Hardwood Floor Treatments

• Begin your wood floor treatments by sweeping or vacuuming the entire floor area. If needed, use a vacuum attachment to get all the goodies out of the edges and corners. After the bigger pieces of dirt have been removed, consider using a mop treated with a dusting agent.
• Dilute a wood-cleaning product per the instructions on the package.
• Using a damp sponge or a rag mop, dip it into the cleaning product and wash the floor with it. Avoid leaving standing water.
• If the cleaning product instructs it, rinse the floor off with straight water by filling a bucket with water and using a clean mop.
• Wipe up any excess water.
• Dry with a towel, or even a fan to avoid warping the wood.
• It’s important to note that when cleaning and treating hardwood floors, you read up on any products that you plan on using – make sure they are suitable for your type of hardwood and that you have all of the necessary items to complete your task before you begin.

Ceramic Tiles Floor Treatment

• Sweep the entire floor. Using a vacuum attachment, suck up dirt that is along the edges or between the tiles.
• Using a manufacturer-recommended cleaner for ceramic tile and grout, mop the floor, using only enough cleaner to make the mop damp.
• For spots that are hard to get off, use a mild dishwashing detergent and warm water.
• Rinse the floor with straight water using a fresh bucket of water and a clean mop.
• Wipe up excess water.
• Dry the tile for a shiny look.
• If you have stains in your grout, use a grout marker to paint over the blemishes.

Carpet Flooring

• Remove everything from the floor. If you can, move the furniture into another room do you can get to areas that aren’t vacuumed or cleaned on a regular basis. You might want to get some furniture pads that you can slide under the furniture legs to help you glide your furniture into another area.
• Sweep off the floorboards/baseboard or use your vacuum attachments to vacuum any loose dirt off of the trim. You may have to get a damp rag and wipe down the floorboards/baseboards if there are scuff marks or a lot of dirt.
• Vacuum the entire area. Use vacuum attachments to get into all the corners and areas that are hard to reach.
• Clean the carpets. If you own a cleaning system, you probably have one of two styles.
  • Water extracting cleaner. With this system, a cleaning solution is shot into the carpet and then is extracted along with all the dirt it collects. It usually works like a vacuum – after you have the solution and water in the machine, turn it on and pull the lever to shoot the solution onto the carpet. As you pull the vacuum back, the water and dirt is sucked into the machine. Note that you really have to take your time when you’re using a carpet cleaner – if you are going to go through the hassle of mixing the solution and moving all of the furniture, you’ll want to make sure you do a thorough job so go slow.
  • Dry extracting cleaner. With this system, you will sprinkle a dry absorbent cleaner onto the entire carpet area and will then vacuum it up, along with all the dirt, with the cleaning machine.

  If you don’t own a cleaning system, you can rent a carpet cleaner from a rental center, or you can hire a professional cleaner to come and do the carpets for you.

• Allow enough drying time before replacing furniture (typically about 24 hours).

Vinyl Floors

• Sweep the entire floor with a broom. Be sure to get into the corners and along the edges.
• The method you use for cleaning will depend on how dirty the floor is. Use a mop or a rag with one of the following floor treatments.
  • For a vinyl floor that is pretty new or just doesn’t get a lot of use, a mixture of half hot water, and half ammonia would work fine.
  • Heavily soiled vinyl flooring will need something that will remove the dirt a little better, but that will be mild enough on the vinyl, such as dish detergent and hot water.
  • Isopropyl alcohol and water is needed to break up waxy or greasy build up.
  • A damp cloth with a drop of paint thinner should remove scuff marks.
• Rinse the entire floor with straight hot water.

The post Spring Cleaning – Carpet Cleaning & Floor Treatments appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

Clean the Bed
Take your dirty sheets and pillow cases off of the bed and wash them. While your mattress is exposed, use your vacuum attachments to clean the mattress. If you have standard pillows that can be washed, put them in the washing machine for a good cleaning (do not wash them if they are feather pillows and be sure to read the label to make sure your pillows can handle the washing machine). Now is also a good time to clean out anything that is under the bed.

