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Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Random (Non Cozy Mystery-Related) Ideas…

homeDo any of you have a household trick – or two – you wouldn’t mind sharing? I have three, just to get us started.

1.  Those of you who have been with me for a while know I mentioned this one several years ago. Don’t throw away your children’s tiny toys from yester-year. Instead add a pretty Christmas ribbon & hang them on your Christmas tree. As your children get older, these little toy-ornaments will (probably) end up being your sentimental favorites, along with all of the ones they made for you >>> (even including the ones their teachers had them use toilet paper tubes to make!)

2. When my children were young, I would read their favorite “Golden Books” into a cassette, blowing a whistle at the end of each page to signal when they should turn the page. (Of course, this didn’t replace our nightly ritual of reading to them right before bedtime!) They would listen to the books in bed every night. [I guess now this could be done with a child’s tablet or digital voice recorder… My children (now adults) actually remember these books over the store-bought books that came with cassettes.]

3. I have also talked about this next tip before – probably lots of times. To all of you cross-stitchers, I use my regular cross-stitch patterns and add Mill Hill seed beads into the pattern. I love the added “pizzazz!”

I know this entry has absolutely nothing to do with reading Cozy Mysteries, but thought it would be fun to hear about some tips you may have.

Do any of you have “tips” you’d like to share? If so, please post a comment. Thank you!

Comments

  2. What great tips! I wish I’d known about the kids’ toys Christmas ornaments sooner. But I have a good idea what to do with my daughter’s Littlest Pet Shops now. I haven’t done cross stitch in a while, but I do needlepoint and love to add beads. My old stitching partners used to call me The Bead Queen!

    I have two Christmas-related tips. I have a bag of Mardi Gras beads I’ve saved since college, and I hang them on the Christmas tree as decorations. You can do the same with necklaces you no longer wear. I do it with earrings I have left over from the Eighties. Remember how big those were? They’re not in style anymore, BUT I discovered that a lot of them make great Christmas tree ornaments. And people who compliment them on the tree crack up when I say, “Oh, those are my earrings from the 1980s!”

    Reply

    • Ellen, those Pet Shop tiny toys are perfect for the tree! We have Transformers and Quints.
      My daughter lived in New Orleans for a year, so I’ll be sure to pass on your Mardi Gras beads idea. As for the 1980s earrings, WOW, what a great idea!

      Reply

    • Ellen – just read your new Christmas Cozy and loved it.

      Danna – Stringing popcorn to decorate outside trees make the birds and little 4 legged critters very happy. Make the popcorn the day before and its not as crunchy and strings easier. Cranberries are also something you can do with the popcorn. Kids love to watch the animals, especially if you have lots of snow.

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      • We used to string popcorn and cranberries for our inside tree. Never thought to do it on outside trees. I know the squirrels would love it. Thanks.

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  3. In the same spirit of tying a pretty Christmas ribbon on toys, to hang on the tree, I looped a ribbon through my children’s booties and first little cloth shoes — I wrote their names and dates worn on the sole. These are the ornaments they look for first to hang on our tree — at ages 27 and 22!

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  4. Fun question. I’m more of the Ms. Fixit type. For example, for untightening a Phillips head screw that’s worn, I put a rubber band between the screw and screwdriver for a better grip. I also keep a magnet in my sewing drawer to pick up spilled pins. A dime can substitute for a screwdriver in a pinch. Egg cartons are good for holding fragile tree ornaments.

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    • Donna, these are great “Ms. Fixit” tips. I just passed along the one about the screw and screwdriver to my husband. Much appreciated! I may place a few magnets around the house >>> our dog has a grab-everything-on-the floor fetish, and it would be great if we could quickly retrieve small objects before she swallows them. (At least the metal ones…)

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  5. It’s still an idea to make life more cozy!
    I picked this one up a few years ago and love it. After washing your bed sheet sets, fold the fitted sheet and cover and all but one pillow case. Packed the folded items into the last pillow case and stack in your cupboard. That has seriously cut down on my errant pillowcase numbers.

