Tip Tuesday: My favorite cleaning tips!

I've got a few of my favorite cleaning tips (or shortcuts) to share with you today.

I hate to clean.  I loathe it.  But, it's one of those things that must be done, so I do it.  I have a cleaning schedule that I do my best to keep up on, and it really helps.  I have several Pinterest recipes for cleaners that I've made, and they're all tried and true.  The only cleaning solution that I buy from the store any more is Windex.  I'm not sure how much I actually save making my own, but I know it's a lot.

Here goes: 

You know I make my own laundry detergent.  Here's the link to that post:http://envoguepogue.blogspot.com/2013/12/laundry-bombs_31.html

And my dishwasher detergent: http://envoguepogue.blogspot.com/2014/02/tip-tuesday-homemade-dishwasher-soap.html

I use Windex for my glass (of course) but thanks to Pinterest, I've found a new and amazing way to use it.  My dining chairs are upholstered with microseude.  Having three little ones, they get really dirty really quickly.  I've found the best way to clean them is with Windex!  Just spray some on, and use a scrub brush to wipe the grime off.  It's awesome!  Here's the link:http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2013/03/clean-microfiber-the-easy-way/

I've also been making my own Swiffer solution!  I bought some microfiber cloths from the dollar store, and cut them to fit my Swiffer.  They're machine washable, so no more wasting money on Swiffer pads!  And here's the link to remove the top off the Swiffer solution bottle.   http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-the-cap-on-a-Swiffer-Wet-Jet-cleaner/

For the cleaning solution, I used equal parts vinegar and hot water, and about 20 drops of lemon essential oil.  It works every bit as well as the original solution!

My last tip is Liquid Magic Eraser.  Having kids around means dirty walls... Well, it means dirty everything.  But I came across this recipe, and it's AWESOME!  http://onetalentedmom.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/liquid-magic-eraser-homemade/

I've found that vinegar is one of my favorite things.  I love that it works so well, and it's inexpensive and it's not a chemical.  It's fabric softener, it's floor cleaner, it's great in the dishwasher as a rinse agent, it's just plain amazing!

I hope this post helped you!  These are simple recipes that take basically no time to put together, they save money, and they WORK!  Have a great Tuesday!

Thankful Thursday, Week 10

I love this quote:

It's SO true!  And such a good thing to remember...

1. I'm thankful for my new embroidery machine.  I'm having so much fun with it and have so many ideas running through my head that it's kept me up at night!

2. Reimbursement checks.

3. Serenity.  This is an essential oil blend that I just ordered, and it's wonderful! It really helps me relax at night.

4. Homemade coffee creamer.  For the recipe, see this post.

5. Warmer weather

6.  For dr. appointments.

7. Big dreams and decisions to make.  I'm contemplating re-opening my Etsy shop.  I still haven't completely decided whether or not to do it yet, though.

8.  Dance competitions.

9.  Flowers and chocolate from my husband after a hard day.

10.  For my new hop punch for my Filofax.  It's awesome and it makes everything so much easier!  I got it here: Rakuten

11.  My new cleaning schedule.  I found this on Pinterest, and I love it so far!  (And so does my house)  Here's the link for the printable: Pinterest

12.  Glasses adjustments

13.  Sunshine!  FINALLY!

14.  That I don't have to wear my heavy winter coat to set foot outside!

15.  New shoes.  Both my boys got new shoes yesterday and they both think they're Olympic runners now.

16.  Haven's sleepy eyes first thing in the morning.

17.  Quick snacks

18.  The "Force."  I was sitting in the drive-thru at Starbucks yesterday, and Asher is convinced he used the force to make the car in front of us move. :)

19.  Flowers from my Jay-man.

20.  GREAT days at school!  Jay struggles with staying in his seat and keeping his mouth closed.  He had an AMAZING day yesterday!  I'm so proud of him!

Thankful Thursday, Week 9

Thursdays are quickly becoming my favorite day of the week.  Not only because I'm reminded of all the things I have to be thankful for, but for us, it's the beginning of a weekend.

