HGTV's Change the World

I was touched by one of my favorite HGTV channel's show, featuring Myles and HGTV's free makeover to the two women who makes a difference in their streets.

So, surfing through their website, it was in Spice My Kitchen Show entitled 'A Kitchen Filled with Love', two women from Philadelphia.

Before


After

Imagine catering for almost 300 people in the old kitchen. So, HGTV with the makeover budget of $30,000 gave the women a six (imagine six burner range? WOW!) burner range with pot filler (I never thought it's possible). And TWO huge refrigerators valuing from $1530 each! (I forgot but it was close to that amount, whew!).

But, what was priceless was their reactions. They were crying and laughing! And what really made me cry (I know, I'm a cry baby), was when one of the women said, 'I never thought this possible. I didn't expect anything from giving, but here it is, being returned' (Or similar to this).

Isn't it nice to give?

Just like their mural that says, 'LIVE TO GIVE', and God will do the rest.

Pumpkin Creations

Halloween is around the corner, and these are some of interesting things to do for this holiday (courtesy of BHG).

• Free printable pumpkin stencils

TIP (Deborah Steilen of BHG) - When carving simple shapes into your pumpkin, push the pieces out from the inside—pushing them into the pumpkin causes breaks and tears.

• Great Pumpkins

These are just amazing pumpkin carvings!
(You can also submit your very own carved pumpkin here)

• Creative pumpkins
  

• Pretty Pumpkins for Fall
  

Bathroom Decoration

We have a small bathroom that's all white. I'm a colorful person and I like to see colors in places I see. At this time, I'm thinking of redecorating our small bedroom and the bathroom to fit our lifestyle, but I have no idea where to start. I don't have the budget so it would just a scouring for something I can find inside the house that's good enough to go with the decor.

So far, all I did was organize the clutter on the vanity. It's so drab, since it's all white. Still finding that right art. I'm just using what I can.

Beautiful Rooms

I chanced this at Traditional Home and among the rooms, these are my favorites!

In Our Home

• Food stains are hard to remove in plastic storage containers. Mix baking soda and water to form a paste and rub unto stain. Rinse with vinegar and wash as you normally would. Another method is to place it under the sun. The sun will bleach out the stain.
  

• There are always bundles of soft photos that haven’t yet been placed in an album. Don’t try and pull them apart if they get struck together, you might end up ruining the pictures. With a hair dryer on low, slowly pull the photos apart.
  

• You can still use some of last year’s supplies! If glue becomes hardened in the bottle, add a little vinegar to soften and dissolve it.
  

• When the glue won’t come off after you’ve peeled off paper labels or price stickers from glass ware, rub cooking oil onto the glue with a paper towel. Repeat the process and the glasses will be as slick as a whistle.
  

• Add a cup of liquid bleach to the warm water in your washing machine when you are washing a plastic shower curtain to remove all mildew. Remove the curtain at the end of the wash cycle and hang it to drip dry on the shower rod.
  

Baby Frames

And added to that, these cute frames can liven up a boring shelf!

Baby Lampshades

An email I got with this featured store called Baby Depot and I saw these shades there. So cute!

Home Tips

• Plant soil should be kept moist at all times. Plants should not be allowed to dry out or wilt. However, avoid over watering; don’t allow plants to stand in water. Avoid wetting leaves to prevent leaf from being weakened and torn.

• Your red shirt got mixed in with other clothes and ruined them? Don’t dry them! Wash again with detergent and color-safe bleach to prevent color-bleeding in the first place, wash in cold water and add a cup of salt with every load in the washing machine.

• Chemicals can damage metals and precious gems. Apply hair spray, make up or perfume before you put on your jewelry.

• Here’s a jewelry care tip: Put a piece of chalk in your jewelry box to keep your jewelry from tarnishing.

• Packages tied with string will stay tied if you wet the string before tying. As the string dries, it shrinks snugly around the package.

• To prevent “amag” or mold from growing on your leather goods, keep your leather clean and dry when stocking them. Make sure the area where you store your shoes and bags is clean and free from humidity. Air out your leather goods once in a while.
  

• Your sofa is an important furniture in your home. If part of your sofa is stained ‘tamp’ the area with water. Tamping means hitting the stain with the bristles as opposed to scrubbing it which does less damage to the fibers.

• To prevent wax from sticking inside the candle holder, pour a bit of water into the holder then place the candle on top. If you forgot the water and the wax is stuck t the candle holder, put it in the freezer for an hour, the wax will chip right off.

• Glass windows may be a bit tricky to clean. Even cleaning products sometimes leave traces on the glass surface. If windows are very dirty, add 2-3 tbsps of vinegar per 4 liters of water. Drying windows with a wad of crumpled newspaper works well and saves on kitchen towel.

• Here’s a floor care tip: If you have wooden floor, never soak the floor as it will cause the wood to swell and then crack. Place protector pads on furniture legs. Beware of shoe heels and pet claws. Use a pencil eraser to remove black heel marks on the floors.

• Hardened, stuck-on food in pots and pans is hard to remove. Here’s a trick: Fill the dirty pans with water. Add a few drops of fabric conditioner. Let soak overnight. The food will wipe off easily in the morning.

• Get rid of deodorant stain. Sponge white vinegar on the underarm of your clothes. Soak overnight with detergent. Then wash with warm water.

• Going to a big party or reunion and you suddenly discover that your mascara has dried up after a long time of not using it? Here's what you can do to soften it again. Immerse mascara in a mug filled with hot water. Let it stay there for a few minutes and soon it will be ready to use again.

• To increase the life of your pantyhose or stockings, dip them in a mixture of water and starch (7 cups of water and ? cup of starch) for several minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid and allow it to dry. If it's not too late to salvage your pantyhose, don't throw it away just yet. You can use it as cleaning wad for mirrors and other delicate items to prevent scratching. It can also be used as a polishing cloth for furniture or leather.
  

• Kids are naturally active. That's why it's only natural that from time to time they'll get scratches and bruises. Here are inexpensive remedies for bruises: Rub half an onion on the bruised area. You can also try rubbing oatmeal or Vitamin E for quicker healing.

• To remove blood stains in your mattress, mix 1 tbsp of salt with 250ml water. Tip the mattress on its side and dab the stain with a clean cloth dipped in a salt solution till the stain disappears. Blow dry the mattress.

• Keep your memories intact. If you have an old album with photographs in it, you can help preserve them by layering each page with acid-free tissue or photographic conservation paper which can be found in art and office supply stores.

• For an easy way to remove the stain in your toilet bowl, pour a can of fizzy cola in it. Leave it for an hour or so to ensure that the hard water marks will be removed, then flush.

• White vinegar is an all-around cleaner. You can even use them to clean your bathroom, especially to remove build up in your shower head. Here's how: Unclog showerheads by first dismantling them and then soaking them for 20 minutes in vinegar.

• Did your kid's playmates leave water marks all over your wooden floor and furniture? To get rid of these watermarks, apply mayonnaise on a soft cloth or toothpaste on a damp cloth and dab on the watermark.

• When chewing gum gets stuck on your clothes, an effective way to remove it would be to run an ice cube over the area (which will allow the gum to harden) and make it easy to peel off.

• Here's a quick and handy tip for solving the problem of creaking doors. Grab a normal lead/graphite pencil and go over all the joints in your hinges. Work the door back and forward a few times and repeat the whole process. The graphite in the pencil lubricates the brass or iron without corroding it.

(These are some of SMS subscription collected through the years)