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Hello,
We are running low on photo contest entries. If you are looking for ideas on what you can submit there is a list on the contest entry form.
Does anyone have any homemade yard art that they would like to show off? Just snap a picture of it and write a short description of how you made it.
If you don't have a digital camera and/or scanner you can send photos to us through the mail at:
ThriftyFun
C/O Cumuli Inc.
PO Box 1174
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Be sure to include a short description with the photo and let us know if you want us to mail the picture back to you after we scan it.
Enter The Photo Contest:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/photo_contest.ldml
Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Today's newsletter contains:
Today's Photo Contest Entries:
Today's Tips:
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Today's Photo Contest Entries
Billie Holiday and Maggie (Chow Mix)
Here are some of the ThriftyFun Office Assistants. Billie Holiday is a long haired black diva that thinks everything in the house belongs to her. Billie is 8 years old. She likes to walk in front of my computer screen while I'm trying to get the newsletters out. She's hard to see through. Fluff, fluff, purr, purr.
Maggie is a Chow mix that was rescued from an Animal Shelter in Oregon. She had been tied to the fence outside the shelter so no one had any history about her. She had been spayed so someone did care about her at one time. The vet figured she was between one and two when we got her last July and probably had a full blood chow mom and a mixed up dad. She's a sweetie, rarely barks, has good manners and loves to follow the cats around.
Susan from ThriftyFun
PS We don't qualify for the contest but wanted to share some of our pets, too.
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Some of you may remember these from elementary school, but I used them to keep people at my reception busy! I made the template and then came up with the "fortunes". Plus they looked pretty cool scattered on the tables!
By Casie
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Submit a tip with a photo or a pet description with a photo and you could win a prize. You can enter the photo contest here:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/photo_contest.ldml
Today's Tips
Pressing Pants and Taking Out the Shine
When you need a pair of men's pants pressed and take the shine out use cold coffee on a cloth and set it on the pants and press. This also puts a deep crease in the pants that will last a while. We used this during the war in the 40's when nobody could afford the dry cleaner's.
By Florence Chaney
Editor's Note: I'd only use this on dark colored clothing.
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Tips and ideas for drying sheets. Post your ideas.
To prevent your sheets from rolling up into a ball when drying them in the dryer, add a clean tennis ball. It makes a lot of noise, however, it works especially king size sheets.
By Ann Foster
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Clip all UPC codes and file away (name brands only) for future reference when entering contests.
By myz
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For easy, safe fingerpaints, use whipped topping tinted with drink mix. They're safe even for babies to use (my son did this when he was in daycare and he wasn't 1 yet), but still messy enough to be appealing to small children. Use construction paper or other heavier weight paper. A nice winter variation is to use plain whipped topping and dark blue paper. For Valentine's Day, use plain whipped topping and pink or red paper or tint the whipped topping with a red flavor and use white paper. For St. Patrick's Day, use lime drink mix.
By Camilla
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Whenever I buy a baby shower gift I try to buy a little something special for the mom as well. Usually it is something like a box of chocolates or some nice smelling perfume or bath salts. Maybe some shower gel, etc. The mom deserves to be pampered a little too!
By Robin
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For rough, dry, chapped lips there is nothing better or cheaper than just a little Vaseline petroleum jelly applied to them. It takes very little, Vaseline is not expensive, and it lasts a long, long time.
By Robin
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If you want to freshen your breath in the middle of the day but you can't brush your teeth, try chewing a few sprigs of parsley. Works great!
By Robin
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Have Your Home Inspected Termites
Have your home inspected annually for pests such as termites, etc. Most insurance companies will not pay for damage to your home caused by pests so it is worth the money to have an inspection done so you can find a problem and fix it before it's too late and major damage is done to your home.
By Robin
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Decorating the Cake to Match the Decorations
I found a new set of baby's first birthday party decorations for $1.50 at the thrift store last year (16 each cups, plates, napkins, table clothes etc.) My dh took a plate to the Walmart bakery and asked if they could make the cake look like the plate, and they did. Because of copyrights it looks a little different of course but the theme all matches now for our little ones first party:) So if you come across something you like try to match your cake.
By Melanie
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Instead of using clothes pins to close chip bags, use the grip clips that you can find in the tool sections of stores. They're never more then .50 each but last A LOT longer and don't breaking apart. I use these on all of our cereal, chips, veggies for the freezer. Works great.
By Melanie
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Keep Leftovers In Small Containers
Before putting something in the fridge as a leftover make sure it is in the smallest container it can be, so it will take up less space and cost less to keep cool. No sense in keeping cool a whole crock pot when there's only one bowl left of soup.
