Homemade Cleaners

I feel like a domestic goddess after the last few days.  I have made a whole regiment of cleaners for the house and they have all worked fabTABulously!  I had been meaning to do this for YEARS, but just kept putting it off.  Thanks to Pinterest I got a reminder to do it this week. 

One of the main ingredient in these recipes is Citrus Vinegar. 

• Vinegar
• Citrus peels
• Gallon container with a plastic lid (vinegar will corrode a metal lid)

Stuff as many citrus peels into the container as you can.  (Bonus: you get a Vitamin C boost.)  Cover with vinegar and close.  Sit in a sunny place for 2 weeks to a month.  Strain off peels (place in garbage disposal to freshen drain) and bottle vinegar.


Soft Scrubby Cleaner

• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup liquid castile soap (I use Dr. Bronner's brand)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon Citrus Vinegar
• 20 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

Add soap and water together in a bowl, and then pour in vinegar.  The fat in the soap will solidify, continue to stir until the fat has dissolved again.  Add baking soda a little at a time until well blended.  Add essential oil and bottle.  (It is a slightly thick mixture, so use a funnel and spoon to push the mixture into the bottle.


Natural Degreaser

• 2 cups Citrus Vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons liquid castile soap

Mix everything in a spray bottle.  The fat in the soap will solidify; occasionally shake the bottle until the fat has dissolved again.  Use on tough grease or dried on food.


Window Cleaner

• 1 part white vinegar
• 1 part water
• 1 to 2 drops liquid castile soap

Mix everything in a spray bottle. The fat in the soap will solidify; occasionally shake the bottle until the fat has dissolved again. 


All-Purpose Cleaner

• 1 cup citrus vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
• 6 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
• Warm Water

Add vinegar, soap, and essential oil to spray bottle.  Fill the rest of the bottle with water and shake.  (This is a rough measurement, but should be about 2 cups water.)    The fat in the soap will solidify; occasionally shake the bottle until the fat has dissolved again.


Disinfectant Spray

• 1 part vinegar
• 1 part water
• 10 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

Mix everything in a spray bottle.  Use to disinfect the matteress after colds/flu/sickness, or any where you would need to disinfect.


Furniture Polish

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup Citruc Vinegar

Mix everything in a spray bottle.  Shake to mix well.  Use as you normally would on wood furniture.


That is what I made so far this week.  I have a list of other products to make and will let you know how they turn out.

***Go to the Dollar Tree for the Spray bottles.  $1 each for 32 ounce bottles!!!***

Children's Cough Syrup Worth Buying

This is the time of year when the "hackin-n-barkin" are in full swing, and given our Bipolar weather there is really no wonder.  Well, daughter-dear has developed a cough again and the doctor's stance is no cough syrup with DM in it.  Not much to ask for is it?  Wrong!  All the damned cough syrups have the DM cough supressant.  Ugh!  Well, the Hubby found one that did not and bought it, praying the whole time that our little darling would take it.  Here is a picture of it (made is really big so you can read it easier):

 

 

 

 

Total shocker...she loves it!  There is absolutely no color to it, it resembles slightly thick water, and really has no flavor as well.  It soothes her cough so she isn't coughing as much or hard, but at the same time it breaks it up.  Or melts the ice in her chest as our daughter likes to say. Bonus points: it is homepathic!  Score at Giant Food!

 

She has been taking it for five days and her cough is all but gone, and it was a pretty bad cough when it started last Friday.  (We did not find this product until Sunday night.) Tonight will probably be her last dose, just wanted to make sure she slept through the night. 

 

So, if your little one has the "hackin-n-barkin" going on, grab some of this.  It is fabTABulous!  In case you cannot find it at your local grocery or drug store, Amazon has it and the rest of Hyland's line of homepathic products.

 

***I was not paid or compensated for this review...but would welcome it should Hyland's feel the desire to do so : -)  ***

 

"From Drab to Fab" File Cabinet

Slowly but surely I am working on creating a Home Office, but I refuse to have it look drab.  I found inspiration on Pinterest (shocker, I know).  Someone had taken book pages and decoupaged them onto a trashcan.  Since I am a self-proclaimed bibliophile, I LOVED it!  So I took a page out of their book (corny, yes) and went wild.

This is the poor drab creature getting a make-over...

To get him prepared for the decoupaging, I removed the handles and applied a coat of primer to the drawer fronts.

While this dried, I grabbed a hardback book from my bookshelf that I didn't like, but never got rid of.  (Names have been withheld to protect the poor innocent book.)  I tore the pages out and then tore them in half from the middle, making two fat rectangles. Then I tore the blank edges off, leaving just the text.

Once the primer was dry, I poured ModPodge into a disposable bowl and applied a thick coat over the whole surface of the drawer front.   I placed a half page on the drawer front at a random angle, making sure there was over-hang to the sides of the drawer.  Another layer of ModPodge went over the top of the page, including the over-hang, gluing it to the sides to secure it and make a clean, neat edge.  Repeat this step all the way around and overlap the pages, making sure to vary the direction of the text.  Some of my pages are even upside down.  This is what you will end up with when it is completely covered.

