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Mother's Day Hat Cake

Materials

1 cake mix
1 can frosting
candy gummies
1 round cake pan
1 oven safe bowl
1 rolling pin

Instructions

Bake a round cake and the other half of mix in a round oven safe bowl. Frost the round layer place the bowl shaped layer on top and frost. Flatten each gummie with rolling pin. Use a little sugar to keep from sticking shape into a oval then roll into a rose shape then layer another gummie over it until you get a nice rose. Place roses on top of cake to resemble a ladies' hat.

By Randa from San Marcos TX

Mother's Day Hat Cake

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Garden: Tomatoes

These tomatoes are now almost 3-4 foot high with green tomatoes and blossoms are over the place.

GG Vi

Growing Tomatoes

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Chili (Long Haired Chihuahua)

Chili is 3.5 years old and a purebred Long Haired Chihuahua. I bought her from a friend in Las Vegas, NV in 2004. Chili likes to BARK! She's the most LOYAL friend I've EVER had.

By Leahdoh from Seattle, WA

Chili (Long Haired Chihuahua)

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Scenery: "We Come In Peace."

"We come in peace."

By melody_yesterday from Sedalia, MO

"We come in peace."

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Move Large Houseplants to Your Patio for Summer

If you have large house plants, place them outside near your patio doors. The plants will get extra sun in the summer and they will keep the sun out of the inside of your home.

By Marilyn from Duryea, PA

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Adjusting Your Own Eyewear

You can make minor adjustments to your eyewear yourself. Glasses, sunglasses and even sunglass clips can be gently tweaked to get them to both fit better generally and also to get them back into alignment. Take off your glasses and see how the ear pieces are lined up. You can then very gently twist the pieces to better fit your face. This works best with sturdy frames, or plastic ones with wires in them to facilitate fitting. Be very careful!

Sunglasses are usually not as sturdy, and the metal is easy to bend, but also breaks easily! So don't over do it. Nose pads can be bent gently back into shape - and I have used a pair of pliers to bend the clips on my sunglass clips to make them fit more tightly. (I have even popped sunglass lenses back into their frames!) I also collect the screws of old broken glasses/sunglasses to replace the screws that get loose and fall out! There are also little eyeglass repair kits that come with screws and a little screw driver - but you can also use the blade of a wing fastener as a screwdriver to tighten screw in a pinch! (If this is a real problem, you could try to put some clear nail polish on the screw head to try to fasten it more securely.)

I have even cobbled together broken lenses onto sunglass frames with tape or wire for emergency glasses, and glued frames back together to make the glasses usable!

Source: Years of wearing glasses!

By Pamphyila

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Use Hair Butterfly Clips for Organizing

Have you cut your hair lately? If so, do you have those big butterfly clips left over with no where to go? Turn them upside down and clip recipes in them, mail to go out, messages for family members, bills, family photos or recycled note pads. They can also be used to keep those cords and wires organized behind the office desk or entertainment center. String a cord through the center to hang on the shop wall and keep your bungie cords and lighter ropes off the floors and shelves.

I thought of this myself, as I cut my hair then let it grow out so many times I have tons of these and don't like to find just "one use" for something! Enjoy

By Sandra from Salem, OR

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Tell Retailers You Saw It Cheaper to Get a Discount

I was reading an article about the retail business I thought I could pass around. If you are in the market for some of the "big ticket stuff", try this when you go shopping. I read where these businesses are so hard up for a sale, you can get at least 10% off a purchase. Just tell them you saw this (whatever) cheaper at another store. Some of the retailers offer this discount but the consumer has to ask for it.

By Debra from Illinois

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Collect Aluminum Cans When Walking

When I am out walking, which I do several mornings a week, I pick up any aluminum cans I see. We live in a nice neighborhood and it amazes me the amount of aluminum cans thrown out of cars as litter. I originally started to do this just to have the neighborhood look better, but then started crushing the cans and putting them in a large trash bag in the garage. I now take them to the aluminum recycling place that pays for aluminum cans by the weight. The first trip netted me over $8.00 and change. I pack my husband's lunch each day and he takes a canned drink. He has started bringing the can back home each day, crushing it and adding it to the trash bag waiting to be filled in the garage.

By Bobbie G from Rockwall, TX

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Product Review: Bosch Front Loading Washer

A few months ago I posted wanting advice on what type of front loader washer to buy.

Well, we ended up getting a Bosch. I LOVE IT. The savings are more than I originally thought. The most water it uses per load is 12 gallons, if I do an extra rinse. Most loads are 8 gallons. With my old washer it was 44-66 gallons.

