Organization- Junk Drawer

I will admit I have to do this every once in a while.  All kinds of people dig in here and throw stuff in without placing it nicely in there.  So this time I added some extra tupperware dishes that I don't use that much.  I would have used some small boxes if I had some...maybe I will replace the tupperware with boxes if I get get small boxes that size.

Anyway....check it out....


Messy version=annoying

New version with little compartments=much better!

 1 little compartment for small devices, box cutters, tape measurers, pliers, one for sticky notes and scrap paper, one for little flash lights, one for school/office supplies like paper clips, tape, mini stapler etc, one compartment for batteries.  Nice to not have all the little things just rolling around everywhere.


Ahhh...now I don't have to be so frustrated every time I open this drawer.




 

Mending Jeans

Do you have the trouble with ripped out knees in your kids jeans?
It seems every pair of pants my boys own have holes in the knees.
I decided to take the first pair and cut them apart.  Then I sewed patches of the cut material on to their pants.

It just might be easier if I had a sewing machine, but I guess we made it work without.
You could do it too.

On the other hand.  I was talking about this with a friend, and she gave me a little piece of information.  She said that Shopko has a replacement offer on kids jeans.  If they don't stay nice the whole time your child wears them they will replace them.  I still have yet to look into this, but I know she wouldn't lie to me. :)  So, check it out for yourself.  I know I'm going to check it out next time I'm near Shopko.


 

Kitchen Tip v22

There are some things I make and don't cook the noodles before hand and they cook themselves while in the oven.  But I had never done that before with my manicotti.

Well, then I found this little trick.


Cellophane.


Yup!  You heard right. ;)

I did not think you could put cellophane in the oven.  Well, I wouldn't recommend that by itself. :)  But if you cover the pan with cellophane and then top that with tinfoil,  you have a great way to lock in that moisture and use that moisture to cook the noodles for you.  This is a HUGE time saver!  I hope you enjoy this tip!
 


 

Kitchen Tip v21

Manicotti is not easy.  WRONG!   Here's the quick, easy and FUN way to stuff those shells!

It's all in the baggie.  Grab a large ziploc baggie.  Fill it with your stuffing/filling mixture.  Cut a large enough tip off the corner of the baggie for the mixture to come through, and wha-la.  Fill your shells.  :)

Easy as 1-2-3.  

*I couldn't hold the shell and take a picture at the same time so you see the one handed version, which was only staged for picture taking.  I really held the shell in one hand and squeezed the mixture into the shell with the other hand.  So yes, this is really a two handed job.

 

Cleaning-Hard water

I found this idea on pinterest, and it worked like a charm!

My spray nozzle at the sink was all lime scale from hard water.

I used a baggie, put some vinegar in it.  Wrapped it around the front, and held it on with a rubber band.  Let it soak there for a couple hours.

Next, wipe it down, and it's clean as new. :)

So clean you can see the reflection of me taking the picture in the nozzle. :)



 

Pump up the music

I saw this idea on Pinterest.  And it works!

I was using my iPhone to listen to music while we were on vacation at a hotel.  Well to pump up the volume put it in a bowl.  The sound bounces out and makes it sound louder!  Great little trick.


 

Kitchen Tip v20

Do you ever make regular enchiladas,  chicken enchiladas, or roll-ups, or burritos?

I like to make sure that I have the same amount of filling in each one.  I hate to start out with a little then get to the last tortilla shell and find out I  have a bunch of meat filling left and then stuff it....so here's what I do.

I lay out all 10 or 12 shells on the counter.  Then I spread the mixture in the middle of all of them filling them evenly.  Top with whatever other things you are going to put in the middle and wha-la!  Evenly stuffed tortilla shells. :)

Its ok, I know I'm a dork.

 

Reuse your Books-rehash

I've talked about reusing your homeschool books prior....click here for the original post.

Just a little reminder about being frugal!  You don't need to buy 4 of the same book just because you have 4 children, or whatever your number is!  You can use a dry erase marker and sheet protectors then you can use the book as many times as you want.  And really all you need is one sheet protector!

