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~~~HINTS~~~

Just Bag It!

For ease in finding things in your suitcase, those extra big plastic bags are a wonder. Just put allof your shirts in one, your socks and underthings in another, shoes in yet another one and toiltries in another.

It’s so easy to find what you need and if you get snagged in a security check, it’s easy for them to scan each individual bag.

This same ideas works great for organizing a briefcase or a large purse...much easier for the security folks to do their job and it saves you time and frustration as well.
PennyWise Hint: Icing Bag Christmas Treats
By Paula Vogelgesang

One of the biggest sellers at craft fairs is the clear plastic icing bags filled with all sorts of goodies.

Take a few minutes and make them yourself A package of the clear plastic icing bags can be found in craft, variety and specialty cake decorating stores.

These treats are so easy to make that even the kids can do this, especially for the teachers.

Some ideas include: Gourmet Jelly Beans Spicy Cereal Mix/Puppy Chow Aw Nuts Hot Chocolate Mix Candy, Candy, Candy.

Fill the bags with whatever you choose, twist the top to secure, tape it with clear tape and add a bow and a tag. (to make it easier to fill the bags, just use a quart jar.)

Germination Test

If you have left-over garden seed, now is the time to test them for the coming season. Read on the label how many days it takes the seeds to germinate....the following instructions are for things like radishes, lettuce, etc. (Some seed has a hard coat and it’s going to take longer anyway)

Just count out 10 seeds and put them on a dampened paper towel in a sandwich bag. Put the bag on top of your refrigerator for a few days (mine is nice and toasty and an ideal place to test seeds). After 3 or 4 days, check to see how many of the seeds have sprouted. If only one or two seeds sprout, you might want to consider getting some new seed. If however, 8 out of 10 sprout, you know that they are good for this year.

Second Sight

To help an elderly or sight impaired person find their radio station, put a piece of transparent tape over the dial and then mark over it with a colored marker...or use some colored sticky backed dots from the office supply store...you can cut them down as small as you need. When the radio is no longer needed, peel off the marked tape and there is no damage. This also works for oven dials, dryer heat setting knobs and all sorts of other knobby parts of life.

Clip It

Spring type clothespins can be used in place of “store bought” plastic clips to close cereal bags, chips, candy, noodles, nuts and anything else in a bag. If you glue a small magnet on one side, they become great note holders for the refrigerator too.

Vinegar Uses

If you are using vinegar for cleaning, it makes no difference what kind you use for non-porous materials, but brown (cider) vinegar will stain anything porous. Vinegar is used for cleaning and deodorizing all sorts of things.
If the dishwasher develops “bad breath”, just put a half-cup of vinegar in a dish on the bottom rack. Load the machine with all of those fancy dishes you never use.....run the load through the cycle. The dishes will be clean and the dishwasher will no longer smell.

De-Bug IT

To check for “critters” (as in bugs) in the basement, try those sticky mouse traps. After a couple of days, you will have captured some of the crickets, spiders and other creepy crawlies. Then decide if they are enough of a pest to spray, or have a professional come in and do the job for you.

Love Those Lines

A number of housing developments and apartment buildings will not allow clotheslines. If this is so in your neighborhood, string some lines in the garage, basement or bathroom. Those who live in mobile homes can hang clothes on hangers on the shower rod in the bathroom...there is usually a heat vent right by the bathtub (comes in handy as a dryer). If you line-dry clothes indoors, you will also notice the humidity level raises in the house. Less irritation to nose and throat and the moisture retains heat in the rooms too.

The lines will save you money on your electric/gas bill and I personally think it helps the clothes
last longer...all that lint in the dryer comes from your clothes.

Sap Zap

To get rid of pine sap dribbles and drips on your vehicle, just use softened butter
or margarine. Smear it on, let it set for a few minutes and wipe off with a soft cloth.
This does not damage the finish.

No Bug Cereals

To keep the “critters” out of your oatmeal, flour, cornmeal etc. put in a few sticks
of unwrapped spearmint chewing gum.

“SNAKES ALIVE” (and spiders too)

Do not leave your shoes outside in the fall of the year if you live in snake country.
They look for places to hide and shoes are perfect. We have rattlesnakes.
I also was told that Black Widow spiders also like shoes

Kiddy Corral

If you have a playpen with a removable floor, take it to the lake or beach and push the legs
down into the sand or the grass. The little ones under 18 months can play safely without the
worry of them toddling off into the water.

Bug-B-Gone

To make bug splatter removal easier on your vehicle, motor home, or camper, spray the bumper,
hood, grill and overhead area above the windshield with cooking spray. It keeps the bug juice from
sticking so much and wipes off fairly easily, with less chance of paint damage. Be sure to not spray
the rubber gasket material around the windows as some oils cause these to deteriorate.

Cleaning Copper Pots

An old trick to clean copper-bottomed pots and pans is to sprinkle table salt on them and then scrub with a rag soaked in some vinegar. The job is made even easier if you run hot water over the bottom of the pan first. The heat seems to help the salt and vinegar do their job. ~ Sue, SD

Kitchen Gadget Cleaner

Recycle that fuzzed-out toothbrush. Keep it in the kitchen drawer to clean the gunk out of the cheese grater, garlic press, food choppers, and other handy kitchen helpers that are hard to clean. If you are like me, if it’s hard to maintain, it goes back on the shelf and doesn’t get used.