Clean Out Your Drawers
Go through your room and remove anything that doesn’t belong there and place it in the correct location. Open up your nightstand drawers and clean them out. Make sure you completely empty the drawers so you can wipe them down before putting the items back.

Open up your dresser drawers and remove all items of clothing. If your clothes have been stuck in there for a long time, throw them in the wash or take them to the dry cleaners to freshen them up. Before returning clothes to their drawer, organize them by style so you have a t-shirt drawer, under garment drawer, shorts drawer, etc. Make sure you fold the clothes nice and tight before placing them back in. When you get to your ever-dreaded sock drawer, take a seat and pull out all of your socks. Take the time to match them up and roll them together. Place the dingy, holey and one-offs in a basket and put them with your cleaning rags or toss them out. You’ll be amazed at how good you’ll feel when your sock drawer is organized.

Clean the Lights
If you have overhead lighting, wipe off the lights with a damp cloth and take out the bulbs so you can wipe them off (it’s important that you wait until the lights are cool – don’t touch a hot bulb…ouch!). If you have high ceilings, you can use a high reach cleaning kit to remove your bulbs and to wipe down your lights. Clean your lamp bases, lamp shades and the bulbs. Replace any burned out bulbs if you haven’t already done so. Take a look at your cords – you might have to wipe those down as well.

Dust & Clean Your Bedroom
Begin dusting at the top of the room. If you have a step ladder, pull it out so that you can reach the ceiling with your dust rag. If you don’t have a step ladder, you can get a high reach cleaning kit or put a rag over the head of a broom and dust the ceiling. Begin with the ceiling corners, and work your way along the entire ceiling. Dust the ceiling fans and ceiling air vents. Replace your air vent filters.

Start to work your way down the walls, beginning at the top and making sure to get the crown molding, framed art, photos, mirrors, and anything else that is hanging on the walls. Remove your drapes and, if they can be washed, put them in the washing machine, otherwise put them in the dry cleaner basket.

Wipe down doors, closet doors, doorknobs and handles.

Vacuum and dust the window blinds, sills, screens, and window corners and finish off by working your way down the rest of the wall. Dust all furniture in the room.

Use glass cleaner to wash your windows inside and out. If your outside windows are too high, use a Telescoping Washing Brush to reach them. Take down the screens and scrub them as well. If you have wood furniture, use a furniture polish to wipe them down. With a damp rag, wipe down all of the walls. Be careful – if your walls were painted with flat paint, the paint may wipe off. Test on a small section behind a piece of furniture before you begin this step. Scrub any floor boards with a gentle home cleaner.

Clean the flooring.
The type of flooring you have will determine how you clean the floors. If you have carpets or rugs, use a good vacuum to go over the entire room, including underneath the bed. Use a vacuum attachment to reach all the nooks and crannies that are collecting dirt and dust. If you have hardwood floors, use a broom and a wood-safe cleaner.

Finish Up Your Bedroom Spring Cleaning
By the time you make it all the way to the floor, most of your laundry should be done. Complete your bedroom cleaning checklist by:

• Hanging up the curtains and draperies.
• Folding your laundry or hanging it in the closet.
• Make your bed
• Replace the smoke detector batteries
• If you want to, you can place a vase of fresh flowers on the dresser, or plug in an air freshener to freshen up the room.

The post Spring Cleaning – Bedroom Cleaning Checklist appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

Spring cleaning kids’ rooms can be a challenge. If your kids are younger, the best way to get the job done is to get them involved and really play up the “teamwork” aspect – like slap high-5′s when a section is completed, make it a race to see who can remove the pillowcases first, etc. If you make spring cleaning a fun game, it may take longer to get it done, but you will be able to spend more time with your child & get a chore done at the same time. Now that’s a win/win!

