Clever Tips and Tricks for your household

Happy Sunday all. Got these awesome ideas from a friend and thought they were worth sharing.

Want an easy way to slice those little cherry tomatoes? Try this out – Put a bunch between two plastic lids and run a long knife through them all at once.

Don’t you love when you go to use your brown sugar and its all hard? Keep it soft by placing a couple of marshmallows in your bag.

I thought this one was a FANTASTIC idea as we always have shoes piled up all over the floor. Put a coat rack on the bottom of the wall and store your shoes safely – NO MORE TRIPPING!!

I find bobby pins ALL OVER the place thanks to my sweet pea daughter. So I am putting up a magnetic strip like this and hope it does the trick.

But if you prefer not to do this and you want something to store them in, a perfect little tic roc dispenser will do wonders too…

Here is a problem solver when your trying to drill a hole in the wall and end up with dust everywhere. Solve it with a post it note to catch the dust 🙂

Have an extra corkboard laying around, along with all your jewelry? Try this out for a nifty way to keep these items organized.

How about those extra knives that never fit into the knife block you have – add some skewers and tada you have that problem solved too.

I remember coming home last summer and my house STUNK something fierce. I could not figure out what it was until I opened my pantry and found old rotten onions. So take your old pantyhose and give this a shot – they are supposed to last for months this way, plus it will eliminate all the peels that fall all over as well.

Its ALMOST that time to start planting – create a thrifty watering can by putting holes in the lid of a used milk jug.

 

Do your pets leave fur all over everything like mine? Well put that squeegee to work and remove it 🙂

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea since I do a lot of painting. Although the plastic trays are not too expensive, they are flimsy, so instead put a piece of tinfoil in the sturdy ones and make clean up simple.

Make your grilled cheese in a breeze – prepare it as normal and turn your toaster on the side and stick it in…

Want to have some clear ice cubes just to make things a little cuter? Instead of using tap water, boil it first but let it cool some and pour into your trays. This is what you will get.

Make stuffed peppers a little easier with your handed dandy muffin pan. I am finding more and more that muffin pans are similar to mason jars in that there are SO MANY USES.

Hate it when potatoes start to bud and spout everywhere? Prevent that from happening by adding an apple to your bag.

Love boiled eggs but not so much the kind that are extremely difficult to peel? When boiling, add a half a teaspoon of baking soda to the water and the shell will peel off incredibly easy.

Don’t toss out those old bread tags, instead use them to label all your household power cords.

Want to prevent the wax build up on the bottom of your votive candle holders? Use a non-stick cooking spray to solve this dilemma.

Got little ones who like to play artists on your walls? Give the good old WD40 a try to remove crayon marks from any surface.

Having a hard time hanging your pictures straight? Put a dab of toothpaste on the frame where you need the nails to be. Then simple press against the wall to leave marks that can be easily wiped later. Works as a perfect guide.

Want to reduce the drying time it takes to get a load of clothes dry? Put a towel in with a wet load and this is supposed to greatly reduce the drying time.

Want to know if your eggs are still fresh? Immerse them in a bowl of water. Fresh eggs will lie on the bottom while stale eggs will float to the surface. Good to know right!

Got some concrete outside that loves to grow weeds between the cracks? Sprinkle salt in the spaces to get rid of them, but remember not to get it near your plants because this will kill them as well.

Not sure if your wooden cutting board is REALLY clean? Sprinkle a handful of salt on it and rub with a half of lemon. Rinse clean with water and dry to ensure it is clean and germ-free.

I LOVE to re-arrange but I HATE the fact that it leaves indents in the carpet. SO YAY I am totally trying this out – place ice cubes (It’s ok to use the cloudy kind – ha ha) along the indents and it is supposed to pull the carpet back up. Interesting I thought.

Love flowers, hate that the soil goes everywhere? Use a handy coffee filter to prevent soil from escaping through the holes in the base of your flowerpots.

Got an annoying leaky faucets with a drip that drives you crazy? Tie a piece of string around the faucet which is long enough to each down to the sink.

Got a drawer full of old scissors that are too dull to cut anything? Grab a piece of sandpaper and cut through that to sharpen them right up.

Got some furniture scratches you would like to see fixed? Check this out…

Can’t get that jar open? Grab the rubber bands, place one around the lid and one around the jar to give it a nice grasp and open without slipping.

NO MORE ONION TEARS – put some white vinegar on your chopping board (this will not affect the taste of your onion) and you will have no more tears.

Clean up our linen closet and make more room by storing sheets inside their pillowcases.

Stubborn stains in your toilets? Most are white like our teeth SHOULD be so drop a couple of dentures cleansing tablets into the toilet bowl at night to FIGHT off those stubborn stains.

Keep those pesky summer flies from getting in to your drinks by creating a cupcake cover – so cute and great idea.

I recently got some new dress pants. And I THOUGHT I would be able to wear a belt cause they were a little big, but soon discovered that there was only two loops in the front so my belt would ride up my back (Looked pretty classy ;P Anyways I took a binder clip and folded it over my pant waist and the belt and HOORAY it worked and it wasn’t noticeable or uncomfortable. Sorry no pic on this one but if you have the same problem you should try it out. However you can also use these awesome binder clips in your fridge to keep staked bottles in place in the fridge.

I TOTALLY DESPISE when I buy things and they are packaged like this below and are impossible to open – so I am beyond thrilled to see this AMAZING tip…

Got a broken light bulb? Pull it out easily with a potato cut in half.

This one is brilliant as well – Laundry day – Grease stains WHAT DO I DO??? Use chalk to remove these grease stains from clothes – simple rub it on the affected area and wash as usual. The chalk will absorb the grease and be washed away in the cycle.

