shoutingforha

Showing posts with label handy dandy tips. Show all posts

6.26.2013

How to Clear Up A Dog's Ear Infection Without Medication

I've talked about our loveable mutt, Brick, quite a bit here on the old blog. One thing I haven't told you is that the beast's ears are prone to growing that smelly, black funk that is associated with doggie ear infections.

Our veterinarian isn't sure why Brick's ears are so susceptible to yeast infections. Most likely it's a combination of an unknown allergy (one that can only be diagnosed with high-dollar blood tests) and the likelihood that one of the dogs in his mysterious gene pool had some wacky ears.

During Brick's early years, I would drag the poor dog into the vet's office every time his ears became gunky. The solution was always the same - an expensive and ridiculously tiny bottle of Mometamax. Unfortunately the drops never worked and it would usually take two or three treatments to kill the infection once and for all.

At one point, the infection was so severe that the insides of poor Brick's ears had become red and raw. It was obvious that my poor dog was in pain. In an effort to ease his suffering I decided to try and clean some of the black gunk from his ears.

I armed myself with three things... A bottle of witch hazel, some Q-tips and a few wet wipes. Witch hazel seemed like a good choice because I knew it wouldn't sting Brick's sores and it's anti-inflamitory properties certainly wouldn't hurt.

I poured a little witch hazel into a dish and placed the ends of a small handful of Q-tips in to soak. I began by taking one of the wet wipes and tried to gently wipe away some of the goop inside Brick's ears.

Next, I tackled the maze of nooks and crannies that make up my dog's outer ear canal. Dogs have some crazy ears! Using one of the witch hazel soaked Q-tips I would gently clean each crevice, being careful to get a clean swab any time one became visibly dirty.

It was tedious work but I was surprised by how quickly the skin changed from an angry red to a healthy pink color just by removing the gunk. Once Brick's ears were sufficiently cleaned, I used another wet wipe to give his ears one last wipe. I repeated this process daily until any sores or signs of redness were completely gone.

To my surprise, Brick seemed to enjoy having his ears cleaned and the infection didn't come back within a few days like it did with the medication. In fact, his ears stayed healthy and yeast-free for several months.

I use witch hazel to clean Brick's ears on a as-needed basis. The telltale sign that some ear funk might be brewing is a sudden increase in scratching. As soon as I notice that back paw clawing away at an ear I know it's time to break out my tried and true home remedy.

If your dog suffers with occasional or even severe ear infections, I hope you will give witch hazel a try. It might just be the solution you've been looking for.

~~~~~

I am not a veterinarian and I make no promises or guarantees that this treatment will work on your pet. I am simply sharing something that has helped my dog in the hopes that it might help yours as well.

~~~~~

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family. Pop by for some more handy tips.

6.13.2013

How To Coax Peonies Into Opening Once They've Been Cut

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers. I have several bushes dotting the flower beds around my house and I look forward to their fragrant blooms every spring. The only thing I don't like is all the ants. Peonies are ant magnets.

Peonies release a sap-like substance on their buds. You can see the little bubbles in the picture above. As I understand it, the ants eat the sap which allows the buds to open up. Without the ants, the peony buds would remain glued shut so to speak.

I love having fresh flowers in my house so as soon as the blooms begin to appear I race outside, scissors in hand, and harvest flowers to enjoy indoors. There isn't a lilac, hydrangea or peony that is safe from my shears.

In an effort to avoid the legion of ants that call my bushes home, I tend to cut my peonies a little on the early side. The result is usually a vase full of buds and very few open blooms.

Never fear, dear readers. There is an easy solution for this problem. I gently wipe the sap-like substance off of the buds using a damp paper towel or cloth. The process only takes a few minutes and will need to be repeated every day until the flowers begin to open.

It only takes a day or two for the once tightly sealed buds to begin to open. Best of all, I didn't have to worry about those pesky ants infesting my house.

If you love peonies but are prone to bouts of impatience like me, give this little trick a try. Your home will be filled with their glorious aroma quicker than you can say, "Pesky ants love peonies!"

10.17.2012

How to Make Fire Starters

Have you ever tried to light a fire in your fireplace or outdoor fire pit with no success? Well, today is your lucky day. I am going to show you a simple solution to this age-old problem... Homemade fire starters.

I have to give credit for this project to my mom. She always had a stash of these handy little guys within easy reach of our wood-burning stove and, as a result, lighting the fire was never a problem.

Here's what you will need:

A clean tin can
Remnants of old candles
A pot of water
Muffin tin
Paper muffin cups
Dryer lint or sawdust
A pair of scissors
Pine cones, pine straw, wood chips...

Let's get started...

