Welcome to The Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household's (free) Catalog of Tips, Tricks and Recipes!
Are you looking for easy ways to run your home with ease? Maybe a few frugal DIY work-a-bouts to use what you already have? Instead of buying more supplies? How about actual working recipes to make more of the foods you want to eat, right there in your own kitchen? With less premade food purchased from the grocery store?
Or how about some great kitchen tips and tricks that will make your life easier, and help keep you on your household budget? I have no doubt you will find something right here, to help out in all the areas you need, to keep your own home humming along smoothly...
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you have come to the right place!
Below you will find household "how-to-s" for making laundry soap, both powdered or liquid, as well as how to quiet your downspouts when it rains! Along with instructions for making woolen dryer balls to reduce the static and help keep clothes soft. Or how about a homemade wedge pillow for relaxing or sleep time comfort? We even have a hack to keep your tissues popping up, in that almost empty box of tissues!
You will also find a few tips and tricks like how to combine garlic and vodka (yep, stay with me here!) for chemical-free, ready-to-use minced garlic in a jar, and easy ways to make brown sugar, or how about a soft real butter spread? Made with real ingredients....
And from there you will find actual recipes for so many good things, like a batch of Homemade Toffee that does not require a candy thermometer, or White Chocolate Peanut Butter, and how about a copycat version of Cafe Yumm sauce! Just to name a few!
So come and take a look at all that is offered here, as well as recently added, just for you! Because this is one catalog that will never be obsolete!
OUR LATEST UPDATE: 04.07.2026
Household and Garden How To's!
The pink balls finally wore out, but all the remaining woolen dryer balls are still in use over 10+ years later!
How to Make Homemade Woolen Dryer Balls. A fun recycling project from old wool sweaters.
Upcycle a wooden box (with a hinged lid) into a garlic storage box for your kitchen.
Instead we routinely repurpose household items for food and water. Chickens forage like most birds do, so food and water is needed, but not necessarily from an expensive system readily available to purchase.
We recycled this one gallon pitcher (which was not strong enough to hold the weight of one gallon of liquid) into an egg gathering container. It is easy to carry, especially if your littles help gather the eggs! Put a handful of wood shavings into the bottom for a little bit of cushion.
Easy DIY Homemade Household Weed Killer!
How to Make an Easy to Use Seed Vault to keep garden seeds organized.
When the above ground pool needed to be replaced, I cut the sides off with a pair of scissors. Now we have a very large "tarp" to use in the garden for sifting dirt or any number of chores. It is large enough that it can be folded over what ever is on the tarp, to keep it dry when the rain comes.
Use a couple of kitchen items, a large wooden cutting board, and a cotton towel, and quickly get that ironing done and put away!
Please ignore the horrible photo, but an empty thread spool makes the perfect shower caddy holder. Perfect for those showers with only a handheld shower or if you need more than one caddy, to hold all of the family's shower time products.
Use a small dish rack as an in-drawer knife rack. This hard plastic part was attached to a large piece of quick drying fabric. I removed the fabric and used this "plate holder" as a knife rack.
Do you need to bake a bunch of muffins or cupcakes? Don't have enough muffin tins? Place canning jar rings on a flat baking tray, add baking cups, fill and bake!
For a easy and delicious dinner, brown some chicken thighs in a skillet, then cover with Broken Olive Antipasto Relish (we used the whole recipe, oh my gosh, so good!) cover and let simmer until chicken is done. Remove lid and let pan juices concentrate and serve with crusty bread for dipping!
Squeeze bottles of mustard are convenient, but sometimes, way too much mustard ends up in your sandwich! Next time, put the mustard on the knife you are using, that way you can see how much you got in the "squeeze" and can put just the right amount on the bread for your sandwich.
When you bring beef home from the market, package in freezer bags with a couple of Tablespoons full of red wine vinegar, making sure some of the vinegar touches all the surface of the meat. BEFORE you store it in the freezer.
Offer this easy snacking plate of Jicama spears with lime and chili powder. Quick, easy and delicious! Squeeze the lime over the spears of jicama, and dip in the chili spice. Crunchy and delicious!
Example: when our muck out boots were unpacked we realized that they had been used much more than we had remembered, because they were showing a few cracks and splits. No longer water proof, they were repurposed into chicken feeding stations. They can be mounted at a convenient height for your hens! And honestly this works perfectly, each pair can handle up to 4 birds at once, so everyone gets to eat!
