We did this several years ago. Here is a page full of them Tips to share

A great way to keep lettuce fresh is to remove the stem or core, break the head in half and wash it in cold water. Then stick it in a ziplock bag and poke the bag a couple of times with a fork. The lettuce stays super crisp and fresh. Works great for celery and cut up green peppers too

write the date on a freshly opened spice bottle. It is particularly useful with the infrequently used ones. With the date showing there is no guessing as to whether the spice is 10 days, 10 months or 10 years old. If spice is older than 1 year from my written date, I toss. On some, I toss after 6 mo, depends on the spice.

Even if you are on a budget, buy quality if the job calls for it. More expensive contractor plastic bags are stronger, and if you are putting debris including branches in a bag, a stronger one won't rip and tear as easily.

Buy the vacuum cleaner your home needs, not the one the manufacturer convinces you to buy. A smaller, lighter one may be fine for your needs if you have a small home, no need to buy a heavier one that is harder to maneuver. The best vacuum cleaner in the world won't keep your home cleaner if you don't use it.

I use the extra bags in the bottom of trash cans also. My Mom always wrapped celery in tin foil.

Love the idea of napkins in the bottom of flowerpots, I put stones/rocks in the bottom of mine, to keep them from blowing away, haha, and also because it doesn't take as much dirt to fill the pots.

When our daughter went away to college, we made a diy earring holder. Took a picture frame, removed the glass, put pretty paper or fabric in it where the "fake" picture was, wrapped it with screen from the hardware store then put it back in the frame. She could hang all her earrings. If you have non-dangling earrings, you could just stretch screen across the back of the frame and staple it on so you can poke the earring through the front and put the earring back on the earring post.

If you have the really large patio size pots to fill. I use a coffee filter over the hole and then use bent soda cans to fill about half the pot then use potting soil. Much easier to move the pots and uses a lot less potting soil. Have also used packing peanuts to take up the space. Works fine. BUT you need to remember what is in the pot, because it makes a huge mess if you dump them not thinking. I replace all the soil every Spring.

Here's a few:

1. If you have a splattered (otherwise shiny) teakettle or toaster, clean it using a microfiber cloth and a bit of soapy water (wring out the cloth). It's back to shiny.

2. We use a product called (something like, if not) 'Greased Lightning' to help remove stuck on brown patina on pans. This is much easier on aluminum than oven cleaner (which discolors aluminum). I also use GL to clean the aluminum mesh screen of my above range exhaust vent. Spray it on and let it stay for 10 minutes before spraying with hot water then cleaning with soap and water.

3. A simple plastic straw makes a good cut flower carry home system; bend it into a U and you have two flower keepers for your walk home (from a visit to a neighbor, say).

4. When your driving, periodically check the mile markers. It's a help should you see some huge metal box in the roadway, break down, or spot a 5 ft. tall parasol mushroom you'd like to fetch later.

5. If you think it's going to be one of those nights when you're going to fall asleep in the chair watching old moving and not even change into your jammies, at least take the gum out of your mouth, floss and brush your teeth. You'll have a bit more self respect in the morning.

I use several already mentioned, though modified.

When my MW is dirty, I fill a bowl with water and lemon juice and nuke on high for five minutes. Everything wipes away quickly and easily.

Speaking of citrus, throw that lemon rind into your garbage disposal and run it for 30 seconds to disinfect and freshen it up.

If your garbage disposal isn't grinding as well as it used to, toss a few ice cubes in to grind, it helps sharpen the blades.

I always line my cookie sheets with aluminum foil. I haven't "washed" them in probably 10+ years.

Someone mentioned tomatoes and crisper drawer so a tip for them is that tomatoes shouldn't be refrigerated, neither should potatoes.

If you have a pan with food burnt on, fill it with water and heat to boiling, then turn off. Let it cool for a few minutes then dump the water and wipe the previously burnt on stuff out.

