Festive Fabric Fiesta

If you have a basket full of sewing scraps just waiting to be used, then this is for you! There are all kinds of creative ways to recycle those bits and pieces. Here are some of our favorite ways to give ’em new life for the holidays:

Trim the tree. Grab a couple bits of fabric and cut out two identical shapes (trees, snowmen, or star shapes all work well). Sew them together inside out, leaving one end open. Flip the little pouch right side out, and stuff it with cotton or bits of old pantyhose. Stitch it shut, attach a ribbon, and hang your homemade ornament on the tree!

Wrap presents. Use larger scraps in place of wrapping paper and tie them with braided bits of fabric or high-quality ribbon—the lucky gift recipient can even save the scraps to reuse themselves!

Tag it. Glue bits of fabric onto sturdy, solid-colored paper. Then, cut out fun shapes to make gift tags. Punch a hole in each tag, and secure them to your holiday gifts with colorful ribbons. Don’t forget to fill out the tags with a permanent marker!

Our bestselling book, Can the Clutter!, is full of terrific ways to reuse old “junk”…and it’ll save you a bundle! Try it out for FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview. And visit our Facebook page for more holiday helpers all season long!

Father’s Day is Sunday, and it’s the perfect time to sit down with your dear old dad over a few cups of joe. Then show him a few fresh-brewed ways to use the leftover coffee grounds.

·         Freshen up a musty car overnight. Here’s a quick fix for clearing the air in a car that got damp: Cut the foot off an old pair of panty hose and fill it with used dry coffee grounds. Then tie a knot above the coffee and set the sack on the car’s dash or in the cup holder overnight. This trick will work like magic—in the morning the car will be fresh as a daisy.

·         Say “adios” to ants. Fill a few paper lunch bags with dry coffee grounds and set the sacks wherever you’ve spotted ants inside your house. You can sprinkle loose grounds outside where you suspect they’re getting in. The coffee aroma will repel the ants, and if they happen to ingest the grounds, the caffeine will knock ‘em dead.

·         Fill in scuffs and scratches on wood furniture. Disguise nicks and dings by dipping a cotton swab in damp used coffee grounds and dabbing away at the scuffs. The tannins in the coffee will do a quick dye job, and no one will be the wiser.

·         Sweep out a garage without stirring up dust. Sprinkle damp coffee grounds across the garage floor before grabbing a broom. The weight of the grounds will keep the dirt and dust in check so cleanup will be a breeze.

·         Grow showier shrubs. Work a layer of coffee grounds into the dirt around your flowering bushes for the healthiest, most vigorous shrubs in the neighborhood. When they bloom, they’ll bloom big time!

In honor of Mother’s Day, here’s a fun way to brighten up Mom’s backyard landscape—after the sun sets! She’ll be delighted by these mini-lanterns all summer long, and the best thing is that you can make them yourself for pennies. All you need are a few small glass jelly jars, a spool of fine-gauge wire, and a handful of votive candles.

Here’s how to make a little moonlight magic:

For each jar, cut a piece of wire 40 to 50 inches long. Bend the cut wires in half to form a V-shaped handle. Hold the bent wire over a jar so 6 to 10 inches of the V extend above the jar for hanging. Wrap the rest of the wire around the threads of the jar mouth. Twist each end of the wire around the V-shaped handle to fasten it securely, and pull tight. Place votive candles in the jars, light ‘em, and hang the mini-lanterns from tree branches around Mom’s backyard!

Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s just about time for Peter Cottontail to come hoppin’ down the Bunny Trail, so why not greet him with something a little different this year? Gather some all-natural dye makings from the produce section, and spend Saturday afternoon coloring eggs. Here’s how:

Put the eggs in a single layer in a pan with just enough water to cover them completely. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 2-1/2 cups of your chosen fruits, vegetables, or leaves from the list below. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the eggs promptly if you want lighter shades. For darker colors, strain the dye into a bowl with the eggs, and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Here’s your color palette:

Blue—blackberries, blueberries, chestnuts, or red cabbage leaves
Green—spinach
Orange—yellow onion skins or orange peels
Purple—blackberries or purple grapes
Red—beets, cranberries, frozen raspberries, or red onion skins
Yellow—shredded carrots or lemon peels

Now that you have your produce to dye for—er, with—have fun! Experiment with other produce to achieve colors Mother Nature would be proud to call her own.

