Tip Thursday

After my spoon in the bottle tip that turned out to be false, I was going to give up Tip Thursday. After a week of feeling terrible for giving out bad advice I got over it.

Prior to burning a candle trim the wick. The candle will burn slower and last much longer.

Trim the wick prior to each time you light a candle. It works. I promise!!

Tip Thursday

A tip I learned at the New Year's Eve party I was at. 

Leave a spoon in the neck of a bottle of Champagne, Spumante or spakling wine and the bubbles will last. 

According to my friends they've had bubbles last a week. I guess I'm bringing back "Tip Thursday."

Tip Thursday

A tip to freshen up the garbage disposal in your kitchen sink.

I purposely don't put anything down our garbage disposal, vegetable peels, etc., just the the normal waste ends up going down the drain. Next time you use a lemon or lime cut the rind into quarters and keep in a bag in your freezer. When you want to freshen up your garbage disposal throw a wedge down the disposal. A wonderful "free" way to freshen up your kitchen sink!!

Tip Thursday

Bought this rush seated bench at my favorite thrift store in LA, paid $15. Had no idea how it was going to make the 2,800 mile trip to come home with me. It was old since the seat had a lot of ground in dirt.

 Don't you like how it looks just tucked under the sofa table?

Amie used the bench in her apartment for a year until one day a box arrived at my office with the bench. The bench & two pairs of pants that I accidentally left from another visit. Guess I have to add $20 for shipping to my $15. It's still worth more than my new $35 price, I think.

Wondering where the "Tip Thursday" is coming in? Howard Products. I used Restor-A-Finish in Golden Oak and then Feed-N-Wax on the bench. I bought the Restor-A-Finish in October and used on every piece of oak in the house. OMG, I can't say enough about Howard. I wasn't happy with the bench with just Restor-A-Finish so last weekend I bought Feed-N-Wax at our local hardware store. What a difference!!! The wax cost $9. Add that to my $35. What's my total cost now? I don't care. Why did it take so long to find Howard.

If you don't have one of these onion storage containers, run right to your store & buy one. They really work!!

Wicker Cleaning

Once a year I take all my wicker baskets outside, hose them off and let them dry in the shade. I read that drying in shade is better since the wicker has time to absorb some of the water.

I like how all the wicker baskets look in the house but they are big dust collectors.
Every now & then I'll dust off but nothing beats a good cleaning. This is what Martha Stewart suggests

Wicker: For both traditional and "outdoor" wicker (woven from resin or coated paper), the chief challenge is dealing with the textured surface. To remove dust, vacuum or use a soft-bristled brush. When that isn't enough, scrub with soap and water. If traditional wicker cracks, the fibers are too dry. Apply boiled linseed oil, and wipe dry (the used rags are flammable; soak them in water and wrap tightly in plastic before disposing). To repair traditional wicker, apply a damp towel to any loose strands until they become flexible enough to reweave (about an hour). If necessary, tack with an exterior brad.Read more at Marthastewart.com: Outdoor Furniture Cleaning and Repair and more decorating ideas, organizing tips, and homekeeping and cleaning solutions on marthastewart.com

I would love to polish all the baskets with linseed oil. If only I had that staff that Martha has.

Tip Thursday

We all know how important our cell phones are to us.  I personally could not live without mine; it is my life and my best friend.  I know this is a little over board, but I am just trying to get across how much important stuff is in there.  Not to mention they are expensive and a hassle to replace when they break.

So as an avid cell phone user, my tip for today is to always put your cell phone in a plastic baggy when dealing with the elements.  The baggy will protect your phone from sand, mud, water and whatever else you may come across.  The best part is, you can still use the phone while it is in the bag!  I text and talk right through it!

Happy texting,

LAGirl

Tip Thursday

Get to your local post office by Saturday, May 9th.

Saturday will be your last chance to purchase "Forever" stamps at 42 cents. Monday they will cost you additional 2 cents.

As the saying goes, "A penny saved is a penny earned!" Purchase by Saturday & you will be saving 2 cents with every letter you mail.

Tip Thursday

Now that we are in potato & macaroni salad days, I did a taste test.

It was not a blind taste test.

Hellmann's mayonnaise is the best mayo, be it Light or Regular. I hope everyone is using Light. I don't think I could even eat the non-light mayo at this point. Fat free, can't do it.

Tip Thursday

PERENNIAL TIP

When you buy perennials this spring/summer, stagger your visits by 2 weeks and buy a little bit every time, making sure to buy the things that are in (or almost in) bloom. Since things bloom at different times of the season, doing this will ensure your garden will have things blooming all the time. Bloom, bloom, bloom!

Read the above on another blog & I'm so doing this, if we ever get planting weather.

I'll also be expanding my herb garden. Everything I make tastes so much better with fresh herbs. I only had one cilantro plant last year, not sure if we would like cilantro. We ended up loving the flavor. I'll be planting more this year.

Tip Thursday

We never know how much gas is in the tank on our grill. Once we, you know I don't mean me, (I've never brought a tank to be filled.) brought the tank to get filled & it didn't need gas. Twice while cooking we ran out prior to finishing our cooking. When I heard of this tip I was so excited. It changed my life!

