Great, simple ideas to make life easier

More useful tips to make life easier. The original post had 99 tips but here are some of what I thought were more useful ones.

Orange Peel Bird Feeder

I think I can try doing this for the yard outside – it should be fun to make and possibly be entertaining with the birds it will attract? The bird feeder goes if it attracts pigeons though.

Employ juiced orange halves, poke holes around the top, thread string, yarn, or raffia to create a hanger, fill with bird food, and hang by a window. This activity keeps on giving as you then have bird watching to follow.

(Picture and writeup from here.)

This Weekend

It’s so obvious that I have little incentive or reason to keep up a blog.

For a recipe to make ice cream sauces such as sea salt honey caramel and red wine chocolate sauce, see here.

Yesterday, I learnt that pu-er tea is best drunk from a bowl or a flat receptacle, rather than a tiny chinese tea cup. Also, due to its acidity, it would be better to drink it after lunch to prevent flatulence. Pu-er tea is also very good for weight-loss when combined with regular exercise.

Yuzu tea with seafood senbei

Today, I received the results for my RAD Grade 8 Exam. I missed getting a higher grade by just 4 percentage points (or 3 actual points), so that’s the bummer. Otherwise I’m okay with my grades, given that I knew I didn’t perform my best on the exam day itself. However, I’m not sure why my teacher thinks that my grades are good “for a first-timer” (which I’m actually not, since I took Grades 3 and 4 as a kid) – why should first-timers do any worse than more experienced girls in an exam?

Oh well.

How to make flatbread

Apparently it’s not difficult to make bread; perhaps I’ll try to make it one day.

Here’s a recipe to make Swedish flatbreads:

http://janneinosaka.blogspot.com/2012/04/flatbreads.html

Homemade mayonnaise and frozen hot chocolate

Pesto mayonnaise seems really easy to make, and it’s something that i’d like to try one day: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/04/cook-out-days-are-here-diy-mustard-and-mayo.html

Here’s also a recipe for frozen hot chocolate, which could be a nice indulgence in hot weather: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/04/a-backyard-bonfire-frozen-hot-chocolate.html

How to make your own fancy butter

Here’s a guide to making your own fancy butter – or flavoured butters.

I especially like the one with citrus and might try it myself!

(picture from here)

Tips and Tricks

Quite a while back, there was this article on 25 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier. I’d blogged it somewhere but can’t find it now, so here it is again.

Also, I came across this cool tip on making magnetic spice pots that adhere to your fridge to save storage space. It’s a really good idea, cos spice bottles can be messy to keep. I should also consider how to do something similar for all the small pots of makeup and facial products.