Tip of the Day #301: Tabs on Aluminum Foil Box

It sounds silly, but many of us have experienced what are supposed to be simple tasks, but end up being a lot more complicated every time you do it--for example, trying to tear a sheet of aluminum foil out of the box without pulling the entire roll out! Well, check the ends of your aluminum foil or saran wrap boxes for a handy little circle or triangle. If you punch it in, it will hold the roll in the box and prevent it from popping out when you rip off a piece!

Another quick tip - placing your plastic wrap in the refrigerator will make it easier to handle :)

Tip of the Day #300: Preventing Ticks

How to Prevent Ticks on your Pets:

1. Garlic –given as a dietary supplement makes your animal less appealing to ticks. The smell is excreted through the skin and repels both ticks and fleas. However, garlic contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia in dogs. If you use garlic as your tick prevention, use it SPARINGLY.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar adds acidity to your pet’s blood, making it less appealing to ticks and fleas. Add 2 tablespoons of the apple cider vinegar to the his or her food or water bowl as a preventative.

Prevention on Humans:

1. Always wear an insect repellant of at least 20% DEET whenever outside

2  Dress in light-coloured clothing! When coming inside, place your clothing for 10 minutes in the dryer on the hottest setting--it will kill any ticks that may be lingering. 

Tip of the Day #299: Keeping Flowers FRESH

A fresh bouquet of flowers will brighten up any room, especially if they last. Surprisingly, a number of household items will help do the trick. Here are a few interesting products and tips that can help your blooms stay fresh longer:

1. Cut your stems with a knife instead of scissors. The gauge on scissors is set for paper or fabric, not for flower stems, which are bulkier. Using scissors will crush their vascular systems and prevent proper water uptake.
2. What you put in your water makes a world of difference!
A) Dissolved aspirin is a tried and true method to keeping your flowers fresh, but lemon-lime soda can work too. Mix one part of the soda with three parts water. Then add 1/4 teaspoon of household bleach per quart, which will help the water stay clear.
B) Lemon juice is another great ingredient to put in your vase. Mix 2 teaspoons of lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of bleach in a quart of warm water. Another 1/4 teaspoon of bleach can be added to the vase water every four days.
C) One of the strangest products that will help your bouquet last is Listerine. According to Plantea.com, just 2 ounces of the mouthwash added to every gallon of water will act as plant food and create a bacteria-fighting environment for the flowers. It's also acidic like many of the other solutions, which helps the water to move up cut stems.

Tip of the Day #298: Uses for Clear Nail Polish

We all know clear nail polish can do a great job on a manicure, but many of you may not know the other wonderful and useful benefits it posseses! It can aid in:

1. Making jewelry last. To extend the life of costume jewelry and to keep it looking bright and glossy, give beads a thin layer of polish. It helps prevent fading and tarnishing. It also helps your fingers turning green from rings!

2. Sealing envelopes. In lieu of licking the envelope flaps to seal them (not only can this be ineffective, but does anyone find that taste as gross as I do?) dab on a little polish to keep them glued nice and tight. 

3. Threading needles. Rather than get frustrated when attempting to thread a needle, run the cut side of the thread through the polish brush. Roll the thread between your fingers a couple times; the polish will dry pretty much immediately and the thread becomes stiffer (and much more easy to get through the eye of the needle). 

4. Keeping belt buckles pristine. To ensure belt buckles stay bright and shiny, shellac them with a coat of polish to prevent oxidation.

5. Securing buttons. Brush on a dollop of polish in the center of your buttons to keep the threads from coming undone. If you have a sweater or dress with delicate pearly buttons, give the whole thing a coat of polish to keep them luminous. 

6.Fixing window screens or shades. If you have a tear or small hole in a window shade or screen, paint on some polish to keep it from getting worse. 

7. Waterproofing matches. As any camper can attest, there are few bigger drags than a box of soggy matches. To waterproof them, paint the flammable tips with polish. 

8. Wood floor repairs. A bit of clear polish is fantastic to touch-up minor dents and little scuffs on wood floors.

9. Avoiding rust stains. You know those rust rings that form on your tub if you leave shaving cream in the shower? Just varnish the underside of the can with a little polish to keep the metal from staining. 

