Dear Heloise: To make a temporary pet carrier for a small dog or cat, get two small plastic laundry baskets and put one on top of the other to make a domelike cage. Secure it with shoestrings, which can be easily tied and untied. — Nedra Ostrander, Roswell, N.M.
Dear Heloise: Inside one cabinet door in my kitchen, where I keep my calendar, I also tape newspaper articles with the dates of events that I want to go to, with the dates marked with a colored highlighter. Inside another cabinet door are recipes that I want to try before making a recipe card for them. Another cabinet door has small mementos of trips, ticket stubs, programs, etc. Inside one of the laundry-room cabinet doors are helpful hints for cleaning, how to wash pillows and for ordinary household items that can be combined for better use rather than buying another, more expensive product. — Pat Drummond, Norfolk, Neb.
Dear Heloise: I have a large see-through travel bag with a zipper down the side. I use it to keep paper towels and toilet paper. I hang it over the rod in the hall closet. You can always see when you need to get more. — Roberta, Derry, N.H.
Dear Heloise: I recently came up with an idea to organize my collection of recipe clippings. I took a scrapbook with plastic pages that had picture pockets. I put my recipe clippings in the pockets. Now my recipes are where I can easily find them, and they are protected by the plastic. — Julia K., Brazil, Ind.
Dear Heloise: To crush crackers or dried bread crusts and have an easy and quick cleanup: Use a cereal-box liner to hold the crackers, and crush them with a rolling pin. The liners are strong and won’t break. I always save one to have on hand. — Yvonne Wright, Bella Vista, Ark.
Dear Heloise: Since it is most practical to do laundry in full loads, I started planning my laundry ahead of time. When it was time to replace towels and bedding, I made sure I purchased both white and dark. Then, as we bathe each evening, I lay out white towels if we have a partial load of white laundry, dark towels if we have a partial load of darks. — Ruth Wise, Atlantic, Iowa
Send hints to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or fax to 210-435-6473.
