Quick Tips For Easy Living
From time to time well-meaning friends and relatives call me with "great tips". Sometimes they're terrific and worth passing along. Many times my well meaning "tipsters" forget that I'm writing about home design and the tips run the gamut from cleaning out the garbage can to icing a cake. Here are good tips for quick home design and, if you want to know how to keep ice cream cones from leaking, you'll find this tip from my mother at the end.
For The Bathroom
Use long, wooden dowels on one bathroom wall for holding drying towels.
Bag It
Save paper bags efficiently and make it easy to take one at a time from the pile. Fold the bottom portion up so it's flat and smooth, then fold the top with the open end, down so it fits under the folded up bottom edge and smooth down. It will lie flat and compact and when you need a bag you can lift off one rather than fumbling with a whole pile.
Quick Kindling
Save newspapers to make fireplace logs. Roll up a few sheets and tie in a knot. It makes great kindling.
Not For Knitting Alone
Use scraps of colorful acrylic yarn to tie roses to trellises. It won't break in a strong wind and if you use a green color it will blend in with the environment. For colorful basket handles braid different colors together and attach to each side.
The Clearer To See By
Wipe a thin coat of shaving cream on the bathroom mirror, then buff with a soft cloth to keep the mirror from steaming up.
Unstick Labels
Use nail polish remover to get the sticky labels off new glass, pottery or plastic items.
Sifting Soil
Use an old flour sifter to spread a light layer of earth over newly planted seeds.
Not For Pots Alone
A long potholder with a pocket at each end is perfect for holding reading glasses, a pad and pencil, sewing or crafting items over the arm of a chair.
Sachet Sense
Save your scented candles to make sweet-smelling sachets. Chop the candles into small pieces and place in a bag. Tie with a pretty ribbon.
Sweet Scents
And here's another idea for making sweet scented sachets for inside
your drawers or linen closet. Use pinking shears to cut used softener sheets that go in the dryer into fourths. Put a teaspoon of potpourri in the center of each square, gather up the ends and tie with a thin ribbon. The scent comes through.
Lining Shelves
When covering a shelf with Contact paper, use a rolling pin to remove bubbles. Start in the center and roll toward the outer edges. A yardstick on edge also does the trick. Glide it over the paper as you apply pressure. To remove bubbles after the paper is down, prick with a pin and pat back into place.
Wash N' Wear
Mount a closet pole over a washer and dryer to keep just-dried shirts wrinkle free. Store laundry aids in a pretty basket next to the washer. It will boost morale and make you feel organized.
Short On Space
Roll up towels and place them on end in a large basket that can sit on the floor under the sink or next to the tub.
Save The Drips
Even though it has nothing to do with home design, no one can justify leaving out a tip from one's mother? So here's my mother's tip for keeping ice cream cones from dripping: Place a marshmallow in the bottom of the cone before inserting the scoop. My mother says she can't wait to finish the ice cream so she can get to the marshmallow. Some mothers never grow up!
Copyright Leslie Linsley, author
Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc.