Works For Me: Static Guard

Brace yourself for today's Works-For-Me Wednesday tip; it's pretty profound.

Are you ready?  Here we go.

If you don't put stamps on your Christmas cards, the post office won't mail them.

Would you like to know how I stumbled upon this ground-breaking information?  It would be because I've been so flustered and distracted these last few weeks that I mailed a big chunk of mine without postage. 

Yep.  For real.

And now, every single afternoon, it's just like a twisted little potluck at my mailbox, as I wonder which(!) letters(!) are coming back(!) to me today(!)  And also, I am now hiding from my mailman, because I am too embarrassed to make eye contact.

This high degree of absent-mindedness might indicate I'm in need of a little breather, so I decided to dig back in the archives and throw up an old WFMW post. 

(Did I really just say I wanted to "throw up" a post?  You're welcome for that lovely visual.  Enjoy your breakfast.)

I thought I'd run a post (much better!) from my WFMW archives; feel free to do the same, and link up here.  Anyway, this particular tip has been so life-changing for me, it bears repeating.  Not as life-changing as postage, but still important:

I have a head of very fine, straight, thick hair--the perfect recipe for some nasty static.  As a result, when I blow-dry my hair (as I do most days, or at least the ones where personal hygiene manages an appearance toward the top of my to-do list), I end up looking much like a troll doll.

Now, I am a Southern woman who is also a child of the '80's, and as such, I have a very special place in my heart for big hair.  But not troll big.

And so my life was forever changed a few years ago when I learned that spraying a spritz of Static Guard on your hairbrush gets rid of that nasty fly-away hair.  And it even smells really good. 

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Comments

[Blue Castle]

Great tip. My hair has been giving me fits with static. I'm going to try this for sure.

Hope you get your cards off in time! :)

[Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice)]

I love the "troll big" hair - I had to laugh about that one! Have a great week.

Homemaker Barbi (Danelle Ice)

[Bay]

The exclamation points made me think you were speaking William Shatner, lol.

[Kelly @ Pass the Torch]

I'm so glad you wrote this! My daughter and I have been trying to figure out if static guard would work on hair. It's so dry here in the winter and the static in her hair could probably black out half of Manhattan;)

I wasn't sure Static Guard could be used on hair and didn't want to take the chance without verification! Great tip!

[Lorie]

Happy Wednesday!

[Raise Them Up]

Your Christmas card story cracks me up! But they make mistakes too. Last year around February, I got FOUR Christmas cards postmarked December '06. Yes, 06! Makes you wonder where they had them tucked away!

So go easy on yourself! And thanks for the laugh. :)

[Gina @ Six in the Country]

The Static Guard trick always bears repeating!

[Julie From Inmates]

I too dug a post out of my archives because mine got deleted due to my improper linking. Sorry 'bout that. I will try to do better next time. And, the whole postage thing, I've been there. I suspect we'd get along famously! =)

[Colleen - Mommy Always Wins]

Now I did the opposite with my cards - I'm fairly certain I dropped an entire book of stamps *into* the mailbox with my cards! D'OH!

[Reading Rosie]

Too Funny! I've gotten the "Insuffcient Postage" mail back several times.

[Tina in Thailand]

My post on WFMW has a title different than what I wrote. Not sure why or if it makes a difference, but the link is correct and takes the reader to the right post. Just FYI, and there are two. One can be deleted if you want.
Tina

[Kim@ForeverWherever]

I understand the hair thing and thanks for the tip on static control! This is my first Mr. Linky on Rocks In My Dryer and it looks like so much fun! Thanks!

[chickadee]

it's a good thing you remembered to put your return address on. i probably would have forgotten that and never known about the stamps.

[antonia]

Brilliant!! Now I can stop rubbing BOUNCE all over my head!!

[Amalia]

HAHAHA! I randomly stumbled on your blog, and this post made my day. Thanks for cheering me up after 3 final exams :)

[se7en]

This is so funny... it would be even funnier if I had even gotten round to cards, let alone put them in envelopes! I think this year I am just blogging Christmas... talk about the big divide between the real and the virtual world.

Anyway I thought I would link something totally not Christmas... and here are some simple recipes for kids and made by a kid...

[Colleen]

I can beat you...I put a priority mail envelop with some pretty important documents in the mailbox a few months back. After depositing it in the slot and getting back into my car, I glanced down and saw the sender/address sticker still laying on the seat. I had to call the post office and explain my stupidity. I felt a bit better when the postal clerk told me it wasn't the first call she'd ever received about mail with absolutely no information on the front.

Are you sure you're not pregnant? My girlfriend mailed all her Christmas cards without postage last year, but she had pregnancy brain.....

[Lainie@ Mishmash Maggie]

Thank you for giving us "permission" to post an old tip... I really wanted to post an old one this week but thought it would be kinda lame.

My daughter is going to love this static guard idea. She keeps going into the bathroom and coming out with wet hair because she is trying to make the fly-aways lay down :)

[Carol]

And here I was thinking you had troll hair after realizing half your Christmas cards came "returned for postage."

Maybe they need to invent a spray called "postage guard" that you can spray into your mailbox. It spits the unstamped envelopes back atchya before the mail carrier arrives. That could be good.

[Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates]

I feel so bad for you on the stamps and I will be sure that mine are on!

So glad that you share your real life with us and make us all feel better!

[A Frugal Housewife]

Oh yes... static guard - I don't know how women fix their hair without it :)

[Kara]

We are crazy static-y here in Minnesota's Winter....great idea! Only a few more weeks to dodge the mailman...good luck! I've been there LOL!

Kara

[Sheila Gregoire]

I love static guard in the hair! That's awesome!

My daughter also uses leave-in-conditioner which helps a lot. It also helps with detangling!

I've got some great stuff up on how to figure out alternate wrapping papers today!

Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!

[pam @ without fear]

Shannon, your posts lately have had the tone and flavor of the early "Rocks" content I have always loved. Keeping it real is so refreshing, and I am still chuckling over you "throwing up" a post. Ha!

Have a great day . . . can't wait to see what's in the mail!

[emily]

When you come up with the cure for crazy curly hair let me know!!! Mousse is my friend but there HAS to be a miracle cure out there :o)

[Emily ~ Bona Vita]

We're in the middle of sending out our Christmas cards . . . no matter how prepared you may be, there's always seems to be some sort of crisis. For instance, we ran out of ink 1/3 the way through our printing. And there was a snowstorm so we couldn't go out to purchase more.:-)

[Andrea]

Too funny about the Christmas cards...sounds like something I would do!
Love your blog!

[Andrea Mitchell]

My thick, straight, and fine static prone hair thanks you!

[Andrea Mitchell]

Also, so have been there with the missing postage. Too many times to count!

[Jewel]

These days were we are so rushed to get things done - its quite possible to forget even the most important detail!

[Jesse]

I had a friend in high school that would carry a dryer sheet around with her to smooth out her hair throughout the day. Works wonders, and I'm sure much the same way as the static guard.

PS. My problem isn't remembering the stamps, it's remembering each year to buy a small book of CORRECTLY PRICED stamps. Those little buggers always go up, and I can't tell you how many times I've had them brought back because the price went up. *le sigh*

[col @ gigablonde :: things to do in ny when you're [alive]]

I just wanna give you some love for this whole Works for Me Wednesday thing. Been doing it for a while now and it's just such a fun source of tips and information ... and of course I'm sure you hear this all the time but I adore your delightful writing style ... you rock! :)

Hugs,
Col

[Kara]

Thank you, and my big haired children thank you!!

[Stephanie]

Hugs, Shannon. I am with you, girl. I've done the Christmas mailing without the stamp thing too. I think it comes of having 4 children to run after LOL

[Happy Mommy]

I could just kiss you! I had no idea! My sweet baby girl has such static in her hair!

[Wigamer]

I lost my Christmas stamps 20 minutes after buying them...not as public as mailing un-stamped Christmas cards, but makes you feel just as stupid. Ah, motherhood.

[Tammy]

Oh my gosh. My son looked at my like I was losing my marbles. :0) This was good one. I'm so glad you shared this info. as my grand daughters hair is so fine it flies away all the time. I'll let their mom know, & I'll start using this info. Oh, and for the record, I've done the same thing with mailing at Christmas time, and other times for that matter, so don't feel bad.
Thanks for the laughter today!

[Ashley Griffin]

my hair is the same way! can't wait to try this!

[hogphan]

Next year why don't you try addressing them to yourself, putting the family's address you really want to send it to as the return address and leaving off the postage again and see if the PO will return all of them to the return address! Hey, it's worth a try and I know how tight you are! :)

[[email protected]]

Wow, that idea of hogphan's is brilliant! Wonder if it would work? Thanks for sharing your Christmas card woes. I'm impressed you've gotten as far as buying them, writing them, addressing them, and putting them in the box. You're about four steps ahead of me :)

[DW]

Hey, at least you tried to mail the cards. One year, in March, I found 2 nicely stamped Christmas cards between the driver's seat and the middle console...

[missy @ it's almost naptime]

Ah, Shannon. You sound like you are having a week like I am.

At the moment, I am at home. My car, however, is in the church parking lot. Running. With the keys locked inside.

[Carrie]

I am a secretary for a small Christian camp in western NY, and I do silly things like mailing things without postage or addresses ALL the time. Way TOO often. :) It doesn't help that I bring my one-year-old to work with me---I'm NEVER focused on my job. :)

[Amy Warden]

I for one do not use much postage. So in an effort to save money this year, I dug out all my old 39 centers and added a lovely 2 cent and 1 cent stamp to all my cards instead of buying the lovely Christmas stamps. Do you think anyone will notice?

[Trish]

Happy Wednesday everyone!

[CompleteLee Blogger]

If it makes you feel any better, my tip for the day could be...Always turn on the correct burner when cooking.

For some dumb reason, I keep turning on the wrong burner and have ruined a couple pots lately doing so!! Why I can't make sense of the little picture next to the stove knobs, who knows!

[Rina]

Too funny! Around here we call that Descendant Induced Memory Deficiency (http://laundryandlaughter.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/symptoms-include-confusion-embarrassment-loss-of-memory%e2%80%a6/)

[Bailey's Leaf]

I have big frizzy Northerner hair. I can look like a troll doll. That's not attractive. Thanks for the tip on Static Guard! A girl that I work with says she uses it on everything. She is diabetic with an insulin pump and apparently static is not good for her.

The things that you learn in a week about a product that is something that most of us don't even think about . . .

Thanks for your tip! :)

[Musings of a Housewife]

Great tip! I LIVE for Static Guard. I practically bathe in it. Static is one of the millionty-two reasons that I hate winter. At least it's one of the few drawbacks to winter that I can actually DO something about.

[Lorie]

Oh, how I've needed this info all my life. Finally an answer on how to get rid of static hair. Thanks!