Product review: Du Cote du Parc Hand Painted Serving Tray

My mother is not feeling well and spending a lot of time in bed.  The beautiful serving tray from De Cote du Parc is brightening her meal times. She loves the beautiful design, and I love that the glass surface is very easy to clean up if something gets spilled.

The tray is 15" by 11", and the sides are 3" high.  The tray's top surface is glass and it is decorated with reverse hand paintings.  The bottom surface is black felt.  The tray feels substantial (its weight is just under 3.5 pounds) and it stays well on the bed serving table we are using for meals.

During reverse glass painting the artist applies paint on the side of the glass that is facing away from the person.  The small details are painted first, and the background last. I found the video that shows the entire process on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuXdPNgRQ3o&t=54s.  The pretty trays are sold on Etsy and Amazon.

Once we no longer using the tray for serving meals, it is pretty enough to serve snacks during a party.

You can find this tray on Amazon by following this link.

You can find this tray on Etsy by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Prodcut review: Refresh Relieva Preservative-Free Lubricant Eye Drops

I have been using regular Refresh drops for years, they are my life-saver.  When I saw a new version of Refresh drops at local CVS - Relieve - I had to try them.  They are pricey (just under $20 dollar) but CVS 40% coupon made it less painful.

I like the drops themselves, but the packaging is terrible. It is very hard to use. I have to press very hard and wait a long time without blinking my eye so the drop does not fall on my eyelashes.  I am not going to buy them again!

Another annoying thing is that you have to waste several drops to "prime" the package. At the $20 price, I don't want to waste any drops to priming!

Refresh, why?  Why is it so hard to use?  Did you test it?
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: ASprink 12mm / 0.47" Label Tape Compatible Brother Label Maker TZe-231

 

ASprink tapes work well in my Brother PT-D210 P-Touch. I like having a combination of colors so I can color code my stuff.  This has pastel purple, blue, and pink along with the white and the clear tape. I have not had any issues with jamming. Note:  The tape had a blue insert that told me to tighten the tape counterclockwise before use.

The adhesive backing has a slit in the middle just like the original Brother label tape, this slit makes removing the adhesive backing very easy, I just need to start from the split.

Bottom line: works well, good choice of colors.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Du Cote du Parc Hand Painted Decorative Garbage bin trash can

I love having unique handmade items around the house. I adapted an attractive hand-painted paper basket to be a practical and attractive bedroom trash bin.  The paper basket has a beautiful design and matches the colors of the silk Persian rug in the bedroom.  It is made by the process called reverse painting on glass (i.e. the small details are painted first, and the background last). I found the video that shows the entire process of creating reverse paintings on YouTube  To my delight these unique creations are sold on Etsy and Amazon.

The paper basket is even more beautiful in person than in the photos.  One small issue I ran into is that the basket does not take a liner to protect its inside.  I was able to resolve this issue by fining the liner that was just the right size to wrap around the top lip of the basket.  This way I don't worry that I am going to stain the pretty trashbin.

This is such a pretty addition to our bedroom.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

You can find it on Etsy by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: ASprink 7 Day Pill Box Pillbox Cases Organizers

ASprink pill organizer has the best closure mechanism among a fairly large number of pillboxes I have owned.  To open each compartment you need to press a lever that releases the cover.  It opens easily when you press, but does not open when you just shake it or press on the cover.

I was looking for a new pill organizer is because the old one I have been using became too small to hold all the pills I need to take. The size of each compartment is not clearly marked, so I will start with size.

The inside dimensions of each compartment are:
1 3/4" long x 1 38" wide x 13/16" deep


The outside dimensions of the entire pillbox (7 compartments):
8 3/4" long x 2 1/4" wide x 7/8" high


I also measured how many pills of the common size I was able to fit into each compartment.  I decided to use a 600mg Calcium pill as my measure since it is a fairly standard pill that many people take. I can fit thirteen 600mg Calcium pills in one compartment and still be able to close it.  This should give you an idea of how many of your own pills could fit by comparing your pills to the Calcium pills.  See photo for reference of the Calcium pill size if you are not familiar with them.

Summary:

1. The best clothing mechanism I have seen, it holds very well

2. Very roomy

3. Each lid is clearly marked with a day of the week


This has become my favorite ill box because its clothing mechanism is so secure.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Roof Melt, 60 Tablets (Roof Melt did not work, alternative solution did)

Roof Melt did not work, alternative solution did

I have an on-going ice damn problem, which I tried solving in a number of ways.  One attempt was using Roofmelt tables.  Which requires one to deposit the tablets on top of the ice damn area.

I tried and tried, but could not get the pucks to the roof not to mention some specific spot on the roof by throwing. I did not dare to get on a ladder since the snowbanks were taller than me.

I found a solution that worked for me. I took a nylon stocking, filled it with calcium chloride to form a sausage about 4" long. To make it easier to fill the stocking I took a 16 oz yogurt container and cut out its bottom. This made a nice sturdy funnel which kept the top of the stocking wide open for pouring the calcium chloride.

Note that bigger is not better! On my first try, I tried making 8-9" sausage, but it made the sock too heavy to stay on the steep roof, and it slid off.

To deposit the stocking to the roof  I used an extension pole used for a roof rake. I replaced the big rake with a small brush so it would be easier to hoist it up to the level of the roof of my dormer where my major ice dam is located.

My first few attempts were to fold the sock over the brush and dump it on the roof. But that did not work as either the stocking fell before it reached the desired spot, or I could not disengage the brush without knocking the sock down.

Finally, the solution that worked was using the pole and the brush as a lever. I put the thread attached to the sock over the brush, then raised the brush to the roof positioning it where I wanted the sock to be located. The stocking meanwhile was laying on the ground. Then, using the brush as my lever, I pulled on the thread to raise the stocking to the roof. This worked very well the first time I tried!

My second problem area was the steep lower roof. I could not get the stocking to stay on the lower roof as it has a very steep angle, so I suspended a stocking with ice melt on a thread from a window. I hope it will melt a channel in the ice dam.

The first day:

The next day: you can saw the channel

The second photo was taken the next day which shows the channel built by the salt stock. This happened overnight. I could see the trapped water coming out of the channel.

I also wanted to make a note that the nylon gets stuck to the ice. When I tried repositioning one of the socks it would not budge. The gravity makes it drops when the salt melts the ice around it, but reposition the sock to another spot turned out to impossible because it is stuck to the ice, and pulling it might tear the stocking dropping all the salt at once rather than via slow release.


You can Roof Melt on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★☆☆☆☆

Product review: Decorative Hand Painted Tissue Holder Hand Made Glass Box

I love having unique handmade items around the house. This tissue box with a striking design is made by the process called reverse painting on glass (i.e. the small details are painted first, and the background last). I found the video that shows the entire process on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuXdPNgRQ3o&t=54s.  To my delight, these unique creations are sold on Etsy and Amazon.

The box is even more beautiful in person than in the photos.  My initial thought was to put the Kleenex tissue box inside the glass box.  However,  I ran into a problem.  The Klenex box is 12mm wide and 22.5mm long.  The glass box is 11.5 mm wide so the widths of the paper box does not fit by 5mm which is approximately 1/4 of an inch.  However, there is a solution that works well.  I took the tissues out of the Kleenex box and put them directly at the bottom of the glass box.  This works perfectly - each Kleenex tissue pulls out the next sheet in this box just like they do in the paper tissue box.

This is such a pretty addition to our bedroom.


You can find the tissue box on Amazon by following this link.

You can find the tissue box on Etsy by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★