Gift cards are always a crowd pleaser at the holidays, but the presentation is pretty lame. So instead of tossing over a card, try my snow globe hack. And if you’re giving a delicious gift of hot chocolate, I’m showing you how to make it look like a beautiful and yummy present. Here’s my latests from my TLC webseries, TLCme Life Hacks.
Back to School Hacks- Lunchbox Hacks
Make packing lunches easier every morning with these easy and super useful lunchbox hacks!
Beach Hacks on my TLC #LifeHacks Webseries
Happy summer, friends! I hope your days are filled with lots of fun, sun, and maybe a nap or two for everyone in your house. You may have seen on my Facebook or Twitter that I have a webseries over on TLC and it’s all my favorite #LifeHacks. So I’m sharing my favorite mom hacks, party hacks, home hacks, sanity saver hacks, and a little of everything hacks to make life easier, less stressful, and a whole lot more fun. So if you miss my videos, never fear, because I’m going to share them here with you! First up, in honor of summer, here’s my favorite beach hacks.
11 Incredibility Easy Baking Life Hacks
You know, genetics are a funny thing. My mom and I look so much alike, it actually shocks people. I haven’t lived in my hometown since I was 18, but when I visit my parents, a rando stranger will walk up to me and ask “Are you Kim’s daughter?” I open my mouth and let out one of those powerful mom yells, and it’s not my own voice that comes out, it’s my mother’s! However, while I may be twinning with my sweet Mamma, where genetics failed me is that my mom is an amazing and creative bakers, I am talentless and hopeless baker. Sigh. But I so want to be a good baker and my kids love to bake, so I have some simply clever life hacks to me less disastrous when baking and make
Sometimes a recipe calls for soften butter and usually I forget to take that stick out of the fridge before I start baking, but don’t fret and try this hack. To soften butter and bring it to room temperature in just a few minutes start by placing the amount of butter you need for the recipe on a dish (if you cut it up first it will work faster). Fill a glass with super, hot water and let it sit for a minute or two. Dump the water out, quickly wipe out the remaining water and place the glass over the butter you have on the dish. In about two-three minutes, your butter is room temperature, soft and ready for baking. This method is better than sticking it in the microwave because it doesn’t melt your butter and you won’t end up with hot spots.
If you want to create intricate designs or five cookies or cupcakes faces, don’t try to use the icing in a tube. Use a plastic syringe (the kind you use to give kids medicine) filled with icing to decorate cookies and cupcakes with precision! This is perfect for drawing faces and adding details even if you don’t have a steady hand and I love doing with kids because they can decorate and not squeeze the entire tube off icing on a cookie.
Decorate your desserts like a professional by using cookie cutters or PlayDoh cutters as stencils for cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. Gently place the cookie cutter on the dessert and add sprinkles inside the cutters. This is great for numbers and shapes likes stars.
Feeling fancy? Give your cookies and cupcakes a sophisticated look by putting a piece of lace over the dessert and shaking powdered sugar on top. It leaves a beautiful design.
Slice a cake perfectly by running the knife under hot water for a few seconds, wipe the knife off, and watch and it slides right through the cake!
Save money by buying white icing and use Jell-O to color and flavor regular frosting. Yummy!
Need sprinkles? Make your own by adding a scoop of granulated sugar into a bowl and add a few drops of food coloring. Place on a baking sheet and bake for ten minutes in a 350* oven.
If your cake is crumbling while you are trying to ice it, place your cake in the freezer for twenty minutes to create a sturdy cake that won’t crumble under the pressure of adding icing.
Need Buttermilk for your recipe but don’t have any? Here’s an easy fix! Stir one cup milk with one tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar and let it get to room temperature (around ten minutes) and there you go!
I have bags of brown sugar in my pantry and fridge and they are hard as a brick, but not anymore!
Add a slice of apple into an airtight container and in a few hours, the brown sugar will soften. Putting a wet paper towel in a bowl with the sugar in the microwave for 20-30 seconds works too. You can also store the brown sugar with a slice of white bread and it will keep the sugar soft, won’t affect the taste, and they bread won’t get moldy.
