In search of this week’s topic, I stumbled across a collection of pages that I had saved years ago with all sorts of helpful tips – so in the spirit of Halloween I am calling them tricks. Some are really helpful and some a little quirky but the adventure of sorting through them was fun. Enjoy…..

• Use wine racks for convenient towel holders for guests.
• Protect ceramic tiles after cleaning by applying a thin coat of furniture polish to prevent soap buildup and mildew.
• Keep rugs in place by gluing or sewing a rubber ring from a mason jar to the bottom.
• Recycle used gift wrap as liner paper for dresser drawers or shelves.
• Have socks with holes? Use them to clean blinds or polish furniture.
• Make serving ice cream mess free by pre-scooping into muffin cups and refreezing.
• Keep the music memories from old vinyl records by framing the covers to hang or covering them with plastic to use as trays.
• Use a six-count muffin tin as a kids serving plate. Each cup holding a different item including a small drinking cup.
• Plastic knives make great plant markers using a permanent pen to write the name of the plant.
• Use an old salt shaker for planting small seeds.
• And finally, my favorite trick. Get the most out of your Halloween pumpkin. Instead of carving it, use permanent markers to decorate. Afterwards, prick the skin (using an ice pick or carving fork) to vent the steam and bake at 450 degrees until you can easily pull off the stem (about an hour depending on the size of your pumpkin.) The skin and seeds will be easily removed. Scoop out the pulp and put in blender for fresh pumpkin for all of your holiday baking. To freeze the pulp for future use, pre-measure what is called for in your favorite recipes. It is so much better than the canned version.

More holiday tips to come.

Until next time…