I see the savings in a much lower water bill as it not only uses less water, but has a bigger capacity than my old washer, so it does 75% more laundry per load.

It also spins clothes out much dryer, so that it doesn't take them nearly as long to dry.

It also only takes 2 tablespoons of detergent.

I recommend it to anyone!

By April from NW Missouri

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Schedule Appointments on the Same Day

With gasoline prices so high, a couple we know tries to make several of their doctors' visits all in one day. They always carry the other doctor's phone numbers, so they can call if they are going to be late and need to reschedule. The doctor's office staff will usually work them in, if they arrive late or too early, since they're from out of town.

By Terri from NV

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Keep Garden Tools in Oiled Sand

Those old, rusty, should-have-taken-care-of-them gardening tools you used last year stand a fighting chance this season with this ingenious storage solution. Instead of tossing them just anywhere once you're done digging and planting, empty a quart of motor oil into a bucket of sand and mix thoroughly. Now you have a handy place to put your tools, and each time you take them out, the sand will help to keep them sharp and oiled.

Source: Chatelaine magazine

By Cinnamon from Williams Lake, BC

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Test Your Canner Gauge Every Year

Before you start canning this summer, call your local extension office and see what days they will be testing canner gauges. They should be tested annually for accuracy. Most check for free, some charge up to $2.

By April from NW Missouri

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Blended Fruit

For a really delicious and healthy treat, take two oranges and squeeze them into a blender. Then, whatever fruit you have available, for example, pineapple, peeled and cored apple, strawberries, blueberries, whatever you like. Blend, and then add a banana, blend again and serve. Delicious!

By Zoompad from Staffordshire

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Dear Webby's Joke of the Day

My friend's husband always teases her about her lack of interest in household chores.

One day he came home with a gag gift, a refrigerator magnet that read: "Martha Stewart doesn't live here."

The next day he came home to find the magnet holding up a slip of paper.

The note read: "Neither does Bob Vila."

Read More Jokes Here: http://webby.com/humor

Planting Tomatoes On Hay

How do you plant tomatoes on hay?

Tim

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Washer Leaving Rusty Stains On Clothing

My washing machine is ruining my clothes. It leaves dark orange stains on everything. What can I do to solve this problem? I have hard water, but my machine is leaving these rusty looking stains on just about everything but black clothes. Help!

Trisha from Goodsoil, Saskatchewan

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Dog Keeps Eating Flowers

Does anyone have a problem with their dogs eating flowers? My dogs will either eat flowers I plant or pull them up after I have gone in. I'm just about ready to stop planting because of my dogs messing up all my hard work! Are they missing something in their diet maybe?

Janine from Corinth, KY

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Hives After Eating Ice Cream

I ate some new flavor of Dove ice cream, now I have hives. How can I get rid of them?

Ohdawn from Henrico, VA

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Using EVOO To Remove Chicken Pox Scars

I'm 26 and last month I had chicken pox. The marks are still there, predominantly on my torso and thighs. They're small but scattered everywhere like freckles. I'm wondering whether a daily topical application of EVOO will help in diminishing those marks?

Can someone please tell me if this method will work? I figured out this is a better remedy than OTC scar creams since it's all-natural and olive oil is rich in natural Vitamin E. My chicken pox marks are still reddish and they're not pitted at all. Thanks so much.

Gabriella from Malaysia

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What Is This Plant?

Can anyone please tell me what the name of this plant is? It is a perennial, small and perfectly round when in bloom. Starts with green leaves and then tiny yellow blooms for just a few days at a time. Thank you!

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Amy from Ashville, OH

What Is This Plant?

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Getting Color Schemes to Match on a Budget

I am fretting about the colors clashing in my house! I have been trying to get everything onto a similar color scheme but my budget is limited, and I have lots of things that are not the "right" color.

For example, I love the colors of my living room. The walls are a pale yellow, the floors are dark cherry colored hardwood, my furniture is dark (black and dark cherry). But the kitchen that is right off the living room is a polar opposite to the living room. My appliances are all white, my kitchen floor is white and blue. The kitchen table and seating a medium brown, that match the brown paneled walls. Also, the white trim in the living room doesn't seem to go with the rest of the colors in that room.

What are some budget wise ways to get my house to blend into an eye-pleasing color scheme? Please help!

Aeowyn from Cincinnati

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Keeping Earwigs Out of Bird Feeders

I have several bird feeders outside but they get full of Earwig bugs. Any ideas on how to keep them out would be greatly appreciated. I wash the feeders out but they come right back.

