4/14/09

Having trouble getting to sleep? Try aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is the belief that the right scent can evoke a certain mood when breathed in: Peppermint can excite and lavender can soothe. But instead of spending lots of money on pricey linen sprays, make your own. Fill a mister bottle with distilled water and add about 20 drops of lavender oil (from the natural health food store). Shake and spray on your sheets. Then just lie down and relax.

4/13/09

For the healthiest sleep, completely enclose your pillows and mattress in an encasement cover to keep out microscopic dust mites that live inside. While you can't see dust mites with the naked eye, if you're an allergy sufferer, you definitely notice them. So by encasing your pillows and mattress, you'll have a more restful, allergy-free sleep. You can find encasement covers in the bedding section of most retail stores.

The lazy person's way to pull weeds from sidewalks and driveways? Instead of using harmful herbicides or struggling to pull them by hand, let black plastic do the trick. Grab some heavy-duty trash bags and place them over the weeded area and put bricks or heavy rocks on top. Leave the bags there for a week and let the hot sun literally bake the weeds away. Be sure to dust off the trash bags and use them for their intended purpose after you've weeded everything.