Friday Fives!

Another round of 5 helpful tips and tricks!

1. Dirty microwave? Fill a microwave safe bowl with water, add 1/2 a fresh lemon, nuke it for 5 minutes. Be careful removing the bowl, it will be HOT. Use a sponge/rag to wipe out the yuckies and be amazed how easy it comes clean!

2. Traveling with your littles? Take a large ziploc bag and put one entire outift, hairbows, socks, the whole shebang inside the bag. One bag for each day. Once you arrive at your hotel, put the bags in a dresser drawer and your child can easily pick out an outfit. Huge time saver! No more searching for a certain colored pair of socks or hair bow!

3. Do you dread hanging curtains as much as I do? Its always such a pain getting them perfect. Most of the time I end up drilling several holes, it still not being even and just saying "its good enough". Heres a tip, one I cannot wait to use! Take a piece of cardstock and cut out one corner, so the paper will slide right up to your window frame. Drill your hole right through the cardstock. Move to the other side of the window, flip your cardstock and line it up against the window frame. Drill your new hole where the hole from the other side of the window is. BAM! perfectly hung curtains.

4. If youre doing a load of laundry and have certain items that cant go in the dryer, use a dry erase marker and leave yourself a small list of those items right on your washer. It will wipe off easily once youre done. And that leaves for zero chance of mistakenly drying your "hang to dry" only items.

5. Short on space? Hang a plastic shoe rack on the back of your laundry room door and use it to store your cleaning supplies!

Friday Fives!

Here are 5 super helpful tips to make your life easier!

1: Use an old (but clean) baby wipe container to store a roll of yarn in. It will keep the yarn clean and tangle free.

2. Fighting with your little one over how many more bites they need to take of their dinner? Allow them to roll a pair of dice and determine their own fate. Im so thankful Lauryn is a good eater, but I foresee these days coming soon.

3. Traveling with wine? Put an arm floatie around the bottle, blow it up and pack it in your suit case! The floatie will protect your bottle, and your mommy juice.

4. Do you dread craft time cleanup? Use a lint roller to pick up glitter and tiny pieces of construction paper.

5. Does your dishwasher need a clean? Pour a packet of Lemonade Kool-Aid (and only lemonade!) into the detergent cup and run a full cycle while the dishwasher is empty. The citric acid in the powder will take care of the stains.

Be sure to check back next week for even more useful tips and tricks!

Friday Fives

Its Friday! Here's another set of oh so helpful tips and tricks!

1: A shot of WD40 will remove crayon marks from just about any surface!

2: Instead of buying non stick cooking spray loaded with additives and junk. Why not make your own? Just mix up a concoction of 5 parts water to 1 part oil in a small spray bottle. Shake it before use and voila!

3: Got a wide neck shirt or dress that falls off your hangers? Use a hot glue gun to create a zig zag pattern on the arms of the hanger. Let dry and enjoy pulling your clothes from the hanger, not the floor.

4: Keep a small plastic cereal container in your car lined with a small trash bag. It works a whole lot better than the floor as a garbage can!

5: To pick up small shards of glass that you cant see use a wet paper towel or qtip.

Be sure to check back next week for more tips and tricks and send yours in as well!

Friday Fives!

I cant believe its time for our second edition of Friday Fives! This past week has gone so fast! Here are your five tips and tricks for this week!

1.  Baby wipes work miracles on carpet stains. From blood to motor oil, they literally will remove just about anything!

2. Include a few tennis balls into each dryer load. Not only will it cut drying time by 25-50%, it will leave your clothes super soft and towels extra fluffy!

3. To easily shred a brick of cheese, toss it in the freezer for 30 minutes. The firmer the cheese is the less likely it is to leave a melty cheese mess on your grater!

4. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the grocery store. Leaving them all attached to the stem will ripen them faster.

5. Drop a penny into a vase with a pinch of sugar and fill with water to keep fresh cut flowers perkier longer.

Tune in next Friday for more handy tips and tricks! And as always, feel free to send your tips and tricks in!

Friday Fives!

Whoa! Friday Fives! That sounds fun! What is that?! One of the many ideas I've come up with on my break. Here it is. Remember how I was posting a massive list of tips and tricks every so often? Theyre gone! Yep, G-O-N-E, gone. Sad right? No! Because the Friday Fives are going to be replacing them! No longer will you have to sort through a laundry list of tips and tricks. Every Friday, I will be posting a list of 5 new tips and tricks for making your life easier! They'll range in categories from cooking to cleaning, to parenting and everything in between. And as always, if you have any you would like to share, send them in!

Here's our very first batch of Friday Fives:

1: When cleaning your windows, instead of wiping with a paper towel or a microfiber cloth, use a crumbled up piece of newspaper. It works like a charm to prevent streaks!

2. Use conditioner to shave your legs. Not only is it cheaper, but it moisturizes more, meaning your legs wont feel dry and itchy afterwards.

3. To keep potatoes from budding, throw an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

4. Store sheet sets in their matching pillow case. It saves room and makes it easy to grab everything you need at once.

5. Raw potato slices contain potassium. Place a slice over your eye and watch your dark circles disappear.

Thats all for this weeks Friday Fives! Check back next Friday for more helpful tips and tricks!