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  6. I am a grandmother of two, one of them being a four year old. I love these ideas and am going to pass them on to my daughter. Thank you for them.

    Reply

    • Patricia, I remember when our children were that young. These tiny, little pieces are exactly the ones I didn’t like having around the house. Now that those years are gone for ever, I can’t believe I ever felt that way!

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  7. I’ve been reading the Inspector Alleyn mysteries by Ngaio Marsh. These aren’t necessarily “cozies,” but as the teenagers would say, they’re like cozies. They’re more Christie-ish manor house murders. Some of her 40-odd Alleyn books were turned into TV shows, so look them up on YouTube to get an idea of what Roderick Alleyn looks like.

    (That said, Nero Wolfe is still my favorite.)

    Mike F.

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  8. I have two small dogs that love to scratch their sides by sliding along my walls. You can tell how tall they are by the wide dirty line on the wall. I have found the Mr Clean eraser or any white erasers takes off every bit of dirt and makes the walls look new again.

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  9. I love the Cheese Shop mysteries by Avery Aames (Daryl Wood Gerber). Are there more books in the series due to be published soon?

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  11. Cleaning tip – use white vinegar for all kinds of cleaning. Stuff around your faucets/etc — cleans it up nicely. Disgusting stuff around your shower — spray vinegar on it maybe 30 minutes before your regular cleaning and it removes the gunk without using that expensive stuff that makes your whole house stink. We had a drain pipe leak into the basement and after water was cleaned up, it still smelled musty. I sprayed vinegar on it for several days and it cleared up the odor. Last but not least, I spray vinegar on my hair after I shampoo once a month as it strips all the residue from shampoo/conditioner.

    Reply

    • Virginia, the only thing I use the white vinegar is to freshen-up musty drains in sinks. I’ll try it on my faucets (and possibly my hair!) We have terribly hard water down here in San Antonio. Just about everyone has a water softener, but we still get hard-water residue around the faucets. I’ll definitely try it!

      Reply

      • Danna, If you have hard water, or really, even if it is isn’t, try adding water to the washer when doing laundry. It removes the soap build up, smelly sweat residue and mildew odor when someone puts something damp in the hamper. I just fill the bleach dispenser on my washer, so it is really easy. Since it goes in the wash, the rinse cycle removes any vinegar odor.

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  12. That’s okay, Danna. I use white vinegar on carpets before I vac them. It gets that winter boot water smell out of the air and the staleness. You could use white or apple cider vinegar in a carpet cleaning machine also instead of rinsing the soap and soaking the carpet more.

    Great idea on the kids toys as ornaments. Same with old pet toys. If it is made of fabric, wash in mild soap and air dry. Use a ribbon to tie it to the tree to remember a favorite pet that has passed away. It is like a memorial of that pet. I did that when my Abby passed away. I have one toy for each pet I’ve lost.

    The recorded book is a great idea also. I don’t have any kids and my niece and nephew are older now but they remember bedtime stories I would read to them when they were little. Fun times, especially at Christmas. They’re all over the country now and in their 20’s and I work but we all remember those days.

    Hope everyone out there has a safe and happy holiday season.
    Read on!

    Rob Jarrad

    Reply

    • Rob, I still have our beloved Sprite’s favorite lamb (stuffed) toy. I had never thought about converting it into an ornament. Our tree has all sorts of dog ornaments on it with either Sprite’s name or her picture, but her lamb would be a great addition to our family tree. (I better get started buying some Cocoa ornaments… )

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  13. I am vertically challenged and often find that things I want are on shelves I can’t reach. In my kitchen, I will just reach for a set of tong and that will frequently allow me to reach what is on that next shelf. I keep regular tongs and some with the silicon tips handy. The ones with the silicon make it easier to hang on to things that might slip.

