There are so many uses for vinegar that we could hardly list each one. But here are a few of our favorite little vinegar secrets:

Children absolutely love to make their own snow globes! They will need your help for this craft, so break out your glue gun and let's have some fun.

Use an emptied, cleaned and dried baby food jar. Using your hot glue gun, glue your "snow globe dweller" to the inside of the lid. It can be a plastic snowman, a little plastic tree, small plastic toys or anything else that will fit and is water proof. Let the glue dry.

Now have your child fill the snow globe with water and then add any color glitter you like. Place the lid on the jar and close it as tightly as you can. Put a ribbon of hot glue around the edge to stop any leaks from forming. Let your child paint the lid to make it extra special. Shake and enjoy!

Those pesky critters that munch on your veggie lunch - how do you get rid of them?

I’ve done something completely wild in my bedroom. And you know what? I highly recommend it. What am I talking about? Why, a chandelier, of course!

How many dining room tables have you seen with glamorous chandeliers over them? And those hallways – how they shine with every lit crystal. But your bedroom? One blasay blah light smack dab in the middle.

So why not your bedroom? Face it – it’s time for a bedroom makeover. And what would be better than an amazing chandelier over the bed? It doesn’t have to be big and it certainly doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to make you feel like royalty every time you enter the bedroom.

So what are you waiting for? Start imagining paint colors and how they will shine in your beautiful, crystal-lit bedroom. And let’s go shopping!

If you have cats, you probably have experienced at least one time when your cat urinated on a couch, carpet or bed. The smell of cat urine is almost impossible to get out! There are many products that break down the enzymes in the cat urine, but we have found the smell still remains no matter what we try.

That is, until this weekend! Our cat must have peed on the couch some time during the night, because by the next morning the room smelled strongly of cat urine. Sure enough, right in the middle of the couch – a big pool of cat pee. I poured a whole bottle of cat urine enzyme solution on the cushion, but I still smelled the urine by the end of the day. In desperation I started searching the internet – and after reading many home remedies I made up my own formula to remove the smell of cat urine – and it worked!

The measurements are sketchy, at best. I put a little bit of this in and a little bit of that… then I poured the entire bowl of homemade cat urine remover over the couch. To my great amazement, the solution actually worked to get rid of that terrible odor! I was afraid my couch would be faded after the treatment, but it didn’t bleach it at all. Of course, you should spot test your couch (or carpet) with this mixture before pouring it all over the cushions!

Before I used the solution, I had already used a product that breaks down cat urine enzymes. This might be the key to the whole process – using the product first, and then the solution below after that had dried – but this is only a guess.

Homemade Recipe to Remove the Cat Urine Smell:

¼ cup hydrogen peroxide
¼ cup baking soda
2 good squirts of dish detergent
¼ cup white vinegar

Now remember, I didn’t measure – I just threw it all in together. So if it doesn’t work the first time, try adding a bit more of each and repeating the process.

Put all of the ingredients into a big mixing bowl, and then fill the bowl with hot water from the tap. Then (after spot testing the item you are cleaning) pour the entire bowl of solution over the smelly area. Wipe the cleaner into the item so it will soak through. Now let it dry, and voila! No more stinky cat smell!

I must have passed it a hundred times before I decided to try John Frieda's Radiant Red Glaze. I could see a picture clearly in my mind – coming out of the shower, looking in the mirror and having something that somewhat resembles Bozo’s hair looking back at me.

Fortunately for me, I’ve been using it for a while and I don’t look at all like a clown. This can only be a good thing.

As a child, I had very red hair. But age faded it to a chestnut color, and even more age made it dull and dry. After using John Frieda’s Radiant Red Glaze every two days for about a month, my hair has a richer color and is quite shiny.

It hasn’t dyed my hair, but has given it a more reddish tone. Proof of it’s subtly? No one has noticed any color changes. But I have been complimented on the health of my hair. My more richly colored hair is shiny and soft, thanks to John Frieda’s Radiant Red Glaze.

Christmas is a time of family and celebration. Decorated Christmas trees, garlands and glitter abound. This year, why don’t you set a table that will bring some extra cheer to your dinner!

Rather than setting a single flower arrangement in the middle of the table, consider purchasing a collection of single red and white roses. Pick the petals off and sprinkle them around the table.

For a seasonal twist, replace the rose petals with cranberries and cinnamon sticks. And for your centerpiece, place a simple bowl in the middle filled with holiday greenery. Push cloves in to oranges and place them in the bowl. Distribute cranberries and cinnamon sticks around the oranges.

