“It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project” – Napoleon Hill

For those seeking a useful way to spend their time at home, here’s a series of daily tips and ideas to make every minute indoors more productive (and gratifying!).

Simple cooking/baking can be easy and fun especially when is done together! Here’s some simple recipes in which you can easily get it and do at home!

  1. Banana Pancake (1 Banana, 2 eggs, ¼ cinnamon, honey or syrup, )
    • In a bowl, mash the banana with a fork.
    • Add eggs and cinnamon. Mix until combined.
    • Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a spoonful of batter and cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
    • Serve with maple syrup or honey.
  1. Cookies and Cream Mousse (8 Oreo, 80g powdered sugar, 360ml heavy cream)
    • Separate the cream from the cookies. Place the cookies in a plastic bag and the cream in a small bowl.
    • Using a rolling pin, crush the cookies until they are finely ground.
    • Microwave the cream from the cookies for 2 minutes.
    • In a chilled medium bowl, beat the heavy cream using a hand mixer until thick and frothy.
    • Add the cream from the cookies and the powdered sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
    • Fold in the chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs, saving some as topping for later.
    • Spoon into a piping bag or plastic bag with a piping tip. Pipe into serving bowls or glasses.
    • Top with remaining chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs and half of a chocolate sandwich cookie, if desired.
    • Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
  1. Crystal rock candy (2 cups Water, 4 cups sugar (white granulated), Optional – food coloring 2 drops and 1 teaspoon of flavouring extract or oil)
    • Pour the water into a pan and bring it to boil.
    • Pour ¼ sugar into the boiling water, stirring until it dissolves.
    • Keep adding more and more sugar, each time stirring it until it dissolves, until no more will dissolve. Once no more sugar will dissolve, remove it from heat and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes.
    • Pour the sugar solution into the jar almost to the top. Then submerge the skewer back into the glass making sure that it is hanging straight down the middle without touching the sides.
    • Allow the jar to fully cool and put it someplace where it will not be disturbed.
    • The sugar crystals will grow over the next 3-7 days.
    • Tips- the wooden skewer into the clothespin so that it hangs down inside the glass and is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the glass.

Thinking of ways to make your kids busy? Here’s some DIY craft you can easily make at home!

  1. Moon Sand (8 cups of flour & 1 cup of baby oil, Optional – food dye)
    • Put the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
    • Combine the baby oil and flour well for about 10 minutes
    • Put it in a large container or box and your children can start to play around with their imagination
  1. Puffy Paint (3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, water, food dye)
    • Mix the ingredient together and add enough water to make it the consistency of pancake batter.
    • Divide the mix into parts depending on the number of color you have
    • Put them into a Ziploc baggies with the respective food coloring.
    • Squish and mix it well to start their masterpiece!
  1. Fluffy Slime (2/3 cup of white glue, 2 Tablespoons contact saline solution, 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda, Optional – Food coloring)
    • Add glue and food coloring to bowl. Squeeze the bottle of glue into a bowl
    • Add your food coloring and stir until combined.
    • Then mix in baking soda and saline solution.
    • If it’s too sticky, add 1/2 Tablespoon more solution at a time.
    • Knead the slime. Using your hands, knead the slime until it holds together.
    • Store slime in a container with lid, or in a zip top bag.

Clean homes and organized spaces are proven to reduce stress, provide happiness and even improving one’s eating and exercising habits. And what’s better than decluttering your home with the tips from Marie Kondo. Only keep items that ‘spark joy’.

Photos are like memories. It is a way of feeling, touching and living that moment. Fish out that photo album or phone and go through all of those photos from your last Bali holiday, to the last dinner gathering. Now’s the time to get organizing and enjoy some good laughter. You might be surprised what candid photos you might have taken from your previous trip or meet up.

There is no doubt plenty of things around your house that could use some sprucing up. Whether you’ve been meaning to reorganize the pantry, paint a door frame, or install floating shelves, these minor home updates will improve the environment, and your mood. Here are some DIY ideas to get you started!