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    • Susy, great idea! I use a long shoe horn to help me get our Cocoa’s dog toys after they roll under the couch/chairs. Maybe I should invest in some silicon tipped tongs. I just get so tired of me being the one who ends up retrieving her toys when they roll out of her reach.

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  14. Here is another one that is sort of related to Cozy Mysteries. Since I have SOOOOO many books, I will put a bookmark in one when I buy it, usually on the copyright page. This way I know I haven’t yet read it, and I can just open at the bookmark to see which comes next in a series.

    In conjunction with that, since I go through a lot of bookmarks, and they can get pricy, I just buy 12 X 12 scrapbook card stock weight paper and cut my own. I usually cut them at 6 X 1 1/2, since this seems to be a good size for paperbacks. If you happen to be into scrapbooking, you probably have lots of scraps that can be cut into bookmarks. I also will occasionally buy a very special paper and some stickers and make them to accompany gifts for my family and friends who read as much as I do.

    Reply

    • Susy, thanks for the tip about the bookmarks! I think getting a book with a nice bookmark made by the person who is giving you the gift sounds like a terrific idea. I’ve given several cookbooks as gifts, and wish I had personalized them a little…

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  15. Here’s a tip for Thanksgiving (or any other holiday) dinner. One of the family favorites is potatoes and gravy. After the potatoes are boiled, I save the cooking water to use as liquid in my homemade gravy. It adds some body to the taste, and also adds whatever nutrients dissolved out of the potatoes while they were cooking. I start with drippings from the turkey, add thickener (flour or cornstarch), and slowly add the potato water to the resultant paste. Then I bring it to a boil and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly with a whip.

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    • Wow, this is such a great tip. Thank you for sharing Sue. I am going to try this at Thanksgiving. My gravy never turns out very well. This sounds wonderful!

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  16. Danna, I love your household tricks especially the first two. What great ideas for kids and Christmas!

    To remove unsightly scratches from any kind of brown woodwork, rub a walnut over the scratch and it will disguise the scratch or ding. I have done this often and it works well.

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  17. Our family is finishing a cross-stitched advent calendar for my one and only (so far) great-grandson. I’ve probably made at least forty of them over the years, but this time the baby’s mom, grandmothers, cousins, aunties (and an uncle), and a couple of dear friends are stitching at least one square each. Each will sign her/his name on a copy of the chart cover, in the appropriate square(s). The calendar has gone all over California, and to England and back!

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  19. Get a blank note book. On the top of each page, note the series title of each cosy mystery. Under the title, write each book along with the month and year published. This will allow you to keep better track of books in each series of your favorite authors.

    Reply

    • Shalma S, I do the same thing since I read so much and it keeps me from buying or taking out from the library books I’ve already read. But for a shortcut, I have a page for each of my favorite authors (kept in alphabetical order) plus pages of lists for each season of the books I want to read during that season. I go to Fantastic Fiction and print out lists of the author’s books…they are in order…and then glue them into my notebook…saves a lot of writing. Then as I read them or buy them I check them off. Every 3 months or so I check out my favorite authors on Fantastic Fiction to see if they have new books coming out and add them to the list. If I run out of books by a certain author and want more I go to Literature Map to find similar authors. Theses practice help me know what to order next and prevent that horrible “oh, no! I’ve run out of books to read” feeling.

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  20. Love your blog and these household tips. Our favorite ornaments in our house are photos taken of each of my three kids on a very special day in their childhoods. For example, we have one of my second son when he was a lead in a school play, we have one of my oldest son playing an important basketball game and we have one of our youngest at a ballet recital. We also have one of my husband after he ran a marathon and ones of each of the kids in Halloween costumes. The photos are mounted on foam core and then they are cut out with an exacto knife. A simple ribbon loop glued on back is a perfect hanger since they are very lightweight!

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  21. Hmmmmm………..a tip? Well, I will use ANY excuse to pass along a great recipe! I’ve wanted to let everyone know about this scrumptious cake, but didn’t know how I’d fit it in. I’ve made this cake several times for groups in the past two months……………….ALL have raved about it. It’s in several places online, so some of you may already be aware of it.

