Bookshelf to Play Kitchen

Many, many months ago I decided to turn an old bookshelf we weren't using into a play kitchen for my little guy. Since he's only 1, I wanted something that was his size to play at, and something I could easily re-purpose in the future as well. 

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. )

Cleaning Vinegar

I found this little bit of happiness at my local Walmart. 

Only $1.25/bottle. 

Which, is a 1 gallon bottle.
And, it's 6% Vinegar (food grade is 5%). 

This makes me a little excited to try all of the cleaning with vinegar pins I've been seeing. 

EDIT :
Yes, my receipt says "Creeper $3.25".
No, I didn't buy a creepy person at the Walmart.
It's a onesie for the little man of the house.
So's the jumpsuit. 

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. 

2012 Goal - Organization

One of my goals for this year is to better organize our office.
This was one of my goals last year, and it didn't exactly work out.
Plus we bought a house and moved, which makes it harder to stay organized.

Here is the breakdown of our office :

Our office serves 2 purposes for us:
1 - it's our office
2 - it's also my closet/ dressing room.
(and 3 - catch all for everything that can't go downstairs)

In our office I have a dresser with clothes and accessories, and I use the closet as well.
Since getting pregnant I also keep my maternity clothing scattered throughout the room too.

But, we also need to use the room as an office. Not just a random catch-all room.
So I would like to get this looking a bit better and more organized.

But my number 1 issue is our filing system.
It is horrible.

Yeah - I currently have our files stored in a paper box.
Our file cabinet was broken before we moved, and it didn't get any better when we moved.
So we now just use it to hold our printer and extra supplies (paper, ink, cardstock...).
And, the box only holds our files up until we moved. Everything else is piled on the table waiting to be filed.
Which, may or may not be pointless for a lot of items now.
I do like to keep everything until I have done our taxes and know we don't need things anymore.
And there are some files I keep forever (like taxes, account records, and stuff with hubs work). 

I'm not sure how I would like to better organize everything, though. A file cabinet? Filing boxes?
A plus would be getting super organized for very little money!

Any ideas?

I've been stalking out i heart organizing.

What a bargain, baby!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bargain hunter.  I love a good bargain. I don't care if I'm saving 50 cents or $5.00, I just love saving money. { Are there people who don't like to save money? }  I coupon, I clearance shop, I "free ship" stuff from Amazon, I freecycle and craigslist shop, I yard sale, and I thrift shop. {Anyone who eats at our house knows having 'name-brand' food is kinda rare, must have been a serious sale and/or coupon}
Anywho - I would love to share all of my awesome bargains and brag about all the cheap stuff (and, maybe I will start, periodically) - but it's far too much of an undertaking for tonight. And I think people would get bored quick.

Now, as any of the like 10 readers I have know (or, should know), we are expecting our first baby this winter - so, a lot of my bargain hunting has been for baby gear. Specifically gender-neutral baby gear. Which tends to be a bit hard, everything is super girly, or very boyish, or gender-neutral, but still a bit boyish or boring.  Well, one of the gender-neutral items I can buy ahead of time is a baby bath tub. Simple enough, except there's only like a gillion to choose from. I mean, really. I had a few I was thinking about, but still, it's $20-$30+ for a plastic tub to put the baby in so they aren't sitting in the kitchen sink.
            


This is one of the tubs I was thinking about. They make it with and without the toy bar, but it's about $25 for the 1st one on Amazon, which could score me free shipping (which, I get anyway for being part of AmazonMom).  OK - so, here's the bargain :

 
I bought this tub, same as above tub, without the toy bar, for 99 cents. yup! $1.05 after tax. A little bleachy cleaner and clorox with some elbow grease, and it's as good as new.  I am quite happy with this bargain.
Although, my best bargain so far is getting our baby stroller for free.