Natural Cleaning Products – Why I Made The Switch

Natural Cleaning Products - Why I Made The SwitchHave you ever thought about making the switch to natural cleaners? Maybe you would like to, but are worried that they might not be tough enough to get the job done? Well, I finally decided to make the switch, because I just had to find out for myself. I’ve been trying and testing these natural cleaning products, and I can honestly say that the quality, has not been compromised!

Of course I’ve been wanting to make this switch and jump on board the “go-green-train”, but probably similar to you, I was scared that they might just end up being a big waste of money… However, since giving it a try, this has not been the case!

Ok, so now that we’ve established that these all-natural cleaning products actually work just as well as the not-so-natural products, here are some other reasons why I have not only made the switch, but am sticking with it: Continue reading

Clean that Old Dusty Bathroom Vent the Easy Way!

Clean that Old Dusty Bathroom Vent the Easy Way!

Oh that darn bathroom vent! It’s one of those hard to reach places that I always forget to clean! And when I do remember, I never have anything handy to stand on and reach it with, so I usually just say “Oh well, maybe next time?!”

Well not today my friends!

Today I just happened to look up and catch that dusty old bathroom vent out of the corner of my eye, and decided that it was going to get cleaned the easy way! Continue reading

How to Get Rid of that Icky Grime Line on your Boat!

How to Get Rid of that Icky Grime Line on your Boat!

Last summer my husband and I decided to upgrade our boat for something a little more kid friendly, so we ended up purchasing a really deep boat with a cuddy… Perfect for the kids, as well as fishing in those bigger waves that can sometimes pop up out of no where on the great lakes!

The boat that we purchased was not brand new, but totally new to us! In fact, this boat is actually a 1998… But it still looks pretty darn good, right?! When we launched our boat for the very first time, at a local boat launch, someone actually came up to us and said “Wow, that’s a really nice boat… It’s brand new, right?!” Continue reading

Magic Tile and Grout Cleaner!

Magic Tile and Grout Cleaner!

Where we live, we are on well water, and let me tell you, our water is very, very rich in iron! It’s supposed to be pretty healthy for us to drink, so that’s good, but when it comes to cleaning, it’s just ridiculous!
Our sinks, tubs, toilets and showers are always turning orange on us. Even when it comes to laundry, our whites will sometimes actually come out with orange spots on them, especially our white towels!
All though I have pretty much given up on keeping our white laundry white, I have found some pretty good hacks for when it comes to cleaning up the orange left on everything else! Continue reading

15 things to get rid of RIGHT NOW! (Clean, Organize, De-Clutter)

15 things to get rid of RIGHT NOW! (Clean, Organize, De-Clutter)For the last little while, I have really been trying to crack down on annoying, stuffy clutter. Every day when I’m going about my daily tasks around my home, I’m always looking for and thinking about different things that I can toss out. I have created this list of quick and easy things to get rid of right now, to help you clean, organize, and de-clutter your home!

I always say, it doesn’t matter how big your house or your garage is, you will always fill it! (So true in my case!)

My parents always referred to me as a “pack-rat” (yep – that happened!), when I was little because I collected literally everything!

If you are anything like me, you have a little bit of a hard time getting rid of things that have sentimental value, and if you toss something out, you feel a little bit of that pesky guilt or anxiety start to kick in…wa Continue reading

How to Clean & Organize (When you really don’t want to!)

10This room is soooo messy and embarrassing, you aren’t even getting one tiney-tiny little shot of the disaster zone! My daughter went through this little phase where she would open all of the cupboards and drawers and pull EVEREYTHING out…. And after numerous attempts of piecing the room back together, I just finally gave up! This room is actually my “Zebra Dressing/Craft Room”…. Meaning it’s full of tiny little things, like make-up, nail polish, jewelry, paint, glue, beads, ribbon, etc…. all of the stuff that gets super messy, tangled up, and super unorganized! (Hey – that sounds a lot like my life, just in general! Lol)
Ok, so….. Where to start? Where to start?! Well after just standing there staring for awhile, I decided the best place to start was to clear off the countertop. I started by organizing everything into separate piles for general categories: Hair Stuff, Make-Up & Lotions, Nail Polish, Craft Stuff, Home Décor & of course, a miscellaneous/to-be-sorted-later pile. I also created a donation pile and of course, a garbage pile! Anything that I no longer use was put into either of these piles…. One major thing to remember is that all creams, lotions and even makeup have expiration dates! This helps a lot when deciding whether to keep or pitch something!1 Looking pretty good, right?! NOT! Still a super-long ways to go!!!!
Ok, so…. Next? Next, I wiped down all of the counter space, just to make it look like I was making a little more progress!

