A slow cooker can do more things besides cooking. If you already have a slow-cooker, you are all set to try out one of these amazingly clever hacks. These ideas run the gamut…from crafting, gift-making, and gardening to DIY restoration and spa treatments. Try a few out and you’ll love your slow-cookers even more!
1. Make DIY lotion bars
When we are looking for a sweet gift idea for neighbors or teachers, lotion bars are a go-to favorite. Simply rub them in your palms and your body heat melts the bar just enough to provide a lovely dose of moisturizer. However, lotion bars can be pricey! Why not make your own, using a few easy-to-find ingredients and a spare slow cooker? Simply {Darr}ling has the complete instructions. Use some charming molds and yours can be as cute as these!
2. Dye your own yarn
Create stunning one-of-a-kind yarns using skeins of natural fibers, dye colors of your choosing, and the slow cooker. Check out this how-to from the Chester Wool Company. The results are simply gorgeous!
3. Simmer potpourri for hours of luscious scents
When your house needs a little freshening up, start with the way it smells! Not just for the holidays, simmering potpourri can infuse the air with lovely, natural aromas any time of year.
4. DIY Play Dough
No childhood is complete without moldable colored dough playtime. The store-bought stuff is pricey, however, so put the slow cooker to work making your own!
5. Toasty Foot Spa
Who wants to pay for a tretizen 10 online pricey pedicure when you can give your feet the royal treatment in the slow cooker? Make sure to test the waters before you dip your tootsies, but we think this would be a real treat on a cold winter’s night! Stephanie at A Year of Slow Cooking is a big fan and she suggests a Margarita as one of the project’s required “ingredients”.
6. Air Humidifier
Minimize your chances of getting sick by using a humidifier! If the air in your house is too dry, your sinuses can dry out, creating more opportunities for illness. Combat that by using your slow cooker to infuse moisture into the air.
7. Clean bones
In recent years, animal skulls and bones have become hot home decor accessories. Long treasured in southwestern design, they are now commonly seen in eclectically decorated spaces. You can pay big money and purchase them, or if you are a hunter, or just ambitious, you may want to learn how to preserve them yourself. Your slow cooker can help tremendously with this process by loosening all of the tissue from the bone. Check out this step-by-step from Lifehacker on how to tackle this project yourself. A word of caution, some of the photos are rather graphic.
We hope you found some slow cooker uses that you can put to use and that will make your life just a little easier. As with any appliance using electricity and heat, please be careful, take caution and never leave these projects unattended.