minutiae

there are a lot of little things i've done around my house to make daily life easier that aren't each enough for a full post. i keep meaning to take pictures and finally got around to it.

not the best pictures, just the camera phone.

i just had to replace my car battery. since i did it myself i didn't have a receipt for the date of service, like i would for a professional repair. masking tape label! i labelled it just like i do when i open a food package or put something in the freezer. 

extra shower rod. spring tension rods run around $8-$15 depending on the length. tighten it in place high up over the center of the shower, great for hang drying bras and other things that shouldn't go in the dryer. and my cpap hose. that little plastic octopus looking thing is a tie/belt hanger, something like this. i use it for bras. you can also just hang your drip dry delicates on plastic hangers and put them up here too. the blue clip is an oversized clothespin from the dollar tree, usually found in a multi pack
you could also use clothespin hangers and hanging drying racks (also in plastic but the two plastic ones i have had go brittle in about 2 years and fall apart) 

little magnetic bars from ikea. i think they are meant for desks and dorm rooms. i have one in each bathroom for tweezers and stuff. i also dropped a super strong magnet in the dental floss box so it sticks to the magnet bar

a holder on the side of my fridge for cleaners and paper towels.  i also made a smaller one with smaller magnets for a friend's dish towel holder. hers uses 25lb pull magnets which will NOT hold a roll of paper towels an 2-3 full spray bottles of cleaner to the side of a fridge. 
this will probably stick to most stoves too

two big round 95lb pull magnets from harbor freight tools
2 screw eyes that fit through the holes in the magnets, 4 nuts for the screw eyes

put a nut on the screw eye, put the screw eye through the hole in the magnet, put the other nut on the end of the screw eye. tighten them down until the screw eye is stable in the magnet without the end sticking out past the back of the magnet

this is an old curtain rod that the previous homeowners left when they moved out. but any pole or rod that can bear the weight and fit through the holes will work. this worked better before i knocked the finial off the other end of the rod so it slips out if i run into it

additional sizes of the magnets

broom clips and cheap LED flashlights. i keep them near every door to the outside for those nights the cats drop things on the doorstep that i have to deal with. i got a ten pack of flashlights with crummy batteries for $10 at harbor freight. i've also seen them at big lots and the dollar tree. here's a 2 pack for $3 (watch for sales)

 my tape rack. i've overloaded this one and the wall it's on is very old drywall, so i need to fix up the hooks. and make it longer. this is behind the door in the utility room. also would be good in a supply closet or garage. the bread tabs on the tape rolls make sure i can always find the end

this handy little twist tie dispenser is from the dollar tree. a 2 pack. cut your own length. it's probably meant to be nailed to the wall, but i haven't yet. you can also get them in garden centers. this one isn't a terrible price, but i'd check your local discount or dollar store first 

did everyone have that metal grid and plastic corner cube stuff in their dorm room? the plastic gives out but the metal grid panels have other uses. like my bread holder? cut a couple places and bend, then hook it under the cabinet. fits a standard size loaf snugly and keeps the cats from stealing bread

this is a limited use arrangement. if you live in the woods and lose power a lot, you might want to keep a lantern handy. most people don't have a) this weird banister wall arrangement and b) a need for a propane lantern hanging around the house. 
there's a really big cable tie (actually two, end to end) around the rail, and a plain metal shower curtain hook hanging off it. the lantern comes with the chain

speaking of the plain metal shower curtain hooks, everyone should keep a 12 pack around because you will find the most unexpected uses for them. i keep trying to learn glass lampwork and while i haven't yet managed to, i have the glass rods in a case. with a teeny tiny hole on the top. it won't fit over a peghook, but it will fit a shower curtain hook

and maybe you have an extra weird pantry, like i do, with a closet rod in it. i use the shower curtain hooks and various bag clips to hang up my chips so they don't get smashed. another limited use idea for this specific purpose, but then again, you can always add a tension rod to your pantry, right?

when your kitchen scissors wear out and won't go back together again (you did know they come apart on purpose, right?) save the halves and you have great box cutters with handles

Magnet madness

Finally got around to making the sheet steel backing in the medicine cabinet a permanent installation. Liquid nails is great!

Not all of these things will go here in my cabinet permanently, but earlier today a friend asked what i would hang like this. So i tried everything i could think of in 5 minutes. Note: tube of neosporin didn't work. But that's ok because it's got an adhesive hang tab and a cup hook
.
Total project, including the liquid nails (of which there was a lot left in an already partially used tube) was about $15.
steel: $6
liquid nails: $3
magnetic hooks (4): $3
20 pack 8mm magnets: $3
(the bulldog clip was junk from a drawer, no idea where it came from or how much it cost at the time, but harbor freight sells a 3 pack for $3)
Result: no more lost little items or bandaids stuck to the bottom of sticky cough medicine bottles.

