Tips & Tricks

1. Use a dish drainer to organize pot lids, or Tupperware lids in a cabinet.  You can find them in all sizes now, to fit almost any cabinet, and they are super cheap at the dollar store!

2.  A wonderful person left me a sweet note telling me that a professional chef uses lemon juice and salt to clean their aluminum cookware...if its good enough for a chef, its worth giving a shot!

3.  You know how you never get all of the mascara out of the tube before it dries out? I saw on Pinterest that you can add 4-5 drops of saline solution, insert the wand, stir it up and tah-dah! You can do this 3 or 4 times or until you use up all of the mascara.

4. The hubs uses this at work all of the time.  When Painters tape gets dry and hard to peel off, pop it in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. A little heat reactivates the glue and it works like a charm.

5.  Kim told me in the comments section that Dawn gets any grease stain out, even after it has gone through the dryer!

6. A sweet lovey told me her Grandma stores lettuce in the waxpaper bag from inside a cereal box, and it lasts twice as long. Nothing beats a tip from a Grammy!

7. Cut a slit in your empty toilet paper rolls and slip them over rolls of wrapping paper to keep everything nice and neat. You can use a piece of tape to make it smaller for thinner rolls, and it keeps the paper from getting all messed up!

8. If the grout in your kitchen or bath is getting a little funky, and its light in color, you can buy Emery Cloth (sold in the pluming aisle) and sand it down lightly to get rid of stains. Then apply a grout sealer to prevent any more staining. This works best if you have sanded grout, according to the hubs.

9. To prevent hair and dirt from sticking to your baseboards, after cleaning them rub a dryer sheet over the surface. The fabric softener will help to repel dirt. Just remember to re-apply every so often!

10. Good old Martha taught us that rather than buying those ridiculously expensive anti-slip mats for a rug, just turn it over and run a few lines of acrylic-latex caulk every 6 inches or so. Let dry and flip over and your rug wont be going anywhere!

11. To keep stainless steel appliances clean, use a little bit of baby oil on a soft cloth and buff into the surface. Then wipe clean with a dry cloth. It prevents fingerprints from sticking to the surface. If you dont have baby oil, use some Pledge. Bonus for the lemony-fresh scent!

12.  You can use vinegar and crumpled newspaper to clean windows with no streaks.

13. Picked this one up from Rachel Ray- cook bacon in the oven rather than in a skillet. Pop it onto a tray and bake at 400 for 10 minutes to ensure that all of the bacon gets done at the same time, plus, no bacon grease to get everywhere!

14.  Tip on how to get rid of water marks on wood furniture, Use a hairdryer on a low setting to dry the water out that is stuck between the layers of varnish. She said it works best on fresh stains, but it can work on old ones as well!

15.  You can reuse the foaming soap dispensers. Simply fill them with water and a teaspoon of antibacterial dish soap and voila. Instant cheap refill!

16. Another fun use for wax paper from a reader- slide it on the bar in your closet to make hangers slide oh-so-nice. I gave this a try and it worked like a charm!

17. Baking soda and vinegar will do a multitude of things in the kitchen. Use it as a drain cleaner, to clean the tops of glass top stoves,  or to clean the grease off of the bottom of an oven.  Just put the baking soda down first, then add a splash of vinegar and let the chemical reaction do the work for you. (This will also make a heck of a volcanic explosion- just add a little orange dish soap and red food coloring to make the lava!)

18. The lovey lady from Maw Maw's Rocking chair left us a few of her faves: spraying the car door seals with baking spray prevents freezing in cold weather; car wax also works great to keep fiberglass tubs shiny, and makes them resist soap scum; use toothpaste, not scouring powder on cast iron tubs to avoid scratching the enamel; polishing with car wax in bathroom sinks keeps toothpaste from sticking; coca cola is a great toilet cleaner; and my favorite, wrapping fridge shelves with plastic wrap cuts down on cleaning time when little hands spill things. 

19.  This works wonders for warts- instead of spending tons of cash on the special band aids, just take a square of duck tape and cover the wart.  It cuts off all of the oxygen and kills it without having to put that burning liquid on.

20. From Lunchinabox.net, when you buy the super packs of ground meat. Bring home and put into gallon zip lock bags, then use a ruler to create divisions within the food, forming individual portions. This way when you freeze the entire bag, you’ll be able to quickly break off just as much as you want to use, no more.

21. Did you know that weeds will not grow through wet newspaper? I saw this on Pinterest, and backed it up from BHandG.  When planting flowers mix up the dirt, then place a thick layer of wet newspapers down around the plants.  Then cover with your top soil and mulch.  Apparently weeds can get through plastic, but not this stuff. (I wouldn't know, I can only get weeds to grow- I kill pretty much everything else!)

22. Instead of buying expensive hangers to keep wide necked and silky tops from falling off- just take out your glue gun and make a zigzag pattern on the top of the hangers where the clothes would normally hang.

23. Found this on Pinterest and did myself a little happy dance. You can wash and reuse your cricut mats.  Just buy a cheap scrubber from the dollar store- the kind that does NOT have metal in it. The plastic kind. Then use water and a drop of dish-soap and scrub quite vigorously. Wipe off the excess water and allow them to air dry and they should be like brand new. 

24. Also from Pinterest- Bar Keepers Friend Liquid Cleanser and powdered cleanser will remove scratches from dishes.  According to the lovely over at Outnumbered the blog, it took her plain white dishes from old to new again.  All she did was apply a bit to a wet sponge and use some elbow grease, and they look fantastic!

25. Use conditioner to shave your legs. Not only is it cheaper, but it is ALOT more moisturizing, so your legs wont be all dry and itchy after you finish shaving.

26. Reheat pizza in a skillet on the stove to make an extra crispy crust.

27. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle on a little cayenne pepper. It wont hurt the plant and the squirrels wont come near it.

28. From Real Simple  to get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dish washing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad, to get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dish washing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad. Its a great way to reuse the clean side of foil.

29. Line your fridge shelves with Glad Press and Seal paper. Just press down to create a seal that will keep your shelves nice and clean!

30. A piece of chalk placed into your silverware bag will draw in moisture and prevent the silver from tarnishing.

31. Real Simple comes through again- to get the gunk off of the bottom of your Iron, place it on a low setting and run it over a dryer sheet until the residue disappears.

32. To remove small stains from suede by gently rubbing the file (either side) across the problem area a few times to get rid of the splotch and refresh the nap.

33. The next time you have green onions, don't throw away the white ends. Simply put them in a glass of water (make sure they are submerged!) and place them in a sunny window. They grow super quick and you can grow as many as you want.

34. Make your own microwave popcorn- just place  1/2 cup of corn kernels into a brown paper bag. Fold the top over two or three times  and pop it into the microwave on high on your popcorn setting.  Or if yours doesn't have one of those, pop it in for three or so minutes and stop when the popping noise slows to every 1 or 2 seconds. Then you can take it out and add your own toppings. Fresh butter and garlic salt, or fresh grated parm cheese in this house. Yummm.

35. Cut foam pipe insulation to fit sides of container... and cut slits in foam for a super easy paint brush holder.