2Now, see these drawers and cupboards?! I am going to take full advantage of them! I am going to go through each one, one at a time, and sort all of the contents into the piles that I mentioned above, and then each pile will be transferred into one of the cupboards or drawers.

3Ok, so here they are! All emptied and wiped down! Looking good – for real this time!

4And my cupboards…. Empty and clean!

5By emptying and cleaning everything, I’ve sort of accomplished the feeling of starting with a clean slate! So now, it’s time to put everything back together…. Before just throwing everything all jumbled back into the cupboards and drawers, I made a plan of what is going to go where.

6As you can see in the photo above, I still decided to keep a miscellaneous or better known as a “junk drawer” – because let’s face it, you are always going to end up with some things that don’t fit into a dedicated category, or that you just don’t have the heart to throw out!
By following my above drawer layout plan, I was able to neatly put everything back into my drawers and cupboards! Also, if you feel that you are going to have a little bit of trouble keeping everything neat and organized, check out some of these great Drawer Organizer from Amazon.com!
I then gave the room a little vacuum, fussed a little with the décor, and voila! All finished!

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Home Office & Command Center Organization (tricks from the dollar store!)

Since my latest and most exciting career change of becoming a college instructor, I must admit…. our home office has become a little — actually, a LOT, out of control! My poor husband…. I pretty much took over his desk, his computer, and his home office has now been re-titled as “our” home office.3

As you can clearly see, I had to do something…. especially before the next semester started. It was a little difficult to figure out where to start with this home office project, so of course I decided to start it with a little bit of shopping! My budget for this project was extremely low…. (like $20 low!)

So I headed to one of my favorite stores ever, The Dollar Store! Instead of starting in the more traditional “office supply” aisle, I started out in the “kitchen” aisle, and boy, did I hit the jackpot!

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See that super cute fruit basket?! Well guess what… now it’s an office supply basket! It was just so pretty, I had to have it!

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See this super chic napkin holder?! Well now it’s a letter/mail holder! A little bit brilliant, if I do say so, myself…. 😉

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My new pen/pencil holder is actually a kitchen utensil holder…. I chose it over a typical stationary holder because it is much larger, and it hides everything…. so much prettier!

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See this cute little cube wire rack organizer? Dollar Store! And the same with these cute little floral print baskets…. perfect for hiding those messy file folders and great for extra storage too!9

This cute little 3 drawer organizer also came from The Dollar Store! Its perfect for hiding my paper clips, USB sticks, and any other super tiny “office-junk”.

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I also found this 5 hook hanger at….. The Dollar Store! And its chrome — it totally matches the rest of my new organizational items!11

This giant calendar is definitely an organizational must-have! Although, I did accidentally by the French version (oops!)…. I guess it never hurts to learn something new! 🙂

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So here is my cozy command center/home office that I was able to carve out of a corner of “our” home office…. Not too shabby! Even though I had to wheel out the kegerator and wine chiller, I’m sure my husband will be so happy to have his desk back! 😉

 

How To: Naturally Destroy Nasty Weeds & Pesky Bugs!

Who loves weeds??? I’ll tell ya’ who…. NOBODY!!!! Especially when they are in your sand box! This can be no fun at all, for you or your little ones. 🙁

But don’t fret!!! With just two simple ingredients you can easily prevent weeds from coming back, keep pesky critters out, and… your sand box will smell amazing too!!!
Sand Box Cleanup

So what are these two special ingredients, I’ll bet you are wondering…. Salt & Cinnamon!!! Ta-da!!! Yes, it’s that simple! A very wise friend once told me, that salt will dehydrate and exterminate your weeds, and that cinnamon will keep the bugs out!

Scoops

My little one’s sand box is about 36 square feet, so I used 5 scoops of salt and 2 scoops of cinnamon! (And yes, my scoops are sand shovels!!) 😀

All Clean!

Mix the sand, salt and cinnamon altogether and viola — All Clean!! 🙂