Buying Stuff
How to Get Wrinkles Out of a Vinyl Tablecloth
I seriously don’t know what I’d do without the internet, and especially our Google overlords.
I bought a cute tablecloth yesterday for our dining room table. I’ve got kids, and that thing had to be wiped down after every meal, and though it’s really not horrible messes, the table is wood and I was afraid that much cleaning would damage it.
So I picked up the tablecloth and got my happy ass home, only to discover that it’s vinyl, and every fold and wrinkle seems to be permanently on display. The problem is, I didn’t realize it was vinyl. When I think of vinyl tablecloths, I think of picnic tables and camping, not my dining room table. However, it’s cute and I decided I’ll stick with it because I realized this will be easier to clean than a fabric cloth, and I won’t be washing it every other day like I’ve had to in the past.
Ok, so I googled “How to get wrinkles out of a vinyl tablecloth,” and the Google gods blessed me with this article from eHow.com.
The article has half a dozen ways to get the wrinkles out, my favorite being #3:
Place the vinyl tablecloth in a dryer with damp towels. Set the dryer to a low heat. Check the tablecloth every 20 seconds to prevent it from burning and remove it when it is warm. Stretch it out on a flat surface to smooth the wrinkles.
Mostly because I just put a load of towels in the wash so this’ll be the most convenient.
Super Bowl Party Stuff
Today’s search, “Super Bowl party stuff,” filled me with dread.
You see, I hate throwing parties. Even when my kids are involved, I grit my teeth and soldier on, preparing invites and pinning up balloons. I don’t know why I have this aversion to parties — maybe it’s the thought of a bunch of people converging on my happy place, or more likely, the thought of having to clean clean clean both before and after. Or maybe it’s buying a bunch of crap for a ton of money that will essentially just be tossed once things wrap up.
Anyway, months ago my husband mentioned wanting to do a Super Bowl party this year. I’ve thrown exactly one Super Bowl party in my life and it was not my favorite experience. However, I told him I’d make a deal with him: if his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, make it to the Super Bowl then we’ll have a party.
I thought for sure it was a long shot and I’d get to spend Super Bowl Sunday in my comfy sweats on my favorite spot on the couch. Right.
Anyway, today I bit the bullet and looked up Super Bowl party supplies. Do I go full-on fanatic and do the team-specific decor, or mellow it out a bit and do generic football decor for those guests who may still be feeling the sting of their own team not making it to the Big Game? I know everyone there won’t be 49ers fans, but they are the only reason we’re throwing the party in the first place, so I think we should rub it in a bit.
This could be all for naught, of course, and I could be breathing both a sigh of relief and defeat this Sunday evening (because I do really want them to win, I just don’t want to have to hold up my end of the deal!).
Where Are the Shelter Pet Stamps?
In my ongoing quest to innocently piss off family members (who keep breeding their pets to each other hoping to make a quick buck), I went online this morning to buy a fresh batch of Shelter Pet stamps from the USPS (because aside from hopefully making family members think about what they’re doing I also appreciate animals more than most people I know).
Imagine my sadness and confusion as I clicked through page after page of forgettable stamps only to find that they’re apparently not offering them anymore (unless you want to buy a gigantic sheet of them for $70 or a weird keepsake).
So I did a search and can’t find anything about them getting yanked, even though they’ve only been out for a year. I wish I’d know they were going to be discontinued so I could have stocked up a bit.