Have a recipe that calls for confectioner’s sugar but don’t have any? Put granulated sugar in a blender under it has a powdery consistency and you are ready to go!
The only rule to using these hacks, is if you bake something yummy, you HAVE to share with me, OK?
Hacks to Help Your Kids Sleep When They’re Sick
A few weeks ago both of my kids were sick and nighttime was really rough around here. In the light of day I had a slight resemblance to a zombie from The Walking Dead, and I mumbled something that was supposed to sound like “Will I ever get to sleep again?” but I think it sounded more like “Coffee…. Get me coffee.” But I’m a mom and it’s my job to keep it together at 2 PM or 2 AM. So when my kids are sick and no one in this house is sleeping, I do two things: Call my mom to cry a little and wait for her to give me pep talk—you can do this… you can do this!, and I pull out some life hacks to get everyone feeling better and back to bed.
Coughs and sore throats can keep your little ones up all night so grab some Jell-o, warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds, and add a tablespoon of honey. The gelatin and honey combo will calm their cough and take away throat pain and get them back to sleep. Just remember that honey should only be given to children over the age of one.
During cold season, we go though A LOT of tissues and a long night with a stuffy nose usually means a big mess. Is my dog the only one that LOVES a used tissue? Cut down on the mess and keep kids from jumping in and out of bed all night to blow their nose by taking two tissues boxes, one full and one empty, and wrap a rubber band around both boxes. When your child can grab tissue, blow their nose, and drop the tissue in the empty box. I even attach a small bottle of hand sanitizer for super messy nose blowing.
If you have a kid with tummy trouble, you are in for a long night. Take my “lasagna method” for their beds one step further and do the same for the “sick bucket.” Grab a stack of plastic shopping bags and line the bucket that has the unfortunate job of being the catch-all for sick kids. If they get sick at night, just pull out the top bag and another one is waiting for the next round. This helps keep clean up to a minimum and your little patient can get back to sleep.
For those times the “sick bucket” didn’t catch the mess, carpet cleaner meant for pet stains is great option. If you don’t have any on hand, throwing some baking soda on the mess helps to make clean up easier and vodka is a miracle worker on getting smells of carpets and furniture. If you choose to use that vodka for something else, I won’t judge… just invite me over.
We’re already suffering from Mommy-Brain (am I right?) Here’s two things that help: Grab a marker and create a small chart on the side of medicine bottles for doses and the number of days kids need to take the medicine. Also if you’re handing out doses of medicine and need to keep track of the times and doses late at night and during the day, use a dry erase marker on the bathroom mirror to remind you who got what medicine.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate is a Mom’s mantra when you have a sick kid. But getting to the store late at night for those electrolyte drinks isn’t always possible. You can easily make your own:
Mix together
- 1 quart water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
You can always add a few splashes of juice for flavor and I’ve found that warming the water first helps dissolve the salt and sugar.
To prevent spills in bed, turn any cup into a spill proof sippie by adding press and seal wrap to the lid and sticking a straw in the cup or putting a crazy straw upside down in a cup with a lid.
Painful headaches are absolutely miserable and always worse at night. Comfort your child, soothe their headache, and get them back to sleep by massaging their head and neck with coconut oil and a few drops of peppermint oil. Just be sure to keep it away from their eyes.
A nasty cold and stuffy nose doesn’t have to keep everyone up all night, with a super easy recipe and 20 minutes you can create vapor rub cubes for the shower that will have everyone breathing easy and sleeping in no time.
Here’s how you make them:
- Mix three tablespoons of vapor rub with one cup of cornstarch
- Mix together (the vapor rub needs to be mixed really well before it begins to warm up and mix with the corn starch. Just keep stirring!)
- Add two tablespoons of water. You want a thick paste and can add a few splashes of water at time (not too much) to get the right consistency.
- Press the paste into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Store in the freezer or at room temperature in an airtight container.
