Tips and Tidbits

A Very Special Wedding Gift ~ When our daughter got married years ago, my sister-in-law orchestrated a treasured gift for the new couple!  She brought a large artist's canvas, glass, a frame, lots of colored pens, rubber stamps, and ink pads along, as her family flew clear across the country to attend the wedding.  At the reception, she asked each guest to come and write a message to the bride and groom and sign their names.  Afterward the canvas was almost filled up, but she found tiny spaces to use her smaller rubber stamps to add heart, flowers, and all kinds of sweet additions in all colors to compliment the messages of the wedding guests.  In the end Aunt June framed the canvas, enclosing it in glass. Our daughter said many times that this was her favorite gift! 

Tons of Wedding Ideas to Stretch Your Budget ~ from Past Newsletters: http://www.heartfilledhome.blogspot.com/search/label/Weddings

Gardening the Easy Way ~  You could call this a "Bagged Garden!"  Purchase a bag of potting soil or top soil, and lay the bag out flat.  Cut some draining slits in the underside of the bag.  Flip it over and make holes for whatever you want to grow.  Plant flowers or vegetables in the holes. Several bags with plants growing inside could be grouped together with mulched leaves hiding the plastic.

Growing Potatoes in a Bucket ~ Cut out the bottom of five gallon buckets, place the buckets in good soil, place seed potatoes in the bottom with the sprouts pointing upward, and cover with soil.  Then keep adding soil as the potato plants grow!  You will yield "layers" of fresh potatoes by planting buckets full!  At harvest time, simply lift up the buckets, letting the soil and potatoes fall to the ground.   Firehouse Subs has five gallon pickle buckets for about $2 each, so get a few for this fun project that your children and grandchildren would enjoy!   I buy them for homemade laundry soap.  Check the website for the recipe.

Natural Lawn Fertilizer ~ Create a thick, luxurious and beautiful lawn, free of harmful chemicals by mixing the following in a large bucket (1 cup seaweed extract, 1 cup fish emulsion, and 1 gallon of cool tap water).  The first two ingredients can be purchased from a plant nursery, and possibly at a hardware store.  Using a hose end sprayer, spray the lawn with this natural fertilizer in the spring and autumn.  It should also take care of unwanted weeds.

The G. W. Boutique ~ This is one of my favorite places to find good bargains!  I have even found new or like-new specialty fabrics in ready-made clothing, which I've bought to cut up for various sewing projects.  I've found silk, leather, wool, and unusual designs to turn into other creations.  You no doubt have a "Boutique" like this in your neighborhood, also known as Goodwill.

You Can Make Your Own Tinted Moisturizer by purchasing a number 30 SPF moisturizer and mixing it yourself with about one-third the amount of liquid foundation.   You might want to mix enough for one application in your hand to be sure it works for you.

Protect Your Family's Integrity with an Internet Filter ~ www.besecure.com and www.covenanteyes.com are two good filters.

Children's Bible Ideas Unlimited ~ Betty Robertson provides ideas for your Sunday school class, VBS class or mid-week programming.  Are you a homeschool parent or grandparent? Children's Bible Ideas Unlimited is now on Facebook for your convenience! New ideas are added regularly.

Freezing Eggs ~ When eggs are on sale, it's a good time to stock up, as long as you have freezer space.  Crack an egg into each square of an ice cube tray.  After they freeze solid, they can be stored in a freezer bag, so they are easy to retrieve when cooking or baking.

Expanding a Recipe File ~ Other than recipe cards for everyday food, I like to write out fun specialty recipes for children, such as play dough, and various ways to serve food to resemble animals, a palm tree, or other objects.  A recipe file could also be expanded to include homemade cleaning recipes, homemade beauty treatments, science experiments, object lessons, as well as lawn and garden treatments.

For Sweet Smelling Dishcloths and Sponges, wet a dishcloth or sponge with water and rub it with a Fels Naptha bar of soap, then microwave on High for about 2 minutes to kill germs and get rid of that terrible dishcloth odor.

Squeezing Lemon and Lime Juice is much easier with a hand squeezer.  Walmart has a green one for limes and a yellow one for lemons.  After squeezing out as much juice as possible, I squeeze the fruit in my left hand while running a sharp paring knife inside the citrus, releasing even more juice and citrus goodness.

Great Sandwiches from Cold to Hot ~ When making large quantities of pulled chicken, barbecue, pork barbecue, or sloppy Joes, you can plan ahead for easy meals later in this way.  Line muffin pans with paper cupcake liners (not foil), and fill each one with a meat mixture.  After they are frozen solid, remove cake liners with meat from muffin pans and store in a labeled freezer bag.  Then when you need a quick meal, simply microwave the contents of one cake liner and serve it on a hamburger bun or slice of whole grain bread.