Home improvements

We've been making some small home improvements at our house. I've wanted cabinets over our washer and dryer, but I don't think that's going to happen for a while. So we have a shelf now instead. It's so nice to finally get all of that stuff off the dryer and the floor!

We finally have a headboard over our bed. I bought this piece at a flea market a while back. I'm not sure what it's intended use was, but as soon as I saw it, I wanted it in our room. I just wish it wasn't missing the decorative part on the right. I thought about white washing the whole thing, but it has a great old wood patina, and I would really hate to lose that. Despite the fact that Steve does not like it, he hung it anyway. I guess he likes me more than he dislikes the headboard. :)

Updated house pictures

I haven't posted pictures of our house in a long time, and things look a little different now. We finished a few projects, and have lots more left to do. A few months ago I painted the coffee table I got at a yard sale. We moved the furniture around in our living room for Rebecca's birthday party. We like it a lot better this way, so we left it.


You know you've come full circle when most things in your house have come from a yard sale, and most of what you sell at your yard sale came from a yard sale. Is that sad? I don't know, but it's okay with me. :)







Still have a few more cubes to finish painting. . .



Finally a mirror! And since Stephen hung this one, my dad hung another mirror in our bathroom for us. I hope to one day replace our cardboard box of medicine with a cabinet. :)

Cubes!

On our recent trip to Florida, while visiting our friends the Hazelwoods, Amanda introduced me to these fabulous cubes. I thought they were really nice, then she told me what she paid for them. ONE dollar!!! A DOLLAR!!! Then I thought they were fantastic! My mind was reeling with the possibilities. I had to find a way to get some of these! Unfortunately the store she got them at, Solomon's, was closed the entire week we were there. But Amanda was willing to pick some up for me when they were open. So then I just had to get them back to Arkansas somehow. My sweet mother in-law was willing to store them for me for a little while. But I was hoping she wouldn't need to and that I could get started on using them. Enter my sister Joy. It just so happened that Joy was going to Disney World two weeks after our Jacksonville trip, and she offered to pick them up. Of course, I had also promised her some cubes, so she may have been hoping to claim them all as her own. . . . :) Anyway, I got my 10 cubes and gave six to Joy.

I put one together Tuesday since I'll leave some of them plain. They are solid wood and can be painted, stained, etc. There are doors that go with them, but Solomon's didn't have any. Each cube has one open side and three sides that have a panel that is the perfect size for a 12x12 sheet of paper. I'll put paper in some, pictures in some. I know they're designed mainly for storage, but I think they'll be great night stands, end tables, etc.

Here's what some of Lisa Bearnson and Becky Higgin's cubes look like.

More pictures to come on my finished cubes.

WFMW: laundry soap

This week's Works for Me Wednesday tip is once again about laundry. I recently read on A Full Cup about making laundry detergent for really cheap. So after finally finding Zote soap, I tried it this weekend. The link has a couple of different recipes, including a liquid version. I decided on trying the powder one. Here's the recipe I used:

2 parts Zote or Fels Naptha soap (This is laundry soap, not regular soap)
1 part Borax
1 part washing soda (This is not the same as baking soda.)

The thread on A Full Cup has more info on different stores that carry these ingredients. I got Borax and washing soda at Kroger, and Zote at Save a Lot. Kroger also has Fels Neptha if you use that recipe.

Grate the bar of soap. I got an old grater at an antique flea market to use just for my soap. We grated mine in bigger pieces, but the next time I do this I'll grate it finer. It didn't seem to affect the soap dissolving, but I think it will just be better if it's finer. Then just combine the three ingredients. I put mine in an empty Tidy Cats kitty litter bucket. By now if you're like my mom and sister, you're thinking I'm crazy. But it was really easy to do, and I'm not just saying that because my sister grated my whole bar of soap for me. :) The ingredients cost me about $7. At first I thought one recipe would last me about 100 loads, but according to someone on A Full Cup will last me for over 300 loads! Even with coupons and sales I could never find detergent that cheap. You just need to use 2 tbs for each load, so it will last a long time. The Zote soap I got is pink and has a flowery scent, but my laundry had no smell at all after I washed it. If you want to, you can add a few drops of essential oils to the washing machine to give your laundry a little scent. There won't be any suds with this detergent, but trust me it really cleans! It got out some old stains I was sure would never come out.

There's a cost break down at Simple Dollar on store bought detergent vs. homemade. This is based on the liquid detergent, but I think the powdered version is about the same and even cheaper is you can find coupons. Sometimes Arm & Hammer has coupons in the paper for any laundry product or something.

Works for me Wednesday: Socks

It happens to us all, socks mysteriously disappearing in the laundry never to be seen again. I've found an easy way to prevent all of those socks from being lost without their counterparts in the black hole of the laundry room. When I put them in the hamper, I clip my socks together with a plastic clothes pin. It's all plastic, so there's no rusting. And all of my socks are already matched up when they come out of they dryer. Anyhoo, that's what works for me. :)

This makes 500 posts since I started this blog two and a half years ago!

