Give your old/holly socks one last job before throwing them out although you might want to wash them after wearing them if you have smelly feet (!). Use them for dusting or cleaning around the house instead of using a cleaning cloth. Then, they can go straight into the bin.
Category Archives: Home Life
How to keep your knives sharp longer
This has taken me thirty odds years to work out how to keep my knives sharp longer! Continue reading
How to keep cupboard shelf free from oil stains
No more cleaning your oily cupboard shelf with the following tip:
How to propagate most plants
I found a much easier way to propagate roses than the traditional cutting pushed into compost! This also works for most plants. Continue reading
How to line a cake tin with baking paper
Round tins:
Draw around the base of the tin with a pencil and cut along the line.
To hold the paper into place Continue reading
How to grow a pine tree
I went to Italy last October and picked up 2 pine nuts that had found on the ground. I crushed the shell of one with a large stone and ate the nut inside and put the other one in my pocket. When I got home, I decided to try and grow a pine tree so I placed the whole shell in the freezer for a few days (one week maybe) to make the seed “believe” it was winter. Then, I took it out of the freezer and loosely wrapped the shell inside some very wet cotton wool, pouring water on it regularly to ensure it never dried. After a couple of weeks, the shell started to split.
A couple of days later, Continue reading
How to make string
You are making steamed Christmas pudding only to realise that you do not have any string to tie your pot with…. and being Christmas Day, all shops are closed! Here is my suggestion on how to solve your problem. Continue reading
Ways to reuse sliced bread plastic bags – fresher tea bags
Tea bags are cheaper to buy in large packs but they would take too much space in the food cupboard for day-to-day use. So, I fill a handy-size container with a few handful of tea bags and, to keep the remaining tea bags fresh, I place the pack inside an old sliced bread plastic bag sealed at the top. To give you an idea of sizes, you can fit a 750g pack of Yorshire Tea tea bags inside a Hovis bag.
Anti stinging nettle device
Used fresh lemon slices to clean your sink
Don’t throw out fresh lemon slices that were used in drinks or any left-over fresh lemon. Keep them in a separate glass by the sink and use them to wipe the sink and prevent any build-up of lime scale. They are antibacterial too!
Also use fresh lemon to Continue reading
Keep spare buttons safe
When buying new clothes, you will often get a small plastic bag fixed inside the garment containing spare button(s). Don’t just pull it out and store it in a drawer or throw it out. Take a needle and threat and sew the spare buttons to an inside hem, somewhere out of the way which is not going to be annoying on your skin. You don’t need to make it look neat because it is out of sight anyway. You never know, you might need that spare button one day!
How to get your Tomtom out of its protective case
Having problems getting your Tomtom out of its protective cover or pouch? or any other device in a protective pouch for that matter? All you need is a length of ruban (or even a thin length of plastic bag, why not!), long enough to be pushed into the pouch and leave you enough grip to pull your Tom tom out when needed.
How to get brushed stainless steel looking as good as new
This tip was given to me by a kitchen installer more than 10 years ago. To get your brushed stainless steel looking as good as new, Continue reading
Shopping list without a pen
How can you cross items off your shopping list when you don’t have a pen? Simply Continue reading
Tip on bin liners
Home-made watering can
A watering can with a spray nozzle is a must at this time of year as you will need a very gentle spray to water your seeds and/or seedlings. Here is how to make one: re-use your Continue reading
Quick fix for muddy boots
If you need to dash indoors, whether it be to go to the toilet or answer the phone, you won’t have to take your dirty boots off if you Continue reading
Make your flower bouquet last
Make your flower bouquet last that bit longer (25 days for the one below) by following the tips below. Continue reading
Turn an old a picture frame into an earring holder
If your picture frame has a broken glass pane, this post might be of interest to you!
What you need: Continue reading
What to do with old aquarium gravels
Below you will find a couple of ways to use old aquarium gravels.
First, make an umbrella stand. All you need is Continue reading
Cheap last minute Halloween decoration
Don’t you have any scary decorations to put out tonight ? I might solve your problem.
Get a piece of Continue reading
Grow your own citrus fruit tree
Walking through the garden centre this spring, I noticed they were selling 5-year old lemon trees for £36. And I thought: ” I can grow one too”! Continue reading
Cupboard space saving tips
Make bags with lavender flowers
To make these bags, you don’t need to have any sewing skills just some old fabric, a stapler and follow my quick step-by-step picture guide:
How to open a bottle with a tight screw top lid
How to deal with odd socks
When I do the washing, I regularly find myself with odd socks…. how on earth they manage to disappear, I am still to work that one out….!
Anyway, I have Continue reading
Reuse bread bag as a kitchen compost bin
Below is another way for you to replace your hard plastic kitchen compost bin so that you no longer have to wash it!!
If you do not have a 4-pint milk bottle or if you want something smaller, place your kitchen waste inside an empty bread bag until you are ready to empty it in your garden compost bin. Then, when the plastic bag gets dirty, simply throw it away and use another one.
Stay-clean kitchen compost bin
What I used to find most annoying is that my kitchen compost bin could never be kept clean even though I lined it with sheets of newspaper.
Now, I use a different container which never needs cleaning as, Continue reading
Supermarket value plants
Beware of plants on special offer although I will show you in this post that every cloud has a silver lining! Let me explain… Continue reading
How to easily remove dried food on worktop
As much as I would like to get the credit for this, this tip comes from my husband! Continue reading
How to iron a duvet cover
Fold your duvet cover neatly into four (i.e. into two and then into two again). Continue reading
How to make seedling trays last longer
It might seem impossible to reuse plastic seedling trays after one season if the drainage hole has become too large to hold any compost. I found a great way round it. Just pick up Continue reading
How to make a flower bouquet last longer
You will find that some flowers in a bouquet last longer than others. Continue reading
Free alternative to plant labels
It is likely that if you bought seeds and compost to grow your own flowers, you probably did not think about getting these very important white plastic plant labels. Well, this is exactly what happened to me. So, here is how I solved my problem: Continue reading
Reuse your empty spray bottle
Re-use your empty spray bottles! Plastic spray bottles that used to contain detergent or other cleaning products make great water sprays and won’t cost you anything. Use them to Continue reading