Daily Thrifty Tips - June 13, 2008

Don't forget about Father's Day on Sunday!

Kids are out of school, or will be soon, around the US. Do you have any tips for keeping kids occupied during the summer? Post your ideas on the contest page.

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Susan

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

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Craft Project: Recycled Bedspread Crafts

I bought a printed, ruffled bedspread, which I suspect is about 40 years old, for $1 at the thrift shop. In good shape, it was a little faded, which made me not want to use it on the bed, but gave it a sort of "vintage" patina. I took it apart and made several matching items to perk up my bedroom. It was fun to see how far I could make that dollar stretch! I have enough fabric left to make a few accent pillows. It was twin-sized. Sometimes you can find TWO matching twins, which would really give you something to work with!

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Spots and Blacks (Lab/Pit Mix)

This is Spots and Blacks. They're now 10 months old and a Lab/Pit mix. They followed our other dog Leia home from walkies.

They like to tackle each other and run around the yard. They came to us when we weren't looking to add to the family, and we're glad they did! Things happen for a reason ..

By Deidra from Aurora, MO

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Three Tier Garden Container

An impressive and fun garden project is a three or four tier container suited to a particular spot in your garden.

I have a slightly shady area, so I chose Calla Lilies surrounded by English Ivy and some tall grasses (behind the Lilies) for the topmost (and smallest) pot.

The second larger pot, I filled with Impatiens. (Because my project was to sit in front of a section of fencing, it was not necessary to plant anything in the back section of the pot.)

In the bottom (largest) pot, I used Hosta on the sides and a bright red and green Coleus in the middle area.

The results are amazing, and although planted only a month ago, it is full and lush and all I have to do is pinch off wilted Impatiens here and there.

Another great thing about this project is that the pots I bought were very inexpensive plastic ones from WalMart. This is a big savings when you have a whole garden to work on!

Just remember to water as needed. It is very hot where I live, so I water every day.

By Linda from Kernersville NC

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Garden: Sunflower

I have always enjoyed taking pictures of all the various wildflowers you can find on our property. I was out taking pictures, and my husband mentioned this sunflower growing up by the side of the house. I just love this picture.

By Lisa from Soldiers Grove, WI

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Keep Deer Out With Liquid Fence

To keep these pesky critters out of your garden use liquid fence from your garden center.

By Comaddmax from Evergreen, CO

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Craft Project: Father's Day Card

Show Dad how much you appreciate him with a handmade card that is sure to make him smile. This gorgeous heart-shaped card uses cardstock, decorative paper, buttons and a faux stitch technique.

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Millefiore Appliqued Paint Using Gallery Glass

You will need three different colors (tubes) of "Gallery Glass", a product by PLAID. On a sheet of picture glass or a piece of freezer paper shiny side up, form nickle size drops of color one. Make about a hundred dots. Now, make a second smaller dot in the center of the first dots. Go back to the first dot and using a toothpick in the center of the dot draw out the top paint into a star shape, five or six points. when all hundred dots have 'stars' on them go back a third time and place a tiny dot of your third color in the center. Let all of your millefiore dry overnight or at least twelve hours.

Pry up the dried dots (they are flexible) with a single edge razor blade or with long fingernails. Apply dry dots in overlapping rows on any smooth surface. I suggest unfired ceramics (greenware), clear glass vase, terracotta flower pot. Your choice. If using an animal form you can define facial features with dabs of your color choice. Let all revisions dry overnight before using. Do not expose to heat or wet conditions (Not suitable for a coffee mug). Gallery glass dries hard but still flexible and has a glossy finish not needing any glaze.

By Granny Gnome from Seaside, OR

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Keep and Refill Small Dish Soap Container

Buy a small bottle of your favorite dish detergent (I prefer a color that matches my kitchen and a bottle that has a lid I can tap shut with one hand). Display this bottle next to your sink. Stock up on larger bottles of the same to keep under the sink. The smaller sinkside bottle makes a colorful accent in your kitchen, is easier to handle, and can be handily refilled from your back-up supply!

By Cathy S from Delaware

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Newspaper Deodorizer For Musty Books and Drawers

Newspaper is also a way to restore musty smelling books or drawers of bureaus bought at yard sales, or that have been stored in a barn or basement. For books, put crumpled newspaper in the bottom of a paper bag, put book inside, add crumpled paper loosely all around it, and above it. If you can, stand the book on end, and leave the pages loosely opened, trying not to damage the pages when filling around the book, then, close the bag. It takes a while, I've forgotten how long, a couple of weeks, maybe.

