By Noreen Doll. One way to dry paint quickly is to set your project outside on a warm sunny day. But if you are crafting at night, when it's windy, or when you don't have good weather, you need to find another way. I've discovered that a hair dryer works beautifully to speed my projects along when I'm waiting for paint or Mod Podge to dry. I don't have a lot … [Read more...] about How to Dry Paint Quickly
Tips
Quick Garment Cover
By Noreen Doll. I like to cover clothes hanging in my closet that I don't wear very often, or that are seasonal. It keeps dust off them and helps them stay clean until I wear them again. You can create an easy garment cover with a kitchen trash bag. It's long enough to cover well, and wide enough to accommodate the hanger with clothing on … [Read more...] about Quick Garment Cover
Frugal Cutting Tip
By Noreen Doll. Here's a frugal cutting tip that will help you conserve your supplies. When creating, kids have a tendency to plop their template right down in the middle of that big lovely sheet of paper or craft foam. By the time they've cut from the edge over to the shape, and then cut around the shape, the big lovely sheet of paper is pretty much unusable … [Read more...] about Frugal Cutting Tip
Food Freshness Tip
By Noreen Doll. Have you ever looked in your refrigerator and found a leftover container that you could not remember when you put it there? We are careful not to keep food too long, but we often could not remember when we placed the food in the fridge. So now we date leftovers or partly used canned goods with the date we place them in the refrigerator. And … [Read more...] about Food Freshness Tip
Tiny Hole Punch Tip
By Noreen Doll. Here's a great tiny hole punch tip for when you want to make a neat small hole without tearing the paper. This tip is really handy when you want to add a brad to your project, and you need a small hole for the point of the brad to push through. It would also be perfect to punch small holes in paper or card stock to which you want to tie a … [Read more...] about Tiny Hole Punch Tip
How to Warm Up Gloves in Your Car
By Noreen Doll. Even though I had lined gloves on when I needed to drive this morning, my fingers were icy cold. The temperature was 15 degrees. When I stopped for my first errand I didn't need my gloves, so I decided to lay them in a patch of sunlight on the dashboard. After I got back to my car and picked up my gloves to put them on again, I discovered they … [Read more...] about How to Warm Up Gloves in Your Car
How to Double or Triple a Recipe Accurately
By Noreen Doll. I have a recipe for Gingersnaps that makes such a small amount of cookies, that I need to double or triple it most of the time when I make them. To make it easier to use the correct amount of each ingredient, I have color coded the quantities of ingredients. The single batch of cookies is in red ink. The double batch recipe is in blue ink. And … [Read more...] about How to Double or Triple a Recipe Accurately
How to Print a Sturdier Template
By Noreen Doll. Have you ever tried to trace around a paper template? The edges are so flimsy your pencil slides under or over, and makes a mess. Here's an easy way to print a sturdier template. Cut a manilla folder in half, and then cut one side to 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches, so it will fit through your printer. Lay the cut manilla folder page on top of the … [Read more...] about How to Print a Sturdier Template
Remove Burned-On Food from a Pan
By Noreen Doll. Here's an easy way to remove burned on food from a pan. I had a non stick pan with severely burned on food that needed to be cleaned. The food was so welded to the pan I couldn't even scrape it with a spoon edge. First I added water to it and brought it to a boil, then covered it and let it stand. That did nothing. I couldn't scrape anything … [Read more...] about Remove Burned-On Food from a Pan
Super Quick Way to Shred Meat
By Noreen Doll. Many recipes call for shredded meat. Here's the quickest way I've found to shred meat. Before cooking, cube the meat into 2 inch cubes. Cook meat in your crock pot, oven, or stove top. When the meat is finished cooking and ready to shred, simply use a potato masher to shred it. Mash the meat, twisting the potato masher back and … [Read more...] about Super Quick Way to Shred Meat
Remove Rust from the Shower
By Noreen Doll. This morning I noticed rust stains on a shelf in the shower, left by a metal can of shaving gel that had been sitting in water. I decided to try my usual cleaner, and it worked quickly and easily. I sprinkled some baking soda on the rust stain and then added a little white vinegar to make a paste. With just a bit of scrubbing using a paper … [Read more...] about Remove Rust from the Shower
Apple Buying Tip
By Noreen Doll. Once you've found a bag of apples or other produce that is fairly unblemished, how do you get them home without major bruising? During the process of checking out, my apples frequently got banged around so much by the cashier that I expected to find rotten applesauce when I got the apples home. So I needed to find a way to get them safely … [Read more...] about Apple Buying Tip
