Daily Thrifty Tips
Volume Three, Number 145, October 8, 2004
http://www.ThriftyFun.com
Hello,
This weekend's ThriftyFun News will be about Microwave Cooking. If you have any tips or recipes to offer on this topic, please send them in.
We have brought back the table of contents. Instead of tweaking the format more we are going to start publishing the Daily Monday through Sunday instead of just Monday through Friday.
Thanks for reading,
Susan
Today's newsletter contains:
Today's Tips:
- House Training a New Puppy In 10 Days
- Frugal Housewarming Gift
- Alternative to Spring Rods for Sheers
- Umbrella Table Plastic Ring Replacement
- Make Your Own Board and Card Games
- Store Crayola Air Dry Clay in a Vacuum Bag
- Make a Heritage Cookbook
- Homemade Electrolyte Solution
- Book Swap Party
- Saving Your Daily Thrifty Tips Newsletter
- Funnel Storage
- Avoid Cleaning Crockpots
- Tactile Learning
- Stretching a Box of Noodle-Roni
- Other Uses for Easter Grass
- Storing Cottage Cheese
- Beautiful Beaded Snowflakes
New Requests:
- Looking for Cod Recipe
- Knitted Newsboy Cap Pattern
- Furniture Dents in Carpet
- Mothball Smell in Leather Purse
More Reading:
- Teach Your Child Halloween Safety,
- Games for Promoting Your Child's Motor Development
- Glowing Goblins
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Foodsaver Vac 300
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Today's Tips
House Training a New Puppy In 10 Days
This is a tip for new puppy owners. They are adorable but the pee pee can strain an otherwise great relationship. This is what we do with our very young pups. First of all love them. Dogs will try very hard to please. Set aside 10 days to house train your pup.
First of all get a large box with high sides. Put a very comfy blanket or other soft bedding and place it in the box. Find a wind up clock and a hot water bottle. The clock sounds like a heartbeat and the warmth from the hot water bottle is soothing to the puppy. Tuck them both under the bedding. Now, for the next 10 days, the puppy spends the majority of his/her time in the box.
When he comes out he is taken directly out on the grass so the pup will become accustomed to going pee and poo on the grass. Lots of praise really helps. Now you can have a playtime for a while inside or outside. Remember to take puppy back out on the grass before placing him back in the box. It is your choice to feed the pup inside or outside of the box but I prefer a large box so puppy can eat or drink without stress for you and the pup. Keep this up for 10 days and you will have a house trained puppy. It has always worked for us.
By Bev Sobkowich
View Article: Click Here
Frugal Housewarming Gift
I needed a housewarming present for my cousin's daughters and I didn't have any money. But I do have a lot of plants, so I've started taking cuttings and rooting them in water for about two months now. They're now ready for transplanting and make a nice, thrifty gift to give the new homeowners.
By springmaid5
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Alternative to Spring Rods for Sheers
I needed spring rods for my sheers at several windows, but they were more expensive than I could afford. When we go to home fairs or safety fairs, we often get yardsticks. I paint them white, cut them down and stick sponges on either end to hold up the sheers. They're not moveable, but they do stay up if you leave them alone.
By springmaid5
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Umbrella Table Plastic Ring Replacement
The plastic ring on our outdoor glass umbrella table broke a couple of years ago in a wind. To fill the gap between the umbrella and the table, I cut an inverted Yoplait Yogurt container and forced it down into the hole. It has lasted for over two years now. What a surprise.
By springmaid5
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Make Your Own Board and Card Games
First, I need to say that this can become addicting especially if you are all ready a graphics junky. So don't say I did not warn you. On the internet there are many sites (Some educational, some not) that have free board games that you can print out and then glue the printouts to cardboard. The pieces are usually common household items. Go to the search engine "Google" and type in "Free Board Games" and you will be surprise at what pops up.
I especially like the King Edward and King Charles games. They were quite fun. For card games I highly recommend Warpspawn games. Now don't get turned off by the name. There are literally hundreds of card games on this site. You make your own cards. He provides what the cards should be and the directions for playing the games. As far as designing the cards, you are on your own. This is what makes it the most fun for you.
You can measure a regular playing card and use that as a template or cut some cool shaped cards (like round or octagon). He has a game called Plains Indians. I typed in "Indian Graphics" in Google and found a ton of graphics of the different tribes. Now, of course, you have to abide by his copyright but you can make as many of these games for yourself or family as you want. He has science fiction, fantasy, historical, War and Kids games. I hope that you have as much fun as I did.
