Photo hint helps military families keep loved ones close

Dear Heloise: In response to your recent column regarding unique photo-use ideas, I have the following hint to share:
My husband, who was in the Air Force for 21 years, was deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield. I took several photos of him and had them laminated, punched holes in the corners and threaded them onto a metal key ring for our 9-month-old daughter so she wouldn't forget her daddy.
This hint would also be useful if grandparents live a long distance from a grandchild. I hope this hint helps our military families! Leah Keith, Union Grove, Ala.
Lovely gesture to keep loved ones in our thoughts daily. This would be a great way for family members who have someone in the military to keep their loved one close. Heloise
FAST FACTS
Plastic shower curtains can't last forever -- at least not in the shower. But there are many other great uses for them all over the house. Here are some of my favorites:
ULine the trunk of your car when transporting messy items.
UCover your outdoor plants when the temperatures drop.
UUse as a dropcloth when painting.
UProtect outdoor furniture and grills.
UCover the kitchen table when you have messy crafting projects planned.
UMake fun painting smocks for kids. Just cut the shower curtain into several large, rectangular pieces. Attach to the shoulders of kids' shirts with clothespins. When the painting is done, rinse the smocks off with a hose and use them again! Heloise
Dear Heloise: I love getting catalogs. It's like window-shopping at home. When I get a catalog, I write the month and year on the cover so I know how old it is. When I glance through it, if anything looks interesting, I write the page number on the cover. If it looks like a good idea for a gift, I make a note to that effect. I keep my recent catalogs in a plastic file crate so I can leaf through them easily. When I get a new catalog, I pull out the old one. I check the cover to see if I listed any pages before I discard it and double-check those pages to see if I want to buy the items. This is also useful in finding an item I want to get but can't remember where I saw it. If I'm doing a lot of catalog shopping (like at Christmas) and want to recheck several items, I use small sticky notes to mark the pages. Judythe Samter, Thayer, Ind.
Dear Friends: I wanted to say "thank you" to the people at my pharmacy chain. When they dispense a prescription medication, the printed label on the bottle peels off easily. So, the labels can be thrown away without worry about them falling into the wrong hands. Heloise
XSend a great hint to: Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, Fax: (210) HELOISE or E-mail: Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate