Dear Heloise: For the lady who had trouble moving her coffeemaker across the counter and used a wet tray to help, she should buy four half-inch felt pads and stick them on the bottom. They will last a lifetime, and she won’t have to use water ever again. Thanks for your column. — Gene, via email

HAMMER HINT

Dear Heloise: I read with amusement all the solutions, including tools of some kind, to avoid smashing your thumb when hammering in a nail. No tools are needed. Simply hold the nail between two fingers with the fingernails facing down and the fingerprint area facing up. If you accidentally miss, then the hammer hits the soft, fleshy part of the finger, which easily absorbs the first few taps when you’re first starting a nail.

Ask any roofer; they have been using this method for decades. I have followed you for years in the Orange County Register. — Dale Hardin, La Habra, California

MEASURING HINT

Dear Heloise: I read a hint for measuring solids (butter, shortening): When you need 1 cup of a solid, take a 2-cup measuring cup and fill it with water to the 1-cup measuring line. Then add your solid until the water line reaches the 2-cup measuring line. Just pour off the water afterward.

I also wanted to share my recipe for my “Never Fail Pie Crust.” Sift 3 cups flour and add a pinch of salt. Add 1 cup of shortening and mix until it’s crumbly. In a cup, whisk 1 egg, then add 5 tablespoons of milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Mix this together, add it to your crumb mixture, and stir them together. It will be quite “sticky.”

When mixed, put it in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This is enough for two double-crusted pies (if you roll it thin enough). If it doesn’t roll out right, just ball it up and start over. The more you work at it, the flakier the crust, and that’s why it’s called “Never Fail.” It is a tasty crust. — Darlene Minor, New Braunfels, Texas

HOW-TO

Dear Heloise: After doing a topic search on Facebook to join groups about a hobby that you’re interested in, you may want additional information or details on how to achieve the results that you admire from your peers. Just go to YouTube and type a specific how-to question in the search bar. You’ll discover an array of instructional videos and techniques!

Happy creating and enhancing your hobby! — Elizabeth, Stephens City, Virginia

SAVING SPACE

Dear Heloise: For those with those heavy-duty, short-diameter rubber bands that hold lobster claws closed, there is another related use for them: Put them around the two ends of the nutcrackers that are used to eat the lobsters. It keeps the two legs together, which takes up less room and doesn’t get all tangled up in the kitchen tools drawer. — The Versteegs, via email

USING UP LIPSTICK

Dear Heloise: Lipstick has gotten very expensive. And when I’m through using my lipstick, there’s still an inch or so left at the bottom! So, I use a lipstick brush, and I’m able to continue with what’s left for another month or two. Waste not, want not, as they say.

By the way, I always read your column in our Long Beach Press-Telegram every day. Thank you for all of your hints. — S.S., in California

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.