Here is a redneck tip for ya (hey, I AM a Texan) if you have a spider or wasp, etc bugging you, especially if said wasp somehow managed to find a way into your house, use a can of hairspray and a lighter to make a flamethrower!! Just remember to start and end the flame before using the hairspray. We don't want any exploding cans around here! ;)

To keep the trash can fresh throw one of those little paper pinetree scented car hangers in the bottom with your extra trash bag. Those baking soda fridge things can be used in other places that need odors absorbed not just a fridge. I use coffee filters in the bottom of my potted plants. I buy a sack of play ground sand and pea gravel and add some to the bottom of my big planters to help with drainage and not have to use as much potting soil. A pot of boiling water set in the oven can also help with burnt on stuff. It softens it up from the moisture.

Some terrific hints are included in this thread!

My favorite method of covering the drainage holes in plant containers is to employ the plastic grid used for needle point. It allows all of the excess water to drain (which is what you want to happen) while keeping the potting medium inside.

When preparing my oversized containers for planting, I fill the cut-off legs of pantyhose (or use knee highs) with Styrofoam packing peanuts and knot the end. Not only do the peanuts do a great job of taking up space in a large container, but the roots will actually use them as a growing medium....more root growth equals better top growth.

At the end of the season, I dump the pots into the garden, cut the roots to remove the plants, allow the pantyhose/peanuts tubes to dry out over the winter and reuse after giving them a good shake out.

I had a huge aphid infestation on my lupines this year. A tablespoon of blue Dawn in a quart spray bottle full of tap water and they're all gone!

Don't know what to do with all those indoor vines that took over the house last winter? Beginning in the Spring, I take cuttings of the Swedish Ivy and wandering Jew and stick it directly into pots out doors, burying it about 2" deep. Water daily and you have instant outdoor annuals! Or all those poinsettias you kept from Christmas...they can be put outdoors in your pots.

I weight lightweight resin (fake plaster) planters with bricks, then wedge planter saucers inside if I'm planting shallow-rooted flowers -- saves on soil.

I set those plastic containers of berries on raised racks on the top shelf of the fridge so air can circulate under the boxes. They don't spoil as fast as if they are right on the glass shelves. (Say...remember when fridges had wire shelves?)

I use this cleaning solution all the time. When I helped clean the kitchen at the Legion one of the other ladies used my spray and asked what kind it was.....she loved the way it cleaned up grease. I use it on cat-yak stains on the carpet etc.

1 cup rubbing alcohol (don't use hydrogen peroxide)

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup ammonia

1/2 tbsp dishwashing liquid.

Pour in a half-gallon jug (I use a cranberry juice jug) and fill with water. Fill a spray bottle and use.

Another great odor absorber to put in trash cans is a few charcoal briquets.

To keep your celery nice and crisp, wrap it in aluminum foil very tightly and with no opening at all. Write the date on it and it should last for months. Always re-wrap air-tight.

To help meats defrost faster, place the package on or in a cast iron pan. Iron will conduct the cold away from the package.

Do you hate chopping onions? Buy some very large ones and chop with a knife. Store in the freezer in zip bags. A few minutes on the counter and you can break some off for cooking. Do not use a food processor as it will release all the juices.

I'm going to try that cast-iron trick pkramer! With the celery, always make sure that it's dry and hasn't been washed first.

I love buying the 10-lb bag of onions when they come on sale. I won't buy them if the onions are all small ones......they are so hot, and burn my eyes. The large onions don't bother me. I like the idea of freezing chopped onion, too. I have some onions that are starting to sprout in the freeze, I'll go chop some up now. :-)

If you are a hiker or gardener (working around lots of shrubs and trees), when you are finished, run a sticky tape roller all over your clothes, hat, etc. to pick up any ticks that may have found you.

This is a helpful hint that I tried and it worked...many years ago. I haven't had to use it since then, but it saved the day for me back then. In 1974, I got my first brand new car. It was a cream colored Olds cutlas supreme. It had tan interior....vinyl...or "pleather", I am sure. It was a beautiful car, and I loved it very much. A friend didn't like to drive in Houston, so asked me if I would take her to a doctor's appointment. She had a 5 year old daughter, who sat in the back seat. She gave her a pen and a piece of paper to "keep her busy." I didn't have any children of my own at the time and it never crossed my mind what the little girl would do. Believe me, if I had done what she did, my mother would have torn my butt up. I would still be standing up to eat my meals. Anyway, got home, and when I looked in the back seat, the little girl had marked all over the backs of the seats, the seat and the headliner with a ball point pen. I had always heard how difficult it is to remove ball point ink. I was devastated but decided I'd take it to the dealer and see if they could remove it. I knew my husband would be furious. Then I remembered a hint I had heard on the radio. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it. I cut a potato and rubbed all over the ink marks. I only did it once because I really had no hope of it working. The next day, they were faded. In about three days, they were completely gone. I only used the potato once and I didn't wash over the marks with any other thing. It completely removed every trace of the ink.

