Sunday, December 11, 2011

Handy Little Tricks...

In my many afternoons spent on pinterest, I have learned some very handy tricks!  After sharing an evening with friends... I learned that these handy little tricks are not known by all!  However, I also learned that many people want to know these tricks, so I thought I would write a blog about a few of my favorites!  I have not tried them all, but I do plan to try them if I ever need them! So here you go...



1.  If you place a wooden spoon on top of a pot of boiling water, the pot will not boil over!


2.  If you aren’t sure how fresh your eggs are, place them in about four inches of water. Eggs that stay on the bottom are fresh. If only one end tips up, the egg is less fresh and should be used soon. If it floats, it’s past the fresh stage.


3.  To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are coming in and cover the hole with petroleum jelly. Ants won’t trek through the jelly. If they are coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of chalk.

  
4.  When defrosting meat from the freezer, pour some vinegar over it. Not only does it tenderize the meat; it will also bring down the freezing temperature of the meat and cause it to thaw quicker.


5.  Fill a plastic baggy with distilled white vinegar and place it over a dirty shower head.  Secure it with a rubber band and leave it for 1 hour!  Sparkly clean when you return!


6.  Activated charcoal is much better at absorbing fridge and freezer odors than baking soda!

7.  When you burn yourself in the kitchen... if you don't have an aloe plant, spread mustard on the affected area.  Leave it for a while and it will ease the paint & prevent blistering.


8.  Place a few large marshmallows in your bag of brown sugar.  Place it in a sealed container, and your brown sugar will stay soft!

8.  Keep old Starbucks cups to reuse as spill proof paint cups!


9.  Dry up grease stains on clothes with white chalk!  Rub on as a pre-treat, and the grease stains will come right out!


10. Take one capful of Hydrogen Peroxide (the little white cap that comes with the bottle) and hold in your mouth for 10 minutes daily, then spit it out. No more canker sores and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes. Use it instead of mouthwash. (Small print says mouth wash and gargle right on the bottle).

11.  Place a pillow case over fan blades, and slide off holding the blade.  Your fan gets dusted and all of the nastiness goes into the pillow case!  Flip it inside out, outside & shake it out.  Then wash the pillow case!


12.  Putting a slice of bread in the cookie jar will keep your cookies fresh!


13.  If you accidentally write on a dry erase board with a permanent marker, just write over it with a dry erase pen!  It wipes right off!!  If that doesn't work, a magic eraser will remove just about anything!


14.  Toothpaste on a pimple before bed will take away the redness over night!


15.  You can also use toothpaste to fill in small holes in the wall!  Don't have any wall putty??  Just use a touch of toothpaste, dry, and wipe it off!


I am sure that I don't know all of the handy tricks that are out there, but I always love to hear about them!  If you know any that I missed... please comment below!  I am excited to learn some new tricks!!


 - Jessica