When you’re ready to use the vapor rub cubes, put one near the drain and turn on the steamy shower. Older kids can stand under the water (you can put the cube in a dish if you’re nervous about a slippery tub floor) and for younger kids, just snuggle with them next to the shower and let them breath in the steam and vapor smell.
Just like the terrible twos, this too shall pass and soon everyone will be healthy and sleeping again. Until then, there’s always Starbucks. Lots of Starbucks.
Oh you know, just me on The Rachel Ray Show!
In addition to loving a good life hack, I LOVE Rachael Ray–LOVE Her. Check my kitchen, I have her pots and pans, her knives, her adorable EVOO drizzle thingy (obvi that’s not the correct name), and ton of her cookbooks and magazines. I’ve bought her dog food for Suggie and I’ve eaten at a dozen restaurants based on her recommendations. Basically, I think she is just rad so when I was asked to film one of my life hacks for her show… I basically squealed like a little girl, forced myself to be cool..be cool, and plotted a way to make Rachael my newest BFF. Here’s the clip of my appearance on her show and a great hack for this time of year! As always, my kids are the scene stealers and I swear, my house always looks this clean (just don’t look behind the camera because that’s where we stashed everything.)
Staying Organized with Snack and Lunchbox Stations
“How was your day?”
“What did you do?”
“What made you laugh today?”
“Who did you sit by at lunch?”
These, along with 50 other questions, are what I fire off at my kids the very second they get home from school. Some days my kids rattle on and on about the happenings on the playground, but more often they simply give me a few grunts, blank stares, and mumble “I’m hungry. Can we have a snack?” If I leave those two to their own food scavenger hunt, they will dive head first into the pantry, eat a bag of chips, and plop onto the couch in a carb comma until dinner. So I created a snack system that carried over into the kids helping to pack their own lunches in the morning. Now I know they are getting yummy, healthy, and proportioned snacks after school and the dreaded task of packing lunches, has gotten so much easier. Add these to my list of back to school parenting hacks to make snacking and lunch box packing a breeze.
Create a Snack Station
Use small plastic storage containers as your designated snack bin (I got mine at the dollar store)—have one for the fridge and one for the pantry.
For the fridge, pack the container full of snacks your kids love: yogurt, cheese, cut up fruit in sandwich bags, fruit cups, veggies and dippers like hummus, peanut butter or ranch (use small to-go condiment containers for the dips), small portions of meats in sandwich bags, juice and milk boxes and small bottles of water are just a few ideas.
For the pantry bin, portion out bagged snacks like chips, crackers, and trail mix and throw in applesauce, raisins, and granola bars.
My kids know they can have two items from the fridge and one from the pantry. I try to only refill the items once they have eaten everything. This way I know they are getting some variety of food after school. With Snack Stations, I know my kids aren’t over eating and won’t be full on snacks and ignore dinner.
Create a Lunchbox Making Station
Depending on the storage space in your kitchen, use either small, plastic stackable drawers in the pantry or baskets to organize each menu item. While I’m packing their “main course,” the kids are choosing what else will go in their lunchbox based on the numbers listed outside the drawers or baskets. You can use chalkboard paint just a sharpie to write the number on the outside of the container. The rule in this house is they don’t have to take everything, but they need a variety and cannot take more than the actual number (unless it’s a fruit or veggie, then take as much as you want—a mother can dream ,right?)
In the Pantry
Drinks (in addition to water): 1
Salty, Crunchy snacks and crackers (individual bags that I proportioned or the lunch size):1
Apple sauce, fruit cups: 1
Special Treats like fruit gummies or a piece of chocolate: 1
In the fridge
Different cheeses: 1
Yogurt and yogurt drinks: 1
Fruits and Veggies: 2
This system allows them to make choices on what they want to take and they are being responsible (and saving me time) by packing their own lunches.
Also I use command hooks inside the pantry door to store their lunchboxes when they aren’t in use,
I designate a drawer that has everything I need to put their lunch together in one place: plastic utensils, napkins, sandwich bags, and little Post-Its and pens so I can write little notes to my kids. Since my kids are really little, I draw silly pictures and it makes them laugh, which is always rad.
