Gardening Tip to Protect Hands & Nails

Re-potted orchid & clean nails with
indoor greenhouse in the background

I love plants, always have. I have a little indoor greenhouse that I absolutely love, a couple of orchids,  succulents, ferns and herbs in my windowsill. In fact, it is fall here in the south-central US and time to plant pansies and prepare our outside gardens for winter. (Born and raised in Denver, but living in the South since 1996, I love it here. What a delight to have pansies blooming in my yard in December!)

Anyway, I was re-potting an overgrown orchid (above) and some spearmint I bought from the grocery store this afternoon and remembered a tip I got from a book on houseplants years ago. Before you begin working with the soil, slather your hands with lotion. Especially, gook lotion under your fingernails.

Then you can wash your hands easily without any residue left under your nails. Also hands don't dry out and nails are not likely to break or split.

Old Fashioned Quick Fix for Makeup

If you are running late in the morning, or are away from home without makeup, or you're just a no-frills kind of girl, you might like this old fashioned tip. Put on lipstick, blot it with a tissue and apply to cheeks. It gives a subtle color that perks up your face and blends with your lip color.

Freeze Your Bread

Refrigerated bread gets stale overnight. Freezing a loaf of bread keeps it fresh and preserves taste and texture. Don't worry about thawing: by the time I make a sandwich, my bread has thawed -- and I pop it from freezer to toaster with no problem.

Tip: Before freezing, gently grab both ends of the loaf and wiggle it like an inchworm walking. This will keep the slices from freezing together so they are easy to remove from the bag one at a time.

Perfect cuticles

My secret? Lip balm! Any product will work but my favorite is Carmex. The signature lip balm of the Marines (and they ought to know) was developed by a pharmacist in the 1930s. This family recipe has endured because it works. It is nourishing and healing to skin. Also, the "magic ingredient," salycilic acid, exfoliates.

Keep lip balm at your bedside and put some on before you go to sleep. During the day, when you use it on your lips, include your cuticles and there won't be a hangnail anywhere. :) Works great for elbows and callouses, too!

Sink-O-Matic

Rack makes your sink a level, germ-free working surface. Very nifty.