Tips and Tricks

Ever wonder how to make a tea bag, and the ceramic mug it was in, explode? Just follow these simple steps, and watch the tea leaves fly! Works great as an instant potpouri just before guests arrive.

KIDS: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!! This is a very dangerous task, and was performed by an adult who knew almost exactly what she was doing.

1. Select your mug carefully (preferably one you don't mind blowing up. I used a Yahoo! mug that was given to me as a chatchke during my CM/HH days.).


2. Select your tea (I used a delightful Chai tea by Good Earth), keeping in mind what kind of scent you'd like to have floating around your kitchen for a day or so.


3. Carefully unwrap the tea bag, and place it in the selected mug.


4. Forget to add 8 to 10 oz. of water. DO NOT under ANY circumstances add water, or else this tip will not work.


5. Microwave on high for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Depending on your microwave (wattages vary from microwave to microwave) it may not even take the full 2:30! Just listen for the "POP" and you'll know your exploding tea bag and mug have fufilled their destiny.

TIP: Plan ahead and air out your new vinyl shower curtain liner for more -- way more -- than 24 hours in advance of when you have company arriving to stay with you and use your guest bathroom.

These things are stiiiiinky! WOW!

If you did not have the foresight to plan ahead, make sure you have at least one fan and multiple windows that you can open up to air out your house (or the affected area of it).

BONUS TIP: Also, the 84" "extra long" version is pretty darn tall. I was thinking, "84 inches means 7 feet, and I know our fabric shower curtain -- that has been solely decorative until now -- is taller than Clay, who is 6'3", so that should be about right."

Well... let me just say that we are having to move the whole shower curtain rod up about a foot, and that the 72x72" liner would have sufficed nicely.

You know when you have those things that happen to you that are kind of terrible but kind of funny at the same time? Well this new category will be devoted to those special moments.

These are the things that I have learned the hard way, through cold hard experience.

Maybe you can avoid some of these mini-catastrophes by reading about them here. Or just chuckle at them and me.

My hope is that posting them here might (will!) help me focus the humor in these moments, so that I can stay sane!