Don't Waste Those Envelopes!

I finally had a stroke of genius, if I do so humbly say so myself. Granted, this may be only genius in my head, but I'm so excited to solve multiple of my first world problems in one shot.

What have I done?

Well, if you have children in school, you know how often you have to send things to and from school. There are the field trip forms with checks, there are the volunteer forms, there are the room parent volunteer forms and checks, there are the hot lunch orders and checks (ok, not for us but for most people), and the list goes on and on. I can't tell you how often I am sending in something to school that really ought to be in an envelope for safety and/or security.

An envelope. I have those somewhere. Somewhere... I think. Ok, so I'm tend to not have them on hand as often as I'd like. And so I send in things paper clipped together or simply folded in the hopes that they make it safely to school - because how often do I even have a spare paper clip?

On the flip side, I get junk mail and bills out the wazoo. I think we all do, even though I've put myself on many of the "do not X" lists. The majority of them come with reply envelopes that I don't use because I pay all my bills online. They simply go into recycling, though I hate all the waste.

Do it with me... one plus one equals TWO!

It finally dawned on me that simply saving those reply envelopes and using them for sending information to and from school. No (ok less) waste, no panicking because I don't have an envelope, no checks or forms lost because they were hanging out loose in the backpack.

I'm proud of my genius moment. What's your best genius moment?

Win a Mechatar robot - and find out what they are!
Win a Hallmark card pack as part of their Get Carded campaign

Take *That* Evil Fruit Flies

Brand new giveaway for e.l.f. cosmetics here.

And I have a chance to win tickets to The Emperor's New Clothes from the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre here for my Chicago friends.

***

It's that time of year again (read: summer), and I made a tactical error. When I went to St. Louis this past week and left my husband behind with the wee ones for two plus days before they joined me, I didn't make my usual "I'm traveling" kitchen adjustments.

I assumed that my husband would feed the wee ones fruit at all or most meals just like I do. Therefore, I didn't put the uncut pineapple, the apples or the oranges into the fridge as I normally would.

When we walked into the house on Sunday evening, we were greeted by our housesitters, the fruit flies.

Ick. I hate them. Really, really hate them. And yet every year, at one point or another, we have a fruit fly invasion. It generally happens in August when it's super hot and humid and they appear within a day of fruit being placed on the counter.

The good news? With that experience comes expertise in getting rid of them. Humanely (realtively), cheaply, and - most importantly - effectively.

Witness:

Yep, those little black specks are the sucker fruit flies that have gotten trapped by my husband's nifty little device. They can (and do!) get in, but they can't escape. Eventually they get tired and fall into the liquid below, drowning. Or my husband gets nice and lets them out far far from our house.

Two days after putting the trap out, we're nearly fruit fly-less.

So how can you too make such a trap and save yourself?

Simply take a piece of paper and roll it into a cone with a small hole in the bottom. Tape it into that shape. Place the cone into a glass or jar of some sort that you have placed a small amount of vinegar (not my expensive balsamic vinegar as my husband originally tried!). Then just wait.

It's amazing how quickly those nasty little buggers will fly down to find that sweet (to them) vinegar - and yes, the apple cider stuff seems to work the best. Once they get through the hole, they can't figure it out. When they crawl towards the tip of the cone, they can't make the u-turn and climb out, and none of them are smart enough to hover below and then simply fly through the hole again.

You're welcome.

Now go enjoy your fruit in peace.