SUMMERTIME TIPS FROM SUPPORTER CARRIE DOTSON

Ah, the warm summer months are here, which means more time spent outside running around enjoying the outdoors. It also means occasionally battling the bugs, the sun, and the heat. To ensure that these and other common summer annoyances don’t derail your summertime fun, here are 10 smart tricks that can help make your summer a little sweeter... 1. Keep a dryer sheet in your pocket to keep bugs away. You can spend tons of money buying bug spray, and you’ll most likely end up feeling sticky, smelling like bug spray, and getting bitten by bugs anyway. An easy solution is to carry a dryer sheet with you, which is something most people have at home already anyway. By carrying it in your pocket you can ward off bugs; something about the smell keeps the bugs away from you. 2. Sprinkle baking soda in sweaty shoes. Running around in your shoes without socks is a regular occurrence during the summer time because everyone just wants to slip shoes on and go. Unfortunately, this also causes extra unwanted odor in your shoes. To fix this problem sprinkle the inside of the shoes with baking soda to absorb the odors. If you’d rather not have the powdery look in your shoes, you can create a sachet by using a rubber band wrapped around a few tablespoons of baking soda in a handkerchief. Just put a sachet in each shoe and the odors will disappear. 3. Trap fruit flies with apple cider vinegar. Did you bring home fruit flies from the farmers market? Fill a glass jar half full of cider vinegar and screw the lid back on. Punch several holes in the lid and leave the jar where you have seen the fruit flies. They will be gone in no time. 4. Cool a sunburn with white vinegar. Unfortunately, with the warm summer months comes the occasional sunburn. To take the sting out of a sunburn soak clean soft cloths in white vinegar, wring them out and lay them on the sunburned skin. 5. Coat feet with petroleum jelly and cover with socks at bedtime. This trick will keep your feet soft and sandal ready all summer. A little petroleum jelly on your elbows and knees will make sure they stay soft and smooth for all of those revealing summer outfits. 6. Mix a can of cola with ketchup for a quick and easy barbeque sauce. Figure out about how much sauce you want and add the cola to the ketchup to thin it out and add flavor and sweetness. Brush on chicken or ribs during the last stages of cooking on the grill to avoid burning. 7. Use conditioner to shave your legs in a pinch. Did you forget to pack your shaving cream for your vacation? That’s okay; you can use the sample bottle of conditioner that most hotels give you. This will leave your legs smooth and silky soft. 8. Apply coconut oil to bee stings and bug bites. Coconut oil has anti-inflammatory properties and will help heal the sting or bite as well as soothe the pain. 9. Straws make great strawberry hullers. Take a normal straw and push it up through the base of the strawberry and come up under the hull. Keep pushing and the hull will usually come right out. Practice makes perfect with this, but it really works well when you get the hang of it and you won’t have all those strawberry seeds under your finger nails. 10. Use cute cupcake papers to cover your drinks this summer. When the weather turns nice eating and drinking outside becomes standard, and almost mandatory. The problem with eating and drinking outside is keeping the bugs away from your food and drinks. Get yourself some cupcake papers and use them to cover your drinks. If you’re having a party the cupcake papers can even match the theme. To make a drink cover you just need to punch a hole in the cupcake paper and stick a straw through. Just make sure there are no bugs inside the straw before you drink.