MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS: Learn from Mariette

Showing posts with label Learn from Mariette. Show all posts

Friday, March 8, 2019

TIP: How to easily remove GREASE Stains

We all get stains and often panic, like my grease stains in my morning robe when I was sliding by the bike rack inside the garage...

Yep, the simple solution is to put Vaseline - Petroleum Jelly Cream right on top of the grease stains.

Apply generously and than throw it in the washing machine for regular washing.
Regular Vaseline works perfect! This is what I could find at the time...

Clean as NEW!

THAT EASY...

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

A COOL TIP for Making Shoes Comfortable

Finding and buying good, all leather and comfortable shoes is already a challenge but just in case IF they don't fit very soft yet, you can do something very simple about it.

So happy with my Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH score of all leather Cole Haan but the stitching on one of them did hurt me.

So I used a trick for stretching the soft leather with ICE!

Yep, did score these high quality all leather comfortable sandals.

Just the right heel size and love this color too.

Matches my Cole Haan back pack, another score.

My Elsie Leather Wedge Sandals for ONLY $ 49.99...

So I inserted a plastic bag and filled it with water, just under the faucet over the sink in our laundry room.

Just let the water trickle in...

I did pull them through the front as it was exactly to the right of that opening where the stitching did hurt because they were too tight.

Place them upright in the freezer and let it freeze solid.

And yes, the result was PERFECT!

The leather stretches and they now fit perfect without rubbing my foot.

Hope this helps you too.

Did it also with one pair of calf hair boots from Escada but I have not worn them yet...

The logic is there as the water will expand inside the bag once it freezes solid.

Thanks for visiting and commenting and I will soon try to catch up!

Monday, July 20, 2015

{Your Pinterest Boards in Alphabetical Order}

Well, I hardly can say: 'Learn from Mariette', as this neat tip I learned from my baby-sister Gerd.

She also kind of motivated me to finally start my own Pinterest...

The button that brings you to it, you find at the top right on my blog.

Gerd told me that it is as easy as 1.2.3.

Let's start:

Open your account and click on boards, so you have them all in front of you.

Now Click on a board then drag and drop it to the place you want it.

Almost in its new spot...

DONE!

Keep repeating this till you got them all lined up alphabetical, which gives you a far better overview.

And above all, anyone else that will visit your boards on Pinterest!

Every time you do add a board, you still need to manually drag and drop it into its correct spot.

Only when you Pin something onto your own Pinterest boards, they show up alphabetical but NOT on the actual boards. That's something you accomplish by the simple drag and drop method.

Hope this was helpful for you as well.

You can thank my sister Gerd in your comments.

Monday, August 4, 2014

{Duvet Covers 16 Inch Wider Now}

This is how I did solve the problem with my too narrow Dutch Down Duvets and its Cinderella Duvet Covers...

At TJ Maxx we found a nice white all cotton queen sheet set. As I could use the fitted sheet for our bed, the flat sheet got used for adding 16 inch (or 40 cm) of width to the duvet covers.

Here it is, added on already!

The hard part was the tedious opening up of the seam with the seam ripper.

Once that got done it was easy.

So a total of 32 inches of white cotton fabric for each duvet cover was added on.

To make it real easy, I even kept the flat sheet's folded hem and only added ties for closing at the bottom by stitching white bias tape together.

Had to mark those spots with my pink chalk (still visible here).

Simple and low cost. Learn from Mariette...

Related link:
{Dutch Twin Down Duvets Altered to American Size} | previous post by me with chart about size differences between Dutch & American Down Duvets...

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

{Dutch Twin Down Duvets Altered to American Size}

WHY is there such a difference in sizing between continents? Clothes, shoes and even for bedding and bed linens there is quite a difference. So due to the problem of maximum baggage weight we no longer can bring home Dutch duvet covers etc. The only solution was to change them in American sizing and that's what I did. For adding some 40 cm or 16 inches to each twin duvet, I did use a down duvet that I had gotten on sale at The Company Store for only $ 99.00. Not much to risk!

Here it is... one segment of down squares added on and ready to be slipped into the ocelot flannel duvet cover from Garnet Hill that I got at their winter sale!

So how did I do it?

Using the smocking stitch setting on my sewing machine, I went on both sides of the stepping.

This is how it looked...

That way I could cut it in the center with the serger, right on the stepping and it did not cause any mess.

All the down stayed neatly inside.

With a single stepping stitch I than proceeded to sew them together.

The Dutch twin duvets happened to be in a beige color but that will not be visible once inside the duvet covers.

This table from Yves Delorme shows the differences between US sizing and Dutch sizing...

The US Twin size is 42.7 cm wider and also 18.4 cm longer!

So glad for having tackled that so now all American duvet covers fit perfectly.
Mainly I have those from Yves Delorme from their Outlet.

Is any of you having had to deal with different sizing for bed linens?

Thursday, May 2, 2013

{Etiquette Tips by Replacements Ltd. by Etiquette Coach Jill Slatter}

Just love to share with you this video from Replacements Ltd.

Miss Slatter does a great job and I only can emphasize this kind of approach. Wish more of this could be done! Those that don't live in my immediate area, for attending some of my 'Learn from Mariette' etiquette classes, can always pick up some great tips from this classy lady! Enjoy video below.

Monday, April 15, 2013

{TIP: Forever New Fabric Care}

From my dear French/Canadian friend Hélène, from Québec City, I learned this very valuable TIP that I like to share with my readers. Forever New...

