More Tricks of the Trade

Millie writes:

If you use an anti-static sheet in the dryer, save it when you remove the clothes and use it to clean out the lint trap from that load. The fuzz will stick much better to the sheet than to your hand.

If you crumple and crumple and crumple and CRUMPLE a sheet from a brown paper bag, it will look enough like soft, thick suede that you can use it to craft convincing “leather” covered wagon tops, buckskins, and teepees for your little Pilgrims and Indians to play with this Thanksgiving. It also makes good book covers.

Butter your hands before you shape popcorn balls or Rice Krispies treats. The goo will be much more manageable.

Teach your toddler to put on his coat the way Jack's preschool teacher taught him: spread it open on the floor in front of him with the outside of the coat touching the floor and the collar-end pointing towards the child. The kid crosses his arms, slips his hands down into the opposite coat sleeves and raises them straight into the air while straightening out his arms, thereby flipping the coat up, over his head and down into place. Presto!

Remove tarnish from your silver the easy way: line a baking dish (or the sink) with aluminum foil and pour in boiling-hot water. Add 2 teaspoons each of salt and baking soda for each half-gallon or so of water. Completely submerge the tarnished silver so that it's touching the foil and let it soak until the tarnish is gone; rinse and polish with a soft cloth. (The tarnish “jumps” from the silver to the foil, leaving a dusty precipitate. SCIENCE!)

Use a man's discarded dress shirt as a child's arts-and-crafts apron; just button it on the kid backwards. It's long enough to keep paint off of most of their clothing and the sleeves can be rolled up or down (or cut off) as needed.

There are 3 good ways to get wax off your candlesticks. Put metal holders in the freezer for a couple of hours; the wax will become brittle and you can chip it off with your fingernails. Put glass or crystal holders in the microwave for a few seconds until the wax melts and you can wipe it off. Put any kind of holder in very hot water for a few minutes until the wax softens enough for you to peel it off; stand the holder upside-down with the base out of the water if the bottom is covered with felt.

Even if your husband hates everything mammalian so you can't have a kitten no matter how much you beg, kitty litter is still good to have on hand. The plain ol' clay variety soaks up oil spills in the driveway and garage, can be used to “salt” frozen steps and sidewalks, and can be pressed into service as drainage in the bottom of a planter in a pinch (if you put a bit of screen over the hole in the bottom of the pot). Keep a big bag of it in the trunk of your car for a bit of added weight when the roads are icy, if you have rear-wheel drive. (And who knows – someday your husband might change his mind about the kitten, and then you have to be ready to jump before he changes it back!)