With bureau drawers, take drawers out, wash in and out with Murphy's oil soap in hot water, using a mostly wrung out clean sponge, or 1/3 section cut in half - so, 1/6 of an old but clean terry cloth bath towel, or 1/2 hand towel, or old but clean wash cloth. Rinse out in clear water, in between drawers, or as needed to keep relatively soot free. Do it a second time.Rinse a couple times with another clean terry cloth or section. Then clean in and out of bureau, 2x,and then rinse 2 x. If it still has a bit of a musty smell after it dries, pack drawers with news paper, and close them, and wait a couple of weeks.

By Sherry from Silverdale WA

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Rotate Through Different Brands Of Moisturizer

Rather than stick to one brand of moisturizer or face cream, I like to switch around the products - and my skin seems to appreciate it! This is where sample packages of various lotions can play a role in your skin care routine - use them to supplement your usual lotions and creams in rotation. I keep on sending for samples through freebie sites online and with those and others I have picked up, have more than a month's worth of applications (There are usually more than one per package.) That will help me stretch my normal brand,saving me money, plus help my skin, too.

By Pamphyila

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Use Auto Sun Shades on Your House Windows

Use windshield sun shades on windows and skylights to keep sun out and your living space cooler.

By Marilyn from Duryea, PA

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Use Shaving Cream When Taking Tombstone Photos

My Dad, is on a genealogy kick. He's been going to a lot of old cemeteries, documenting old dates and info for births, deaths, marriages, number of children, etc. One problem he kept having was the dates not coming through on his camera, since the older tombstones turn dark with dirt, mold, etc. Now he carries a can of spray foam men's shaving cream with him, just for this very purpose. He'll spray it on the tombstone, smears it into the crevices of the wording and then wipes off the excess. Thus, leaving all the info he's in need of clear for the reading, which appears nicely in the photographs.

Source: Not sure where Dad got this info, but it works beautifully for him. Hope this can help others checking into their ancestry roots, too!

By Terri from NV

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Sharon's Hanging Garden

I started a hanging tomato garden, and not having anything to hang them from, I built a trellis using the 1 1/2 inch and the 1/2 inch PVC piping. The milk jugs I used for my garden fit perfectly on the 1/2 PVC piping, and will sit on top of the 1 1/2 inch PVC piping rectangle trellis I made!

Use a milk jug to hang the tomatoes upside down, by putting a two inch hole in the bottom and using a newspaper square with a slit in it to keep the soil in. You can even plant other plants in the top like pepper plants! I have squash in the top of this, and plan to use the trellis to keep it off the ground.

Use another milk jug to create a strawberry plant holder, cut the top off leaving the handle and cut three small holes on the flat sides of the milk jug (look at the picture) poke holes in bottom for drainage and use the styrofoam peanuts found in packing material or any other torn up styrofoam (recycle!) in the bottom instead of gravel to keep the container from being heavy. You can hang this container, or leave it sitting like you would if you had bought an expensive strawberry pot!

By Sharon from Fairview, NC

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Use Spray Paint to Update Plastic Garden Planters

The large terracotta-colored pot we used last summer for our porch planter just did not look right with the selection of coleus and other shade plants we wanted to use this year. We shopped around, only to find that it would cost close to $50 to replace that pot with a much more suitable black one. Then- inspiration: we used a $7 can of black spray paint (for use on plastic) to create a glossy black pot in minutes. It looks great!

By Susan from Akron, OH

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Use Mesh in Garden to Keep Cats Away

In the past we have had a problem with the neighborhood cats(and our own) using our garden as a liter box. Yuck! So to stop them in their tracks, so to speak ,we devised a way to stop them from digging. This method is completely harmless to the cats and other creatures.

We went to our local home improvement store and bought a large roll of plastic bird mesh. We layed it over every square inch of our garden.We also made sure that the edges were weighted down so that the more clever of the pets wouldn't be able to move it aside. As the seedlings come up, we cut small slits down the rows.
The kitties cannot dig and do not like the feel of it on their paws.

