Loving Our Home | Home Tips, Advice, and Easy Recipes

Simple Home Tips and Solutions

Home Tips

Winter Home Tips: Eliminate Drafts From Your Windows

By Leave a Comment

If when you stand in front of your window(s) and feel a breeze, you have a draft. A draft allows cold air to enter your home. This subsequently, can be very costly during the cold winter months.

Your thermostat will work overtime to maintain a comfortable temperature inside your home. I came up with two easy solutions (other than replacing the windows) to eliminate drafts from your windows that will save you money on your heating bill.

Window - Photo credit: Flickr; https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/6365060845
Fix drafty windows with these simple tips

1- First, visit your local home improvement store and purchase a large roll of thick plastic. Upon your returning home, measure the length and width of the windows and cut the plastic a little larger than your measurement. Now, starting at the top of the window using either doubled sided tape or a staple gun, adhere the plastic onto the interior of the window frame. Do this to all of your windows. Use should soon realize the difference in how much less your thermostat has to work, to heat your home.

2- The second solution is to roll up a large towel, old clothes or sheets. Place the roll at the bottom of the window to stop drafts. This will again limit the amount of cold air that enters your home. Yet, the first solution is the solution that I highly recommend to improve the heating issues in your home.

Use these two simple winter home tips to eliminate drafts from your windows — you will probably see a significant improvement in your upcoming electric bills!

Posted by Eve

Home Tip: Stop Annoying Door Squeaks

By Leave a Comment

Squeak, squeak, squeak — that annoying sound you hear every time you open or close the door. There comes a time when you just don’t want to hear it anymore. So how do you stop annoying door squeaks?

Most of us have heard of using a well known product called WD-40 to eliminate squeaks on door hinges (auto & home). But what do you do when you don’t have that product handy to use to stop that annoying squeak?

Cooking oil to stop door squeaks. Photo Credit: Flickr; https://www.flickr.com/photos/10413717@N08/6825479819
Cooking oil to stop door squeaks.

Here’s a quick tip: I suggest using any type of cooking oil that you have in your pantry (preferably the cheaper kind). Simply pour a small amount into the cap and allow the oil to drip from top to bottom onto the hinge. Then open and close the door several times to allow the oil to penetrate into the hinge. Be sure to clean off any excess oil the may drip down. This tip is more affordable than purchasing any product from your local hardware store.

Posted by Eve

Recipe Tip: Use a Water Bottle as a Homemade Salad Dressing Container

By Leave a Comment

I am a person who enjoys making my salad dressing at home. It’s healthier, simple and delicious. My only dilemma was that I wasn’t sure what kind of salad dressing container I could store the dressing in. The idea came to me to use the empty water bottle to make and store the dressing. I went to the kitchen, removed the cap and added my ingredients to the bottle. My last step was to simply poke three tiny holes in the cap, so I could control the amount of dressing that I put onto my salads. Voila!

It’s also a way to find a second use for your plastic containers instead of throwing them away (other than redeeming them at a machine of course).

Posted by Eve

Home Tip: Cleaning When Company’s Coming Over

By Leave a Comment

If you are having company over and want the house to appear clean focus on your main rooms and 1 bathroom. You don’t have to give everyone a tour so don’t worry about cleaning the rooms that have doors on them!

Go room by room focusing on removing laundry, dishes, and clutter. Then wipe down all surfaces, run the vaccuum, and wash/dry all dishes. Bam.. you are ready for company in about 45 minutes! Don’t sweat the small stuff. No one notices if the floors are not mopped!

Submitted by Elicia Hill
Elicia’s Website: http://www.lifewith2under2.com
Follow Elicia on Twitter: @lifewith2under2

Home Tip: Assembling Furnishings from Big Box Stores

By Leave a Comment

I enjoy purchasing cool furniture from big box stores. After a few purchases that required total assembly, I became frustrated because what should have taken an hour or two turned into an all day project. So I came up with a plan to make the assembly less painful. Here are a few tips for assembling furnishings that you purchase from Big Box stores like Ikea and Kmart.

FIRST
Lay out the parts in order ( either by letters or numbers )

SECOND
Make sure you have all necessary tools are present ( as per instructions ) and all parts / pieces are accounted for

THIRD
Place box with picture on a wall in your view ( this ensures that as you build your furniture, it resembles the picture )

FOURTH
Briefly, Read the instructions from start to finish. ( the more knowledge you have of what you are building gives your brain a better picture of the right way to assemble the furniture )

**** If possible, build the furniture near where you eventually want to place it ( takes less effort to move into place )

DISCLAIMER – Make sure another person is present if the furniture you are building is heavy!!!!

I hope these tips encourages someone to not be afraid of building big box store items.

Posted by Eve

Home Tip: How to Clean Your Makeup Brushes

By Leave a Comment

A Simple way to Clean Your Makeup Brushes
I absolutely love using my makeup brushes. However, they do require a little maintenance from time to time. They can become full of germs which In turn can cause your face to break out. I personally like to clean my brushes every other week. My cleaning process is quick and easy to do.

You will need:
1 teaspoon of shampoo (shampoo of your choice)
2 cups of Luke warm water
4-5 paper towels (depending on the amount of brushes to be cleaned)

Instructions:
Wet the brushes under running water that is luke warm
Remove from running water
Take one brush at a time and place securely in your hand and add shampoo
For 1-2 minutes gently rub the brush (with soap) in the palm of your hand to create a lather Rinse brush under luke warm water to remove soap and makeup residue from brush
Place the brush onto paper towel to absorb the moisture contained in the brush overnight to allow brush to fully dry Repeat all steps for as many brushes you want to clean
Inspect the brushes the next day and gently tap brush onto dry area of paper towel, no moisture should be present!!!!

WARNING: Do not dry brushes in a upright position, they will take much longer to dry +/or ruin your brush

Posted by Eve