Family Sunday

Sorry, I took a little hiatus today. I had a lot going on and couldn't post. I'll be back in full swing tomorrow and everyday thereafter!! Come back to check it out!

Lusting After Smocks!!

I am officially in lust of these super stylish and chic Smocks. Throw out that old, unflattering, dirty apron and go grab yourself one of these gorgeous, outfit complimenting Smocks. They range in price from $34.95 to $44.95 and can be purchased at http://www.smocksdesign.com/.
Why didn't I think of this? Seriously.... I love them.

Summer bash!

How about throwing an awesome Luau Party for your kid(s) this summer before school starts? This months Cookie Magazine has all the details for an amazing party, and you will definitely be thrilled with the super affordable decorations. Check it out here!

While you are over there, you should register for the Cookie Magazine and Oxygen Hollywood Mom Sweepstakes. Or just go here!!!

Send out those invites! Your kid(s) deserve it!!

All Natural Cleaning

Alright. Here's the deal. You could go to the store and buy the super cool, super new green products out there, but that could cost a lot of money! Soo... to save lots of money I am going to show you how to take 3 basic ingredients and clean your entire house!! It'll be awesome.
Most of these are adapted from the book Healthy Child Healthy World and also Martha Stewarts Homekeeping Handbook but I changed a few.
These are your ingredients: White distilled vinegar(sold in gallons at the store), baking soda, and natural liquid soap such as castille or glycerin.

Lets start in the Kitchen -

• All purpose cleaner - Equal parts water and vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap. Optional - You can add some lemon juice for added power and a fresh scent or a couple drops of your favorite essential oil(be sure to check its toxicity first) and check here for safety precautions. Lavender boasts excellent antibacterial properties.
• Vinegar is a great cleaner and disinfectant on its own, for cleaning items that have touched raw meat, chicken, or eggs wipe it with vinegar and then with soap. You can also use a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water.
• Microwave cleaner - Place lemon slices and 8 ounces of water in a microwave safe bowl, heat for 3 minutes, let sit for 3 minutes and then remove the bowl and wipe it down.
• Coffee pot cleaner- After working in a couple restaurants, I picked up a few tricks. Throw a few lemon slices in the pot, fill it with ice, shake it up a bit, let it sit overnight, and rinse in the morning!
• Refrigerator cleaner - Baking soda and water. Using anything with a scent can absorb into your food, plus the baking soda will take out any odors!
• Floor cleaner - To be used all over you house on any hard surface floor. A bucket of hot water, liquid castille or glycerin soap, lemon juice or vinegar, and a few drops of essential oils if you want.
• Soft Scrub for sink (and tubs)- 1/2 cup baking soda and liquid castille soap. Slowly pour in the soap until it turns into paste.

The rest of the house-

• Glass cleaner - A 1:2 vinegar to water ratio in a spray bottle.
• Drain blaster - Pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain followed by 1 cup vinegar. Cover tightly with a scrunched up wash rag, let sit it a little bit and flush with boiling water.
• Air fresheners - A couple drops of your favorite essential oil or your favorite blend and water in a spray bottle! Works just as well!!!
• Toilet bowl cleaner - 1/2 cup vinegar into bowl. Let sit 20 or so minutes, scrub clean, and flush. This disinfects and removes odors as well.
• That strong odor from diner, or the cat box, or whatever else stinks! - Set a small bowl of vinegar in the room. It's a natural deodorizer.

I think that about covers it. Yes, vinegar stinks, but its smell goes away completely once dried and you can combat that smell with lemon juice and essential oils, plus they are beneficial in their own right. Also, adding hydrogen peroxide into some of these will boost its cleaning power, as peroxide is a natural bleaching agent and antimicrobial.

So there. I hope I have now inspired you to throw out your toxic products and make your own, or at the very least, go to the store and buy all natural cleaners!!!!

Another Embarrassing Project

My cabinet under the sink!!! Because I am switching to all natural cleaning products, I thought it would be a good idea to throw out the old... and do a little bit of cleaning up while I was in there!!

Here is before....



And here is after!!
There are still a few products that I haven't yet switched over, like the cascade and jet dry, but other than that I got rid of all those other toxic and harmful cleaners.
Here is my list of things you should get rid of too...