Debra from Hampton, TN

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Making Dog Treats Using Cheerios

Dog got into a large box of Cheerios. He opened the wax wrapper, but nothing spilled out. They aren't fit for human consumption now, but it would be a shame to waste the food. How can I prepare it suitably for the dog (bars, cookies, etc.)? He is a big dog, he'll eat anything. Thanks.

Holly from Richardson, TX

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What Is This Plant?

I planted some parsley in this pot, but what is growing doesn't look like parsley to me. Most of it looks like grass, with maybe a few tomato plants? And most likely weeds. Anyone know what these plants are? I'd hate to pull them up only to find out that they are plants and not weeds! I did have tomatoes in this pot last year.

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Misty from Wooster, OH

What Is This Plant?

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Making Wick Disks for Wine Bottle Oil Lamps

How do you make those little disks with holes in the center in which you insert a wick, then put in a wine (or other) glass bottle? The bottle has been filled with lamp oil. What kind of clay is heatproof without having to be fired in a kiln?

Deb

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Getting Rid Of Odors In Room

I just moved into a standard attached house in north London. It's not the best of standards of the house, but it came quite cheap to rent. However, the room I'm staying in has old wooden floor, with small gaps in between. And sometimes the room smells quite bad. Don't know if it's mold or something else. But all my clothes are adopting the smell. Does anyone has any suggestion of what to do? Cheers!

Alex from London

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Alternatives to Ridx

What is an alternative for Ridx for a septic tank?

Doris from Moore, S.C.

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Removing Body Odor Smell From Room

We had a roommate who rarely bathed. His room is empty and he has gone, however his essence is still in the room that he occupied. I have tried the plug-in things, but they don't do anything. Any ideas? Fortunately I don't need the room immediately, but would like to convert it to a guest room as soon as I remove the stench.

Christine

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How Do You Wallpaper?

I need suggestions on how to wallpaper. I have no pattern to match, I just need to line up seams? Thanks.

Debbie from Gibsonville, NC

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Removing Butter from a Microfiber Purse

We went to the movies and the oil/butter from the popcorn bag dripped on my Vera microfiber/cloth purse. I haven't touched it yet. How do I clean it? I can't put the purse in the washer.

Wendy from Atlanta, Ga

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Packing Suits When Moving

When moving, what is the best way to pack pantsuits and skirt suits? Last time I moved I left them on the hangers and laid them in the trunk but when I got to my location they were scattered all over the trunk and hangers were all tangled up. Any advice?

Onesummer

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HD Tuner Questions

If I get an external HD tuner for my analog TV, will I have the same situation as a converter box, in that every time I want to change a channel for recording purposes, I have to push a button for each change and be there at the time of each change? For instance, be there at 7 pm for CBS to switch channels, then be there at 8 for NBC.

Holly from Richardson, TX

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Using L'ovenware On Glass Top Stove

I've just acquired a set of L'ovenware, consisting of saucepans, bowls and lids. It's amber glass cookware. I've looked for the company but I don't think they are still in business. Has anyone ever used them on a glass top stove? Do you have any hints or suggestions? I'd appreciate any feedback based on experience. Thanks.

Doggy from TX

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Trouble With Self Tanning Products

The first time I use self tanner each summer it works great. If I exfoliate before the second use, I don't get a tan, apparently because the tanner doesn't have anything to react with! If I don't exfoliate before the second use, I end up with a streaky mess. My skin is very normal and average. Do any of you have experience that might help me? Thanks!!

Buzz from Cloudy, USA

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Getting Rid Of Gnats Outside

When I am outside, gnats are everywhere. They fly all around me while I'm working in the yard, watering plants, etc. How do I control or get rid of them?

Hardiness Zone: 8a

Janet from Sims, NC

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Keeping Peaches From Turning Brown

How do you keep fresh peaches from turning brown on desserts?

Esoper from Franklinton, NC

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CPAP Machine Smells Strange

I've been using a CPAP machine for over a year now. I clean it once a week, the water container, hose and nose pieces, and only use distilled water. My problem is, no matter what I clean it with it always smells strange when I use it. It's not a chemical smell or moldy. Is there anything I could add to the water to scent it, or is there anyway to get this odd smell to go away?

Kathy from Little Burg, WI

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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.

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

Finding the Silver Lining Behind the Gas Prices
By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

There's not much that would make me happier than seeing a dollar sign followed by the number two at gas stations. I long for the days that I complained about gas prices exceeding $2 per gallon. However, there's little that I can do to find immediate relief, so I'm going to try to make the best of things. Other than conserving and complaining, what other choice do I have?

Finding the Silver Lining Behind the Gas Prices

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Daily Thrifty Tips - June 11, 2008

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