Grab Bag Miracle Moment:

I think we all recently heard about the infant pronounced dead, only to be sputter back to life in his mothers arms over the next two hours. Here is a video interview detailing the event.

How many different ways can you cook and eat crow? The doctor who pronounced this baby dead must know by now.

Wonder lives.

Mother Saves Baby that Doctors Left for Dead

Grab Bag Pumpkin Time!!

I love the fall, and I adore pumpkins –  to eat, to carve, to ride in drawn by four white horses…. you name it.

Here are some beauties to decorate your home with a different kind of squash…

VELVET

Daria Knowles “Hot Skwash”

Beautiful velvet pumpkins with real stems. Soft, subtle and gorgeous… click on the images to link to Daria’s site. Email her for a more complete list of retailers.

GLASS

So many places offer these.. just Google “glass pumpkins” and you’ll find gazillions

Grab Bag Household Tips:

Last week I posted a tip about using toilet bowl cleaner to remove filmy residue and water lines from flower vases. Dedicated Grab Bag reader Laura S. chimed in with another… and she should know… she’s a fantastic florist! And she’s got a great method for cleaning water-stained vases….

1. Use Lime Away. “A little dab on a paper towel,  rub on the waterline and then the line magically disappears!” Thanks Laura Fiora 🙂

2. Those pricey Jo Malone et al wax candles will burn more slowly and for a longer period of time if they are chilled in the icebox several days before they are lighted.

3. For pictures hung on a single hook or nail that tend to shift and always need straightening,

…. wrap a piece of adhesive tape (blue painter’s tape, electrical tape, masking tape, duct tape) around the very center. This stops the wire from shifting on the hook or nail.

4. Even better:

Courtesy of Apartment Therapy:

Hanging frames on the wall is relatively straight forward unless you are dealing with something tricky like plaster or concrete. It can however, become quite complicated when faced with a frame that has not one, but two hooks on the back. Follow these few easy steps and you’ll be able to hang pictures successfully on the first try.

Supplies:
– Frame
– Small Nails
– Hammer
– Level
– Marker
– Masking Tape
– Scissor

To start, measure a length of masking tape that is just longer than the distance between the two hooks. We use a low tack (meant for auto painting) masking tape, but anything you have on hand will do!)

Next, using your marker or writing utensil of choice, mark a line at the top of the hook (to get the exact distance between the two hooks).

Then, pull the masking tape off the frame and cut each end at the mark you made.

Take your masking tape to your wall and using a level, balance out the tape from side to side. Then, press the tape against the wall.

Next, hammer your nails (or hooks, making sure they match vertically) in at each end of the tape.

Remove the tape from the wall and stick it to the back of your frame. This way you will have it next time you want to relocate your frame and won’t have to repeat the previous steps. We drew teeth on ours because we have a weird thing with inanimate objects looks like faces… and Sharpie Markers always entertain us (because deep down we’re really 8).

Grab Bag Stress Tress:

According to TIME magazine, the classic heart attack predictors of cholesterol, blood pressure and body weight now may soon add a new member:

Your hair. More accurately, the cortisol levels found in your hair. Seems this stress related hormone has been found in higher levels in the microscoped tresses of those admitted for heart-related illnesses than for those treated for other health issues. So don’t worry…. be happy… your heart may be depending on it.

Grab Bag Brain Game:

Get in touch with your inner Vanna White or Pat Sajak as you spin the wheel and solve the puzzles on

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

Many thanks to the multitude of friends who each sent this is… a popular piece to be sure.

A REAL MAN

A real man is a woman’s best friend. He will
never stand her up and never let her down.
He will reassure her when she feels insecure
and comfort her after a bad day. He will inspire her to do things she never
thought she could do; to live without fear
and forget regret. He will enable her to
express her deepest emotions and give in to
her most intimate desires. He will make sure
she always feels as though she’s the most
beautiful woman in the room and will enable
her to be the most confident, sexy,
seductive and invincible.

No wait… sorry…

I’m thinking of wine.

It’s wine that does all that. Never mind.