There are multiple techniques at work for hanging:

1. Steel items can be stuck to super strong magnets that are stuck to the steel sheet. Like hairpins, scissors, nail clippers, spare drain plugs with a steel ring in them, little containers of lip balm or lotion (this example is burt's bees res Q balm).

2. Lightweight containers with thin walls get a loose magnet dropped in. Take the container down to use and the magnet automatically gets drawn back to the sheet steel when you hang it back up. Good for pill boxes, bandaid/gauze boxes, sewing kits from the dollar store, little thin walled plastic tubs. This might also work with dental floss containers but i already messed with my roommate's dental floss this week and i didn't think she'd appreciate me opening it up to put magnets in it. (definitely wouldn't work for my waterpik!)

3. Magnetic pencil holders, 25 for $1 from american science and surplus. This is good for any light cylindrical items that fit. Eye pencils, lipliner, a pen, toothbrush. I also use these on my fridge for the dry erase markers.









4. Thin things held up in a "normal" way with magnets. Loose bandaids, tooth whitening strips, sudafed, plastic baggy of pills, whatever will hold. the ace bandage clips will be staying in my cabinet like this because i lose them like crazy.







5. Slightly heavier non magnetic containers with magnets glued on. In this case a plastic tub of safety pins.

putting it in the cabinet is for demonstration purposes only - the safety pin tub actually hangs on the wall from a giant washer nailed up, that you see in the left in the above photo



7. Magnetic bulldog clip for heavier flat things. No, i don't know why a spare house key was loose on the shelf in my medicine cabinet, but it was so i hung it.

8. Magnetic hook. Great for hair ties!

 

I am sure you could come up with more things for your own cabinet.

the magnets came from dealextreme. Super cheap but also slooooow (free) shipping. they carry several sizes of super strong rare earth magnet discs in packs of 10, 12, 20 or 100.
harbor freight also sells a 10 pack of rare earth magnets for $3, but they aren't as thin and i have not tested them so i am not sure how strong they are
There's also an after photo so you can see how it works with the bottles and shelf items in place. And yes, i do use a cut up cardboard box as a mini shelf in there

Ode to Broom Clips

 

this is a broom clip. or a "spring grip clip" if you prefer. 

this particular one is also installed with a rubber bumper dot behind it on the bottom, to ensure it stays tilted slightly. you can sort of see the dot at the bottom of the clip in the picture. 

that's because this one is a razor holder on my bathroom wall. the razor isn't tightly gripped by the clip so it needs a little gravitational assist. but the razor had to be moved out of the reach of my bitey cat and this was on hand. much less expensive than a fancy razor holder. sure, it's not the ideal stylish thing, but it works quite well.

last year i picked up a ten pack of these cheap [that includes quality] LED flashlights for camping with some kids.
a few of the flashlights still work and my house tends to have plenty of power outages due to the rural nature of the neighborhood.
so i keep them on hand for emergency lighting.
a ten pack was $10 at Big Lots.
i've seen these lots of places and prices vary but more than $2 a flashlight and you are getting ripped off [if it doesn't have batteries]

one day i had both an LED flashlight and a broom clip on my kitchen counter near each other.
as one is wont to do with sudden impulses, i followed mine and discovered that yes, tiny cheap LED flashlights DO fit in a broom clip.
so i put a couple on the walls near the front door and the kitchen door.
very handy place to have a light whether you are coming home to the power out or need to go outside and chase a possum away from the trash can, there's always a light right there.

hey, let's go back to the bathroom for a minute. speaking of sudden impulses, i got curious as to what else would fit in a broom clip that i could get off the bathroom counter. this is a little glass dropped bottle from American Science and Surplus that i keep tea tree oil in. now it lives on the bathroom wall near the first aid kit, instead of in various places on the bathroom counter where the cats keep knocking it in the sink.

 

next to it you may also see the successful results of my experiment with hanging adhesive tabs, but that's another post entirely

off to the left, out of frame, are the two first aid boxes - they dismount from the wall for emergencies and camping trips.

then neosporin on an adhesive tab, tea tree oil in a broom clip and a little magnetic bar from ikea [oh, ikea, i love you so much] with nail clippers, cuticle tool, comedo toll, scissors, tweezers. in the bottom right corner is my roommate's dental floss that i also stuck an adhesive hang tab on. she may not keep it that way, but i wanted to see how well it held. her dental floss is another thing that tends to get batted into the sink by bored kitties. and at the very bottom, out of frame, is the lint roller on a cup hook.

i tried to get more broom clips at home depot, but they don't carry that kind. they are pretty inexpensive, rarely as much as a dollar per clip, and they usually come in a pack of 4 or 5.
if you want to get extra fancy and spend a little more, they come in vinyl coated but i don't bother.

shower rod to the rescue

here i am, sitting down to write what i thought was a follow up entry but when i went to find the original blog to link to, it turns out i apparently never actually wrote it. i took the pictures though, so i'll just give you both parts at once.

welcome to my bathroom. also known as the room i can't store towels in. or rather, couldn't before 20 minutes ago.