DEAR HELOISE: Whenever I go "junking," I like to think creatively when it comes to common household items. Recently, I found an old, rusted baby swing at a garage sale that was dirt-cheap. It was calling out to me, saying: "Take me home. Make me useful again!"
I purchased it, brought it home, cleaned it up, and now it sits in one corner of my garden. I've placed hanging plants on it and added some wire for the vines that grow in my garden. It now has a useful place.
-- Taryn G., Little Rock
DEAR READER: Taryn, thanks for your hint on recycling your garage-sale find and thinking outside the box on this one. Anyone else have a similar recycling think-outside-the-box story?
DEAR HELOISE: I'm on social media much more than my husband is. One Saturday, he asked me how I know whether a "deal" on the Internet is a good one to consider.
I told him that if I'm remotely interested in something, the first thing I do is read through many of the comments from people who did make the investment. They give me a pretty good idea about the item.
After reading through many of the comments for an item he was considering, he told me that the consumer comments helped him decide against it. In short, the customer comments are a good place to start when considering "deals."
-- Ivy P. in New York
DEAR READERS: I travel a lot, and one of the hardest things to travel with is powdered makeup like blush, eye shadow, pressed powder and face powder. No matter how I transported it, something always ended up crumbly.
What I finally learned, after many miles of travel and trial and error, is to cut a cotton pad or fold a tissue the size of the container and put it inside. This holds the powder down and acts as an extra barrier if it does break.
DEAR HELOISE: Here's how I make homemade funnels: I take an empty plastic ketchup bottle, cut off the bottom and use it whenever I need one outdoors.
Putting the cap back on the bottle comes in handy when the liquid is thin. If I need to make the hole in the cap larger, my utility knife works perfectly.
This funnel is versatile and comes in handy whenever I am camping.
-- Thomas K. in Montana
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com
MovieStyle on 05/27/2016