DH spilled motor oil on fave jeans and forgot to tell me, I washed/dried and stain was set. I found tip to spray stained area with WD40, let dry and wash as usual, repeating for tougher stains. I did it and it worked! But it was jeans, one would have to test on other fabrics before actually treating

Holy Cow, Marilyn_C! That's some potato! Kennebec? Russet? Yuk gold? ;)

I would have used that kid and mother for hood ornaments. Grrrr.

How is your horse, Bane, doing? You are a kind heart ;)

Another way to defrost meat very quickly, which many here surely know, is to put the package in a saucepan with water in it, and put the lid on.

Vossner, that is a great tip! A similar one I recently learned: If you get oil-based stain on your skin, rub it will olive oil. Takes it right off.

It was a plain old russet potato. When I told my friend what her daughter had done, she said to her, "Susie! Why did you mark all over Marilyn's new car?" I will never forget her answer...."Because I love her." That was it....she didn't scold her or anything. Like I said, my mother would have spanked me to within an inch of my life.....but I would have never done anything like that, nor would I have had to worry about my daughter doing something like that when she was that age.

Bane is doing good. He is still nervous but I hope he will settle down as he gets more used to this place and being handled in a calm manner. The one thing he does that aggravates me to no end though.....it is very, very hot here.

Bane is in a portable round pen that is 50' in diameter, because I need to keep him away from my other horses until he has been here awhile and I know he is healthy. He is just getting over a respiratory infection. I make sure that at least half of it is always in the shade. I keep his hay, water and feed him in the shade. But every time I see him, he is standing in the sun and he is sweating like a.......horse. As a result, he always looks sweat stained and his coat doesn't lay smooth. He's a mess. I hate to see him stand in the sun and sweat, but he doesn't have to do that......he just does.

Parenting is a whole other ball-game now, than the way we were raised. I often wonder what makes the current generation (our kids so to speak) be so different from the way they were raised.

Like Marilyn said, I would have been spanked within an inch of my life if I destroyed another person's property. I remember my brother ripped out the flowers in the flowerbed. God only knows why. He blamed me for it, then I got spanked. When it was found out that it was him, and that he lied, well, I swear to this day, he's never told a lie since.

Bane, if only we knew how they think. It is mind-boggling though. Do you put a fly-mask on him since he's out in the sun all the time?

I'll speak only about my own experience, not anyone else's. In an earlier age, spanking was a way for a frustrated or angry parent to blow off steam. It's a poor way to discipline or teach children about their behavior. Just as then and now it's a poor way to train or discipline a dog.

Parents (and human companions) should be respected, not feared.

Wow, Marilyn that sure was lucky you could get those marks off....a 5 year old should know not to mark up a car , that's school age, not a baby.

Snidely, I don't disagree with you about that. I never spanked my own daughter. But I spent a lot of time with her and being an only child, she was around adults a lot and she never was a discipline problem. If you told her not to do something, she didn't do it. If we went somewhere, she was always happy to have a book to read. My own mother spanked me twice. One time it was for talking in church. The other time I don't even remember what it was for. My father spanked me once. It was for running across the road, where he was standing, talking to someone, and I almost got hit by a car.

If you are painting and have to stop for the day, there is no need to wash out your brushes to clean them. Wrap them with Saran Wrap and that will keep them wet enough so that you can go right ahead and paint with them the next day.

One more tip. If your french/italian bread has gone rock hard, run it under cold water until it is nice and wet. Place it in a cold oven, set to 200 for 15 minutes, then raise the temp to 375-400 for a final crisping up. Works like a charm. I saw Sara Moltoun do this on the Rachael Ray show and had to try it.

