Spend Less Money and Time on Nylons and Pantyhose

It never fails.  I put on a pair of pantyhose while getting ready to go to work and before I’m out the door (hopefully not after I’m at work) I spot a run or hole.  This is so frustrating! 

Nylons are not cheap and for many professional women, they are essential to a work wardrobe.  Personally, I hate having to throw out anything that can be reused.  For many years now, I have kept pantyhose around that have only slight runs that can be hidden by certain clothes or shoes.  That is great except for the fact that I spent too much time in the morning trying to figure out which pair would work with which outfit.  Now I have a solution.  I write notes to myself on the labels so that I can easily distinguish the bad pairs from the good pairs.  This allows me to wear pairs with small ankle runs with boots and slight thigh runs with longer skirts and dresses.  I simply stop the run with clear nail polish and then label the nylons for future reference.  No more searching for holes or runs, I just look at the label.  I even put the ones with more noticeable runs in a plastic bag to keep separate from the others.  I use these under slacks when I want to add a little warmth in the winter or when I want to give my legs and behind a more firm appearance under my pants.  Hope this tip helps you save money, reduce your waste, and most important of all, save time during your morning rush.

This note: "Run in ankle" lets me know that I can wear this pair of nylons with a pair of boots but not a pair of slingback heels.

Save A Bag, Save Time

It never fails.  You end up stopping at the store when it seems to be the busiest and have to fight the crowd.  For me, the crowd seems to be the thickest in the produce section, or maybe that is because I seem to spend a lot of time there.  I used to find this frustrating about a year ago, before I had a wonderful revelation.

I always seemed to struggle the most with those little plastic bags for fruits and vegetables.  I had trouble finding them, I had trouble getting a roll that had any left, I had trouble pulling one free, or the worst of all, someone would be blocking them with their cart.  I spent too much time fighting with those plastic bags.  Then I realized something when I got home one night.  What if I just reused some of those pesky little bags?  My bananas, onions, peppers, and apples didn't dirty them; I could just reuse them the next time I went shopping.  And that is what I did. 

Like many of you, I already was bringing my own reusable shopping bags, why not reuse the plastic produce bags?  I have never been happier.  I stroll up to the onions and pull a bag out of my grocery sack and breeze on to the bananas.  If you struggle with produce bags, give this a try.  You might find yourself completing your shopping a little faster.

Oh, and if you aren't using reusable grocery bags already, give those a try, too.  Many are larger and stronger than typical one-time use grocery sacks and they can hold a lot more, which means I make fewer trips when unloading my car.  And can't we all use a little more of that?

Reusing One-Side-Printed Copy Paper

It never fails.  Your printer or copier occasionally spits out pages that you really don't want.  Either it's that pesky second page with just a website address or a copy that didn't copy right.  So, what are you to do?  Well, you could just throw it in the trash, or better yet, the recycling.  But I've got some ideas you may or may not have thought of for reusing before recycling these expensive blunders.

First off, you may wish to designate a place in your home or office to place these one-sided wonders.  You may also want to come up with a clever marking system to ensure your family or coworkers don't accidentally reuse an important paper.  In our home, if it has a big pink "x" on the printed side, it's free for reusing.  This is helpful for many reasons.  Note: You might also consider which pages to reuse and for what purposes.  Sometimes we decide to just shred pages that contain sensitive information or we might reuse them for only certain purposes.  Once you have a system in place, you will find any number of uses for these less than desirable pages.

One way of reusing these would be to let your kids use the unmarked side as coloring and drawing paper.  It's cheaper than buying new paper for them and you won't feel bad when they blow through twenty pages of paper in thirty minutes.  Tip: If you don't mind using a little printer ink, find some fun coloring pages on the internet to print on the blank side.  These will keep the kids entertained and don't cost you much.  As a bonus, the kids can even choose which pages to print before coloring.

Another way to use the paper is simply to reprint on the other side.  I know many people who do this.  My husband and I print one time use directions and information on the backs of old pages.  That way, we don't feel bad about wasting paper.  We just use some of our ink.  (This is where the marking system really comes in handy.  Everyone knows what is up for grabs.)  Granted, many people now have internet access on their cell phones and don't necessarily need to pre-print these things, but some of us still like to live in the dark ages. 

