SUGAR USES OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN

Keep fresh flowers looking great longer by adding a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of white vinegar to the water in your vase. The sugar feeds the flowers and the vinegar kills germs.

Keep your desserts fresh. You used sugar to sweeten the cake batter; now use it to keep the finished cake fresh and moist. Store the cake in an airtight container with a couple of sugar cubes, and it will stay fresh for days longer. Store a few lumps of sugar with cheese the same way to prevent the cheese from molding.

During the summer your skin can change quite a bit. It's usually a few shades darker, oilier due to heat and humidity or a bit parched in dry heat climates which can upset your tried-and-true makeup and skin care routine. Try the best natural scrub known. Sugar! Using regular, white granulated sugar as a facial scrub weekly will keep your skin smooth, preventing greasy build-up on oily skin and erasing flaky patches on drier skin. Scrubbing will also help makeup glide on seamlessly - eliminating the need for primers. When you're washing your face simply scrub about a palm full of sugar in circular motions around your face and body, then rinse off.

Do you have pest problems? Mix a tablespoon each of sugar and borax and cup of water together. Then soak some cotton balls in the mixture and place them where you've seen creepy crawlers. They'll munch on the sweet treat and that will be the end of them!

Keep your kitchen free of flies with a homemade fly trap that uses no toxic chemicals. In a small saucepan, simmer 2 cups milk, 1/4 pound sugar, and 2 ounces ground pepper for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into shallow dishes or bowls and set them around the kitchen, patio, or anywhere the flies are a problem. The pesky bugs will flock to the bowls and drown!

If you have an insect bite or a bee sting, mix together a teaspoon each of sugar and water. Then spread it over the sting for an instant relief.

Got the hiccups? Dissolve a bit of sugar on your tongue. No more hiccups!

Make a paste of sugar and water and spread it over grass stains on clothes. Let it sit for an hour or so and then wash away the stains

Three or four cubes of sugar in a suitcase before storing it will help prevent damp odors

Got dirty, greasy hands? To clean filthy hands easily and thoroughly, pour equal amounts of olive oil and sugar into the cupped palm of one hand, and then gently rub your hands together for several minutes. Rinse thoroughly and dry. The grit of the sugar acts as an abrasive to help the oil remove grease, paint, and grime. Your hands will look and feel clean, soft, and moisturized.

To ease the burning of hot foods such as chili peppers, try a teaspoon of sugar or suck on a sugar cube

To decrease halitosis (bad breath), try a teaspoon of sugar

If your outdoor plants look unhealthy, with ugly knots at the roots, chances are they've been victims of an attack of the nematodes! The nematode worm, nemesis of many an otherwise healthy garden, is a microscopic parasite that pierces the roots of plants and causes knots. You can prevent nematode attacks by using sugar to create an inhospitable environment for the tiny worms. Apply 5 pounds sugar for every 250 square feet of garden. Microorganisms feeding on the sugar will increase the organic matter in the soil, thereby eliminating those nasty little nematodes.

Did the fish you fried last night leave your kitchen smelly? Boil some sugar in water to eliminate the strong cooking odors from your kitchen.

Slip some oyster crackers into your sugar canister to keep it from clumping.