I love repurposing stuff if I can. Things like jars and bottles are great to keep around just in case you need. One type of jar that I have a few of in my pantry is empty spice jars. These jars typically come with a shaker insert and seem like they would be very handy for storing things in! Actually I have had my cinnamon and sugar mixture stored in an old spice jar for years. It is very handy to have some made up in a shaker jar ready for when I need it. This summer I would like to try … [Read more...]
Top 3 Ways To Get The Lid Off A Jar When It Is Stuck Fast!
It can be so frustrating when you are in the middle of a recipe or you are about to make a sandwich and you can’t get the lid off a jar of ingredients! It always happens to me when I’m in a hurry or when I’m at a crucial stage of a recipe. One particular time that I hate it happening is when I am making toast because I hate cold toast! It is so annoying when I have just made some toast and then I can’t get the lid off a jar of jam! Over the years I have tried many techniques and gadgets … [Read more...]
How to Store Yeast
Over the last few years I have gone through periods where I bake lots of bread and therefore use a lot of yeast. I will then have periods where I don’t make any bread at all. This combined with the fact that I prefer to buy large packets of yeast means that I need to know the best way to store yeast so that it will last longer. I buy the large packets because the smaller sachets are usually not enough for what I need. Often recipes call for one to two tablespoons of yeast and I find it easier … [Read more...]
How to Rejuvenate Dry or Clumpy Mascara
Do you throw your dry or clumpy mascara away after a couple of months? Up until recently I did! Today however I am sharing a quick and easy tip that might help both of us to save some money! I was considering purchasing a new tube of mascara the other day when I remembered that I had seen something on Pinterest showing how to restore dry or clumpy mascara. I went back for a look and found this link that shows a very easy way to restore dry or clumpy mascara using eye drops. I didn’t have any … [Read more...]
All Natural Way to Clean Limescale from Taps
The white chalky build up around the bathroom and laundry taps can be very frustrating. This white build up is actually limescale deposits that have built up over time where hard water has dried. I find it very annoying when I spend time getting the bathroom taps nice and clean only to find that the white chalky marks have reappeared when they are dry! It is worse when you have a dark colored taps like I do (they are very old and hopefully will be replaced in the near future). The limescale … [Read more...]
How to Tell When a Green Apple is Ripe
We have a couple of apple trees in our garden; a green apple which is a Granny Smith plus a red variety which is a Jonathon. So far we have had a fairly good harvest of apples this year. The Jonathon apples were ready in late February and it was great eating them straight from the tree on a summers evening. They are all gone now! The Granny Smith (green apple) matures a bit later so that tree is loaded with fruit at the moment. We have had it covered with bird netting for the last few weeks … [Read more...]
Easy Homemade Sock Cat Toy
If you want to make a cheap and easy cat toy from items commonly found around the house you can’t go past these homemade sock cat toys! Both of our cats still love the cork cat toys that I made last year but Wally in particular needs lots of mental stimulation. That means that the toys he plays with need to be varied quite often! I recently decided to make up another cat toy using old socks. Wally likes to play with my old shoes (see here) so I thought that he would love an old sock! I … [Read more...]
Cucumbers: Storage Tips to Keep Them Fresh
Summer is officially over but nobody has told our cucumbers; they are producing better now than they did all summer! It is probably because we had such a hot summer this year. In contrast early autumn has been warm but not too hot so the vegetables are very happy! We love eating fresh cucumbers but sometimes there are a few too many to handle. At the moment we are picking a couple of them every other day! We have had an oversupply of cucumbers other years too and we have found it hard to keep … [Read more...]
Hi, I'm Kaylene, and I'm a keen gardener,budding baker and wannabe DIYer!