One of my favorite ways to reuse these pieces of paper is to print blank lists, charts, and calendars on them.  I make list pads with old pieces of printer paper and find them most useful.  I like these better than using plain "scratch pads" because I'm a list maker.  Chores, groceries, blog ideas, I'm always making lists.  I also make blank scrapbook layout idea pages.  That way I can organize my layout ideas and remember them later, whenever I get a chance to scrapbook again.  (If I can find a way, I'll try to post my templates for these things.)

Lastly, if you have a paper shredder and the information on the page is too sensitive, shred it.  You can use the shredded paper as packaging filler.  We use a lot of shredded document paper when sending things through the mail.  You can also use the shredded paper for craft projects.

An Easy Way to Iron with Steam

If you've ever tried to steam something using a regular iron's steam setting, you may have experienced difficulty.  In my experience, it usually doesn't go well.  I often end up with large drops of water in the wrong place and the wrinkles don't come out very well.  Once, I even ruined my iron because it was stored on its face for too long while water was still in the water chamber.  From that day on, I've avoiding putting water in irons. 

One day early this fall, I was struggling with ironing some mail-order curtains when I came across any easy fix for this problem.  I had previously shrunk and returned the same set of curtains due to washing and drying them with a machine.  Because or this, I was reluctant to use a wet press cloth to steam out the wrinkles. (My press cloth method is placing a wet cloth over the material being ironed and placing the hot iron on the wet cloth.) This is a great method for fabrics that are able to be machine washed and dried, but these curtains, despite what their label said, were not safe in the dryer.  Therefore, I thought I would have to put water in my iron.  Luckily, I noticed a spray bottle of water and that's when inspiration struck me.  I used the water in my spray bottle to spray the wrinkled areas with the right amount of water and then steamed out the wrinkles.  This was so easy that now I keep a spray bottle of water handy when I'm ironing.  It's easier than using a wet press cloth and much easier than using the steam setting on my iron.



Step 1: Spray wrinkled areas with water.



Step 2: Iron to allow steam to release the wrinkles.

Remember, you should only use steam on fabrics that can handle it.  I am not responsible for any problems that might arise from you using this method to steam items you own.

Giving Life to Crumpled Christmas Gift Bows



A Crumpled Bow in Disguise



As I was wrapping my Christmas gifts last night and was thinking about sharing a great technique for disguising some of the less desirable package bows, I realized that I haven't blogged since October!  So I'm sorry if you were looking for a November and December posting.  Here is December's last minute posting and I'll try to make up for November when I find time during this busy season.  (Not that any of you probably follow this blog.)



Some Crumpled Bows I Found this Year



It never fails.  You pull out the Christmas wrappings from last year to see what you can salvage to use this year and you find many of those store-bought Christmas bows crumpled and ugly.  Whether they started out that way or became disfigured when you stuffed them away is beside the point.  Don't waste time pointing fingers.  These bows are not something you want to put on any one's present but you've already spent good money to buy them.  So what do you do?  Throw them away and eat the cost?  No way.



Here's how you can breathe some life into those bows.  (This is something I learned from my sister, although I think she just did it because it is pretty!)  Take some coordinating pieces of curling ribbon or other Christmas ribbon that can be curled and curl it (I use scissors to do this).  String the pieces of ribbon through the loops of your crumpled bow.  It is as simple as that.  You can use a few different colors and types of ribbon to spice it up.  You can add a couple of pieces or a few more, it all depends on your style and how badly the bow is smashed.  This is also a good way to use up those bits of ribbon leftover at the end of the roll.

 

The Finished Product



I decorated the following bow using a thick metallic ribbon.  I curled it first with my scissors and then cut small slits at one end.  Then I pulled the ribbon apart to make thinner, irregular lengths of ribbon to put through my bow.  The finished product is to the left.



Curling the Ribbon with Scissors





Making Slits on the End of the Ribbon





Pulling the Ribbon Apart to Make Thinner Pieces



More Finished Bows

I hope this helps you!  Merry Christmas!



