Helping You Help Yourself #14

feature image via shutterstock

Are all the fresh herbs in your fridge wilted and weird? Yeah, mine too. Here’s how to bring them back to life.

Floor plans are useful for more than just would-be interior designers! They can help if you’re thinking about rearranging a room, deciding whether you have room to get a certain piece of furniture, or planning a move into a new space. Here’s how to make one!

This is a pretty basic #liphack, but lately I’ve been busting out some of the lipsticks that I bought when I was imagining myself as Fairuza Balk and that I never wear out and mixing them with some Vaseline or Aquaphor on the back of my hand to make tinted lip balm/stain that’s super wearable and also really moisturizing.

NYX's Feline ready to make an offering to Mabon on the left and ready to go to the grocery store on the right.

NYX’s Feline ready to make an offering to Manon on the left and ready to go to the grocery store on the right.

Yvonne wanted me to tell you that if you get a splinter from an avocado pit in your finger, don’t try to pull it out with your other finger. It will not work.

Pomegranates are so great but also can be so intimidating to figure out how to eat! Here’s how to get the delicious seeds out relatively easily.

Make a soy candle from just about anything.

A Gmail tip! If you want an easy way to categorize emails from a certain place or kind of communication, you can append a word onto the end of it with a plus sign, like this: [email protected]. The emails will still go to your inbox as absolutely normal, but it’s easy for you to set up a filter for them if you’d like. For instance, if you have services where you need to give them your email address to sign up but you know you don’t want to ever actually see anything they send you, you could give your email address as [email protected], and then set up a filter for everything sent to that specific address to go straight to the trash. Or if you’re big on subscription boxes, you can sign up for those with [email protected], and then send all your emails about all your boxes to the same label or place.

Whether you’re trying to impress a libation-loving ladyfriend or just want to get more knowledgeable about Kabinett, maybe you’ll enjoy this infographic about what type of wine glass is the best match for different types of wine.

via Wine Folly

via Wine Folly

HEY do you know about this app myGardenAnswers? You can show it pictures of plants and it will help you figure out what plants they are! Probably shouldn’t be your only source of information if you’re trying to figure out if something is poisonous or edible, but if you’re trying to figure out whether that plant growing on the side of the pathway is stinging nettle, it’s pretty useful (spoiler alert: it was stinging nettle).

I made a bunch of dumplings this weekend and I’m still pretty bad at this particular dumpling fold but the little progress I did make in learning how is totally due to this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI-m_EHsQUU

Just letting you know that you can watch every episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway for free online. Just FYI.

What goes on your countertop and what goes in your breadbox and what goes in your fridge? Does anyone own breadboxes anymore? Why does your roommate keep refrigerating the peanut butter? Answer many, although maybe not all, of those questions here.

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Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1141 articles for us.

16 Comments

  1. “A Gmail tip! If you want an easy way to categorize emails from a certain place or kind of communication, you can append a word onto the end of it with a plus sign, like this: [email protected].

    THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH about why so many a-campers have “a-camp” in their email address, i was so confused

  2. But HOW does Yvonne know that?

    (And thank you for the WLA tip. There goes hours of my time rewatching that show!)

  3. Architecture graduate and working architectural designer checking in. That floor plan tutorial is both useful and beautifully badass. It’s on-point and the way things are drawn and indicated (like the measurements) are very similar to what I learned in school.

    If you start dreaming about room refurbishments, remodeling, dream homes, and such, just start imagining and sketching! The chances of someone (like me) being over your shoulder and judging your plebeian drafting attempts are really slim.

  4. Just checking in to say I use that slow-cooked scrambled egg recipe from a few columns back like multiple times a week now. Thanks Rachel!

    • oh i’m glad to hear it! as a vegan i will never try it myself so i am happy to enjoy this vicariously

  5. i wanted to make soy candles this month!! i even put it in my passion planner so you know it’s real. oh lord i am so excited.

    ALSO YOUR LIPSTICK SITUATION. A++++++++++++++++++ WILL TRY

    • ugh wish we lived closer so we could bulk order wick ingredients and share because i think that’s my block, i just can’t imagine ordering like 50 candle wicks somehow?

  6. I do the graph paper floor plan the first time I rearrange a room in every new place I live!! And all my family makes fun of me for it! It’s become a joke. I send them a picture message that says “Moving time!” with a picture of a piece of paper and a pencil. I’m so happy I can now send them a link and show them I’m not crazy! ;)

  7. I’m just catching up on this column now that I have the chance to read through each link and…did I miss the 14th installation? Is this secretly #14?

    • YOU DID NOT. i am just extremely challenged when it comes to the correct sequential order of numbers. thank you! i would buy you a burrito of your choice if i could.

  8. That wine glass chart! So helpful! My friend gave me a big box of fancy crystal glasses from her mom’s attic in return for me helping clean it out – now I know that my preferred schmancy juice glass is actually supposed to be for madeira…whatever that is.

  9. Lots of helpful stuff, as always!
    The ability to make floor plans is going to save me a ton of time and energy after my next move. I’ve completely lost track of how many times I’ve moved all my furniture around in this house only to realise it wouldn’t work…

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