SUCCESSES AND NOT

This post is a good example of why I chose the name My Patchwork Quilt for this blog.  If you are familiar with a patchwork quilt, no two squares are the same.  In other words, the quilt consists of many different design patterns.  When I was thinking about what I would be sharing here, I kept thinking of many different things, recipes, tips, sewing projects, quilting projects home decor, etc that I would want to share. I wanted the title My Patchwork Life, but it was already taken.  My Patchwork Quilt is just fine though.

For a while, I have been trying things that I thought I would share. While I don't share things that aren't successful, I have been known to show some of my attempts that lacked perfection. (A terrible fault I have...feeling I have to be perfect, that is.) 

Then one day, I decided I should share my experience and express my opinion as to whether they were successful or not and let you be the judge. So here goes....

THE BEST CORN - ON - THE - COB EVER

My friend Janice posted a video on Facebook showing how to best cook corn - on - the - cob.  I watched it and sorta forgot about it. I didn't have any corn at the time.  A couple of weeks later, our son, Patrick, asked me if I wanted some corn.  The rest is history.  

I couldn't get in touch with Janice and so did a search for the video. I actually watched several different ones and tried it several times before I decided the final instructions to share. (What was successful for me.) I don't have a video to share with you so read as well as look at my pictures.

Place the ears of corn in the microwave with the shucks still on. (I did two ears at a time...there are just the two of us.) Cook on HIGH for 8 minutes (4 minutes per each ear)

Remove and cut the end off the stalk end of the cob cutting a little bit of the cob also.

Let it cool about a minute. Grab the other end of the ear

and start shaking the ear back and forth so the ear will start coming out the end. (These pictures were taken from the couple of times I did this.)

Continue shaking to remove the ear

 until the ear is removed.  There will be no silks

Rub with margarine and sprinkle on some pepper for the best ever corn.










What I learned with this experience.  The second ear of corn came out so easy..the first one didn't.  SO I decided you should wait a "second" before starting on the first ear.  The corn is absolutely the "bestest". Only way to cook it as far as I am concerned.


MAKING YOUR OWN HAND SOAP

This idea came from a pin I saw on Pinterest and I thought I would give it a try. (It would save money if it worked. Right?) The instructions said to use shampoo, cream rinse, and water.  That was simple enough.

 First, I had to clean my purchased hand soap container so it would look nice in my bathroom.

 

This is really easy to do.  Years ago I discovered that baby oil will remove that sticky residue left when you remove a label. Just put some on a cotton ball and rub. Then wash off oil with soap and water.

The instructions said to use 1 tablespoon shampoo +1 tablespoon of cream rinse + water to nearly fill the container. You have to be able to put the "pump" back in. Shake it up and use.  The "problem" was it was too watery and not enough soap.  I know I am used to the purchased hand soap but it was just too watery.






Not to be outdone though, when I finished it all up (which didn't take too long, because I squirted a lot in my hands to get enough "soap"), I decided I just needed more shampoo and cream rinse and less water.

My husband and I had recently gone out of town and stayed in hotels.  We always bring home the complementary lotions, soaps, etc from the room.  I had a shampoo and cream rinse and decided to use them. (The cream rinse is fun getting out...not)

Then I added the water shook it up to mix.

This worked much better. The bottles were 1 oz size....that was about 2-1/2 tablespoons each of shampoo and cream rinse. 









What I learned with this experience.  More shampoo and cream rinse works much better but it works best if you shake the container before each use.  This might be difficult to communicate to guests, though.


Fewer wrinkles in clothes (jeans/pants and t-shirts)

This is another tip I saw either on Facebook or Pinterest and decided to try.

The only clothes I completely dry in the dryers are towels and linens.  After washing my clothes, I place them in the dryer for a few minutes to dry.  I shake each piece and place individually in the dryer on a warm setting only. The tip I saw said to hang the pants by the leg hem and not the waist to have fewer wrinkles.  I can understand logically why this should work....the weight of the jeans/pants would be pulling the pants down and pulling the wrinkles out. So it should work.  













What I learned with this experience. It does seem to work.  I also have found that if you rub your hand down the legs of pants or down the front and back of shirts when you hang them on hangers to dry, there will be less wrinkles.


Easy way to cover wire shelf racks

I saw this tip a couple of years ago but finally just got around to doing it.  I found some stick - on floor "tiles" at Hillcrest Thrift Shop where I volunteer that only cost me a dollar.  I put them away in the garage.  We recently had our house resided with James Hardie panels.  Everything against the sides of the house (on the inside) had to be taken down. That meant all the stuff on the wire shelf racks in the laundry room.  

Putting the wire racks back up, I decided I would finally make use of those stick - on - floor tiles I had gotten.  I didn't pull the paper off to actually "stick" the tiles down.  It sounds like a good plan, but all I could think about was the space between the wires and the cobwebs, dust, and other stuff that would probably get stuck to the tile.

What I learned from the experience.  It works perfectly especially when you have items with "legs" that will fall between the wires. (I know I don't show any in this picture, but they are on the other two shelves.

Ladies, run out of shaving cream????

When this happened to me recently I decided to use some of my cream rinse...I always buy it but then end up not using it when I buy shampoo. I have used soap but it never works well. So I thought, why not try cream rinse.







What I learned from this experience.  IT WORKS GREAT!  And I love the way my legs feel afterwards.  Don't forget to rinse out the tub though. The first time I tried it, I was in a hurry and didn't rinse out the tub.  The next morning when I got in to take a shower, I had to catch myself when my foot slipped.  The cream rinse leaves that nice creamy feel in your tub also.  

Gosh, this post has gotten long.  Sorry. Hope you are still with me.  I have one more experience to share with you.  It is another idea I saw on Pinterest and thought it was really cute and I would try it.

Fun Personal Flip flops

As I said I saw these flip flops on Pinterest and thought they were so cute.  I wanted to make some for the fourth of July but couldn't find the red, white, and blue colors. So I just chose three colors I liked.


It took me forever to decide the order to arrange them. I wanted to have the yellow on top and the purple on the bottom, but I knew the yellow would show dirt from my feet after wearing them and the purple not as bad. So this is the order I came up with.

Using my hedge clippers, I clipped off the strips from the yellow and pink "shoes".

I used gorilla glue to glue the shoes together.

Placed the pink one on top, making sure the edges matched up.

This step was probably the hardest one...weighting them down until the glue stuck.


I did have to use a knife to get off the excess that squeezed out the edges.

Repeat with this process to attach the top shoe.  (It became a feat trying to find "'weighty"things to place on top. ha)










What I learned from the experience.  I was okay with the resulting flip flops, I just forgot how uncomfortable the rubber strip is between the toes. My husband saw me wearing them and asked me if I had gotten some new shoes.  I couldn't help but laugh a little.  He thought they were cute.

I know this has been a long post, but hopefully you found something you can use from it.  Would love your comments. Remember to be kind. : }