Life hacks: Parties, playtime, and bathtime made easier

TAMPA (FOX 13) - The term lifehack is said to have been originally coined to describe using technology to be more effective but it's really just a shortcut.

Since it's Friday, FOX 13 Consumer Reporter Sorboni Banerjee is hacking party preps to get you to the fun part faster.

Scooping ice cream during a big party is no fun, but it's not a task you can do ahead of time, right? Wrong.

Instead, scoop into cupcake wrappers, place in a muffin tin, and put it back into the freezer. You'll have single servings ready to go.

Cutting a cake with dental floss is a popular lifehack across the internet, so we tested it. It's pretty straight-forward, but there are some tips we found helpful.

First, don't use the minty kind.

Hold the floss across the cake and push down. Pull the floss out from the side so you don't yank frosting back up and make it messy.

Blowing up balloons can be exhausting and not everyone has time or money for a helium tank. Instead of blowing up balloons with your mouth, mix vinegar and baking soda in a water bottle and the gas released from the reaction will fill up a balloon placed over the mouth of the bottle.

Baby playtime and bathtime hacks are also widely shared on social media, but they're not all created equal. Here are a few we liked.

Let's say your baby's outgrown the baby tub but isn't quite ready for the real tub. Use a laundry basket with holes so water can flow in and out to create a small space for them to sit.

Also a fitted sheet can be used to create a clean play area at a park or beach.

Flip the sheet upside down. Put whatever heavy things you have, like a beach bag or cooler, in the corners to make the sides of the sheet stand up like little walls.

You've created a little playpen you can fit in a bag when you go to the beach.

You can also place a fitted sheet over the playpen to offer shade and keep some of the bugs away.