By Melanie
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Portable Sewing Kit in a Prescription Bottle
One way to reuse prescription bottles is as a portable sewing kit. Put a spool of thread into the bottle, pierce a small hole in the lid and run the thread end out the lid. Put several needles and pins, however many you might need, inside.
This way I can take sewing projects with me and finish them while I am waiting for appointments, etc. When I have a number of items to mend or hem, I either stack different bobbins in the bottle in different colors or use gray thread, which blends with almost any color.
By Lynn
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Removing Chewing Gum From Hair
If your child has gum stuck in his or her hair, simply use an ice cube on the area. It takes a little work, but it works like a charm!
By Robin
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Tips and ideas for cleaning a shower curtain. Post your ideas.
I slide the curtain off the rod leaving the hooks on the curtains. Throw them in the washer with your bath rugs, add your detergent, lysol, etc. then wash them on GENTLE cycle leaving the hooks hanging out of the washer with the lid down. Works great! When the washer has finished slide hooks back on rod and let curtain or curtains drip dry by hanging them inside of the tub or shower!
By Tracy
Editor's Note: This is not mentioned in the tip but I would imagine you want to remove the curtain from the washer before it starts the spin cycle.
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Organizing With Ice Cube Trays
Ice cube tray come in so many colors now. I use ice cube trays to store my necklaces or earrings. I put a pair in each section. This way they keep neat so I can find the pairs. The trays also stack neatly together.
By Diane
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Bring a List When You Go To Garage Sales
When garage saling always carry a list of the family's sizes (clothes, coat & shoe) as well as window sizes along with a measuring tape.
By Pattcatt
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Make your own brown sugar. Use one or two cups of white sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses.
Put sugar in a cup and add molasses according to how brown you want your sugar.
By Florence Chaney
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To clean permanent marker from almost anything, use non-acetone nail polish remover on a cotton ball. It even took the marker off of an antique piece with no damage.
By Mary Engeling
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In order to peel a hard boiled egg without it breaking. Roll it on the counter top so the shell cracks into small pieces. The shell will easily peel off leaving the hard boiled egg perfect.
By Mary Freeman
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Using Plastic Butter Containers for Leftovers
If you save the empty plastic containers from butter, yogurt, etc, use a permanent marker to put an X or some other mark on the lid so you can tell at a glance what really is butter and what is probably leftovers.
By Camilla
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My mother-in-law gave me this tip when my husband and I first got married and moved into our first home. I tried it and it's true, and it's also healthier and earth friendly.
The tip is to cook starting from scratch. For example, if you want corn bread, cakes, etc., don't go buy the "just add milk and eggs" varieties. With those, you're buying their time to assemble the ingredients, and you're paying double.
Whereas, if you buy the ingredients yourself and use your own recipes, you can buy the items on sale and with coupons, and it really doesn't take long to make the recipe. Plus, the "just add" mixes often add preservatives to extend the shelf life, which are horrible for you, and use extra packaging, you can leave that part out and we all win.
I tried this with corn bread and did the math. The money that I was spending on a popular corn bread recipe was equal to the amount of money that I was spending to buy three times the yield in the actual ingredients. (One meals' worth with the mix vs. three meals' worth with my own ingredients.)
By Melissa
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and put into 9x12 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes.
By Robin
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Cut hot baked potatoes in half. Scoop out insides, reserve shells. In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat potatoes and margarine until very creamy.. Gradually beat in milk. Stir in onion, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into reserved shells. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange in baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.
By Robin
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Add butter to potatoes and mash. Beat cream cheese and sour cream together and then add to potatoes. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the chives if desired. Spoon into a 2 qt. casserole and brush with soft butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. May be made up to the day before and refrigerated. Take out 20 minutes before baking and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serves 8-10 people.
By Robin
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Beat potatoes until smooth, add orange juice, salt, melted butter and marshmallows. Mix well, put in casserole dish and spread top with marshmallows. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. This recipe tastes even better after the next day - that is if there is any left over.
By Robin
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Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put in an 8x8 inch greased baking dish. Heat margarine and cream of mushroom soup. Add potatoes, sour cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Top with green onions and bake. Can be frozen ahead. Wrap and freeze. Do not put on onions before freezing.
By Robin
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Tip Contest
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New Contest! $30.00 Gift Card
In our newest contest we are giving away a $30.00 Gift Card at one of the following stores: Home Depot, Jo-Ann's Crafts or Amazon.com. If you are the winner, you get to choose which gift card! We figured it would be more valuable if you pick out your own prize, that's why we have decided to go the gift card route. This contest will end on February 15th.
