Helpful Hints for the Home ! When I asked for some helpful hints for the garden many of you also sent in helpful hints for the home. I am listing them below because many of us frugal gardeners also seem to be frugal around the home as well.... Something to do in the winter months when not planting and going through all those gardening catalogs???? :) Here they are! Need to clean your oven? Put ammonia in an aluminum pie pan and place it in your oven overnight. In the morning, remove the pan and simply wipe the oven clean with a sponge.... To Keep your just cleaned drapes fresh and crisp-looking: Spritz them with a few coats of unscented hair spray before you hang them up. Be sure to let each coat dry before you spray on the next application. At the next baby shower you attend: Pass around a journal for all of the guests to write down thier best child rearing advice and baby story. It makes a great tool for the mother to be. An original way to recycle: Use an outdated map or poster as gift wrap. Sprinkle or spritz some ammonia near your outdoor trash cans. The smell will keep rodents and stray animals away. One4 pound canned ham tins make great giant Easter Egg Cookie cutters, or cake forms. Use a colorful paper tablecloth to wrap oversize packages. This sill fit better than wrapping paper and it looks better too. Use a hair dryer on low to whisk the dust off of silk flowers, or stuffed toys on a shelf. To remove hard water spots in your kitchen and bathroom sink, cover the stains with paper towels soaked in white vinegar. Leave them in the sink for an hour or so, then scrub the stains with the paper towels and a little baking soda. Instead of throwing away your old magazines, donate them to the local retirement home or hospital waiting room. Plastic bags make excellent emergency rain bonnets. Wrap masking tape around chalk so it won't break in your childs hands. Keep your makup organized and within reach. Place lipsticks, nail polishes and other small beauty items on a spice rack mounted on the wall beside your dressing table. (Easy to paint and decorate to your decor) When you get spills in your oven, pour salt onto the mishap, if you can reach it, without burning yourself. The salt prevents the spill from smoking and makes it easier to clean once the oven has cooled. To prevent potatoes from budding while you store them, palce an apple in the bag along with the spuds. Place the names and addresses of your family and friends into a database on your computer. Print them out on labels, then whenever you need to mail something, you'll have an address label ready to go. Before hard boiling an egg, add a pinch of salt to the cold water to seal the shell and keep it from cracking. Rub furniture polish on the metal rings of a three ring binder to help you turn the pages smoothly. Before placing an opened bottle of pancake syrup or honey on a shelf, put a paper cupcake baking cup under the bottle to catch the drippings. This helps keep surfaces clean. To clean a dirty pencil eraser, run an emery board over it. For perfectly shaped pancakes or crepes, use a meat baster to squeeze the batter onto the hot griddle or pan. Get rid of the static on a car's upholstery by gently rubbing a fabric softner sheet over the seats. Use rubbing alcohol to remove ink from your hands. Try liquid tile cleaner to polish leather goods. Put rubber bathrub appliques under your washing machine to keep it from rocking out of place when in use. Use lip balm to soothe a sore nose caused by a cold. To make regular coffee taste like a gormet brand, add a little of your favorite extract or a cinnamon stick for a treat. To get a stuck zipper moving again, dab lip balm onto the teeth and work the zipper up and down until it budges. If you misplace the bathtub drain plug, use the flat top from a plastic milk container to plug up the drain when you bathe. Remove the hard water and lime buildup in a tea kettle by pouring in two cups of vinegar and bringing it to a boil. Let the vinegar simmer for 10 minutes, then rinse well. The buildup should be dissolved. To avoid losing pieces for different board games, store them in an empty plastic jar or ziplock bag, mark the bag or jar for the corresponding game, place the peices in the jar or bag and secure. Every game will be orgainized with no more missing pieces, also good for puzzles. To keep your chil's toys from taking over you house, donate an old toy to charity for every new toy you buy for your child, and right before Christmas go through your childs toys with him or her, and clean up some useful but outgrown toys for the local hospital pediatric ward. Instead of taking money out of the family savings to pay for vacations, write a "vacation check" to yourself along with all of your other monthy bills. The money will add up quickly and make your next vacation much more feasible. Use a little mayonnaise on a cloth to rub away black scuff marks on a linoleum floor. Instead of putting perfume on your skin or clothes, dab a little on your ironing board before pressing your garments. The steam from the iron will draw in a bit of scent and stay with your clothes all day. If you use more than one machine at the laundromat, bring some little magnets to palce on each machine. It helps avoid embarrassing mix ups and makes it easier to see how you're doing at a glance.. For a great baby shower, float a new rubber ducky in the punch bowl, and decorate the room with baby bottles, rattles, bibs,soft toys, and other baby items. Then give all the "decorations" to the mom to be. Looking for a unique anniversary present? Give a "gift certificate good for baby sitting along with a gift vertificate to the couples favorite restaurant or movie theater. Store small jewelry , such as earrings and rings, in an ice cube tray to keep the pieces seperate and organized. The tray will hide easily in your dresser drawer. Add more space to your