Laundry Soap Jars

DIY Laundry Soap, Fabric Softener & Dryer Sheets 

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Cute Jars, Chalkboard Paint & Chalk

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Cuteness 

Like this post? You may also like: DIY Laundry Soap

Deep Cleaning: Kitchen

I'm going to do a blog mash up of everything I referenced when "Spring Cleaning" my kitchen!

Some I used, others I didn't get to, but this will make a great reference guide for next time.

These are some great tips and tricks!

(And they are all natural recipes!) 

Click on each highlighted text if you would like to be redirected to the original blog!

Clean your refrigerator. Line the shelves with Saran Wraps "Press & Seal." Next time there's a spill, just remove the Saran wrap and replace! From "Iowa Girl Eats"

Who knew running a wash cycle with just a glass of vinegar would make the inside of your washer sparkle like new again!? From one of my favorite blogs "One Good Thing By Jillie"

Clean your counter top appliances and make them look new with this awesome trick! Thanks, "Tales and Tips- A Real House Wife"

Make stainless steal shine! Use these tricks on your sink as well as your appliances! Courtesy of "Happy Home"

Get that gunk off your cabinets! My white kitchen cabinets show everything! BOO! Again, this is from "One Good Thing By Jillie"

Clean your glass stove top! Never had one until we moved here, and I used to scrub the heck out of it! Silly me- this is so much easier! And the proper way, with damaging! OOOPS! Thanks, "Behind The Studio!"

Clean IN BETWEEN The glass on your oven door! Looks brand new again! From "Moms 4 Real"

Now you cant forget how to organize! Thanks, "Clover Lane"

I will update as I find more gems! 

Have you found some kitchen cleaning tips that are to die for on Pintrest? 

DO SHARE!

Enjoyed this post? May I also suggest: Multipurpose, Multisurface, Orange Cleaner

Help Us To Remember

Help Us Remember
(Author Unknown)

Heavenly Father,

Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

AMEN.

Like this post? You might also like: 'Twas The Month Before Christmas

Spice Jars

This was one of the first crafts I attempted when I became hip to pintrest! I love not having to dig through my spices looking for what I need. Now I can just look down, quickly pull out a jar and the wide opening make measuring a breeze!

I'm such a sucker for matching and clean looking things.

OCD much? yeah... about that....

Enjoyed this idea? Try: Windowsill Herb Garden

Coin Jars

I came up with a cute idea for coin jars in the laundry room. Usually the loose change I would find in our pockets would just get tossed on top of the dryer. 

So here's what I came up with: 

I still had a bundle of jute rope, so I grabbed my hot glue gun and some cute scrap booking letters. 

And Viola! 

Cute, Right?!

More ideas like this? Look here: Baby Food Jar Candles

Fabric Covered Boxes with DIY Fabric Flowers

I'm beginning to hoard glass jars like your old lady neighbor in Parma. Suddenly I no longer see a jar of salsa or spaghetti sauce, but crafting magic- CRAFTING MAGIC! I was kinda just shoving them everywhere I could, then eventually moved them into the laundry room, then decided them falling off the wire shelf was no good either, so THEN I decided to put them into some diaper boxes that fit perfectly on the shelf. But plain diaper boxes? NEVAH!

must.make.pretty.

I had some scrap fabric laying around, and it was enough to cover the diaper boxes. I used my hot glue gun to secure the fabric. Now onto these super cute fabric flowers... You could use these flowers for numerous ideas, from making a little girls headband, to decorating a present.

Looking for something similar? Look here: Fall Sewing Craft

Windowsill Herb Garden

This is my 2nd year having herbs on my kitchen sink windowsill. I just like watching them grow, and then when the herbs have filled the jar, I just snip them off, throw them into something I'm cooking and then plant a few more seeds. I enjoy glancing at them while I wash my hands or put dishes in the dishwasher, just watching something grow...

Now baby food jars I got! I save all of them, and have found many useful and crafty things to do with them (stay tuned!) For this project I just use my potting soil, seeds and water once a day. Easy-peasy, Lol! Some other bloggers show how to drill a hole in the bottom of your baby food jars for proper drainage, but I never did. Maybe you should if you plan to transplant them into your garden? I don't know, I like the idea of having a green thumb, but I ain't no where near that!

My labels are made on a brown paper bag and I used my trusty stamp set. I cut them out and then used clear scotch tape, sealing all the edges around the label, just in case it got wet while watering.

SO CUTE, RIGHT?!

Want more ideas like this? Look here: Baby Food Jar Candles

Welcome To Holland

My Grandmother is a well traveled woman. She has been all over the world, especially Europe. Growing up I would flip through her photo albums and one in particular were photos of her and a girlfriend visiting in Holland. She would say to me that of all the places in the world, Holland was her favorite. It was surprising to her, because Holland wasn't exactly at the top of her list. 

 But once being there, she had already made up her mind she would visit again, and I believe she did! So imagine my surprise as I read the following story. A friend of mine had posted it on Facebook, and while reading it, my eyes welled. You ever have those moments where things start to weave into each other? Maybe it comes with getting older and seeing things differently... but lately I have been having a lot more moments like these. This story is the absolute best metaphor for explaining what its like to raise a child with special needs. And now, more than ever, do I want to actually visit Holland.

Welcome To Holland 

By: Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.      The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Like this post? Here's one that's similar: Dear Lady In The Urgent Care Waiting Room

Baby Food Jar Candles

I seriously enjoyed this craft. I had been saving all my baby food jars, and this was a great way to use them. When making these candles in bulk, you spend penny's to the dollar you would buying them. They make great gifts and smell are strong (or as light) as you prefer and make them! 

Banana Nut, Ocean Breeze and Cranapple

I used food coloring to get a deeper color in my candle wax. My labels are made with scrap book paper, my trusty stamp set and some Modge Podge. I used scrap twine and jute to make little bows :)

 I'm looking forward to make some Christmas themed ones and have a few ideas in mind :) 

Below I have posted a link to the blog I used to make these, its a very simple and easy to understand tutorial. 

Gotta love Pintrest, Right?!

Click here for step by step directions to make your own!

Looking for more crafting ideas? Click here: Pumpkin Fun

Multipurpose, Multisurface, Orange Cleaner

So, I know you have seen this floating around Pintrest....

I had to give it a try! I couldn't find where it had originated from but most recipes were exactly the same, so I am guessing there's really only one way this can be made. All you need is some oranges peels, glass jars with lids and some distilled vinegar.

Simply take the orange peels and pack them into the jars. Then fill the jars with vinegar and close them up tightly. Store them in a cool dark place for 2 weeks (I put mine under the kitchen sink.)

Once the two weeks are up, you want to store it in something with equal parts water and the orange/vinegar solution.

Ok, now to try it... I will say, on hard wood floors, I was not impressed. It did leave a lack luster film, that kinda bummed me out. I think it may possibly work a lot better on laminate flooring. As a surface cleaner it worked well, I really didn't have any complaints. It did carry more of a vinegar odor rather than a clean  orange scent. I think I will add orange essential oil to this batch.

*Do you have a recipe that's natural and cleans wood floors? Let me know!

*What to do with all the oranges you just peeled??? Stay tuned!






Looking for more DIY projects? Look here: DIY Carpet Powder