5 Ways to Put Your Old Candles to Work

Everyone has little tips and tricks they use to keep their home in good shape, and we’ve got some for you. If you, like many people, have candles that are old, partially used, or just unwanted then you can reuse them in several interesting ways. Check out the following tips on how to make ‘useless’ candles useful again!

• Use a candle to weatherproof a shipping label! (See photo above). I live in Seattle, so this is a great trick for eight months out of the year here!

1. Write your label and wait for the ink to dry.

2. Stick onto your package or envelope.

3. Gently rub a soft end (usually the bottom flat edge) over the entire label. This will keep the ink from running in snowy or rainy weather.

• Use an old candle to fix a sticky drawer!

1. Get your drawer open (this might be hard before using the candle).

2. Use the edge to rub wax along the bottom corners of the drawer and the tracks to help with friction.

3. Open and close the drawer a few times to set.

• Use an old candle to lubricate a difficult window latch.

1. Open the latch.

2. Simply rub the soft end (usually the bottom edge or side) everywhere all over the latch.

3. Open and close several times to fully lubricate.

• Use a lit candle to avoid tears while slicing an onion. -- this one is definitely my favorite!

1. Light a candle next to your slicing station.

2. Grab a super sharp knife, brace yourself, and slice.

3. Don't tear up!

• Use an old candle to fix a stubborn zipper.

1. Unzip the zipper.

2. Rub wax over the difficult area.

3. Zip and unzip a few times.

Full article here: http://bit.ly/13nR9Hf

5 Tips to Make Your House Appear Cleaner Than It Is

Uh-oh, company’s coming over soon and you don’t have much time to clean your place! What’s the best thing to do with the few minutes you’ve got between now and when guests arrive? Don’t grab the vacuum or try to wash dishes, there’s no time! Check out these tips on speedy ways to make your apartment seem a little cleaner than it actually is.

1. Clean the Three T's: Toilets, Tabletops, the Television. What? The television? Yup! Most living rooms are centered around your tv and the amount of dust that hangs on it, your netflix stack and dvd box set pile that's off to one side could be tell tale signs of why the rest of your house isn't exactly spotless. Plus if you sit chatting in the living room, you'll be staring at it wishing you would have moved it. Toilets and tabletops are a bit more self explanatory, but important none the less.

2. Stash with Efficiency: When company drops in we've all been in a situation once or twice where things get tossed in a basket and shoved in the spare bedroom or closet. It's a quick solution, but it can be done with more efficiency so you can find your stuff later on. Add things to your basket according to the room they go in. That way when company leaves, you can remove the items easily without making 100 trips across your house or apartment to put things where they belong.

3. Pet Hair: Even if you have a sparkling clean house, if your sofa is covered with a layer of dog or cat fur, it suddenly looks less tidy. Keep a rubber glove or your favorite pet hair busting product on hand to knock it all down in a few sweeps.

4. Dishes Be Gone in Seconds Flat: Please don't judge me for this tip. Admitting that I've done it more than once is punishment enough alright? So here goes. Put your dishes in your oven. Wait, what? If you pile your dishes in the sink then it looks like you threw them all in there at the last minute as everyone knows you can't really wash dishes in that manner and you'll still look like a slight slob, even though you have clean counters. Instead, grab a baking sheet and stack like items together and slide them in the oven. They'll slide right back out, be prestacked and ready to be washed so you can recover from the guilt you just gave yourself for following through with this tip. Side note: don't preheat your oven... even by accident... until they're removed.

5. Spend 5 Furious Minutes on Your House Everyday: Isn't that cheating? We're talking about last minute company here, not preparing all week long for them to come! True, but think about how much you can clean in those few minutes before they arrive. 10 blocks isn't much. With traffic and parking and walking up your stairs, 5 minutes is a safe estimate. Bring that panic to your life every day and clean with the same intensity for just 5 minutes and your house will always look better for it. Plus, you still have time to watch Raising Hope without telling yourself you'll pick up on commercials.

Full article here: http://bit.ly/LJZT0F

Organizing and Purging Your Closet

Do you have small closets, or do you just have a lot of clothes?  Separating your clothes by season can be a great way to save space. It also gives you the ability to periodically go through your clothes and clean out what items you do not want anymore.  Keep reading to learn three great reasons about organizing your closet by season.  If you want some tips or more information, you can check out apartment therapy.

When I was a kid growing up in New York, it was a spring ritual to go through the box of summer clothes my mother had packed away the previous fall, trying them on to see what fit and what was, and wasn't, usable.

