{Recap} March 2016

You would think March would have been calm for us with a newborn. 

But nope. It wasn't! 

Once the new range was in, we had to decide what to do with the cabinets.

Under the old counter top stove, we had our pot and pan cabinet and I did not want to lose that.

And above and below the old oven were cabinets that I didn't want to lose both. 

So it took some brainstorming.... more on that later!

And when ou have a newborn, and need to cook dinner. 

You put them on the amazing island your hubby built. 

The top is about 4 x 6 feet, so there is plenty of room!

For the past couple years these little birds have visited us in the wreath on the front door!

It's amazing how loud their call is, for being so little. 

And that I can lift the kids up to get a good look!

Ah, wishful thinking.

In March I began to try to figure out the garden. 

Like every year, on paper things look great.

But then I get outside, and decide to change things up.

To be honest, this year I threw plans out the window and just wing it. 

Ah, Easter Egg dying. Quite the feat with three sets of hands!

Poor Wyatt looked like the hulk by the end. So much dye on his fingers!

Ugh. The worst part of the month if not year.

Our beloved Golden Retriever, Cooper passed the day before Easter.

He passed in his sleep, and that's how I found him.

We didn't see it coming either. He went out the night before like any other night.

We got Cooper two months after we got our house, he was 9.

Some were surprised he was only 9, but we weren't.

We were told when we first go him, he had a heart condition and should be returned to the breeder.

We felt if we returned him the breeder most likely would put him down.

So we just said if we get 6 months or 6 years we would give him the best, and we did.

Losing a pet is hard, losing a pet with three kids that sort of understand is harder.

Even to today, they will randomly ask questions and it still breaks my husbands and my hearts.

Wait? What is this? A Craft? You say?

Yes. The morning of Easter I realized the toes of Ellie's "Cinderella" shoes needed some love. 

So, I went ahead and painted the toes with black shoe polish! 

Mom Win! If you ask me! The shoes still fit, and they look almost new again!

*And yes, I did do both! ha!*

{Cleans} DIY Eyeglasses Cleaner!

I've worn glasses for years and overall feel I keep them pretty clean, so I never felt the need to have glasses cleaner on hand. Until now. 

Recently, I noticed Wyatt (3 years old) was having some issues with his eyes. 

So after a couple appointments here and there, we found he needed glasses.

Sounds easy enough? It's not. 

Keeping glasses on a 3 year old is near impossible. 

Keeping glasses clean on a 3 year old is impossible.

So, since I can't control how to keep glasses on Wyatt. I thought I could control just how clean they are for him. Every time I ask him to put them on, he tells me they are "foggy" and when I look at them they sure are. They are covered in finger prints and whatever else you can think of. 

All it took was a day of cleaning them off with water, or whatever I could get my hands on before I looked up a proper recipe. What a difference! The recipe is so simple, and you can make your batch as big or little as your want! 

All it is is equal parts water and rubbing alcohol, and a drop of dish soap.

 That's it! If you want to take it up a notch and buy a little travel spray bottle (Mine is from target for less than a dollar), go for it! Makes cleaning them so much easier! 

We have a Mudroom!

Last week my husband was out of town for work, so I took matters into my own hands on a whim.

He left Sunday afternoon, and Monday I decided to clean/purge out back porch.  

It's not a heated space, so I normally try to do a good cleanup, reorganize, purge before it gets too cold.

The last time I shared this space was 2011!

And even then I hinted to how I wanted it... And I think I finally nailed it! 

Well. One thing led to another.

I went from a quick clean out to a complete overhaul.

With a phonecall and help from my mom...

my backporch went from this...

This is what was hidden behind the curtain! 

Yikes!

to this...

in THREE days! 

Can you believe it? Neither can I!

Want to hear something else?

It only cost $33! 

THIRTY THREE DOLLARS?!?!?

Yup. Between my mom and I, we had everything except the flooring! 

I still can't believe it! And it's been a week of enjoying a project off the to do list! 

So, again let's look at how it looked Monday after I purged things. 

Looking at this is when I was trying to see how I could improve on the space.

A phonecall to my mom to talk me off the ledge, actually threw me over the ledge.

But I am soooo happy she did!

So after a couple calls back and forth, I got to work Tuesday, emptying the space and looking at my back porch reno pinterest board to nail down my plan of attack.

Once I had an idea in my head of what I wanted, my mom and I started to figure out measurements using things we had.