Using a sharp knife, chop up the old candles and place the chunks of wax the tin can. Make sure to set aside the wicks as you will need them later on. Place the tin can in a pot of water and allow it to heat on the stove until the wax has completely melted.

Meanwhile, line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with dryer lint or sawdust. My mom always used sawdust, but since I didn't have any on hand I decided to use some of my never-ending supply of lint. Try not to be too grossed out by the dog hair and other bits of nastiness lurking in my lint.

Using your scissors, cut the wicks into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces and place one in each muffin cup. I like to make sure that one end of the wick is tucked underneath the lint or sawdust and the other is sticking out over the edge of the muffin cup.

Add a few pine cones on top of the lint. I'm using some of the tiny pine cones that fell off my neighbor's cypress tree. Feel free to substitute bigger pine cones or even a bit of pine straw or wood chips. Just use whatever you happen to have on hand.

Remember all that wax you melted? Carefully pour the wax over the dryer lint, wick and pine cones. Make sure you use a hot pad when you pick up the can as the metal will be hot. Allow the wax to harden before removing the fire starters from the muffin tin.

You can store the fire starters in a basket by your fireplace for easy access. If you plan on using your fire starters to light your outdoor fire pit, I would recommend keeping them inside during the summer months as the wax is no match for the hot temperatures.

To use one of these handy-dandy fire starters, simply place a few logs in your fire pit. Tuck some crumpled newspaper and a few twigs between the logs. Place one of the fire starters on top of the paper. Place one of your fire starters on top of the paper.

Light the wick and wait for the fire to ignite all of the kindling and the logs. It's that simple.

My fire looked like this within two minutes. The best part is that it only took one match.

I hope you will give these simple fire starters a try. They make a sometimes trying task so much easier.

~~~~~

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family. Pop by for some more handy tips.

6.20.2012

How To Stop the Insane Itch of Chigger Bites

Chiggers. One mention of the word is likely to fill southerners with dread. The itch of their bite is so intense that it can only be described as torture.

For those of you who aren't familiar with these evil little creatures, a chigger is a small mite that lives in tall grass or shrubs in damp or humid areas, a.k.a the south. During their larva stage, they leap onto humans or animals and feast on the liquid in the skin cells. Gross, right?

Unfortunately for us humans, the chiggers are so small that they can't be seen with the naked eye and a person won't know that they've been bitten until the itchy welt appears. They frequently congregate in the damp (sweaty) areas on the body: armpits, under waistbands or bra straps, groin and inside socks.

I had my first chigger encounter just weeks after moving to Nashville in 1994. Being the Colorado girl that I am, I foolishly assumed that the bites on my ankles were from a pesky mosquito. I applied a little cortisone cream and went about my business. The only problem was that the cream did little to stop the insane itch. I lost sleep and scratched my ankles until they bled.

One day as I was strolling the aisles of my neighborhood grocery store, a kind old lady noticed my plight. She explained to me who the real culprits were and suggested that I paint the chigger bites with nail polish. This seals the bites from the air thus reducing the itch. It helped a little, but I was still miserable for weeks.

Last week, the boy and I found ourselves in an area that unbeknownst to us was infested with chiggers. While the boy's bites were located all over his body, mine seemed to be clustered on the backs of my knees and in my groin. I was thrilled because nothing is more horrifying than the sight of a 39-year-old woman frantically scratching her crotch.

I took handfuls of Benadryl and tried applying calamine lotion, nail polish and the prescription cortisone cream that my doctor prescribed for my last bout of poison ivy. Nothing worked. Then a friend suggested I try something a little different...

...Anbesol (I bought the generic version). A little dab of the magical liquid seemed to numb the nerves and provide almost instant relief from the itching. I plan on keeping a bottle in my medicine cabinet in the event that I have another unfortunate encounter with chiggers.

If you find yourself plagues with bug bites that just won't stop itching, give Anbesol a try. It just might provide the relief that your skin so desperately desires.

~~~~~

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family. Pop by for some more handy tips.

1.11.2012

Removing Water Marks From a Table

Most of the furniture in my home is coated with a protective layer of polyurethane. The one exception is an antique library table that sits in our den.

When we bought the piece, it was clear that the table had seen a lot of use. The hubby and I were no strangers to refinishing furniture but, for whatever reason, we opted to just leave the table alone.

The hubby's favorite chair is within arms reach of the table. Most evenings you can find him, plopped in his chair, MacBook on his lap, with a ginormous cup of coffee or 40 liter bottle of water by his side. The table also happens to be my boy's favorite spot to rest a glass.

If you know anything about my boy, it will come as no surprise that he is constantly knocking things over. That, combined with the normal condensation that appears on glasses, results in a table that is covered with water marks.