By Angi from Spokane, WA

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Easy Homemade Individual Pizzas

Tonight, as I drove home from work, I called my kids, who agreed pizza (homemade) would be a good supper. My daughter started our usual dough in the bread machine, on the manual cycle. (3 cups flour, 1 packet/Tbsp. yeast, 1 cup warm water, and whatever herbs/spices she feels like throwing in)

When I got home, I really didn't want to heat the entire house up with the oven, so I punched down the dough, let it rest briefly, then divided it into single-serving crust sized portions. I rolled each of them out to approximately 1/4-inch thick and cooked them in a preheated (non-stick) skillet on the stove top (medium heat). Basically, you bake it on one side until it starts to bubble and brown, then flip it until it is beginning to brown on the other side. It takes a couple of minutes for the first side, slightly less for the second. You end up with crusts similar to the prebaked ones from the grocery store, though not as thick. I suspect you could experiment with thickness and cooking time.

We each then proceeded to add our toppings and broiled briefly in the toaster oven, or put them in the microwave until the cheese was melted.

They turned out great, and the leftover crust will make an easy lunch for one of us tomorrow.

By Jill from Eastern PA

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Knitting Needle Alternative: Chubby Pencils

I got psyched by the suggestion of using chop sticks as knitting needles and used the round Korean ones with the pointed tips - but the resulting gauge was really too small to make a narrow scarf out of the ball of bargain fun fur I had picked up. ($1!) I looked at needles in the craft store, but $6-7 for wooden sticks? That's all they are really. I was racking my brain to think of another alternative and then it struck me, Chubby pencils! I bought 4 for $1.99 and put clear tape on the sharpened end to make them slippery and VOILA!

A pair of "knitting needles" quite adequate for my knitting experiment at $.50 a pair, not $5.00 plus. Might be good for kids, too. Although knitting snobs may have heart attacks.

By Pamphyila

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Brightest Solar Lights

Please someone tell me what are the brightest solar lights to use?

Trish from Cottageville, Sc

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Fixing a Wobbly Ceiling Fan

We recently moved into a new house that has ceiling fans in all the bedrooms. During the set up of my son's bed, the ceiling fan was hit and now it wobbles. How can I repair that we can use the fan? Right now it wobbles so much that I'm afraid it will break the the light fixture.

Melissa from Globe, Arizona

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Removing Iron Burn Mark from a White Dress Shirt

Is there a way to remove a burn from the iron from a white dress shirt.

Tina from Bristol, CT

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Looking for Quilling Patterns

I am just getting started in Quilling and looking for patterns that are simple to get started with.

Linda B. from Century, Fl.

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"Dream Pet" Likes Husband Better

I received my "dream pet after retirement" about 2 months ago, and now she follows my husband everywhere. She even sleeps next to HIM! I took complete care, showed her the utmost love and affection, and tried to train her with different things. My husband has undermined all of this, and I am heartbroken. Any suggestions to how I can win my puppy back, or is it too late? She is almost 5 months old now and is a Malt-A-Poo with a strong will, but I miss her dearly. She only "pacifies" me with her time for a few minutes, then runs to find him. Help! Please?

Dee from Gulfport, MS

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Saving My Weeping Cherry Tree

My weeping cherry was blown over during one of our severe wind storms. It's a year old from planting. It still has some roots. I put it in a bucket of water & plan to add some cotton burr compost to beef up the very sandy soil before replanting. Does it have a chance of surviving? It has been a very healthy tree and I'd hate to lose it. Any suggestions?

Hardiness Zone: 7a

Marilyn from Sand Springs, OK

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Baby Shampoo Pest Spray

What is the recipe for Baby Shampoo Pest Spray, it's a non-chemical pest control. I have small aphid looking bugs on my broccoli plants.

Hardiness Zone: 8b

Helen from Apple Valley, Utah

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Removing Spiders from the Ceiling

I live in a 2nd floor apt. and we get a lot of spiders in the summer. My daughter is petrified of them and I'm not too fond of them myself. We always seem to find them on our high ceilings. I have tried using my Swiffer or a mop or broom to smoosh them but it makes them drop on the floor and sometimes run away. Does anyone know of a better solution to this pesky and a little creepy problem? I was looking at those bug vacuums but they are all too short to reach the ceiling. Any help or suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated!