Now that I live in Los Angeles where it's always sunny and 70 degrees (not really), I'd fallen out of the habit of packing away summer clothes. After all, a particularly hot day in February might encourage a spontaneous trip to the beach, when I'd need a bathing suit. But, recently, I've picked up the habit again, sucking everything meant for three digit temperatures into Space Bags for the winter.

Now that the temperature's starting to warm up (seriously, it does get chilly here), I've started unpacking my stuff while making a mental list of the wintery things that will be the first to be packed away. Besides a closet in which I can actually see what I own, I've discovered a few other unexpected benefits to this childhood ritual:

• I'm forced to go through my clothes with a critical eye, discarding what no longer works or fits, or is beyond repair. The forced examination of my wardrobe has resulted in its considerable thinning. Unexpected benefit: a smaller wardrobe but one which actually works better (which means getting dressed in the morning — getting dressed period — takes half as long as it used to. No more clothes tornadoes. Another benefit.).

• With a few modifications, my closet can hold everything I need in one place: By keeping only the present season's wardrobe in my closet, I discovered that I didn't need a dresser after all. Unexpected benefit: more room in my bedroom, no money spent on storage furniture.

• Grouping clothing by season and by activity, it's easier to assess what works for my wardrobe and my life and what doesn't. Now I can look at a catalog and quickly figure out if I need something or not. Turns out, I have enough black tie dresses to last me an entire awards season (if anyone needs a date). Unexpected benefit: saving money.

Do you pack away clothes when the seasons change?

Leap for Literacy

Check out this great fundraiser that was held in Dawson County to support literacy.  Participants took the leap into the lake at War Hill Park.  They raised over $4000 dollars this year for WEE Books.  This program strives to put age appropriate books into the hands of children that are four years old and younger.  For more information, you can check out the Dawson News.


Dawson County residents didn't let 40-degree weather or stormy skies dampen their spirits for a good cause Saturday as WEE Books held its third annual Leap for Literacy.

According to organizers, the fundraiser at War Hill Park has grown more successful each year.

"We did a few dollars better than we did last year," said Bob Inman. "This year we ended up raising a little over $4,000 for WEE Books."

The program strives to put age-appropriate books in the hands of children from infants to age 4.

Saturday, 11 teams took the plunge into Lake Lanier They included two solo acts, Barry Mayes and Brian Burke.

"Back when my kids were in school here, we did PTA, Boy Scouts, that kind of stuff," Mayes said. "Both my kids are out of school now and my youngest just moved out yesterday.

"I wanted to stay active in the community and this is the first event I saw in the paper, so I decided to come down and do it. Plus I'm training for the Tough Mudder, which benefits the Wounded Warrior Project and I figured this would be a good test."

Mayes added that he plans on looking for future community events to take part in.

Burke said he jumped the first year because he knows Jane Graves, whose husband Lionel is president of WEE Books, through Rotary.

"I know what WEE Books does in the community," Burke said. "Studies show that when you expose young people to books, they are much better off when they are older."

While Burke was jumping alone this year, he did show support for the Interact Club, the Rotary Club's high school arm, whose members also jumped this year.

"Literacy is a big thing in Rotary Club, as well," he said. "We have a scholarship that Rotary gives to high school students each year, so this event hopefully is the genesis of that."

Interact is Rotary's service club for ages 12 to 18. Sponsored by individual clubs, which provide support and guidance, Interact groups are self-governing and self-supporting.

This year's Interact team had a special guest jumper, Maj. Tony Wooten of the Dawson County Sheriff's Office.

"I'm with Rotary and one of the sponsors of the Interact Club," Wooten said. "I told them if we raised the money, I would jump in full uniform. There were four kids that were willing to jump in the lake, so I did it with them."

Wooten didn't completely cross future jumps off of his list.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," he said. "I think the anticipation was worse than the actual water - except for the initial shock of ‘where did my breath go' and ‘why can't I feel my hands?' Other than that, it's fun."

Judges Christie Haynes, president of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce, Jan Whetstone of Jan's Family Daycare and Dawsonville Mayor James Grogan observed the jumps and gave out awards.

The Interact Club team received the Best Leaping award. Most Creative went to KISSing Illiteracy Goodbye, the Dawson County High School team.

The honor for the Highest Sponsorship Team went to Robinson Elementary's Three Blind Mice team, who raised $750, while Best Leaper went to Mayes.