Check it out!  You can even do it with different shaped books.

 This is our Handwriting without Tears book, and instead of your traditional upright book, it's horizontal.  Since it's still within the 9x11 shape I didn't need to cut down the sheet protector, just put it on sideways.  Now you can even reuse this different shaped book!  One sheet protector goes a long ways!

 

Candles

I haven't had much time on the computer lately....and randomly I was thinking about something that happened to me a long time ago and thought I could atleast find a quick moment to post it on the blog.

So today's helpful hint....

Don't burn a free standing candle where a ceiling fan is on!  :)

I learned this the hard way.  I had a free standing candle....so not in a jar or anything.  It was a partylite tall candle on a glass base.  I had it burning and in the living room where the ceiling fan was also on.

Later I noticed there was wax dripping all down the side of the candle, but not just a little bit.  A huge amount of wax, and it was dripping down the wooden end table, and some splattered on the wall and even got on the carpet.  So....don't learn the hard way. :)  If the candle is not in a jar of somekind make sure you don't leave it burning while in the same room as a running ceiling fan.  Candle wax is not fun to try and get out of carpet.

This happened to me about 8 years ago....not sure why that just popped in my head today! ;)



 

Kitchen Tips v9

Easy Clean up.

I'm one for easy clean up, how about you?

Here's my clean up tip for peeling apples or potatoes.  I do this more so with potatoes just because I peel more potatoes than apples, on a regular basis.  My pictures just happen to be of apples because of our trip to the apple orchard.

First I put a couple paper towels down on the counter.

I peel directly onto this.  Not into the sink because this can clog your garbage disposal.
And not into the garbage because it never fails that I end up dropping on in there.

Once I'm done peeling everything, I just fold up the sides and throw it away.  No mess is left behind to even need to wipe the counter.  Wonderful! :)

Nail biting

Nail biting

Do you have a nail biter? Do you know a nail biter?

I have a nail biter in my house.

His name is Monkey.

I know an adult who’s been a nail biter her whole life and her fingers are kinda a sad story. So I knew I didn’t want to let Monkey go his whole life without ever trying to help him stop this bad habit.

Well, we have finally made progress! I would like to share our success with you, and I would think many other kids would fit this style.

The first key to success is consistency!

Every 3 days or so we look at Monkey’s nails. If we can tell that he’s bitten them, then we say, “thanks for letting me know you need your nails clipped”. And then no matter if he bit one nail, or all 10, I clip all 10 nails. Not to the point of bleeding, mind you, but yes very very short. Almost as short as you can go without it bleeding. Not to make it hurt, but yet it does make it a little more difficult to do things. We stuck at this for a few weeks, and finally he got to the point first of all, where it bothers him to have his nails short because he can’t do certain things, (like zipping his pants is kinda hard), and other things that were harder to do. And then he started thinking for himself, hmmmmm....it’s hard to do things when you don’t have any nails. And then a couple more weeks later, he came to me before I even looked at his nails and said, you’re gonna have to cut my nails because I bit one. So it was his idea that time, which was great progress!

Well, today Monkey has long growing beautiful nails! I’m so excited to see the hard work of consistency, and not saying anything else about it besides just casually cutting his nails, and saying “thanks for telling me you need your nails cut”, or if I would see him in the process of biting, I would say, “looks like someone wants their nails cut”. But after you say those things you have to take them directly to the bathroom (or wherever) and cut them, so they get the connection.

Just in case you have a nail biter in your family, and you feel like you’ve tried it all. Maybe you haven’t tried this?!? So give it a try. What will it hurt?

We have tried many different things with him, but this is the only thing that's got him actually thinking about why he wants nails, and why he shouldn't bite them.

So glad to have found something that works.

Homeschool Tips

--TIPS--

Reuse your Books part 2
Bind those Papers
Reuse your Homeschool Books
Recycled Notepads
Laminator