I get some of the strangest emails, and this particular post is all about a strange forwarded email I got. I’ve seen it once before and it is definitely interesting, but many of the solutions/ideas I already know, but maybe you don’t. It is a whole list of ways to use products you might already have as home remedies. I thought I would share the ideas with you, because who can’t use a few Home Remedies using products we might already have on hand. I can honestly say, that I have every one of these products in my house right now… and I feel a headache coming on. Where’s the Gatorade?

Here ya go:

Who knew?

• Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?
• Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?
• Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They’ll clear up your stuffed nose.
• Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.
• Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
• Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer.. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product was never advertised for this use.
• Honey remedy for skin blemishes… cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
• Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
• Easy eyeglass protection… to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
• Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer… if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can’t find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
• Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer’s Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
• Hunt’s Tomato Paste boil cure.. cover the boil with Hunt’s Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
• Balm for broken blisters… to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.
• Vinegar to heal bruises… soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
• Quaker Oats for fast pain relief.. it’s not for breakfast any more! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

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Ack! I am so sorry about the Blog Carnival and its untimely posting. I’m relieved I came to check on the carnival this morning. For some really strange reason, it posted my original draft version of the carnival, instead of the final copy. I am SO sorry. HERE is the Blog Carnival in its entirety and not all crazy.

While off to a rough start this morning, the Make It From Scratch Blog Carnival rocked this week…

Cute Craft and Gift Ideas

• Emily made the cutest T-Shirt Scarfs posted over at Insert Catchphrase Here. Great gift idea and super simple.
• I thought of so many ways I could incorporate the cute Tissue Paper Flowers that Crafty Rose posted over at Fine Craft Guild .com. These could embellish all kinds of things and would look really cute in a vase clustered together.
• The minute my daughter saw the cute Mother/Daughter Aprons that Abi posted at lighter side, she wanted to get started right away. These are GREAT gift ideas, and I am positive that my daughter and I will probably be sporting matching aprons at Christmas time.
• Brooke presents a DIY Backless T-Shirt posted over at her blog Rambling Brooke. Not only is this the easiest thing to do, it looks absolutely amazing – there is no way you can tell it is handmade and not store bought. Totally fashionable and really cute.
• gp gave us a glimpse into a Fall To Do list with Gotta Help with the Chores Here « Musings from Montana and even ended with a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Loaf posted over at Musings from Montana. Can I just say, I really wish I was in Montana at this time of year. So beautiful.
• Kerry Fletcher taught us How to Decorate Your Christmas Tree Like a Professional Designer, which made me so ready to put up the tree. It’s posted over at Interior Design Info.
• Lori Vaughn had a really cute idea for a Make It Yourself Christmas #2 Clipboard. My kids tell me it would be a fun gift to do, check it out over at Telling Secrets
• RecycleCindy showed us how to make a really cute Recycled Flat Bottom Plastic Tote Bag. Not only is a great “recycle” project but it would make a great gift idea! Find it over at My Recycled Bags.com.

Money Saving

• Lucky made bringing the holidays into your home a little bit easier and cheaper, thanks to her great post Thanksgiving — Natural Decorations Are In This Year! posted at Making My Own Luck.
• June Tree tells us all about a DIY Debt Management Plan: Go On Oprah’s Debt Diet!. As far as I’m concerned, Oprah is my hero – it helps that she is famous, but she always has the best advice. Check it out at The Digerati Life.
• Wise_Bread just taught me how to go natural for a lot less than I thought I could with the post Stock A Natural Food Pantry For Less. This is a great post that gives you ideas and ways to save money and still eat healthy posted at Wisebread
• Rosey Dusk had another take on decorating anytime, with Give a Room a New Look when your Broke. which she posted over at living cheap now.
• The Smarter Wallet (I need one of those!) shows us 7 Frugal Tips To Clean and Care For Your Clothes, which is awesome because there are simply not a enough ways to save money on things we need to do. Cleaning clothes is a must, so this article was awesome, posted at The Smarter Wallet.
• Jennifer Powlison gave us a great Laundry Detergent Recipe, AKA Jenn’s Laundry Jello Soap, which I found really unique and cannot wait to try. It is posted at Confessions of a Cheapskate.
• Quirky Momma closes out this weeks Money Saving articles with Tiny Storage Solutions for Cluttered Spaces which anyone who knows me, knows I needed to read that! Check her out over at Tips for Moms, Activities for kids by Quirky Mommas.

