Here on my blog, I strive to share simple, everyday tips and tricks that can help make your life a little bit easier. But sometimes, the tips that I want to share aren’t something I can write a whole blog post about! And since I simply cannot waste a good idea, I tuck them away to use at a later date. Today I’ll be sharing some of those tips and tricks with you in the twelfth edition of my ongoing series “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?”

1. Cleaning Dirty Window Screens

After a few months of wet weather, your windows screens are likely to look as dirty as the windows themselves! It would be a huge pain to have to remove each screen from each window to clean them, but luckily there’s a much easier way! Just use put the dusting attachment onto the hose of your vacuum, and use that to clean your window screens. You’ll be able to remove the majority of the dirt and grime from the inside without needing to remove the screen at all!

2. Simple Cake Hack

The next time you make a cake, line your plate with plastic wrap before putting the cake onto it. Once you’ve served the cake, you can use the plastic wrap to quickly and easily move any leftover cake to another plate or container. (All credit for this brilliant cake tip goes to OGT reader Biljana, who shared it in a comment a few years back! Thanks Biljana!!)

3. Prevent Ribbon Fraying

Sick of dealing with fraying ribbon ends? Here’s a quick tip to prevent fraying! Hold the cut end of the ribbon over the top of a lit candle or lighter. The heat rising off the flame will gently melt the edge, causing the threads to stick together. No more fraying edges!

4. Color Coded Storage Tips

Using a color code is an easy way to quickly identify what’s inside a certain storage bin. But you don’t have to go out and buy new colored bins to color code your storage—just use colored tape instead! Use red and green tape to identify the bin your Christmas decorations are in, and orange tape to mark autumn/Halloween decor, or any color code that makes sense to you!

5. Cleaner Eyeshadow Application

Some eyeshadows (especially the loose powder kind) are hard to apply without it getting on your cheeks and under your eyes. To avoid the eyeshadow fallout, place a sticky note under your eye to prevent stray shadow from settling on your face. You can also use a sticky note after you’ve applied eyeshadow to pick up any bits that have gone astray!

6. Foot Odor Fixer

Struggling with smelly feet or shoes? Try a shoe insert made of activated charcoal! Charcoal is highly absorbent, which makes it an excellent choice where unpleasant odors are concerned. This set of charcoal shoe inserts on Amazon comes in one large size, but can be trimmed down to fit into any size shoe!

7. Keep Food Warm

Need to keep your food warm while you finish up cooking? Put the food onto a warm plate! The warmth from the plate will help keep your food warm for a few minutes while you finish up the rest of the meal. And warming the plate is easy—just toss it in the microwave for a minute or two!

The “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” Series

If you’ve missed any of the previous posts in this series, or want to revisit some of your old favorite tips, you’ve come to the right place! Below you’ll find links to all of the previous posts in the “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” series. (You can also save them to your Favorites if you’re an OGT Plus member!)

Happy reading! :-)

Read More: Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | 1st Holiday Edition | 2nd Holiday Edition | Father’s Day Edition