Okay guys, it’s time to get excited.. I’ve got a few GAME CHANGING Life Hacks that I use in my home that I think you’re really gonna love! I’m all about finding other uses for things in my home, especially things that I can get cheap/free or that re-use things I already have! Here are some of my favorites:
BREAD TIE TABS + SHARPIE = Label those cords, NO more confusion!
I saw this in a magazine and KNEW I would be implementing this in our house. We have a lot of electronics, thanks to our love of DVDs and video games lol. We have two of those surge protector strips in our home, and nearly every cord plugged into it is black. *sigh* Needless to say, there was more than one occasion that the wrong cord was unplugged, much to my chagrin.
This is super easy to do!! I suggest picking white or light colored bread tie tabs, just to make it easier to see what’s written.. just a tip. Gather up as many as you have cords for, use a Sharpie marker to write what each cord belongs to and snap it around the cord! It doesn’t pinch the cord or damage it in any way, and it keeps all of your cords organized.. whether it’s plugged in or not, this hack is #1 in my book!
SOCK, RICE & MICROWAVE = Homemade Heating Pad
I’ll admit that this was NOT my idea – I found this life hack online – but boy am I glad I made one for myself!! Forgive my husband’s grease-stained sock, I swear it’s clean lol, I just picked a sock from my rag bin (make sure it has NO HOLES!!) rather than use a brand new one 😉 Here’s how to put one together:
- 1.5 cups cups rice, uncooked
- 1 long sock, no holes (it needs to be long so you can tie it off)
- a microwave
Fill the sock with the rice, tie off the end so no rice falls out. I suggest starting at microwaving up to 1 minute then test how hot it is. Also keep an eye on it the first time or two (til you get the hang of the timing) in case you see smoke. Obviously, if you see smoke.. take it out lol.
The rice holds heat incredibly well and molds to whatever is hurting! And you can reuse it a bunch of times, so even though you’re wasting some rice, you’re getting your money’s worth of use out of in as a heating pad (those things can be EXPENSIVE!) 🙂 | Source Post (heating pad hack)
HELUVA GOOD! (EMPTY) DIP CONTAINER = Mess-Free Soap Dish w/ Lid!
I don’t need to explain to you how this one works, lol, but I did want to share this one because I hate soap dishes. There, I said it. I think they get super gross and are impossible to clean, dust and lint and whatever else floats around can stick to your soap.. YUCK. This solves all my phobias about soap dishes, haha! And if you stock up on these dips every time they go on sale like I do, then you have a million of these. So when it gets too gross for me, I just throw it out.. yup. Problem solved, pop another one out of the never-ending collection of empty dip containers!
LONG PLASTIC PENCIL BOX = Organize Long Utensils/Knives
I stumbled across this long pencil box on half-price color tag day at my local Salvation Army, so I paid just .49 for it! You could also find these readily at most large retailers or office supply stores, as well as on Amazon HERE, for less than $4 brand new, but don’t discount thrift stores when you’re starting an organizing project!
I just opened the pencil box and used a sharp knife *BE CAREFUL HERE* to slice through the plastic hinge to create two separate storage trays. From there, it’s self-explantory 😉 If you, like me, have a small apartment with little storage and counter space, this is a great life hack for keeping what space you DO have as organized as possible! A must in my home.
Let me start off by saying that this muffin tray has had THREE GENERATIONS of love from my family, lol, it really is clean.. I assure you! HA! I don’t have the heart to buy a new one ^_^
MUFFIN TRAY = Easy Meatballs/Meatloaf Muffins & Oven Hard-Boiled Eggs!
I love using my muffin tray to make things other than muffins. It started off with meatballs, because I always baked my meatballs but they rolled around on the sheet tray. One day I just thought, DUH.. and Poof! An idea was born! So if you like baked meatballs (I like to bake HUGE batches and freeze them; then I just warm through as many as I need per meal) this is definitely the hack for you. You can do something similar with your meatloaf mixture, just use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin (spray with non-stick spray or grease lightly, save yourself the headache later!!) and bake through.. BAM! – meatloaf muffins 😉 *Great if you’re trying to control portion sizes!
Oven baked hard-boiled eggs are a game changer though. Yeah, I said game changer. I found this hack online one day when I was on the hunt on how to make the PERFECT hard-boiled eggs, and turns out they come out perfect by NOT boiling them, haha, who would’ve thought?! Just preheat your oven to 325-350 (depends on oven, 350 is the sweet spot for mine) place your eggs – however many, it doesn’t affect the cook time – in each muffin tin and bake 30 minutes. Remove and place in ice bath and peel the way you would any boiled egg. *My TRICK is, crack from the very bottom (the wider round side) because there is always a small air pocket that will allow you to peel perfectly from the bottom, in my experience! | Source Post (eggs hack)
*Bonus Life Hack: Reuse store-bought pickle juice to make your OWN homemade “upcycled” pickles HERE
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Life Hacks, and don’t worry.. I’m always on the hunt for new ideas, inspiration and other ways to upcycle, recycle or repurpose things in my home to share with y’all 🙂 It’s fun to look at an object and think, “I know what you are, but what else can I do with you?” lol, so give it a try sometime and share your finds with us here at HTSFF.. you’ll probably see your #LifeHacks here on the site!
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