Scuff Marks on Patent Leather Shoes

You don't have to know me for long to know that I'm a shoe girl. I love, love, love shoes and I try to take good care of them, so I don't get scuff marks very often. Recently, though, I noticed scuffs on a pair of pink patent leather shoes. Eeek! What to do?

I wasn't sure if they needed to be handled in a special way because of the patent leather, so after a bit of research, I decided to try a little hand sanitizer and a Kleenex. Voila! It worked like a charm and the shoes looked as good as new! I didn't even need to give it any elbow grease! Yayayay! That made me happy! :) They say you can also use rubbing alcohol or non-acetone fingernail polish remover. So there ya go. A quick tip to make your patent leather shoes scuff-free!

Stop a Pot of Water From Over-Boiling!

Good morning to you! This is just a quick tip about something I read online and tried that actually worked! Woot woot! I don't know about you, but sometimes I've had trouble with, say, cooking pasta and having the water boil over. Eeeek! When I saw a tip on Pinterest that said to lay a wooden spoon over the pot and it would prevent that from happening, I just had to try it! Sure enough, it works! I'm not exactly certain why it works, but so far, it has been successful. Yay! It probably is one of those things that doesn't work 100% of the time, but it's still a pretty high success rate, and I'll take it! :)

Being the curious sort, though, I did a search to see what I could find about why or how this works. According to several sites, the wooden spoon breaks up the bubbles as they near the surface, which prevents a boil over (over-boil?). A few other sites say the spoon prevents heat build-up in the center of the pot. Whatever the reason, I'm just a happy camper to find something so simple that helps! :)

Have a fabulous Monday!

Map Coasters

This map coaster idea from Martha Stewart is so cute! It also looks like something easy enough to do even if one isn't normally a big crafter! What a fun way to repurpose an old map or create a unique memento from a special trip!

http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/map-coasters?xsc=eml_org_2011_08_12&om_rid=NsgxKu&om_mid=_BORRXDB8bVwbDO#

Quick Iced Tea Tip

Happy first day of summer! Hope you enjoy the day! If you enjoy drinking iced tea (sweet or unsweet), but don't like how it gets watered down after a bit, try using tea cubes instead. You can freeze the tea in an ice tray and then use that for the ice for your tea. That way, when it melts down, you're just getting more tea in your drink rather than water. Enjoy!

Coffee Filters - Not Just For, Ya Know, Filtering Coffee

I received these tips in an email from a friend and just had to share. There are some great ideas here!




                                                            COFFEE FILTERS
                             
Coffee  filters .... Who knew!   And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for just a dollar, even the large ones. 

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.  

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome....  Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
                             
3.  Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
                             
4.  Filter broken cork from wine.  If you break the cork when opening a wine  bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter. 
                             
5.  Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filter in the  skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust. 

6.  Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.  

7.  Recycle frying oil.  After frying, strain oil through a sieve  lined with a coffee filter. 

8.  Weigh chopped foods...  Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a  kitchen scale. 

9.  Hold tacos.  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods. 

10.  Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes. 

11.  Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter. 

12.  Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  Use strips of coffee filters.

13.  Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.  It soaks out all the grease.  

14.  Keep in the bathroom.  They make great "razor nick fixers." 
                             
15.  As a sewing backing.  Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics. 
                             
16.  Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors. 
                             
17.  Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews. 
                             
18.  Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car. 
                             
19.  Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills. 
                             
20.  Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.  Saves on having extra bowls to wash. 
                             
21.  Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage. 
                             
22.  Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
                             
23.  Use them to sprout seeds.  Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout. 
                             
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book. 
                             
25.  Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc. 
                              

OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS TOO.

Drawer Organization

I subscribe to Martha Stewart's emails with daily organizing tips, and when I saw this tip this morning for taming the T-shirt drawer, I had to try it! My hubby is a bit of a T-shirt hoarder, so I'm always trying to find new ways to make more of them fit in the dresser. I'm happy to say that this method really does help. Not only can I fit more in a drawer, but bonus, one can see ALL of the T-shirts at a glance instead of some of them being forgotten at the bottom of the pile! Woo hoo!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/this-end-up?xsc=eml_org_2011_04_25

Baby Oil = Chrome Polish

When we needed to buy a new toaster last year, I spied a shiny chrome toaster and realized it was calling my name! Unfortunately, no one told me that after a while that lovely toaster would no longer be so shiny. Hmm... how to restore it to its former luster? I tried various things with no luck and then ran across a tip on realsimple.com that baby oil works wonders on polishing any chrome in your house (even chrome wheels on your car). I filed that away under "good to know" in my brain and decided I would try it "one of these days." Well, "one of these days" arrived this morning and I gave it a try. Wow! I must say it does indeed work wonders! I should have taken before and after shots so you can fully appreciate the difference, but I didn't think of it until I was finished. Now I guess I should try that toothpaste-on-tarnished-silver tip next and see if it also works wonders. :)

Clogged Drain Help

I have unusually long hair. Rapunzel hair. Grazes-the-back-of-my-calves hair. My hubby has often said it could be used as a weapon.

Why do I share this? Because when one has that much hair, it doesn't take much of it to cause some pretty serious clogs in the shower drain. We have tried so many different things when the drain clogs up, including heavy-duty industrial supplies my hubby was able to order through work, and all without much success. So imagine my surprise when we recently got the best results using items most people have in their kitchens.

This little beauty

Plus this little beauty

Equals

I've heard off an on that baking soda and vinegar is a great solution for this problem, but I admit that I've always blown it off, thinking it wouldn't work for a big doozy of a clog. For kicks and giggles, though, last week I decided to give it a try. First I poured half a cup of baking soda down the drain. Then I poured half a cup of vinegar down the drain. I've heard you should let it sit for at least 30 minutes before running hot water down the drain, but I had to go somewhere, so I ended up letting it sit overnight. The next morning I ran lots of hot water down the drain and went about my day. Later when I took a shower, it really didn't seem much better. In fact, by the time I was done, the water didn't seem to be draining AT ALL. I was afraid that maybe I had really messed up something! But about 15 minutes after I got out of the shower, I heard this strange loud noise come from the drain and then heard all the water drain quickly away. Ever since then, the drain has been clearer than it has in years! Woo hoo! So I just wanted to share this little tip in case you've never tried it because, like me, you were doubtful of its effectiveness.

Happy Friday! :)