All this talk about snacks has me hungry! Looking to make breakfast a little easier? Check out my breakfast sanity savers!
Back to School Life Hacks
Sometimes I lie in bed in the morning and calmly think “It might not seem like it now, but we’re already late.” And within twenty minutes, I’m throwing shoes and socks at kids while I bark orders like “Did you brush your teeth? Come breathe on me so I can check.” But not this year, friends. This year this mom is embracing all the sanity savers and parenting hacks to protect my precious sanity and shave a few minutes off our hectic day. Back to school is serious stuff. Just ask these two.
Here’s a few parenting hacks to make the school year start a little smoother.
Breakfast Hacks
Easily cook a dozen eggs for breakfast sandwiches by baking eggs in a muffin tin. Using a lightly greased muffin tin, crack one egg into each cup and bake for 15 minutes on 350 degrees. Build your sandwich with English muffins, cheese and ham. Freeze the sandwiches and wrap in foil for later or heat and enjoy.
Cut down on breakfast mess by mixing pancake mix for the week and putting it into several freezer bags and store in the fridge. Be sure to leave room for the batter to expand. When ready to make, cut a bottom corner of the freezer bag and squeeze the mix into a hot pan.
Have a breakfast smoothie any morning by chopping up and freezing all the ingredients for a smoothie in a individual sandwich bags. When you’re ready, grab a bag and throw the ingredients into a blender and enjoy!
Serve yummy oats and not cook a thing! Mix equal parts milk, yogurt and rolled oats with a banana and some cinnamon. Place in the fridge overnight and in the morning, add fruit or nuts and serve.
Lunchbox Hacks
Never run out of ice packs for lunch boxes again! Grab kitchen sponges from the dollar store, soak in water, place in sandwich bag, and freeze for effective and cheap ice packs.
Never worry food in a thermos isn’t still hot at lunchtime. Fill the thermos or can with almost boiling water and put the lid on. Let it sit while you pack lunches or serve breakfast. Heat the food hotter than you would normally serve it. Dump out the hot water and add the food. Now you have hot food stored in a warm thermos. Perfect for a hot lunch!
Use that thermos for food other than soup. Heat chicken nuggets in the microwave and store in a hot thermos. They will be warm and yummy when your kids are ready for lunch. Just don’t forget the ketchup.
Keep apples from turning brown by using a knife or apple corer/slicer to cut around the core. Put the apple back together and wrap a rubberband around the apple. The apple will still be fresh at lunch.
Clothing Hacks
Choose outfits for the entire week and store each outfit in a section of a hanging sweater organizer. Be sure to include socks, underwear, and hair accessories to make the morning even easier. Write out the days of the week and post on each section for extra site word practice!
Loop a soda can tab on a hanger and attach another hanger to the other side of the tab to create a double hanger. For after-school activities, hang all uniforms pieces and practice clothes on these hangers to save closet space and stay organized.
Bathroom Hacks
Cut an over the door shoe organizer to fit inside a door of a bathroom cabinet. Give each child a row on the organizer to store all their hair brushes, hair products, hair accessories, tooth brushes,tooth paste, or anything else they use to get ready in the morning.
Affix a magnetic strip to the inside of the cupboard door and attach bobby pins and hair bows to the strip to save space and help with organization.
Never lose a hair elastic again by using a caribbeaner clips to store hair elastics and ribbons.
At the Door Hacks
A decorative silverware organizer is perfect to leave by the door so each family member can always grab what they need before heading out the door: phone, keys, ID tags, headphones, wallet, and even a stain remover stick
Change the locked picture on your phone to a written note with your kid’s schedules, pickup times, and drop-off times for a quick reference at the beginning of the year.
Use command hooks or decorative towel hooks inside a closet or on a wall to create a backpack nook. This gives kids the perfect place to hang their backpacks
Create a “last minute” station using milk crates near the door. Using shoeboxes or plastic containers, store socks, hair accessories, change, and quick grab snacks like applesauce pouches or granola bars for those last minute needs.
