HELOISE Birthday bouquet bloomed with family faces

Dear Heloise: I saw that one of your readers wrote about using photos in flower arrangements. I did just that a few months ago for my father-in-law's 70th birthday party.
I chose pictures of his children with their families as well as pictures of him with his children on each of their wedding days. I mounted these pictures on magnet sheets cut to size. At the florist, we placed each picture on a card stick, and the florist incorporated them into the flower arrangement. It was beautiful!
The florist has a new flower-design idea. And my father-in-law, once the flowers were gone, had photos of all of his children and grandchildren. The use of silk flowers would make a beautiful, long-lasting picture holder and conversation piece -- and a great gift. Julie Rogers, Leesburg, Va.
Julie, this is a blooming beautiful hint, and it makes me smile just thinking about the bouquet. Heloise
Dear Heloise: I love to knit, but sometimes when I near the end of a pull-skein of yarn, the paper band around the skein is too loose to hold any tension on it, and the yarn comes out unevenly and might snarl.
I take the little mesh bags that tomatoes come in and open both ends. When this tube is slipped over a skein of yarn, it maintains the tension and solves the problem. Similar products are sold in yarn catalogs, but the recycled bag works for me. Carolyn Brownfield, Kemah, Texas
Dear Heloise: I love all the low-cost solutions in your column and dutifully cut them out. Those scraps were hard to find months later when needed, so I set up a filing system using index cards.
At the top left of each card, I wrote the category, followed by the subject. Each suggestion was pasted to the appropriate card, with cards filed alphabetically at my fingertips in a metal file box. Jennie Pezzoli, Kihei, Hawaii
Dear Heloise: Tired of walking to an empty mailbox in a community mail receptacle? Fill a brightly colored empty can with rocks, write your box number on it and place it in your mailbox. Ask your mail carrier to place the can on top of the box when your mail is deposited.
A peek out your front window alerts you to when your mail has been delivered. Marijane Wilcox, Montgomery, Ala.
Your hint is especially good on rainy days. Saves walking before the mail is delivered. Heloise
Dear Heloise: I am a widow, living alone. I enjoy burning candles. I keep a note to myself on my bedroom pillow to remind me to extinguish all candles at bedtime. Jackie in Garland, Texas
Very good reminder! Too many times candles have burned through the night and resulted in tragedies. Thanks for sending your lifesaving hint. Heloise
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.
King Features Syndicate