Tips

Child Discipline ~ Alison Buck in Ohio says," I wanted to mention again another book that goes along with some of your “discipline and love” resources."  You may have noticed the title in the article, "Choosing Joy and Sanity in Mommyhood" by Alison and some of her friends in the Sept 1, 2009 issue of Heart to Heart. The book is “Loving Your Kids on Purpose” and Alison says, "It’s definitely an amazing way to retune our brains as parents to remove the fear factor in discipline and bring in the love and respect – the relationship aspect. You can check out some details on: http://lovingonpurpose.com/"  Here is the book itself with lots of reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Loving-Kids-Purpose-Danny-Silk/dp/0768427398

Skipping Expensive Coffee Drinks ~ Rather than endulging yourself with exotic coffees, consider coming up with a recipe on your own for possibly one tenth of the cost.  Do an Internet search.  You're bound to find better uses for the money you may currently spend in this way.

How to Restore Sweaters, Other Garments and Even Sofas ~ Remove balls of fuzz from sweaters, other garments, sofas or pillows with a "Sweater Defuzzer" and pull snags to the inside of a garment with a "Snag Nab-It."  Both of these useful tools can be found at a fabric store such as Jo-Ann's.

Cleaning Eye Glasses ~ Simply hold glasses under hot running water and wipe dry with a terry cloth the size of a washcloth.  The cloth can be used many times if you touch your hands on one side only, just in case oils from your skin or hand cream get on the cloth.  If you use a terry cloth with a print on one side or one having two different textures, you will know which side to use to clean your glasses each time with no smudges.

The Fel-Naptha Bar of Soap Does it Again! ~ I found another way to use this great bar of soap!  Wet a terry cloth and rub the bar of soap into it; then clean the walls!  I found this worked better than all purpose liquid cleaners in removing tough stains from walls as well as stubborn stains in rugs and carpets!  Of course, as mentioned before it's a fabulous stain remover for clothing!  That's why it's one of the three ingredients in the recipe for homemade soap at 1 to 3 cents per load!  Great stuff!  I keep a bar in the bathrooms, laundry room and kitchen!

How to Use the Same Clean and Sweet-Smelling Dish Cloth All Week Long ~ Yes, it can easily be done by keeping a bar of Fels-Naptha soap by the kitchen sink, and rubbing the bar into the wet cloth each day to remove stains which accumulate.  This week Fels-Naptha soap removed carrot juice, grease and other stains from my dish cloth and it never looked so clean nor smelled sweeter after several days of use! 


Hanging Photos and Artwork ~ Especially in a child's room, a way to hang large works of art or posters is to adhere them with rubber cement to foam board, leaving the edges to serve as a frame.  Many colors are available at office supply and craft stores.  If you can't find a suitable color to match the room, fabric can be wrapped around the entire foam board and secured on the back with tape.  Lots of photographs could be arranged on a foam board as well.  Smaller photos (8x10) could also be displayed individually in this way.

Finding More Time ~ My favorite way to save cooking time is to prepare large quanities of a dish, usually in a clean basin, then freeze multiple duplicate meals for more carefree days ahead.  Recently I prepared a dishpan full of meatloaf, after buying ten pounds of ground chuck on sale.  This mixture was shaped into large meatloaves, as well as small meatloaves, which could also be used as flavored hamburgers if desired at the last minute, simply by flattening them.  A few other favorites I like to make ahead and freeze are brown rice with veggies (onions, carrots) and herbs, cooked dried beans, Spanish rice, spaghetti, chili, sloppy joes, soups, quiche, cooked roast beef and chicken, homemade breads, and holiday dishes like stuffing (enough for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a small dish or two for later), like I made last week.