Daily Thrifty Tips - April 11, 2007

Menu food has added some more pet food to their recall list. You can find the new press release in the More Reading section of this newsletter. Here's today's featured request...

Making a Skirt from Men's Shirts

I am looking for instructions on how to make a skirt using men's shirts.

Becky

Post Feedback Here

Thanks for reading,

Susan

• Send to a Friend!
• Share a Tip (You could win $25!)
• Share a Photo (You could win $25!)
• Have a Question? Submit a request...
• Link to ThriftyFun.com
• View Active Topics!

Edit Your Subscriptions: To edit your ThriftyFun subscriptions, click the Update Profile/Email Address link at the bottom of this newsletter.

Get "The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer" Free

When you subscribe to my newsletter "The Budget Stretcher" you will receive this easy guide to effectively organizing and managing your money absolutely free. Get all of the Budget Forms and Worksheets you need to make it work for you. Click the below link to learn more:

More Information:
Click Here: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/confirmsubs.html

Pictures from My Garden

Just sharing some garden pictures. I don't know the name of the bearded iris. Does anyone know a name for this?

By Great Granny Vi from Moorpark, CA

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf61282731.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Millie (Military Macaw)

Millie is an 8 year old Military Macaw. We bought Millie 8 years ago from a local pet store. She is a hoot!

Millie talks all the time, calls me mother. She love music and loves to dance. She likes trips in the car and getting a lot of attention.

Millie has a very nice personality, and is very smart. She has a big vocabulary. She has a lot of power in her beak, yet takes a small piece of candy from my lips. She is just a sweet friend.

By ELE from Oakland, Maryland

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf21930223.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

• Tip Contest
  Submit a Tip or Recipe!

• Photo Contest
  Submit a tip with photo!

These contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25!

• My Frugal Life
  Submit a My Frugal Life Essay!

Phone Safety: Telephone Number Search

Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit Mapquest, you will get a map to the person's house. Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book.

If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming.

Note that you can have your phone number removed or blocked. I tried my mom's number and it came up along with the Mapquest and directions straight to her house.

In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to Google.com (http://www.google.com/). Type your phone number in the search bar in this format (555)555-5555 and hit enter. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal Form. Removal takes 48 hours.

Check your own number. Although this may not apply to you if you have an unlisted number or cell phone as primary contact, but you may know someone who needs to know this. This could be very terrible if a child gave out their phone.

By Jeanne3737 from Augusta,ME

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf33413515.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Think Before You Toss An Old Blanket Or Quilt

An old blanket, though still offering warmth and comfort, can certainly show signs of it's age and former life! But buy a set of colorful sheets, preferably at a Thrift Shop and make a duvet cover out of the sheets for the vintage blanket. Measure carefully and make what is, essentially, a huge pillowcase shaped cover. Working on the floor, put the blanket inside the new cover. Spread it inside and smooth it out ell. Measure and mark many spots to tie off (a quilting term, I believe) or tack the three layers of fabric. Use yarn or crochet cotton in a large-eyed needle. At each mark, go through the 3 layer in a relatively small stitch, then triple tie the two ends of the 'thread' to secure it. Finish off the open end of the sheet bag by hand. Your quilt will not only have a second life, but you'll have come up with an attractive new item of bedding.

By Janet from Conway NH

Editor's Note: Also, if you decide to send it off, take it to a homeless shelter or animal shelter.

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf50369327.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Cool Cat Bug Toy

My cats favorite toy is simple and free to make:

Take a fairly short dowel (about 2 feet long), a knitting needle, or a stick from the yard. To the end, tie a 3 or 4 foot piece of fishline (sewing thread will do in a pinch). At the end of the fishline (or thread), tie just 1 or 2 small pieces of yarn, thread or string (about 4 inches long, but fold it in half to make it 2 inches when it's tied on. (eyelash yarn works best, but any will do)

To play with the cat, simply drag the yarn along the ground. The cat is fooled by the transparent fishline, he can't see the fishline, just the yarn on the end of it. My cat seems to think he's catching bugs. I call it his "Bug Toy". He just loves it!

My favorite cat trick is to drag the yarn along the ground then suddenly raise it about a foot above his head so he'll jump up and catch the "bug" with both paws. This toy will keep him amused for hours and he favors it far above any store bought toy.

