How to avoid squeezing the juice box too much

This is pretty simple, but I'd never thought of it before.

When you give a kid a juice box, pop up the side tabs like so:

The kiddo can then hold the box by the side tabs and not squeeze the main box.  Neat!

ETA: I know, I know, that is milk, and not juice.  The same principle applies.  I love these Horizon boxes- no refrigeration needed, and organic!

iPhone Tips and Tricks: How to Make a Shortcut Phrase for Frequently Used Texts

I have an iPhone 4, and I LOVE it,  but I don't really know a lot of the tricks for it.  It is my first iPhone, and I got it for a song on eBay when the iPhone 5 came out.  (I'm always a step behind phone wise because I am rarely willing to pay full price for it, and my plan does not come with a "free" phone.)  

This pin had lots of tips.  My favorite is how to save texts to use with a shortcut phrase!  I love macros, Quick Parts, signatures, etc for work...how did I miss this feature for so long?

Here's how you do it.  

Step 1: Click on Settings.  Next, click on General Settings.  It will take you to the menu above.

Next, click on Keyboard.  It will bring you to this menu.  Click on Add New Shortcut

Type in your Phrase and add the Shortcut you want to use.  Make sure that your shortcut is easy to remember and short! I used ls to mena "Look! It's a shortcut!"

When you type in your Shortcut, it will pop up your shortcut phrase!  All you do is hit the spacebar and it will fill in your phrase.  

Ta-da!  Click send! 

How to Make a DIY Scarf Holder

My scarf storage left a lot to be desired.  I had them all hanging on a single nail, and they were a mess.  Any time I wanted to get one out, I would have to dig through and pick up all the ones that fell off.  It made me not want to wear them because getting them out was such a pain.  I thought about buying an organizer like this, but then I remembered this pin on Pinterest. 

All I needed was a hanger and some shower rings.  Done!  

Pop the shower rings on the hanger...

...and hang them on the hanger.  Ta-da!  The scarves are much more accessible and neater.  The only thing I do not like is that they tend to slide to one side. I may have to try one of the many other designs I've seen on Pinterest to see if they work better, but even this is far better than my original mess.  

DIY Pepperoni Pizza Lunchable

A confession: I sort of love Lunchables.  Yes, I know they're filled with processed junk, all sugar and unpronounceable ingredients, and that they're for kids.  Still, they're a (now a not so) secret treat of mine.

Lots of parents are also concerned about the processed nature of Lunchables, and have kids who beg for them.  This is where the homemade one comes in!  I made the pizza version with pita bread, pepperoni, sauce, and cheese.

                                   

I cut the pita bread into wedges to make it more pizza like.  It also helped it fit into my divided lunch container.  The pizza wheel made it very easy to cut.

All that was left was to pack it in my container!  I put the cheese in a silicone muffin liner to keep it from making a mess, and put the pita wedges a ziplock bag.  A little bit of sauce in one of the dividers and pepperoni in the other completed the "lunchable."  It was a fun lunch to take, delicious, and a tiny bit healthier than buying the processed pre made one.

Flower Pot Heater for Emergency Heat: Does It Work?

I'm smack in the middle of some of that insane cold, so I thought now would be the time to try out this pin.

It was not expensive to make, and I had almost everything at home already!  Behold, the flower pot space heater:

I used two terra cotta flower pots and four tealights. I put it on an old cookie sheet that I use for random non cooking stuff, and put the sheet on a trivet.  I did not have any tiles or bricks handy, so I put the pots up on two mini springform pans I had in my kitchen.

Did it work?  Eh, sort of. I would call this a "better than nothing" solution if the heat went out.   It did make the area around it a *little* warmer. It would have worked much better in a smaller space.  It was nice as a hand warmer!  I'll keep it in mind in case of an emergency, but I would not bother setting it up for extra heat.

Homemade Floor Cleaner for Pergo/Laminate Floors

I just got laminate floors in October, and I am loving them.  Keeping them clean can be a challenge, between what gets dropped on the floors while cooking, the dog bringing in dirt on her paws, and general living.  I was excited to see this homemade laminate floor cleaner.  I had all the ingredients in my home already, and it was very inexpensive to make. It cleaned the floor well!  I mixed it in the spray bottle you see, and used a fuzzy sock on the end of a swiffer as my mop.  I just spritzed an area, mopped, and moved on.

It does smell strongly of rubbing alcohol and vinegar while you are mopping, but the smell does dissipate as it dries.  I used some essential oil as well, but I don't think it masks the scent very much while it is wet.  If you're sensitive to the smell of alcohol or vinegar, you may want to pass this one over.  I'm pleased with it, and I plan to keep using it!

How to Peel a Pomegranate

I love pomegranates, but rarely get them because they are such a pain in the patootie to peel.  I've always been frustrated that there is so little fruit after ripping it apart for what feels like hours, then coming out  covered in pomegranate juice and membrane. Before chucking the pomegranate from my diet (it's a superfood!)  I decided to give this Pinterest tip a try.

Here's the fruit at before I did anything to it. It was a beautiful pomegranate!

 I cut off the crown.  I did not go down far enough, so I had to do it twice.  I think the piece by the knife looks a bit like a smiley face.

I sliced the skin into sections. You can see some of the juice that usually ends up all over my clothes.

Then I submerged it in water for the suggested ten minutes. I thought that it made the water look pretty.

Next, I peeled it underwater. I don't think that this process made it any faster, but peeling it under the water kept juice from going everywhere, so it was a bit cleaner.  As promised, the membrane floated to the top and the seeds went to the bottom.

Then I skimmed off the membrane and rinsed the seeds.  They're packed and ready to go for my lunch tomorrow! Yum!