Syndication Spotlight:
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Dear Webby's Humor Letter
Webby publishes our tips daily! A very funny newsletter.
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New Requests:
Can anyone tell me where to purchase copyright Free craft books, where I may copy the patterns - and photos? - Rosa
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Keeping Cauliflower from Getting Brown Spots
Can anyone tell m how to keep brown spots from cauliflower so soon after buying? Love to all. Loretta
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Does anyone know how or where I can find info on how to repair/ replace the fabric on vintage rain umbrellas? - teri
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I need help in finding a glue that will adhere to fabric and a plastic milk jug, and when cured will be clear. Somewhat of a gel form, not too runny. I used something 20 years ago and it is still as strong as it was then. Now I need to make more of these and can't seem to find glue that does the same good job. Can any one help?
Your help is much appreciated
moonbeam
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How do I keep bra underwire from poking out?
Almost every bra that I have owned has done this. After a month or so of wearing it, the underwire on the left one always starts to poke through the fabric, (on the inside part where the front of my chest is.) And it hurts like the dickens! I've tried sewing them up and it never works. I've adjusted my bra different ways. I've tried different sizes (36A to 34/36B) and it STILL happens! Even the Victoria's Secret ones! I have to have the underwire ones, but I'm tired of spending money on bras, but I gotta have em!
josmith
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Breaker Question - 20 Amp Breaker, 14 wire
I recently purchased a house, and it is clear that the previous owner had not always done things correctly. My present concern is that there seems to be 14 gauge wire running off a 20 AMP breaker. I believe this is a code violation, and more importantly a fire risk. I would rather not open up the walls to replace the wire. Assuming the circuit would be OK on a 15, can I just have the breaker replaced? Is that an adequate solution?
Thanks,
concerned
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Is there a way to make homemade fabric softener?
I do about 3 loads of laundry a day and I go thru a 60-load bottle of Snuggle fabric softener in about 8 to 10 days. I always clip coupons to save money, too. And I don't like the cheap fabric softeners... I can't even smell them. Is there a way to save money on this by making your own? It's breaking me!
josmith
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I am looking for a thrifty way to container garden my vegetables this year. Any ideas?
Jennifer
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Can some one help me design my wedding invitation? I need a site which shows sample invitations that we can use for ideas. Any other advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mr. Shasank
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How Do I Keep a Dog From Digging?
I have two dogs (Border Collie and Lab Mix) that love to dig. The problem is that we have only lived at this house going on two years and have had to redo the whole yard 2 times to get rid of the huge holes. Does anyone know anything that can be done to break the dogs from digging? If so, please let me know. Thanks.
Wendy
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Does Putting Batteries In The Freezer Extend Their Life?
My question is... Does putting batteries in the freezer extend their life? I have been told that it does. Can someone answer this question. Thank you,
Mary
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Home Remedy For Foot Callouses
I'm looking for a good home remedy for calloused feet. I've tried so many things on the market, but continuously have this problem.
Donna Marie
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I wonder if anyone can remember how to make boxes out of used Christmas cards. We used to punch holes around them, then crochet around in the holes, then join together to make lovely boxes.
Sharron
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Preventing and Removing Soap Scum on Tub
I have a terrible problem with soap scum on my tub and have spent a small fortune of cleaners that don't work. If they do, you still have to scrub and scrub. I'd appreciate any tips on helping me resolve this problem.
Donna Marie
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My name is Baxter, I am a 9 week old schnoodle. I like to bite instead of love. Can anyone tell my mom If this is normal for a schnoodle. According to everything she has read I am supposed to be very loving. Well I'm not.
Baxter
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Does anyone out there know how to make marshmellows? On qvc this morning they were selling a cookbook and said you could make your marshmellow for pennies! I thought that would be fun for the grandkids!
Thanks,
Carol from Tennessee
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I am looking for a cure to kill the bind weed around my farm. I haven't minded it too much except that it is moving into my flower beds and that is a no, no. I've tried digging it, but there is just too much of it.
Donna Marie
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Creative Uses for Empty CD Jewel Cases
Looking for creative uses for empty CD jewel cases. We have lots of them! Please post your ideas.
By zballoongirl
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More Reading:
Onions (Information and Recipes)
By Jennifer A. Wickes
There is evidence to support that the ancient Egyptians used to cultivate onions. Onions are part of the Lily family.
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Beat first 4 ingredients for 4 minutes. Sift dry ingredients and alternate add the dry ingredients and 2 cups boiling water to the oil mixture.
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