Helpful Household Hints – Floss for Fixing Pet Toys

Everyone has their own household tips and tricks that they’ve picked up over the years. Well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve too and I’m continuing my little series of Helpful Household Hints to share them with you.

Helpful Household Hint #3: Floss for Fixing Pet Toys

Even with a pup as calm as mine, pet toys only last so long. Carrying your beloved toys around in your sharp little teeth and the occasional games of tug, eventually will cause a bit of wear and tear.

Instead of going out and buying a whole new batch of toys, try salvaging what you have. I’m sure your pup will be thankful to have his/her favorite toy around as long as possible.

First, sift through that toy bucket and determine what is salvageable and what is not. Some toys may just have too many holes.

To fix that beloved stuffed animal you will need to know how to do a basic hidden stitch (here’s a YouTube video I found if you need some extra sewing help). Next, you will need some sewing utensils: a needle with a fairly big hole on the end and floss.

Now you might be wondering, “floss?!?!” The reason I use floss is the reason for today’s helpful hint. Floss lasts a lot longer when it comes to fixing stuffed animals. Personally, I’d rather mend my dog’s toys less often, wouldn’t you?

To get started, I cut off a long length of floss (probably about double the length of my arm) and thread it through the needle. Pull it through only to the halfway point of the floss. Then take both ends of the floss, hold them evenly and tie them in a thick knot. Now not only do you have the thickness of floss, but you have DOUBLE the thickness of floss.

Find one end of the hole you want to fix and thread the needle up towards you through the inside of the stuffed animal. Your knot should hold on the inside and be hidden. Continue the stitch throughout the length of the hole. I usually go back up the length of the stitched hole again for added reinforcement.

Wha-lah! Fixing your pet’s toys is as easy as that.

Feel free to send me any questions that you might have about this helpful hint. As I was writing, I was starting to feel like a video almost would be necessary to fully explain the process. But if you are an expert sewer, just the idea of using floss should be enough for you.

Credit: Photo taken and edited by me. Video via expertvillage on YouTube.

Helpful Household Hints

Everyone has their own household tips and tricks that they’ve picked up over the years. Well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve too and I’m continuing my little series of Helpful Household Hints to share them with you guys.

Helpful Household Hint #2: Keeping Brown Sugar Soft and Fresh

Has this ever happened to you? You find a great cookie recipe. You pull out all of the ingredients from your pantry. When you get to the brown sugar, you find that it has hardened into an unusable rock.

Hey, it’s happened to me. Brown sugar is finicky.

Instead of going out to buy more sugar or trying to save what you have at the last minute, here’s how you can prevent it from happening in the first place.

It’s simple. Your brown sugar needs moisture. You need to store it properly.

You’ll need four things:

1. A container big enough to fit your bag of brown sugar (I use a 12 oz. container that once housed frozen cool whip).
2. A small “cup” (I use a plastic measuring scoop with the handle cut off & my mom uses an old school medicine bottle with no cap).
3. A cotton ball.
4. Water.

That’s it. Nothing fancy.

Simply pour your brown sugar into the container. Place your cotton ball into the small “cup” and moisten it with a little water. Make a small indent so that small “cup” can fit in the sugar with the lid still being able to close. Seal your container tightly. Re-moisten your cotton ball ever so often.

Wha-la! No more crunchy brown sugar!

What tricks do you use around your household to make life a little easier or to fix the boo boos once they happen? Please share!

Credit: Photo taken by me.

Helpful Household Hints

Everyone has their own household tips and tricks that they’ve picked up over the years. Maybe you’ve learned a great way to do something from your mother or your grandmother. Maybe you read a handy tip in Good Housekeeping that you’ve kept in your arsenal.

Well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve too and I thought I’d do a little series of Helpful Household Hints to share them with you guys.

Helpful Household Hint #1: Extending the Shelf-life of Nuts

Nuts are expensive and I usually take awhile to finish a package. I don’t want them to go to waste by going rancid. So, to keep nuts fresher a little longer, I put my nuts in the freezer. The great thing about freezing nuts, is they don’t freeze like liquids do. Just take the bags out of the freezer and the nuts are ready to go. No defrosting needed.

What tricks do you use around your household to make life a little easier or to fix the boo boos once they happen? Please share!

Credit: Photo taken by me.