For one, you don’t have to spend a fortune on decor; you can let Mother Nature do the work for you. If you live in an area with beautiful fall foliage, use pretty branches and leaves placed in a simple container to make a big impact. When it comes to food, don’t put away your grill. There are many ways you can continue to use this outdoor cooking station through the winter when taking proper safety precautions....
How to Grow a Citronella Plant A member of the scented geranium family of plants, citronella plant is often stocked alongside the herbs in the garden center. Sometimes it will even be labeled as a mosquito plant. Look for a plant that has healthy, deep green leaves. Then, gently remove the plant from the container and take a peek at the roots. The roots should be bright white and just beginning to reach the edges of the container....
The plant grows 8-16 inches tall with three to five upright stems, each bearing three to five toothed leaflets. Beginning its second year from seed, tiny whitish green flowers appear in spring. These are followed by attractive bright red berries that ripen in late summer or early fall. It’s the root (technically a rhizome) of the plant that is used medicinally, but it can take several years for a decent-sized root to develop....
One tradition that pervades the whole series is afternoon tea in the signature pale blue drawing room of the show’s namesake family, the Bridgertons. While you desperately await the arrival of season two, transport yourself back to a time when coming out as a debutante was as competitive as getting into an Ivy League college (and when ladies’ gossip was good as fact) with a proper high tea that even Lady Whistledown wouldn’t find fault with....
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to completely prevent a necklace from moving around, unless you stay perfectly still yourself. Yet there are ways to minimize the movement, so don’t give up on necklaces just yet. We spoke to jewelry experts to hear their tips and tricks for keeping necklaces in place, depending on the issue and style of the necklace. If Your Clasp Keeps Twisting Around to the Front A common issue with pendant necklaces is when the chain moves and the clasp suddenly sits in the front....
Cooking potatoes on the grill is a super simple way to make a deliciously smoky side dish. You can also grill your potatoes before you mix them into a potato salad to add depth and complexity to your dish, like in a hearty grilled potato and onion salad. And heads up: They pair just as perfectly with burgers as French fries do, but require a lot less elbow grease (and actual grease)....
1. Choose the Right Hydrangea Only the flowers of bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) and mountain hydrangea (H. serrata) can change color. Other types like oakleaf hydrangeas (H. quercifolia) or smooth hydrangeas (H. arborescens) such as ‘Annabelle’, cannot change their flower colors, naturally blooming in white, cream, or dusty pink. These plants are just as full and beautiful, but if your goal is deep pink hydrangeas, make sure you’re planting varieties that can turn that color....
But as my go-to nail technician can confirm, gel nail polish can wreak a whole lot of havoc on your nails. I always make sure to indulge my damaged nail beds with cuticle oils and creams, but celebrity nail artist Jin Soon Choi says that may be why your manicured nails are reaching a premature end. The term “oily skin” does not just apply to your face, says Herman Paez, director of education at EMMA Beauty....
Shredding cooked chicken meat, for example, is a great way to transform a snack (like nachos) into a full-blown, satisfying meal. Additionally, adding shredded chicken to a homemade pizza or bowl of pasta is an excellent way to increase your protein intake. Keep reading to find out how to make shredded chicken and how to add it to some of your favorite meals. How to Make Shredded Chicken There are several ways to make shredded chicken, but our preference is the classic stovetop method....
As a professional organizer, one of the first things that I like to distinguish with my clients is a list of exactly what they want to keep under the kitchen sink. That’s when we discover that the extra bottle of toilet bowl cleaner really doesn’t belong in this space since there’s no restroom nearby. Once you’ve determined the items you want to store, the organizing process will be easier. Use the following tips to learn how to organize the cabinet below your kitchen sink....
I received a complimentary Cricut EasyPress Mini for this post. All opinions are 100% honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This spring my sister, sister-in-law, and I all had babies. Three babies within just over two months. It’s a lot of babies. It’s pretty much amazing since we all live within minutes of each other and can celebrate and commiserate about life with babies together....
Most paint brands offer several options for white paint, and the larger paint brands can have dozens of choices to choose from. All those different shades of white paint—Snowbound versus Pure White versus Oxford White, among hundreds of others—could lead an indecisive soul to spend hours agonizing over the right pick. No more! To simplify the process of picking a white paint color, we spoke with Leigh Spicher, the national director of design studios for homebuilder Ashton Woods....
However, if you decide against going to a nail salon to remove your fake nails, you need to know the right way to do it. While there are few things more satisfying than peeling off your gel manicure, doing so can cause damage to your natural nails. We spoke with nail experts on the best methods to remove fake nails, and how to avoid weak and unhealthy natural nails afterwards....
We try to reach for fresh fruits and veggies whenever possible, but when it comes to convenience and affordability, there’s no denying that freezer aisle offerings can’t be beat. If you’ve ever wondered if you can save time by popping them in the oven as-is, we have good news. To make sure you aren’t compromising on crispness or flavor when roasting, though, follow these easy guidelines for making the best-ever roasted veggies straight from the bag....
Sure, a large chunk of the U.S. population does have a 401(k) and consistent employment, so this standard advice applies—but there’s also a large group of people who don’t have a 401(k) or a traditional career path. (Plus, the number of people who are unemployed or who have experienced unemployment for an extended period of time is sure to be higher than ever after the pandemic.) While every situation is different, even for those with more traditional financial situations, there are a few things anyone with a non-traditional financial situation or career path can do to build retirement savings....
Generally, a refrigerated stick of butter can take anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour to soften; meanwhile, frozen butter can take upwards of four hours to reach a usable consistency. If you forgot to leave the butter out ahead of time, or it just won’t thaw quickly enough, we’ve gathered a few helpful tips for achieving smooth, soft butter fast. Benefits of Softened Butter Aside from the much more malleable texture, softened butter plays an important role, especially when baking....
How to Store Flour You know how it’s become super trendy to store your dry ingredients in airtight food storage containers? Well, not only will your pantry look clean and organized, but if you use those containers, you’ll also help prolong the shelf life of many of your ingredients, including flour. Storing flour in airtight plasticware or a glass mason jar will keep it fresh for up to 10 months and keep pests like flour bugs at bay....
So even if your own job is relatively secure right now, you likely know someone who’s been let go (or about to be let go) as a direct result of the pandemic’s economic impact. If this is the case, you’ll want to know the best ways to support them during such a hard time. You may not be able to turn back time or lend them a year’s salary, but there are tons of ways to be a source of comfort and advice while they get back on the right path toward a new role....
Unfortunately, the texture of a pineapple is not a good way to tell if it’s ripe, according to Emanuela Vinciguerra, a pineapple farmer and educator at Kumu Farms, which grows tropical fruit on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Maui. “For pineapple, it’s not really the feel,” she says. “Even when it’s really ripe, it’s kind of hard.” So how do you know when a pineapple is ripe and ready to eat?...
If your chili looks a little or a lot thinner than you’d like, these tips for how to thicken chili will help you bolster your bowls so they are hearty enough to satisfy. We tapped our Test Kitchen pros for several ideas about how to make chili thicker (aka sturdy enough stand up to copious toppings and dunkers). And since we’re often searching for ideas for how to make a thicker chili after it’s already thin, they also offer tricks to prevent this culinary challenge before it happens....
