**QUICK POST** Empty Gloss Tubes (for work or travel)

This is for anyone who likes keeping beauty products on hand - in your purse or car or carryon luggage - without carrying around the whole container.

Try these inexpensive empty tubes:

They are super cheap and you can use them to hold so many products. I personally just like having a little bit of my facial moisturizer and foundation in my purse. I happen to use sunscreen and 3 different products on my face. You know us ladies with our moisturizers and serums. And don't get me started on my DIY cosmetics again.

One of the vials I've been carrying around in my purse for weeks now has some of the Manuka honey I use to treat cuts, cold sores, scrapes, etc. I think I told you guys that I have not bought a tube of Abreva since I discovered how fast Manuka works on cold sores even before they break all the way out.

The next time I travel (if that ever happens), I plan to tote along a bunch of these in my carryon baggage. I love having different lotions, creams, and sunscreens with me to use even if I can't get into my bagged luggage.

By the way, I got these in a bag of 30 pieces for around 10 bucks. There are other types - push-up cylindrical tubes, powder jars, and compacts - that you can find with a quick search. With these squeeze-type tubes, I can even use them for liquidized coconut oil and such without leaks. Just be careful to hold them upright when you open them.

Making Cosmetics has items similar to these tubes and various other types of empties for spraying, aerosols, etc. Amazon has tubes that are smaller (and cheaper). Making Cosmetics empty containers tend to be higher priced than what is on Amazon though and I didn't think the plain ones were any better quality. However, I would get any aerosol or special kind of dispensing tubes from Making Cosmetics.

Anyway, now you know.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Cosco 2-Step Steel Folding Step Stool with Resin Steps

A ladder might not seem like a big necessity to a lot of people, but this one has been a lifesaver for me. And I'm a little scared of ladders if they are more than 5 feet high.

My place is very small and so storage is at a premium. We tenants do each have a little cubby in a room off the hallway in which to store some things, but it's a locked door system and best used for things you don't need often. I personally keep spare decorative items and suitcases in mine.

I needed to be able to use all the space in my kitchen, bath, and bedroom. In the kitchen, there is a lot of room overhead the cabinets and fridge. That I can't reach. Same for the bathroom. The bedroom has a wonderful closet with a built-in rack but the top shelf is too high for me to keep anything I might need more than once every blue moon. Until now. Now, I have this cool and cheap (super cheap) little stool and I for a little surprise because of a mishap between Walmart and FedEx. More on that later.

When I first ordered this I was thrilled because of the $18.97 price tag. (I had almost opted for this one. Glad I kept looking because I didn't want to spend that much money.)

I was only a little worried that I would end up sending it back for quality issues because... well, that price. It seemed almost too good to be true. On the other hand, I was having to borrow a neighbor's scary-tall ladder every time I wanted to store something up high. Once, I had a panic attack while I was up on that ladder and was fear-frozen at the top, trying not to cry. It took me about half an hour before I could slowly ease my way back down off that thing. Never again.

I waited a week after I ordered before I started to wonder where the heck the stool was. Walmart is not as fast as Amazon for shipping, but they don't slouch. Usually. Finally, I tracked the item and saw that it was stuck in  Mahtomedi, Minnesota. I never even heard of the place but my stop stool had been sitting there for about 3 days. I googled and found that it was less than 3 hours away. And that's where the stool stayed for another 3 days. I contacted Walmart and FedEx. Walmart said they would send out another step stool asap and FedEx said they would "investigate".

The replacement ladder arrived in around 4 days and I was SO glad to see that is wasn't a bad item (I almost said "crap" item, but with "stool"...).

It's very sturdy and I love how it folds up to almost nothing so I can store it in the closet without taking up a lot of space. Right away, I started putting it to use. Now, all that empty and previously unreachable space in my kitchen is...

All that room overhead!

The very best thing - and I mean this seriously - about the step stool is that it's not so high that I have to worry about falling. Now, I can't use it on certain days when my balance is off, but I can use the heck out of it any other time. I do have to make sure I am close to a wall or appliance so I can hold myself steady, but this thing has made such a difference.

Okay, I have not finished hanging the rest of the drapes yet because I have to wait until my balance evens out, but you see what I mean. (By the way, I got those "drapes" aka loose fabric free from a giveaway table in the common room.)

