Sunday 5 October 2014

5 Parenting and Family Life Hacks

Hi everyone,

Here are a few of my parenting and family "life hacks" to make everyday a little bit simpler!

Juice cartons have wings
Since the summer holidays, both Tristan and Scarlett have been enjoying apple juice in cartons as a little treat when on day-trips and at parties, but, they both have a tendency to grab and squeeze creating a big wet mess.
To solve this, we gently unfold the two side panels to create wings for the child to hold.



Use a cupcake liner on ice lollies
Tristan gobbles up ice lollies, but Scarlett can take her time which can mean a sticky drippy mess all over her fingers, clothes and floor.
To solve this, we sinply slide a cupcake liner to the bottom of the stick which collects all the drips.



Grate veggies into sauces
To ensure Tristan and Scarlett eat their 5-a-day, I love grating carrots and bell peppers into sauces that accompany pasta and rice-style dishes, including meatballs, lasagne, pasta bake and lots more. As well as the boosting the vitamins and minerals in the meal, it also helps make the meal more filling. It's a great trick to hide veggies for fussy eaters too!


Hairspray removes pen marks on leather sofa
Many years ago, before we had the kiddiwinks, we thought it would be a great idea to purchase a cream leather sofa. Let's just say we have since discovered that hairspray is a great way to remove pen ink marks ;)

Displaying your child's artwork and certificates

Between Tristan and Scarlett, we have a lot of artwork, cards, certificates, to display for all our family & friends to see. I've tacked a long piece of twine to the stairs/banister, and used wooden laundry pegs to display everything! Easy, simple and very homely!


What are your parenting life hacks? 

36 comments:

  1. Lovely post - thank you for the tip about pen marks! :)

    x

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  2. Love the pegs for their artwork - we always have a full notice board - definitely going to be stealing this idea! x :)

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  3. I love the juice carton tip! Not just for children!

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  4. Great tips especially the juice one will be using that :)

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  5. That cupcake liner is something I need to remember. What a great idea to stop those dripping popsicles.

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  6. That is an awesome way to display the kids art work. I have an "Art Wall" in my kitchen and it's taking over the whole room. I like your idea A LOT better.

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  7. These are great ideas. I especially love the idea of using cupcake liners under ice pops, and wish I had known that a long time ago!

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  8. Definitely noting the one about the pen marks! Great list!

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  9. Amen for the sneaking the veggies into that food! Mine are.... prepping after school snacks and having them separated for each day of the week.

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  10. I never knew the "wings" were for that lol very cool info!

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  11. I had an art wall in my old house. Not here though. Also I didn't know about that hairspray trick! Will it work on purses too?

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  12. I had no idea on the hairspray to remove pen mark hack! Definitely will have to keep that in mind! Will be using the cupcake liner trick for sure.

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  13. I need to remember the cupcake one too. We live in the south where it snows maybe once a year so we don't purchase winter gear. One of my hacks when it does snow Is to put nylon gloves over their cheap cotton gloves to keep the moisture and coldness away.

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  14. These are some truly great ideas to help around the house! I have a leather sofa and had no idea that hairspray would remove ink spots! I don't have any young kids yet but since I have twin grandbabies coming soon I am sure this is something I may need for future reference for that one alone plus the rest. I am pinning this for future use, thanks!

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  15. I love the pegs for the art work, too cute! I don't think I have any clever parenting hacks. I can give you a million and one ways to get coffee shop coffee at home though, lol!

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  16. Those wings do come in handy with smaller children. I have always blended up veggies into sauces. I also sit back and laugh when even my teenager tells me he does not like something as he is eating it in a dish telling me he likes the dish!

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  17. First of all, your kiddos are super cute :) Second of all I like the "grate vegetables into sauces" tip...that's a good one! It could work for picky husbands, too!

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  18. These are all really great tips, I especially love the juice box "wings". I used to hate the messes these juice boxes made when my daughter woud squeeze them!

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  19. What great tips! The liners to catch drips can make a huge difference. We used to to a similar thing with dixie cups.

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  20. I like what you did with the veggie sauce. Looks amazing.

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  21. These are great ideas! I love the one about the juice box. Why is it kids always want to squeeze them????

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  22. Grating vegetables into sauces is a great idea. It works too. I've tried it with my son.

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  23. These are all such great ideas! The first one about the juice ... had never thought about that before and we have the same problem. Problem now solved!! :)

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  24. These are all great tips! Dawn dish soap takes out a lot of the stains the kids get on their clothes. I keep a bottle handy in the laundry room for those tough to get out stains!

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  25. My mother-in-law was a teacher's aide and she showed us about the wings. I never knew the purpose though lol - thanks!

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  26. Love life hacks and your list has some great ones! My favorite is herbs in olive oil- throw into the freezer! When I first came acroos that hack, I was like- really? And then I tried it and now it's the ONLY way to do in my house! lol

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  27. I like that cupcake holder, that's smart! I have learned that toothpaste takes Sharpie permanent marker off of a brand new wood table. Yes, I did throw 'brand new' in their for emphasis. ;)

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  28. Hairspray and leather! Thanks for the great tip. I am about to buy a leather couch and will definately keep this in mind.

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  29. What some great ideas - I had no idea hairspray got rid of pen on leather! x

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  30. Ideaas! I didnt jnow about the hairspray and leather! Does it jeed to be aerosal?Great

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  31. These are so great ideas! I love the ideas about the cupcake liner for the ice cream-- genies!

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  32. I never thought about the juice box wings! That would certainly help out my toddler.

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  33. Looks like you have a bunch of budding artists there. I love the way you displayed them

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  34. I have to say that I always grate veggies into pasta sauces. I have one very picky eater, a sometimes picky eater & one who will eat almost anything. I also make black bean brownies & cauliflower pizza crust. As long as they're not in the kitchen when I make it, they have no clue & always want more!

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  35. Love all these hacks for kids. As for vegetables, I do sneak them into curries and the kids don't even know it's there.

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  36. The drip catcher is a super idea! Also, I had no idea about removing the pen stains. Brilliant!

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