pantry by stacking all of the empty plastic storage containers and placing all of the lids in a resealable plastic bag. Han the bag on a hook inside the pantry door. Use spring type wooden clothespins to keep opened bags of snacks fresh.. And on a rainey day ask the kids to decorate them. Your teen or adolescent child can use an empty guitar case as his or her suitcase. It;s a functional and stylish way to pack for a trip. Keep alcohol towelettes in your purse to wipe down public telephones. When mailing a delicate item, use toilet paper as cushioning, it's cheaper than filler and works just as well. If you have a leaky faucet that keeps you up at night, here's a temporary solution. Tie one end of a piece of fabric to the fauce't spout and make sure the other end touches the drain. The water will run down the fabric without theat annoying drip. Sharpen a pair of dull scissors by cutting through a piece of fine sandpaper several times; they'll be sharp in no time. If you are out of deodorant, splash a little antiseptic mouthwash under your arms. It will kill the bacteria that causes odor. At your next dinner party, ask all of your guests to bring a baby picture of themselves to use a a place card. Have your children seat each guest by matching each person to his or her picture for an entertaining ice breaker. If your child likes to finger paint, pour a different color of paint into each opening of an empty styrofoam egg carton. Easy and less messy than using the whole jar. To rid your bathroom or kitchen of unpleasant odors, place a bowl of vinegar in the room. It will remove the smells in no time. Or light a match. Instead of buying sugary, falvored teas, get a canister of sugar free instant tea. When you're thirsty, add the specified amouth of water and 1/2 cup of the fruit juice of your choice. Before you microwave bacon, place a paper plate on top of the meat. The plate absorbs splatters, and the meat will cook more evenly. If you often eat or drink in your car, but forget to bring flatware or straws to use, take a shoe box and fill it with plastic knives, forks spoons, straws and whatever else you need, and put it under the driver's seat of your car. Also in a shoebox for the car, blank paper, crayons, maze books, word searches depending on your childrens ages soemthing to do if you get stuck or reach a "boring destination" Give your kids a tasty reading lesson. When making dinner, have them read the recipe to you. This will help them with thier reading, teach them how to follow directions, and show them how to cook, all at the same time! Keep your bank and PIN codes in your address book. Use fake names, with the codes disguised as telephone numbers, addresses etc. This sill keep them available to you and hidden from everyone else. If you have a friend who has to undergo chemotherapy for cancer treatment, throw a hat party for him or her. Every guest brings a gift of a hat either a goofy or nice one to show support for the friends upcoming battle. Rub a tiny bit of toothpaste on your lips to remove matte and other hard to remove lipstic formulas. It;s cheaper and works better than tradional makeup removers. Use free paint color sample strips as bookmarks, or cut to squares to decorate a dollhouse floor. Do your homemade cookies burn on the bottom? A good trick is to turn the cookie sheet upside down and place the dough on the underside of the cookie sheet, then bake accordingly. Clip on earrings make elegant and faashionable scarf clips. When making powdered sugar icing, add a little baking powder to keep it moist and prevent the icing from craking once it dries. If you're sewing with rough material and you want your needle to penetrate the material every time, rub the fine point of the neele on an emery board. Or put the point of the needle in some soap. Soak toothbrushes in a mixture of peroxide and water once a week to kill germs. Before you run the dishwasher mix a solution of equal parts water, vinegar and lemon juice and poir into a spray bottle. Spray teh glasses before you wash them and they will come out spot free. If you use day care, start a password system where the person picking up your child must know the word to tell to the day care personnel. This will confirm that he or she is authorized to pick up your child. Want some help s ticking to a home exercise machine regiment: Keep a book you've been planning to read by the machine, and make a rule that you can read it only when you work out. Need moist heat for an injury? Microwave a moist towel for one minute and place it over the injury. Use empty infant wipe containers to store small toys. Remove the labels and decorate the contrainers with stickers and markers to identify the contents. Nail tin tops from baby food fars to the ceiling beam in your garage, store nails or small items in the hars and screw on. Also works on shelves in a closet for craft items. Is someone you know laid up in the hospital? Paste jokes, comic strips, etc, all over the get well card as well as the envelope or enclose them along with the card.. laughter is the best medicine. Put a lazy Susan on your sewing table to store all of your supplies. Now everything you need for stitching is just a spin away. To make your diamonds sparkle, dissolve a denture tablet in a cup of water. Add diamond rings, earrings, etc, let them sit for an hour and see how they shine. For a sweet smelling table setting, put cinnamon, raspberry orange or lemon herbal tea bags in the drawers where you store your table linens. To keep your cat's litter box smelling fresh and clean between cleanings, mix in baby powder with the kitty litter Use stray post earrings as thumbtacks. They make an original and beautiful alternative to ordinary push pins or tacks. Save the plastic lid from an empty coffee can and snap it onto the bottom of a new container to help keep the metal from scratching you kitchen surfaces.