Readers' Tips

Misplaced Murals - Cleaning Children's Scribbles

I am an Interior Designer but was formerly an elementary art teacher. Since the crayon is wax, try to cover the area a spot at a time with a thin absorbent towel or fabric ( like flannel). Then with a warm iron, gently go over the towel until it the heat from the iron causes the towel to absorbs most of the crayon. The rest should come off with a pencil eraser while it is warm. You can also buy crayon remover at commercial cleaning supply stores. It is a spray and the fumes are toxic so be careful to ventilate. It could strip the paint unless you use a Qtip gently on only the crayon. Another designer trick to match the paint as closely as possible and cover the crayon area. Then using stamps , create a design over the touched up wall. You can use stamps cut from sponges, potatoes , fruit ( cut in half), leaves, almost any thing. To ink the stamps ,use a small bottle of craft acrylic paint ( 99 cents) in a color that compliments the furnishings in your room. Squirt a quarter sized puddle into a Styrofoam plate. Spread the puddle out into the dimensions of the stamp. Press the stamp into the paint gently. Blot the edged of the stamp on a paper towel . The press the stamp onto a practice sheet of poster paper that you will test your design on. Hold the poster up to the wall to see how you like it. The contrasting colored stamps should draw attention away from the touched up area if you creatively place them. My daughter did the same thing when she was three. You have a budding artist , enjoy the fun.
Susan C.

Editor's note: more solutions for removing "Misplaced Murals" at www.stretcher.com/stories/99/991220a.cfm

Activities for Teens

Cold-Weather Activities:

• Gather sleds and toboggans and go sledding
  
  
• Have an ice skating party or rollerblading party at the local roller rink
  
  
• Bowling Party
  
  
• Volunteer at the local animal shelter to walk the dogs waiting for adoption
  
  
• Have a contest in your neighborhood for the best decorated house for Christmas (the winner usually goes way overboard and overdecorates)
  
  
• A Halloween idea is to have a treasure hunt - make a list of odd things to find while you wander around the neighborhood - in order to cross the items off your list you have to video tape the item - split up into two groups - each armed with a video camera or a Polaroid instant camera - have a designated time to complete the treasure hunt and return to the house and view the pictures or watch the video - the winning group gets some sort of a prize.
  
  
• Libraries are always looking for literacy volunteers
  
  
• Collect food or coats or toys for the needy.
  
  
• Help the elderly decorate their house for Christmas
  
  
• Go caroling

Warm-Weather Activities:

• Plant a community vegetable garden somewhere in the neighborhood
  
  
• Plant flowers at the local park - make or buy birdhouses to hang - turn a section of the park into a nature sanctuary
  
  
• Raise money to buy sports equipment for community use at the local park
  
  
• Participate in walk-a-thons to raise money for various causes
  
  
• Volunteer at the animal shelter
  
  
• Learn how to do something new
  
  
• Open up a whole new world - read a book
  
  
• Join some sort of activity - take some sort of lessons to learn something - join boy scouts or girl scouts

Editor's note: more "Teen Activities" at www.stretcher.com/stories/99/991220b.cfm

Save the Christmas Trees

I have another idea of how to save on "ornament" damage at Christmas time. I have 2 small children, 2 and 5. They spent most of last Christmas playing with our tree and losing or breaking our ornaments. Then I hit upon a great idea. After last Christmas, when most artificial tree's go on sale, I bought a 2 foot high tree for the kids. This year they have decorated it with popcorn, things made at school and a few really cheap, small ornaments from the store. The deal is they don't tough the "big" tree as it is for everyone, but can touch "their" tree. This has worked out great.
Janet in CT

Wrapping Paper All Year Long

I got this idea somewhere last year (maybe from the Dollar Stretcher!) but I wanted to remind others about it. After Christmas, the rolls of paper get marked way down so we get a couple of rolls that don't look like Christmas paper (solid colors, stripes, etc) So throughout the year, we have a supply of wrapping paper that is much cheaper than buying paper for each occasion. The other wrapping papers are so expensive that this saves quite a bit if you have several gifts to wrap. We found a roll of solid white that works for all occasions and then put a pretty bow on it to match the occasion.
Allison

A Year's Worth of Smiles

Here's a holiday gift idea for gramma and grampa. I have a calendar making program on my computer and also have a scanner. so I picked out 12 pictures, scanned them and made a calendar with a different picture of the kids for each month. I used colored card stock I had on hand. I didn't have to spend the 15 dollars I usually spend on a calendar with pictures. This gift will be loved(they get one annually) and it didn't cost anything except my time.
Katie

Avoiding Ornament Damage

Like many families, we have young children that cannot keep their hands off of the Christmas tree. After having so many precious ornaments broken last year, I swore that we were not going to even decorate the tree this year! Instead, I got out my 'craft box' and my children (ages 9, 3, and 2) and we made paper ornaments instead. We cut out pictures from magazines, decorated, colored, cut, and glued many ornaments. We hung them by string, instead of the metal hangers, and the kids helped to decorate the tree. We put an extra string of lights on this year, and unless you really look hard, you can't even tell that they aren't 'real' ornaments.

