Clear Out Drain Gunk

Here's the equation at our house:
One teenage girl with beautiful long hair + lots and lots of conditioner = shiny locks and a gunked up drain.

Because I have an aversion to toxic cleaners that smell really bad, I use Draino only when absolutely neccessary. Needless to say, I have been searching for an less-offensive way to clear out the crud. Thanks to combined advice from Miss Linda and my grandmother, I now have a solution: baking soda and vinegar. I know, I know...sounds too easy, no way it can work. I thought the same thing. So, of course I tried it and guess what...it does!

I poured about 1/2 cup of baking soda in the drain and slowly followed up with about a cup of white vinegar. The foamy, bubbly concoction went right to work. After a few facinatingly hynotizing minutes watching the foam, I turned on the water and the drain flowed clear.

Apparently, this combo works great on stinky garbage disposal clogs too...can't wait for the next one of those!

Dual-Purpose Packing

I've been helping my grandparents move to a new house. This process has involved a whole lot of packing that is almost immediately followed by unpacking...knick-knacks, plates, glasses, etc. Now, some packing material is, well, less-than-clean and some of it can be downright dirty. The thought of eating from a dish or drinking from a glass that's been surrounded by grubby paper kind of makes me cringe. Of course, we certainly don't want to add washing dishes to our already long moving to-do list.
Our solution? Pack in towels. You've got to move the towels anyway; why not use their cushiony softness to cleanly protect your breakables?

Fill In the Blanks

I bought this wicker basket on super clearance. Of course, it was in super clearance condition. No worries though...nothing a little Sharpie marker can't fix. I chose black to blend in with the dark brown finish of the basket (brown was too light). After a few minutes of filling in the chips and dings, Voila!...good as full-priced, non-sale-table new! This fix is so easy that even the little ones can help.

Mash Your Eggs

I got this tip on an email so I have no specific person to thank for it...just the wild abyss of information found on the Internet. It is so simple, I am kicking myself for not thinking of it.

When you are making deviled eggs, put the yolks and all the other ingredients for the filling in a ziploc bag. Mash it all together and then clip a corner of the bag to make a nice little opening. Press the filling through the opening and fill the eggs. Why didn't I discover this tip before now???

Help for Wrinkled Ribbons

Here is another especially good tip for those who are ironly challenged...or just intensely opposed to ironing, like myself.

I'm sure you'd agree that is utterly exasperating to haul out the ironing board and iron simply to touch up a ribbon tie on a dress. At the same time, I cannot stand the look of a wadded-up bow blob on the back of a beautiful garment.

The solution? A hair straightener. It irons squirrely hair to smooth perfection; it only makes sense that it would do the same for ribbons. Brilliant! I'm always happy to find another successful way to avoid ironing!

Light a Candle

A friend of mine told me about this tip a few weeks ago and I had to try it: Light a candle near you when you are chopping onions. It will keep you from crying.

The verdict? It works! For some reason I bought some of the smelliest, tear-jerking onions I've ever cut into. Last night I needed to chop one for lasagna so I lit a candle and set it next to my cutting board. Not only was the flame zenfully relaxing...sort of meditation inducing...but it also absorbed all of the onion's tear-inducingness (I know it's it not a word but it sounds good). I highly recommend trying this. Thanks Ashlee!

Ice Cube Pallette

Thanks to my mom's suggestion, I now have another good use for my old ice cube trays, AKA: tiny little paint pots. The trays work great to keep colors separate (I do leave a few spaces open for some mixing) so my little van gogh can create her little heart out without ending up with a big blob of brown paint...unless of course she wants to create a big blob of brown paint on her masterpiece...but that's a whole other subject entirely.