Next move on to the second drawer front and cover it as well.  Once you have both completely covered, apply another thick coat of ModPodge to make sure it is sealed.  When that coat is dry, use an X-acto knife, or scissors, to trim any excessive over-hang and then re-attach the handles.  And here is the final product:

I only used about 50 full pages for the file cabinet, so a thin book would have worked.  Since I have some many pages left over I am now decoupaging my printer stand (a.k.a an old microwave cart).

Welcome 2013

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  Oky, now that is out of my system, on to bigger and better things.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how...well, unsatisfied I am with myself and life in general.  I feel like I am in a rut, and a not-so-productive rut at that.  Since it is the New Year, I thought some changes were in order. 

   1. Health

• Only go out to eat at a restaurant for special occasions
• Get an entree salad when we do go out, unless it is for a specific type food, like pizza
• No more sodas...period
• Try HARD to have a salad at every dinner at home

   2.  Housework

• Change my cleaning schedule to one room a day
• Have a structured daily routine broken down into Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Before Bed

   3.  Home Office

• Set up my home office in the basement
• Menu Planning on Monday
• Garden Planning on Tuesday
• Clean my home office on Wednesday
• File papers on Thursday
• Plan/check schedule for weekend on Friday

  4. Finances

• Cut our grocery budget to $50 a week
• Any left over from grocery budget go into fund of some kind (haven't decided yet)
• Only go out to restaurants for special occasions

I think I can adhere to these without too much problem.  I will probably struggle along the way, but in the end there will be a better me.  Gods above, please say it is so! 

Quick & Easy Holly Ornament

I am cannot even begin to say how sick and tired I am of, well, being sick and tired.  The whole house has been sick since the last time I posted...almost two freakin' months!!!!  Hopefully we will be better before Christmas morning.

Speaking on Christmas (or Yule, or Mother's Night, or whatever you call it), last night my daughter and I made a really quick and easy ornament for our tree.  Many of you already know, but for those that do not, I am obessed with holiday ornaments and Yule trees!  We buy our daughter at least one ornament a year, usually with a special meaning.  For instance, this year's ornament is a picture frame ornament shaped like a bus that commemorates her first day of Kindergarten and has her school picture in it.  It has the year, the school name, and her grade on it.  I even have an heirloom diary that has a picture of each ornament, when she received it, who gave it to her (her Granny gifts them to her as well), and if there is a story behind it that is included as well.

I also buy ornament kits after the holidays on clearance and then have the kids (our daughter and cousins) make an ornament on Thanksgiving each year.  This year was a snowman's top hat.  That is when I learned that off-brand school glue sucks majorly, especially when gluing felt together!  I will use Aleene's Tacky Glue from now on, screw the cost.  The headache is not worth the money saved.

Anyway, now that I have rambled on, if you have gotten this far, here is the instructions for last night's ornament"

Holly Ornament

1 sheet green felt
1 bag red vase filler gem balls
Thin red ribbon
Holly leaf cookie cutter or template
Sharpie
Scissors
Aleene's Tacky Glue

Using the cookie cutter and Sharpie, trace two holly leaves that overlap slightly at their tips, so you have one piece.  Cut it out.  Turn it over so that any lingering Sharpie marks are on the back and glue three of the red gem balls in an inverted triangle to form the holly berries.  Allow to dry completely (we let it dry overnight).  When dry, turn over and glue a loop of ribbon to back of the ornament for a hanger.  Again, allow to dry.  Hang on the tree when finished!



I plan to make a few more ornaments this week, hopefully, health willing.  I will post directions for them when I finish them.

I Am Gobsmacked!

Well, as the title of this post says, I am gobsmacked.  I have been making crafts and handmade items so I can have my own Etsy shop.  I honestly have almost no confidence in my work and am my own worst critic.  That said, I think my confidence is picking up after Saturday night. 

I had bought some pieces to try making a pair of earrings to see how difficult it would be.  I thought they turned out well so I posted a picture of them on Facebook for my friends to see.  Well, evidently they did turn out well cause within fifteen minutes of posting them one of my friends had bought them!!!  My first sale!!!  WOOHOO!!!! 

So the last few days has been a whirlwind of activity.  I have bought packaging materials and still have more to buy.  Tonight I bought craft punches to make earring cards and decorative tags with my logo on it.  This is the logo:

After trying out the punches this is what the earring cards look like with the earrings I sold look like:

And I spent $20.19 on two craft punches and 21 sheets of cardstock at Michaels...saving $20.18 thanks to sales and coupons! Love me some 50% coupons!  Now I just have to buy the black kraft paper for wrapping and the black/white baker's twine to finish the packaging.

This has set a light under my considerably large ass to get busy on shop stock.  Today alone I have finished two tea trays and half finished a crocheted shawl.  I hope to have the items photographed and uploaded to my Etsy shop in the next day or so.  I will post a follow-up when they are up along with the web addy. 

