Hubby had the day off yesterday so we decided to rearrange the furniture. Actually, I decided to rearrange the furniture and roped Hubbs into helping... poor guy. He's a trooper. 

You know what happens when you do a house project, right? Everything gets thrown all over the place and, as my youngest daughter says, "It looks like we just moved in." She's right. 

Hubby is back at work today, so here is what I'll be working on today, all by myself...

Kind of disastrous, isn't it?  You'll notice that my kitchen was included in these pics.  I'm just going to pretend it looks that way because of the rearranging.  

Ok, I'm off to get started.  Wish me luck.  

Magazine Love

My Real Simple came in the mail yesterday afternoon. Yay! I'm going to sit down with a cup of coffee and read through it! Maybe it will inspire me to get off my duff and actually do some spring cleaning.

If you have never experienced Real Simple, click here to get a free copy. It's organizing goodness all in one place.  

Enjoy!

  

I think I'm Gonna Cry Now

I'm sitting here at my computer looking around me.  What do I see? Dust.  Crumbs.  Cereal.  Papers.  I'm reviewing my to-do list in my head, calculating the time it will take me to complete it, and fighting the temptation to rip up the list, sit on the couch, and watch a movie while eating ice cream right out of the carton.  

Let me explain how this all started.  It was last Thursday evening, to be exact.  I was at a friend's house, all my cookbooks and recipes in tow. We were going to have dinner together and do some meal planning so our families could eat.  I left a frozen pizza at home for my hubby and kids to eat (I know, not gourmet but they like it.)  I'm about to sit down to eat and my cell phone rings.  

I hear my husband say, "Our oven isn't preheating."  I couldn't possibly have heard him right.  I LOVE my oven.  It's nothing spectacular, but it's mine and I have bonded with it.  I say, "What?"  Much to my dismay, he repeats himself, louder this time, mistaking my "What?" response as the inability to hear him instead of disbelief and grief over what I'm hearing.  "OUR OVEN IS NOT PREHEATING!"   I take him through all of my oven repair expertise (um, yeah) and realize that he has done everything I can think of to get it working.  I sigh and say, "I guess you can try and use the toaster oven."  Thinking I've come up with a good solution, I'm about to hang up.  I hear him say, "I already tried that. The toaster oven isn't working either."  *sigh*  This has got to be a weird dream where all of my appliances plot against me and stop working.  I suggest sandwiches and hang up before he can tell me the refrigerator has died too.

Can I tell you about what happened earlier that day?  I get to work, ready to tackle my long list of things to do.  I push power on my computer... nothing happens.  "No, no, no, this can't be happening!  I just saved a document on there that took my two and a half hours to create!" I push the power button again, while praying.  Nothing.  I get down on the floor, pull the tower out of the desk and start unplugging, counting, re-plugging, and push the power button.  Nothing.  I lay my hands on the computer, start praying for healing (desperation, my friends).  Nothing.  After more praying and some controlled breathing, I give up and say goodbye to the computer, as it's hauled out of the office to Best Buy for repair.  I continue to pray.

Today, finally getting around to cleaning my house that desperately needs cleaning, I turn my vacuum on and start pushing it around. Nothing is sucking up.  "No.  Not you too."  I open the door and adjust the bag - yes, a bag. It's old.  I close the door and push power.  Still nothing.  I try the detachable arm.  Nope.  I skip the controlled breathing and prayer and leave the vacuum in the middle of my bedroom to text my husband and tell him the good news.  I know he'll be as happy as I am.   

I have a feeling that Hubby and I will be going shopping for vacuums for Valentine's Day.   

I am not a researcher of household items.  I like to start with what people I know are using.  SO, what kind of vacuum do you use, and would you recommend it for my Valentine's Day gift?  

Your Frazzled Friend,

Heather

The Dishwasher Dilemma

I've posted several recipes for making your own household and beauty products. One of the products that has been giving me a bit of trouble is the dishwashing detergent. I've tried a few different things but still had that white film all over my dishes. Well, I found a solution: Kool-Aid. Let me explain. 

I've been doing some research into rinsing agents, what works and what doesn't. A really good rinsing agent is citric acid. Citric acid is useful in sprouting, canning, drying or freezing. It can be used to preserve Vitamin C content, retard spoilage by bacterial growth and prevent discoloration.  You can buy citric acid in powder form or you can get citric acid from Lemonade Kool-Aid.  I chose to go with the Dollar General generic (Clover Valley) at 10 packs for $1.00. I figured it's $1.00 (I already had the other ingredients), why not give it a try?  

I reluctantly put the ingredients in the dishwasher, shut the door and waited for the end of the cycle.  When I came back, with Hubby by my side, we opened the door and guess what we saw?  Sparkling clean dishes!  Finally!  This is the one area that Hubby was having a hard time with.  He'd OFTEN say, "If you want to switch back to store bought dishwasher detergent, I wouldn't mind." Poor Love.  He's been so patient and supportive.  

Here's the recipe, in case you want to wow your husband (or wife.  or cat. whatever.)  with your dishwasher detergent skills: 

1/2 c borax

1/2 c washing soda (not baking soda)

15 packs of lemonade Kool-Aid (or generic kool-aid like stuff) 

1/4 c salt 

Mix all of the ingredients together in a container.  Give it a good shake.  Use 1 tbsp per load.   

A few notes about the recipe:

• Just use the packets of kool-aid.  Don't make the drink with the water and the sugar and then add it.

• The next day, you may find your mixture has hardened.  That's the citric acid. Just give it a good scrape with a spoon to loosen it up before scooping it into the dishwasher.

• If you want, you can add white vinegar to the rinse compartment.  I didn't do this, but you can if you want to. I didn't actually have a need to.  But if it makes you feel better or you find that you can't live without white vinegar, go for it.

• Don't use colorful drink mix, it will stain your dishes and the inside of your dishwasher.  Stick with the light colored ones.  

• For added scent put 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil into the detergent container.  Mix well.  If you don't want to commit to the whole container, just add a couple drops into your detergent compartment after you put 1 tbsp of detergent.  

One of the best things about this recipe is that you can buy all of these things at the grocery store.  You may spend a few more dollars to start, but these ingredients last forever!  You'll definitely get a return on your investment.  

Enjoy your clean dishes!  I'll hopefully be posting my deodorant recipe soon. I'm so close to perfecting it!  

Thanks for stopping by,

          

 

           

Adorable Idea!

I was reading through a couple of blogs and happened upon this blog called "On My Side Of The Room" the other day.  She has some really creative ideas.  One could get lost on that blog for hours, readjusting your whole budget just to make some of the things on this blog.  Not me, of course, because that would be completely irresponsible.    

There was one project that stuck out to me.  It was this jewelry holder (pictured above).  It is adorable!  So, I thought I'd share it with you.  If you're interested in making this, click here for the tutorial.

It's nice to have a little project idea.  I've been feeling pretty uninspired lately.  I feel like I need to do something different in my house, spruce it up a bit.  I'm just at a loss.  I look at some of these blogs and want to start stalking their owners, begging them to come to my house and help me decorate and organize.  Would that be illegal?  

What kind of creative projects do you have in the works?  

If you need more inspiration, check out this blog as well.  

Thanks for stopping by,