Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

Denture Tablets for Cleaning

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Denture cleaning tablets actually have a lot of other uses, besides cleaning dentures.

I use them in flower vases that have gotten all grimy inside. When a regular washing isn’t enough, fill the vase with hot water past the dirt line in the vase and drop in a denture tablet. If it’s a large vase, you may need two or more tablets.

Denture tablets also work great in stained coffee and tea cups. Use the same procedure as above, to remove the tough stains.

A photo of a cup of coffee.Image via Wikipedia
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You can also use denture tablets to whiten fabric, cleaning jewelry, cleaning your childs retainer, and soaking off burnt on foods in pans and casserole dishes.

The generic brands of denture tablets are fairly cheap, and worth having in the house, even if you don’t wear dentures.

For more ideas, visit Works For Me Wednesday.

Homemade Detangler Spray

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With all of us girls in the house having long hair, we have had more than our share of tangles and static. Those detangler sprays in the store are expensive.

So I make my own! Make sure you clearly mark the spray bottle with a permenant marker. You know how little kids like to get into stuff!

Homemade Detangler Spray

 

I squirt about a tablespoon of conditioner into a small spray bottle and fill with water. Shake and your done! It doesn’t get any easier than that!

It works great on tangles and static electricity in hair. You can spray it directly on the hair. Just make sure little eyes are closed! I like to spray it on my hair brush, then brush my hair.

And I’ve also been known to spray it on my skirts! lol It eliminates static cling.

 

Rescuing Electronic Devices

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My kids seem to have a knack of getting their electronic devices wet, whether it be their cell phones or MP3 players. I have lost track of the number of times that they have put their MP3’s through the washing machine.

The first thing to do when you discover that your electronics have gotten wet, is make sure YOU DON’T TURN IT ON !!

Turning on a wet MP3 or cell phone will completely fry it, and give you no chance to rescue it.

After you make sure no one turns it one, put the MP3 or cell phone down in a bowl of rice. Yes, rice. Make sure the device is completely surround by at least an inch of rice. Brown or white rice, it doesn’t matter. I haven’t tried instant, but imagine it would work, also.

Leave the device in the rice for several days. A minimum of 3 days. The take it out of the rice and try turning it on.

We have been able to rescue several MP3 using this technique. Some MP3’s a couple of times.

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, visit We Are That Family.

For more frugal ideas, visit Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

Homemade Acne Soap

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I got this Acne Soap recipe from an email list several like 6, 7, 8, I don’t know, maybe 5, years ago. My girls really like this soap, and can really tell a difference when they don’t use it.

Since I don’t know for sure where it came from, I will post it just like I got it, then tell you what I do after. Oh, and if anyone knows where it originated, please let me know.

Acne Soap
4 oz Melt and Pour glycerin soap
1 T herbal shampoo
400 IU vitamin E
1/4 teaspoon liguid glycerin
1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil
1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil
soap mold
green soap coloring or drop of green food coloring if desired

Melt soap in the microwave, add the other ingredients and pour into mold.
Let dry completely.
Let cure for at least 24 hours before using.
If you have trouble unmolding it, try popping it into the freezer for a couple of minutes.

Ok, that’s the original recipe that I received.

Here’s what I do:

Since we no longer have a microwave, we do this in a pan on top of the stove and it works fine. Just use low heat and stir. You can leave it on low while you add the other ingredients, because it starts setting up just minutes after taking it off the heat.

We don’t use any green coloring. What does it matter if the soap is green?

The last few times we have made it, we didn’t use the herbal shampoo, and the soap worked just as well.

This post is linked to Life as Mom & My Coupon Teacher

Homemade Fabric Refresher

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I like to use a fabric refresher spray once in a while on my furniture. Yes, the store bought ones work, but they are expensive. And exactly what is in them? Even if you read the label, you still don’t know what’s in it.

I just don’t like breathing in chemicals and what about the kids rolling around on the furniture? Are they getting chemicals on their skin?