Spring Cleaning Kids Room Checklist
I’ve found that any chore that I do, if there’s a specific outfit involved, my 3-year old will join in. For cleaning, we each have an old white tee-shirt, black shorts, yellow cleaning gloves and wear bandanas to hold back our hair – it’s called our “cute cleaning outfit” (and believe me, I know it’s not “cute”), but for whatever reason, she gets excited to put it on. Granted the bandana & gloves last about 8 minutes, but that’s ok, they did their job. Here’s a spring cleaning kids room checklist:

1. Remove all blankets, sheets, and pillowcases from the bed and throw them in the washer. Vacuum the mattress. Clear out everything that is under the bed and vacuum it. If you can wash your pillows in the washer, do so. If not, you can vacuum them as well. After your sheets are washed and dried, you can make up the bed. Note: I wouldn’t do this last step until you have vacuumed & dusted the rest of the room. You don’t want any dust particles to fly onto your clean sheets.
2. Pick up all the toys, clean laundry, dirty laundry, old homework, and anything else that is on the floor. Put dirty laundry in the hamper. Put all the other items in one of 3 boxes: Garbage, Donate, and Keep. Don’t forget to let your kids decide what they will donate, throw out, and keep.
3. Put the garbage and donation boxes out in the hallway and put everything that is in the keep box away.
   • Purchase plastic totes, storage cubes or wicker baskets.
   • Label them with “action figures”, “legos”, “Barbies”, “stuffed animals”, etc.
   • Separate the toys and, if they are washable, give them a good cleaning. After they have dried, put them in the correct totes or baskets.
   • Arrange the totes on shelves in the closet or on a bookcase. If they are going to be stored under the bed, put them on the bed until the vacuuming is done.
4. Go through the closet and separate clothes into Garbage, Donate & Keep. Any clothes that don’t fit anymore, move to the donate pile. Any clothes that have seen better days, either move to the garbage pile or put them in a drawer as “painting clothes.” Make sure the clothes that you are going to keep smell fresh and hang them back into the closet. Remove any winter clothes and store them away, unless your child is going to out-grow them, then move them into the donate pile.
5. Dust the entire room, beginning with the ceiling and working your way down to the door frame, doorknobs, windows, window sills, blinds, curtains, walls, decorative shelves, photo frames, furniture, etc. Don’t forget – your vacuum most likely comes with extensions so now would be the time to pull those out. Sometimes it’s easier to vacuum the desks, walls & ceilings with extensions before wiping them off with a cloth.
6. Take a wet cloth and wipe down your baseboard – it’s amazing how dirty they can get. Wipe down your doors and remove any handprints from doors and walls.
7. Use furniture polish to dust the furniture after all of the main dust has been removed.
8. Wash the windows with glass cleaner, both inside and out. If you have window screens, you can remove them and wash them off with a hose. Make sure they are completely dry before you put them back in the window.
9. Vacuum the floor. Use the vacuum attachment to get into the corners, behind the bed post, underneath the dresser, and behind the bookshelf. If you have the means, you could also move the furniture to the middle of the room while you vacuum the edges, and then move it back to vacuum the middle.

Remember you don’t have to do all of the items on the spring cleaning checklist yourself – involve your kids to make the “chores” more enjoyable. Here are 3 easy examples of how to get your kids involved in spring cleaning their room:

• Be an Example. Don’t complain about all of the work that is involved with spring cleaning your kid’s room. Your kids are watching you more than you realize and if you complain, they will too. Don’t take shortcuts. Your kids also notice when you only do half a job, and they will mimic that as well. If you get distracted and decide something else is more important, they will think that it is okay to veer off course and not get the cleaning done when they should.
• Clean With Them. Standing in the doorway of the bedroom and barking orders is probably the worst way to get your kids to spring clean their room. Get in the room and ask them to help you pick up all the dirty laundry. Ask them to hold one end of the curtain rod while you pull the curtains off. Sit on the floor with them and sort through toys together.
• Let Them Decide. Letting your kids make many of the decisions during spring cleaning is one of the best ways to help them feel responsible for their area and their possessions and to help them feel pride in what they have and what they do. Rather than giving orders or telling them to “just do something” or “start cleaning”, give them options. “Would you like to vacuum while I wash the windows or would you rather do the windows?”

