Practical Mom Home Tips
Mom Hack for Lighter Flower Pots
When filling planter with soil, use pool noodles, 1 liter soda bottles, empty water bottles, or styrofoam packing materials.
Make the pot lighter
Uses less soil.
This little hack will save you money as well as your back.




Phone almost dead?
Put your phone on airplane mode to charge it faster. You won't be able to receive calls and texts, but it charges much faster, I use this quite often.
When I use a lighting cable a full charge takes about 30 minutes.
When I use my Iniu portable charger on a slow charge i can get from 10% to 40% in about 15 minutes. If you don't have an Iniu charger it's worth the $25 to get one.
Keep lettuce fresher longer.
When storing lettuce in a ziploc bag, place a paper towel in with your lettuce to absorb the extra moisture, this keeps the lettuce from turning brown.
Is the oil in the frying pan hot?
I admit I was the mom that flicked the water into frying pan to see it if the grease would snap and pop, UNTIL I found this new tip. Take a chop stick and place the tip into the frying pan. If the grease starts to sizzle and boil around the stick it's hot. The faster the bubbles and sizzle, the hotter the oil. Needless to say, if it's smoking it's too hot!
How to contain the popsicle melt?
This is an oldie but a goodie. Kids love their popsicles but mom's hate the mess? Get a cupcake liner and place it around the popsicle handle. One thing about this trick, the cheaper cupcake liner don't hold up as well.
The best place to pick up the better cupcake liners is after a major holiday, Christmas, Valentines, Easter. Stores will be clearing these items out and you can get them at a steal. Tuck them away until summer, problem solved!
Fire-Pit Hacks
Stop throwing your lint away. This material makes a great starter for a firepit fire. The lint is lightweight and airy, oxygen moves through it easily, which helps it ignite quickly and burn hot enough to help get kindling started.
Another good source of starter kilning are dried pinecones. Pinecones are naturally full of dry fibers, airflow pockets, and flammable pine resin. Pinecones can during the fall and winter months. Not sure where to find pinecones? Visit your local cemetery, they traditionally have a lot of pine trees.
Don't have any wood and don't want to buy wood to burn. Pallets make great fires. One thing to keep in mind when you're looking for pallets to burn, they must be marked HT (heat treated). This means the pallets were treated with heat instead of chemicals, so they are safe to burn. Not sure where to look, open Facebook and search up pallets. Business and individuals are always giving them away for free.
Contact
Connect
jwashington@practicalmomhomepicks.com
© 2025. All rights reserved.
Affiliate Disclosure
Effective Date:5/02/2026
Practical Mom Home Picks participates in affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. This comes at no additional cost to you.
We only recommend products and services that we genuinely believe provide value to our readers. All opinions expressed on this site are our own and are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
As an Amazon Associate and participant in other affiliate programs, we earn from qualifying purchases.
We strive to provide honest, accurate reviews to help busy moms make informed buying decisions. However, we encourage you to do your own research before making any purchase.