Clean the dishes
Before the New Year holidays, they wash all the dishes, using at the same time, not expensive and harmful detergents, but what is always at hand. Glass, earthenware or enamelware will shine if you wash it with a hot solution of soda ash, rinse well with running water and wipe dry. And blackened pots I wipe with a hot borax solution (30 grams per liter of water) with the addition of 10 ml. ammonia. Darkened silverware is easily cleaned with a toothbrush and paste.
Caution: general cleaning!
I start preparing for the holidays in about a month. I start by drawing up a list of cases, ranking them by their importance: at the beginning of the list, what needs to be done urgently, and then in descending order. I spend the general cleaning two weeks before the New Year, and on the eve of the holiday I can only vacuum, wipe the floor and wipe away the dust.
I will share several proprietary recipes, how to make a "general" quickly and without problems.
1. Inspection of cabinets. My criterion is very simple: if a thing has not taken a year or more, it is necessary to part with it (although sometimes it is very difficult).
Some of the things I just throw out, I put things in good condition in a social shelter.
2. The same brutal sorting is carried out in all tables, in kitchen cabinets, pantry, on mezzanines and other "reserved places" of your apartment.
3. Visibly lighter cabinets need to be ventilated, shelves, external and internal walls wipe with a damp cloth moistened in water with the addition of 10 drops of ammonia.
4. After the most "terrible" stage, things will move much faster!
Decorative candles: cheap and original
The holiday candles bought in the store look beautiful, but are more expensive than simple ones. I propose to save: take the usual white or yellow candles and decorate them with ornament from clerical buttons or pins with colored, but necessarily metal heads (plastic will start to melt and can catch fire). Now we make candlesticks from ... ordinary faceted glasses. Simply decorate them with stickers with rhinestones, tinsel, small Christmas-tree toys.
Very unusual look "fruit" candlesticks: in the middle of an apple or an orange we cut out a hole for the size of a candle, decorate with small spruce branches, threads of beads. We put fruit lanterns on a round dish, covered with fir branches.
So as not to fog up the windows
In winter, especially in the kitchen, windows are often misted up and covered with ice. To avoid this, I wipe the glasses once every two weeks with a cloth soaked in a solution of glycerin (1 part) and alcohol (20 parts).
You can clean already frozen glass with a warm solution of table salt or a solution of calcium chloride.
We remove the kitchen
I want to share my find, which will greatly facilitate the cleaning of the kitchen. On the suspended kitchen cabinets and on the refrigerator I put ordinary newspapers, which I change about once every two months (and more often!). It remains only to lightly wipe the furniture with a damp cloth, and cleanliness is ensured. By the way, the same method can be used in the rooms.
And the grease stains from unpainted wooden surfaces I delete so: I put a blotting paper on the stain and iron it with a hot iron. When heavily soiled, I change paper several times. By the same principle, I remove stains from the wallpaper.
Choosing gifts
Gifts for the New Year make almost everything. This is a wonderful and kind tradition. But apart from the gift itself, it is also important how to present it. I always attach great importance to decoration. It's so nice to take in hand not just a plastic or paper bag, but something unusual, originally decorated. Immediately there is a sense of surprise, riddles, secrets ... And the gift is finally remembered for a long time - it is clear that we prepared it with love and attention!
For a small package, many handy tools are suitable: for example, we take a shoe box, glue it with colored shiny paper, scraps of organza, lace, decorate with beads, rhinestones, small flowers made of ribbons, Christmas tinsel, small bumps, painted with silver or gold paint . Fantasy on this subject can be endless!
How to wash a picture
My husband is a hereditary collector, in our house there are many paintings painted with oil paint. During the New Year's cleaning I do not forget about the paintings.
Old oil paintings I rub with a brush dipped in lime water, then rubbed with a damp cloth 3-4 times. The canvas takes on its former form and gloss. Another way is to wipe the pictures with a slightly whipped egg whites, it will remove dust, dirt and give the picture a shine.