And for your viewing pleasure here’s my recent Today Show segment with my fab gal pals Kathie Lee ‘n Hoda whom helped me give sand the ‘brush off: (Click on the image below to play)
QUICKIE SAND-BUSTER PRE-TRIP TIPS
TRANSPORT: Line seats with towels or old sheet so all you have to do is simply shake out
Bring a large garbage bag to put wet towels into after you shake them out so you don’t trek it throughout house and can bring directly to laundry room
BEACH SEATING: Bring beach chairs or mats versus towels which are easy to shake out/wash off in ocean
SAND-PROOF FOOD: Repurpose Pringle containers for easy chomping and chucking so nuttin’ to bring home! Fill with:
• Carrot/celery sticks/breadsticks/low fat cheese sticks
• Frozen grapes and peach slices that you freeze nite before
• Sushi-style bite-sized sandwiches: Make a wrap of P & J, ham & cheese, or whatever your child’s fave sandwich is. Roll it up and slice. This way if they drop one in the sand whole sandwich is ruined! Place wax paper between each or use mini cupcake holders or tin foil to separate in can
Or make it tres simple and sand-proof: Buy food at beach
SANITY SAVING SAND TRAP BUSTERS
ELECTRONICS: Ipad, kindle:
ZIP ‘EM:
If you apply suntan lotion use handy dandy baby wipes to clean your hands off so don’t smudge screen nor have sand stick to it
Place IPAD or Kindle into a freezer-sized Ziplock gallon bag with ‘slider’. Make a small hole for your headphones if using them and connect BEFORE you get to the beach.
TAP, BRUSH OR BLOW:
If sand gets in don’t plug in anything i.e. headphones, chargers etc unless you wish to buy a new one since warranties don’t cover ‘accidental beach’ faux pas
• Sand in speaker part: Tap ‘n shake gently
• Use toothbrush to get into small areas (preferably not the one you used in morning!) since it’s soft and won’t scratch anything
Alt: Blow-dry on cool/low setting to blow out and not push in. You can also try using a can of compressed air as you do for your computer keyboard.
TOYS:
MESH IS BEST: Put all toys in a mesh bag so you can wash out easily and they can dry thoroughly to avoid mold ‘n mildew from forming
SEA SHELLS:
SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE: Kids love to collect them but often half of their collected treasure is sand. So bring a colander from home to rinse and shake out the sand or I love these Dacron sail cloth bags from Hayden Reis that are tres chic and naturally let the sand fall out!
KIDS:
And our numero uno sand trap is our kiddies and us! Here are some simple sanity saving ways to give sand the ‘brush off’:
SHOWER OR TOWEL-Many beaches have an outdoor shower near the entrance/exits so rinse off as much sand as you can! If not use a clean, dry towel to rub a dub off!
BABY IT!: Use baby powder to get rid of dry sand. It absorbs any moisture left making it easy to remove…Be sure to sprinkle some between your toes and use a small soft brush to help remove. Put a bunch in your hands and work through your hair as well then shake out.
Check out these handy dandy convenient ‘n cute Powder Pouches which look and work great plus are giving a percentage of sales to help Hurricane Sandy victims.
BTW: Baking soda also works in a pinch
Happy Fourth ‘n summer…Here’s to spreading the glove ‘n not the sand!
Julie Edelman aka The Accidental Housewife is the go to gal for easy; real life time, money, and energy saving tips that maintain our home, family and manicure. She appears regularly on the Today Show with Kathie Lee ‘n Hoda, Rachael Ray, and The Doctors. Julie has penned a New York Times best-selling book as well as The Ultimate Accidental Housewife: Your Guide to a Clean Enough House; contributes weekly for RachaelRay.com; is the sanity saving editor for Beautiful Design Made Simple Magazine; has a webisode series for Fox News Magazine, and hosts Julie’s Tips.
