just for the heck of it.
Just like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” these clever little tips can help save time and energy…and in some cases, maybe even your life.
A friend of mine posted this a while back–but I don’t know the original source. If you do, share it and I’ll be happy to link back to the author. Some fun tips, no matter where they came from. :}
1. Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works. 
2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal bag and mash yolks till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing roughly; cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done – easy clean up.
3. Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
4. Reheating Breads
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
5. Newspaper Weeds Away
Start putting in your plants; work the nutrients into your soil. Wet newspapers and put layers around the plants overlapping as you go; cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic; they will not get through wet newspapers.
6. Picking Up Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.
7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
8. Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.
9. Flexible Vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and — ta da! — static is gone.
11. Unsticky Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
13. Reopening Envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
14. Smoother Legs With Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…
15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2″with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it “home,” can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don’t have to worry about pets or small children being harmed!
17. Info About Clothes Dryers: May Save Your Life!
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material – I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like.
WELL…the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free – that nice fragrance, too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Well, this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen.
This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
So, there you go. Now don’t you just feel like the wise woman of the mountain?
:}
I must have read this long ago because I already have done a lot of these things. I’ve cleaned the drier filter, I’ve used cornmeal for my ants, reopened an envelope, and reheated breads using a cup of water. (Unfortunately that one was the only one that worked successfully.) Have you tried these and they worked? If so, maybe you can tell me your secret. 😉 Pretty interesting things though. 😀
Really good post today my girl. All August babies have arrived ( one was supposedly 3 wks early, however, he was 9#’s, so not really early!) and I can now goof off-ha! only 21 days and I’ll be in the great state of Utah and spending time with a bunch of hyped-up crazy essential oil users…. only 25 days until we are at YOUR house….
I’ve done the apple cidar vinegar with soap for fruit flies, except slightly different. You put it in a disposable cup with a small amount of water also and then cover the top of the cup with saran wrap and rubberband it down and then poke small holes in it with a fork. The fruit flies can get in the holes but they can’t get out. Works like a dream!!!
guess I should clarify that, poke small holes in the saran wrap 😉
I’ve done the garden one and it’s fabulous, the measuring cup one, the safety pin one, dryer lint screen, shaving, frosting and eggs. They all worked great. It’s fun stuff and if you find something doesn’t work, it’s no big deal. Just kinda fun. :}
Wahooo! Can hardly wait! We’ll have a Cheeto-fest…oops, I mean a cucumber fest. ;}
Oh, I knew what you meant. Nate does that one sometimes too. It’s gross but it works so so good! :}
Wow – who knew! The fruit fly thing alone may keep me canning fruit for a long time – okay I probably would anyway 🙂 But the dryer thing was amazing! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve heard of some, but not of all of these… so thanks for posting. I think I for SURE need to clean out our dryer like suggested… makes sense once you think about it.
Yeah, the fruit fly thingy really works too. I don’t actually do the bread in the microwave though–considering we walked our microwave out to the dumpster years ago. But I figure most people still use them still.
I did it a while back, but I’m sure you should do it every month or so.
I just tried the shaving with hair conditioner one this morning (used some Dollar Tree cheap stuff that I hated using on my hair). Loved it! Worked so much better than shaving cream. And much better than using it for the hair on my head.
I’ve done the whipping of the frosting one as well. Love that one.
I need to try the ant one. I hate ants. I’ve yet to find a home remedy that works on ants. Vinegar and water does not work, just makes your house smell.
Thanks for sharing. I love helpful tips.
I’ve tried the fruit fly one and it didn’t work for me. Maybe I got the mixture wrong.
We have a small water bottle with the solution in it right this minute, sitting in the window sill. It pretty gross actually…but it works over here.