Happy April Fool’s Day! But it’s no foolin’ around here. In fact, now that spring has sprung, it’s the right time to get your lawn off on the right foot—er, root.

And there’s no better way to do it than to apply my Spring Wake-Up Mix as early as possible. Here’s how:

Mix 50 pounds of pelletized gypsum, 50 pounds of pelletized lime, 5 pounds of bonemeal, and 2 pounds of Epsom salts in a wheelbarrow. Apply the mixture to your lawn with a broadcast spreader no more than two weeks before your first fertilizing. This will help aerate the lawn, while giving it something to munch on until you start your regular feeding program.

Spring is also a super time to aerate your lawn. For best results, aerate the morning after you water the grass, or else after a heavy rain—the soil will be easier to penetrate then. After you’ve poked holes in the soil, put some sifted peat moss, dried manure, or compost in a broadcast spreader, and apply a layer about ¼ inch thick to the whole area. Your lawn will love it—it’s the lawn food equivalent to a hot fudge sundae!

There’s no need to kill yourself aerating your lawn. Just strap on a pair of my Aerating Lawn Sandals over your shoes and take a leisurely stroll across your grass. Check out the how-to DIY video to see how easy it is! Each sandal has 13 spikes that penetrate thatch and compacted soil so your lawn can breathe better and grow greener. One size fits all.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This time of year, I like to treat my sweetie to something delicious that I bake myself. It’s unexpected—since I usually don’t spend much time in the kitchen—so it’s always very much appreciated. Even if I bake my gift of goodies from a store-bought mix, I always give it a homemade touch by topping it off with a beautiful cascading ribbon of chocolate.

And I’ve figured out how to get the job done neatly, with very little cleanup. I just fill a bowl with boiling water, and drop in an unopened 6-ounce bag of chocolate chips. After a few minutes, I carefully remove the bag and knead it to blend the chocolate. I usually have to repeat the process a few times until the chips have completely melted. Then I snip off a small corner of the bag and squeeze the melted chocolate onto the cake, brownie, or cookie in fun patterns. When I’m done, I just toss the bag in the garbage. It’s as easy as that!

For more wonderful ways to turn common household products into super-duper solutions, check out my America’s Best Practical Problem Solvers book—FREE for 21 days! It’s filled with terrific tips and tricks for your home, health, and garden.

Can you believe it? The groundhog didn’t see his shadow on Tuesday; so good ol’ Punxsutawney Phil thinks it’s going to be an early spring this year. The growing pile of snow outside my back door right now makes it hard to believe that a green spring, bursting with colorful blossoms and warm sunny breezes is right around the corner. But it sure is fun to have such a delight to look forward to.


It helps that seed and nursery catalogs have been filling my mailbox in the last few weeks. They're like dream books to me, and I don’t ever get tired of thumbing through them. Besides, this time of year, catalog shopping for seeds, plants, or pretty garden accents sure beats watching reality TV!

And while I'm busy dreaming of gardening outdoors, I'll be sure to keep things green and growing indoors. Whether you grow one houseplant or a bunch, it can be a hassle to remember to water them and fuss with fertilizers, too. So here’s a terrific tonic that’ll save you loads of time—it waters and feeds in one easy step!

Mix 2 tablespoons of whiskey, 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide, 1 tablespoon of fish emulsion, and ½ teaspoon each of instant tea granules, unflavored gelatin, dishwashing liquid, ammonia, and corn syrup with a gallon of warm water in a bucket or watering can. Use this liquid instead of plain water on your houseplants, and you won’t believe how quickly they will grow big and strong.

Need more potions and lotions to keep you growing all year long? Check out my Terrific Garden Tonics book—FREE for 21 days! It’s jam-packed with my world-famous mixes and fixes that’ll have you growing like a pro in no time at all.

