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Easy Way to Hide Paint Drips

By Noreen Doll. Here’s an easy way to hide paint drips when you’re painting. Our kitchen / dining room has a lot of brown trim in it, including a chair rail that goes around the dining room walls....

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Embroidery Thread Bobbin from a Milk Jug

By Noreen Doll. I had a little bit of plastic left around the opening of the milk jug and I wanted to be able to use it, because I challenged myself to use as much of the jug as I could. I noticed the...

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How to Prevent Cord Ends from Fraying While You Work

By Noreen Doll. Do you ever try to thread ribbon or twine through a punched hole only to have the end fray and spread in all directions? One clever remedy I’ve discovered is to put a drop or two of...

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How to Fix a Rusted Paper Punch

By Noreen Doll. I came across an old paper punch that had belonged to my folks. It had been around for quite a while, and because it was old, it was a very well made tool. But, unfortunately, it had...

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Sharpen Decorative Edge Scissors

By Noreen Doll. Decorative edge scissors are fun to use, and they leave pretty edges on paper projects. A good tip for using the scissors is to not cut quite all the way to the tip when you are...

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How to Remove Furniture Dents from Carpet

By Noreen Doll. Recently I decided to move a heavy bookcase from where it had been sitting for several years. Once the bookcase was gone, there remained a deep imprint in the flattened carpet fibers...

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The Best Back Scratcher I’ve Ever Had!

By Noreen Doll. The best back scratcher I’ve ever had is a metal pasta spoon. I’ve mostly lived in a dry climate, and when we run the heater in the house during the winter my skin dries out even more....

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A Fast Way to Heal Chapped Hands

By Noreen Doll. My hands often get very chapped. I wash them frequently, which is hard on them. And in the winter time they dry out as well. I’ve tried all kinds of lotions and oils, which help some,...

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How to Cut Holes in the Middle of Something

By Noreen Doll. I make lots of projects that require holes in the middle where they are hard to cut. Here is an easy way to cut holes in the middle of something. If the item is soft and flexible and...

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Easy Way to Make a Shamrock

By Noreen Doll. Shamrocks can be a bit tricky to make look nice and even, but here’s an easy way to make a shamrock. All you need is one heart, and you can make any size shamrock depending on the size...

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Easy Way to Clean Blinds

By Noreen Doll. A friend who had just moved into a new (to her) house asked me if there was any easy way to clean blinds that had accumulated grime over the years. I suggested we try hanging them...

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Placemats Are a Great Teaching Tool

By Noreen Doll. We’ve discovered that placemats are a great teaching tool. Kids love to use the colorful mats at mealtime, and they can’t help seeing and learning what’s on the mats. Our kids are...

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How to Turn a Soda Can into a Flat Sheet of Aluminum

There are lots of great crafts you can make from aluminum cans. And the colorful logos on the cans add to the finished project. For most projects you need to first turn a soda can into a flat sheet of...

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Milk Jug Ideas

By Noreen Doll. Never throw away a milk jug or vinegar jug again! There are so many ways a milk jug can be upcycled or re-used. Other plastic bottles, such as vinegar jugs, soda bottles, and water...

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Clean Your Oven Without Scrubbing

By Noreen Doll. A friend moved into a place that was in really bad shape, and she asked for ideas on how to clean it. The oven was awful, but she didn’t want to have to spend hours trying to scrub it....

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How to Remove Candle Wax from a Jar

By Noreen Doll. You will need a warm sunny day to use this easy way to remove candle wax from a jar. So save up all your jars of used, melted candles to clean out on a hot summer day. Supplies. Jars of...

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Easy, No-Mess Way to Paint Baseboards

By Noreen Doll. We love this super easy no-mess way to paint baseboards. Before when we’ve painted, we used a paint edger, which needs to be wiped free of paint after each use. This left us with tons...

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Cheap Amateur Painting Tips

By Noreen Doll. Periodically we need to repaint a room in our house, and in the process have found some ways to make painting cheaper and easier. Of course, we always buy good quality paint, but we’ve...

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How to Remove a Sticky Tag

By Noreen Doll. I found this interesting old Wooden Nickel. A few decades ago this was a very popular way to commemorate an occasion with an inexpensive souvenir that would also raise a little money....

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Quick Clean Up Tip for Raw Egg Mess

by Noreen Doll. Drop an Egg on the floor? Here’s a quick clean up tip. Grab your salt box and sprinkle a handful of salt all over the egg. Make it pretty thick, and be sure to get some around the...

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Cardboard Safety Sheath for a Knife

By Noreen Doll. A cardboard safety sheath for a knife is very handy, not only to protect the blade of the knife, but to protect your fingers from the blade. The first time I made one was when we were...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Turn a Rock Collection into Pattern Weights

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,...

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Napkin Ring Makeover

By Noreen Doll. I wanted some napkin rings for a special occasion but didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money. So I visited a favorite source for crafting supplies – the Dollar Store. I found a...

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Neglected Fence Fix

By Noreen Doll. A friend bought a fixer upper house that had a neighbor on one side who wasn’t interested in keeping his property in good repair. As a result, the fence between the two houses looked...

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DIY Plastic Protective Notepad Covers

By Noreen Doll. This is a notepad I carry wherever I go. However, after I’ve carried the notepad for a while, the cover begins to tear loose. Once it falls off the papers inside tear easily and it’s...

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Emergency Thermal Bowl

The other day I needed a way to carry a bowl of hot food a short distance. Since I don’t have a wide mouth thermos, I came up with this quick and easy idea for transporting a bowl of hot food. First I...

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How to Insulate Windows from the Summer Sun (Cheaply!)

I live where it gets hot in the summer! One of the upstairs rooms has 3 enormous west facing windows so the hot afternoon sun bakes this room for several hours each day. Even though the windows are...

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Summer Hat Style

Here’s how to turn a plain summer hat into a stylish summer hat to match your wardrobe. And it doesn’t cost much to do it. At the end of last summer, Walmart had their summer scarves on clearance. So...

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Easy DIY Puzzle Board

We love to work jigsaw puzzles, but it’s sometimes difficult to find a surface large enough for working a puzzle. A dining room table is a nice surface, but often we need to use the table for a meal...

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Sharpie Touch Up Trick

Here’s an easy way to make a project look more professional. We put some hooks in a closet, and the silver colored screws were really obvious and didn’t look very nice. We used a black Sharpie to color...

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DIY Paper Towel Face Mask

Make your own quick and easy DIY Paper Towel Face Mask. Disclaimer: I have no medical credentials and this is not medical advice. This is merely an idea for making your own face masks. Please use your...

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How to Clean Build-Up on a Glass Stovetop

By Noreen Doll. For months I had an impossible to remove hard build-up on my glass stovetop. I tried everything I could think of to remove it, and nothing worked. I even used the stuff made...

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DIY Knife Drawer Divider

Our kitchen drawer full of knives just wasn’t working. We knew that if we used dividers, it would be much more usable. I could have used cereal box cardboard to make the dividers, but I wanted...

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