A Dozen Tips and Tidbits

A DOZEN TIPS AND TIDBITS

A Small Bottle in Your Purse ~  Carry lavender or melaleuca oil in your purse or pocket for so many things, especially skin irritations.  Research the many additional uses of this natural "liquid gold" product.

Cloud Pictures ~ For something fun to do on a partly cloudy day is to lie on your back with your children and look for objects in the clouds!  This past Saturday my husband and I spent most of the day doing something we really enjoy - sailing.  The wind was perfect, and although it was a sunny day, there were beautiful puffy clouds in the sky.  John was the "captain," operating the main sail and doing the steering.  On long stretches down the lake when I didn't need to be operating the jib or moving from one side to the other because of the wind shifting, I enjoyed lying down, looking for pictures in the sky.  At different times I saw a running reindeer, fish, two elephants (one was a baby), a dog, and a little girl.  Test your imagination with popcorn as well and have fun together as a family! 

Quickly Pretreating Laundry Stains ~ Remove the paper wrapper from a bar of Fels-Naptha soap.  Wrap all except one end of the bar in a washcloth and secure with two rubberbands.  Then when you find stubborn stains, wet the stain and rub with the bar of soap.  Rub the fabric and rinse out.  This works very well!!  If Fels-Naptha bars of soap can't be found in the laundry aisle of your grocery store, ask to fill out a form to get it on the shelves.  This is the bar of soap also used to make homemade laundry soap which is so popular because it does such a good job for only pennies per load.  I figured my cost to be 3 cents per large load, and that's using a full cup, rather than half.  It's good stuff!

You can find the recipe for homemade laundry soap on the Heart to Heart Recipe Blog on the Miscellaneous page.  Just click at the top right of this blog to land on the Recipe blog!

Windex can be used for quick spot cleaning on carpets.  Spray and rub with a clean terry cloth.  Windex also helps remove rings from swollen fingers!  Spray around the ring and it should slip off much more easily.  Jewelry shops use this method. 

Good Quality Solid Wood Furniture can easily be found at yard sales and auctions for good prices.  Clean it with Murphy Oil Soap, cover scratches with Old English scratch polish and polish with Lemon Oil to bring restoration and shine to most pieces.

Great Savings on Supplements ~ I bought a bottle of supplements at a health foods store for $15, but was able to purchase the identical supplement for half the price at www.i-herb.com!  By ordering a certain amount, the shipping was free, and it also arrived very quickly!  Higher quality supplements are available at i-herb, compared to drug stores.

Charming Older Couple ~ YouTube - Mayo Clinic atrium piano, charming older couple...

Our Ever-Changing World ~ The following very enlightening and educational YouTube exposes the current demographics in the countries of today's world.  It shows how the world in which our children and grandchildren will grow up in is not the same world in which we grew up!  Amazing facts are shown!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

Ideas for Kids on Long Car Trips ~ We were planning a week long trip with 4 young children, so for each day, I had a story tape (the story was continued for several days) and each day we would listen to one more.  Also, I wrapped a small toy or book for each day, and a snack, so 3 times a day or so, we would reach into the goodie bag and pull out something new!  To make sure we discussed something from the Bible each day, I made a picture of something ( bag of money, sheep, etc.) and held it up (one each day) for everyone to see. No talking was allowed for several minutes, while each one thought of a Bible story it reminded them of.  It was very interesting.  Even young children grasp the stories, and every day, we each thought of a different story! Fun! ~ Regina Landis in Pennsylvania

Sunny Yellow Yolks for Hard Cooked Eggs ~ Yolks that turn green is the result of cooking eggs too long.  Turn out hard cooked eggs with sunny yellow yolks every time by cooking in this way.  Put one layer of eggs in a pan and cover with cold water.  Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.  Immediately turn off the burner and let set (covered) for 20 minutes.  Set the timer.  You will save electricity with this method as well.  After 20 minutes, plunge eggs into cold water and peel.  

Easy Clean-Up When Crafting ~ Use a plastic tablecloth or shower curtain from the dollar store to cover the table before doing arts and crafts.  This way no paint or glue will ruin your table or regular tablecloth.  When finished, fold it up for next time.

Creative Water Color Gift Wrap ~ Buy a roll of white paper and let your children go to work at creating wrapping paper for all occasions.  The dull side of freezer paper can also be painted.  Wet the paper first to help the paint run and blend into beautiful splotches of color for creative wrapping paper!  Not only will this give your children something fun to do this summer, but they will feel accomplishment when going to birthday parties with gifts wrapped in their own creations.  Adults can have creative fun too!