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Doesn’t it feel good when money is saved by using one item for several useful purposes around the house? I love discovering those kinds of helpful household hacks! Today I share stuff that has worked all around our home. Let’s start with my tried and true and most surprising item…a broom and a roll of tape to catch those dreaded stingy scorpions! You don’t want to miss this tip and the other home hacks that work for décor, beauty and more.
*A broom or a scorpion/critter getter?! – Upon spotting a dreaded scorpion or other scary critter that carries a potent sting, many of us come unglued! And for good reason. However, don’t let the glue (or in this case sticky tape) unglue you. And grab a broom. Why and how does this work? A broom with double sided sticky tape to catch scorpions (and other critters) that are too high to reach or way under a bed works wonders. In addition to the easier access, did you know that if you smash a mama scorpion, the babies on her back can scatter and there can be up 100 of them!
Ick! Yuck!
I know.
So, if the scorpion is caught by being taped to the sticky tape broom, then the whole enchilada can be carried outside (babies and all if applicable) to smother away from the house.
The under the bed scare happened to us! Lucky for us, our kitty cat meowed an unusual warning cry one night that woke me and alerted me to the fact that there was indeed a scorpion under the bed…and under my side! Yikes! My hubs grabbed the sticky tape broom that we keep handy. The scorpion had since crawled way under the bed to the very middle. Had it not been for the readymade tape broom, we would not have been able to get the creepy crawler. At 2am my husband secured it to the broom tape, carried it outside to be killed and I was able to sleep and have sweet scorpion-free dreams! I bought the XFasten Double Sided Tape brand from Amazon for $8.99 a roll. Any broom will do. I also had a friend use a hockey stick, but I like using a broom because it is wider and gives you more room to grab the scorpion.
*Photo paper or party signs?! – Use your 4×6 or 5×7 or 8×10 (whatever you prefer) to make party food signs. This is especially helpful for guests that have allergies. Simply create on your computer to fit the photo paper and print. I have done this for my son’s graduation party and for my 50th birthday party. It looks nice and guests appreciate knowing the ingredients, especially for those with dangerous food allergies. For a more formal look, lightweight silver or gold frames can be purchased at Party City to place your photo card sign in for a nice presentation.
*Crates or coffee table?! – I am happy to share that I have a clever girl who loves home décor projects that are done on a budget. When she told me that she desired a DIY coffee table made of crates for her room, I didn’t think it would look nice. She told me not to worry and headed off to Ikea. I love the result. It is functional, simple, inexpensive and looks cool! The crates were purchased at Ikea for $9.99 each. They are called the Knagglig Box (link in my blog at managedmoms.com). Four were purchased by my teen to make her cool table. She loves it and so do I!
*Shower curtain or closet door?! – My daughter was at it again when she decided that she didn’t want the mirrored closet door for her new minimalist style. So, she purchased a simple grey shower curtain and hung that over the closet. It looks nice, clean and streamlined. Plus, she discovered yet another purpose for her new creation. When assigned a video or photograph school project, the curtain becomes the perfect simple background to shoot in front of…so clever!
*Pillowcase or linen set holder?! – Storing sheets, pillowcases and blankets can quickly turn frustrating as the piles fall off each other and the matching sets get mismatched. So, try this…simply roll (instead of folding) the coordinating fitted sheet, top sheet and matching pillowcases and then stuff into one pillowcase. Now all stack neatly and sets are kept together. I especially love this trick when I need to make up a guest bed for arriving overnight guests. No more mismatched sets!
*Olive oil or head-to-toe beauty potion?! – Out of all the kitchen staple beauty remedies I have tried, good ol’ olive oil remains my favorite. For conditioning cuticles, chapped lips, dry hands and more. Slather or spray some olive oil on your skin the next time you are cooking. Your skin and your pocketbook will love it!
*Magazine rack or ballcap holder?! – I first tried this and showed it in my closet makeover segment a few months ago. It has stood the test of time and my husband’s hat grabs. This stores the caps nicely and easily displays the exact one he is looking. If you have an old magazine rack that isn’t used as much, since most of us have switched to digital reading, use it for cap storage.
*Rubber band or earth friendly food clip?! – My mom taught me this one because she tries to be as green as she can. Instead of wasteful plastic baggies that continue to add to the overflow of plastics that are choking our planet, use the rubber band from your newspaper to wrap an open food bag for storage. The same rubber band can be used repeatedly.
*Ruler or remote holder?!- I must give a shout out to my son’s girlfriend, Hannah for this helpful tip. And I sure wish we would have listened to her to begin with because we did have to pay the $50 to replace the tiny remote that came with our Siri apple tv kit. So frustrating! The remote is so small that Hannah immediately suggested right out of the box, literally, that we tape it to a ruler. Since we didn’t like how that looked, we didn’t do it and sure enough it was lost deep in the couch cushions. It took some time to find it and we did, but we lost again a few months later. We never did find it. So now our new replacement remote is taped to the ruler and we can always find it! Great tip!
*Aluminum Foil or pot scrubber?! – The next time you don’t have a scrub sponge on hand and you need to get some residue removed, try a ball of foil. It worked for me on a round cake pan and a big stainless steel mixing bowl. Quick and easy!
What home hacks do you swear by? Share here in the comments section and be sure to check my blog at managedmoms.com for more recipes, parenting shares, beauty news and more helpful tips to help make our lives less manic and more managed. Amen to that!
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