Hello Neighbor,
One of my longest-known girlfriends is getting married (yay!) and I recently attended her bridal shower. While beautiful and a great time, it was a pretty “standard” bridal shower with cutesy games, questionnaires and the obligatory bow hat. There was a standout idea though – in addition to the often-seen recipe collection (guests bring a favorite recipe along for the new bride), there was a “hack” collection box! Guests were invited to write a helpful “hack” on a cutely designed index card for the bride and groom to tuck away for their new life together. I loved this idea! Who doesn’t love a good hack?! Whether it’s for the kitchen, for travel or for life in general, we all love to hear a good trick to make life a little bit easier. And so, I give you a list of some great hacks that I’ve used myself or recently discovered:
If traveling and packing a cooler of food, pre-scramble/season your eggs in a measuring cup, then pour into a washed-out plastic water bottle! No broken eggs, and there will be more room in the cooler!
If you need to speed up drying time, throw a dry towel in the dryer with the wet items. It’ll pull moisture out of the wet items, helping to speed up the process.
Baking soda neutralizes the ph in the soil so nothing will grow. Twice a year, sprinkle it on areas you’d like to keep clear (in between walkway stones, at the end of the driveway).
Cover a container of guacamole with a thin layer of water and refrigerate. When ready to use again, pour off the water, give a good mix, and enjoy!
For any bed wetting aged kids, double up on the crib sheet/fitted sheet! Put the first on, put a waterproof pad over top, then put on a second crib/fitted sheet. If there is an overnight accident, you can just strip the top sheet and waterproof pad quickly, instead of having to remake the whole bed!
To hastily soften butter, fill a cup of water with very hot water, dump it out, then place it over a stick of butter. After 5 minutes, the butter should soften.
When you’re doing a big holiday bake and you need a lot of cooling space, look no further than your ironing board! Simply remove the cover, and voila!
Insert a drinking straw (reusable stainless-steel straws work great!) into the tip of the berry and push it through to the other end to quickly remove the stem.
Put a wooden spoon across the top of a boiling pot of water to keep it from boiling over.
Perk up limp celery and lettuce by slicing off the ends and placing in a cup full of ice water for 30 minutes (overnight works even better). Crunch restored!
Water settling at the bottom of flowerpots can lead to root rot. To combat this problem, cut up old sponges and put them in the bottom of the pot. The sponges retain moisture and create necessary air space. They also help prevent water from flushing out the bottom.
A wine box is perfect for storing footwear because it comes equipped with cardboard dividers—a place for each shoe!
Freeze green grapes and place in your glass of white wine to chill it without watering it down.
When traveling, squirt dish soap on a heavy-duty paper towel and let it dry. Then, cut it into squares and put in a Ziploc bag. When needed, add water and it suds right up so you can wash dishes/bottles/cups in the sink!
Put a fork through the icing of Oreos to dunk into milk without messy fingers!
For items that are difficult to find in “travel size” (concealer, eye cream, Neosporin), put them in contact lens containers.
For potty training kiddos, put a coffee filter in the bottom of the removeable bowl to make “dirty” cleanup easier.
Slide a cupcake liner onto the stick of a popsicle to catch drips and stay mess free!
Cut open an empty toilet paper tube to use as a cuff around wrapping paper to keep it from unrolling.
Hide some emergency cash inside an empty ChapStick container!
Use dental floss (unflavored!) to cut cheese or backed goods.
Before measuring sticky stuff (like honey or syrup), spray your measuring spoon with nonstick spray. It’ll slide right off!
Use an over-the-door hanging shoe bag to store cleaning supplies and keep them out of reach of kids.
Clean ceiling fan blades with an old pillowcase. Slip the pillowcase over each blade and slide slowly off. The dust falls into the pillowcase instead of just flying all over the place.
Clean up broken glass on your counter or floor with bread. Just press the bread onto the shattered glass and it’ll stick right into the dough!
Stick a pool noodle under the fitted sheet along the edge of a bed for an instant and inexpensive “bed rail.”
Put pancake batter in an old ketchup bottle for a no mess breakfast.
Plain (unflavored) Greek yogurt is a great (and healthier) substitute for mayonnaise and sour cream. Put it on tacos, use it in egg salad…sub away!
While I think this list has some great ideas, I know it barely scratches the surface of all the great ideas out there. Do you have any tried-and-true hacks? Do share – I’d love to hear! This momma will take all the help she can get!
Warm regards,
Kim
