October 29, 2004

Reading Your Own MeterCall your utility companies and tell them you want to read your own meters. They will give you cards to write the information and you have to turn these in at a certain time of every month.

 

Nice Beef and Tomato RecipeRecipe for beef using tomato soup.

 

Snow Man Candy JarSave your glass mayonnaise jars. Stuff a dollar store winter cap with old Walmart bags. Glue edge of cap to the rim of the jar lid. Next, using some "snow in a can", spray almost all the way around the jar with the fake snow.

 

Recycling a QuiltTo give new life to an old quilt that has seen better days, use extra bedsheets to make a new cover. We used plain white on one side and let my sons personalize it with fabric markers.

 

Peanut Butter Cockroach TrapTo kill cockroaches, take a glass jar and put some peanut butter in the bottom of the jar. Put a good smear of vegetable oil around the inside lip of the jar to make it very slippery.

 

Programming Your Mobile or Cell PhoneAlways program your home phone number into your mobile phone. Name it "Home" or "If found, call." This way if you lose your cell phone, the person who finds it has a way to contact you. By Kathy

 

Red Delicious to Rid Your Car of Smoke SmellIf you want to remove the smell of cigarette smoke from your auto interior, use a Red Delicious apple. Cut it in half lengthwise, and place each half under the front seats. Throw them away when they're all dried out. For really heavy smoke smell, it may take a couple of applications. By Scott J.

 

Carving Those PumpkinsAre you ready to carve those pumpkins? You may have already but with Halloween landing on a Sunday this year there is always time to do more. Here are some sites with lots of information on pumpkin carving:

 

Had Your Fence Tagged?Use WD40 to remove the paint, spray onto the tagged surface and then spray some onto a rag and rub it off. By Kaye

 

Microwaved Scrambled EggsScrambled eggs can be easily made in the microwave. Spray a microwave safe bowl with oil, beat eggs and cook for 20-30 sec. per egg. By Kara Grantland

 

Barrette/Hairbow HolderDoes you daughter have lots of hairbows and barrettes and no where to put them? Here's a great idea for making a barrette/hairbow holder.

 

Wire Outdoor Christmas TreeThe lighted Christmas decorations for your yard can be pretty expensive, but here is a way to decorate with little money. Take your tomato cages from your garden, clean with the hose and then tie the tops together with electrical tape.

 

Gift Basket for a Pasta AddictGreat gift basket idea for the Pasta Lover.

 

Use for Broken Diaper Wipes BoxSo our kids broke the lid off the diaper wipe box they kept their little toys in. Don't throw it away just yet.

 

Gifts for ChristmasOne way to make a great Christmas gift is to take pictures of the children in the family unbeknownst to the family. This is tricky, and then make a photo album. Add a page in the album where you write a poem or your favorite time spent with the child was.

 

Paper Towel Rack in the BathroomInstall a simple paper towel holder like you have in the kitchen in each bathroom. Mine are installed on the side of the vanity on what would otherwise be dead space.

 

Chopping Celery and OnionsTo chop celery and onions fast, just rough chop them and put them in your blender container, covered with water and pulse. The longer you pulse, the smaller they become. Drain.

 

Homemade Tic Tac Toe BoardHere's a fun Tic Tac Toe board you can make.

 

Spice up your Blah HallwayHere is a great way to spice up that blah hallway. I painted mine a pastel blue and then did the faux painting techinque with sponges dipped in a lavender and pale aqua. At the top the hallway I added a famous quote from Helen Keller about the essentials to a happy life.

 

Gift Basket for a ReaderHere's a basket for that favorite "reader" in your life:

 

Reusing Your Page-a-day Calendar PagesYour desktop, page-a-day calendar can serve double duty as a scratch pad. I save the pages as I tear them off, and stack them upside-down on my office desk. When I need a piece of scratch paper, I use a piece of paper off this pile instead of a clean sheet off a pad. This helps me recycle the calendar sheets and I don't waste paper. By Scott J.

 

Really Quick Halloween CostumeGo to Office Max and get a pack of the "Hello, My Name is __________" stickers. Fill them out with various names and put all over your clothing.

 

Keep Glue Sticks HandyI keep a glue stick in my desk drawer for sealing envelopes that have lost their stickiness, stamps that have been taken off something I decided not to send, etc. They are so cheap I can keep one everywhere I might need one. By Linda

 

Last Minute Halloween CostumeLast minute Halloween costume: Use a marker to write on an old t-shirt. I AM A _________(cat, pumpkin, puppy... If you can, draw a stick figure on the back, and a few whiskers on the child's face. Call it minimalist! By Linda

 

Uses for Junk Credit CardsIdeas for using cards that you get as junk mail. Post your ideas!

 

Getting Spooked! for HalloweenI have no idea who started this (kind of the point) but last night the doorbell rings and I open the door. I find a white balloon with a ghosts face markered on it. Tied to it is a tiny basket filled with candy and two papers. One is to put on my door that says, "We been Spooked!" with a picture of a ghost.

 

Frugal Holiday WrappingSave your kids artwork to use as frugal holiday wrapping paper. We did this last year and the kids were thrilled that everyone saw what they had made and it cut down on a lot of clutter for me! By Katie in NY

 

Removing Political Bumper StickersSeasonal or political stickers on your car windows after the election can easily be removed with a single edge razor blade. Just slide the blade along under the sticker and it'll peel right off. Razor blades won't scratch the glass. Work carefully! By Linda

 

Game Winner CounterMy kids use to love to play card games, but by the end of the night they would always be fighting over who won the most games. Here is a solution we came up with. It can be used for any game they play over and over.

 

Uses for Flower Tubes?I am looking for uses for flower tubes. I have a bag of plastic flower tubes (the kind that come from the florist that they put on the end of roses/flowers to retain water). Maybe there is someone out there that may know of additional uses of these tubes. Thanks. Pam from MN

 

Directions for Craft Foam Candy Corn Decoration?I am looking for directions for a Halloween wall or door decoration that used craft foam. It was three different sized "candy corn" triangles made with strips going across of white, orange, and yellow craft foam just like real candy corn. Each candy corn had a face with a black craft foam smiling mouth and black and white jiggly eyes from a craft store.

 

Homemade Pumpkin Mix from Scratch?My husband and I bought some extra pumpkins for this Halloween season. We carved one but will use the other others to eat. Of course we'll roast the seeds.