Whether you’re looking for a way to festively chill wine, transport your contributions to a potluck, decorate cookies or make the perfect snack tray, the holidays present us all with lots of little things that can always be made easier and more efficient.

Who do we turn to in those situations? The Crazy Russian Hacker, of course! He’s here with TEN awesome holiday hacks to make our holidays easier, prettier— and just more fun! Check them out.

1. Decorative Wine Chiller

Metal wine chillers do the job, but are they festive? Not so much.

Stack a wine chiller in a large ice tub, and fill the space in between with water. Fill the water with Thanksgiving decorations; cranberries, herbs, flowers, you name it! Put this in the fridge to freeze and when it comes out, you’ll have an all-ice wine chiller that is just gorgeous.

2. Greased Spoon

Considering the amount of baked goods you’ll be making in the next month or so, this is a very handy trick to know.

For the next time you need to spoon out something sticky – like honey, for instance – coat your tablespoon in Pam or cooking spray. Any sticky baking supply you have will easily slide off into your baking mix, no problem.

3. Preserve Ice

Ice bowls are handy for people to refresh their drinks, but ice bowls tend to be counterproductive. When the ice melts, the other ice cubes will melt faster, an also create a not-party-pleasant smell.

To prevent this, put the ice in a strainer inside of bowl, which will allow the melted water to drain out away from the still-intact cubes.

4. Soften Butter

Most holiday recipes will require butter, but when you’re in a pinch for time, how do you get softened butter fast? Simply wrap the butter loosely in plastic wrap and then roll it over with a rolling pin; this will soften up your butter in under 30 seconds!

5. Restore Melted Butter

Conversely, if you’ve left your butter out and it accidentally melted, you can restore it easily. Pour the melted butter into a Ziploc bag and let it soak in an ice bath for a few minutes – you’ll notice shortly that the butter has been transformed back to a solid.

6. Package Cooked Foods

When you’re attending someone’s Thanksgiving dinner, you’re most likely bringing food that’s already been cooked. To prevent everything from spilling in the car, put your food in a pot with a lid and handles.

Using two rubber bands, hook them from the handle to the top of the lid, tightly securing the top in place.

7. DIY Simmer Pot

To make your house smell amazing for your party guests, make a DIY simmer pot. Fill a pot on the stove with water and lovely smelling things; herbs, lemon, vanilla, ect. Let the water mixture simmer, which will disperse the smell around your home.

8. DIY Chip Dish

No chip dish lying around? You can easily make your own, dip included. All you have to do is put a glass in the middle of a plate; spread the chips in the plate all around the cup, which you’ll then fill with dip.

What a mess-free way to serve this favorite snack food!

9. Frost Cookies Easily

Frosting cookies is a favorite holiday past time, but it can really be a mess, ESPECIALLY if you have kids. To make this easy and mess-free, fill empty ketchup bottles with frosting. This will allow you and your family to make really cool designs on your holiday goodies, with practically no clean-up afterwards!

10. Appetizers Made Easy

If you don’t have a fancy serving tray to lay out your pre-dinner snack, never fear. All you really need to serve finger foods is a muffin tin! Fill up a muffin tin with all your snacks (chips, dip, pretzels, nuts, candies, ect.) for a compact and chic way to serve snacks.

 

What do you think of these holiday tips? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.