Blooming Women
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  • About Blooming Women
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  • Happy Birthday, Blooming Women! One Year Today!
  • Blog—Maniacal Musings—Becky Lyn Rickman, Managing Editor
  • Blog—Jessica's Journey—Jessica VanVactor, Guest Contributor
  • Blog—My Armenia—Carol Rickman's Blog
  • Dealing with miscarriage
  • My Story
  • Circles
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Being Single
  • 5 Stages of divorce recovery
  • The Circus is in Town
  • (You're covered with) The Fingerprints of God
  • Thunder Roared and Love Soared
  • A Period Piece
  • A sneak preview of the Gertie sequel!
  • Six Steps to Cultivate your Femininity in the Business World
  • Chore Zoning or Don't try this at home!
  • The 50 with Meredith Morse—Opera Singer
  • The 50 with Jessica VanVactor
  • Memorizing Joy
  • AT LAST! My interview with Shan White, Life Coach for women in transition
  • Questions and statements we don't care if we never, ever get asked or told again (am I right, girls?)
  • The Date
  • Moonshadow's Spirit
  • Broken Writer + Hypnotherapy = Amazing Trips
  • The "R" Word
  • The 50 with Carol Shepherd Rickman
  • Triumph During Transitions
  • A Kentucky Afternoon
  • Mothers
  • 10 things chemo taught me
  • What if . . .
  • Forgiveness—A poem
  • Mantegories (n. from the Latin; man+categories)
  • Insomnia 101
  • Blooming Bud Interview: Sierra
  • Masterful Mindsets
  • It's in the bag!
  • Important lessons for children: Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can
  • Nursery rhymes, and times, and slimes, and grimes, and crimes
  • Things I learned as a single mom
  • Sadie's Soapbox: Dating
  • The Dress
  • 8 Things That Have Surprised Me About Having a Large Family
  • The gift of longing
  • The Semicolon Project
  • Most embarrassing moments—culinary edition
  • MilitaReality—a brat's perspective
  • About those elusive wisps of thought
  • Being there
  • The Giving Mom
  • How I still haven't learned to keep my smart mouth shut!
  • If you give a mom a cookie . . .
  • Cacti and Geraniums
  • The Three Gardeners
  • Beauty is as beauty does
  • Words for Sabra
  • Arm scratching in Baltimore
  • Pornography didn't kill our love and friendship . . . I did . . . and how we got it back
  • Hardening off our little bloomers
  • The Wonderful, Magical Women of Blooming Television
  • Shake it like a Polaroid picture!
  • 25 Date Nights (that aren't dinner and a movie)
  • Hills Like White Elephants
  • Maryland Beaten Biscuits
  • The night we thought the house was exploding
  • A mysterious case of goosebumps or "What is that on the wall?"
  • Militareality—Real stories of military wives
  • Finding my metal in wood
  • Another blooming bud interview
  • Chariot of Fire
  • Secret gifts of love
  • The best prank I ever pulled was . . .
  • Connie
  • Dating and other hazards
  • Favorite childhood memories
  • When God speaks . . .
  • Zanie gets into another sticky situation
  • No-see-ums: A little useful information
  • I love my kids, but . . .
  • Meg's poem
  • Another blooming bud interview
  • Some of my favorite herbal recipes are . . .
  • I love my cat, but . . .
  • I love all creatures, but . . .
  • The thing all girls and women must see and know . . .
  • The Great Chicken Debacle
  • The Powerful Influence of Brothers
  • How I feel about blooming is . . .
  • Sometimes grandma is up—other times she is simply upside-down
  • Anyone out there as anxious as I am?
  • Some of my funniest childhood memories are . . .
  • You might be addicted to Harry Potter if . . .
  • This month's survey:
  • Another Blooming Bud interview
  • The most valuable life lesson I've learned is . . .
  • The greatest blessing to come out of the most painful thing I ever experienced was . . .
  • The most powerful influence on my life is . . .
  • The thing that could have broken our family, but didn't was . . .
  • The funniest thing that ever happened to me was . . .
  • The time my dad really surprised me was when . . .
  • NEW FEATURE: Interviews with Blooming Buds
  • ANOTHER NEW FEATURE: A survey
  • The most valuable life lesson I've ever learned is . . .
  • My most embarrassing moment was when . . .
  • What really puzzles me is . . .
  • One of the most fun days I ever had was . . .
  • The most scared I've ever been was when . . .
  • The people who have been the biggest influence on me are . . .
  • I like to relax by . . .
  • The best way to do . . .
  • My most embarrassing moment was when . . .
  • The most fun I ever had was when . . .
  • When I grow up, I want to be . . .
  • What really puzzles me is . . .
  • The most amazing bargain I ever found was . . .
  • Those annoying things kids do and what they mean
  • My shameless self-promotion
  • The thing about getting older is . . .

this is the page where you share your nothing short of brilliant household hints. Come on, girls, show us what you've got!