Recycle Umbrellas

Save the metal ribs from the old umbrellas and use them as plant supports in your garden this spring and summer. If you paint them green, they can hardly be seen against the plants. ~ Mary, TX

Travel Caddy

Save and clean the ultra detergent boxes with handles. Cover with some kind of fabric with or without padding. These make a handy sewing caddy, just right for some needlework on the road. ~ Jody, TN

Gum Remover

Bubble gum, or any other kind for that matter, can be removed from hair with peanut butter. Moosh it around with your fingers. The peanut butter will cause the gum to break up into little balls and it comes right off of the hair. A quick shampoo and all is well...sure beats a haircut. ~ Jackie, WA

Easier Reading

Use BLACK felt-tipped markers with a fine line and white paper when writing to older folks or the sight impaired. When you write plainly in large letters, the contrast makes it easy for them to read. This is how I write to my sons who have an eye disease. ~ Ila, SD

Mouthwash Alert

Keep your bottles of mouthwash up high and away from the little ones. This stuff belongs with the cold medicine as the alcohol content runs from 18% to 26% and 4 ounces of the stuff could be FATAL to a 20 pound child. ~ Jack, PA

Tube Savings

Before you throw away that squeezed out tube of toothpaste, styling gel, hair slick-um etc., cut the end off with a pair of old scissors. Split the tube up the side. You will be surprised at how much product is left in that so-called “empty” tube. ~ Adele, WA

Cheap Doggy Bed

Need a bed for the pooch? Make a bag using an old fuzzy coat liner for one side and a piece of fabric made from stitched together hunks of old blue jeans for the other side. Stuff with some of those styrofoam peanuts. If you have access to cedar shavings, put some of those in too. They are supposed to help keep the bugs away, and besides that, they smell good too. (Cedar shavings can sometimes be obtained at a school where they offer wood shop classes.) ~ Jon, AK

Patch a Basket

To mend the broken slats in a mesh laundry basket, I use silver tape. Put a piece of the tape on the inside and on the outside, over the broken slat. The pieces of tape will stick to each other and mend the basket for several more months. ~ Phyllis, MT

Trash Can De-scented

It doesn’t take too long for a trash can to develop bad breath. If you put a couple of handfuls of new kitty litter in the bottom of the garbage can BEFORE you put in the new bag, it will absorb the off odors. Much nicer smelling and keeps the critters from trying to take the lid off the can before the garbage man comes. ~ Bob, IL

Laundry Short-Cut

I never sort laundry. In the bottom of my bathroom linen closet are 4 baskets...1 for whites, 1 for towels, 1 for colored clothes and 1 for jeans. Every member of the family puts their soiled clothing in the proper basket and when it’s full, it goes to the washer. This sure does save me a lot of time. My kids learned right from the start that clothes that weren’t in the baskets didn’t get washed. ~ Bob, IL

Easy Grill Cleaning

After the barbecue/cookout is over, you will want to clean up the grill. There is a very simply way to do this without using a lot of elbow grease. Let the grill top cool off completely. Lift it out of the grill and put it into a black plastic garbage bag. Add 1 cup of household ammonia. Tie the bag shut and set the whole shebang in direct, hot sunlight. Leave overnight. The fumes of the ammonia will loosen all of that black gunk on the grill. Fish it out of the bag and turn on a stream of water from the garden hose (do this where it won’t hurt the lawn). About 99% of the cruddy stuff will rinse right off...

Barrow Cooler

A wheelbarrow makes a neat, portable soft drink cooler when you are hosting an outdoor picnic. Simply line the barrow with plastic or used foil (cleaned and recycled of course), fill with ice and add the sodas. They stay cold for a long time and clean-up is a breeze. Dump the water and ice in the flower beds, dry out the barrow and you’re done.

Double Does It

Double up when you cook. As a working mom, this really helps me out a lot. I drive 40 miles one-way to my job so I do a lot of cooking on weekends. This way, it’s not so much work to put good healthy meals on the table during the week. It’s no harder to make two casseroles, and the time to bake them is the same. Sure beat buying the pre-cooked and high priced items in the supermarket.

Use All That You Buy

When you buy fresh broccoli, don’t throw away the stalks after eating the flowerettes. There are lots of nutrients in them and after all, you did pay good money for them. Chop the stalks in your food processor and then freeze for later use when making broccoli/cheese soup...OR use your food processor or a good sharp knife to slice the peeled stalks into thin circles to use in casseroles or in stir-fry recipes.

Foiled Again

If your cookie sheets are darkened with age, you can make them shine again by covering them with heavy duty foil. They can be wiped off with a damp rag between batches of cookies and the heavy foil is easily cleaned. Roll it up on a cardboard tube for easy reuse.

The Super Duster

Make a throw-away duster from old newspapers. Roll together a couple of sections of plain black and white newspaper. Tie the bundle in the middle with a piece of grocery string or a good heavy rubber band. Cut a long fringe on one end with a pair of sharp shears. (This is the duster part)...the other end is the handle. Now you can dust the cobwebs out of the high places and chase the dustbunnies out from under the couch. Just pitch the whole thing in the trash when it gets dirty. (I like this idea because it means one less “thing” to have to keep track of, besides, those old fashioned feather dusters always make me sneeze.

PennyWise
P.O. Box 518
Kadoka, SD 57543-0518