Homework Hacks
Create a portable homework station for each kid by filling binders or shower caddy with with everything they need to complete homework: pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, and paper. This is great for younger siblings that want “homework” too.
If you don’t have a desk for homework time, use an inexpensive shoe rack to create shelf space on a table
Create a “Mom Command Center” in your kitchen so everything you need to stay organized is in one place: start with a large dry erase board or chalk board paint to create a calendar, folders for all school forms going in and out, places to store kid’s art work, a place to menu plan, and a docking station for your phones, tablets and computers.
Cover all your bases by setting the bookmark on your phone or tablet to all those important sites you’ll visit every day like the school website, Today Show for news and Wake Up with Al for weather.
So here’s to a new school year, never missing the bus, and not having to ask your kids to brush their teeth five times!
This post was originally featured on The Today Show Parenting Team-– check out all of my posts on The Today Show!
Camping with kids Life Hacks
Do you have camping or “glamping” on your family fun to-do list? Or does taking your kids into the great outdoors makes you a little nervous? Don’t fret! I’ve got a few life hacks for camping with kids that will make your camping adventures a lot more fun. Just don’t forget, making S’mores every night is a camping requirement.
- Kids won’t miss a minute around the campfire once they turn a 10 gallon bucket with a lid into own their personal camping seat with a hidden surprise. Let kids personalize their own “seat” with markers, stickers, and attach a small pillow for extra cushion. Their seat can do double duty by storing their games, clothes, and special camping treasures inside the bucket.
- Is not showering for a few days making you and your stinky campers nervous? This hack and a box of wine is for you! The inside bag of a box of wine (called a bladder) can be cleaned and refilled once all the wine is gone. When you hit the campsite, fill the bladder with water and leave it in the sun to warm the water. Attach the wine box bladder to a PVC pipe or tree branch with clothes pins or clips (high enough above your head but you can still reach the spout) and you have a shower with WARM water! Refill with water and have your shower ready for the next day.
- Now you need your shower supplies camping friendly. Create a shower necklace by using a lanyard and attach a loofa (a bath sponge) to the metal hook. Fill small travel bottles with shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and shaving cream, and use thin plastic string to attach the bottles to the lanyard. Now all your shower supplies are in one, portable place, and it never has to touch the ground.
- Outdoors good. Germs bad. Create a handwashing station from a large laundry detergent dispenser (the kind that has a spout and you can control the pressure), attach a roll of paper towels to the top with a bungee cord, and attach a bottle of soap with string. Now go wash your hands!
- Multitasking moms need multitasking camping gear, so grab a large tarp (the kind with metal grommets), some plastic PVC piping and elbows, and plastic ties. You can create some privacy for the shower or potty, shade from the sun, a waterproof tent, and a dozen other uses. Super versatile and super helpful!
- Before putting down your sleeping bags, lay foam tiles (the kind for playrooms and outdoors) down on the floor. The tiles keep little feet safe and make a more comfy sleeping space.
- One of the best parts of camping is the food! Make cooking easier by organizer all kitchen supplies in an over the door shoe organizer so everything is visible, clean, and within reach.
- Don’t forget the spices but save space by putting them into a plastic seven day pill organizer.
- Need to bring eggs but don’t want an egg mess? Clean out a plastic bottle (we used a coffee creamer container) and add your cracked eggs. Use a sharpie too mark measurements so you know how many eggs you are using.
- Time for S’mores! Get that fire started with these fire starters: cover cotton balls in petroleum jelly and store in an egg crate or fill empty toilet paper rolls with lint from the dryer. Light that fire!
- Bugs be gone! Here’s a safe and effective homemade bug spray: Combine the following in a small dark-colored glass spray bottle: 15 drops Citronella, 15 drops Lemongrass, 15 drops Peppermint, 1 tsp Witch Hazel, and fill the rest tap water.