Re: the "spanking within an inch of my life" comments: I think the point is, we were disciplined when we did something naughty, like damaging someone else's property. Now, parents expect the property owner to think it's adorable simply because their fabulous child did it, so it therefore can't be a bad thing.

Tibbrix and Marilyn are bang-on. We weren't horse-whipped or any such thing, but we were spanked, when it was deserved. As I mentioned, my brother was for lying. I think I was as well, but I don't remember......probably for talking back, as that was never done!

Today kids are "adorable" not matter what they do, or asked if they understand what they did. Nooooo, they are too young. If they are old enough to know what they did wrong, they are old enough to know better than to do it in the first place. Writing/destroying someone else's property? Not on your life.

And if we were put in the corner or sent to the principal's office for being disobedient in school, that's nothing compared to what we got at home.

tibbrix and jasdip- please don't lump all parents into that class.

My "adorable" children are expected to behave properly and they are NEVER allowed to damage or disrespect other people or their property.

I know several other parents like myself, the problem is the ones who stand out are the terrible ones and they ruin it for the rest of us.

It is, however, refreshing to have people whom I suspect are closer to your age come up to me in stores and tell me how impressed they are with my children and their behavior.

Again, I don't think the severity of the punishment is the issue, just that there WAS punishment of one kind or another. We were taught to respect other people, their property, to not do to others what we wouldn't want done to ourselves, etc., etc., etc. But there really is this weird thing now, among parents, of not demanding much from their kids, including respecting other people and their property but rather a twisted parenting culture where parents expect the rest of the world to conform to their child, not the other way around. I think it's part and parcel of the 1980's birth of rampant narcissism. There is also this weird belief now that children should experience NO angst or unhappiness of any kind, so asking a child to do chores…no-no; making a kid actually suffer negative consequences for bad and very bad behavior…no-no. It's all showing up too now that the generations of the 1980's narcissistic parents are reaching adulthood. Poor work ethic among so many; a sense that they should just be handed things, including money; no sense of doing the best job you can once you have agreed to do a job in the first place…more like, do the minimum, just get through it to get the money.

It's disheartening. Obviously not across the board, but as generations go, I think we're in some trouble.

"Texas_Gem

tibbrix and jasdip- please don't lump all parents into that class."

No one is lumping ALL of anyone into a class. We are talking about a generational CULTURE of parenting, which does exist. And as with any culture, there are always exceptions. We are well aware of that.

Snidely, you stated: "In an earlier age, spanking was a way for a frustrated or angry parent to blow off steam. It's a poor way to discipline or teach children about their behavior." I, too, don't necessarily disagree with you; however, I can say that when I was a child and got a spanking, it was never because my dad was blowing off steam because he was frustrated or angry. He spanked to teach me self-discipline, and I knew that. So did my brother and my sister. We did not get spanked often, but when we did we knew it was because we had done wrong. Doesn't mean we liked it, but we understood the reason.

tibbrix- EVERY generation worries about the generations that follow and they always believe that they are destroying the world, etc etc.

Baby boomers are known as the Me generation where narcissism really erupted. They changed the world and enjoyed economic prosperity but live in denial of their own age and are leaving an undue economic burden on their children for care.

Generation X is the first generation which has a lesser quality of life than the generation preceding it and now they are faced with having to also take care of their parents who had everything and blew it all. Companies no longer reward loyalty, Gen Xers HAVE to change jobs frequently because they can not trust that simply doing a good job will be rewarded.

They have generally been screwed over time and time again by the preceding generation and you wonder why some of them act the way they do?

Does this apply to everyone? No, there are exceptions to the rule of course but it is true for a majority.

We took our DS, DIL, DGS and DGD to lunch today. DGD is four. She was extra wiggly, slid down in her seat and onto the (icky) floor. She refused to stop annoying her brother. She refused to eat the meal she'd ordered. She was just *impossible*. Her parents eventually said she would have no pool time this afternoon and her neighbor friend could not visit. Her mother warned her that she would be sitting in her BR all afternoon if she didn't sit up properly and eat. No! No! No!

OK then, Mom takes her out of the restaurant and sits with her in the car. Party's over for her. (Unhappily, also for Mom.) No hitting necessary.