So excited!!!  *does a happy dance*

Samhain Traditions

So much has happened in the last week I honestly have trouble knowing where to start.  First off, we survived Sandy without losing power or any damage (extended Fam as well), but that cannot be said for everyone.  A candle will be burning for those that are displaced form their homes, or are suffering without power; as well as prayers being said for their well-being.  All we got, luckily, was a lot of rain and some moderately strong wind.  For a while we thought She was coming straight for us, but changed at the last minute and headed farther North.  Once again, those affected by Sandy are in my thoughts.

Happily, the weather was back to normal, though cold, for Samhain (a.k.a Halloween).  Since our daughter's school has decided not to allow any Halloween activities in the school I decided to keep her out of school for the day.  To me it is a huge holiday and not just for the dressing up and trick-or-treating, but because it is when the Veil thins and our Ancestors are able to return to us.  It is a time to honor Those Who Came Before. 

So, we started the day with donuts and milk, then had some time to play and watched Nightmare Before Christmas.  Around noon we made Soul Cakes and I got some pictures of our daughter making them.  She is six and was almost able to make them by herself.  We used my pentacle cookie stamper to flatten them.

Soul Cakes

1 stick butter, softened

1 3/4 cups flour, sifted

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg 

1/4 teaspoon saffron

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Dash of ground cloves

1 egg

1 tsp malt vinegar

Cut the butter into the flour with a large fork. Mix in the sugar, nutmeg, saffron, cinammon and cloves. Lightly beat eggs, and add to flour mixture. Add malt vinegar. Mix until you have a stiff dough. Knead for a while, then roll into 1-inch balls.  Place on greased baking sheet and use a cookie stamp or floured glass to flatten slightly.  Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool on wax paper.

Makes 3 dozen.

Once the cookies cooled, we decided it was pumpkin carving time.  She drew the face she wanted on the pumpkin and then I tried to cut the top off her pumpkin...but the knife wouldn't even go into the pumpkin.  That is how hard her pumpkin was.  So I tried cutting the top off my pumpkin and had no problem with it, so we went with that one.  I had her draw another face and then she tried to use the little pumpkin carving knife to cut it out, but it was too difficult so I cut the face out for her.  I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

Now was time to set up the Ancestor Altar.  I had bought silver picture frames from Dollar Tree the week before (LOVE that place).  I cut white copy paper into strips that would fit into the frames, then using a Sharpie wrote the names of our Family's Ancestors.  I ended up with twelve names and then I used a thirteenth frame as a Welcome frame.  I had cleared them out of this design frame, which was 18 frames so I had plenty.  We placed a tealight in front of each frame and a white and a black jar candle on each end.  The Jack-o-lantern went in the middle with offerings on either side.  We had soul cakes, pumpkin seeds, and water, as well as my daughter's "spells" (pieces of paper with random scribbles...but they meant something to her and we all start somewhere).  As I lit the White candle I said "Candle White, welcome spirits this night" and as I lit the Black candle I said "Candle Black, welcome our Ancestors back".

Once everything was lit, it looked like this:

Then of course we went trick-or-treating at my Maman and Baba's neighborhood cause they give out better candy.  :-)  We all had a blast and then ended the night with tea and a roaring fire.  Oh the decadence!

Then I decided to make some beef stew now that the temperatures have plummeted, but I wasn't in the mood to really cook, so out comes the crockpot!  It was to DIE for!  Yummy!

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (Crockpot)

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

3/4 cup Flour

1 tablespoon Garlic powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

2 pounds lean stew beef

1 onion, cut into eighths 

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 bay leaves

1/2 pound baby carrots 

6 medium potatoes, cut in pieces

1/3 cup cold water blended with 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine flour, paprika and garlic powder in a food storage bag; add stew beef and toss to coat. Brown coated beef in hot oil in a large skillet; transfer to the Crockpot. Add the remaining ingredients except for water and cornstarch mixture. Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours, or High for 6 hours, until vegetables are tender. About 30 minutes before serving, add cornstarch mixture to the pot. Turn to high and cook until thickened.

I was also feeling a little adventurous since the stew turned out well, so I made Spiced Pomegranate Apple Cider.  I did not have all the ingredients for the original recipe, so tweaked it to what I did have and WOW, is it good!

Spiced Pomegranate Apple Cider
2 cups pomegranate juice
4 1/2 cups apple cider
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
1 tablespoon whole cloves
2 whole cinnamon sticks

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve. 

Note:  If you need to keep it warm, use a crockpot set on Low.  Make sure you do not serve the spices in the cups, keep them in the pot.

So far it is even good at room temperature (Mine has gone cold while typing this) so I wonder how it will be chilled.  I will find out in the morning.


I hope to have some a DIY post for y'all soon.  Sandy kinda derailed me on redecorating my home office, but I have plans to start back on it tomorrow.  Maybe I can get it all done by Sunday.