Monday, March 31, 2014

Does It Work????

 I have been doing some deep cleaning lately.  On Pinterest I found so homemade cleaners.  

This one cleans your tub/shower.  I have a textured bottom and no matter what I have tried (bleach, plain baking soda, scouring powder...) it just didn't come clean.  Then I found this site that claimed to have the cure to clean your stubborn shower scum.   

So I thought I would give it a try. 
The recipe calls for:
1/2 c. white vinegar
1/2 c. Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap
4 T. Baking Soda

Heat the vinegar in the microwave for about 90 seconds.  Let it cool a few minutes.  I began to add the baking soda a little at a time.  There was too much foam so I added the soap and gave it a stir.  Then I added the rest of the baking soda.

This made a bowl of foamy goodness.

Now I clean my shower every week and still have this gross looking bottom.  Don't judge.

 So I spread the mixture all over the bottom.  I had to make another batch to cover the entire area.

Now you let it sit for two hours.  When I came back and started to scrub it didn't seem to get all the crevasses so I smeared it around again and left it for another hour.

 I took a scrub brush and gave it a good scrubbing.  Some areas needed a bit more elbow grease than others, but it came clean.   

This made me very happy.  If you have a textured bath/shower.  Give it try!  
This next concoction is a grease cutter.  When I fist saw it I thought a grease cutter that uses oil?????  But it is AWESOME.  You can read the blog post HERE.

The recipe is:
1 part vegetable oil
2 part baking soda

Mix it in a small bowl and grab an old toothbrush.  The site claimed to get that greasy gunk off you cabinets.  Since I have light colored cabinets, pictures really didn't show a change.  But you could feel how clean the wood and knobs were after I scrubbed a bit.  So I was thinking maybe it would work on my stove.  

I have a stainless steel stove and it took all the little grease marks right off.  It is a miracle cleaner! It also took off the black grease around the burners.  It is a little messy but worth the extra clean up.

So there you have two easy cleansers that you whip up at home.  Happy spring cleaning!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Sunday, March 30, 2014

House Keeping Tip

As many of you know we supplement our heat with a wood stove in the winter.  I love the smell and the flicker of the flames.  What I don't like as much is keeping the area clean.  I am constantly cleaning up ash and soot.

 After a week of fires the glass is covered in soot and I can't see the flames so much anymore.

When we first moved in (being a wood stove newby) I tried to clean the glass with glass cleaner.  Well that didn't work. So I googled "how to clean fireplace glass". I love google!

Well I didn't beilive the answer I found.  It said to get a damp paper towel and dip it in the ashes and then rub the glass.  
Really???? Ewwwwww
 


It really works!
 So if you have dirty fireplace glass, 
use this handy tip to keep it clean.

If you like this tip, please share it on Pinterest.
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Where Have I Been?

Here is the reason I haven't been blogging lately. 
 I have been working at church to help pull 
together a Father/Daughter Dinner. 
 We had 200 in attendance.  
We transformed the gym
 into a special space for a memorable evening. 

Our theme for the evening was Psalm 139:14 
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul know very well."

We wanted the girls to know that the Lord made each and everyone of them unique and special!
Since the dinner was just a few days after spring, we thought the colors should be bright and cheery.  We made almost all the decorations by hand.  We had a great group of volunteers that helped!


The birdcages were from Hobby Lobby.  We attached a glass candlestick from the dollar store.  Then we distressed the cage with a variety of paints.  The table number was an embossed and inked circle.  Making it look like a piece of wood.  I added some raffia, flowers and you have a pretty focal piece.

We place the cage on a piece of wood and painted a little bird for each centerpiece.  A votive added just the right amount of light to illuminate the cage.

These poms were fun to make and hang as our dance floor chandelier.


 Each place setting had a hand dyed doily and tissue paper corsage.  Our party favor for the girls were little insta-grow pots filled with flower seeds.  We had nest shaped candy dishes with egg candies that matched our colors perfectly. 
For dessert we served cupcakes from this fabulous cupcake bar.  The ladies baked and decorated 300+ cupcakes.  They dived right in and loved it!


We had a fun photobooth area for them to get a picture taken.  It was a good way for them to remember the evening.

Here is a picture of the main coordinators of the dinner.  Left, food coordinator, middle, administrative/ craft helper, and I created the decor for the all the areas of the event.

It was a great experience working with these ladies and all the other volunteers that made this evening possible.  I am blessed that I can use my crafty gifts and talents to help create a special evening for my church family.


Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Card Classes


This past weekend I traveled up to my old stomping grounds in Pulaski, NY.  I taught two card classes. 

The first one was with a few ladies that I gather with each time I venture up north.  We get together and have a ladies craft day.  I gather my supplies and share a project with them.  This year it was cards.





 These guys rock at card making!






Here are the cards we made.

I was invited to teach at the churches local MOPS group. 
Take a look at all these wonderful ladies!
I had a blast teaching these moms. 
They had fun using their creativity to
create some beautiful cards.
Thanks Korleen for letting me crash your group.
I recuited two of my friends to help me teach the ladies.
Thanks Jan and Jule!!!!


 

I think they all had a good time making cards.  I wish there was a MOPS group around when I had small children.  It is a great ministry for the community. 
See you next time ladies.
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a blessed day.