I like Tibbix's comment above. Also, kids aren't allowed to fail a grade, and sports are played without keeping score; so that all the kids are treated the same. I don't agree with that at all.

Remember the unruly child in the restaurant recently where the parents completely ignored the screaming and havoc and the waitress took matters in her own hands? It shouldn't have to come to that, too many parents are blind and deaf.

Texas, first of all, I didn't say they were "destroying the world". Second, I'm harshest on MY generation as parents. I think it was the yuppies in the 1980s that began this inundation with narcissism and it manifested itself i materialism as well as how children have been raised, namely what I've stated above. I'm only speaking to what I have witnessed, and witnessed A LOT of, including by my own very best friend. I agree that every generation of parent has its negative parent thing…sometimes it's authoritarianism, sometimes it's needing to be best friends with your kids…whatever. I'm speaking to what I have seen from my own generation of parents, which has been to demand seemingly nothing from their children, and I just find it odd. That's all. It is what it is.

tibbrix- interesting. I'm curious where these parents you have observed fall on the political spectrum.

I have not observed much parenting like that, but I love in a very conservative area. The one exception is from one staunchly liberal couple who believes in rationalizing with their toddler and doesn't teach obedience or manners b/c she "is her own person and we don't want to stifle that" and that child is a nightmare who rules that house.

The research seems to back up that conservatives rank the highest on valuing and teaching responsibility, hard work, well-mannered and obedience.

Oh brother.

Walnut creek, if you can see there are other (and perhaps even better) ways to teach kids self-discipline and obedience than by corporal punishment, what reasons could justify taking the risks of collateral damage that can come from spanking them?

Texas, I find little to agree with in your comments, my experiences and views clearly differ from yours. No matter, we can both be happy with our perspectives. For others who don't know, the chart's source, the Deseret News, is a paper in Salt Lake City owned and editorially controlled by the Mormon Church. That's neither good nor bad to me, it's just a data point. I don't give it much credence, but it is interesting that neither "Helping Others" nor "Empathy for Others" appears in either of the two conservative columns. Does that mean that the prevalence of narcissism has a political rather than a generational correlation?

(Lest anyone think that's an intended political slam, it's not. I'm neither conservative nor liberal, not a Dem, a Repub, a Libertarian, an Indep, and I don't go to Tea Parties. No party suits my views, I try to pick the best any can offer. Or failing that, I follow my own mind)

Snidely- I had no idea about the paper, I simply searched parenting differences between liberals and conservatives and picked one which had a decent chart showing the pew research.

I don't identify as any political party and I hold both liberal and conservative ideologies, my statements are simply based on my own observations and stories I've seen in the news.

Well, I don't post often but the topic of "helpful hints" got me interested. As I read along, the subject turned into "disciplining children".

So.... first, here's my helpful hint. Instead of using baking soda to remove odors in the refrigerator, use activated carbon (or activated charcoal). You can purchase them in the pet/aquarium isle of the store. It is the same product using in fish tank filtering. It's non-toxic, inexpensive and absorbs odors well. Plus, it lasts a long long time. Just put some in a small open container and leave it in the refrigerator to do its job. You can find more information online with this method.

2nd: Funny how the topic of disciplining children kept coming up. I've been troubled with how my older brother and his wife not disciplining his 5-year old kid. The parents simply don't have enough patience to do so and blame it all on the kid for being too young still to discipline. Can you hear me screaming "arrrgh!"... Well, I'm the younger sibling with no children of my own; so, in their eyes, I just don't know how to raise kids. Thus, I have no say so in the matter. Yet, I was voted by my other nephews and niece as a great parent to them as they were growing up (they're in their 30's now). They all told me that I would be a great parent if I had my own children too.

Anyway, the past few months, I've been hooked on watching this Korean reality show on YouTube. Btw, I don't normally watch reality shows but this one, I really like it because it has alot of meanings and great family values. It's called "The Return of Superman"; ah, don't let the title mislead you. A few families are picked to be on the show. The father of each family is challenged to take care of his kids for 48 hours without the mother. At first, these fathers were inexperience of how to take care of their own kids alone but soon they became the "Superman" of their kids. There's a father with twins and in later episodes, a father with triplets. It's a fun, cute, moving, and meaningful show to watch.