The post Spring Cleaning Kid’s Rooms in 9 Easy Steps appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

When winter is gone and your spring cleaning is fully underway, you’ll eventually find yourself in your closet… pondering what to do. We’ll tackle organizing a closet in a second, but first I wanted to give you a few tips on storing your winter clothes.

Items You Will Need:

• 18 gallon tote for snow gear
• Clear packing/shipping tape & marker (or label maker)
• Damp rags to wipe down boots
• Leather cleaner (if necessary)
• Clothing storage boxes
• Shoe bench or shoe storage boxes
• Camera & photo paper (or laser jet paper)
• Cedar Pieces or Cedar Lining Rolls to place in the bottom of the storage boxes

Remove All of Your Winter Items
Make sure you have an area in your house that is cleaned out and has enough room to hold all of your winter items – this will be your sorting area. Go through your closet and remove all of your heavy sweaters, thick shirts, winter hats, winter gloves, scarves, winter coats and winter shoes and place them in your sorting area. You might want to leave a couple of sweatshirts or a long sleeve sweater or 2 in your closet in case the weather gets un-seasonally cold.

Clean

• Wash and dry all of the winter clothes that you are going to store.
• Take your bulky jackets, scarves & winter hats to the dry cleaner so they are cleaned before they are packed away. You don’t want any stains or odors to set into your clothes while they’re stored.
• Wipe down & treat winter boots before placing them in storage.
• Wipe out any drawers that are going to be used to store your winter clothes, or if you’re going to use storage boxes, now is a good time to pull them out and add some cedar pieces or cedar lining rolls.

Pack & Store
When all of your winter items are cleaned, it’s time to start packing them away.

• Collect snow gear – coats, snow pants, boots, etc and arrange them into 18 gallon totes or large rolling storage bags, beginning with boots at the bottom. Next, put the coats and pants in, topping it off with hats, gloves, and scarves. If you wish to, you can pair the gloves together with safety pins or rubber bands. Tuck the totes into the very back of the closet, whether it is under a shelf or behind the hanging coat rack, or in the attic or basement if you have room.
• Place a long strip of clear packing/shipping tape on the top of the tote and also on the end of the tote that will be facing out. Using the marker, write “Snow Gear” on both pieces of the clear shipping tape – if you want to use the tote at a later date for something else, you can just remove the clear packing/shipping tape. If you prefer, you can use your label maker instead of clear tape.
• Bulky Sweaters – fold flat and place them in storage boxes or large rolling storage bags. If you have several bulky sweaters, you can organize them by color and place them in the storage box. If your storage box isn’t clear, you can use your label maker or clear packing/shipping tape & marker to write what is inside on the tape. For example, Pink Bulky Sweaters. You can also lay all of the sweaters together, but not on top of each other & take a picture before they’re folded. Print it out on regular or photo paper and, using the clear packing tape, tape it onto the top and/or side of the storage container. Line the bottom of the storage box with cedar pieces or cedar lining rolls to keep moths away.
• Thin Winter Sweaters & Long Sleeved Shirts – You can either separate these items by color or by type. After you’ve grouped the items, take a picture of the items that will be stored together. Next, either fold the items flat or if you have several items, roll them into a tight ball. By rolling the sweaters & shirts, you can usually fit more items into a smaller space and the clothes will not have a folding crease when you pull them out. Place them in storage boxes that will be placed in a spare closet, attic or basement or in an under bed storage box that can slide right under your bed. If you’ve taken a picture, print it out and place it on the storage box & label what is inside just like you did with the bulky sweaters. Don’t forget to label the part that will be seen – ie either the top of the storage box or the side that will be facing out and to line the bottom of the storage box with cedar pieces or cedar lining rolls.
• Scarves, Hats & Gloves – If you can fit them all in 1 storage box, lay them out and photograph them all together and repeat the labeling process. If they won’t all fit into 1 storage box, then pair them off so all of the matching items are together and then repeat the labeling & cedar processes.
• Shoe Storage – After you’ve cleaned up your winter shoes and, if necessary, treated them with leather cleaner, it’s time to get them ready for storage. Get some plastic or cedar shoe shapers and place them in your shoes so they will retain their shape while they are in storage. If you choose the plastic shoe shapers, then add a cedar shoe sachet into each shoe. You can either use a shoe storage bench or shoe storage boxes -you don’t want to store your winter shoes in a shoe cubby or on a shoe rack – you’ll want to make sure the shoes stay covered while in storage. If you choose shoe storage boxes, repeat the labeling process above.

