Monday is a good day to clean...

With bubble wrap

Protect produce in the fridge

Line your refrigerator's crisper drawer with bubble wrap to prevent bruises to fruit and other product. Cleanup will be easier too – when the lining gets dirty, just throw it out and replace it with fresh bubble wrap.

Cushion your work surface

When repairing delicate glass or china, cover the work surface with bubble wrap to help prevent breakage.

Keep cola cold

Wrap soft drink cans with bubble wrap to keep beverages refreshingly cold on hot summer days. Do the same for packages of frozen or chilled picnic foods. Wrap ice cream just before you leave for the picnic to help keep it firm en route.

Cushion bleachers and benches

Take some bubble wrap out to the ballgame with you to soften those hard stadium seats or benches. Or stretch a length along a picnic bench for more comfy dining.

Monday is a good day to clean...

With a cardboard box

For Storage

Protect glassware or lightbulbs

Safely store fine crystal glassware by putting it in an empty wine or liquor carton with partitions. This also works well when moving - saves time from wrapping everything in newspaper and no need to wash before unpacking! Your can also use it for storing lightbulbs, but be sure to sort the bulbs by wattage so that it's easy to find the right one when you need it.

Store Christmas ornaments

Wrap each ornament in tissue paper or bubble wrap and store it in an empty liquor box with partitions. Each of the segments can hold several ornaments.

For the do-it-yourselfer

Protect your fingers

To keep from hitting your fingers with a hammer, stick the nail through a small piece of thin cardboard before you do your hammering. Hold the cardboard by an edge, position the nail, and pound it home. When you're done, use your bruise-free fingers to tear away the cardboard.

Keep upholstery tacks straight and evenly spaced

Mark the spacing along the edge of a light-weight cardboard strip and press the tacks into it. After driving all of the tacks most of the way in, tug on the strip to pull the edge free before hammering them in the rest of the way.

For the kids

Play liquor box "ski ball"

Place a liquor box with the partitions still in place at an angle and build a small ramp in front (a rubber mat over a pile of books will do). Assign numbered values to each section of the box, grab a few tennis or golf balls and you're ready to roll.

Easter traditions

What would Easter be without a little egg decorating? I bought the executive kit this year (mostly because I left it to the last minute - as any busy mom would - and they had them all on sale). It had sparkles (my favourite), stickers, sponge stampers and even foil wrappers. The kids loved the magic crayon that leaves their lettering in white after dying - a great way to identify whose egg is whose... (Mom made one too). There were the usual surprises - okay one fell on the floor and cracked, ending up as a "mommy egg". Colours turned out a little different than the visions in their heads and both kids wanted to use pink at the same time (of course). We had great fun, though and had a proud exhibit to show off when all was said and done in my nifty ceramic egg holder.

Now to clean up all the sparkles...

Monday is a good day to clean...

With Pantyhose

Around the house...

Wrapping up wrapping paper

Keep your used rolls of wrapping paper from tearing and unraveling by storing them in tubes made by cutting the leg sections off old pairs of pantyhose (leave the foot section intact). Or, if you have a bunch of used rolls, you can put one in each leg of a pair of pantyhose and hang them over a hanger in your closet.

Organize your suitcase

Your can squeeze more of your belongings into any piece of luggage by rolling up your clothes. To keep you bulkier rolls from unwrapping, cover them in flexible nylon tubes. Simply cut the legs off a pair of old pantyhose, snip off the foot sections, and stretch the stocking over your rolled-up garments.

Bundle blankets for storage

Keep blankets and quilts securely bundled before they go into temporary storage. Wrap them up in large "rubber bands" made from the waistbands from your used pantyhose. You can reuse the bands year after year if needed.

In the kitchen...

Keep a rolling pin from sticking

Getting pie dough to the perfect consistency is an art form in itself. Avoid the hassle of scraping clean your rolling pin of sticky dough by covering it with a piece of pantyhose. It will hold enough flour to keep even the wettest pie dough from sticking to the pin.

Apply stain to wood crevices

Getting wood stain or varnish into the tight corners and crevices of that unfinished bookcase or table that your just bought can be a maddening task. Just cut a strip from an old pair of pantyhose, fold it over a few times, and use a rubber band to affix it to the tip of a wooden Popsicle stick. Dip your homemade applicator into the stain, and you'll have no trouble getting it into those hard-to-reach spots.

In the garden...

Clean up after gardening

Save up your leftover slivers of soap, and place them in the foot section of an old nylon stocking. Knot it off, and hang it next to your outdoor faucet. Use the soap-filled stocking to quickly wash off your hands after gardening and other outdoor work without worrying about getting dirt on door handles or bathroom fixtures inside your house.

Monday is a good day to clean...

With Tea

Clean wood furniture and floors

Freshly brewed tea is great for cleaning wood furniture and floors. Just boil a couple of tea bags in a quart of water and let it cool. Dip a soft cloth in the tea, wring out the excess, and use it to wipe away dirt and grime. Buff dry with a clean, soft cloth.

Shine your mirrors

Brew a pot of strong tea, let it cool, and then use it to clean your mirrors. Dampen a soft cloth in the tea and wipe it all over the surface of the mirrors. Then buff with a soft, dry cloth for a sparkly, streak-free shine.

And for health and beauty...

Reduce razor burn

To sooth razor burn and relieve painful nicks and cuts, apply a wet tea bag to the affected area.

Make soothing mouthwash

To ease a toothache or other mouth pain, rinse your mouth with a cup of hot peppermint tea mixed with a pinch or two of salt. Peppermint is an antiseptic and contains menthol, which alleviates pain on contact with skin surfaces. To make peppermint tea, boil 1 tablespoon of fresh peppermint leaves in 1 cup of water and steep for several minutes.

And in the garden...

Give roses a boost

Sprinkle new or used tea leaves (loose or in tea bags) around your rosebushes and cover with mulch to give them a midsummer boost. When you water the plants, the nutrients from the tea will be released into the soil, spurring growth. Roses love the tannic acid that occurs naturally in tea.

Prepare planter for potting

For healthier potted plants, place a few used tea bags on top of the drainage layer at the bottom of the planter before potting. The tea bags will retain water and leach nutrients to the soil.

Simon C Page

I LOVE these prints by Simon C. Page. Check out more here.

Here comes Santa Claus... number 2

My little Santa saga continues... in February, I had posted a blog regarding my Santas that I make on the side (To sell or not to sell). Here is a sample of another version that I had made for my sister-in-law a few years back. I call him my "Backwoods Santa" - complete with snow shoes and sleigh and some little bird friends, too.

If you'd like more info on my santas, or would like to order one, please place a comment below. I'm interested in any comments or suggestions you might have.