When it comes time to start packin’ your ornaments away, don’t just dump your Christmas tree at the curb. Ol’ Tanenbaum can be recycled in so many ways, it’d be a shame to have the garbage men haul it away. Here’s how to reuse it:

• Set the tree up in your yard, stand and all, and redecorate it with strings of popcorn, peanuts, apple chunks, grapes, dried cherries, and cranberries. Hungry birds will gobble up the treats, and thank you for your generosity.
• Cut off the tree’s branches and lay them over frozen perennial beds for a perfect lightweight, but insulating, winter mulch.
• Put the tree through a shredder, needles and all, then spread the resulting mulch over your dormant beds. Just remember: This mix will tend to make the soil acidic, so you’ll need to add some lime come spring.

For more great garden tips, check out my Backyard Problem Solver book—FREE for 21 days! It’s filled with the best of my all-time favorite handy hints, timely tonics, and super solutions that’ll make your yard the envy of the neighborhood.

This delicious—and easy!—recipe will make a plateful of cookies or a bough-ful of edible Christmas tree decorations. But I’m guessing that you won’t be able to keep your mitts off ‘em to keep the tree trimmed until Christmas Eve. Here’s how to make them:


Preheat the oven to 375˚F. In a large bowl, cream together ¾ cup of softened butter and 1 cup of sugar; add 1 egg, and beat well. Mix in 1 teaspoon each of peppermint extract and vanilla, then gradually stir in 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour. Divide the dough in half, and add several drops of red food coloring to one half.

Refrigerate both halves of dough for at least 30 minutes, then roll out a tablespoon each of red dough and plain dough until they are each 6 inches long. Twist the rolled dough together and pinch the ends, then bend one end into the shape of a candy cane. Place the candy cane on an ungreased cookie sheet, and repeat the rolling technique until all of the dough has been used. Bake for 8 minutes.

Christmas is just a week away. So how’s your tree holding up? Mine still looks lush and lovely, thanks to the Christmas Tree Survival Tonic I keep feeding it. Every year, without fail, Grandma Putt poured this elixir into our Christmas tree stand to keep that ol’ tree fresh and green throughout the year-end holidays. I still use it—I’ve never found a better formula! Here’s how to whip up a batch for your tree:


Mix 2 cups of clear corn syrup, 4 tablespoons of household bleach, 4 multivitamin tablets with iron, and 1 gallon of very hot water in a bucket. Carefully pour the mixture into the stand, and deliver a fresh dose whenever the water level starts going down. Your evergreen will stay fresh as a daisy right into the new year.

For more old-fashioned, commonsense secrets, check out my Grandma Putt’s Old-Time Vinegar, Garlic, Baking Soda, and 101 More Problem Solvers book—FREE for 21 days! Her tips, tricks, and tonics are sure to put a smile on your face.

Every year, you haul the same treasured decorations down from the attic to deck your halls and trim your tree. But do you ever take the time to clean your ornaments? Here’s a few timely tips that’ll have your knick-knacks, garlands, greens, and baubles shining like new:

• Before setting up your artificial tree, give it a winter windstorm to get rid of dirt, dust, and fuzz balls. Lay the branches on the floor, cover your vacuum’s brush attachment with cheesecloth, set the vacuum on “low,” and run the brush over the branches.
• A light swipe with a dry microfiber cloth will restore the glory to Christmas tree ornaments, ceramic snowmen, and other hard-surfaced décor.
• When your glittery ornaments have lost their luster, bring back the shine by dusting them off with a soft artist’s brush.
• Hang dusty cloth covered ornaments and knit stockings on a drying rack in your garage, and give ‘em the once over with your blow dryer set on cool. They’ll be ready to dazzle in no time at all.

For more handy household helpers, check out my Cleaning Magic! book—FREE! It’s filled with tons of terrific tips that’ll keep your home sweet home in tip-top shape.

Hooray! Thanksgiving is almost here! I can practically smell the pumpkin pie—which is, without question, my favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast. So what better time is there to give thanks for pumpkin and its potent nutrients?


