Take a close look at this photo. Do you see what's happening here? I have a photo of Elise holding a head of garlic. This is my way at satisfying the topic (you'll see) and family members who like to see pictures of our kids.
Anyway, I was laying in my bed in the middle of the night after being awakened by Ophelia's nightly meowing (it's gone on since our cat Mia passed, any ideas?) and I thought about random tips and tricks that I have leaned over the years. I was thinking about how many of them had been heard or learned from people willing to pass them on. Today I am going to share a few random tips with you and I invite you to do the same, then with our collective knowledge we can plot to accomplish something great. I was going to say plot to take over the world, but then I thought about how exhausting and unrewarding that would be, so I just went with something great. I am open for plotting suggestions as well.
Whoa...off track today. Whatever, here are my tips in no particular order.
- Well, let's just get straight to the garlic shall we? I heard this tip on the radio years ago and for some reason it has stuck with me. If you want to peel a couple cloves of garlic just pop them into the microwave for seven seconds. You will probably hear a little pop as their skins release, pull them out and the skins just slip off.
- My friend Jennifer in Australia was here over the summer and happened to mention that there was a woman in her town that she paid to apply screen covers to her mobile device. I asked what the secret was and she said that part of it was that the woman used tape to remove any dust that might not be visible to the naked eye until it created a bubble. I have tried this technique and I can tell you it works! I will, however, accept your money if you want me to do it for you.
- I think I came up with this one myself, but I am sure I am not the only person to do this, but I clean the tub and shower while I shower. I keep a cleaning brush and cleaner in the shower and just spend five minutes cleaning the tub and tile. It's a great way to keep things clean in between a serious cleansing.
- Buy yourself a pair of kitchen scissors. I use them for everything! You can put your herbs into a mug and go to town with those scissors, way more fun than chopping. You can cut vegan quesadillas into snowflakes, you can generally cut food quickly. Great for anything that doesn't need chopping.
- When your hands or feet are super dry coat them in lotion and put either cotton gloves or socks on, no need to buy special ones at the store. I leave them on for a couple of hours/as long as I can bear and then repeat for a few nights.
- When I need a good exfoliant I use sugar, fine grain. Don't try salt you will regret it.
- I learned this trick while working at Hallmark a million years ago. If you are an obsessive and orderly person (I am not) take a clipboard, a small cutting board would work too. Lay your t-shirt flat and face down and place the board up by the collar. Fold the sleeves in, one over the other. Fold the bottom out and slide out the board. You will be left with a uniform fold for all shirts and a stack of shirts that look like they belong in a store.
- Little kid socks are a nightmare to corral in their sock drawer. I usually keep a leftover shoe box and toss the rolled socks into the box within their drawer, keeps them corralled. Similarly, I keep a basket for single socks sitting atop the dresser. When a kid sock inevitably shows up I have a good idea where the match will be.
- I use a tie rack to keep my necklaces in order.
- I have two bins for medicine. One is a children's bin and the other is an adult bin, this lessens any confusion.
- I wrote in magic marker on the dog thermometer (because you know where that's been) and it reads, "Been in dog bum" so nobody will misuse that and I keep it in a totally different location than other thermometers.
- I keep cleaning stations on every floor of my house. I tend to be a bit laid back about messes, especially if I have to hunt for cleaning tools in the darkest recesses of my house. I have three levels and on each level, in a place that is not accessible to kids/animals, I keep the basics for cleaning.
- I trim my own hair. I go in for a good cut once a year and then every couple of months I get out of the shower and while my hair is still wet I part it and cut it, just half an inch or so.
