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Hello,
There is always a lot of useful feedback being post on the website. To follow the discussion be sure to visit the Active Topics page here:
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This weekend's TF News is going to be a Halloween issue. We are going to pull together many of the tips that have been submitted and publish them in one issue. This will help get most of the Halloween tips out well before Halloween. If you have any costume or decorating tips please submit them on the contest form.
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Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Today's Tips
I landscaped for twenty years. One thing I quickly learned is that soft scalloped edges in a flower bed are much more calming to the eye than squared off beds.
In order to make an edge which is exactly to your taste, bring out your garden hose and move it around until the shape is exactly what you want.
Then bring out your shovel and go along the garden hose following the shape that you designed with the hose.
Simple and beautiful, this is the way to get what you want in the shape of the flower beds throughout your yard.
By Bev Sobkowich
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Do your chains and beads get all tangled up? Mount an adjustable wooden cup rack on the back of your closet door. Now you can hang your necklaces tangle free.
By Debra in Colorado
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If you have a little artist who gets hold of an ink pen and marks your walls up, the best thing you can do is spray aerosol hairspray on it. You can immediately see the ink start to run and all you have to do is take an old rag and wipe the ink off.
By Lesa
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Go to your local dollar store and find a small bear or other animal about the size of a beanie baby. Now buy a package of scrunchies and put each one around the bear. These are very cute for birthday party favors or as a gift.
By Debra in Colorado
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When you are out and about going to garage sales and thrift stores keep your eyes open for those beaded car seats. They are a great resource for beads. Cut them apart and use the beads to make garlands for a country christmas tree, a handle to a pocket book, a counting game for kids or just let the kids have them to make things with. They make great feet for decorated cans or feet for Barbie Furniture. Have fun and when your done you can always donate the rest to your local preschool or day school.
By Debra in Colorado
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Save Money At The Grocery Store With Loss Leaders
Take advantage of a store's "loss leaders." These are sale items the store is selling at such a low cost they may even be losing money on them. These items are priced so low to get you into the store, with the hope that you will keep shopping for regularly priced items. I buy only the sale items and usually save over 50%! (my regular grocery shopping is done at a "rock-bottom, no-name brands, pack-your-own-bags" store where I generally save 40% compared to national chains)
By Leann D
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I know we would all like to be able to have breakfast as a family together but sometimes mornings can be just too hectic. So here is a fast and easy way to get those kids some breakfast on the go! Save the nice plastic cups that soft drinks come in from 7-11 with the hard plastic lids. Fill the night before or on the run the next morning with cereal. Now add some milk and a cut up banana or other fruit and your out the door in a hurry. The kids can eat it in the car with minimum of mess.
By Debra in Colorado
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I had always worn an item of clothing only once before washing it. Same with bath towels. I've recently begun inspecting my clothing before automatically throwing something into the hamper. If an item of clothing isn't visibly dirty or less-than-fresh smelling, its get put into the "refresh" pile. On laundry day, clothing that needs only to be "refreshed" either goes through a short rinse cycle with 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar, or into the dryer with a wet towel and dryer sheet for 5 minutes. And the bath towels? They get reused until I find a reason to have to wash them (usually a bath towel is good for nearly a week.)
By Leann D
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"Disposable" straws need not be! To clean, simply use a chenille stem (these were called "pipe cleaners" when I was a kid). I've seen the stems in the craft section of many stores. I bought a package of 50 at the dollar store.
By Leann D
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Marked Down Onions and Peppers
Many times our supermarkets mark large quantities of fresh onions and peppers to such a low price that you can't afford to not take advantage of the purchase. I found fresh peppers at 50 cents per lb. and fresh onions at 20 cents per pound. I washed, sliced and diced them then packaged and labeled them in freezer bags. This coming winter I will have oodles of both to enjoy at a substantial savings.
