Around-the-House Hacks – VII

Now that the holidays are behind us (trying to make the best of them in 2020 was no easy task!) and with many of us still choosing to ‘stay-at-home’ as much as possible, whether or not a lockdown is in place, and many of us facing the cold of winter, we’ve got time to clean out and organize for 2021! Thrift stores have been reaping major benefits in the amount of donations received recently because people have spent lockdown time doing just that – cleaning out and organizing – so let’s keep going on the right track with these helpful – and relatively inexpensive – hints!

Do you find yourself regularly buying frozen veggies? Do you find your freezer overwhelmed by several half-opened frozen food bags from past shopping trips? If you want to organize your freezer while maintaining its accessibility, consider using this life hack! Purchase a collection of sturdy paper clips/chip bag seals for use in your freezer. As you can see in the picture below, you can seal your frozen veggies while keeping them off of the surface of the freezer. Not only will you stop your food from accidentally being spilled, but you will also make your freezer appear larger than ever!

When the temperatures begin to rise, you won’t find us going far without wearing our favorite tank top. While tank tops are enormously flexible pieces of clothing, they can be a pain in the neck to try and store. After all, tank tops are too light for regular hangers and too nice to be tossed in the sock drawer. Instead of giving up on your tank top collecting, you can hang all of your tank tops at once with this simple life hack. Simply use a hanger and inexpensive shower curtain clasps to put all of your tank tops onto a single hanger. Easy, right?

Who doesn’t like a great grilled cheese sandwich? If you are like most people, you probably can enjoy a slice of the finest comfort food known to man. For those chefs looking to make their grilled cheese as effortlessly as possible, consider turning your toaster into a one-machine grilled cheese producer! Unplug your toaster and flip it onto its side. Lightly butter one side of the bread and place it butter side down, then place a slice of cheese and slip it into each toaster slot, as shown in the photo. Now all you have to do is toast your bread like normal, this time with the cheese on top! Once you unlock this life hack, you will never go back.

When the temperature begins to rise or an injury occurs, it can be nice to have a tool handy to cool down the injury site or where you’re feeling extra warm. This is a great and inexpensive hack for your own ice pack! For this simple lifehack, you need a good quality freezer bag, water, and rubbing alcohol. Mix 3 parts water to 1 part rubbing alcohol in your freezer bag. Add a little bit of glitter or food coloring to the container to give the ice pack some decoration, if you like. Freeze the bag and use it as much as you like!

There is no power greater than that of the rigid plastic container. Rigid plastic cases are the bane of parents around the world, especially when Christmas rolls around. If you want to avoid getting cut while opening this rigid plastic, you can bust out the handy can opener. Rigid plastic packages can be opened by simply treating them as a piece of metal with your can opener. Line up the can opener along the edge, ensure a tight grip, and then proceed to spin the tool to begin cutting. You’ll be amazed at how easy these packages are to open now!

You wake up to find you are suffering from a sore throat.  It is raw, scratchy, and just plain old sore.  What do you do?  You could use a lozenge, or cough syrup to help get past it.  Or you could try another method.  What would that method be?  Well, you simply bust out a big ole bag of marshmallows.  Yep, you heard me right—marshmallows.  Sap from marshmallow plants has been used for centuries in the treatment of coughs, cold and yes, sore throats.  According to health officials, the marshmallow coating which consists of gelatin is what aids in soothing and relieving a sore throat.  Who knew, that everyone’s favorite s’more ingredient did double duty to soothe your throat as well.

Hopefully, you’ll find one or two of these hacks worth investigating! I’m always looking for hacks, so if you have any that are tried and true, please share them with me!