How can I remove those little scratches in the plastic on my dashboard?

Page 81 from The Trouble With Tulip suggests that you rub some baby oil directly onto the pastic. Voila! The scratches disappear!

How can I keep the inside of my car looking new?

The next few entries will focus on ways to keep the inside of your car looking like new.

Page 81 from The Trouble With Tulip recommends using saddle soap and a damp sponge to clean your leather seats. This will keep the leather clean and shiny!

Stay tuned for more ideas!

What is an easy way to clean my miniblinds?

Page 26 from The Trouble With Tulip suggests that you find a pair of old socks and fill a small bucket with your favorite cleaning solution mixed with water. Put the socks on your hands and dip your right hand in the solution and run it along a slat, fingers on top and thumb along the bottom. Then use your left hand to dry, running it along each slat the opposite way. Wipe, dry, wipe, dry. You can work your way down the blinds with little effort!

What is a natural way to deodorize my refrigerator?

Page 26 from The Trouble with Tulip suggests that you try cutting a few oranges in half - scooping out some of the pulp and filling the shells with salt.

Note: Place them in a small low edge container to keep them from rolling over and creating a mess.

How do I prevent water from dripping through my hanging plants?

Page 25 of The Trouble With Tulip suggests that you put a shower cap under the plants when you water them. Once you're sure they're no longer dripping you can remove the cap.

Help! I need a heating pad but can't find mine.

From page 25 of The Trouble with Tulip. Try filling a clean sock with rice and securing the ends with sturdy knot. Place it in the microwave first for a brief time and it will serve as a portable heating pad!

The drawer in my dresser gets stuck in the summer. What can I do about this?

Page 25 of The Trouble With Tulip indicates that a low wattage lamp turned on inside a drawer will dry the humidity out of the wood and can stop the drawer from sticking.

Disclaimer: Please make sure nothing is touching the bulb and that the drawer is at least partially open to prevent a fire. Never leave the lamp on unattended.

How do I reduce the swelling of the bags under my eyes?

Page 18 of The Trouble With Tulip recommends cutting two big slices from the middle of a potato. Lay down and put a slice over each eye. Five minutes like that should take care of any swelling you might have.

Oh Deer!

Dear Mindy,
We recently put in a new playground for our children in the backyard. Unfortunately, the deer have decided that it is their new resting spot and personal potty. Because our children our young, we are always out there when they are playing on the playground, however, we are constantly having to clean out the deer "waste." There is already a fence surrounding the playground, plus making any adjustments to the fence surrounding the yard are just out of the question for now. What can we do to keep the deer out of the playground and yard?

Thanks!
Sincerely, Kellie
----------------------------------------------------------
Hi Kellie,
Thanks for your question. To find an answer, I consulted a book called "Grandmother's Critter Ridder" by Dr. Myles H. Bader. He has several pages of all-natural deer deterrents, but I have narrowed down his suggestions to the ones that would be the most appropriate for keeping deer away from an outdoor play area.

The key seems to be this: Surround the area where you don't want the deer to go with things that smell of humans and/or house pets. Below are some examples of how you can do this, and I would suggest trying several of these idea simultaneously:
- drop used bars of soap into used pantyhose and hang them from the trees (not kidding!)
- sweep up hair cuttings from a local beauty shop and spread it on the ground or put the hair in dirty socks and hang from trees
- cut up an old dog or cat blanket and drop the pieces around the area.

Unfortunately, you'll have to keep re-doing these things after every 2 or 3 rainstorms, because the scents do wash away. If you have access to lots of human hair, you can actually dig a shallow trench circling the area where you don't want the deer to go and fill it with hair, almost like a moat. According to Dr. Bader, "This keeps the deer away and the birds have a ball using the hair for their nests. The hair is rich in nitrogen and can be worked into the soil after the deer season is over." So there you have it! Let us know how it goes.

Blessings,
Mindy

How do I get lipstick marks out of my shirts?

From The Trouble with Tulip, page 13:
Try rubbing in some vegetable oil and letting it sit. After 20 minutes, sponge the area with some ammonia, then finally scrub with some dish soap. Launder as usual.

How can I clean the siding on my house?

According to The Trouble With Tulip (page 9), simply attach a long-handled car washing brush to an ordinary garden hose. Turn on your hose water and use the brush to scrub your siding!

What Can I Do with Styrofoam Packing Noodles?