Delicious Food

• There is nothing better than making S’mores over an open fire, unless it is eating the Smores Cupcakes that cookingfor5 posted at Budget Crafting.
• When I think about Fall, apples always seem to come to mind. Cyndi L gave us the recipe for Apple tarts that look absolutely delicious posted over at Real Food Fast!.
• Kristia had my mouth watering this morning checking out her Make It Yourself Monday – Turkey Sausage, Arugula and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Recipe posted at Family Balance Sheet.
• Nutella has always been interesting to me. Toni got my curiosity further peaked with her Nutella Wontons she posted at Wifely Steps. They sound yummy!
• The Homemaking Helper showed us a recipe for one of my favorite holiday cookies, Peanut Butter Hershey Kiss Cookies. The recipe is posted on her blog The Homemaking Helper.
• Fabulously Broke (which I always am – cute name) gave us Recipe: Vanilla Almond Pound Cake that sounds amazing and has me in the mood to bake today, posted over at Fabulously Broke ….in the City.
• We just made pretzels the other day, but this recipe that Amanda Louden shared, Soft Homemade Pretzels looks far less complicated then the one we used. I love homemade pretzels, check it out posted over at Daily Diner.
• Make it from Scratch always shares something awesome, and of course this time is no exception. Those Home Roasted Peanuts – MMM good! sound well,… mmmm good. The recipe is posted over at Make It From Scratch.
• Joanne gave us Gift Basket Snacks, which I immediately found useful because we are trying to be bit more frugal this Christmas. Everyone is getting gift baskets with home made goodies and items inside. She shared ideas and a few recipes that sound easy and yummy – Check it out, posted at Personalized Gift Baskets.
• I’m not a vegetarian but wow! Liss shared her recipe for Vegetarian ‘Rainbow’ Lasagne that looked so scrumptious my mouth was watering from the start. I’m definitely trying it, you should too – it’s posted at Frills in the Hills.
• The recipe for Butternut Squash Gnocchi: A Recipe for Victory that Kris posted, not only sounds amazing, but looks super easy to prepare and would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. Find it at Cheap Healthy Good.
• Before I saw this recipe for POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice Cake from Mama Bear, I’m not sure I would have ever thought to use pomegranate juice (which I love) in a cake – awesomely posted at Gotta Little Space. Thank you!
• Annette Berlin shows us how to make Bubby’s Lemon Pie which can I just say, sounds to die for. I love lemon pie. Seriously. No really, I would eat it daily. Awesome recipe posted at Craft Stew.
• NerdMom brings it all home with a great recipe for her Chicken Tamale Pie. I think a few of my kids will actually eat this, and I know I will too so I’m definitely trying it. Thanks! It’s posted at Nerd Family Food.

I have hosted the Made From Scratch Blog Carnival in the past on other blogs, but this is the first time, I loved every post that was shared!! Thanks for participating this week in the Make It From Scratch Blog Carnival. I look forward to seeing what everyone brings next week over at: Frills in the Hills.

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Thinking about creating some gift baskets for gift giving this year? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

First, I always tell people who are interested in giving gift baskets as gifts to check out the dollar store. No, don’t fill it up with “junk” but they sell popcorn packets and you could add 1 or 2 to several gift baskets, candy, snacks too. I always recommend trying there first. You’d be surprised at what you can find when paired with other items, makes the perfect gift.

Second – be creative with “packaging”. Don’t just choose a basket. Decorate it and make it special. Weave ribbon through it, or attach a bow, or embellish in another way. Another idea, is to use an “odd object” that might not otherwise “house such items” – a Boot, a bucket, a paint can, a tote bag, purse, mug, stocking, Rubber maid tote or bin, watering can, coffee can, a hat box, canister, sleigh, a desk caddy or whatever other idea you can think of.

