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Pumpkins & Turkeys - Baby Food Jar Crafts

Have I mentioned we have an abundance of baby food jars?
Seriously.
But they are so cute, and useful.

So, here are two (yup, 2) crafts to make with them for the fall.

Pumpkins and Turkeys. 

Yarn Wrapped Wreath

If you follow me on pinterest, you've probably seen all the pins I've been posting of wreaths.
Grapevine wreaths, holiday wreaths, yarn wreaths ....
I like wreaths, they are an easy decoration. Just switch one out for another as the seasons/holidays/weather changes. My kind of decorating. And, they are pretty easy to make.

DIY: Oxyboost

The oxyboost. 

The last in my little laundry series (because I don't make our own soap). 

I didn't take any pictures of the process, but it's nothing super special.

You need:

Spray bottle OR empty bottle with 'squirt spout'
(think: body wash, dish soap, etc.. bottle - easy to pour)

hydrogen peroxide

baking soda

{If you have a non-see-through bottle, that's better}

For an in-wash booster:

In your bottle mix 1 part peroxide & 1 part baking soda.
(ex: 1/2 cup peroxide to 1/2 cup baking soda)

 It will gurgle a fizz up, so let it do that (wait a few hours...), then put the cap on your bottle.

For a stain treater:

Same as above, but add 1 cup water for each 1 cup of solution.
You can use this as a stain spray, for pre-treating, or an overnight soak. 

Make both of these in 'small batches' (enough for one laundry day), since they loose their effectiveness over time. 

I've been using it as an in-wash booster, and have had no problems with it, but be sure you test it on fabrics before dumping it in your washer.
(It did remove most of a set-in puree sweet potato stain from a white onesie)

We have also used it to help clean up stains on the carpet, and it removed sticky red strawberry soda from a white fuzzy baby blanket. 

If you're wanting something stronger, use washing soda in place of the baking soda. It is a much 'stronger' soda. 

Another tip - if you're wanting to make larger batches of this to use as an in-wash stain treatment, store your mixture in a dark container (something non-see-through. Like the hydrogen peroxide bottle......). 

This will help your mixture last longer.
(You could also make the stain spray and store in a solid bottle, if you have one) 

DIY : Dryer Sheets

The homemade dryer sheets.

I saw these on pinterest a while back, but was a bit skeptical of how well it would actually work. 

Well, it works just as well as my store bought Bounce dryer sheets. 

And it's super easy, and relatively cheap. 

You will need some washcloths (or old towels cut to squares), some liquid fabric softener, a bucket, and some place to let the rags dry over night.

I used old washcloths, and some downy fabric softener. 

The Downy I used was just the smallest bottle Walmart had, and I used 1/2 bottle to make 6 rags.
(So, in theory you could use one bottle to make 12, or more)

Honestly, you want a rag that isn't super soft plushy and absorbent.
(So don't go break the bank buying Vera Wang wash rags)

Mine are something similar to these at Walmart.
(I bought mine a few years ago from Target though, the back to college stuff)

Just a cheap, basic wash cloth.
(If you're really feeling frugal, check the dollar tree!)

In a bucket, pour in your fabric softener. Now add your wash rags and let them absorb the fabric softener then ring out your rags, very well (you may have to do your rags in 2 parts, or do this a few times). The rags will have a weird slimy film feel to them. Let them dry over night (you can lay flat, or hang to dry). Now fold and store in a container or basket next to your washer and dryer. 

I have been using the same cloth for about a month now, and it still smells great, and is leaving our clothing nice and soft and static free (granted, we don't have any sweaters yet...). I do 3-4 loads of laundry a week, plus sheets every 2 weeks. That's 14-18 loads on one sheet. In theory, with 12 sheets, 1 a month - you could make dryer sheets once a year and be fine! However, I'm sure during the winter months they will dry out a bit faster, with the bulky, static-y sweaters and all. 

I use them on our sheets, our towels, our clothing, the baby's clothing ....
They have worked fine on everything.
So far, I haven't had any weird staining from the fabric softener.
I have also seen on pinterest you can do this using your homemade fabric softener, but I haven't tried it. 

Up next - The homemade Oxy-boost.
(It's even easier than this was!)

DIY: Homemade Fabric Softener

I am a huge fan of fabric softener. 

I love having soft, snuggly clothing and bedding. 

I also don't like paying a ton of money for it. 

Or having to keep 3 different kinds of softener around the house.
(And yet, I still do...)

We also have well water, and with using the cheaper softeners, I've noticed a weird 'film' building up on some of our clothing (like jeans, they have this weird soft but slick feeling sometimes).
So, I wanted something that would work well with our well water, be safe for our clothing and bedding, for baby's clothing and bedding, and safe to use on our towels too.
(Did you know liquid fabric softener reduces your towels absorbancy? It is also not safe to use on baby items, it affects it being fire-retardant. )

Project Pantry : Part 2

Ahh... The Pantry.

Did you catch the first part to this post?

If not, you can read it {here}.

This pantry cabinet has seriously been the biggest pain!

We bought it at the beginning of July, and it took us over a month to finish it.

Dang. 

Ok, first, we were working on it evenings and weekends.

Second, We were also working on it in our basement.

Thirdly, We've never really done any furniture finishing before.

Kitchen Oil & Vinegar Bottles

Custom Kitchen Oil & Vinegar Bottles

I wanted something cute in my kitchen to hold some oil, and my vanilla. I never use vinegar when cooking. So I needed some oil and vanilla bottles. For some reason I had never bottle an oil bottle. 

Project : Pantry

We are in desperate need of a pantry in our kitchen/dinning room. 

Project : Mini blinds

Ok, so this was a project that really doesn't need a post. Seriously, how hard is it to put up blinds? We're having a harder time finding the other two blinds we need. 

{18" wide, 1" vinyl blinds, white, room darkening}

But, this was one of our projects to tackle - so here it is. 

Our old blinds were/are metal and don't work properly. They get stuck all the time, so you could never open them up. So we wanted to replace them with something that did work, and was fairly cheap, but would look nice. Having children means we will probably be replacing them. Several times over the years. 

The project only took them about an hour, and cost less than $15 for the blind on the center window (I haven't been able to find the smaller ones).

ps - our house is messy. It's a side effect of having a baby. Sort of.

Baby is supervising for me.

 1 window done. With blinds I can actually raise and let light in.

Our projects to tackle :
Front flower beds & sidewalk
Front porch lights
Ceiling fans in the 2 bedrooms

Lower baby's crib
Pantry cabinet for the kitchen

Build a workbench for J
Replace kitchen sink faucet
Buy and replace living room mini-blinds

{Replace broken microwave}

Project: Four Hour Faucet

The Four Hour Faucet Project.

Ok, it didn't really take 4 hours ... maybe 3 ... but 4 hour faucet has a better ring to it. 

Project : Beautify the front yard

Something that has really bugged my husband and I since we moved in was our front yard. We've done little things here and there (like weeding and planting some bushes), but the yard truly was horrible when we moved in.