If the children want to take them down and play or look at them, it's ok. If they leave them alone, I will pack them up and save them for when they are grown. They will have a Christmas memory, and something to show for it, as well. We killed multiple birds with one stone -- we decorated the tree, we spent several hours together during this very busy season, we overcame the problem of broken ornaments, and the kids got to do something constructive, as well as contribute to our household. I may continue to do this, even as the children grow older. It would be a wonderful thing for them to have ornaments of their own when the time comes that they are decorating their own trees.
Maureen in Le Sueur, MN

Loves Her Junk Mail

I've found a way to turn my junk mail into savings! I separate the letters that are printed only on one side and save them. To keep them stacked neatly, I use an empty Avery label box near my computer. Then, when I'm printing drafts or notes from my home computer, I use the blank side. I like knowing that I'm saving some change and helping the environment all at once. I don't recycle until BOTH sides of paper are used. Now I'm disappointed when I DON'T get junk mail!
PR

Bird Suet

I have a metal square shaped suet feeder for the birds, but find the fancy square suet too expensive so I make my own. When I cook a pound of bacon, I save the fat and cool it until it is solid at room temperature. To this I add bird seed and sometimes dried or frozen fruit like cranberries and raw peanuts as well. Mix it all up to coat it all with the bacon fat. Place into a container of similar size as wire basket that has been lined with plastic that would have been thrown away such as a bread bag or something like that. Press it down nice and tight with the back of a spoon. Place in the freezer to harden. Then remove from container, remove plastic and voila! A fancy suet block!! The wood peckers love it!!
Carmen

Save the Pajama Feet

Cut off the feet and sew a pair of hi topped stockings to the pj bottoms. I have passed one pair down thru four children. Have a cool Yule.
Joyce T.

Beautiful for Christmas

I needed a holiday dress for my daughter but didn't want to spend a chunk of money for a dress she'd only be wearing a few times. I found a dress at a local thrift shop for $3.00 that was nice but missing a button. I went to a fabric store and found shiny star shaped buttons and not only replaced the missing one but a couple others to balance out the look. Turned out fabulous! It became a one of a kind dress for only a total or $4! A little sprucing up, mending, alterations and/or embellishments of thrift shop clothing can give you great looks for only pennies on the dollar!
Kelly C.

Sewing Machine Suggestions

I just had my sewing machine serviced in my home yesterday for 35.00 for a COMPLETE cleaning and tune-up. I only did this because my machine started growling- it had been making other noises before. So to share some things I learned. My serviceman has serviced sewing machines for 50 years and used to work for Singer.

1. Kenmore (Sears) sewing machines are made by White which is a brand that is used by schools, etc.
   
   
2. Wal-Mart thread is made by Coats and Clark
   
   
3. Your sewing machine manual might tell you the machine only needs oil in one place every so often and that the rest of the machine is "greased for life". DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! (My machine is less than 2 years old and was DRY!!!) That life will be a short one if you follow the book- who then do you take your machine to for repairs or buy a new one from?
   
   
4. The plastic presser feet that are so nice for seeing your sewing projects thru are not the best for sewing. They are too light weight and can cause stitches to skip.
   
   
5. The plastic presser can get cracks that cause your thread to wear and break. I have been sewing slower just to keep the thread from breaking and learned that the plastic presser foot was causing the problem- not the thread.
   
   
6. A defective presser foot can keep your machine from stitching at all. Mine was cleaned and tuned up and put back together and when the man went to sew it would not stitch at all. A metal presser foot was put on and it worked like a charm.
   
   
7. When you are done sewing leave a double piece of fabric under the presser foot with the presser foot down. This keeps dust from getting down in important parts.
   
   
8. Somewhere in the vicinity of the bobbin is a very necessary part to get oiled. This is not the place my book says to oil. According to my serviceman this is a very expensive part to replace on a machine and the most likely one to need fixing.

Editor's note: Please send your tips to tips@stretcher.com. If we use your tip or reply to 'Can You Help' in any of our publications we'll send you the next three issues of our print newsletter as a 'thank you'.

I Would like to:

• Read other articles on this topic
  
• See what else is in this issue
  
• Subscribe to "The Dollar Stretcher" free weekly email newsletter
  
• visit the Problem Solving Center
  
• visit the Reference Library
  
• browse the 'author' index
  
• search 'by date' index
  
• check out Past Issues of Newsletter
  
• go see 'What's New'
  
• "Can You Help This Reader?"
  
• drop by 'Tips, Quips & Quotes'
  
• send email to the Editor of "The Dollar Stretcher"