10. Shoelace protector. To stop shoelaces from unraveling and fraying, dip the ends in clear polish. 

WOOLZIES DRYER BALLS *REVIEW & GIVEAWAY*

I recently had the pleasure of receiving a box of Woolzies Dryer Balls to review. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see them show up in the mail two days ago--so much so that I immediately did a load of laundry when I came in the door just to see how they were when it came to drying the items!
I do know about dryer balls as I have purchased other brands in the past when trying to live a 'greener' and more eco-friendly lifestyle, but it is always nice to compare!
For those who are unfamiliar with these products, they are 100% chemical-free,  Wool dryer balls that are made from a natural fabric and when you have enough balls in your dryer it does an excellent job of decreasing drying time--BY UP TO 25%!! Think of all the energy you will be saving--music to your ears! Especially for cloth diapering Mamas!
With that being said, Woolzies are by FAR by favourite for two main reasons:

1. Their dryer balls are made from 100% FINE NEW ZEALAND WOOL--the best of its kind! I especially like this because I suffer from skin sensitivity and often become itchy very easily, but I must say that after using Woolzies, I did not have a single reaction! I also feel safe using them in my kiddos laundry as we all know childrens skin is much more sensitive than us adults.

2. My clothes were softer than normal! Although Woolzies promises a 25% reduction in dryer time, I would say my few loads of laundry were done in closer to 45% of the time (using all 6 balls)--BONUS!! Not only this, but I have found after using other brands of dryer balls that static has still been an issue...well not with Woolzies! Ahhh...I'm in Heaven! :)

So you may be asking "How do Woolzies really work?" Well, to get the best performance out of your dryer balls, you should purchase four or more. Aside from the absorbant fabric, the dryer balls bounce through your clothes as they dry, fluffing and separating the clothes, which is how they cut down on drying time. In addition, if you live in a very dry area, you know the static this can cause--and as i previously explained, Woolzies eliminate this problem! 
Want to wash your pillows? No problem! The dryer balls are excellent in fluffing them and as they circulate around, they remove germs & dust mites up to 99%! You may have heard and think putting tennis balls in the dryer to fluff your pillows is a more reasonable suggestion--however, the rubber odor can be bad, they do not contain an absorbant material and again, are nowhere near NATURAL.

To answer any further questions you may have, I have personally come up with a few Q & A's:

1. How long can you use the same dryer balls for?
Woolzies guarantee 1,000 loads. On average, 3 years, but some people claim they have used the same batch for 4 years and are still going strong.

3. "I use vinegar to soften my clothes. How are dryer balls better than this natural alternative?"
Vinegar IS great at softening clothes, but it does not remove bacteria or dust mites or cut dryer time. It also does not remove static like dryer balls.

4. How are these any better than the plastic (PVC) ones that I got from my local superstore?
They are VERY different actually! The conventional plastic ones you see on TV and in your local store are made from plastic and when heated can emit harmful smells that can irritate the lungs. They also do not speed up your drying time as these 100% wool dryer balls do. Plastic dryer balls can also rip and tear some more delicate clothing items.

If I am being honest, the only NEGATIVE thing I can say about Woolzies is that they are unscented--but that is strictly a personal preference! An solution to this would be to simply inject essential oil into your dryer balls. VOILA!

***NOW FOR THE BEST PART--YOU CAN WIN A *FREE BOX* OF WOOLZIES FOR YOUR HOME!! JUST SIMPLY FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN:

1. You must LIKE Woolzies Dryer Balls on Facebook ----> https://www.facebook.com/Woolzies

2. You must be a fan of A Mum 'n the Oven on Facebook

3. SHARE the contest post on A Mum 'n the Ovens Facebook Page (make sure you are set to share publicly or we cannot see any shares!)

4. Leave your name and email address in the comments under this post so we can contact you if you win! :)

5. Earn additional entries by referring your friends/family to both Woolzies & A Mum n the Oven's pages. Your friends MUST write who sent them on  Mum's page so we can keep track :)

CONTEST ENDS APRIL 20TH, 2013 AT 11:59PM EST.

GOOD LUCK!!! xx

Tip of the Day #297: The truth about Vitamins

Did you know that your body cannot properly absorb the amount of vitamins and nutrients most supplements contain in a daily dose? Your body will purge what it can't absorb (so you literally flush it away).
This one came from Dr. Oz: Taking your supplements at half a dose twice a day instead of all at once allows your body to better absorb all of the nutrients.

Tip of the Day 296: Preserving Potatoes

If you’re peeling and dicing potatoes for a stew or other dish, you can prepare them a few days ahead and store them in the refrigerator, in a container filled with water. To keep them from turning brown or becoming mushy when cooked, add some white vinegar (1 Tbsp. per 2 cups water) before submerging the potatoes.