1.  Flavored water.  I've recently completely given up soda, and I've been drinking carbonated flavored water instead.  I feel so much better!
2.  Crock pot recipes.  We're fairly busy in the evenings, so it's such a time saver to throw dinner together in the morning and not have to think about it for the rest of the day!
3.  Book reviews.  I was asked to read and review a marriage devotional.  It's a 30 day devotional, and so far, I'm really enjoying it.
4.  RAKs.  It stands for Random Act of Kindness... One of the Filofax Facebook groups that I joined does several of these, and one of the members sent me an envelope full of these goodies!  So much fun!

5.  Baxter's bed.  I made this several months ago, and since I've moved my office around, and it's closer to me, he's using it again.  I'm so glad he likes it!

6.  Being made in the image of God.  And learning what that really means.  No comparing myself to others, and having a positive self image.  Because I am His.

7.  For a husband not afraid to say what needs to be said.  

8.  For my new desk.  I'm absolutely loving it!  It's the perfect height, and I love having all the room!

9.  Piano lessons!  I've recently started teaching piano lessons to a sweet little girl.

10.  Guitar lessons!  The little girl's dad is giving guitar lessons to my sweet little boy.  Perfect trade off!

11.  Another bonus is that this little girl's dad is a friend from childhood.  We were once in a band together... Long ago.

12.  For losing teeth...

The Asher-man lost is first one!

13.  The bittersweet feeling that comes with little milestones like loosing teeth.  My babies are growing up.  And I'm so proud of them already!

14.  For happy mail.  I love getting things in the mail!

15.  For my 3 in 1 printer.

16.  My new planner charm.  This is something that came in the mail.  It's gorgeous, and it has some of my favorite things.  The Fleur De Lis, an Eiffel Tower, purple beads, and a Filofax charm.  Perfection!  I bought it from a shop on Etsy.  Check her out here! Filolove 

She made this just for me, and made sure I was happy with it.  I'll definitely be buying from her again!

17.  My husband's strength and commitment to our family.  I'm so thankful that I have a shoulder to lean on, and someone to go to that I know loves me unconditionally and just wants what's best for our family.

18.  Potato soup.  The perfect comfort food.

19.  My old piano books.  I love reminiscing my way through them.

20.  Drinks and talks with good friends.  There's not a lot that's better than that.  And I've really been blessed in the friendship area.  I'm so very thankful for my friends!

I'm loving keeping my list of "Thankfuls" with me.  It's really fun to look back over the last few weeks and be thankful all over again.  God is good.

Office redo/reorganization

Warning: Photo Heavy Post!  This is my office yesterday morning... The disaster that was...  It was so hard to work in it... And I really didn't have enough desk space.  I had an L-shaped desk, and a folding table that I used for my sewing machine.  And, as I'm getting another machine this weekend, (an embroidery machine!) I seriously needed to make more room...

I showed you pictures of the desk I built yesterday.  So far, I'm LOVING it!  The surface space is amazing, and I really like the height of it.

Here's a panoramic view of my office/ craft room:

I moved my bookshelves to the other side of the room.  I store my fabric, and my patterns here as well as the embellishments that I use of my hair bows and such.

And Baxter's bed.  Which is made from an old army ammunition box.  I love it.  He sleeps in it maybe once every 3 months.  You can also see my fold down ironing board.  I plan on recovering it ASAP.

Another view of my amazing new desk.  I even have room for my TV on it.  It was previously hung on the wall, and although I could hear it, I could only see it if I turned a certain way. The only thing I don't particularly care for is the fact that you can see all my computer cords hanging all over the place... I need a solution for that, STAT.

The right side of my new desk.  I've got various paper supplies and scissors under here.  With plenty of room to spare!

Here's the left side!  My Cricut, paints, and other paper cutting supplies.