OKAY, I'll start. Here is an article I wrote, originally published on FamilyShare.com:

How to clean up a broken egg and other helpful hints

Becky Lyn Rickman

Web Tease: A whole bunch of great tips and solutions to make life simpler.

I love ingenuity and here is a list of great ideas from everyday people that will make your life simpler:

  1. Stuff a miniature marshmallow into a sugar cone to reduce ice cream drips.
  2. Line a large plastic cereal container (the kind with the flip-top lid) with a grocery bag to use as a car waste basket.
  3. When using an extension cord, tie it in a loose knot with the cord to the appliance you're using to keep them from coming unplugged.
  4. Use a slice of bread to pick up those fine little pieces of glass when you break something.
  5. Put an apple in with your potatoes to keep them from sprouting.
  6. Place coffee filters in the bottom of plant pots to keep soil from leaking out.
  7. Coffee filters are also great for washing windows as they are lint free.
  8. If you accidentally over-salt a dish, drop a potato in to absorb the excess.
  9. Use a rubber glove to open a tight lid.
  10. Non-stick cooking spray will prevent tomato sauce stains on your plastic ware.
  11. To soften up hard brown sugar, stick an apple slice in the container.
  12. Rub a bar of soap on a mosquito bite to stop the itch.
  13. Need to hang a power strip or surge protector? Photocopy the back of it then tape the photocopy to the wall to show you where to drill the holes.
  14. Pull tabs from soda containers make excellent and free picture hangers. Screw them into the frame and use the top loop to hang.
  15. Run hands under cold water to keep rice krispie treats from sticking to them when you pat them into the pan.
  16. Wrapping celery in aluminum foil will keep it fresh much longer.
  17. Keep bananas fresh longer by wrapping the joined stems in plastic wrap.
  18. Draw the line on ants — with chalk. Drawing a line with chalk where you see them marching will prevent them from going further. They won't cross the line.
  19. To remove a minor clog in a drain, remove all standing water, drop an Alka-Seltzer down the drain, followed by a cup of white vinegar. Wait a few minutes and then run hot water.
  20. Alka-Seltzer also works great to clean jewelry. Two tablets in a glass of water and then immerse for 2 minutes.
  21. The same effervescent tablets will clean that brown ick from the bottom of a vase or a thermos.
  22. Use cellophane tape to remove splinters. Stick over splinter and remove.
  23. Drop an egg on the floor? Sprinkle with table salt and wait a few minutes. Salt sets the egg and makes it much easier to scoop up.
  24. Put a fragrant herbal tea bag in stinky sneakers to absorb the odor and leave behind a pleasant fragrance.
  25. Use a wide rubber band to remove a stripped screw. Place between screw head and screw driver for better grip.
  26. Use binder clips on the wires of wire shelves to keep things from rolling or shifting. Great for wire refrigerator shelves to keep cans and bottles rolling all over.
  27. Turn over a 4-legged bar stool to use as a wrapping paper holder. Stores those long rolls quite nicely.
  28. Hang those multi-pocket shoe hangers over ever door for storage. Works great in craft rooms, offices, bathrooms, kitchens and garages.
  29. Use gallon milk jugs in the garage or workroom. Cut a hole on one side, lay them down on their sides and sort your hardware or craft items.
  30. Use a turkey baster for pancake batter to make fun shapes.
  31. Tension headache? Rub half a lime on your forehead to ease the throbbing.
  32. Use kitty litter to absorb oil and grease from a garage floor. Also keep a bag in the trunk of your car for extra traction on icy roads.
  33. Plant herbs in egg shells and decorate your windowsill with lovely fragrant spices. Just crack off about a third of the top, place in an egg holder, fill with potting soil and plant your herbs.
  34. Use leftover twist ties to manage cord confusion.
  35. Broken through flip-flop? Push back through and fasten with a square bread clip.
  36. Repair frayed shoelace tips by dipping them in clear nail polish.
  37. Remove oil stains on clothing with cheap shampoo.
  38. When slicing onions, hold a crusty piece of bread in your mouth (with most of it hanging out) to absorb droplets of harsh onion juice.
  39. Remove the smell of onions from your hands by washing them with soap and water and then, while wet, rubbing them up and down the faucet a few times.
  40. If you sustain chemical burns from cutting hot peppers, slather them with shortening, put on gloves, and the heat will transfer into the shortening. Wash with soap and water. (Please don't ask how I know this. Thank you, poison control!)
There you have it. Forty handy little household hints that will hopefully help simplify your life. 
Like Becky Lyn Rickman's story? Here's more by her:
MilitaReality—a brat's perspective
Being There
How I still haven't learn to keep my smart mouth shut!
Cacti and Geraniums
Some mysterious goosebumps or "What is that on the wall?"
Finding my metal in wood
Some of my favorite herbal recipes are . . .
I love my cat, but . . . 
I love all creatures, but . . .
You might be addicted to Harry Potter if . . .
My shot at the big time
A cautionary tale
Why I do it
How I chill
Most embarrassing moments—automotive edition
The thing about getting older is . . .
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