Third – I tried to include something for “everyone”. I really hope it helps or at least gets you thinking. Hope that helps

• Popcorn Basket – For the person who loves popcorn – fill with gourmet popcorn, popcorn seasonings and popping cobs, snacks and some drinks.
• Couch Potato Basket – Snacks, TV guide, TV magazine (E! Entertainment or something along those lines).
• BBQ Lovers – Fill with iced tea, salsa and brushetta seasoning, BBQ seasoning package, coffee, iced cappuccino, and more. Perfect for summer entertaining.
• Sweetheart Basket – For the one you love or the person who loves hearts – fill with hearts – candles, soaps, painted wood, and more. May be packed in a heart votive candle box.
• Soap Basket – fill with a variety of our wonderful handmade soaps and fizzing bath rocks.
• Candle Basket – For the candle lover – fill with a variety of candles and candle holders.
• Teddy Bear Basket – Do you know someone who loves/collects teddy bears? – fill with a variety of products including items with teddy bears, chocolate, and a stuffed bear friend or gift certificate to make their own bear.
• Angel Basket – Do you know someone who loves angels? – fill with a variety of ‘angel’ items; could include candles, sachets, wooden, or wire items.
• Gourmet Drink Basket – Filled with a selection of our gourmet coffee, tea, hot chocolate and iced tea.
• Gourmet Treat Basket – Filled with a selection of our gourmet food items. Will include a variety of drinks, soup, seasonings, or popcorn.
• Debbie Mumm Basket – Filled with a variety of Debbie Mumm products; could include candles, address books, pocket mirrors, scented sachets, notepads, or notecards.
• Mary Engelbreit Basket -
• Primitive Basket – For people who love primitive folkart – filled with painted wood items, wire items, and grubby candles.
• Vanilla, Apple, or Berry Scent Basket – filled with items in your chosen scent – potpourri, candles, aromatic crystals, fizzing bath rocks, soaps, and more.
• Kitchen/Baking Basket – Filled with ‘kitchen’ items like hotpads and baking scents such as gingerbread, apple pie, or cinnamon. May include a recipe book.
• Apple Basket – For the apple lover – painted wood apples, apple scented items, and wire apples.
• Christmas – Filled with christmas decorations and scents.
• Rubber Stamping – Stamps, things to stamp on, ink pads – pick a theme or send a variety.
• Scrapbooking – stickers, die cuts, papers, albums, how-to’s – pick a theme or send a variety (not packed in a basket so items don’t get damaged!).
• Needlepoint -
• Crochet -
  Variety – Filled with a mix of items.

Obviously there are a lot more ideas floating around. If you have one, feel free to share in the comment field! Thanks!

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Next week, I will be hosting the Make it From Scratch Blog Carnival here at Frugal Changes.

The point of the carnival is to share the things you make from scratch. Create a blog post, showing something cool that you created from scratch – doesn’t matter if it is a recipe, craft or something else. No strict definition of scratch here, use your own judgment.

The rules are simple, only one post per blog per week, and right now we are looking for some Christmas gift ideas, so if you have something to share, please submit to one of the upcoming carnivals. The carnivals are posted every Tuesday morning on selected hosting blogs.

If you are interested in submitting a blog post showcasing something that you made from scratch- the deadline for submitting is Sunday, November 15, 2009 at midnight and you can submit your post here.

Check back on Tuesday for this week’s Made From Scratch Submissions.

Oh, and if you’d like to see this weeks Made From Scratch Carnival, to see what kinds of things are posted, visit The Festival of Frugality.

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I found this adorable craft online several years ago.

Candy Corn Freshner Craft Centerpiece and Gift Idea (copyright© Liss Burnell 2004)

• 2 cups water,divided

• Essential oil/fragrance of your choice. (Vanilla & Cinnamon Work Well Together)

• 4 envelopes Knox gelatin

• Food coloring (orange, yellow)

To get started, bring 1 c. of water almost to boil. Add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of water.

Divide evenly into 3 separate containers and add coloring to desired shade to make candy corn. Add your essential oil fragrance at this time.
Place the containers in the fridge to gel. Once gelled, use a spoon or wooden stick to gently stir up and layer in your pretty jar or Glass.