Those darn noodles, they're a pain from the get-go. They hide whatever items are in the box they came in, they stick to things with the slightest hint of static cling, and because they're made of styrofoam, they ought to be re-used somehow (preferably again and again) before heading to a landfill.

I'm not sure what you should do if you have collected bags and bags of these things. But the next time you give yourself a pedicure, here's a use for a handfull: Put one between each of your toes. The noodles will keep your toes from touching as the polish dries, giving you a perfect finish every time!

Household Chat with Marlo Schalesky

Hello. Today I'm interviewing Marlo Schalesky who is the award winning author of six books, including her latest novel BEYOND THE NIGHT, which combines a love story with a surprise ending twist to create a new type of story. She has also had over 600 articles published in various magazines, had her work included in compilations such as Dr. Dobson’s Night Light Devotional for Couples, and is a regular columnist for Power for Living. Marlo recently earned her Masters degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and is currently working on more “Love Stories with a Twist!” for Multnomah-Waterbrook Publishers, a division of Random House. She owns her own construction consulting firm and lives in Salinas, California with her husband and four young daughters. Find out more about Marlo at http://www.marloschalesky.com/.

Q - Marlo, why do you think people like household hints?
A - Because most people like a clean house, but they don’t do household chores for fun. So hints that make things go easier, quicker, more efficiently give people the time to both enjoy their house and do other fun things too.

Q - Do you have a favorite and/or interesting household hint you'd like to share?
A - My favorite is ironing off tough stains from the carpet, using a hot iron and a clean rag. You put the clean rag on the carpet, and iron it – the stain transfers to the rag. Voila! Not more carpet spot. A professional carpet cleaner showed me that little trick and I’ve been using it ever since.

Q - What's your biggest housekeeping challenge?
A - Twin two-year-olds. I get a room picked up, they dismantle it. I clean a mirror or a glass tabletop, turn around, and there are a million little fingerprints all over it. I put away toys, and put away toys, and put away toys, and . . . you get the picture. And don’t even get me started on what the kitchen floor looks like after a meal. Yuck!

Q - If you could pass along one bit of cleaning/organizational advice to someone just starting out with their first home, what would it be?
A - Leave extra room in your closets, drawers, bins, cupboards for things you’ll buy later. And make sure it’s really easy to put things back where they belong without having to move other items first.

Q - How does your housekeeping style compare to that of your parents when they were your age?
A - My parents were most interested in having a spotless house for company. I just want to keep things picked up and organized for my own sanity. With four little kids, I’ve got enough crazy going on around here without adding household disarray to the list. So, I notice that the more wild things seem, the more I want to pick up, clean up, and organize . . .just so that something in my life can seem under control.

Thanks Marlo!
Readers, stay tuned for the next interesting interview.

Household chat with Maureen Lang

Hi Readers, Today I am interviewing Maureen Lang. Her booklist includes Pieces of Silver (a Christy finalist), Remember Me, The Oak Leaves. Coming in the fall/winter is My Sister Dilly.

Q - Maureen, Do you have a favorite and/or interesting household hint you'd like to share?
A - I'm not sure this tip is all that interesting, but I love vinegar. When my dog was a puppy and we were still in that fun stage of house training, I'd mix a little vinegar with water and go after the accidents. I read somewhere the strength of the vinegar overpowers the odor left by the pet, so the pet won't think that spot is their territory. It isn't, after all - it's yours, and the vinegar says so. Sure beats any other alternatives I can think of to stake territory!

Q - What's your biggest housekeeping challenge?
A - Dog hair. If there could be a way to make wigs out of dog hair, I could supply Dolly Parton for the rest of her life. (My dog is a blonde, too.)

Thanks for the laugh Maureen! Stay tuned next week for another great interview.

Household chat with Karen Ball

Hi Readers,

Today I'm interviewing Karen Ball who is the award-winning author of the Family Honor suspense series. Her most recent novel, What Lies Within, has been nominated as the Best Inspirational Novel of 2007.

Q - Karen, do you have a favorite and/or interesting household hint you'd like to share?
A - Yes, use vinegar and baking soda in your garbage disposal to keep it fresh and sanitized. Plus, it's fun! It's like having a mini volcano in your sink.

Q - What's your biggest housekeeping challenge?
A - Dusting. Dust runs rampant in this part of the country, but dusting kicks off my asthma, as do many of the dust-catching sprays.

Q - Please fill in the blank: I am to cleaning as ___________.
A - I am to cleaning as dogs are to cats.

Thanks Karen!
Readers, come back at the end of the week for another exciting interview!