Instead of discarding extra roses from bouquets dry them and prepare a bouquet garni, a pot pourri of fragrance in a net sachet. Or dry, grind and mix powder with gramflour, store in a jar. For a refreshing bath scrub, to 1 tsp. mixture, add 1 tsp. curds, 1/2 tsp.honey. Scrub and wash. Use daily for a glowing skin.

Instead of folding and hanging delicate organzas and tissue sarees, request you dhobi to roll them on a textile roll Wooden stick. This way they will not cut or tear at the folded creases for long unused sarees.

Wipe cane furniture with a cloth soaked in extra warm water, to which salt has been added, to keep the firmness of the cane meshing intact. About 2 tbsp. to a bucket is ideal.

Mix together a big pinch of salt in any cold cream or even plain white petroleum jelly and Apply on face. Scrub smoothly with palms for about 3 minutes, to exfoliate skin, and remove Dead cells. Wash off with mild soap, and warm water, to leave a fresh, clean, tinglin skin.

Scrape coconut shells clean with sand paper. Make their surfaces smooth by rubbing Sand paper, and make decorative bowls, ladles, etc. by painting, varnishing and Decorating with beads, shells, etc.

If short of space, wash machine dry curtains and hang them in their place without drying on a clothesline. They will solve your problem of an overcrowded clothesline and will reduce on step of the job. Pull them end to end to spread them fully and let the air dry them.

If you find it hard to make diwali rangoli designs with hand, use a small nozzled funnel, control the flow of the filled rangoli with thumb or middle finger, and make desired designs easily. Do not use pure colours without rangoli in this way because they will not fall through easily.

Pin a 4" x 4" square plastic near your dresser, or bathroom to hold your bindis while not in use. This way your dresser furniture and bathroom mirror will be free of bindi gum, left behind after Removing bindi from there. Replace plastic after it gets gummy enough!!

If frying oil tends foam, add a small ball of tamarind to it, and the foaming will gradually stop.

Use tops of carrots to make fabric prints or prints on handpaper etc. for decorative effect. One may carve seal impressions on them too before pressing them in paint and onto fabric.

When your shower curtian turns mouldy, soak it in a bucket of water with 1/4 cup of bleach to 10 litres of water overnight. Bingo!! All the mould out! wash as usual. Vasanti(Singapore).

Slip large photocorners on corners of valuable books to preserve them better and minimise their Wear and tear.

To patch grazing stains on wood polished furniture, apply a similar shaded slightly darker shoe Polish to affected area, brush vigourously with a soft shoe brush. Finish off with polishing Flannel. If the stain is too old or obvious, first scratch the area smooth with fine sand paper.

Rub cutting boards with 1/2 a lime, cut side down, to rid of garlic, onion and other veggies odours and light discolouration.

Use unpeeled potatoes wherever possible, the skin carries a lot of nutrition. Use peeled skins to Rub mirrors, and then wipe with soft moist cloth for a shine. Or place over face for a few minutes Like a pack, remove, wash with tap water for a fresh clean feel.

Hang khus mats over windows, spray water from a spray bottle and keep moist, so that the breeze that comes in is automatically cooled. This is a natural, non-electricity dependent way of cooling room spaces, and cheap too!

Use a small plastic funnel to make rangoli designs, if you find it hard to do so with hand.

To patch grazing stains on wood polished furniture, apply a similar shaded slightly darker shoe Polish to affected area, brush vigourously with a soft shoe brush. Finish off with polishing Flannel. If the stain is too old or obvious, first scratch the area smooth with fine sand paper.

For a more decorative look frost the glasses as follows: Chill them in the freezer for 30 minutes. Pour some castor sugar in a plate. Dip the rim of each glass in this sugar. A frosty edge will form. Chill again for a few minutes. Pour liquid in carefully while serving. Insert a thin lemon sliced round, on rim for special effect.

Immerse nails in hot water for a while before nailing into the wall. This will keep the surrounding plaster from coming off.