Clogged Drain? Clean it up! With Baking Soda!

A little trick that I have learned is that baking soda can be used for EVERYTHING! Especially when cleaning. If you ever get a clogged drain and don't want to spend money on expensive drain cleaner, here is a simple way to do the same job with only 2 house hold products and water!

Things you will need:

• 1/2 baking soda
• 1 cup of vinegar
• 1 gallon of boiling water

Instructions:

• Shove the baking soda down your drain. This is kind of tricky because, like when I did it, the baking soda got stuck so I ended up using the handle of my measuring cup to shove it down the drain.

• Once you think you have the baking soda down far enough, pour 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain making sure to cup your hand over the drain to make the bubbles go down the drain not into your tub.

• Pour the rest of the vinegar down the drain, cupping the drain like you did before, and let it sit 10-15 minutes. Pour the boiling water down the drain and you're done.

CAUTION! Don't do this too much at one time to your drains because it can harm your them. Allow only 3 times per one unclogging.

♥ Mrs. Suzie

Photograph Words and Names

Need something to cover that empty wall or just looking for something fun and simple to do? These photographed letters turned into words has become quite popular and looks so nice hanging on the wall in the entrance of your home. People have been ordering these with words ranging from last names to words of inspiration. Well I have come up with a simple and easy way to make them all on your own.

Things you will need:

• Camera
• Poster Board/ Matting
• Picture Frame
• Scissors or Exacto Knife
• Ruler
• Pencil

Instructions:

• Before you do anything, you need to find a frame to be able to hold your letters. If you are going to use a standard 4" by 6" photo you can use this equation to figure out the size you need.

• (number of letters) x 3.75" + (number of letters - 1) x 0.5" = the minimal length
• As long as the height is larger than 6" you are fine.
• Here is a diagram to help you picture it:

• Go around town taking various, vertical pictures of the letters you are wanting keeping in mind that even though the letter needs to fill up the frame of the camera you also needs about a 1/2" allowance on all sides.
• Print out your pictures. It really doesn't matter if it's on photo paper or not it's just a preference.
• Now the tough part begins. Cut out your poster board or matting to fit the size of the frame. Take the "minimal length" that you calculated from earlier and subtract it from the length of the frame and divide it by 2, this is the width of the space between the frame and the first photograph length-wise. Mark this width in the center of the short side with a pencil, see mark "A" in diagram.

• Next mark out 5 3/4" out from the last mark, mark "B". Then mark out 1/2", mark "C".

• Continue mark "B" and mark "C" until you have the same number of "B" marks as the number of letters you are wanting to add, making sure that you end with mark "B" not "C". Measure the remaining space to the end of the board and make sure that it is the same a mark "A".

• Next take the height of the frame, subtract it by 5.75", and divide it by 2, this is mark "D". Extend mark "D" to the other end of the board, as shown as the 2 red lines in the diagram. Then extend all of your original marks to the mark "D" lines, as shown as the blue lines in the diagram.

• Now with the ruler cut out all of the "B" boxes and tape your pictures in the center of the boxes in order starting from your right to your left.

• Put the board in the frame and viola!

♥ Mrs. Suzie

How to make Coasters

If you have wood surfaces, condensation off your guests cups can leave watermarks and what better way to keep your surface nice and neat than to make your own cute, custom coasters!

Instructions:

• 1/2 yard of fabric (or more depending on how many you want to make)
• 1/2 yard of thick batting
• Sewing essentials

Directions:

1. Cut out 2 squares of fabric that is 4 1/2" by 4 1/2".

2. With right sides together, sew a 1/4" seam on all sides except for a 2" inch opening in the center of one side.

3. Trim corners and seams. Flip square inside-out through the small opening. Iron down seams. Add a 4 1/4" by 4 1/4" square of batting. Sew down the very edge.

4. From one side, sew 1/4" away from the seam and continue to the right side.

Viola! A Coaster!



♥ Mrs. Suzie