Now that your closet is partially cleaned out and you’ve got some tips on how to store your winter clothes, it’s time to learn how to organize your closet. If you have tips on how to store winter clothes, please post them in the comments below.

The post Spring Cleaning – Storing Winter Clothes appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

There’s just nothing like an organized closet – whether it’s a large, walk-in closet or a small, linear closet, when it’s organized, it makes getting ready in the morning so much easier. When you finally decide to organize your closet, you can bet you’ll find items in there that you didn’t know you had so be prepared to do a little reminiscing as you pull stuff out. There are a few ways to organize your closet and the method you choose may be determined by the size of your closet as well as how much stuff you have to put in it. I’ve found that arranging my clothes by color, then by type works best.

Pull Everything Out
Before you can really organize your closet, you will need to pull everything out. Clean it out! Throw out any little pieces of garbage that may have found their way into the nooks and crannies of your closet, remove items that don’t belong in the closet & put them in their proper place, and create 4 piles of items; Donate, Throw Out, Store and Return to Closet. Place the donate items in a bag and throw out the un-wanted items – now we’re going to focus on the items that are to be stored and the items that are going to be returning to the closet.

Clean

• After the closet is empty, get in there with hot water and a mild household cleaner and clean off all the shelves and walls.
• If you have wood hangers that have been hanging in your closet all winter, take them down and wipe them off. Any hangers that are left over can be stored in a hanger hamper
• Check out the clothes that were folded on shelves –if they smell dusty, wash them. If they have creases from sitting too long, either steam iron them out or wash them.
• Wipe down & clean any shoes that are in the closet.
• Vacuum or sweep the floor of the closet.

Purchase Closet Accessories
In order to really have an organized closet, you will need to invest in some organization containers. Some organizing solutions you can purchase include:

• A couple 18 gallon totes for items that you want to store in the attic, basement or garage.
• Shelving (if you don’t already have some installed).
• Clear boxes with lids & wicker baskets that will fit on shelves without hanging off.
• Hangers. Here’s the thing with hangers – I prefer all wood hangers, but they definitely take up more room than some of the other types of hangers out there. If you have a small space, you might want to stay away from wood & go with a thin hanger – just get them all the same color if you can. With such a small space, you’ll want the hangers to look uniform.
• Canvas bins.
• Shoe storage – Either over the door shoe organizers, a shoe bench, a shoe rack or shoe storage shelves. There are lots of options depending on the size of your closet.
• Boot & shoe shapers

Pack And Store

• When all of your clothes are cleaned and you have all of the storage solutions and closet accessories that you need, separate your clothes by function first – like this:
• Sleeveless tops, short sleeve tops, long sleeve tops, shorts, skirts and pants. Now, when you go to hang them up in the closet, hang the white, sleeveless tops first and then hang up the remaining sleeveless tops in order of light to dark; white, yellow, orange, pink, red, green, blue, purple, brown, black
• Once you’ve hung up your black, sleeveless tops (or whatever your darkest color is), then move on to short sleeve white tops and repeat the process. Next are long sleeve shirts and then shorts.
• When you’re ready to hang up the clothes, make sure all of the hangers are facing the same direction – your closet will look more organized & you’ll be able to see what is in your closet easier since they’re all facing the same direction.
• When you get to skirts, start with the shortest white skirt and then move through the colors. After the darkest short skirt, add the longer white skirt and continue the process. Use pant’s hangers to hang skirts.
• Pants are easy – just light to dark. Use pant’s hangers that clip instead of folding the jeans over a hanger to maximize your space.
• If possible, try not to hang up any sweaters. If you hang them like a regular shirt, they may stretch out and if you fold them over the hanger, they may get a weird crinkle in the middle. Instead, fold them in a drawer, on a shelf or place them in a clear, plastic box (so you can see what’s inside). If you can’t see what’s inside, take a picture, print it out & tape it on the outside of the box. Also, if you have room, fold any sweatshirts and t-shirts and place them on a shelf or in a drawer.
• The wicker baskets should hold items that are smaller and that could fall off the shelf, creating a mess. Some things to put in the wicker baskets might include:
  • Gifts that you are storing for special occasions.
  • Air freshener sprays.
  • Wallets.
  • Keys.
  • Notepads and pens or pencils.
  • Photo books.
  • Phonebooks.

