Protect Your House from House Guests
WILLIS: OK, 'tis the season for holiday parties and holiday guests. Our friend Ed Del Grande from HDTVpro.com stopped by to show us how to prep your home for the holidays and all the problems that arise. Take a listen.</s>WILLIS: Problem No. 1, OK. You know how it gets really stuffy if you have a lot of people in the house. What can I do to make the ventilation better?</s>ED DEL GRANDE, HDTVPRO.COM: Well, that's what happens in the winter all the windows and doors are closed and you want a lot of fresh air in there so people aren't falling asleep. If you can hand me that switch over there on the tape. Every bathroom should have a setup like this, Gerri. And you can see there's a light switch which is usually on the bottom and then on the top is your fan switch, you use that bathroom fan to work for your party. If you turn it on and then get some painter's tape -- so that won't stick, it's got to be painter's tape -- just tape that switch down so nobody can turn it back off and you cannot believe how much air this will move in the course of a night and deep your house fresh.</s>WILLIS: That's a great idea, OK, one of the things I worry about, because we have guests in the house during the holiday season, some of them are just little tykes, I'm worried about the fireplace. I love to have fires, but you know, you set up the fire and pretty soon other people are throwing logs on. You don't know what's going to happen. What is your advice?</s>DEL GRANDE: Well, in my opinion, fires at a party are very dangerous, unless you have somebody standing by constantly to moderate. Now, see that candle right there. That's looks like a candle -- open in, it's OK, it comes right out of the holder, but you can see it goes on and off, this is an LED candle.</s>WILLIS: That's if you have the kids.</s>DEL GRANDE: That's if you have the kids and then you can have that atmosphere of a candle, but nobody can get hurt, especially the children.</s>WILLIS: But these are beautiful inside the fireplace.</s>DEL GRANDE: Yeah, that's what I like to do. If you go to a regular fireplace, remove the logs for the night and put in these candle logs, again, gives you the atmosphere and you even have live flickering flames, but it's a lot safer than having a big, roaring fire with a lot of people.</s>WILLIS: OK, and you know, a roaring fire is hot, too. OK, you have a toilet right here. Why?</s>DEL GRANDE: Oh, yes I do. Well, you know, be festive, people neglect their toilet during the holidays, so let's do something. Let's dress...</s>WILLIS: I like to neglect it as much as possible, Ed.</s>DEL GRANDE: Well, look at this. Gives like a log cabin feel, a nice winter wooden toilet seat. It's about decorating and safety, again, because, look, this is an anti-slam seat so kids won't break the toilet or stick their fingers in there and get hurt. And this makes your toilet safer and a lot prettier.</s>WILLIS: All right, OK, now, here's the part I've been very excited about. OK, we're going to spill some wine because that's what's happening during the holidays, you're drinking the red wine with the turkey. You spill it, uh-oh. Shoot.</s>DEL GRANDE: Well, just work some of that in. You know, first of all if you have a good carpet like this that won't absorb wine, but the only other reason I wanted to get something that showed how it puddles up is because you can get salt and just throw it right on and see what happens? The salt will absorb a wine stain. And Gerri, you don't want to wiping up a carpet during a party, so you just put it on...</s>WILLIS: That just embarrasses the guest.</s>DEL GRANDE: Right. Work it in there and then you get your vacuum, suck it really quick. And this does work, I used it at my own house because I have spilled a wine from time to time.</s>WILLIS: Ed, I bet you have. And next time you do it, you should do it at my house. Thank you for helping us out today, we really appreciate it.</s>DEL GRANDE: You're welcome.</s>WILLIS: Holiday decorating can be fun, but it's also dangerous. If you're shopping for a live tree, make sure it's fresh. Look for dark green needles and a sticky trunk. Now, once you get it home, keep your tree watered so it doesn't dry out. If you op for the artificial tree, look for one with a fire-resistant label. Check the cords on all your electrical decorations, look for cracked sockets, bare wires, loose connections, throw out any decorations that have been damaged. And make sure not to overload your extension cords. As for outdoor decorating, check to make sure the lights are certified for outdoor use. After all, you want to keep everything around you safe this holiday season. All right, check out this stuff. iPods, expensive bags, sneakers, are they real? Are they fake? We'll tell you how to tell the difference, next.