One small note: When playing with any cat toy, always be gentle when you pull on the string just in case his little claw might be caught in the toy.

Cyinda from Near Seattle

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf93219232.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Recycling In The Garden

For a year I saved all the plastic bottles, paper egg cartons, towel and toilet paper cardboard rolls for such a time as this:

When most of my seedlings got up with their first leaves, not yet with their "true leaves", I was in the midst of mixed weather, having to bring them in and outside a lot. To eliminate the toll to each tiny transported seedling, I cut each cardboard roll into the appropriate height and carefully placed it around the fragile seedling, providing further support and conserving it's moisture. One must keep in mind that in carrying each seed tray, wind and touching are the most likely factors to break a tiny stem. The other is some sort of pest that has invaded the tray while they were outside. These protective collars can wick moisture away from the seedling, so be careful to keep the seedlings evenly moist.

After using the soil from a trench near the compost bins for composting, the 12' deep empty trench will be filled with both sifted compost, soil and sand to make a bed to plant the root crops for my first adventure with them. Do all sifting on a still day gently and be careful not to inhale any of the debris, soil dust, or to get too close to the sifting process. I got in a hurry and forgot, breathing a quantity of the sifted materials and got pneumonia from it. It was an expensive lesson which I am now recuperating from, I hope. It came right after I was attacked by the neighborhood flu bug along with many others. Use extreme caution with garden supplies and allow plenty of time to think things through before taking on a new project.

Save and recycle those rolls. Their diameter is perfect for the average paper egg carton planted with seedlings. Make certain they are firmly set into the surrounding soil so that their roundness can buffet winds. If done just right, all the same height, you can paperclip each one to the other to keep them stable. The necks of plastic bottles are coming in handy for all of my lettuces by turning them upside down over the stem to offer all sorts of "dish-like" support for the heads until they are big enough to cut off. It discourages bugs from cutting the stem as well. I then cover the growing plants with the remaining gallon plastic bottles until strong and near harvesting. They seem to really appreciate/like the protection. If the plastic neck collars are trimmed slightly before placing around the plant, they will more easily fit well into the bottle for support as the lettuce head matures and the sun warms up.

Remember to poke several small nail holes in the bottoms of each gallon jug to allow moisture to escape, but not bugs in. I plan to use plastic bottle halves with tiny punched drain holes under the vine crop fruit to keep them from rotting on hay straw while I wrap each piece with nylon to discourage mice/rats/birds. This is one reason it's called a "nursery".

By Lynda from TX

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf86422279.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Lamb's Ear - Nature's Bandage

If you have a Lamb's Ear Plant, you can use the leaves to staunch the bleeding and as a bandage for the wound until you get medical help.

By Sherry from Silverdale, WA

Editor's Note: This is interesting information. I would encourage everyone to have a well stocked first aid kit on hand, but are some links about this plant and its use.

• Natural First Aid for Gardeners and Everyone
• Medicinal Properties of Woolly Lamb's Ears

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf89560081.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Marker Rules For Children

Seems like there have been a lot of posts lately about children using permanent markers, and how well I remember those days when my own kids, nieces and nephews were that age. Back then, I came up with a solution that would allow them to express their creativity with markers. I bought them some Crayola non-toxic erasable markers, and let them draw and color on the refrigerator, after laying down the rules and making sure they understood that the fridge was the ONLY place they were allowed to use the markers.

We had our nieces and nephews over often, as they were close to the ages of my own children. To keep them busy, I would set up activity "stations", and use a timer when it was time to rotate, to prevent arguments between them like whose turn it was to do what, etc. They had a blast, and liked having their own markers, too.

One of the other activities was playing with play-doh they had helped make. If anyone is interested on how to make that, I can post the recipe I used when my oldest nephew, who is about 35 years old now, was a little boy. It's very pliable and lasts a long time.

By Auntie from MI

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf88775825.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Use a Fork to Hold Recipe

When I am using a recipe and my hands are full, I don't lay it down. I use a tall glass, put a fork upside down (prongs upwards), stick the recipe card between the prongs of the fork! It works great and the card won't get messy.

By Tracy from Battle Creek

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91006151.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Milk Carton Plant Stakes

Plastic milk cartons cut into strips make great plant label stakes when you write on them with a sharpie! Recycled and free, great, huh!