By Joesgirl
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Watch the prices on fresh meat as it gets closer to the sell date. Our supermarket marks the prices down really low. Last week they had chicken legs marked to 29 cents per lb. I bought 20 packages and when I got home I repackaged and labeled them into smaller freezer bags. I will use them in casseroles, soups, barbecuing, etc. Seeing that the meat had not gone by the expiration date, it still was good. Anything you put in the freezer will only come out as good as it was when it went in. What a buy.
By Joesgirl
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Read Your Supermarket Flyers Carefully Every Week
This weeks special was buy one 1/2 gallon of EDYS' ice cream and get 1 free. (price was $3.99 per 1/2 gallon) Buy 2 gallons and get 2 free PLUS get a $5.00 discount off of your entire bill. So, I bought 4 - 1/2 gallons of ice cream for $7.98 and received a $5.00 discount which lowered my cost to $2.98. That's 75 cents per 1/2 gallon. Where we live you can't even buy a baby ice cream cone for less than $2.25. We tucked all 4 of them in our freezer for a special treat in the future.
By Joesgirl
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Brown Paper Bag Wall Treatment
Materials:
Brown Craft Paper (or used brown grocery bags)
Wallpaper paste
Paint brush (inexpensive)
Bucket
Large damp sponge
Instructions:
1. Tear the craft paper or grocery bags into pieces approximately the size of a large dinner plate. Tear away all straight edges. Crumple each piece tightly into a ball.
2. Pour the wallpaper paste into the paint tray. Use the paint brush to apply paste onto the wall in about a 4'X 4' section.
3. Uncrumple each piece of brown paper and press onto the wall. Do not smooth out all the wrinkles. This will give a lot of texture to the finished wall. Lay down the next piece slightly overlapping the first piece. Press down the edges with the damp sponge and remove the excess paste. You may have to periodically rinse and wring out the sponge. Continue rolling on paste and applying the paper until the entire wall is covered. Allow to dry 48 hours.
Makes it look like a leather or suede look. It's fantastic and if there is a spill or a piece is damaged later you can just add a piece : )
By Tracey
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My husband came up with this one, I should have included mittens that could be hung on the branches and if you wanted you could buy dryer vent hose and some florist U pins to use as arms for the snowman.
By Debra in Colorado
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Dryer Sheet as Antistatic Glass Cleaner
Instead of using glass cleaner to clean your television screen, and computer monitor, obtain a used dryer sheet. It will attract the dust automatically. This also works on mirrors that are for decoration purposes. (of course if you have sticky finger prints on these surfaces, this will not work)
By Erin
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Many Uses For Foam Bathroom Cleaner
I use the foam bathroom cleaner for tubs and sinks on my collars, cuffs of shirts before a wash. Takes out ink marks too. It takes spots out of the carpet and stops a spider in his tracks so you can pick him up for disposal. I carry a can with me everywhere, I find new things this is good for all the time. Have Fun!
By Pplrgrl
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Cleaning Stubborn Dry Erase Boards
Use toothpaste (the regular kind) and put some on a rag and scrub over the board where the ink is not coming off, then rinse, wipe with a clean cloth and dry.
By Lisa T.
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The refrigerator isn't just for food! It can help to keep other household items fresh and extend their lives as well. And I'm not talking about your husbands ;) Placing batteries in the fridge extends their life and can be used for twice as long as those stored in a drawer. Put your pantyhose in the fridge and you're less likely to get runs when you wear them. (But if they do, bring clear nail polish and dab at the beginning and end of run and they won't continue.) Place scented candles in the fridge when not being used and they will retain their scent longer and won't drip wax when they burn. I hope this helps my fellow frugal friends. Best wishes to you and those you love!
By Suzanne S.
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This is for slug control. I mix Sudsy Ammonia with water, half and half (they really won't crawl away from this mixture!), or a little more water and put it in a spray bottle. You can spray this solution right onto the flowers and plants and it doesn't hurt them. That way you get all the baby slugs that the mother has lovingly placed to feed on the tender parts! It works great! Happy slugging!