• Floor cleaners like Pine-Sol, Mop and Glo, etc. - You do not need them
• Aerosol air fresheners - You do not need them
• Sponges!!!! - They are bacteria laden and nastified. Martha Stewart tells me it's a myth that putting them in the dishwasher cleans them up and putting them in the microwave is a fire hazard. She's Martha Stewart. I believe her. Use microfiber or terry cloth instead(you can buy a pack of 15 for $2.oo at Wal-Mart). Use it and throw it in the laundry that night. Since you should be doing laundry every 3 days anyway, you shouldn't run out of clean ones!
• Antibacterial ANYTHING!!!! - This one is important. They are dangerous. Scientists also believe that constantly using antibacterial everything is contributing to the breeding of "Superbugs"... AND... 275 is the number of active ingredients in antibacterial products classified as pesticides. (Environmental Protection Agency,2007). That's scary to me. I know a lot of people like to feel "Super Clean", but really, we are doing more harm than good. (P.S. that is NOT antibacterial soap I have under my sink. It's just plain ol' soap. To be clear!)
• Anything that is toxic or unnatural. Bleach! If its in there, get rid of it!!!

Now, for my next post, I am going to tell you why you don't need those things!!!

Project Embarrasing Pantry

I really can not believe I am posting these pictures. I am soooo embarrassed!!! But... since its my new life and all, I thought I would give you guys some major inspiration in case you have a closet, or pantry, or cabinet, or something of the sort that looks like this!! This actually didn't take me very long to do... for months of accumulation you would think it would take forever to get through, but it didn't. My pantry was so bad that I had several duplicate items because I could never see what I actually needed and didn't need from the store, so I tried to do it from memory and what I thought I remembered seeing. Here is what it was..... (I wish I was joking and I swear I didn't alter it in anyway to make it seem worse).



After 3 bags of trash... and sooo much wasted and expired food....

I hung up a small legal pad with double sided sticky tape and put a pen on the top shelf so I can keep better track of items I need. That way, when I am running low on something or I am out of it completely, I can just jot it down while I'm in there!!!

Ugh! I feel so tired of talking about cleaning because, well, so far its all I've done. But it is essential and that's why I am going to do one more post about it tomorrow!! Yay! Ha! Of course it will definitely come up here and there and there will always be the room of the day(except tomorrow because its Saturday!!!). But anyway, tomorrows post is pretty informative. I am tackling my under-sink cabinet, which unfortunately looks a lot like my pantry did, and I am going to list recipes for all natural cleaners using mostly just baking soda, white distilled vinegar, hot water, and liquid castille soap! This is now officially what I am switching to!!! So anyway, don't miss that post!! It's gonna be a good one!

Room of the Day... a little early!

Technically its Friday because its after midnight here, and I wanted to get the post up for any early birds that like to clean in the morning. Today is Dining/Laundry room day. Since laundry rooms are not in Martha Stewarts Homekeeping Handbook I'm just gonna have to tell you what I think should be done!! Take it as you will..... ha!

Dining Room(if you have one)

• Dust surfaces and objects, including furniture and light fixtures
• Vacuum upholstery and floor

Simple enough!

Laundry Room

• Dust lint off of washer and dryer (a used dryer sheet works great for this)
• Clear lint trap
• Empty trash bins
• Sweep and mop floor

....That seems about right! Speaking of the laundry room, lets talk about how often laundry should be done!!! Well, uneconomically every day is ideal. If you have a load, wash it. Laundry really isn't that bad!!!!! I promise!! If you are anything like me, your laundry piles up for sometime before you realize no one in your family has clean underwear and you finally get to it! Whoops! Evidently I am doing a bad thing. Laundry needs to be done every 3 days minimum to help fight the buildup of bacteria, mold, and other nasty things. Because of the skin cells, bacteria, and other nasty things, make sure you are washing your hands after you go through dirty laundry!

Let me also say this... If you do not have Martha Stewarts Homekeeping Handbook, get it! Now! Seriously. It is over 700 pages of amazing information. All the information about taking care of your house you could ever, ever need. It also has excellent tips and tricks for all things home related. I can not express how much I love this book. It retails at $45.00 and its worth it, but check out amazon.com or ebay to get it for cheaper. It would make the PERFECT gift for a new home owner, new wife, or someone living on their own for the first time. And it has some really great pictures of Martha's own homes, so thats a bonus. 744 pages of excellence... go get it!