Here on my blog, I strive to share simple, everyday tips and tricks that can help make life a little bit easier. But sometimes, the tips that I want to share aren’t something I can write a whole blog post about. And since I simply cannot waste a good idea, I tuck them away to use at a later date. Today I’ll be sharing some of those tips and tricks with you in the eleventh edition of my ongoing series “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?”
More Ideas You'll Love
1. Key Ring Helper
Having trouble keeping a key ring open long enough to slip a key onto it? Use a staple remover! Clamp the teeth of the staple remover between the rings near the opening. The teeth of the staple remover will keep the ring open, making it much easier to slip your new key onto the ring!
2. Color Coded Eggs
If you store hard-boiled eggs in their shells, it can be hard to tell them apart from your raw eggs once you put them in the fridge. Here’s simple tip to help you mark your hard-boiled eggs! When you’re boiling the eggs, just add a splash of balsamic vinegar to the water. The dark-colored vinegar will tint the outside of the eggshells slightly. (But don’t worry, it won’t affect how they taste). Once you put your eggs back in the fridge, you’ll know that the slightly darker eggs are the hard-boiled ones!
3. Light Candles With Spaghetti
Regular matches often burn up before you can manage to light the wick of a stubborn or deep candle. In these cases, a raw spaghetti noodle can help! Light one end of a piece of spaghetti, and it will burn long enough to light all your tallest or most stubborn candles.
4. Save Water For Watering
Your house plants, potted plants, and garden need water, but they’re not picky about where it comes from. So save the water you use to boil or steam vegetables, pasta, eggs, and more, and use it to water your plants! (Allow the water to cool to room temperature first, so you don’t accidentally scald your plants.) Reusing your cooking water is a great way to save water overall!
5. More Popped Popcorn
Tired of all the unpopped kernels at the bottom of your homemade popcorn? Try soaking the kernels in water for a few minutes before you make your popcorn! The water encourages faster popping, so you’ll end up with fewer unpopped kernels after cooking!
More Ideas You'll Love
Related: 2 Ways To Make Amazing Homemade Popcorn In Your Microwave
6. Drip-Free Cones
The next time you’re making ice cream cones for yourself or your kids, stick a marshmallow in the bottom of the cone before adding any ice cream. The marshmallow will help stop any ice cream drips from leaking out the bottom of the cone! Plus it’s an extra treat you get to enjoy once you’re finished with the ice cream. :-)
7. Crystal Clear Mirrors
Use a brown paper bag or a piece of newspaper for cleaning windows and mirrors, rather than using paper towels. Paper bags and newspaper won’t leave behind any lint, and your mirrors and windows will be left clean and streak-free!
Related: 9 Unexpectedly Useful Things You Can Do With A Paper Bag
8. Easier Taco Assembly
Use a fork to help keep your taco shell in place while you fill it! Just slide the edges of the taco shell between the prongs of a fork, and set the fork down on a flat surface. You’ll be able to scoop your taco fixings into it much more easily!
9. Toasted Sandwich Tip
In my opinion, the best BLTs have bread that is nicely toasted on the outside but soft on the inside. An easy way to achieve this at home is to toast two pieces of bread in the same toaster slot! The outsides of the bread with get nicely toasted, while the inside stays soft and delicious.
More Ideas You'll Love
10. Quickly Cool Drinks
Need to cool a drink down quickly? Wrap a damp paper towel around the bottle or can, then place the drink in your freezer for a few minutes. Your drink will be cool and ready to sip in a hurry! (Just don’t forget it’s in there, or you run the risk of having to clean up a soda explosion!)
11. Cleaner Bath Toys
Most bath toys have a hole in the bottom that allows water to get inside. If soapy water gets inside bath toys and stays there, it can get grimy in there over time! An easy way to avoid this is to use a dot of hot glue to seal up the hole. They’ll still float, but you won’t have any issues with mold and mildew growing inside them. (Just make sure your little ones won’t miss the squeaky effect first!)
The “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” Series
If you’ve missed any of the previous posts in this series, or want to revisit some of your old favorite tips, you’ve come to the right place! Just click the button below to view the full archive of past posts in the “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” series.
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Bright Ideas
I have a curtain tip that many people know, but maybe a few people may not know. If you are putting up curtains that have a pocket at the top of the panel and you slide one panel on backwards, don’t take it off to turn it around. You only need to flip the panel over the rod to turn it right side out.
My dehumidifier is not hooked up to a hose purposefully. We take out the tray and use it to water the tomatoes or another ingenious idea my husband came up with is to add it to the washer…it is just water from the air.
Great idea!
I’m looking at the fork in the taco and I’m feeling really stupid right now. Great post! Atowle|https://formationvacations.com/
Boiled eggs will spin on the counter but raw eggs won’t. Easy to tell apart.
I put hard boiled eggs in their own carton with a permanent marker I write HB in large letters on the top (or side)…………………………
Useful ideas…..but most have been around for a long time.
I really like these ideas. I keep my popcorn in the freezer and use it frozen, pops really well. I also use skewers to light candles. Also if I put a can of soda in the freezer I set my timer on the stove so I don’t forget. I forgot one and once was enough to clean up that mess. Also like the taco one if they are just for me.
to save water I put a bucket in the shower. If I turn the water on before I get in to warm it up the bucket collects water and then what I collect gets used on outside or inside plants.
I usually shower but when I want a plain soak (which I find wasteful, but sometimes needed) I always hook up my hose and empty the bath water on the lawn. A little soap never hurt it and I never use anything else in the water. One end goes in the tub and then I pump in water from the outside spigot until I have a nice stream then stop it from the outside and quick release the hose. If you keep it close to the ground it won’t break the connection.
You must know my husband! He does this for empting fish tanks, hot tubs….. Having a crumby septic system we also have used this idea for the big bath tub and washing machine. Ours was out of neccessity though!
To distinguish the hard boiled eggs, I use a pencil and put a large “X” on the shell for the boiled ones. Easy-peasy!
My absolute favorite part of your newsletter! I love the one about the staple remover and the key ring, as I’m always having to take a key off the ring for one vehicle or the other, and the popcorn idea – excellent! Thank you so much for the time you put into helping us make our lives better.
Thank you!!
Using vegetable/pasta water on your plants works only IF YOU DIDN’T ADD SALT TO THE WATER. Salted water will kill plants
Kathy, I have a serious question. Over the past three years I’ve tried various recipes that include salt as a weedkiller to get rid of these weeds in my yard. Last year I tried pure salt. The only thing any of the recipes (or pure salt) worked for was the frail-looking weeds in my driveway cracks and my sidewalk. Do you know if there are some weeds that salt just will not kill? Or am I the one unlucky person in the world for whom salt is useless except as a seasoning?
terdralynn: Go to ChemistryCache.Com (Alexis Rochester, BS Chemistry)
for her DIY FAST ACTING WEED KILLER formula -just white vinegar, salt, Dawn and Arthritis Rub (Containing Capsicum)
Wonderful stuff…works exactly as she promises!!! Starts working immediately. Use it all the time and never been disappointed.
OOPS!! Typo — Cachet — not Cache
Haha, I found it!
Thanks, Eileen! I’ve made the recipe before without the arthritis rub. I’m definitely going to try this!
You can get it at the Dollar Tree stores, etc. Pinkish in color. Works great!
Thanks for that info. I looked at Dollar General here, and they had none, so I’ll go to Dollar Tree tomorrow and look.
To kill the weeds that grow where I don’t want them I use a vinegar and water solution. I’ll mix 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water in a spray bottle. On a sunny day this will kill weeds in a day.