Friday, June 2, 2017

Beach Hacks to Make Your Next Trip a Breeze!

Who doesn’t love a fun filled day lounging out on the beach. It’s wonderful to relax in the sun, listen to the waves and enjoy the whole beach going experience. Here are some tips to help make your next trip a breeze.

  Baby Powder –
 This is a beach must. Sprinkling baby powder on your hands or body quickly removes the moisture allowing you to easily brush off caked, wet sand. This is perfect when you need to reapply sunblock and don’t want the grains scraping your skin, or want to have a snack.


Inflatable Kiddie Pool Have little ones at the beach that aren’t quite ready to play in the waves? Bringing an inflatable kiddie pool is a great way for them to enjoy the water. Fill it up a bit to allow them to splash around or play with toys. This allows parents to sit and relax while also letting the kids enjoy the water. As an added bonus, place the pool under an umbrella to keep out of the sun.

Cork Keychain These are simple to make and are a great alternative if you don’t want to carry around a full set of keys. All you need is a cork, eye hooks and split rings. Screw the eye hook into the cork, attach the ring and voila! A floating keychain, perfect to take to the beach!

Ice Alternatives Save cooler space by packing freezable drinks and snacks instead of ice. They will keep your items cold but as they thaw, there will be plenty of things to eat. Some good options are water, juice, lemonade, grapes, yogurt sticks, popsicles and PB&J (Tip: Put Peanut butter on both bread slices and top with jelly to prevent soggy bread).

Another fun idea is freezing water balloons. Pack your cooler with this ice substitute and then let the kids have a water balloon fight on the beach after they thaw. 


Mesh Laundry Bag Keep beach toys in a mesh laundry hamper. The mesh bags allow the sand to sift through the holes while also air drying the toys.


Fitted Sheets Bring an old fitted sheet to the beach. By placing heavier bags and coolers in each corner, you create a relatively sand-free room for you and the family to relax in. This will also make an ideal play area for babies, minimizing how sandy they get. Further, if you set up a beach umbrella near one of the corners, you have a shaded section as well. 


Freezer Bags Freezer bags make a great beach cover for your phone. They will help prevent it from getting wet (not completely waterproof) while still allowing you to use your touch screen through the plastic so you don’t have to remove it.  

Additionally, if you don’t own any ice packs, you can make your own by filling them with water and letting them freeze.


Reuse Plastic Containers There are so many uses for your empty containers at the beach:
 
     Disguise - Use empty household containers to disguise your valuable items such as keys, money, phones and wallets. You can make good use of Pringles cans, wipes containers, empty Chapstick containers for money or anything else that might trick someone. 

     Storage – You can use empty plastic creamer containers to put snacks that might otherwise crumble such as goldfish or pretzel sticks. Reuse an empty wipe container to store garbage bags or napkins/tissue so the boxes don’t get wet and soggy. Lastly, clean out those peanut butter jars to make a nice dry place to keep your phone, keys or money.


Cupcake Liners Keep little hands clean while enjoying a popsicle on a hot summer day by pushing the popsicle stick through a paper cupcake liner. The liner will catch all those sticky drips as the popsicle begins to melt instead of them landing all over your or your child.


Get Crafty Here are a couple other creative ways to make your beach day a little easier.


     Duct Tape Beach Bag Don’t worry about your bag getting wet, here is a simple way to make a durable beach bag out of duct tape!
  • 2 rolls of Duct Tape, alternating patterns
  • white plastic trash bag
  • Permanent marker
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape
  • Cut open the plastic bag along one edge and the bottom. Tape it to a table top to keep it in place; use the marker to create a 16 x 30" rectangle.
  • Start duct taping right on top of the bag, covering the rectangle. Alternate your duct tape choices and slightly overlap each layer until you cover the entire rectangle. Make sure to overlap the edges you drew slightly.
  • Once you're done, press it all down well and then release your bag from the table. Flip it over and cut out along the Sharpie lines so you have a nice big rectangle of Duct Tape.
  • Next, apply strips of duct tape to each edge of the rectangle.
  • Fold up your bag and tape the sides together, leaving the top open. 
    • Handles:
    • Cut 2 26.5” and 2 25.5”pieces of tape
    • Center one shorter strip on top of one of the longer strips to create a handle
    • Stick each end inside the bag and attach. If you want to add to the durability, you can secure further by overlapping a piece of tape over where the handles are attached.
      Add Pockets to Your Beach Towels –By adding a few stitches to your beach towel, you can create pockets that serve the dual purpose of holding your items as well as help to weigh down your towel to prevent it from blowing around.
  • Start with an oversized beach towel so you have more space to work with.
  • Fold up one end about 6” (or however much you want depending on how deep or shallow you want the pockets).
  • Measure out the width you want for each pocket and mark it with a pin. You can make some pockets wider or skinnier if you want to customize a pocket to fit a specific item.
  • Sew along both sides of the towel and down each strip where you have the pins marked and done! As an added bonus, you can put all the items in the pockets when packing, then just roll the towel up and go instead of tossing them loosely into a bag.
Hopefully some of these tips will help your next beach trip go a little easier.