I feel like I gained another half of kitchen space. I love being able to use that above-fridge space that some giant designed to frustrate average sized people.

Just when I was getting used to having the step stool around, a few days ago, FedEx showed up with... the missing one!

I emailed Walmart to let them know about the second one. Since I haven't heard back yet I suppose I get to keep the twin stool for free. Now I have one stored in the closet up front and the other in the bedroom. Perfect.

By the way, here are a couple more photos showing latch, the height, and front/back.

I''m telling you, for less than 19 bucks, you can't beat this ladder.

Peace
--Free


P.S.: By the way, the same stool is available via Amazon as a Prime item for the same price.

**REVIEW** Dot & Dot Packing Cubes

In all the moving I've been doing lately, I find myself living more out of my suitcases than I like. I'm an organizer by nature, so I've been struggling to keep things in order until I have lot of storage space to work with. (Of course, the more storage space I have, the more stuff I buy to store. #AmItheOnlyOne)

Since I have been traveling as if I actually have lots of money (but don't), when I saw these Dot and Dot Slim Tube Packing Cubes on Tomoson, I literally jumped at the chance to review them. Jumped because I have storage problems and because I'm forced to live so frugally that I first judge things based on use and affordability. (Well, okay - looks also matter. No use having something you can use and afford if you don't want it seen by nosy people.)

thought they were stackable

not stackable but cute

These run in the neighborhood of about $7.50 each, I jumped so fast at my keyboard that I almost spilled hot coffee on my laptop. Thankfully, my laptop is safe, so here is my review:

The first thing I noticed when I looked at the online photos was that the cubes looked stack-able. I thought that, even though they arrived separated as 4 individual bags, that they might interlock in some way. They don't. They are separate bags (or "cubes") with sturdy zippers and nice little fabric tote handles.

Here they are, empty and right out of the package,

empty & roomier than it looks

view from the top

the handle is stitched on tight

nice mesh to see what's inside

I like that the cubes are made of fabric (and pretty good fabric at that) because plastic would not have been as flexible when I want to squeeze in just one more thing. The cube that I stuffed, just to see if the fabric or seams would give way, held up to the challenge. Nice.

Part of the cube is netted so it's easy to tell what's stored without having to dump out the contents. Unlike another storage bag I've used, these have really good zipper pulls (and are attached with thin cords) that don't threaten to slip off. Just because some of the things I store in my luggage can leak (makeup, lotions, etc.), I often use plastic baggies. The problem with that is that the baggies eventually break down from  - usually at the closure. The only thing I would like more about these cubes is if they were waterproof. In the meantime, I am still loving them. I keep my baggied items inside these just because its nice to have something so uniform and attractive.

and the zipper pulls that won't pull off

There are really no "Cons" I can point out about these storage bags. I wish I had gotten to try the waterproof storage too. For now, I use the ones I have to organize what's in my luggage. When I'm more settled, I know that I will like using them to organize things in my bathroom pantry and drawers.

Once I used up this first set of packing cubes, other uses for them occurred to me:

• To use as what frequent travelers call "go bags" to keep makeup, undies and other personals at the ready for short trips away from home. ("Go bags". Doesn't that sound all "Criminal Minds" of me?)
• As storage for the various things we keep in our cars. Even when I am in a place of my own, I tend to use my car as a second residence, keeping spare everything in the back seat. This is Alaska. It's always good to be prepared. 
• For storing documents (such as passports, bankbooks, etc.)  that you don't want to leave in obvious and open places. These bags can be hung from a hanger in the closet between clothes.
• For traveling with kids. You can get everyone their own color to identify their items when packed in one suitcase or while staying away from home. Matter of fact, you can use this strategy to identify family member items around the house for toys, bath items, etc.

The storage options come in different sizes of cubes, folders and other organizers.

my tag shows the sizes and the waterproof bags I want

The particular cube set I have comes in 10 different colors. I think I want to go for the red and the black sets. You can get more information and purchase the bags here. Check out Dot & Dot Travel here for their other organizing solutions. I think parents will be interested in the stroller items that I thought would even be handy for bikers and such. Just an idea.

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.