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Vol. 7, Num. 28, February 8, 2008 (Read It Online) Spring is coming soon. Do you have any spring cleaning tips to share with the ThriftyFun community? Please submit them on the contest page. Thanks for reading, Susan
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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:
Here's a cute Valentine project to make with your kids. View This Craft: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf69845180.tip.html
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Rate It: Valentine Towel Bibs can easily be made with just a couple of fabric items. You just take a simple tea towel or dish towel and fold over one end about 5 inches, cut a u-shape in the center and then add ribbing fabric to the neckline with a single machine straight stitch.
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Rate It: Jasmine is 11 years old. She was born in 1997, she was the only kitten in the litter.
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These contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25!
Valentine's Fun for the Financially Challenged One year we didn't have much money, and I wanted to do something my husband would remember, so I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of junk. Bear with me here, folks, it gets better! I got a whole box of kids Valentine's cards, a gigantic plastic grasshopper and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember any more. I filled out the cards--ALL of them--to him with different holiday appropriate thoughts (nudge nudge, wink wink!) and then I sent him on a treasure hunt all over the property. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf66917253.tip.html
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Rate It: Always Buy The Same Brand Of Socks Always buy the same brand of socks. Then when finding a sock with a hole in it, do not throw away the pair. Instead save the sock without the hole and when a hole is discovered later in another pair, use the two remaining socks to make another pair. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf44410840.tip.html
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Rate It: Be Sure To Review Insurance Deductibles If it's been a while since you've reviewed your home and auto insurance, take look at your deductibles. Because if you've been with the company for a long time you might have deductibles that are lower than you actually need. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf70236118.tip.html
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Rate It: Freeze and Bake a Few Cookies at a Time My husband are what I call "cookie pigs"! If I make 30 cookies, we'll eat 30 cookies. Needless to say, we don't NEED 30 cookies. What I do now, since we came to our senses, is make a double batch of our favorite cookie recipe, bake a few for now, and put the others in the freezer. I prepare them just as if I were going to bake them now and place closely together on a cookie sheet. After they're frozen very hard (I wait a night), I put them in a plastic container separated with waxed paper. Then when we want cookies, I can bake 4 (they're small!) and we have 4. Sure helps to control our eating but still allows us to have treats. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf66682676.tip.html
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Rate It: Remembering Usernames and Passwords I had a difficult time keeping track of my computer passwords. I had kept a file on my computer to refer back to as needed but I had to search back through all the passwords and websites. I purchased a "Telephone/Address Book". I use a pen to enter websites in alphabetical order and a pencil to enter ID name and/or password (due to a few sites that require you to change the password frequently for security) I can store the book away for security. Life is easier with the address book. Hope this helps someone. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf703250.tip.html
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Rate It: Use Sheets For More Than Covering Your Mattress
It's time for winter white sales to begin. While these sales offer us great deals on linens, they offer so much more for the more creative consumer. By far, bed sheets are the most valuable item on sale this month. There's so much more than can be done with them than putting them on a bed. Keep an eye on sheet prices. Some stores offer the same price for full, queen, and king. When the purpose of the sheets is going to be more creative than fitting a mattress, the king sheets offer more fabric per dollar. Similarly, sales may ask a slightly higher price for king sheets in comparison to a doubles, but the added 22 inches in width and 5 inches in length in the king may make it a better deal. CurtainsIt doesn't take a sewing mastermind to create a basic set of curtains. Get that idea out of your head, and the task becomes much easier. Search the internet for easy curtain patterns and directions; try http://interiordec.about.com or www.ehow.com. A simple set of panels can be made from a set of bed sheets. Paired with some sheers or lined with some heavier fabric, a set of matching curtains can be made to coordinate with your existing bed ensemble.Children's sheets come in a variety of characters who can adorn windows. For those who are experienced sewers, valances and other exciting features can be added to a room for the price of a clearance set of sheets. Table SettingsEver want to have a great coordinating dining room set? Try a set of sheets to do the trick. Depending on the size of your table, a double sheet set should do.For the tablecloth, use either the flat or fitted sheet. With an oval or circular table, the fitted sheet will work well for the tablecloth since the corners need to be cut. Lay the sheet over the tabletop and mark where the tablecloth should hang. Then, cut the sheet two inches larger than the desired tablecloth. Sew a hem around the edge, and add a cheap fabric lining if desired. (Lining can be gotten in the clearance bins as either fabric yards, flannel sheets, or a bed blanket. Something densely woven in a neutral tone is ideal, such as felt or flannel.) Feel free to adorn the hanging edge of the cloth with yards of fringe. Placemats can be made from pillow cases. Each pillowcase will make one mat. Purchase plain vinyl placemats for less than a dollar. Slide each placemat inside the pillowcase. Then, sew shut the open end of the case. Sew the case close to the vinyl placemat if needed to secure it if the pillowcase is too big; this will create an edge to the placemat, making it look more tailored. The remaining sheet in the set (either the flat or the fitted) can be used to make cloth napkins or extra placemats if needed. (Extra pillowcases are often expensive to purchase separately.) Cut the sheet to the size of the pillowcase plus some extra for seaming and sew three sides to make extra pillowcases for placemats. Extra fabric can also be cut into squares and hemmed to make cloth napkins. A Reasonable ComforterWant the matching comforter for less than the expensive store cost? Make a duvet. Buy two extra flat sheets for your bedding set. Then, lay the sheets on top of one another, good sides facing each other. Sew three sides of the sheets. Now, purchase a plain blanket or use one you already have and lay it inside the casing you've made with the sheets. Sew the fourth side together. To hold the inner blanket in place, sew a grid through both sides of the duvet with blending thread in tic-tac-toe style.