And the shelving above my desk.  As I said yesterday, the wall organizers are made from the front of the kids' crib.  I love it.  It still has their little teeth marks on it.  I keep my ribbon and all my Cricut cartridges here.  The shelving was a Craigslit find last year.  I decided to use them for more decorative purposes than before.  I previously just had all the little things that I didn't want the kids to get to on them.  This looks much better.  And looking at the things up there just makes me happy.

I put my folding table as well as an old one a grabbed from the garage in an L-shape on the other side of my desk.  It's perfect for a sewing area, and I have plenty of room for my new machine!  The bulletin board has some favorite pictures on it, as well as some things that the kids have made for me.

The view from the sewing area.

And the other side of my window.  I love this wingback chair!  I plan on recovering it very soon.  Baxter likes it, too.  

You can also see my antique dress form.  Vintage 1940s.  I love it.

There you are!  I'm so happy with how this turned out.  Let me know if you have any questions!  And feel free to pin or share!  Thanks for reading!

Thankful Thursday, Week 8

I really need to be better about writing things down as I'm thankful for them...  It would make it much easier on me than trying to come up with 20 things every Thursday.  I'm going to make a note in my filofax to try to remember daily.

1.  New Tires!  on our trip down to Idaho, we had a flat.  I'm so thankful that it didn't blow out.    It looked like a part of a chain punctured the tire.  There was a pretty good sized hole in it.
2.  That my finger isn't broken.  The other day I was doing my dishes, and it sounded like something was stuck in my disposal.  I turned it off, but didn't wait quite long enough for it to stop spinning before I stuck my hand in it.  (oops!)  My acrylic nails definitely protected my finger from being cut and or broken.  It chipped my nail, and my finger is sore, but not broken... Then later the same day, I was helping move my new china hutch in the house, and a smashed the same finger against the door jamb.  It's pretty bruised and swollen, but, again, not broken.
3.  My new china hutch.  And the pretty dishes inside of it.  Isn't it gorgeous?

4.  I LOVE the light inside of it.  It's so pretty!

5.  My kids' developing sense of humor.  It's fun to hear their wit and how they tease each other.

6.  My dolls.  We got them out of storage while we were in Idaho.  I still don't have an idea what to do with them, but they make me smile.

7.  Good visits with old friends.  It was nice to see them, and I love how we can pick up where we left off.

8.  Sports cards.  This is my oldest son's new hobby.  It's great to see him flip through his book, and I love how excited he gets over them.

9.  Spray paint.

10.  My finished mudroom!  It looks awesome!  And the kids LOVE it!  They each have their own cubby, and it's just perfect!

11.  The trampoline park! FUN, fun, fun!

12.  That I can SEE!  I just got glasses for the first time in my life, and it's so nice to be able to see again!

13.  My new desk organizer!  I got a new thing to put all my filofax supplies in.  I'll show pictures tomorrow!

14.  The toys that are always on my floor.

15.  Little hats

16.  Four-10-hour days.  My husband's new schedule.  I love that he has every Friday off!

17.  Costco

18.  Good deals on cute little hamster houses

19.  Asher's new clock.  My sister-in-law got it for him, and it's the only one that will actually wake him up!

20.  Straw bowls.  My kids each have one for their cereal, and they're awesome.

Being thankful is such an easy thing to do when you think about it.  And it makes such a big difference in your life!  The joy is in the journey!

Trip Tuesday?