  Decide on a mid-level shelf where you can get to these items easily and put the baskets away. If you have an overhead shelf, you might consider putting items that you may not use regularly in the medium sized wicker baskets up there.

• Canvas bins are perfect for holding linens such as sheets, blankets, towels, etc. Look for some with zipper lids so that the linens will stay clean and tidy. Bins for linens could be easily stored on a bottom shelf or even on a top shelf, assuming you will be able to reach them when you need them. You can also place the linens in an under bed storage bin to save space in your closet.
• An over the door shoe organizer is practical if you don’t have a lot of room in your closet for a shoe bench or a shoe rack. Shoe organizers can hold quite a few pairs of shoes and easily hang on the inside of the door, out of the way.
• If you decide to use a shoe bench, shoe rack or clear boxes (with lids) to store your shoes & boots, put some shoe shapers in them to make sure they retain their shape while in storage.
• Use can also use shoe racks to hold other items like scarves, hats & purses.

If you have any questions on how to organize your closet, post them in the comments section below or send an email to tips@improvementscatalog.com and we’ll help you out.

The post Spring Cleaning – Organizing a Closet appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

Getting Started

• Start small. Choose one area that you want to tackle and do not move on until you are done. It’s ok if your spring cleaning takes multiple weekends to complete – you only have to do it once or twice per year, so make sure it’s a thorough job.
• Enlist help. If you have roommates, a spouse, or kids that are old enough to help, don’t take the entire project on yourself. Ask for help, get advice, assign jobs, and let others follow through and assist you in the spring cleaning projects around the house.
• Gather your spring cleaning supplies:
  • Exciting & go-get’em type of music
  • Easy to prepare meals for you and your helpers so you don’t have to break in the middle of cleaning to prepare anything
  • Old cleaning clothes (with pockets)
  • Plenty of trash bags for sorting and throwing away
  • Label maker & markers
  • Clear packing/shipping tape
  • Storage boxes, totes & bins
  • Cleaning supplies
  • If the kids aren’t old enough to help, a good babysitter
  • Camera & photo paper (or regular ink jet paper)

Cleaning The Area

• After you have chosen an area, clean it out completely. This means that you will remove items from the floors, take items off of shelves, and create yourself a clean work space.
• Separate all of the items into garbage bags, donation boxes, storage boxes, and keep boxes.
• Put the garbage bags in the trash cans. Put the donation boxes in the car (if you have enlisted some helpers, have one of them drive to a donation center right away to drop them off – and don’t forget to get a receipt, you can probably write off the donations at tax time).
• Pull out the camera and take a photo of the items that are going into the storage box. Group like items together either by room or by function. Print the photo out on your printer.
• Place a piece of clear packing tape on the top and side of the storage boxes. Mark on the tape what is inside the storage boxes and tape the photo onto the box so you can see it when it is sitting on the shelf. Place the storage boxes in the basement, closet, or attic. Set the “Keep” boxes out of the way until you are ready to put them back in the room.
• Remove linens. This includes bedding, curtains, tablecloths, etc. Start them washing so you can replace them when the rest of the room is finished.
• Dust everything from the ceiling to the baseboards. Use a high reach cleaning kit to get the ceiling, ceiling fans, etc.
• Wash the windows with a glass cleaner and, if possible remove the window screens and hose them off.
• Wash walls, shelves, furniture, light fixtures, remotes, etc.
• Use a furniture polish to shine up wooden furniture.
• Replace the vent filters & the smoke detector batteries throughout the home.
• Clean out your fireplace with a fireplace vacuum.