Works for me Wednesday

My WFMW tip for today is about moving. Lots of people I know are moving. Kelly, Joe and the boys just moved a couple of weeks ago. Paula and Jeremy are hopefully buying a house soon. My sister, brother in-law, nephews, and mom and dad are moving to Arkansas in a couple of weeks, (yes all of them!). These tips have served me well through my many moves. Thanks to all of you who helped me through those years. Thankfully, I'm never, ever moving again. I'm happily staying where I am in our house in the country.

First, when you're packing all of your belongings, keep in mind how long they may be in storage. The amount of time your boxes will be stored should be proportionate to the detail you label your boxes. Trust me on this one. If you just label a box "kitchen", six months later you will not remember where you packed your blender when you're craving a strawberry milkshake. So label everything! And I mean everything! If you're just planning to unpack everything as soon as possible, this may not be as important to you. But if you're like me, and thought you would be unpacking everything within a couple of months, but plans changed and you needed to keep almost everything you owned stored in boxes for two years, then this comes in handy. If I had known that, I also would have packed with mothballs. And something to keep mice away. Do mothballs do that too? They would keep me away. I don't know. But I was surprised to find a mouse in one of our boxes once it finally got unpacked at our apartment a couple of years ago. If I were to move like that again, I would number all my boxes and keep a master list of everything. But my husband would say that's me being overly organized. But if he was looking for a can opener, I would be able to find it! Can one be too organized? I don't think so.

Second moving tip, pack a "move in" box that is different from all your other boxes so it's easy for your to spot and keep track of. Keep it with you in the car instead of the moving truck. Keep important things in this box and unpack it first. Toilet paper, trash bag, change of clothes, towel, paper towels, paper plates, toothbrush. Anything you think you will need right away but don't want to have to unpack 14 boxes to find it all.

And if you're moving, get lots of helpers. Not me. I can't help you. Thank goodness, I have a legitimate excuse! Just kidding. I'd help if I could. :)

Works for me Wednesday: Microfiber Towels

My tip for this week is about microfiber towels. I've seen them with the cleaning supplies for about $3 for one, which I'm just not willing to pay. So I got mine in the automotive section at Target for $5 and something for 12 towels. They don't come in pretty colors like the more expensive version, but they do the job. I use them all over the house (except the bathroom), and they pick up everything. I use them with my Swiffer sweeper thing on all our wood floors, on the windows, mirror, kitchen counters, dusting furniture. When I'm finished, it just goes in with the laundery. They have a weird texture that I can't seem to get used to, but other than that I love my microfiber towels. I never have to buy swiffer duster thingies or use up lots of paper towels. It saves me money, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside because I'm not adding more trash to our burn pile. Who invented microfiber? Wish I'd thought of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Columbus Day weekend

Since yesterday was Columbus Day, I had the day off. I always forget about holidays like that though. I remember the big ones, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc. I work at a credit union, so we get all the federal holidays off. My co-workers know they always have to remind me about Presiden'ts Day and Columbus Day. If they didn't, I think I would show up to work. I walked in the Race for the Cure Saturday (pictures to come soon), then ran some errands while I was in Little Rock, so I didn't get to any cleaning Saturday. Since I remembered Sunday night that I didn't have to work Monday, I did my cleaning yesterday. I had two bathrooms to clean, not just one. I didn't get everything done in 19 minutes, but I did it all in 30 minutes. Not too bad. And then I took it easy the rest of the day and scrapbooked! :)

Clean Your House in 19 Minutes

A coworker showed me this article on housecleaning. I printed the list out so I can put it on the refrigerator or some place where I can look at it every day. Tonight there's a ladies meeting at church, so I'm going to use this list over the weekend. I doubt I'll get everything on this list done in 19 minutes the first time, but maybe I can work towards that. I'll time it, and post here how long it took. Here's the link to the list, and I copied and pasted the list here too. Happy house cleaning! :)

Clean Your House In 19 Minutes

Kitchen, 4 1/2 minutes daily
Always start with the sink. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.

• Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
• Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
• Wipe down the counters (one minute).
• Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don't stop there. Get the most out of your premoistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.
• Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
• Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
• Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
• Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
• Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

Bedroom, 6 1/2 minutes daily
Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seen like a high priority as you're rushing to work, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.
• Make the bed (two minutes).
• Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes).
• Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Family Room, Living Room, Foyer, 6 minutes daily
Start with the sofa -- as long as it's in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you've fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you're halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.
• Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
• Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
• Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
• Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos. (Two minutes.)

Works for me Wednesday

I've been reading this blog, Rocks in My Dryer, lately. There's some pretty good tips and ideas on there. Today is Works for me Wednesday, and the theme is kitchen organization. Steve always says that organization is my hobby, and I always insist it isn't. I just like things to be organized. I don't neccessarily enjoy the process of organizing. Anyhoo, my kitchen tip is this: Sometimes I would find myself trying to remember whether the dishes in our dishwasher are clean or dirty. And on the rare occassion that Steve actually opens the dishwasher he might question the same thing, though this is not often a problem. My solution is simple. Our dishwasher has a light that stays on after it's run, and it stays on as long as you don't completely close the dishwasher. So after it runs, even if I open it to get one or two things out, I don't close it completely until I unload, so the "clean" light stays on. I usually unload it as soon as it's done, and that little detergent door slaps open, I know it's time to unload it. Not something that's going to shake the world of dish washing, but it works for me! :)