Slowly pour one cup of boiling water along the side of the tank. Wait a few seconds.

Feel along the side of the tank when you feel the temperature go from warm to cold that is the mark as to how much gas is in the tank.

Never again will I have to worry about running out of gas in the middle of preparing a meal! By the way, Mick was never concerned I was going to blow up the house. Although, he did leave for work while I was testing the tip. : )

Tip Thursday

Today would have been my fathers 76th birthday. He died of colon cancer at the age of 68. Prior to his diagnosis he never had a colonoscopy. The standard or "tip" for having a colonoscopy is starting at age 50 and then every 10 years. If you have a family history of colon cancer, you need to have a colonoscopy starting at age 40. If you fall into one of those categories make sure you get one done.

The above page is out of the scrapbook that I made for my Dad. The photo is from his Baptism taken in 1939 when he was six years old. I'd give anything to be able to show him his album.

I've already had two colonoscopies and they are truly not that bad at all. What really burns my a*s is not having a colonoscopy when there is a good chance you are preventing cancer!

Tip Thursday

Clean your barbecue grill with aluminum foil.

Next time you have a used piece of foil, form it into a ball, with the soiled side on the inside, rather than wasting a good piece of foil, then clean your grill. I saw this tip on TV & I did try it out prior to using it as my Tip Thursday. It worked great!! I will never again purchase a grill brush that never lasts.

Tip Thursday

When adding contact numbers to your cell phone for a person or place you call the most, enter an A, a space and finally the name or place of the contact.

When I open my "Contacts" the list looks like this

A Amie

A Eric

A Mick.

It is so convenient to have their names appear right at the beginning of the list rather than searching for them alphabetically.

Tip Thursday

The shadow at work & avoiding being on the blog.

The fourth time we've, you know what I mean by "we", painted the door. The first time it was taken off the hinges for the painting.

I've learned a lesson with door color. The tip for Thursday, always go darker, much darker than what you think when choosing a color for an exterior door on a home.

Is it SPRING yet?

Tip Thursday

A study was done, I heard on the radio yesterday, the best time to purchase an airline ticket is on a Tuesday or Wednesday!

When I purchased my tickets to travel to LA over Christmas I spent hours searching for days, times & flights. It was amazing the difference in price day by day. I searched on & off over a two week period before I finally purchased. I looked back, the ticket confirmation was for October 29, 2008 which was a Wednesday. Coincidence? My next purchase will be for tickets to Columbia for a bridal shower. I've been searching so I guess I'll wait until next Tuesday or Wednesday & see what things will look like then.

Tip Thursday

Remember when "we" started this project? I say we since I'm not doing any of the work. It was January 25, 2009. The scope of the renovation project was to install a door going down to the basement.

Doors are in, painting is still required. I love the hardware. Oh, I did do some work. I cleaned all the hardware!

The interior of the powder room now has moulding similar as the rest of the house. It looks so much better then the cheap stock moulding! Painting is still required.
A phase of the project that we never imagined was to install recessed lighting in the family room. It required crawling in the attic.
It looked like a movie set.
When I designed the kitchen/family room the ONLY thing I messed up was not putting recessed lighting in this area. I thought I would have to live with my mistake. I am so very happy to have them. I can now sit on the love seat & be able to read.
Projects are always such a mess. The worse part. The never ending dust. Oh, I did do some work. I collected all the dust in the Dyson.
Thursday Tip. Plan on every home project to take more time than expected. Plan on the project to be more work than expected. Plan on the project costing more money than expected. Lastly, mentally go into the project remembering the above tips, you will feel better during the process.

Tip Thursday

Did you know?If you use liquid fabric softener when washing bath towels or dryer sheets when drying your newly cleaned bath towels, the drying ability will not be as good since the products leave a film onto the towels.

Free Fonts

I'm off today and so far I have spent most of my day, loading the dishwasher & unloading the dishwasher, loading the washing machine & unloading the washing machine, loading the dryer & unloading the dryer. I also started the task of dusting/cleaning my craft room. I've been told the door was shut when the wood on the stairs was sanded but it does not seem to be true. Every piece of paper, container & piece of furniture is covered with DUST. Anyway, I decided to take a break and came across a site to make a font out of your own handwriting. I immediately thought of Amie, Rachel, Katie & Brittany. They all have the nicest handwriting & need to visit Your Fonts. I should have saved this for a Tip Thursday in November. This would be great to use for a holiday letter. Now I think I'll waste a bit more time on the computer before I go back up to the dust bowl.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

CFLs use up to 75% less energy than regular bulbs and last 12 times longer. Each bulb costs about $3.00, I've found them less than that. If you used a bulb for about four hours day in NYS, the bulb would save about $1 in energy costs per month. Payback would be in about 3 months. In Nebraska the payback would be just over 7 months. It depends on the cost of your electricity. I've replaced all the bulbs in our house that we use on a regular basis with CFBs.

Oh, a bonus tip. Change your furnace filter after every 3 months of use.