Organizing Items

• Purchase bins, totes, baskets, hangers, and anything else you need to store items in your newly cleaned rooms or closets.
• Take the Keep boxes and go through them. Clean anything that needs to be cleaned and discard anything that you don’t want.
• Put the bins, totes, baskets, hangers, and even loose items away. You can put things in drawers, on shelves, in closets, etc. Anything that will be stored on the floor should be set aside until the floors are cleaned.

Finishing Up

• Vacuum carpets, sweep hard floors, and give proper floor treatments to the various floors you are dealing with.
• Replace linens.
• Put away any last items that are still sitting out.
• Plug in or spray an air freshener in the room.

The post Spring Cleaning Checklist – Where to Start appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

The dog raincoat is available in 4 colors – red, pink, green, and blue and 5 different sizes. It has a hook and loop strap so it’s easy to fasten around your dog’s belly & it has a hoody! When the weather dries up, you can fold the raincoat up into its own built-in pocket for easy storage.

The post Dog Raincoat – PawNation’s Best Spring Dog Toy appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

I like my sofa but I don’t think my sofa likes me. In the past few months I’ve noticed that my sofa was not as welcoming as it used to be. The problem? Sagging couch cushions. I’d plop down to watch TV or read a book and feel myself sinking downward. No amount of shifting or squirming around seemed to help. The sofa still looked pretty good so I didn’t want to replace it – especially since new sofas cost a small fortune.

So I looked on the Internet for some ways to fix a sagging couch, but most required a lot more work than I was willing to do. Then I remembered a quick repair suggestion that was easy and inexpensive (2 of my favorite things). Just remove the cushions from the sofa, cut a piece of strong plywood to fit the area, then put your cushions back on the sofa. Yep, that’s it. The plywood acts as a platform to support the cushions and prevent that annoying sagging. It’s sort of like instant plastic surgery for your furniture.

And if you don’t want to deal with the plywood, there’s an even easier solution: ready-made support boards such as Furniture Fix Seat Support Savers. All you have to do is place them under the cushions…no tools required. They work for chairs and loveseats, too. No more sagging cushions. And I don’t get that sinking feeling anymore.

The post How to Fix a Sagging Couch appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

We’d “blow out” eggs (hole in each end to get the white and yolk out) all Lent and dye them on Good Friday (we usually had 4 dozen or so by then). We’d decorate the trees outside, the car antenna (worked really well until Kate tried that with the Ford Focus – the antenna slants back and she launched egg shells at frequent intervals as she drove to a friend’s house in Kentucky).

We also made egg shell flowers (tulips) out of the shells (pipe cleaner and watercolor paint). Here’s an article from 1943 that talks about eggshell tulips. I like the idea of just cracking off the end instead of breaking the egg on its midriff – (Who knew eggs had midriffs?!). Most people get squeamish about blowing out eggs, though any sharp point can be used to make the hole. I often use a salad fork or one of those corn cob thingies. Just remember – don’t squeeze the egg side to side hard enough to crush it. Any recipe that uses whole eggs (like an omelet) is a good candidate for a shell donor. And if you break it, it’s no big deal. Rinse the eggs before painting or dyeing. Coil the pipe cleaner a bit at the end – it makes it easier to glue.

I also make the sugar “panoramic eggs” about every 5 years or so to give away – I made them here for all the kids 2 years ago (see picture above).

The best year was the year I hid Kate’s basket in the coat closet. She never hung up her coat, so it was literally the last place she looked (and she needed a hint). The Easter bunny brought me my first roller skates and I found out how hard it was to stand up on them (the old kind, with the key).
Mary Jo

Here’s how the family story goes. Back during World War II, a shortage of sugar made it difficult to find prepared candy. Fortunately my mother saw this recipe in a magazine, and we’ve been enjoying these cute & scrumptious treats ever since. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re super easy to make!