    Its uniqueness is in the fact that you add a can of frosting IN THE BATTER, thus making a very moist and tasty cake (just use your witch’s wand to erase the calories). It’s also very easy to make. A YUM factor rating of 10!

    Here’s an actual “tip”. Please notice the ‘NOTE”. Cake mixes have been downsized to 15.25 oz. or 15.5 oz. When an older recipe specifies an 18.25 oz. cake mix, it is necessary to add a supplement to get satisfactory results.

    Southern Pecan Praline Cake

    1 (18.25 oz.) box Butter Pecan Cake Mix (Betty Crocker)
    1 (16 oz.) container Coconut Pecan Frosting
    4 eggs
    ¾ cup oil
    1 cup water (I use milk)
    ½ cup chopped pecans

    Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-in. baking pan with cooking spray (or grease and flour).

    In a mixing bowl, combine all the cake ingredients (including tub of frosting), except for the chopped pecans. Mix well then stir in ½ cup chopped pecans. Pour batter into baking pan.

    Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes. Or, until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

    Recipe Notes: You can also make this in a Bundt pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

    NOTE: I also added into the batter 3½ Tbsp. of flour, 2½ Tbsp. sugar, and ¼ tsp. baking powder as a supplement because cake mixes are now ‘downsized’.

    ———————————————————

    I drizzle this cake with Brown Sugar Icing:

    Brown-Sugar Icing

    ¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
    2 Tbsp. milk, plus more as needed
    2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
    1 tsp. vanilla extract
    1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed

    Combine brown sugar, milk, and butter in a medium saucepan.
    Stir over medium heat until the butter has melted and sugar has
    dissolved. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and confectioners’
    sugar. If the icing is too thick to drizzle, stir in a little more milk.
    If it is too thin, add a little more confectioners’ sugar. Let cool slightly before using.

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  22. Years ago I started collecting Hallmark ornaments. Now my entire Christmas tree is decorated with Hallmark ornaments. Some years back, one of the ornaments Hallmark came out with were miniature picture frames. I downloaded a lot of our family photos and then printed them to put inside these frames. They turned out great, and I gave them as gifts to my family members, including cousins and aunts. They absolutely loved them because they were photos of their siblings or parents, plus the frames are beautiful Christmas tree ornaments. I made a few for my tree too. They’re great remembrance pieces.

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  23. When I bought my first apartment, there was a huge old hard-plastic clothes hamper. The sort with decorative cut-out sides and a lid. (Circa 1980’s, I think! Lol!) I bought a much smaller, fabric hamper, but found that the big plastic one made a fantastic substitute for a broom cupboard. It even holds the vacuum!

    When cleaning dirty / blackened silver or silverplate, don’t waste expensive silver polish. Believe it or not, *Toothpaste* does a much better job! I keep an old toothbrush expressly for cleaning things, and just use a little polish on a rag to get a final shine.
    The brush gets into all the cracks and decorative details, and the toothpaste is actually far quicker and more effective at removing tarnish than the commercial polish.

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  24. Your idea for children’s toys as Christmas ornaments is great. I saved some of my children’s treasured toys, ones that they had loved so much. One year (when they were teenagers and the gifts were expensive but didn’t look fun under the tree) I put their old toys under the tree. They got quite a kick seeing their old friends under the tree Christmas morning.

    Also on the Christmas theme; when we travel I don’t want to spend big money on useless souvenirs so I get silly small things related to the place we are visiting. You would be amazed at all the fun small items you can find with the name of your location on them. I mark them with the date and hang them on our travel tree. It is so much fun hanging all those memories on the tree!

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  25. So many great ideas. My mother will be 98 in December. Her tree still has ornaments that she made as a child. My tree also has ornaments that I made as a child and I will soon be 70. I also have ornaments that my children made. Such fond memories. Nice tradition.

    Reply

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