Dear Home Ec 101, My husband nearly burnt our house down recently because he turned the oven on and forgot to take our plastic strainer out of it. The plastic is everywhere, now hard and stuck. I’m not exactly kitchen-smart, especially when it comes to the stove. (I’ve been known to mess up cup-a-soups by forgetting …
Dear Home Ec 101, Hello! My three year old son decided it would be fun to draw on our car upholstery with black pen. In the past I have been able to use hairspray on crayon with wonderful success (couch and table cloth), but I have never attempted it on pen. Any tips or am I …
Ivy says: I come from a very long line of accountants. In addition, I have a close family friend that is an IRS auditor. (Yes, he does have a pocket protector and calculator at his side all the time. No, he doesn’t have a sense of humor that he is aware of.) Because of that, …
Dear Home-Ec 101, I am a new reader of your site and am convinced that you may be the only ones able to help me. I am pregnant and because of morning sickness and the fact that my husband does not think vomit adds to his dinner, I’ve had to leave him to his own …
Alternate title: In which Ivy loses very important directions and has to wing it, and it all could have been avoided by keeping all her stuff in one neat place instead of keeping her stuff flung all over the house. Ivy says: Darling Home Eccers, I do stupid things to help you learn from my …
Dear Home Ec 101, I have two boys and a husband, and their pillows usually only last a year. I get the heebie-jeebies when I start noticing stains. I think they occasionally drool in their sleep, have sweaty heads, and the preschooler is prone to midnight nose bleeds….ew. (My pillow is pristine, of course.) When …
Dear Home Ec 101,The other day I started my dishwasher and walked away, a few minutes later, I realized it didn’t sound right, so I opened it up to make sure that the arms were spinning and that water was going where it is supposed to. (If water is dripping from everything, it’s all good …
Ivy says: Here’s a really good reason to start decluttering your house right now. Eventually, someday, you’re going to die. It’s unpleasant to think about, but it’s one of the only sure things about life- eventually, you’ll die. And when you do, someone you love is going to have to go through your stuff and …
If you’re anything like us (and hey, you might not be, we are strange), you have too many books. Go ahead and admit it, you have more books than you need. (We plead the fifth.) Go through them. Keep the ones you want to read repeatedly, keep the ones you plan on reading in the …
Dear Home Ec 101, How should I deal with all the whiskery bits left behind after my husband shaves? Signed, ~Mrs. Claws Heather says: In celebration of the season, we’d like to present our advice in song. Sing to Up On The Rooftop Manly whiskers in my sink well thank goodness, they don’t stink Clean …