What I learned today....

These tips were found at: Lifehacker.com/

Build a fire with chocolate and Coke:
You're stuck at the campsite with a Hershey's bar, a can of Coke, and not a lighter in sight. Instead of sweating over rubbing a few sticks together, polish the bottom of the can with the chocolate to a high shine and use it to focus the sun on your tinder to get your campfire going sugary-snack style. The Wildwood Survival site has the details on building fires with cans

How to chill a Coke in only two minutes:
Turn a room-temperature can of Coke into a cold refreshment in two minutes with a bucket of salted ice water. Mythbusters television host Adam Savage explains the temperatures and science behind it on Ask MetaFilter. This technique works for that bottle of white wine you need chilled fast, too!

Make ice straws for your drinks!

You'll need:
Ice cube tray (ones that makes water bottle-sized ice sticks - IKEA sells them. )
Enough straws to fit in each compartment
Small bit of clay (not Polymer clay - it's toxic)
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Cut each straw so that they fit into the ice compartments. Be sure to leave it long enough so that they can be supported above the bottom of the tray by friction (that is, make them a tiny bit longer than the tray). Next, pit a tiny bit of clay into each end of the straw. This will keep water out of the straw for easy removal later. Push one straw into each compartment such that it sits near the middle of the cube. Fill with water.
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Place your tray in the freezer for a few hours or until completely frozen. Once your tray is frozen, carefully remove each ice straw. I found the easiest way to remove the straw was to allow the straws to thaw for about 10 minutes. Then push a skewer through the clay and straw. The friction from the clay pushed out the straw far enough that I could grab it. A clean pipe cleaner would work well for this. This way, you'll get a longer service life out of your straw.

This awesome tip was posted by Trebuchet03 on: http://www.instructables.com/. This site is a great place to find out how make all kinds of stuff! Check out the same contributor's recipe for Monkey Bread! Mmmm....looks good!

enjoy the cool stuff you learn today!
-d.