Handy Hacks

 

We’ve all see the articles/videos about hacks that make life so much easier. Some are pointless and solve a problem that never existed. Some of them I look at and think “I’ve been doing that for YEARS! Who DOESN’T know this??” And some are actually of value. Since I love my peeps so much, I decided to try some of the ideas that were new to me.

 

Cut an empty TP tube along one side to make a cuff to keep wrapping paper from unrolling. This one makes so much sense and I was embarrassed that I never thought of this. I’ve been using rubber bands all these years. Then I tried it…IT DOESN’T WORK! There isn’t enough tension for the cut tube to retain the shape. If you store your paper upright, like I do, the tube will just slide down to the bottom. It helps a bit, but I’ll stick to rubber bands. If you store it horizontally on a shelf, then it would be fine.

 

Coffee in ice cube trays. I’ve mentioned this one before, but it bears repeating. I love iced coffee in the summer and using coffee ice cubes makes a huge difference. I don’t always drink an entire glass of it at one time, putting the remainder in the fridge. It’s pretty much diluted from the water ice cubes by the time I get around to finishing it. Yuk. Coffee cubes are better.

 

Use pop-top tabs to offset hangers for more space. You can buy hooks or tabs to put over the hanger top to add another hanger below, but using your own things is cheaper. However, the tab from a soda can will only take wire hangers. If you use the thicker plastic ones (like I do) you will need a different size tab. The pull-top ones from canned fruit or vegetables work just fine for that.

 

Put some ice cream in an almost empty jar of Nutella, or other type spread to get the last bit of yumminess. My suggestion would be to heat up the jar of Nutella in the microwave first and then put in the ice cream.

 

Something I started doing years ago was to set my kitchen timer for laundry. Since the washer/dryer set is in the garage, I don’t hear the buzz sound when the load is done. The timer really helps. That way, when you get ready for bed and want to put the clean sheets on, you don’t suddenly remember that they are still in the washer ready to put in the dryer…

 

One absolutely amazing thing I learned about came from a FB friend who has since passed on. She would make what she called “Muffin Tin Meals” for her daughter. You take a muffin tin and fill the individual spots with mainly finger food that is easy for a very young child to deal with. No cutlery required. Quarter a sandwich, or use a cookie cutter to make fun shapes. KEEP THE LEFTOVER SANDWHICH BITS. You can put them in soup or stews. Have carrot and celery sticks. Nuts and raisins. Cheese sticks. Little crackers. A cookie or two. Fruit. I thought this was brilliant and tried this with Lia. NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER!!! I still love the idea, it just didn’t work with Lia. 

 

What are some of your favorite hacks?