She had given me the doors a while back for this space, and they were just waiting for us.

The frames for the closets was a weird bedframe piece that my mom was given. 

(Think boxspring except flat.) A quick pass with the saw and we had two walls!

Are you seeing why and how this came together so fast? 

Everything was just waiting to be put together!

After my mom helped get the closets up, I cut some paneling that was left in our garage eves by the previous owner (yup. 7 years ago and it was still there!) and I put it on the sides of the closets. Then Tuesday night I painted my little heart out after the kids went to bed!

Wednesday morning came, and I patched and painted the other two walls of the room.

I went with some pretty pale blue paint I had picked up for free using a coupon at Ace hardware!

Wednesday night my mom came over again and we built the bench! 

A couple boards, and the remaining two doors and it was done! 

We even left a small gap behind the bench back so I have a place for tall items like umbrellas!

Thursday was my deadline, well sort of. My husband was due back dinner time Friday but I had to have it done before then, plus I was volunteering at school Friday. 

So Thursday was paint touchup day, and flooring. 

I was the most nervous about the flooring out of the entire project. 

See- this is an unheated space, that needs some love structurally. It's a sloped floor that we have to fix eventually, so I didn't want to do too much. But decided I needed to do something since I did everything else. So sticky tiles it was. I couldn't believe how much they were! But since I didn't spend anything anywhere else I was okay with spending $33 to make the space finished!

Now, I know it's not 100% done, there are some spots to put moulding up, but I'll wait to do that once we redo the levelness of the floor.  When we go to fix the height, the gaps under the floor may be non existent, so I decided to just leave them, rather than extend just to have to take it off down the road!

Now, we have the entraceway our little house deserves!

This is the door most everyone uses when they come in our home, and now it's not an eyesore!

The view when you walk in!

And when you leave!

Pretty amazing if you ask me! It's so bright and cheery out there! 

Not bad for $33!

Fix: Broken Fridge Shelf

 

I never thought that I would have to fix a shelf in my fridge,

 and luckily it wasn't the glass that broke but the plastic frame!

A while back, I put some hot glue in the crack to buy me some time.

It definitely helped buy me some time, and think of a better solution.

Then I found this Plastic Duct Tape. It was in our local Dollar Store, and I haven't seen it again. 

So glad I grabbed it when I saw it. I bet regular duct tape would work, preferably the same color as your shelf.

So I peeled off the old glue, lined everything back up and used the tape to get everything back in place. 

Because the tape is white, you barely notice that it is there! 

So much better!

DIY Mail Station

While, I loved my command center it lacked in mail/paper storage.

It had one pocket, and clearly that wasn't enough. 

There were times it would burst open and everything would fall to the floor. Boo.

After looking around for options, I always came back to the stacked multiple file sorters.

And after looking for options, I looked at this box and thought. Huh. Would it work?

First, I took the top off the box ( It was a gift box) and cut the top and bottom in half the long ways.

Then I took the four pieces and measured the corners to create "angled" sides.

Which really all you have to do it go from top back corner to the bottom front. 

Cut on the line, but do not cut the bottom out of the box.

I folded the bottom up the back so papers won't slide down.

Repeat for all four.

If you flatten your piece this is what it should look like.

My measurements are:

Top Side triangles: 3 1/2" Wide, 4 1/2" Tall

Main Rectangle: 15" Wide, 4 1/2" Tall

Bottom Rectangle: 15" Wide, 3 1/2" Tall

Bottom Triangles: 2" Wide, 3 1/2"Tall 

Mine is all one piece, 

but if you had to use all those measurements as individual pieces and build it should work too!

Time to Assemble!

I used a hot glue gun, and tape. 

Thinking A.) this isn't going to work B.) This is my prototype.

(Which ironically has been up for almost a month with no issues!)

To assemble, I folded the bottom rectangle up the back and small triangles inside the angled sides. 

I had to trim them a little to fit, but then just glued and taped. 

Then, I stacked them, and lined up the backs.

Here is a better look at the backs, and how I hung it. 

Since it's so light I just put two push pins in each level!

Add a large calendar, and I've got a new Kitchen Command Center!

Yea!

Crochets: Dishcloths

To go with my Brown Sugar Bath Scrub, I made up some of this adorable washcloths.

What I loved most about them was that they had a loop to hang them up!

I found the original pattern here, and adjusted it to fit my needs.