Add a bow and place on Dining room table. Place a thin candle down through the center for added beauty.

We are making these this year! They are just too cute not too!!

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While I don’t actually mind wrapping a gift in newspaper, which is often offered as one of the most frugal methods of gift wrap, I would prefer something a little… I don’t know…..prettier?

But anyone who has been around the frugal living block a time or two, knows that newspaper is generally the most commonly suggested frugal gift wrap.

Imagine the concept of having a beautifully wrapped gift, that was super easy to do, using a reusable method that can go on and on and on that isn’t newspaper!

It’s a great take on fabric and the concept is known as Furoshiki Gift Wrapping. Fabric is a great method for wrapping, because it’s frugal AND reusable.

You can get fabric from a variety of sources – an old dress, skirt, shirt, even a pair of jeans.

Watch how they do it, and then let me know what you think?

Amazing and they look great!

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Candy corns are such SWEET memories from my childhood and all of my children love them too. I have been collecting and saving crafts that have to deal with candy corns for years. I keep them out all autumn long! Several years ago, I made votive holders painted to look like candy corns. I will explain those directions. I have no idea where I got this idea from. I might have even come up with it myself after seeing a “manufactured” candle holder similar. My son was only 3 (he’s 15 now) when I made these! I actually had someone take photos of us making these and added them to our scrapbook! They were so much fun!

Candy Corn Candle holder

You will need:

• Various sized terra cotta pots (I used the really small ones from Wal-mart so I could make VOTIVE holders) but any size will work!

• Candles – all sizes, and white, orange, yellow or black. (scented is ok, but try to stick to vanilla scented- that’s what we used and it gives off a realistic feel! We also primarily used votive candles.)

• Paint – orange, yellow and white. I recommend the acrylic paints because they stay on better!

• Raffia (unless you plan to light the candles) we did both! Natural color and then another color (or I guess you could use natural too)

• Hot glue

Here is what you do. Take the terra cotta pot and paint it all white (yes even inside!). (this is your base coat) be sure that the white is WHITE and that no terra cotta color is showing through. This is important because one area will not get any other color paint on it. Allow this to dry for at least 2 hours (or read the paint tube you are using – often it’s longer!) You should do a bunch of these at once, so they are done together.

Once dry, you will paint the bottom half yellow. You will then need to allow that area to dry for at least 2 hours as well. So like I said, be doing multiple ones at a time! Last, you will paint the middle orange. You can make this part as big or as small as you’d like, just be sure to start from the top rim and work your way down. As you can see from the photo, we did different size bands because all candy corns are different.

Next, if you plan NOT to light the candles, you will hot glue some colored raffia into the bottom of the pot on the inside. We used orange. This heightens the candle so it can be seen above the rim of the pot. So use however much it takes to lift that little votive up. Since you aren’t lighting this candle, you can even put it around the candle inside. We did this too, except you can’t see it in the picture. Because it’s kinda smushed down a little.

Then place your candle inside. We wound up hot gluing some of them to hold them in place, and other’s we just stuck in there. If you are planning on lighting these, you will need to find a way to elevate the candle another way. We just used taller candles but you can also glue a soda lid in the bottom and then glue the candle to that.

Anyway, when you are done with all that, you can tie a piece of natural raffia around the outside of the pot. It ads a touch, that isn’t there without it.

Voila! An adorable, easy to make centerpiece. Cluster these together in various places throughout the house.

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Our garage sale is over, I’m exhausted and we made some cash and got rid of some things. Problem is, we still have so much that we have planned to have the sale again next weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings. We discovered that the Friday night pre-sale only works if you are having a neighborhood garage sale, or if it is really popular in your area. Our area didn’t quite know what to make of us sitting outside on a Friday night. Amusing and frustrating all at the same time.  I am however, really glad we are not having it this morning too.

We did sell quite a bit on Saturday and all together we made quite a bit of money, but we still have way too much stuff, and we are going to give it one more go. After that, we’ll be listing the rest on Freecycle, just to clear it out.

Have you ever listed your garage sale on Craigslist before?

