Purse Pockets Organizer

Do you ever get tired of digging around in your purse and not being able to find ANYTHING?! Me, too!



http://www.thegivingflower.de/patterns/Purse_Organizer_Recipe18_11.pdf

Share Your Fruit!

I was reading Ready Made magazine and saw a mention of this cool website: www.neighborhoodfruit.com

This is a site where you can register your fruit trees to share your produce. They will even send you a reminder e-mail when it is harvesting season for your kind of fruit. They don't post your specific address for security reasons. People contact you through the website (your e-mail address is kept private) and you decide if you feel comfortable connecting with them. You can specify if you want them to come to your place and pick it themselves, or if you want to bring it to them somewhere. You can also long on and check out who has trees registered in your area.

I really like this idea b/c their mission is to keep fruit from going to waste. I was contacted by a man who picks fruit and delivers to a local homeless organization. I don't know if he ever came by - but I know we don't have any fruit left! Between neighbors and friends I think we found homes for most of our plums.

I also learned that you don't need a ladder to pick fruit! Here is the fruit picker tool they mention on their site. I ordered mine from Amazon and attached it to a 3/4" pvc pipe using duct tape. You could also use a telescoping painters pole. It works great!

http://www.amazon.com/Do-Best-M3-Fruit-Picker/dp/B000CZ4J6Y/ref=pd_ys_iyr_img

Cleaning House with Mary Kay

Here's a cleaning application that I'm sure Mary Kay never planned for her products:

Mary Kay's Oil-Free Eye Makeup remover is the best tool for removing "gunk" that I have tried!

• I have used it to clean permanent marker off of various surfaces. (You can also color over permanent marker with a dry-erase marker.)
  
• I've used it to remove price tags. (Better than Goo Gone)
  
• I've used it to remove permanent adhesives! (Better than Goo Gone)
• I've used it to get Super Glue off my fingers! (Better than Acetone)
  

The best thing is - since this product is gentle enough to be used on your eyes - it is safe for a lot of surfaces!! Other products - like Goo Gone and acetone nail polish remover - can eat through surfaces and remove paint and finish. Mary Kay Eye Makeup Remover gets off the "gunk" with very little scrubbing required, and then washes away with soap and water.

It is one of my favorite household cleaning ingredients! And it does indeed remove my eye makeup very well.

Silence Noisy Pet Tags

Do you ever wake up too early in the morning to the sound of jingling pet tags? I went to the pet store this week to get some pet tag silencers. (You know - those rubber things that go around the edge of the tags.) Well I found out that the PetSmart and PetCo aren't carrying them anymore. And I couldn't find the shapes I needed online.

I found an article that talked about using a recycled bicycle tire but I was "fresh out" of tires this week!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Innertube-dog-tag-silencer/

I substituted a foam sheet from the kids craft department. (They're often called "foamies.") I bought one that had a peel-and-stick adhesive back.

Put your tag FACE UP on the front (the side without glue) of the foamie with the hole hanging off the edge. Trace around the edge of the tag. Cut it out and stick it to the back of the tag. Voila - Problem solved!

Polish Copper & Silver

Here's an interesting tip I learned recently. You can use KETCHUP to remove tarnish from copper. Just spread it on - no scrubbing required. It is almost instant. Then just wash it off.

To polish silver:
You will need: a container, Aluminum foil, salt, baking soda, and hot water http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/silverdip.htm