It really is the very best product out on the market for prolonging the life of your Fine Garments. I've been using this for years now and will never do without! It's pure citric base breaks down dirt instead of fibres and rinses so clean without a residue.

For all your fine lingerie items, or for silks and fine woolens it is the safest way. Of course watch your temperature settings too!

Thanks dear friend Hélène; I learned a lot from you!

We always pick ours up at Neiman Marcus

Related links:
Forever New Fabric Care Wash |
Forever New Excellence in Fine Garment Care | company itself with more info about product

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

{Difference Between Coffee & Tea Cups}

Yesterday I did mention in my post that those chevrons, pointed at the particular cups in the end of my TV Interview's video, were wrong. So here I like to point out to you the visible differences between Coffee & Tea Cups.

Sorry for the poor photos, because of the camera focusing in on the windows... I placed each time two cups on an oak tray, placed on a ceramic pedestal. LEFT you see a Coffee Cup and to the RIGHT is a Tea Cup!

Coffee cups are more narrow and mostly straight up. Teacups are lower and wider and often tapered down.
The reason that teacups are wider at the top and more shallow is because a good tea is set with BOILING water.
The bigger surface lets your tea cool down faster, to a consumable temperature.

To the left I also placed a smaller spoon than to the right. These cups are German Seltmann Weiden Mirabell. Spoons are Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet.

Frontal view of Coffee Cup to the left and Tea Cup to the right.

Europeans brew their coffee a lot stronger than people here in the USA and or Canada.

We do use a dark French roast, that also makes the coffee darker but always mild and never bitter.

Nowadays the famous Dutch JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS coffee, since 1753, is widely available in the USA as well.

These I do use as Coffee Cups; demitasse and regular size Coffee Cups. What is your guess? These are more tapered down.

This is WEDGWOOD CREAM COLOR ON CREAM COLOR (PLAIN EDGE). Even Replacements Ltd. does not specify the difference. It names the one to the left footed demitasse and the other footed cup & saucer.

Frontal view of the two cups & saucers.

This again is easier to judge. To the left is a demitasse for coffee and to the right a demitasse for tea. The French word Demi Tasse means Half Cup. This is ROSENTHAL SANSSOUCI ROSE-IVORY (GOLD TRIM).

Frontal view of the demitasse Coffee Cup to the left and demitasse Tea Cup to the right. For both I used the demitasse spoons from Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet.

Again an easy to judge set. To the left is a demitasse Coffee Cup and a regular Coffee Cup and to the right is a regular Tea Cup in MASON'S MANDALAY-CHARTREUSE.

Frontal view of the demitasse Coffee Cup to the left, regular Coffee Cup center and regular Tea Cup to the right. I used a demitasse Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet spoon for the demi and regular spoons in gold plate for the coffee and tea cups.

This one is again easy to judge. A demitasse Coffee Cup to the left and a demitasse Tea Cup to the right with regular spoons in gold plate. When I mean regular, it is NOT a regular American size spoon but a much smaller European size teaspoon. This is ROYAL ALBERT THE GARDENIA.

Frontal view of demitasse Coffee Cup to the left and demitasse Tea Cup to the right.

Again easy to guess: to the left a regular size Coffee Cup and to the right a regular size Tea Cup. Both with gold plated teaspoons. This is ROYAL ALBERT PRINCESS ANNE (BRUSHED GOLD EDGE).

Frontal view of regular size Coffee Cup to the left and regular size Tea Cup to the right.

Again somewhat difficult to analyze... The one to the left is called an After Dinner Cup and the one in the center a Coffee / Tea cup. The one to the right is named a Breakfast Cup... Guess we can either pour coffee or tea in them! This is French GIEN ROSE.

Frontal view of those three cups... Here I used two demitasse spoons from ALVIN BRIDAL ROSE and to the right a five o'clock spoon.

Frontal stacked view and clear view of size difference.

Though these are not tapered down I presume that the one to the left is a Coffee Cup and to the right a Tea Cup. This is from POTTERIE DE DRIEHOEK in Huizen, The Netherlands. Spoons are demitasse and teaspoon by Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet.

Frontal view of this Coffee Cup and Tea Cup.

Here we are facing our final set of in my opinion again a demitasse Coffee Cup to the left and a regular Coffee Cup to the right. I used Alvin Bridal Rose demitasse spoons for both. This is ROYAL DOULTON ENGLISH ROSE.

One last frontal view of a demitasse Coffee Cup to the left and a regular Coffee Cup to the right...

Now you also know what I am using when hosting a High Tea. We have quite a choice on china. Will show you photos from such a High Tea later. My idea is that more people are using Tea Cups than Coffee Cups. What is your take on that? You might be able to reflect on your own stock or maybe heirloom pieces that you got handed down.

Related links:
{My Etiquette Training Interview with WGXA.TV (FOX24/ABC16)} | yesterday's post (from WGXA.TV) by me referring to the cup differences in video
So, What's This About Coffee "Cans," Reggie? | previous post from Blogger Reggie Darling with interesting facts
{Our last Datura Angel's Trumpets and TEA with a Twist} | previous post by me, showing also Japanese tea
Learn from Mariette | Classes being offered by Mariette's Back to Basics
The World in your Teacup | book by Lisa Boalt Richardson

Monday, April 8, 2013

{My Etiquette Training Interview with WGXA.TV (FOX24/ABC16)}

On July 29, 2011, Morning Show Anchor/Producer Rick Devens from WGXA-TV (FOX24/ABC16) Middle Georgia News & Weather, did an interview with me about Etiquette Training. I want to react on the final segment about the difference between tea cups and coffee cups. Video is shown below.