I haven’t, but my friend suggested it as an additional advertising tool, and I’m game. If you have, did it help bring more people in? What are your favorite ways to advertise? I have seriously exhausted all of my ways to advertise, so I will be posting those in tomorrow’s post. I’m eager to hear what inexpensive and free ways all of you advertise your garage sales. I’m also curious what works in your area, as we are figuring out many techniques work differently, depending on your state, city, or area.

At least I have another week to find more stuff!

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Advertising is key to having a successful garage sale. You can have the nicest stuff in the world to sell, and it might be all nice and clean and even fairly priced. If you don’t advertise the sale correctly, you could wind up with few customers and more stuff that you counted on to put away at the end of the sale. Here are some of my favorite tricks, techniques and tips for advertising for your garage sale.

* Use lots of signs. The more the better. Place them on the side of the road that the cars are traveling. Place two outside your neighborhood, once faced one way and the other faced the opposite way to pull traffic from both sides.

* Be sure that all of your signs look the same or at least have common similarities. Many people just “follow” the signs, and don’t have time to jot down address’, etc. Make it easier for them by helping them to see your signs.

* Attach balloons to each sign. I recommend helium filled because they won’t get in the way of the words written on the sign and they are easier to spot. You might use seasonal colors. But make sure all the balloons are the same color, again to make the uniformity of the signs.

* Try craigslist. If craigslist has a section in your area, definitely place an ad. They are free and you can say whatever you want. This is the first garage sale I have ever used craigslist, but I have received a huge response. It has done me well.

* Use the library bulletin boards, grocery store, college campus (especially if you have items that a college student might be interested in), newsletters for church or school, etc. to place ads. Most places will be fine with you posting an ad, as long as you remove it at the end of the sale.

* Take out an ad in your local newspaper. In our area, an ad costs $15.00 and runs in three area papers. The cost of the $15 is quickly made back, because anytime I have placed an ad, I have had dozens of people at my door the moment I am ready to open my sale. If you don’t want early birds, be sure to specify that in the ad. You might still get a few…. die-hard garage salers are relentless. LOL

* When creating signs for the garage sale, write big and bold and legibly. It is important that it be read from a distance.

* When you have placed all your signs, drive by EACH sign and double check that it can be seen from the car, and if need be, move it as quickly as possible.

* A new idea I was just told about for this sale in particular, was to send out invitations. On the invitations, request that your friends spread the news about your garage sale. Even invite them to throw some stuff into the sale if they would like. Remember that word of mouth is a great advertising technique for anything. I modified the invitation idea, and sent out an email to my local friends and family with a brief list of what I was offering, and the dates, times and locations. I encouraged them to forward the email to their local friends and family members, which I hoped would continue to circulate until the date of the sale. I also included a link to my address on mapquest which I figure took the guess work out of it for anyone they forwarded it to. Plus my address in unincorporated so its difficult to get to come up on mapquest and other map sites. This made it easier.

What are some of your favorite tips for advertising your garage sale?

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Wow, our garage sale is only four days a way at this point. We will be doing a pre-sale Friday night and then most of the day Saturday will be the actual sale.

I have been pricing on and off all weekend, and let me just say – it’s hard!

I have a tendency to under-price, because I need all this stuff to move. Then when one of the garage sale helpers see’s it, she says its too low… change it to “whatever” and I’m changing it again. Then I doubt that it will sell at that price.

The main reason for this garage sale is simply to get rid of all the stuff we have and aren’t using. I wish I could say that was easy, but it’s not. We have a LOT of stuff …. we bought 900 price stickers and it doesn’t even look like its going to come close to covering it, which means another trip to Target before the week’s over for more stickers. I have to pick up signs too though, so I guess that’s fine.

I did some research and also asked a few friends what the general “rule” is for pricing at a garage sale, and apparently it seems to be about 20-30% of the retail cost, except clothing – that’s even less. I guess I’ve been under-pricing everything for years then, lol because that is not what I usually do. To live and learn. 4 days and not enough hours to complete all the work we have left.

I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, while doing the pricing research, I came across a great frugal tip to use blue painter’s tape for pricing. It is very easy to remove and is fairly inexpensive. It also goes a long way, and allows you to write more than just a price (like new, 1 piece missing, no lid, no cord, etc.)

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