Chocolate Easter Nests:

Ingredients

• 12 oz. pkg. of chocolate chips
• 3-1/2 cups of Grape-Nuts Flakes cereal
• Jellybeans

Directions
Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with wax paper. Melt the chocolate chips in a pan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove pan from heat and stir in the Grape Nuts Flakes, making sure the cereal is evenly coated. Spoon out 12 portions onto the wax paper and use the spoon to shape nests (circles). Then place 4 or 5 jellybeans in the center. Place the Easter Nests in the refrigerator to harden.
Debbie

The post Ideas for Easter – Improvements Style appeared first on Improvements Catalog.

Easter Basket Ideas for Kids

What to Use for the Basket

• An actual basket from a craft store. You might want to make sure you know what’s going in the basket before you purchase it – just so you get the correct size.
• Pastel plastic wicker baskets that you can find at most stores before Easter.
• Animal pails that you can also find at most stores before Easter.
• Totes from a dollar or thrift store.
• Decorative plastic bowls.
• Toys such as a doll stroller or a Lego container (which would be the best with a themed basket).

What To Use For Kids’ Basket Fillers

• Plastic Easter grass.
• Raffia.
• Fabric that is ripped to shreds.
• A new shirt.

What To Put In Kids’ Easter Baskets

• Chocolate bunnies.
• Crayons & coloring books.
• Sidewalk chalk (a lot of the time, you can find chalk in fun Easter shapes and colors).
• Puzzles.
• Jewelry.
• Playdough.
• Bubbles.
• A movie or music disk
• Plastic eggs filled with jelly beans, goldfish crackers, chocolate candies, etc.
• Plastic eggs filled with small toys such as Legos, beads, etc.
• If your child has a favorite treat, such as licorice, you can wrap the handle of your basket with it so your little one knows the Easter basket was made just for them.

Kids’ Themed Baskets

• Art theme filled with crayons, coloring books, paints, play dough, rulers, construction paper, chalk, glue sticks, glue dots, tape, stickers. You can usually find some fun, inexpensive craft items at your local dollar store.
• Superhero theme filled with a cape, kid-friendly comics, superhero action figures, and a superhero mask.
• Food theme filled with toy food, an apron, plastic dishes, and some real treats or a drink.
• Sports theme filled with small Nerf balls, a Frisbee, ping-pong paddles, a whistle, and a sports jersey.
• Dress-up theme filled with plastic heels, plastic jewelry, play makeup, fancy gloves, and a feather boa.

Easter Basket Ideas for Adults

What to Use for the Baskets

• A decorative basket from a craft store.
• A serving tray.
• A tackle box.
• A small cooler.
• Pots or kitchen baskets.
• Beach pails or a beach bag.

What to Use For Adults’ Basket Fillers

• Flower petals.
• Glass beads.
• Plastic Easter grass.
• Raffia.
• A new scarf.

What To Put In Adults’ Easter Baskets

• Solid chocolate bunnies.
• Sunglasses.
• New coffee mugs.
• Cooking spices.
• Gift cards.
• Cash.
• Tasty teas.
• Home decorations.
• Bath salts.
• Lotion.
• Homemade candy.
• A bottle of wine and wine glasses.
• Movies or music.
• Fishing equipment.

Adults’ Themed Baskets

• Movie theme filled with a throw blanket, a movie, two packages of microwave popcorn, theater box candy, and 2 bottles of soda.
• Gardening theme filled with seed packets, gardening tools, a sun hat, sunglasses, and gardening gloves.
• Fishing theme filled with bait, hooks, weights, an extra roll of fishing line, and a bag of sunflower seeds.
• Relaxation theme filled with bath salts, lotions, gourmet chocolate, and a gift card for a massage.
• Sports theme filled with sports memorabilia, a bag of potato chips, a bottle of soda, a baseball cap with the person’s favorite team on the front, and a TV schedule of all their favorite games.
• Health theme filled with healthy snacks such as raisins, nuts, and dried fruits, as well as a workout video, personalized towel and a water bottle.

If you have any clever Easter basket ideas for kids and/or adults, please post them in the comments below. You can also send us a picture of your Easter basket to tips@improvementscatalog.com or post them on our Facebook page.

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