings started and it makes use of garbage you have around the house, effectively recycling things to give them another use. You’ll find tips for using [...]
• Tip: Index Card Shopping Master: Have you ever dashed out to the office supply store for printer ink, but forgot the shopping list at home that noted the printer make and model? Or you’re at the store picking up milk when you see there’s an in-store coupon for a big mark down on batteries–you remember that the tv remote seems [...]
• How to Build a PVC Hoop House – Gardening Tip: Today’s feature is from Westside Gardener with instructions for How to Build A PVC Hoophouse For Your Garden: An unheated PVC hoophouse can be a useful addition to your garden. It keeps excessive rain off the plants, blocks the wind, raises daytime temperatures 5-10 degrees (and often much more), and keeps frosts and heavy dew off [...]
• Home Remedy: Headache Soother Sachets: Ingredients: 1/4 cup dried lavender 1/4 cup cloves Sachet: Made from fabric such as muslin, cotton Directions: Mix the lavender and cloves together then fill a fabric sachet or small drawstring pouch. When you feel a headache coming on, open the sachet and breathe in the fragrance to help soothe away your headache (breathe in around 5 or 6 times). Press [...]
• Tip: Use Mason Jars With Your Blender: Today’s feature is from Simply Recipes with a Blender and Mason Jar Tip: Did you know that many, if not most, blenders can be used with a standard mason jar, or wide-mouthed mason jar? This is a trick my mother taught me. Apparently 40 years ago or so, about the time this blender pictured was bought, [...]
• 10 Reasons to Pack Duct Tape When You Travel: Today’s feature tip is from Delicious Baby with 10 Reasons to Pack Duct Tape When You Travel: We’re minimalists when it comes to specialized travel gear, but the one thing we never leave home without is a small roll of duct tape. Here are some terrific uses you’ve probably never considered… Visit the site to review all [...]
• Tipnut Mailbag: Homemade Pre Wet Shave Lotion: Here’s a recipe the fellas will appreciate, it’s sent in by Dan Russell for his homemade Pre Wet Shave Lotion that he perfected for a comfortable wet shave. This was based on a shaving liquid bought from the body shop, which seemed to be mostly soap and sunflower oil. Homemade Pre Wet Shave Lotion Mix 3 parts [...]
• How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System: Today’s feature is from Josho.com with a tutorial for How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System. These gardening systems are perfect for apartment dwellers or those who don’t have time to manage a full-sized garden yet wish to enjoy growing some of their favorite herbs and vegetables. Self-contained gardening systems discourage weed growth and can yield [...]
• How To Make A One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Today’s feature is from Re-Nest with a nice tutorial for How To: Make a One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Basil, thyme, sage. These are indispensable herbs, and they grew in abundance on our front stoop all summer. It’s too cold outdoors now, but we don’t like paying $2.50 per packet at the supermarket. Fortunately it’s not difficult [...]
• Tips For Clogged Drains & Homemade Drain Cleaner Recipe: Here’s a tip sheet listing a few methods to clearing out clogged drains in the kitchen sink (plugged bathtub drains can benefit from these too). At the bottom you’ll find a suggestion for monthly drain maintenance and a homemade drain cleaner recipe to keep your drains as trouble free as possible. How To Unclog A Drain Flushing: Remove [...]
• Bugs-Be-Gone Bags: Materials Needed Rosemary Lavender Buds Thyme Lemongrass Peppermint Tansy Cedar Chips Cheesecloth, Muslin drawstring bags or fabric envelopes (free pattern download below) Directions Fill small drawstring bags to hold between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup of the herb mixture. Place bags in your pantry, closets, drawers, chests, under beds, hang in kitchen windows. You could also place the herbs in open, decorative bowls and place them [...]
• 5 Easy Steps To Clutter Free Living: Today’s feature tip is from BohemianRevolution with 5 Steps To Declutter Your Home: Getting rid of clutter is wonderful, but sometimes you get overwhelmed, take a break, and end up accumulating more clutter before you can get back to the original clutter. Your cleaning effort suddenly dies of frustration, and the situation is no better than [...]
• How To Brush A Dog’s Teeth: Today’s feature is from PuppyBuzz with directions for How To Brush Your Dog’s Teeth: Brushing your dog’s teeth should start as soon as possible so that both you and your dog get accustomed to the practice. Your first task is to show puppy he can trust you with putting weird stuff in his mouth. He’s not going [...]
• Herbal Decongestant Steam Blend: Winter is definitely here where I live, very cold with a couple more months of winter stretching out before us. Sometimes in this cold weather a deep cold with a congested head, nose and chest sneaks up on us and it’s no fun. Here’s a nice, soothing decongestant steam that uses a dried herb blend to [...]
• Pest Prevention Concentrate: Here’s a short and sweet recipe to help with pest control for garden and house plants. You can use this as a preventative spray as well as a bug and pest killer. Ingredients: 1 cup Sunlight dish soap 1 TBS vegetable oil Directions: Mix ingredients together then store in a plastic, airtight container. When you’re ready to spray your plants, take [...]
• Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden: Today’s feature is from Taunton.com: Plunge into the world of aquatic plants by designing a mini-pond in a small container: Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden. Right now it’s pretty cold where I live so I’m in the mood for a bit of Spring and green plant goodness… I’ve learned that a teacup or [...]
• Bath Cookies Recipe: This is an interesting recipe, you first cook a batch of bath cookies then add them to your bath after they’ve cooled. The batch makes 24 which is enough for about 12 baths (if you use 2 per bath). My hard copy looks like a photocopy of a newspaper clipping, but I’m not sure which newspaper or [...]
• Tipnut Mailbag: Pot Lid Taming Options: Here’s a hot tip sent in from Sarah (website SarahAnnSmith.com) that gives a couple new ideas for organizing pot lids (you know — those things that get jumbled up and hide in the cupboards and drawers). This is the newest addition to the Tipnut Mailbag section: Pot Lid Taming Options: Use the spring-tension curtain rods! Run them [...]
• Pantry Organizing With Tote Baskets: Today’s feature is from Brandi Ginn with an example of how to Organize A Pantry With Tote Baskets: At first I thought that was the craziest thing I’d ever seen…what a WASTE of space. The baskets alone take up so much room! Well I’m here to say…that was way wrong! I had the problem of things [...]