Stay Clean, Reduce Waste, Save Money

How many of you out there like to use disposable sanitizing wipes in your kitchen?  I know I did.  I used to use a wipe every time I prepared raw meat on my kitchen counter.  I wanted to easily make sure that there was no bacteria left that could transfer to other foods I would be working with next.  It was and still is a noble effort.  However, I was throwing away at least one disposable wipe a night and you might be, too.  How wasteful and expensive.  But just this week I've found a way to compromise.  I have decided to stop using those wipes in my kitchen and replace them with a more affordable and reusable system.



This basket under my sink makes these rags quick and handy.



I am using an antibacterial kitchen cleaner and reusable rags.  I have made it as handy and quick as those disposable wipes.  Just grab a rag and the spray-on antibacterial kitchen cleaner from under the sink.  When you're done sanitizing the kitchen, throw the rag into a specific bin or basket (preferably one that can be run through the dishwasher to be sanitized itself) designated for used rags.  When you have time, run the collected rags through the washing machine.  Here are some things I use for rags: old t-shirt pieces, old ratty washcloths,  holey socks, and  pieces of old dishtowels.  These make great rags, cost you nothing, and keep you from throwing them into a landfill.

If you are not ready to stop using disposable wipes, at least try to cut down on your paper towel usage.  You can use the same system to cut back on paper towels.  Instead of reaching for paper towels to clean up spills and handle cleaning tasks, pull a rag from under your sink.  When you are finished, you won't be throwing a piece of paper into a landfill, but a rag into your cleaning bin.  These rags can be easily thrown in with your load of bath towels without taking up a lot of extra space in you washing machine, so you won't need to worry about wasting water.



I keep this small plastic bin next to my garbage can for easy "disposal" of my used rags.



There are many benefits to these systems.  You can achieve the same results, you reduce your waste, and you can save money by not buying expensive disposal sanitizing wipes or paper towels. 

Fun and Useful Magnets

Magnets Before Being Covered

Every once in a while we receive flimsy magnets with advertisements or information on them that we do not need or care about.  They come with our junk mail, in "goody" bags from work, or they get picked up from vendors at fairs, conferences and conventions.  They are too thin and weak to hold anything on to our refrigerators and if they do not have anything important on them, they end up either taking up real estate on the fridge or find their way into our garbage cans. 

Wouldn't it be great if those magnets could be useful?  Well, they can.  With some craft materials, those eyesores bound for the trash, can be recycled into useful, and might I say it, beautiful, pieces of art.

Some Supplies That Can be Used to Cover Magnets



Getting Started:

First, you need to decide what you want your magnet(s) to be used for.  Keep in mind: these magnets will not be strong enough to really hold anything and they can not be decorated too heavily or they will not be able to hold on to a magnetic surface.  Some ideas I have come up with are: dirty/clean dishwasher notices, favorite photographs, small daily chore reminders or reusable lists (with or without check-off boxes, and children's gifts for parents or grandparents.  Let the weight, size and shape of the magnet determine it's use.  Once you've decided your purpose, you can move on to creating.

Once you have decided what you want to create, you'll need to trace the outline of the magnet onto the back of the heavy weight paper, cardstock, or photo you wish to use to cover the magnet with.  Cut out the shape and check it against the actual magnet to make sure it will cover the magnet properly.  If there is a little more paper than necessary, that is okay.  It is better to have more paper than not enough. You do not want the magnet to show on the top edges. 

Next, decorate your cardstock or heavy paper with the design of your choice.  (If you plan to cover your magnet with a photo, obviously you can skip this step.)  I chose to use rubber stamps and colored pencils to create the dirty/clean dishwasher notices below.  You can use any media you like to create words and designs for your magnets.  Tip: If using media such as paints or inks, be sure to allow these to dry before gluing your paper or cardstock to the magnet.

Once you have allowed your magnet cover to dry completely, you can glue it to the magnet.  I prefer to use craft glue, but most types, aside from hot glue, should work well if allowed to dry properly.  I suggest lying a heavy book on the magnet(s) to keep the pieces pressed flat as the glue dries.  When the glue has dried, you may apply a sealant to the top if you wish.  (I used Mod Podge®.)  This will help protect the magnet from slight water damage and give it a nice shiny finish.

Dirty/Clean Signs for My Dishwasher