By Noreen Doll. Wonder what to do with the rocks you collected on vacation? While on a trip, we visited the beach along Lake Erie. The shore was covered with rocks of all sizes, shapes, and colors, most of them worn smooth by the action of the waves and sand. The youngest member of our party was entranced by all these rocks, and decided he needed to take them … [Read more...] about Turn a Rock Collection into Pattern Weights
tips
Easy Headlight Fix
By Noreen Doll. My headlights had become so clouded, the light could barely shine through. I had read about using toothpaste to clear the headlights and thought I would give it a try. I went to the Dollar Store and bought a tube of Pepsodent, and checked to make sure it was a white paste. I didn’t want gel or some odd speckled … [Read more...] about Easy Headlight Fix
Forgot Your Tape Measure?
By Noreen Doll. Don’t you hate it when you’re shopping for an item in a home improvement store that needs to be measured and you’ve forgotten to take your tape measure along? Here’s a quick and easy way to be able to measure that item without troubling an employee of the store. Find the area in the store that carries yardsticks, and take one along to measure … [Read more...] about Forgot Your Tape Measure?
Quick Way to Straighten Wrinkled Ribbon
By Noreen Doll. Now you don't have to throw used ribbon away. Here's a quick way to straighten wrinkled ribbon. You can make a wrinkled ribbon look like new. Simply heat your curling iron to a low setting. You don't want it too hot! After the curling iron is heated, test it on the end of the ribbon you want to straighten. If the curling iron is too hot, … [Read more...] about Quick Way to Straighten Wrinkled Ribbon
Comfortable Sock Tip for Fussy Feet
By Noreen Doll. I know two young boys with very sensitive feet. Every day getting shoes and socks to fit comfortably on their feet was a struggle, and it sometimes took several tries to make it work. If you've ever examined a sock, you will notice that most of the time there is a seam that goes directly across the toes. And quite often it is a very thick … [Read more...] about Comfortable Sock Tip for Fussy Feet
How to Dry Paint Quickly
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
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 Make a Cardboard Box Sturdier
by Noreen Doll. When you find a cardboard box that is just the right size for an item you want to store, it's handy to know how to make a cardboard box sturdier so that it will last a long time. I have found that simple things like glue and Mod Podge really do a good job of making a very sturdy cardboard box. Boxes frequently have weak spots, and these can easily … [Read more...] about How to Make a Cardboard Box Sturdier
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
