4/2/13

Many of us have gift cards to stores like J.C. Penney, Target and Kohl's with just a few dollars left on them. Instead of letting the cards go unused, donate them to Sew Much Comfort. The nonprofit takes new clothing and retrofits it into adaptive clothing -- including adding Velcro closures -- for wounded service members. Sew Much Comfort has distributed more than 122,000 articles of clothing to wounded soldiers since 2004. Learn more and donate at sewmuchcomfort.org.

4/1/13

If you want to control static electricity in your freshly dried clothes without resorting to chemical-laden dryer sheets, try this tip from the home design site Apartment Therapy: Use aluminum foil. Roll up a sheet of foil into a small, solid ball about 3 inches in diameter. Toss it in the dryer with your wet clothes, and dry as you normally would. The foil helps control static electricity and it won't leave any artificial fragrances on your clothes. You can reuse the aluminum ball for several months, and when it's time to replace it, just toss it into the recycling bin.

3/31/13

With spring around the corner and the harsh winter months behind us, many of us have unused bags of de-icing salt sitting in the garage. Left unattended through the spring, summer and fall months, the salt can clump and become useless when winter rolls around again. The simple solution? Toss charcoal briquettes into the bag and seal it tightly. The briquettes will absorb excess moisture and help keep the salt loose and crumbly.