Pumpkin is as potent a vegetable as you’ll find anywhere. Its deep orange color is a sure sign that it’s just crazy with carotenes, which fight both heart disease and cancer.

So of course pumpkin pie is great for Thanksgiving. Put this recipe in your favorite piecrust, and you’ve got a winner. But here’s a little secret: If you bake this filling in custard cups instead of a crust, you’ll have a power-packed dessert with half the calories of last Thanksgiving’s pie!

Spicy Pumpkin Custard/Pie Filling

2 cups of canned pumpkin
1 ½ cups of evaporated skim milk
½ cup of packed brown sugar
¼ cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 300°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk, sugars, molasses, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and eggs, and stir with a wire whisk until thoroughly blended. Ladle into six custard cups (or into a prepared pie crust). Arrange on a rack set in a baking pan of hot water. (The water should not go more than halfway up the sides of the cups.) Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the custard comes out clean. Chill before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ready or not, here comes Halloween! Between the trick-or-treaters, the scary costumes, the carved pumpkins, and the mountains of candy, your little monsters, super heroes, and princesses can’t wait for their day of fun. But are you ready for the morning-after miseries?
The first order of business is the “too-much-sugar” tummy ache. If your little one(s) overindulged, bring on the bland to help settle his stomach. Put easy-to-digest applesauce, a little plain rice, dry toast, or even a mild cooked vegetable on the day’s menu.

Then you can deal with the chocolate stains that set in on costumes, tablecloths, or other fabrics during the post-trick-or-treating candy bar food-fest. Here’s how:

• Since chocolate is a combination stain (part grease, part dye), you need to tackle it in stages, treating the grease first. Rub in some liquid dishwasher detergent. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Then dab the spot with ammonia, and wash the item as usual in the hottest water the fabric can stand.
• Use a piece of Fels-Naptha® soap for extra stain-bustin’ power. Just wet the stained area and vigorously rub the soap into the spot like you would a stain stick. Then toss the item into the wash. Look for Fels-Naptha in the laundry section of your supermarket.

For even more squeaky-clean solutions that’ll make any mess disappear in a flash, check out my Cleaning Magic! book—FREE for 21 days!

Why not try something a little different for Halloween this year, and carve up a turnip lantern (or two!) to hang out on the porch along with your pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns? It’s easy – here’s how to do it:


1. Find a big, round turnip — the bigger and rounder, the better.

2. About a quarter of the way down, slice off the top completely.

3. Scoop out the insides with a spoon. Make the shell as thin as you can without breaking the skin. Leave a layer of flesh on the bottom. In it, hollow out a socket for a candle.

4. With a very sharp, fine knife, etch a design on the turnip. Be careful not to cut through the skin — it’s a lot thinner than a pumpkin shell, and if it’s broken, your lantern will collapse.

5. Push a candle into the socket.

6. With an awl or a nail, poke a hole on each side, about an inch or so down from the top.

7. Thread wire or sturdy cord through the holes to make a handle. Be sure to keep it long enough so you don’t burn your hand when you hold on to it.

8. Light the candle carefully, using a long fireplace match.

9. Then hang it up outside on Halloween night for all the little trick-or-treaters to enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

Since we’re celebrating our great nation’s independence this weekend, I’ve been spending a little time this week transforming our deck into a red, white, and blue extravaganza—with patriotic perennials and all-American annuals from my very own garden.

For starters, I cut some white Shasta daisies and placed them in a tall vase, then interspersed them with red bee balm blossoms. Next, I attached some glittery blue stars to florist’s wire and set them among the red and white flowers. And there you have it—flowery fireworks in a vase! I also potted up some red geraniums, white hydrangeas, and blue delphiniums and placed small American flags in the containers to add to the colorful fun.

Need a little help growin’ the most gorgeous perennials in any color and any season? Check out my Perfect Perennials book—FREE for 21 days! It’s filled with 1,784 super secrets for bloomin’ beauties that’ll flourish year after year.