Importantly, you will see what happens when parents don't discipline kids and what happens when they do. If you do decide to watch it, notice how young these kids/babies are.

Oh yeah, I don't speak nor understand the Korean language neither. The show has English subtitles. I do encourage you to watch it. Another thing that surprised me while watching this show was how much US influence impacted Korean lifestyle and language. I gathered it is so due to how the US was involved in the Korean War.

Here's the official YouTube channel, KBS World, that airs this reality show. Episode 1 was aired in December 2013 in Korea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veFdtxdsEG0&index=87&list=PLMf7VY8La5RFIeOyIZ5IOm68WVb7c2dyT

List of episodes 1 - 90, #90 as being the latest episode. The show is still ongoing. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMf7VY8La5RFIeOyIZ5IOm68WVb7c2dyT

I read about a cool tip on Yahoo yesterday: To get rid of wrinkles, throw a cup of ice cubes into the dryer, after clothes/sheets are dry, and run on high for 15 minutes. And this makes sense since it would create humidity in the dryer.

My ex used to do something similar (not everything he does is dumb ;) (I'm kidding, really!)

He'd put a wet wash cloth in the dryer with clothes. Worked, so I bet the cubes would work too!

When DH replaced the screen in the screen door I saved the old piece to use to cover the holes in the bottom of a flower pots.

The green plastic lid from Kraft grated parmesan cheese fits on a Mason jar. I buy the large container (24 oz) at my supermarket and then fill the Mason jar with the cheese. It looks a little nicer on the table than the Kraft container. I also use it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The empty Kraft containers can be used for other household uses. For safety reasons it's important to label the container with the contents - you can use a Sharpie or a label maker. Fill one with grass seed and you can just sprinkle the seed on bare patches in the yard. I also use them to store powdered sugar, or nuts for baking.

When the kids were younger I'd fill them with Goldfish crackers, nuts or other treats for long car rides. My mother kept her extra buttons in one.

Okay, I got really excited when I started reading tibbrix's tip on how to get rid of wrinkles. Unfortunately I was thinking face, not clothes.....

I remember as a teenager, I was dating a fellow who borrowed my bike and gave it back to me damaged - front wheel was totally destroyed. When I called him on it, he said his parents always told him to treat other people's things the same way he treated his own. I responded that my parents insisted that I treat other peoples' property better than what I treat my own. So apparently this parenting thing has been going own "forever", as evidenced by the fact that I am more excited about getting rid of facial wrinkles......

Makes you wonder what would happen if you climbed inside a dryer with a cup of ice (or a bucket, depending on how advanced the wrinkles are!) and had a friend of DH hit that high button. Hmmm…..The brain damage might not be worth it.

Yeah, I was also taught to treat other people's things better than I do my own. I rent my house out. You see some stuff that makes you scratch your head. I had some absolutely HORRIBLE tenants there the week before last. Went from worst to first in one day. The people in there now, for two weeks, are absolutely WONDERFUL. I just love them. Unlike that other family, they're taking good care of my home, while also fully enjoying it, as I want them to do. The other family was just plain abusive. It's how it goes, but it's maddening nonetheless. Grateful for the good ones!

I just came up with my hint tonight. I have a really hard time threading the needle on my sewing machine, and I know I am not the only one. I was trying for about 10 minutes I think and I just couldn't do it this time. My machine is about 40 years old and it doesn't have a threader on it. I thought to myself what could I do. The light bulb came on in my head. I took the needle out of the machine and threaded it and then put it back in. It worked like a charm. Since a sewing machine needle is flat on one side, you automatically know which side to put the thread in from. I finished my mending and then I had to tell someone, so I called my DD and DS to tell them and they both thought it was a really good idea. My sister said she is going to do it too. I didn't know she was having the same problem. I was glad I could help her out.

I make iced coffee at home. I freeze leftover coffee in an ice cube tray and store the cubes in a freezer bag. It doesn't dilute the coffee like regular ice cubes.

Lot remove skin from raw chicken grab it with a paper towel. Kitchen shears are great to cut up chicken.

You don't need to rinse your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. If an odd dish doesn't come clean just rewash that, instead of washing everything. Dishwasher tabs work better than powders or gels.