Household Tips to Make Your Life Easier

Hallmark has a new movie coming out called Dear Prudence. Jane Seymour stars as a talk show host who gives out household advice.

Below are some tips from the movie about using everyday household products to make your life a bit easier.

Windshield Wiper Frost Free Fluid: When you have to leave your car outside overnight in the winter, mix 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water and coat the windows with this solution. This vinegar and water combination will keep windshields ice and frost-free.

To keep cut flowers fresher longer by mixing up a homemade formula. Mix 1 pint warm water, 1 pint lemonade or a lemon-lime soft drink. Pour enough into the vase to cover the lower three to four inches of the stem. Here's how this formula works: the sugar in the mixture supplies energy to the flowers and the citric acid in the lemon helps preserve them.

To keep buttons from dropping off: Dab a drop of clear nail polish onto the thread the secures the buttons. This will harden and make it more difficult for thread to break off.

To help new or just cleaned drapes stay fresh and crisp looking, spray them with a few coats of unscented hair spay before hanging them up. Allow the hair spray to dry between applications.

To speed drying time of big bulky items and jeans, add a dry towel to the wet items you're placing in the dryer. The towel will help absorb some of the excess moisture.

When you need to touch up a scratch or other type of blemish on a painted wall use a drop of paint on a cotton swab to fix the problem. You won't waste a bunch of paint and you won't have to waste time cleaning a paintbrush.

Instead of throwing away a sponge that has a stale odor, simply toss it in the dishwasher and wash it with the next load of dishes. It will come out clean and fresh smelling and will kill any bacteria in the sponge, so it's a good idea to toss your sponges into the dishwasher often.

For sharper scissors simply take your dull scissors and cut through three layers of tin foil ten times. Cut some paper to test. Repeat if not sharp enough for you. Or...cut a sheet of medium-grade sand paper into small pieces!

Make giant ice cubes in muffin tins or plastic margarine bowls. These are perfect for using in picnic coolers or punch bowls. They look pretty and keep your drinks or food cold longer.

Get rid of tarnish on silver the easy way, place a piece of aluminum foil (shiny side up) on the bottom of a glass bowl or pan. Fill the container with a solution made of 2 cups boiling water and 3 teaspoons of baking soda, and you've made an inexpensive "bath" to soak your silver in. Your silver will shine like new in no time!

To keep lint and dust off glass top tables, wash them in a solution of warm water and fabric softener. Add one tablespoon of liquid fabric softener to one quart of warm water. The fabric softener will clean the glass inexpensively and will help keep lint from gathering on the glass. Also great for computer screens and TVs.