Your table will not only be elegant, but will smell delicious too. Merry Christmas!

Imagine yourself a two year old again. You toddle through the house, slowly enter the living room and to your great delight, find a glorious site before you. A beautiful green tree towering above, filled with golden, sparkly and breakable delights just waiting to be touched. What little child can resist?

It would be a shame to only keep ornaments at the top of your tree this year. But if you have little ones running around, what other options do you have? How about this. Place your special (and more breakable) ornaments on the top of the tree. Put the safe ornaments below. Then, add little decorative bells all around the tree. Why? Imagine yourself in the kitchen pouring milk into a sippy cup. Ring a ling a ling! Time to check the toddler – and the tree!

You may not really have eyes in the back of your head – but at Christmas time, you can have an extra set of ears around the tree!

This is an easy holiday craft for children and is a great gift for a teacher or grandparent. Find a nicely opened pinecone and either dip it in glue or squeeze glue around it. Then shake cinnamon over the glue. For a wonderful glimmer, spread some glitter over it as well. Allow to dry.

You can use a glue gun to place a red bow or loop on top for hanging. If you don’t have a glue gun, slide a pin through the bow and push it into the top of the pinecone.

This is a nice Christmas craft for school parties or for little ones who love to glue and sprinkle. It is a beautiful decoration and smells absolutely amazing!

Its Christmas time and I’ve bought gifts for everyone in the family. My friends are done, and the gift for my work party is purchased. And being a mother, all the extra bit of money went to things for my children – it’s just what us mothers do!

Until yesterday, that is. A good friend of mine sent me a surprise check in the mail with a Christmas card. I knew my daughter really wanted Heelys, so I went to Sports Authority to pick up a pair. To my surprise, the Heelys were on sale – and I had a ten dollar off coupon to boot!

But then something caught my eye. A pair of pure white Heelys with pink and white checkered shoelaces. And do you know what size they were? Ladies size eight. They make Heelys for adults! I gingerly took them off the shelf and opened them up. Then I giggled. I took one off and tried it on. Perfect fit!

So guess who tossed a second pair of Heelys in the cart? My children couldn’t believe it when I brought them home. And I caused quite a stir outside of the basketball game amongst my oldest son’s friends. “Miss Katherine, are you wearing HEELIES?!?!”

Yes, I’ll probably shoot my eye out. But they sure are fun. I can actually make it about two feet without killing myself! The lesson is – so many times we do and do for others and never treat ourselves. Take it from me – buying yourself a little something every now and again is OK. There is no need to feel guilt. You work hard – you deserve it.

So while are out shopping for the holidays, sneak a bit of money out of the cookie jar for yourself. It will make your days a little more merry and brighter!

Are those pesky squirrels digging out or eating your bulbs, pansies or other flowers? Tis the season to put candy canes around your plants! Yes, this actually works. Push candy canes in to the ground around the plants your local squirrel community likes to eat. There is something about the peppermint in the candy that the squirrels do not like. Ho ho ho!

This morning I was watching Rachael Ray and decided to try the quick dinner of the day. It was boneless chicken breast coated in pretzels, fried and accompanied with a fast cheese sauce.

I’m happy to say the entire family absolutely wolfed the dinner down and then went back for seconds. And it really was a quick meal to prepare. Rachael used chicken breasts that she pounded thin. I only had pork chops in the freezer so I used those. I think I would prefer the chicken next time, but the pork was still delicious. Mix a few eggs and some milk together and dip the pork or chicken in to the egg.

For the breading, simply take several cups of pretzels and either hand crush them or run them through the food processor. Make sure there are still pieces of pretzel intact – you don’t want a mixture of pretzel powder. Coat the meat with the pretzels and fry them up in a pan that contains just enough oil to reach the middle of the meat.

Rachael also made a cheese sauce for the meat. She melted butter and added flour, letting it cook until brown. Then she added milk, mustard and lots of cheese for the cheese sauce. After tasting the final product I decided to give it a bit more zing. I added hot sauce and some leftover champagne to make it simply delicious.

For a side I steamed broccoli and made rice with chicken broth instead of water. As my family sat down I asked them to guess what I used to coat the pork. One said rice crispies (well, it did look close to that!) and the other guessed pretzels right away. There wasn’t a scrap of food left on anyone’s plate.

So Rachael, you sure did hook us up tonight. Thank you for the fast, easy and a bit unusual recipe. I plan to add this meal to our regular family dishes!