By Debra in Colorado
View Article: Click Here
Store Crayola Air Dry Clay in a Vacuum Bag
Crayola air dry clay comes in 2 sizes. The bag size is the smaller size yet still more than is needed sometimes. The extra could be sealed in a vacuum bag until needed again. It must be sealed or the clay will dry out from the exposed air. A perfect solution.
By Mildred Ruckert
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Make a Heritage Cookbook
Do you love Aunt Barbara's Brownies or your Aunt Cat makes the best fudge? Well why not make a heritage cookbook? Collect all those favorite recipes from the great chefs in the family and organize them one of two ways.
You can organize them by category just like your real cookbook or a more interesting way would be to organize them by Chef. In this type of cookbook you might want to have the cover page for each Chef to include a picture and a brief Biography of each person. Then organize the recipes behind their cover page.
There are many beautiful fonts out there to use and don't forget that many graphics programs and picture editing programs now have frames to frame pictures. Let your creative juices flow. I promise you when the family finds out what you are doing the whole family will want a copy and what a great tribute to your family.
When my mother passed on I made a cookbook of all of her favorite recipes and added all kinds of pictures of her. Not only did the family love the recipes but a lot of the photos had special memories for the people who received the cookbook. Now that is a great gift and if it is true that we live forever in the hearts of those who remember us, this is a way to truly keep a part of my Mom alive.
By Debra in Colorado
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Homemade Electrolyte Solution
We had a rough go with the flu this month and a good friend gave me this recipe:
Mix together until dissolved
1 packet Kool-Aid sugar free (not required, but helps the flavor),
7 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 quarts water
It tastes better than that expensive stuff for the kids and is a lot more thrifty!
By Christine
View Article: Click Here
Book Swap Party
Do you and your friends enjoy those trashy romance novels, perhaps your husband can't get enough of John Grisham or spy novels? Here is a way to save money on your reading materials. Have a book swap party. Have all your friends box up the books they no longer want and bring them to your house.
Set up long tables with the books on them, saw horses and plywood will work also. Now send invitations to come and get those books. If you have the books before hand, no one will know how many each person donated which can help eliminate disputes. You might want to decide on a number each has to contribute or take home. You can also include magazines. Just make sure they are whole and have not been cut up.
For the menu I would serve a nice wine with cheese and some hot snacks. Let each person browse at the tables and make their selections. You also might want to make up a trivia style game about some of the authors and have a couple of new books (or gently used from the second hand store) as prizes for the winners. You also could give each friend a gift of a book by their favorite author as a party favor. Any books that are left over can be donated to your favorite charity.
Hope you have fun at your party and Happy Reading.
By Debra in Colorado
View Article: Click Here
Saving Your Daily Thrifty Tips Newsletter
There are two ways of saving your daily tips newsletter. One way is to cut and paste single tips or you can cut and paste the whole thing. The procedure is the same with both. While holding down your right mouse button highlight the text. Now you can either go to the Edit button in your browser or you can left click on your mouse. Go down the menu until you find copy. Now minimize your online service and open Note pad, Word pad or a word processor and go to edit and click on paste.
There you go! Now you can print out the tips and keep them in a notebook for future reference. You can also do this with tips found on the website. If you don't want to print them out, you can burn the whole file from your word processor to a CD, or if the file is not to large, copy it to a floppy disk.
Happy collecting!
By Debra in Colorado
View Article: Click Here
Funnel Storage
If you use funnels in your garage or workshop for filling oil, gas, herbicides, pesticides, etc., you waste a lot of time and money if you clean them after each use. To prevent dust and insects from sticking to them, just put each one into a different color shopping bag and close them air tight with a twist tie. You can hang them up on nails by their handles, and even label each spot.
By Helmut
http://www.webby.com/humor
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Avoid Cleaning Crockpots
Crockpots can be a pain to get clean. So, here's a clever trick to help you save some time, energy, soap, and even money. Place a cooking bag in the pot, fill it with the ingredients for your recipe, close it up and slow cook and serve as usual. After dinner, all you have to do is pull the bag out, close it with a twist tie, and store it in the fridge. You can
reheat it in the same bag in the pot for the next meal or you can keep it in the freezer. This saves on freezer bags, too!
By Gary Stevenson
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Tactile Learning
It is really true what they say about some of us being sight learners and hearing learners and some of us use our hands to learn. If your child is having a hard time with their ABCs and 123's try this trick. Get your self an ABC stencil. Trace around the letters onto sandpaper and cut them out. Now run your child's finger around the letter as if you were writing the letter, This really seems to work for tactile kids.