An obvious solution would be to simply require the fellows to use a coaster, but to be honest, we're just not coaster people. I like being able to put down my glass wherever I want, whenever I want.

If you have a table that has suffered similar abuse, don't despair. I have a quick and easy way to remove those pesky rings. All you need is this:

That's right. Mayonnaise. Around the Ha house, Hellman's is king.

Don't even bother using Miracle Whip. Not only does the stuff taste terrible, but the high fructose corn syrup and food starch will just gunk up the furniture.

Slather a decent coating of mayonnaise onto the furniture. Make sure that the water marks are completely covered.

Now just walk away. You heard me. Go.

Be sure to keep your eyes out for this guy. He looks cute, but when you're not looking he will mosey over to the table and help himself to a lick or two of the mayo. The little stinker.

After a few hours, it will start to look like this. Notice how the oil in the mayonnaise starts to soak into the wood?

If you are fixing a severe water mark on a piece of furniture, like the one pictured above, it is a good idea to coat the table with mayonnaise before you go to bed and leave it over night. That way, the mayo has plenty of time to work it's magic.

Now for the fun part. Grab some paper towels and start wiping. Once the majority of the mayonnaise is removed, grab a clean cloth and give the table a good polishing.

Give it a try for yourself.

~~~~~

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family. Pop by for some more handy tips.

8.25.2011

How To Embellish A Onesie - Girly Version

I've previously written a post about embellishing onesies with cute little neck ties for your little boy. Today, I'm going to share a few examples that would ideal for the fairer species. I don't have a daughter myself, but I sure enjoy making girly things for my nieces and friends who are expecting a little pink bundle of joy.

Unlike the last time I did this project, I didn't have any of my handy-dandy fusible web sheets. I did, however, happen to have a roll of stitch witchery tape.

When using fusible web, you simply cut your embellishment, in this case a heart, out of the fabric and an identical piece of the web. When using the tape, cut multiple strips and arrange them on the back side of the fabric.

Carefully flip the fabric over and place it on the desired location on the onesie. Using the heat from your iron, press the fabric until the tape fuses it in place.

While this step is a little tedious, it makes sewing the garment much, much easier. You'll thank me for it later, I promise.

Set your machine to the zig zag stitch. You can adjust the length or tightness of the stitch to whatever you like. I opted to keep it on the standard setting.

Place the onesie under the presser foot and slowly stitch around the edge of the applique. If you have a more complex design, you may have to lift the presser foot and adjust the placement of the onesie in order to navigate the perimeter of the fabric embellishment.

Your finished stitching should look something like this. As you can see, I used a complimentary thread to sew the heart.

In addition to pink plaid hearts, you can embellish onesies with countless other designs like
a monogram or first initial.

You can even layer multiple fabrics.

Or, if you want to get really fancy, you can make this cute little owl, my personal favorite. One thing to note, I used plain white thread to sew all of the pieces in place. If you prefer, you could use a different color for each fabric.

As you can see, adding an applique is a quick and easy way to add a special touch to a plain old onesie. Next time you need a baby gift, I would encourage you to give it a try.

To check out some onesies I embellished for a little boy, click here.

7.13.2011

How To Remove Water From Your Car

Last Thursday we had some torrential rains in our neck of the woods. According to the weather service, four inches fell in just an hour. It was enough to cause flooding in some of the same areas that were hit last year.

I happened to be out running errands when the downpour started. Things have been really dry around here so it didn't take long for the roads to pool with water. As I was navigating my way through the rising flood, I drove through a particularly deep spot; one that made me pause and question, "Should I really drive through this mess?"

Like the ninny that I am, I drove right on through the water. Unbeknownst to me, some water managed to wash inside the back doors of my Suburban. It wasn't until Sunday that we noticed what had happened thanks to the lovely sour smell permeating the entire car.

Thankfully, or maybe not so thankfully, this wasn't our first time at the rodeo. We knew exactly how to fix our smelly, soggy problem... Cat litter.

The hubby zipped to the store and purchased a giant container of cat litter, specifically the clumping kind. We poured the entire jug into the back of the truck, spreading it to make sure that all of the damp carpet was covered in a nice thick layer. Then you wait.

We left the cat litter in the back of the truck for two days. After all of the water had been absorbed, we simply vacuumed out the litter and the truck was stink-free and good as new. It's that easy.

Next time one of your kids dumps an entire beverage in the floor boards or you leave the windows or sunroof open during a thunderstorm, don't fret. Just grab some cat litter and let it clean up the mess for you. It works every time.

~~~~~

This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family. Pop by for some more handy tips.