By Betty Reese
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Save and wash 10 - 2 liter bottles and the lids. Get a small ball from the dollar store. Fill the bottles with a couple of inches of clean kitty litter. Set it up and let your toddlers have a ball.
By Debra in Colorado
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Ingredients:
2 c. plain flour
1 c. boiling water
1 c. crisco
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
Boil water with the salt, pour the water in with crisco stir until crisco is almost all melted. Pour water/crisco mixture over flour stir until well mixed, may need to add a little flour for right consistency. Pour out on floured board and kneed a few minutes. Divide into 3 equal size balls wrap in wax paper put into freezer about 15 minutes. Knead the dough about a minute and roll out. This will make the flakiest crust you ever had. Makes 3 crusts and the dough feels like silk when you kneed it. GREAT CRUST.
By Angela Jackson
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This is a fun idea for Mommies of all ages. Send out an invitations in the shape of a sleeping bag or a big pillow. Invite your friends to bring a sleeping bag and their best PJ's and come sleep with you.
No children or husbands allowed. Now go to the Video store and rent the latest chick flick. Get a good bottle of champagne and make some great party snacks.
Pull out those curlers you haven't used in years and have a go at each other's hair. Remember it will all wash out in the morning. Read poetry or portions of books to each other or just gab.
For party favors make small pillows shaped like bed pillows, adding lace to one edge. Also have a good old pillow fight. Fill the pillows with lavender and they will make a great sachet later. If you don't want libations at your party you could get all the stuff to make hot fudge sundaes and have a good laugh.
By Debra in Colorado
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Syndication Spotlight:
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Dear Webby's Humor Letter
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New Requests:
I am looking for instructions and tips for reupholstering a side chair.
Thanks,
Kitkat
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Creative Uses For Empty Light Bulbs
I have empty light bulbs, just normal 60W bulbs with the inside pulled out. The end is open, and I was wondering what I could do with them. Any ideas? I thought about making a candle, inside the upside-down bulb, but there's not enough oxygen that gets into it. Any ideas would be appreciated! I'm sure there's something really cool I could do with them.
Steph
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White Spots and Worn Stain on Furniture
Have a wooden kitchen table that has a lacquer finish on it. How do I get white heat spots off? Also I have a solid wood bedroom suite. How do I fix the worn off parts of the stain?
- Smcallum
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Organizing Meat in The Freezer
Have we had a thread on keeping track of all this bulk produce?! Having meat languishing at the bottom of the freezer for years until unfit to eat isn't saving anything. The reason I ask is I have just bought a large freezer mainly to save money but also as I have a yearling cow that I raised from a calf that's getting a bit big to play 'chase Mummy' so it will be butchered. I also have 5 lambs that someone gave me that will go the same way eventually. I am in need of a simple method to keep track of what I have and mark off what I use from the freezer. I have been leaning towards a simple paper method - a form taped to the lid as I know if I'm cooking and have to break off to go to the computer I will probably forget! Does anyone have any fool proof methods?
Thanks
Jo
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Preserving Carrots Through the Winter
Hi! I just harvested about 20 lbs of carrots from a home garden. Should I blanche them and place them freezer bags, store them in a cool, dark basement area or what? I'd like to be able to use them throughout the winter months. This is the first time I have tried growing carrots and am a little startled (pleasantly though!) at my success. HELP!!! What do I do now??
Dennis from Milwaukee, WI
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More Reading
Money Is A Family Affair
By Terry Rigg
If you are single and don't have kids this tip won't mean much to you. For the rest of us that have others to consider when making money decisions it just may make things a little easier.
View Article: Click Here
Homemaking Tips
By Monica Resinger
The best way to prevent stains on clothing is to treat the stain while it's fresh (before it goes through the washer and dryer).
View Article: Click Here
Here is a great way to use leftover noodles. I found this recipe in the 1978 book ' Betty Crocker's Microwave Cooking'
View Article: Click Here
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