By Debra in Colorado
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Stretching a Box of Noodle-Roni
I stretch or "expand" a box of noodle-roni by adding a little extra water (and milk if needed) with my own "cheap" egg noodles or angel hair pasta. It saves me from having to buy two boxes to feed a family of 5 and I don't have to worry about leftovers because I can make just enough. This also works great to stretch a box of rice-a-roni if you add a little of your own "cheap" rice (and a little extra water). Then you won't have to buy the larger, more expensive family size.
By Marianne Fransen
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Other Uses for Easter Grass
Easter grass can be used for filling up gift bags. It also can be used to cushion fragile Christmas ornaments. Another unusual way to use this is to save your 2 Liter soda bottles. Wash thoroughly and cover with stickers. Put the lid back on and cut a slit down the back of the bottle. Then layer in some easter grass and place a gift in the bottle. Then add some more easter grass to hide the gift. Tape the slit closed and attach ribbons to the neck. Viola, perfect gift wrap for a teenager.
By Debra in Colorado
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Storing Cottage Cheese
If you want cottage cheese to last for a long time, store it upside down in your fridge. Somehow this keeps bacteria that causes spoilage at bay - I have opened six week old cartons and they are still fresh. Remember to turn it back upside down to maintain freshness. This is great when cottage cheese is on sale!
By Paula Dennison
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Beautiful Beaded Snowflakes
Supplies:
Lids from the clear or white 35mm film canisters.
Assorted Clear or Colored Beads: Round, Rondels, Spaghetti beads and paddle wheels.
1 package of Corsage pins
1 package of Regular sewing pins with the round head. Try to find silver or gold
1 package of 16 mm round jewels
1 package of acrylic rhinestones
Directions:
Take the lid off of the canister and turn it over, you want the side with the big hole in the middle facing you. Take a Corsage pin and run beads up it leaving just enough at the end to be able to stick it in the side of the canister lid. Make six of these and stick them in the lid. Now take the small pins and do the same thing, pushing these in between the larger corsage pins.
Now glue a 16 mm clear round jewel in the center and cover the lip with the rhinestones. You should find that the larger corsage pins only come in to the first ring and that the shorter pins stick into where you are gluing the round jewel. To finish, turn the snowflake around and carefully fill the first ring with hot glue, this should anchor your corsage pins.
You do not have to make these with just clear beads, they also look great in other colors.
These are quick and easy to make. You should be able to make quite a few while you watch TV. It is also easy enough for older Kids to make them. Hang them on your christmas tree, in your windows or tie on to packages.
By Debra in Colorado
View Article: Click Here
Other Active Topics
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Syndication Spotlight:
Here are some publishers that have chosen to publish our tips this week!
Dear Webby's Humor Letter
Webby publishes our tips daily! A very funny newsletter.
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New Requests:
Looking for Cod Recipe
I am looking for a recipe you had in a past flyer for cod which was baked in a casserole dish. Can you help?
Dholling.
Editor's Note: I can't seem to find one, maybe one of the readers has a Cod recipe to offer.
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Knitted Newsboy Cap Pattern
My partner has cancer and would like me to knit or crochet her a newsboy cap. I am not having any luck finding a pattern online. Any feedback would be appreciated.
She saw one in a special needs order catalog but can't afford to buy it so I am trying to help her out by making one. She already has some yarn for one. She used to do needle projects but has no energy to do so any longer.
THANK YOU in advance,
GRANDMA GLO
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Furniture Dents in Carpet
Does anyone know how to remove furniture dents from thick carpet?
Beth
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Mothball Smell in Leather Purse
I'm looking for information on how to get a mothball smell out of a leather purse.
Roxy
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Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit
your request here: Click Here
Today's Sponsor
MyCoupons
Links to Coupons and Deals at MyCoupons
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More Reading
Teach Your Child Halloween Safety,
By Susan Dunn, MA
Before going trick or treating, go over the rules with your
children. Because it's an exciting night and emotions can
affect clear thinking and "remembering," go over them
several times.
View Article: Click Here
Games for Promoting Your Child's Motor Development
By Rae Pica
If a child is having fun while moving, that child is far more likely to want to keep moving. What he doesn't realize is that he's also practicing his movement skills! Following are activities that help promote the development of locomotor (traveling) skills:
View Article: Click Here
Glowing Goblins
By Rondi Hillstrom Davis and Janell Sewall Oakes
This project is perfect for the artistically challenged or those who prefer instant gratification. My young sons completed theirs in just 15 minutes.
View Article: Click Here
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