That works, right?  I'll tell you about our trip to Idaho.  Both my husband's and my families live there, so it was such a good time to see everyone.
We left Friday morning, and as soon as we pulled out of the driveway, my husband decided that the dog smelled too bad to travel with, so we stopped and had him groomed really quickly.  He did smell a lot better, but they clipped one of his toenails a bit short, so it was bleeding all over the car.  Poor dog!
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful with the exception of a flat tire between Baker and Ontario.  Thankfully, we had a spare, and Jim was able to get it changed and we were back on the road.  We did have to stop at Les Schwab to get a new tire, and it turns out that we had run over a chain or something.  It put a good sized hole in the tire, so we were lucky that it didn't blow out!
We dropped the kids off at my parent's house, and Jim and I went to a hotel for the night.  That was awesome!  We haven't ever done that in the 8 & 1/2 years we've been married, so it was really, really nice to have an entire night for just the two of us.
When we got up on Saturday morning, we did some "Christmas" shopping.  Since we weren't able to come down to spend Christmas with family, we did a gift exchange Saturday night.  I LOVE that.  My husband's family is so much fun, and I love watching the kids light up.
On Sunday, I took off with my mom for a while, and it was really nice to spend a couple of hours with her.  Then we took to the kids to "Wahooz" which is an arcade, go cart race track, laser tag, bowling... etc.etc.  It's a really fun place.  Haven LOVED the go carts!  And her mom stood out in the cold for 2 hours so she and her brother could ride.  I was COLD!

We were able to see some of our really good friends and I met my "sister" Missie for coffee yesterday morning.  She had to work, so I was really bummed that we didn't have more time to spend together, but we had a nice chat, and it was a good way to start off a Monday.

We stopped by my in-law's storage unit to grab some things that had been in there for years... My husband grabbed some baseball cards that he's had since he was a kid, so he could give them to our oldest son.  He has the entire set from 1994.  Crazy.  And Jay is thrilled!

I grabbed a bin that had all my porcelain dolls that I collected as a girl in it... I don't know what I'm going to do with them all yet.  Haven doesn't have a shelf in her room that's high enough for me to put them on, and she's not quite old enough yet for me to leave them down...

See the bigger one that's sitting?  That one belonged to my grandma.  I love it.  She gave her to me years ago, and I plan on passing her down...  Again, I don't really know where I'm going to put her for now...  Any ideas?

We had a pretty uneventful drive home, and it really felt good to sleep in my own bed last night.  Today I get to do laundry and unpack.  And figure out where to put all the kids' Christmas gifts...  Ugh.  

That was my weekend!  I hope you had one that was just as wonderful!

Make Something Monday: Closet to Mudroom

This is actually a project that I haven't started yet.  But, I'm really excited about it, and hope to have it in full swing very soon.

I have a wonderful laundry room.  Oodles of storage.  Lots of cabinets, a sink, and a closet.  

I've used this closet for several different things:  Cleaning supplies, toy storage, and right now is serves as blanket and linen storage.  Well,  I've decided that it will function better as a mud room.

The shelves are coming out, the doors are coming off, and we will either purchase or build a bench and so coat hooks.  I can't wait to show you all how it looks!  Oh, and if anyone has any wood they'd like to contribute to my cause, it'd be greatly appreciated. :)

Right now, our shoes and coats are in our entry way... And it just looks messy and cluttered.  We definitely need a new solution.

So, all my linens are being relocated to these wonderful cabinets above my washer and dryer. There's SIX of them!  And I have very few things in them right now.

I'm hoping to build a pedestal for my washer and dryer, too, but we'll see if that happens.  Keep your fingers crossed for me! 

Today is laundry day, so I get to tackle that mountain of clothes you see over in the corner.  In my defense, it's really not that high.  That's a clothing rack with the kids' snow suits hanging on it.  It looks much worse than it is.

  I'll post pictures of how far I get with this tomorrow!  Have a great Monday!

Tip Tuesday: Homemade Dishwasher Soap

I don't know how much money I've saved using my homemade laundry bombs.  Here's another good money saver!  (And from the looks of my jar, I need to make some more.)

Here's the recipe:  I keep it in my filofax so I don't have to dig through my Pinterest Board to find it.

I'll make it easier on you:

Dishwasher Detergent:

2 c. Borax

2 c. Washing soda

2 c. Lemi Shine

1 c. Kosher Salt

Use white vinegar as a rinse aid.  I just put some in a small container on the top shelf.  My dishes are clean and sparkly with no hard water spots.  I love this stuff!

One of my favorite things about this is that most of the ingredients were already in my cupboard because I use them to make my Laundry Bombs.

 And the link to the Original Recipe:

Happy Dishwashing!