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Rate It: To decorate your clay pots and saucers for this gardening season, here is an idea: Supplies
InstructionsLay newspaper on ground and set paint tray on newspaper for easy clean-up. Pour some of the first color of paint into a paint tray. Turn the clay pot upside down and dip the rim of the clay pot into paint then turn the clay pot right side up and let paint run down the edge of pot. Let dry. Next day, pour the second color of paint into paint tray, follow same procedure for this color paint (dipping clay pot rim into paint then let paint run down the edge of clay pot over the first color of paint). Do clay saucer same way to match. Let dry before potting your plant in your newly decorated pot and saucer. You can match room decor with your paint colors plus using left-over paint you may already have. This will help save our environment too.By Linda from Fort Walton Beach, FL Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf60723083.tip.html
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Rate It: Grow A Holiday Tree Year Round Grow a "Holiday Tree" and keep it alive. Why take our gift of life from it? Give a live plant, not just a harvested plant. CO2 is their food, let them eat MORE. They breath out Oxygen. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf17984212.tip.html
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Rate It: If you have house plants with thin vines that do not stand up with a stick, I have used a wooden 5 fingered back scratcher to hold these vines up. Put fingers upward and vines slide nicely between fingers. This works great and does not hurt your vines of the plant. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf33296231.tip.html
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We just bought a newer home, only 5 years old. The toilets and tub/showers have awful hard water stains. I have tried CLR, toilet bowl cleaners, Easy Off Bam and even oven cleaner. Bleach dulls it. Any ideas, we have a water softener that we use, but the stains have been there awhile. Thanks! Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf922683.tip.html
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Rate It: 'Hops Restaurant' Style Vinaigrette Does anyone have a recipe for Hops (Restaurant) Vinaigrette. I had it in Florida and haven't been able to find a recipe for it. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf86309943.tip.html
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Rate It: Darkening Room for Day Sleeper The size shade I need runs in the hundreds. Block out drapes won't work because the hardware sticks out from the wall letting in streams of light from both sides. I now have a blanket covering the window with a black sheet behind it and it's still not dark enough. Does anyone have any inexpensive solutions? Outside appearance is not an issue. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf95508388.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Oil from Hair without Washing How do I remove oil from hair without washing? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf81166706.tip.html
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Rate It: I'm looking for a recipe I had found years ago, it was in a magazine I believe. It is called Country Leek Flan. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf95344610.tip.html
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Rate It: 'Jack in the Box' Style Taco Sauce Does anyone have a recipe for the taco sauce/hot sauce that Jack In The Box gives out with their tacos? It comes in the small packages. I have a son that dearly loves the stuff! Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf47329332.tip.html
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Rate It: I burned a candle that gave off a lot of smoke (didn't realize it was going to make soot go everywhere!) Anyway, I now have soot stains all inside my dishwasher and a little bit inside my refrigerator. Is there any way to get them out? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf17141314.tip.html
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Rate It: How do I get cat urine smell out of my entire carpet? Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf49835647.tip.html
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Rate It: Removing Creases from 'Crushed' Curtains I bought brand new permanently crushed curtains. Why? One, they are gorgeous and two you never have to iron them! I do not iron. However, being packaged they have some lines in them. I tried wrinkle remover, no good. I tried hot steamy shower, no good. And no, i don't have a travel steamer thing. Can someone suggest something? I am at quite the loss. I draped all the panels over a door for few days, but they didn't come out. Any advice? Thanks. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf45460276.tip.html
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Rate It: Getting Rid of Odor in Dish Towels My dish towels have a terrible odor and I cannot figure it out. I have washed them in bleach and they still have a odor. Help. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf83398454.tip.html
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Rate It: Getting A and D Cream Out of Microfiber Getting A and D Cream not ointment out of microfiber. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91195788.tip.html
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Rate It: My golden retriever puppy has horrible breath and a consistent case of gas. Any tips on freshening his breath? He gets a small amount of soft food mixed in with his hard food each day. I've tried dental sticks, bones and specialty treats. Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf505708.tip.html
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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:
Children's Toy Gardening Rakes Recalled by Downeast Concepts; Violates Lead Paint Standard Hazard: The paint on the gardening tool hand rake contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal standard on lead in paint on toys. Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf94474437.tip.html
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