Like your wine chilled and not watered down? Freeze grapes and put them in your glass instead. They are pretty too!~

Don’t let that pan boil over anymore – take a wooden spoon and place it over the top to proven this from happening.

Another favorite of mine…

Rubber bands are ranking right up there with Mason Jars and Muffin pans – ha ha Use one to rescue a stripped screw…

And to prevent your shirts from REPEATED falling off the hanger…

And because I am a crafter and the main thing I make is signs – this IS MY FAVORITE IDEA YET!!!

HOLY AWESOME IDEAS RIGHT!!!!

Hope you all had an AMAZING weekend.

Rebeca~

Organizational Tips for the Slightly OCD impaired.

Are you like me? You have fifty things going on at all times yet there are certain things that must be done that one particular way? You know what I mean – YOUR WAY! I love to be organized but on the other hand it is hard to be organized when you have so many things going on at once (I’m pretty sure another quarter to half  of my brain has ADHD ha ha). I can let clutter pile up (but let’s not mistake clutter as being dirty because there is a BIG difference – at least to me). Typically it will take me hours, if not days to get a room as clean and organized as I feel it needs to be. Although I don’t clean like this all the time, when I do WATCH OUT FAMILY because every nook and cranny needs to be gone through. To be completely and totally honest, I let things pile up (not purposely) and then I completely FREAK OUT and get REALLY CRABBY because of it. When this happens, a bell goes off – TIME TO DO MY THING!

Anyways, I found some pretty cool organizational tips for that little OCD part in my brain. Thought I would share with you and maybe JUST maybe it will help with all that clutter.

Tip #1 – Hang your shelves upside down so that the brackets automatically create built-in compartments. Who would have thought? I bet it was one of those people who did this by accident and WALLA totally awesome idea – especially with lots and lots of stuff in a teeny tiny closet.

Tip # 2 – Hang an upcycled cereal box on the refrigerator to keep your menus in order (you know on those 4 out of 7 nights you eat out because you are too busy doing the 50 other things you got going on). You can seriously create things out of just about anything. But hanging on to just about everything JUST IN CASE you might use it is NOT a good idea – ha Lesson learned – Just don’t do it – well not everything anyway.

Tip # 3 – Use pan organizers both horizontally and vertically to maximize storage space in your kitchen cabinets. In my house our pots and pan cupboard is in a really tight and odd spot. The kind where it is deep but you can only access a quarter of it without climbing into the actual cupboard and pulling everything out. I am going to buy some metal or maybe even plastic mail slot thingy’s (you know what I mean right?) from the dollar store and go to town. Hopefully avoiding future head blows as I am digging for that stinkin one pan lid I can never find. 

Tip # 4 – Use wire CD racks to organize Tupperware lids. Ok I have yet another ODD cupboard. It would be really nice to have a Lazy Susan (I believe that is what they are called – the thing that turns) but I don’t and I DO have these wire CD racks so I am going to give it a shot. Yet another frustrating thing when you have all kinds of Tupperware and the lids are nowhere to be found.

Tip # 5 – Use a pegboard to keep dishes neat. I don’t think I actually need to do this one but wanted to share in case someone needed an idea.

Tip # 6 -This is how you should organize your measuring spoons and cups. Is this not CUTE??? I LOVE Chalkboard paint. My plan is to paint the chalkboard paint on to some thin wood and glue it on a cupboard door like this. Hopefully my drawers will no longer be overflowing with this stuff when I am through. And it is so shabby chic – LOVE IT!

Tip # 7 – Replacing your weirdly sized shampoo and body wash bottles with uniform bottles will give an appearance of neatness. NEATNESS in a bathroom that is consumed by all the products a teenage girl uses – SERIOUSLY?? But I guess it is worth a shot.

Tip # 8 – These dollar store stacking bins are the perfect size for bathroom cabinet organization. No longer will your toilet cleaner get all over everything else when it decides it wants to leak all over – BOO…

Tip # 9 – Use a shoe organizer to organize socks and underwear. Not sure how I feel about having my underwear exposed to all eyes who enter my bedroom but then again after I neatly fold them in my drawer and within two days they are in one big pile I am GAME!



Tip # 10 – Use ice cube trays to organize tiny things, like earrings and other jewelry. This one I find completely awesome. Not so much for my jewelry but for other little things like pins, buttons, screws etc.

Tip # 11 – Use a magnetic knife strip to organize tools and scissors. I can’t count the number of times I have SEARCHED and SEARCHED for a tool I needed to make a project. How easy and simple this is to do. For sure it is on the top of my to do list – Maybe tonight!!!

Tip # 12 – Use PVC pipes to organize your garden tools in the shed. Ok I really can’t be the only one who has either tripped or stepped on the end only to almost get knocked unconscious can I? This is FABULOUS and I will be making my honey do this one soon as well.

Tip # 13 – Attach wire bins where you need them with command hooks. Another simple yet so handy idea to clear the cluster from your sink area. You can use buckets as well – or even those old tins you never knew what to do with. Double sided tape works like magic.

Tip # 14 – Use a pegboard to get your cleaning supplies off the floor. Ok I have a VERY SMALL closet that I keep most of this in. Although this is not shown in a closet, my plan is to take pegboard and attach it to the inside of the door. I like how it is decorated chevron style as well. Just NEAT and TIDY and PERFECT.

Tip # 15 – Use a wooden pallet to corral pool supplies and other things outside. YAY I knew I loaded up a truckload of free pallets because there are endless ideas of what you can do with them. And if you really want to make it pretty, throw on a little spray paint. You could also stencil or write words on it.

And that my friends are 15 handy dandy ideas to help you de-clutter your home and your mind.
Happy Saturday – Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy your weekend! And thanks for reading.

Rebeca~