Lately, fast-paced videos about life hacks (shortcuts and helpful hints to make your daily life easier) are all the rage online, along with video clips that mock pop-culture. In this feature, we’ve rounded up our fave time-sucking DIY sites; and one farce. Enjoy!
Blossom
Not to be confused with actress Mayim Bialik’s heartwarming 90s sitcom about teenage life, Blossom is a DIY (Do-it-Yourself) series of videos aimed at women in their late teens to twenties. They focus on simple life hacks and fun, money-saving ways to make items for your home.
If you subscribe to Blossom YouTube videos (which are also on Facebook) you’ll be treated to a series of videos about, well, life, ranging from “How to turn a big, ugly sweater into a cute dress” to “Creative ways to decorate canvas sneakers.” The videos are wonderfully edited and quirky. One of our faves is: “Bra Hacks Every Girl Must Know.” These videos are brought to you by First Media, a Los Angeles-based multi-platform, content publisher dedicated to the do-it-all millennial woman.
These videos get addicting—don’t be surprised if you find yourself watching 7 or more in a row. Each video clip generally run 5 minutes, max. Some crafts shown do require items such as a hot glue gun, or a sewing machine, which not every teenager has at their disposable, but you never know… A basic knowledge of hand-sewing or stitching is helpful to complete the crafts presented as well. (Don’t kid yourself; an interest in sewing amongst teens and college students is on the rise. Knowing how to sew is a unique skill to have, and can save you money when you need clothes altered.)
Some of the DIY projects, such as making a coffee table for your living room by using recycled soda bottles, look pretty time-consuming, but the videos in general are enjoyable. Just look for Blossom’s YouTube Channel (the icon is a rainbow, felt flower) and follow Blossom videos on Facebook as well.
On YouTube: Blossom On Facebook: facebook.com/firstmediablossom
So Yummy
With more than 100 videos also brought to you by First Media, these mouth-watering clips depict fun recipes and food ideas for the whole family. Every recipe is really fun and easy to follow. Have some free time on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Get inspired to bake by watching So Yummy’s Lazy Weekend Recipes or Gummy Bear Hacks. Babysitting for some little cousins and want to whip up sweet treats with them? Bet you’ll all love watching the videos 10 Yummy Cake Ideas or How to Make Animal Macarons. There are so many tutorials to choose from. Other niche videos include Fun and Easy Cupcakes, Red Velvet Recipes, and Unicorn-Themed Easy Desserts.
Visit the official So Yummy Blog for exact recipes/measurements: soyummyblog.com/recipes And order the cookbook, too: soyummystore.com
On YouTube: So Yummy On Facebook: So Yummy (@firstmediasoyummy)
5-Minute Crafts
For the super savvy, and those who love upcycling, 5-Minute Crafts feature videos about all sorts of things, from Clever Hacks With Sponges (Really!) to Cool Crayon Hacks. In more generically-titles videos, such as, “40 Fun Life Hacks that Are Actually Brilliant” you’ll learn that a balloon can be used as a jar cover and that you can use classic Matchbox cars to move a small table. Also, who knew there were so many uses for toothpaste besides brushing your pearly whites? These videos are an art teacher's dream and if you’re working with kids this summer, this is the online place to go for some DIY craft projects kids will love.
Some of the crafts featured do require items such as an X-acto blade or knife, drill, and a hot glue gun—not many teens have these on hand. But if you do, use them VERY, VERY carefully, and appropriately. Have fun creating masterpieces! (Also, on YouTube, you can follow 5 Minute Workouts, 5 Minute Crafts KIDS, and more)
On YouTube: 5-Minute Crafts On Facebook: 5min.crafts
Zack Morris is Trash
Please tell us you’ve heard of Saved By the Bell; a teen sitcom that aired on Saturday mornings in the late 80s and early 90s. You would watch the show KNOWING how goofy it was, and yet, you couldn’t divert your eyes from Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly (Tiffani Thiessen), Slater (Mario Lopez), Lisa (Lark Voorhies), Screech, (Dustin Diamond) and Jessie. (Elizabeth Berkley). You can catch old episodes of the show on sites like DailyMotion.com, Google Play, and iTunes. (Where you pay a small fee to watch an episode; so ask the folks first if you can use their credit cards to bask in this show’s awesomeness.) Satire site FunnyOrDie.com mocks the character of Zack Morris in their series, Zack Morris is Trash, by pointing out what a scuzzbucket he really is throughout the series, even though he’s presented as a nice guy stud. In these 10 video clips mocking classic episodes, die-hard fans of the show will take a swell trip down memory lane. It’s all in good fun. Here’s hoping for a Season Two of, “Zack Morris is Trash.” Enjoy the nostalgia!
On YouTube: Zack Morris is Trash
Ok, now that you’ve procrastinated when you really should be studying—get back to work. NOW!