How to Quiet the Noise in Your Downspouts. Who knew that plastic scrubbies from $-tree could be so helpful?
From above ground pool to garden tarp:
When the above ground pool needed to be replaced, I cut the sides off with a pair of scissors. Now we have a very large "tarp" to use in the garden for sifting dirt or any number of chores. It is large enough that it can be folded over what ever is on the tarp, to keep it dry when the rain comes.
When you need to iron small items and don't want to set up the big ironing board.
Repurpose an empty thread spool, in a pinch!
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Kitchen Tips, Tricks, and How To's!
When ever loading a jar for homemade pantry mixes, sit the measuring cup right there in the jar funnel to measure dry ingredients into. Saves a lot of mess on the counter!
Save some cash on those in drawer knife holders.
Easy Pickled Beets From Leftover Sweet Pickle Brine!
Peel the cooked beets, cut into pieces, place cut beets into a jar, heat the leftover brine to hot, pour over the beet pieces, cap and let sit 24 hours before eating! Also works with the brine from Quick Pickled Onions.
How to Make Easy to Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs. Using a stovetop steamer method.
Avoid too much mustard on your sandwich!
How to Make Your Own Bread Crumbs. Plain and flavored.
Tenderize meat before you store it, in the fridge or freezer!
When thawed discard the vinegar and proceed with your recipe. You will have tender beef for stew or whatever you are cooking up! I do this with stew beef, chuck steaks etc. and usually label the bag with the code RWV.
Do you have a bag of popcorn that doesn't pop up fluffy and crisp? No problem, turn it into cornmeal.
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Great Recipes to Make and quick food ideas!
Let's eat more vegetables! You will love this easy, delicious snack.
#HomemadeGroceryStoreRecipe!
#DIYHomemadeHousehold
#wholefoodingredients
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What a great list. I think I'm going to have to try making that wool dryer ball. (And of course the toffee recipe and the white chocolate peanut butter recipe . . . )
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this at our Party in Your PJs link party.
You are so welcome! I appreciate your kind words, have a great week ahead, and thanks for hosting Party in Your PJ's!
DeleteGreat ideas, thank you for bringing them to Fiesta Friday.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz! Have a great week ahead.
DeleteNow that's a list! Thanks so much for linking up at the Unlimited Link Party 82. Shared.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dee!
DeleteImpressive! I'll definitely be back to look things up! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteGracious! What a plethora of resources!
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting all of these together!
Appreciate you sharing this at the Homestead Blog Hop 410!
Laurie
Laurie, thanks so much!
DeleteCONGRATS Melynda! Your post is FEATURED at the Unlimited Link Party 83!
ReplyDeleteDee, thanks so much!
DeleteThanks for sharing a large array of household tips that you offered in this post. Saw it at SSPS #284 (thanks for hosting). I'm delighted to be joining you this week with posts #77 through 81. Look forward to reaching out to my fellow bloggers to see their posts as well. Warm regards, Nancy Andres @ Colors 4 Health
ReplyDeleteNancy, thank you for stopping by! Have a great week ahead.
DeleteLove this post Melynda! These hacks are going to come in handy. I already checked out your celery link.
ReplyDeleteVisiting today from WTJR 😁
Paula, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for hosting Sweet Tea and Friends!
DeleteMelynda, great tips! I love the hacks you mentioned in the post as well. Thank you for sharing these handy tips and ideas with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #75.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, thank you for stopping by, I appreciate it. Have a great week ahead, and I will see you next Crazy Little Lovebirds Link-up!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a super useful round-up. These will come in very handy. Thanks so much for sharing, Melynda. I hope you had a lovely weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteJayne, thank you so much.
DeleteMelynda, very useful post. I love that you make your own dryer balls. Thank you for sharing and being a part of the Crazy Little Lovebirds link party. I hope you will join us at the next party.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, thank you!
DeleteI love all your posts, but especially the homemade condiments. I make your balsamic vinegarette on repeat. And you have taught me so much about freezer storage too!
ReplyDeleteLeslie, thank you so much! Have a wonderful week ahead.
DeleteWhat a valuable list! Featuring you at Wednesdays in the Studio!
ReplyDeleteJennifer, thank you very much! Have a great week ahead, and thank you for hosting Wednesday's in the Studio.
Delete