My Adjustments:

I made my loop ten chains, and then did 20 single crochet (sc).

For the rest, I used half double crochet (hdc) instead of single crochet(sc). 

I didn't count my rows, just worked them until they were 6" x 6".

I used cotton yarn, and a size G hook.

I did not change colors, just one color.

Gifts: Brown Sugar Bath Scrub

Each year I make gifts, and this one is definitely going to be a keeper! 

I found the recipe online, but it's simple enough that you can change it up!

2 cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup White Sugar

Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Oil

Mix. 

Yup. Thats it.

Put in a jar, add a bow and tag!

This made three small jars.

I used white yarn that matched the washcloths I gave with the scrub. I'll share tommorow! 

And to make the tags, I used my circle punch, white cardstock!

Can you imagine mixing different extracts or essential oils?

The possibilities are endless!

Revisited: DIY Laundry Soap

Now that I have finished using my first batch, I thought I would let you all know just how it went!

Here's what I mixed up this time:

(Note: Not all quantities pictured, just one of each item)

1-4lb 12 oz box borax

1-3lb oxyclean

1-3 lb 7 oz Washing Soda

2-14.1oz zote soap bars, shredded

4-1lb boxes baking soda 

** I didn't want to grate the Zote by hand, so I sent it through my Salad shooter with the shred blade!**

I've got to say, I love it! 

As you can see,  this time I didn't add the Purex Fabric Softener Crystals.

I didn't feel like they added much to the mix. My clothes didn't come out as smelly as I thought and I wasn't 100% sold on the scent. So back to the downy ball I go, at least for this batch.

 Maybe I will try Downy Unstoppables next time?

If you have sensitive skin you should definitely try making a batch! 

My husband is so sensitive that most anti-bacterial hand soap affects him, so I was a little worried when I wanted to make it before. And now with baby girl, I was hesitant too but we have had no issues!

My last batch lasted from July 1- February 1! 

(I have enough for two more weeks before I have to crack open the new batch)

So I am guessing this batch will last until September!

Do you make your own laundry soap?

Is your recipe different?

DIY Compost Tumbler

I've been wanting to write this post for over a year now! I have a post in my "drafts" called Attempting Compost, that  started last year.  This is what it would have looked like. 

(Ooops! One of my plastic knives that I use for marking plants is in my pile! I know plastic is not compostable!)

Yup. Just a compost pile. Nothing fancy. I had tried to do compost in a small bucket but it didn't go over very well. It became stinky fast. Yuck.

So it was back to the drawing boards, and library for some research. 

I first figured out why it became stinky. Not enough oxygen. 

That's when I just started a pile in the corner of my garden. Though the pile worked alright, I wanted something a little faster and not so in your face. 

So I started looking into composter's, or compost tumblers. My first reaction. Wow, kinda pricey. 

My second, I've got to be able to DIY this. So that's where the internet came in handy. I found that a composter could be made out of a 55 galloon drum. So that's the route I went. Once I got my drum, I just needed some hardware, and wheels. 

To make your own compost tumbler:

- a 55 gallon drum

-4 wheels (stationary, not casters that spin)

-Something to attach wheels to ( I used plywood)

-Hinges 

-Bolt lock

-Drill & Saw

The first thing I did was clean my drum out, I used vinegar because my drum had car wash solution in it. 

Next I drilled a bunch of tiny holes throughout the edge to allow oxygen to flow.

Next came the door, I had hubby cut a rectangle out for me. 

Make sure you keep your rectable, because you need to reattach it using the hinges and bolt lock.

Attach your wheels to your plywood.

To assemble, place your plywood wheel side up where you want it to be (before you fill your drum!)

Place your drum on wheels and get spinning!

So far this is working great for us! Carter can spin it! I can fill it! And it was so cheap to make!

Phew! Another task off the garden to do list!

I can't wait to share what's growing in our garden this year! If you thought I was crazy ( I did!) last year, wait til you see what we have added!

Lifesavers Series: Degreaser?

Just another tip to save you some time, money and frustration.

This week I'm not sure what to call this post.

But in the past, I called the same mixture Shower Magic.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I've been wanting to use this magic solution in my home other than the shower. And I found the perfect place.

My stove hood. 

Yup. Works like a charm!

I just spray it on the greasy hood, used a dry washcloth to work it in and ta-da!

 A clean hood!(Until we make bacon again!)