Category: Life Hack

Easy adjustable hanging

On By CarynIn Life Hack

My metal chick water bases rusted, so I bought a plastic hanging waterer. No fancy macrame this time, like busy moms everywhere, I did what was fast and easy.

Simple adjustable hangers using rope and carabiners.

I doubled some poly twine over the hanging loop on the waterer, then tied overhand knots about an inch apart all along the doubled rope. This makes a simple row of loops that you can slip the carabiner through and easily change the height of the waterer.

It was pretty amusing watching the chicks try to figure out what the new big red thing was all about.

It didn’t take them long. I expected the chickens to be, well, feather brained, but they really seem quite clever. For chickens.

Freezing ginger

On By CarynIn Life Hack
Ginger root

I love ginger root. I use crystalized ginger in my ginger snaps as well as ground ginger. Fresh ginger is wonderful in my favorite egg drop soup, and adds a good zing to another of my favorite dishes: Thai Basil Chicken.

Peeled ginger root

My grandmother used to keep a thumb of ginger root in the freezer. After having several ginger roots get moldy in the fridge, I tried this too. The freezer keeps the mold away, and makes it easier to grate, but oh so cold to hold, and very hard to slice. So I now process my ginger before I freeze it. Much easier to handle! And the slices break or can be minced easily.

Sliced ginger root

I wash the ginger root, peel it with a peeler, slice it thin, and sandwich it between two layers of Press and Seal cling film, then store it in the freezer. When I need some, I just peel open the cling film and take a few slices. Easy peasy!

Sliced ginger root between two layers of Press and Seal, ready for the freezer.

Spools

On By CarynIn Life Hack
Spools for holding plastic string made from recycled ribbon spools, bowls, and bottle tops.

So I’ve been madly making plastic bottle string with my cutter. As it piled up on the kitchen counter, I started to wonder the best way to keep it neat, because all that curly string loves to tangle. I did have a left-over ribbon spool, which works OK, but doesn’t hold much.

Paper bowl spool made by attaching the two bowls together with a metal brad.

I had another idea to use a brad to attach two paper bowls. This one holds a bunch of string and is very inexpensive.

My best idea, though, was to use the bottle tops that were left over from making the string and melt the rims together to make spools! The plastic melts together over a candle and sticks together really well. Plus, more of the plastic bottle gets used! Yay! (I’m sure I can figure out some uses of the neat little cup that was the bottom of the bottle too. It just has to percolate for awhile in my brain.)

So here is a short video on how to make the spools from plastic bottles. Happy Day!

Towel Rolling

On By CarynIn Life Hack

I am not a fan of folding laundry. I am also easily distracted, and getting distracted from folding laundry is REALLY easy.

I have improved in that I now try to wash and dry a load a day. (We have an Aerobic Treatment System at the house, which means if we wash many loads in a day, or run the washer and the dishwasher at the same time, the tank for settling the, eh hem, solids, could overflow into the next tanks and instead of the sprinklers in the back spraying sanitized gray water, there would be… solids. That is pretty strong motivation for not over running the system.)

But folding? Blah. But yesterday was wet so working outside was not happening, especially for painting. So I folded. And because I am easily distracted, I decided to make a video on how I fold/roll towels. Our cupboards in the bathroom are high, and I found that rolling the towels makes them easier to place on the high shelf, and easier to stack. It looks fancy too, so bonus. So here is the video! (And yes, I had fun playing with the title frame.)

And here is a picture of my laundry “helper” because everyone loves pictures of mischievous cats.

Cat helping with laundry by laying in the basket.

But I really want to be outside painting the coop.

Quick Dog Water Dish

On By CarynIn Life Hack

My dog really likes to go on walks. Like he turns inside out when he figures out we are going for a walk. (I have yet to figure out how to video his freak outs, because I’m usually driving. As soon as I stop and pull out the camera, he stops, and if there is anyone else in the car, he doesn’t do the same thing. Silly dog.)

I have tried several portable water dishes, seen even more, but I always forget to grab one when we head out. I have a very timid dog, and he won’t drink from water poured out of a bottle, or out of my hands (and… ew.) After one particularly hot walk I was desperate to give him water and I happened to have a quart sized zip closed plastic bag in the car (go figure, I almost always have one of these). I folded it over into a dish and poured in water and he drank! Hurray! The bag is light and easy to carry and dries out well. Plus I’m reusing it! (I know there is a case of single use plastic water bottles in this picture. It is my emergency stash, in case I forget the reusable bottle.)

I also put together a quick video demonstrating how to fold a bag into a bowl. I hope this life hack helps you as much as it helped me!