So I make my own. Here’s how:

I fill a clean spray bottle 1/4 of the way with white vinegar. I fill the rest of the way with water, then add essential oil. I use about 20 drops, but you can adjust this according to how strong you want the smell to be. Lavender is my favorite essential oil to use for everything. I also like to use grapefruit, it has a nice refreshing scent. Just shake the bottle well, and spray. You will need to shake before each use to make sure the oil is mixed in.

Of course, try it first on an inconspicuous place to make sure it is safe for the fabric on your furniture.

For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Homemade Chocolate Sauce

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I wanted to treat the kids to homemade ice cream sundaes last night. I have been wanting to try making my own chocolate sauce for awhile, so this seemed like a good time to try.

I first searched the internet for a recipe, of course. I didn’t find one that was exactly like I wanted, so I made a few changes. I didn’t want to use corn syrup or evaporated milk, or water. Here’s what I came up with.

Homemade Chocolate Sauce

2/3 cups cocoa
1 2/3 cups sugar
a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

combine the above in a saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring. Once it boils, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in:

1 teaspoon vanilla

Let cool, and pour into a jar.

 

Or in our case, serve warm over ice cream! This recipe makes a nice, thick sauce for ice cream or other desserts. If you want a thinner sauce for chocolate milk, you can use water instead of milk in this recipe.

homemade chocolate sauce

I didn’t get a picture of it on ice cream, it was eaten too fast!

It made plenty of sauce, too. The picture above is a pint canning jar. That’s what was left after we all had some on ice cream.

It was sooooo yummy!

 

Freezer Cooking Day!

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LAST UPDATED Saturday 6:50 P.M.

It’s Freezer Cooking Day for me! I love to stock my freezer with prepared foods, and meal helpers.

By meal helpers, I mean food that I can pull out that is prepared and ready to make into a meal. For example, dried beans that I have cooked, cooked chicken, cooked ground beef. It makes cooking a lot easier.

Here’s what I’m doing today:

Great Northern Beans 1 lb. – I cooked these in the crockpot overnight DONE
Pinto Beans 1 lb. – I cooked these in another crockpot overnight, mashed DONE

Cooked, deboned chicken
chicken leg quarters – DONE
Chicken breast – DONE

My plan also includes the following:

biscuits – unbaked – DONE
cupcakes – baked and frosted – DONE
chocolate chip cookies – DONE by daughter
pancakes – DONE by daughter
muffins – Might make Vanilla Muffins. I ended up making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins using pumpkin from the freezer. We grow our own, and I freeze it. These are delicious!

I’m making all of the above out of my pantry, without going shopping to do it. The chicken was already frozen raw, but as we’re getting half a cow in the next week, I need the empty the chest freezer. The cooked chicken will fit in the fridge freezers, I have 2 fridges. I plan on baking until I run out of flour.

It took me two days, (I’m moving very slowing these days)but I got everything done!

Here’s what’s in the freezer:
Chicken Broth – 2-8 cup bags, 1-6 cup bag & 6-1 cup containers
Cooked Chicken -8-3 cup bags of dark meat, (we used 3 cups for supper tonight) and 1 bag of white meat that has enough for about 10 meals for me.
Pinto Beans – 2 containers of mashed for refried beans
Great Northern Beans – 1-2 cup container & 4-1 cup containers
Biscuits – 38 frozen unbaked
Pancakes – 30, enough for 3 breakfasts
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins – 24 in freezer, 10 for breakfast in the morning, 1 for taste test….yummy!
Cupcakes – only 6 cupcakes
Chocolate Chip Cookies – only 1 dozen

I made all the above from what was already on had on hand. I need to get more snack foods in the freezer, but I can’t make anything else, until we get our 1/2 cow and I see how much freezer space I have left. I also want to try my hand at making homemade granola.

For more Frugal Friday tips, visit Life as Mom.

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