CANDY COATED CONTAINERS
Giving someone a vase full of flowers is sweet. But here’s something that can make it sweeter: jellybeans or candies. Use them as pretty lining for your vase—just place barriers, like a board or a piece of plastic, between the floral foam and the candies to keep them safe and fresh. The candies hide the stems and turn the whole package into a yummy visual treat.
RE-USE THOSE INVITES
Party invitations get more colorful and creative each year. Here are a few good reasons why you should keep them for later.
1. Use them to spice up your child’s school projects.
2. Put them in an album together with your most memorable party photos. They can decorate your scrapbooks as well.
3. Cut out the characters and turn them into paper dolls. They’ll make nice giveaways for your child’s friends.
4. Help your child create his very own comic book. Glue the cutouts onto folded pieces of paper. Draw balloons next to the characters for writing wacky quotes.
FOOD IDS
Get iced tea or brown sugar from the right canister. Brush some blackboard paint on the surface, and use chalk to write down what’s inside. Blackboard paint is available in home depots, but if you can’t find one, black cartolina will do.
A SIMPLE TOUCH
Wearing the same pair of shoes for another night out? Vintage clip-on earrings will change their look.
MAKE THAT SWITCH
Just because a light switch is purely functional doesn’t mean you can’t brighten it up. You can paint it, put different stickers on it, or unscrew the switch and glue some ric-rac on it.
KIDDIE-WALL DECOR
It’s natural for kids to experiment with crayons and paints. But if they’ve suddenly taken a liking to your clean (and blank) walls, here’s a good solution: hang an illustration board in one area where they can paint and doodle to their hearts’ content. Get washable finger paint so they can use their hands freely. When their masterpiece is full of drawings, simply replace it with another board and let them create a new one.
(First published in Good Housekeeping, March 2006; photos by Dakila Angeles)
