How to . . .

Every once in a while, it behooves a girl to brush up on how to deal with some of life's mildly unpleasant inevitabilities: spilled coffee, insects in your house, and your significant other doing generally mortifying things. Some advice from around the web for you:

How to get stains out of pretty much everything.  We all spill.  Some (i.e., me) more than others, but eventually, you're going to end up with deodorant on your black dress, red wine on your white jeans, or makeup in the bottom of your purse.  Arm yourself.  And if this list sounds daunting or you don't see your specific problem listed, bust out my weapon of choice.

How to decorate your house cheaply and with minimal regrets.  Caution (and, you know, wisdom) dictates that the way to do this is slowly and over time, but naked walls and no place to sit start to grate on even the most prudent of us after a while.  Don't buy things you don't love, but sometimes, you need to love cheap things, right?  

How to get knots out of necklaces.  In lieu of leaving your tangled jewelry in the deepest recesses of your jewelry box, never to be worn again, give this a try.  Your neck will thank you.

How to get rid of fruit flies.  Even the most cautious among us will find herself dealing with bugs at some point in her beautifully, previously, insect-free life.  Before you bust out the DEET and toss your produce, try this contraption. 

How to cope when your spouse embarrasses you.  I can't get over the irony of the couple in this story -- the husband is embarrassed when his wife tells a bunch of friends about how they fooled around in the woods on a hike.  She apologizes and feels bad . . . and proves this by telling the Wall Street Journal?  I wonder how that conversation went.  And speaking of your spouse embarrassing you in the WSJ: this reminds me of the time my husband was in it.  IN A BACKWARDS BASEBALL CAP.  

Saving grace: I wasn't there so I couldn't object.

Have you any tips to share?

(Mean Girls image from here; living room via Lonny; necklace photo from Etsy; jar photo by Annie Dean; Pedal Pub photo via the Wall Street Journal.)