By Linda from Vista, CA

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf74996092.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Be A Movie Extra For Fun And Profit

It's getting to be nice weather and movie shooting season all over the country. Working as a movie extra is a fun way to pick up some extra money. Here in Hollywood, lots of retirees do it to supplement their income (and there are often nice hot meals for lunch as an added benefit.) But now movies are made all over the country so check out your local film commission (there are lots) and ask about signing up to be filmed in your neighborhood! (But remember to bring your own chair, sunscreen, drinks and some energy bars, just in case)

By pamphyila from Los Angeles

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf17844191.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Food Amounts for a Crowd

Need to know how much food for a crowd? Here's a table that gives you lots of information for crowds from a dozen to 48.

LRP from Lowell, MA

We also have this as a printable PDF file:

• Food for a Crowd PDF

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf73866617.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Dogs and Parvo

I foster puppies that I just found out have parvo. Will my 3 other dogs be OK and when are the puppies safe from the disease?

Donna from Buffalo, NY

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf15032793.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Free Post Cards

I am a postcard collector. I keep hearing about "Free cards" and
would love to get some. I would send postage. We don't have such in our small town. Can anyone help? I'd sure love to expand my 45 year collection.

Thanks for any help.
HUGS,
Judy in Iowa

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf22498037.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Tree Nut Allergy and Cosmetics

I have recently developed a severe allergy to tree nuts. Unfortunately for me, most skin care and cosmetics are made with tree nut products. Do any of you know of a skin care and cosmetics line that is "nut free"?

Terry from Toronto, ON

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf62384935.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

"Time Warp" Centerpieces

We are having our annual women's event at our church. The theme is "Time Warp" - we are doing fashion, skits, trivia, etc. through each decade starting with the 1900's. Any ideas on what I could do for centerpieces? I will need 25 of them.

Stephanie from Munroe Falls, Ohio

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf39933025.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Skunk Under a Cabin

A skunk got under our hunt cabin and I need help with ideas on removing the odor. I have used a number of things to no avail - commercial concentrated citrus preducts sparyed under the cabin - which leave a sweet skunk smell. Candles don't work, neither does gallons of Frebreeze.

Mike from Chicago, IL

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55301220.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Why do cats "knead"?

I'm just curious: why do cats "knead" things? My cat is always "kneading" the blankets on my bed, I'm curious as to why she does this.

Thanks!
Stacey from Orem, UT

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf14051281.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Electric Razor Pre-shave Lotion Recipe

I am looking for a substitute for electric razor pre-shave lotion.

Harold from Florida

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11001025.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Botanical WalMart HomeTrends Comforter

I purchased a bedding set last June called Botanical from the WalMart HomeTrends collection. Unfortunately, I purchased a double, and after several months "trying" to sleep on the double bed in our vacation condo -- found we need a queen. I love that comforter set. Does anyone know how to locate a set that WalMart carried last summer? it was #YUN-T200250-FBT. Comforter was white background with greens and orange palm pattern, green sheets.

Pam from Orlando, FL

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf56222056.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Yellowing T-shirts

What can I do about yellowing t-shirts?

Thomas from Port Orchard

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28017232.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Puppy Peeing Everywhere

I have a bulldog puppy (10 Weeks) and he won't stop peeing on my floors. I always praise him for going outside (he never poops in the house I've done a good job of catching that and taking him outside). He never shows any signs that he is going to pee like many other puppies do. He does go out often after he plays, has been napping or been asleep etc. but it just seems that the minute he gets back to the apartment he pees again (if it makes any difference he never really pees a lot usually a small amount, this is a new development in the last few days.) If anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do, please help.

Thanks,
Tyler from Texas

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf68203747.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Removing Skunk Smell From A Dog

What is the recipe for removing skunk odor from a dog?

Cindy from Franklin, OH

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf475973.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

Making a Skirt from Men's Shirts

I am looking for instructions on how to make a skirt using men's
shirts.

Becky

Post Feedback: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf782286.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print

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

Menu Foods Adds to Recall List

Prompted by reports from tde US Food and Drug Administration as to tde presence of melamine in cans of cuts and gravy pet food produced in Menu Foods' Canadian production facility, Menu Foods undertook an accounting of all recalled wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. to Menu Foods in the United States.

Read More: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf45848688.tip.html

Email to a Friend | Get Responses | Bookmark | Link | Rate It: | Print