I love books about saving money and using every day "around the house" items for double, triple and more duty. I was so pleased to receive a copy of More Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things from Reader's Digest Books, as a gift. It's been a fun and worthwhile read and a book that I have referred to several times already, in the past couple of months.This is a book jam-packed with all sorts of useful tips and a few, kind of strange but still entertaining. Brown eyeliner as an emergency lipstick NOT!!! For the most part though, some really good information shared here, all in one nicely presented, large format book over 300 pages in total.
Just a few of the hundreds of suggestions/tips included in this book:
- use indelible markers to cover up minor nicks in furniture
- use a small piece of two-sided velcro as a temporary fix for a cupboard that won't stay closed
- sooth chapped lips with a drop of olive or canola oil
- cuticles, try a drop of olive or sweet almond oil for discouraging hangnails
- mist a hair-covered (pet) garment with water, put in the dryer with a damp towel and air dry for a few minutes to remove the hair
- repair a sole with a hole with a duct tape as a temporary fix
- tie up a garden hose for winter storage with lengths of cut old panty hose
- repel caterpillers from your garden with onion juice
- reuse an old briefcase as a toolbox. great for car tools for the trunk
The list goes on and on and on....
From the Amazon product page: "The thirteen chapters focus on an integral part of everyday life. For the Cook: Learn how to extend the life of vegetables, tried-and-true methods for baking bread, and 10 kitchen uses for salt. For the Housekeeper: Discover faster, easier cleaning ideas, such as remove carpet stains with peanut butter, and 10 ways to clean with lemon. For the Handyman (or woman): Silence squeaky hinges with shaving cream, remove rust from tools by rubbing them with a slice of raw potato dipped in salt, and 10 neat home-repair uses for nail polish."
Yes, some of these tips I already knew about such as cleaning with vinegar, baking soda, reuseable washable wipes etc. But even for those, it's nice to have them all available in one, big reference book.
This would make a great gift for yourself. Also for students or young couples just moving/starting out. New home buyers as a thoughtful housewarming gift. A lot of money to be saved here and also a fun read too.
A book bargain at Amazon right now, on sale for less than $7! Check it out here.
Overall rating for this book: Very Good. 4 out of 5.
My mom was a huge fan of readers digest and I have 3 of the hard cover books here. One is a fix it yourself manual'95 ( she was a big fan of do it yourself) one is a helpful household hints from '88 like what you are describing and one is a handymans guide with tricks of the trade and timesaving tips from '95.
ReplyDeleteI still use them to this day, there are conversion charts for people like us that grew up with the imperial measurements in a world that now uses metric. Course this was all from before the age of the internet or if not before then before it became popular. They are in perfect condition and just as relevent now as they were then.
I cringed when I saw the duct tape one, can't let hubby see that one...he thinks duct tape is the "fix-all" and if he saw that hed never buy new shoes again!! lol
I have a couple Reader's Digest books. They are very useful. We definitely think a lot alike, Geraldine.
ReplyDeleteHi Cathy, LOL, duct tape seems to be a popular item with a lot of men. Do you think that our crazy Red Green had much to do with that LOL This is the first RD reference book that I have. I agree with you, a lot of good information and this one has conversion charts too. Funny but for me, some things such as kitchen measures I still think in Imperial but when it comes to lengths for sewing etc, I have gone metric. The temps. seem "normal" in celcius now too, that took a while.
ReplyDeleteHi SandyL, We do have a lot of common interests and likes/dislikes. I'm glad we met via the blogs. It's wonderful how many like-minded people you can meet online, that you probably never would have, otherwise.
Happy Saturday, G
This book has a lot of helpful hints, some not as applicable as others but you can take what you need. It's a real bargain at under 7. that's amazing. A very nice presentation, with lots of color photos. I agree, a great gift idea.
ReplyDeleteI think I might have to get that book!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, G.
Good job!
Margie x
My mother used to love books like this.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe, I agree, a real bargain at such a low price, what can you buy for a gift especially for less than 10. that is actually worthwhile? This book certainly is!
ReplyDeleteHi Margie, I'm glad you liked the review margie. I hope you enjoy the book!
Hi Madeleine, Fascinating reading, so many topics to check out. I usually pick a couple of pages at a time there are so many tips!
Happy Reading, G :<)
I'll be sure to look for this book, I'm sure that I'll learn a lot from it. Thank you very much for sharing this.
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