skincolour

In some countries and during some times in history a white skin was a sign of wealth. People who didn't need to work outside or on the land had a white skin.

Now a white skin is consideren healthy, even though we start to understand that sunbathing can be dangerous.
A healthy skin is considered to be brownish.

When you take great pride in your teint, relaise that there are places on the skin with a thicker layer of cells than at other places.
So scrub well before sunbathing.

Remover for your nails

Red nails can be nice, or black or blue ones, but when you want a new colour it's time to use the remover and start with a new colour all over again.

But do you know that even when you don't have coloured nails it's best to use remover before painting your nails again?

It's because remover also removes the fat on your nails and this enables the new colour to adhere a lot better.

Try it out and you'll see I'm right.

Hairmask

When you've been in the swimmingpool a lot or when you just want an afternoon to pamper yourself, don't forget a nice hairmask.
You can find them in all sorts of smells in the shop, but you can also make one yourself.

Any good ideas? You're welcome to post them here.

Resolutions

Many people make resolutions for the new year.
It's a great idea to face up to your weak characteristics and work on them, but when one of those characteristics is to make it easy for yourself you'd better hide until the next new year.

Ofcourse you can help yourself realise your plans.

• Don't make them too difficult,
• cut them into easy reachable small parts,
• work together with other people
• change your life in such a way that you can deal with your plans without missing something else
• create benefits to each goal
• be realistic
  

And...do you have resolutions?
Can we help you?

Greeting the troops

Last year a friend was serving abroad and we requested many songs on their radio to cheer him up.
We were even asked for an interview, because we were the most serious requesters and the most dedicated ones.

Then he came home.
He said nothing about it all, and not even said a small thank you.

When there was finally a chance to ask him how he experienced the greetings from us, it turned out he didn;'t hear a thing, not even the interview which was made especially for him.

So when you send greetings to the troops, also send them in such a way that they can't be missed: just in an envelope in the mail.

A little extra warmth

We got stuck with the train in the snow and when we finally were brought back to a large station all shops were closed and all we could get was coffee or tea.
And the coffee was bad.... It was terrible.

Those who wanted tea got hot water and at that moment I craved for soup.
If I only has one of those one cup bags for soup.

So my tip for today is: always have a few of those packages in your pocket.
They hardly take any place and with hot water they are perfect under all circumstances.

Sorting online groups in your email

I'm kind of fed up with sorting my mail, or looking through all sorts of folders.

So I made an emailadress for each online group I'm in.
Google, yahoo, and other services offer easy ways to create an emailaccount.

I love the fact that each ones has it's own signature, so that saves time too.

It also prevents me from sending mail to a wrong adress.

prevent stains in carpets

When you're having a party or expect visitors vacuum your carpet before they arrive.
Not only will your room look nicer, when stains are made you won't be bothered by the dust and crumbs, which can absorb the stains or worsen them.

A good doormat will clean the soles of the shoes of your visitor.

diabetes and biscuits

People with diabetes need to eat regular small meals.

When you yourself are a person with irregular eating habits it´s good to know that you´re a good host when you offer a diabetes patient something in between meals.
Keep a package of biscuits ready.

keep a tile in place

Sometimes the glue behind a walltile doesn't work anymore and the tile is on the verge of dropping out.

Use plumbers/isolation tape to keep it in place.

Make people feel welcome

Many people have freferences for certain kinds of music.
Why not find out which preferences your visitors have?

A while ago I visited a friend and I was surprised by the music he played: my music.

Turned out he took notes, collected the numbers I mentioned and burned them on a CD.

When I went home he gave it as a present.

I can't tell you how happy I was with this gesture.

Well worth repeating.

write down

Even though you expect to remember everything from the past, it's better to write things down, in case you'll forget.

Use a nice booklet, or a dummy (an empty book), and make notes.

It's nice to read back what you gave or received for mother's day, for instance.
When you number your photos you can add the number to the date.

Pen in bag

Never take a pen with you in your bag just like that, but use something to prevent it from leaking.
Ofcourse you can wrap it in kitchen paper and put it in a plastic bag.

But you can find a container of bubbly vitamin tablets and use that for your pen.

Use coloured tape, stickers or something else to make the container a joy for your eyes, you can even use a cord to connect it to your bag.

Groceries in order

Most people put new groceries in front of older items.

Make it a habit to put new things behind the other ones, whether it's handcream, hair shampoo or peanutbutter.

That way you'll have the slightest chance of using a product and having to throw away an item of the same products because it's past its date.

pencils

Some furniture shops allow people to use a pencil to make notes during shopping.
Take a cap of a nose spray bottle to cover the tip and take a pensil with you in your bag.
That way you'll always be able to make notes without the risk of ink destroying your lovely bag.

A new bag?

Do you have a new bag?

See if it's water resistant and otherwise spray it.

When it's for groceries, put a layer of kitchen paper in it, so when something is leaking, the muck is caught.

buttons

Save the buttons from clothes that can't be recycled.

Children love to play with them, they come in handy when you need a button, and you can make jewelry with them.
Some buttons can even be used in dollshouses.

Take your inhaler with you

Many people with asthma have an inhaler.
It's looks very nice in the medicine cabinet, but it should be in your bag, coat or something else that's always with you.

Especially people in Europe should take their inhaler and other lung medication with them is the WHO advice.

So don't forget!

chairs and space

When you don't have much space you need to be creative with chairs.

Ofcourse you can use the folding ones, but when floorspace is the problem why not use the walls.

I've visted a swedish families some years ago and they had the chairs high against the wall in the hall.
When not used they were used as shelves to put away hats and such, and if needed they were taken down.

Keep mushrooms fresh

Don't keep mushrooms in aluminiumfoil, because they'll get black.

It's best to use them immediately, or make soup.

But when you have to keep them, use the original package or plastic kitchen foil.
They'll last 2 to 3 days.

Never keep them at the same place as unions, garlic and smelly herbs, because mushrooms take over the smell.