Hair-Brained?

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Karen's Tips

1. When I go to garage sales, I often buy a whole box of mismatched china pieces for as little as $1.00. I use them for taking food to a potluck event. After the meal, I tell the hostess to keep the dish. We're both winners because she has a new dish, and I don't have to take a dirty one home.

2. Here's how to make sure your kitchen food measuring scale is accurate: place nine pennies on the scale—they should weigh one ounce.

3. To end the mess of dry soil running out of the drain holes in the bottom of the pots when repotting plants, keep a supply of coffee filters on hand and drop one in the bottom of each pot first. This keeps the soil in when repotting and while watering.

—Karen Ann Bland
Gove, KS

Easy Insulation

An old MOTHER issue [December, 1977, issue #48] showed how to make insulation from newspapers. The article suggested using a hammer mill to grind the newspaper and mixing borax with it to make it fire-resistant.

For anyone who is without a hammer mill and wants to insulate an attic, I'd like to suggest a simple and safe alternative:

1. Pour a few pounds of borax and a few gallons of water into a washtub or bathtub.
2. Stir it several times during the next few hours (or days). If all the borax dissolves, add more.
3. Soak your old paper in the borax solution. Be sure it all gets wet.
4. Drain the papers and dry them on a clothesline.
5. Use a match to test the paper for fireresistance.
6. Wad the sheets of paper and toss in the attic.

When the insulation is about a foot deep, your insulation will make your house safer and more comfortable. Also, wadding all that paper may make you stronger, healthier, and better looking.

—John Morton
Waco, TX

Denim Furniture

When we moved to our farm after my husband lost his job, I insisted that I had to take my wrought iron porch furniture. It had taken me three years and too many after-season sales to simply leave it behind. Well, it wasn't long before farm life had taken its toll on what was left of my cushions. Since money was at a premium, and still is, I asked my enterprising husband, "What do we have a lot of around here that I could use to cover the cushion?" He replied, "The only thing I can think of is worn-out blue jeans." Well, that was the answer! Our dear 86-year old Aunt Hazel, who is now gone, helped me cut the jeans to make the covers. On the lounge chairs, we pieced (by machine, for sturdiness) four-inch squares of denim. For the other chairs and couch, I used the unworn sections of the legs of the jeans. We tried to alternate the colors. Some were more faded than others, and we found different brands washed out to several attractive shades of blue. Some of the sections of the jeans we used still had the print of where I removed the pockets, a look I also found to be pleasant.

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