Tara from Walton, Ny

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5 Year Old Having Bowel Movement in Pants

I seem to be having a sudden problem with my 5 year old moving her bowels in her pants. When asked why she does this she says she isn't getting there in time or she was playing and didn't stop. We have tried taking things away from her, putting her to bed, time outs, no tv but nothing seems to be working. It just doesn't seem to bother her. I am so frustrated and embarrassed as she is doing this in public. What can I do please give me some ideas.

Debbie from Berwick ME

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Guinea Pig Won't Use Litter Box

We adopted a guinea pig about 6 weeks ago. She has been very good about using a litter box when out of her cage. However, we went on vacation for 4 days, and now that we're back - I have noticed that she won't use her litter box. What can I do to get her to use the litter box again? She doesn't like any store bought treats, and we feed her veggies and fruit everyday - so what do I do to give her an incentive to pee in the litter box?
HELP!

R from Savannah, GA

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Ideas for an Olympics Party

I want to host an Olympics party in the summer; what zany, funny, easy "competitions" could I have that would appeal to kids and adults of various ages? And where can I get downloads of "medals" that I could laminate put on neck ribbons? Thanks for all any help you can offer!

Casey from Plano, TX

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What is this recipe?

I'm not sure what to call it - it's an appetizer made of bread/cheese and butter. Someone gave me the recipe many years ago and I've lost it. What I do recall about it, was it was slices of thin white bread and butter and you dipped it in a cheese sauce - then froze and then baked before serving. They were sinful! Thanks

Beth from NJ

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Slipcover Patterns for a Wooden Chair

I want to sew a slipcover for the wooden chair to my makeup table. It has a normal size back. I would like the ruffled skirt to be to the floor and have the ties in the back to make a big bow (like country cottage style I've seen in magazines). Has anyone made one of these or could recommend a pattern that they liked. I'm not sure how to attach the skirt to the seat and back.

Rose from Malvern, PA

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Name Ideas for an Online Clothing Store

I am going to be starting an online store that sells name brand children's clothing, name brand womens clothing, toys and baby items. These items are new and used. I need some name suggestions. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Norma from Fresno

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Removing Crayon from a Computer Screen

How do you get crayon off a computer screen?

bonnieromney from Murray, Utah

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Craft Projects to do While Watching TV

I am looking for some type of craft project that I can do while watching TV. I love to needlepoint, but can't always find kits. I don't really like beading, crocheting, knitting or counted cross stitch. Am looking for maybe some type of lap quilts I can make? Also, don't really want to have to hot glue anything or do anything that looks like kids put it together.

Susan from TX

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Craft Ideas for Tennis Rackets

I have two nearly new tennis rackets, I would like some craft ideas on using them for decor. I would appreciate any ideas anyone may have. I don't want to give them away, this is the next best thing.

Patsy from Salem, MO

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Relieving Plugged Ears

I've had some colds/bronchitis recently (still have a cough) and now one of my ears is completely plugged up. I've tried the Murine Ear Wax Removal, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Alcohol, but so far nothing has worked. Anyone have any suggestions or do I need to see the doctor? Thanks.

Bonnie from Tuckerton, NJ

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Can You Replant Tomatoes In The Same Place?

Can you replant tomatoes where you have had tomatoes the year before if the tomatoes had no problems? Thank you.

Hardiness Zone: 7a


4doglarry from Morganton, NC

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Using Chestnuts To Control Spiders

I've heard of using chestnuts to control spiders. Do you use them whole, or do you break them up?

Carol from Frederick, MD

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Fudgesicle Recipe Request

Does anyone remember Fudgesicles and banana Fudgesicles, that we used to get from Popsicyle? I would love to find the recipes to make them. Thanks for the help.

Nolasandy from Kenner, LA

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

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Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml

Frugal and Foolish
By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

My husband likes to remind me that there's frugal and then there's foolish. It's hard to tell the difference because companies and products want to market themselves, so they claim that they are essential. However, there are foolish ways to be frugal, and many of them end up costing more money in the long run. Take a look at where I've learned not to cut costs.

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Hydroculture: Growing Your Houseplants in Water
By Ellen Brown

Who needs dirt? Not your houseplants, at least not all of them. Many can be cultivated using a technique called Hydroculture, where soil is replaced with water and a liquid fertilizer, and a clay aggregate is used to support the plant's roots. For people who travel a lot, or for those of us who tend to over or under water our houseplants, Hydroculture may be a good solution.

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When Should We Trim Our Japanese Maple?

Question:

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Fast Growing Evergreen Trees

Question:

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