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Dress up an old patio set with spray paint. Give an old glass vase the look of antique mercury glass. Learn how to paint your front door for instant curb appeal! If your cabinets have been painted before, you’ll want to determine what type of paint was used. This is important because an oil-base finish requires an oil-base sealer and primer. To test a painted surface, soak a cotton ball in ammonia and stick it to the surface with an adhesive bandage or tape....

Whether you finish your trim before or after painting the walls, it’s best to have all the prep work completed on both the trim and the walls before finishing either surface. Be sure to wear protective glasses when stripping and a dust mask when sanding. Chemical strippers can contain toxic fumes, so ventilate the room adequately before applying any solution. Rubber gloves are also a must to keep the chemicals from burning your hands....

Attractive and easy to grow, a spider plant makes an excellent houseplant. It can tolerate low-light conditions and thanks to thick roots that can store moisture, you can get away with watering it about every two weeks or when the soil starts to feel dry. Spider plants do especially well in a corner of your bathroom, where they can get a little extra humidity. When your plant is happy and healthy, its best feature will likely appear: Long, thin stems trailing out from its center, each with a plantlet on the ends....

Tips for Pruning Evergreens Whether the plant is a needled evergreen (such as a pine or spruce), or a broadleaf evergreen (such as a rhododendron or camellia), pruning involves knowing how the tree or shrub grows and where the new growth originates. But no matter the type of plant, three pruning strategies always apply. First, trim away any dead branches, cutting back to live wood or the base of the plant....

How to Put Out a Charcoal Grill The best way to extinguish charcoal is to close the lid on your grill, cutting off the charcoal’s air supply. Fire needs oxygen to keep burning, so by completely closing your grill, any flames will die down and the charcoal will cool. It may take up to two days for the coals to completely cool off; there isn’t a great method for how to put out a charcoal grill quickly that’s as safe as just letting the coals burn out and cool on their own....

While significant damage might justify a total overhaul, many issues can be remedied by simply replacing the boards in question. This patching method can save you significant time and money and, if done properly, you’ll hardly even be able to tell the new wood from the old. Follow the steps below to learn how to replace damaged deck boards and get back to enjoying your outdoor space. When to Replace a Deck Board The thing you need to consider when determining whether your deck should be patched or fully replaced is the scope of the damage....

While it’s pretty easy to make cranberry sauce from scratch, you might prefer to grab canned cranberry sauce instead. Before you go serving up slices of the jellied sauce or just dumping it in a bowl, we have a few tips for improving canned cranberry sauce that pairs perfectly with juicy turkey. Cranberry Sauce Mix-Ins Because cranberries have so much natural pectin, there’s actually no gelatin involved in either the thick, jellied canned cranberry sauce or whole cranberry sauce....

1. Understand Why Squirrels and Chipmunks Dig As exasperating as squirrels and chipmunks can be, there are several things we can do to coexist on more friendly terms. First of all, think about why these creatures do what they do. They eat nuts, leaves, berries, roots, and seeds. Generally, there is enough food for them in our backyard habitats, and they don’t become pests. Squirrels spend much of their day burying little stashes of food in multiple places around their territory....

Use Grow Lights for Seedlings Bright lighting is key to getting a jump start on spring transplants indoors. Most rooms do not provide enough light to produce dense, healthy seedlings. Even a south-facing window often falls short when it comes to the amount of time the sunlight can shine through. Seedlings will usually germinate well and produce their first set of leaves in a sunny window. But then the “stretch” begins as stems reach desperately for more light to fuel their rapid growth....

What to Make with Meringue Powder Meringue powder is most commonly used in recipes that call for egg whites that aren’t baked or cooked. Fresh, raw egg whites can be contaminated with salmonella. But since the egg used in meringue powder has been dried and pasteurized, it’s okay to eat without cooking. That makes it a better, safer choice to use in uncooked recipes like royal icing and other frosting recipes....

What Is Neem Oil? Derived from the neem tree, neem oil has been used for centuries to control pests, as well as in medicinal and beauty products. Some neem oil products you’ll find for sale work on disease-causing fungi and insect pests, while other neem-based pesticides only control insects. Check the product label carefully to ensure you get a product that’ll be effective on your specific pest problem. Neem oil pesticides also can differ in how they’re formulated for application....

What Kind of Vinegar to Use Typical white vinegar in the store is 5% vinegar (acetic acid) and 95% water. While this type of vinegar can be used on weeds, it has quite a few limitations. It works best on small, annual weeds that are less than two weeks old, and it will often require several applications to do the job. You can up its efficacy by adding a cup of table salt and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap to a gallon of white vinegar....

2 cup all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt 2 egg yolks 1 egg ⅓ cup water 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or olive oil All-purpose flour Spaetzle 2 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup milk Butter and/or black pepper (optional) Drying Directions To dry cut noodles, spread noodles on a wire rack or hang them from a pasta-drying rack or clothes hanger. Let pasta dry for up to 2 hours....

Home Office Location Ideas If you’re lucky, you might have an unoccupied bedroom or a rarely visited guest room that can supply space for a home office. If not, look to underused closets, isolated corners, and empty walls or bay windows. Even a small niche can serve as an office when outfitted with a desktop surface and storage. Make sure the area is equipped with overhead lighting and includes electrical outlets for computers, printers, phone chargers, and task lights....