How to clean gunk off your kitchen cabinets

Our house was built in the 60’s and the cupboards are original…my dad says my kitchen looks like a lodge. But, it’s what we have and we’ll work with it. However, who knows when the cabinets were last cleaned. There is a lot of gunky build-up and using plain-old elbow grease was not cutting it. Then, I found Jillee’s post on Kitchen Cabinet Gunk Remover and knew I had to try it.
All you have to do is mix 1 part vegetable oil with 2 parts baking soda! If the idea of using vegetable oil on your cabinets makes you wary, I promise it works! I took a wet wash cloth, dipped a corner into the cleaning mixture and used that to rub it into the cabinets really well. Then I used another corner of the wash cloth to wipe it clean. I had a bowl full of warm water to rinse my wash cloth out occasionally.

Just make sure to test this on an inconspicuous part of your cabinets to make sure it doesn't strip to stain/paint.

I was SO impressed with how well this worked and it even left my cabinets looking polished. Now, I have the rest of my cabinets to clean…

I’ll be linking up to Works for Me Wednesday,  Tip Me Tuesday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party,

Pizza Cutter for Pancakes/Waffles

I was at someone’s house one day and they had been serving pancakes to their kids. I looked on in utter amazement at her brilliance in using a pizza cutter to quickly cut her kids’ pancakes…I tried it on waffles and pancakes and it works wonderfully!
So, if you’re in a hurry or have to cut up a lot of pancakes or waffles into tiny squares, try using your pizza cutter.

I’ll be linking up to Works For Me Wednesday, Mom’s Library, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Share it Saturday,  Share Wednesdays, TGIF,

Measuring Spoon Storage

Our house has a total of 2 drawers in the kitchen…TWO! That leaves very little room for stuff that I would normally put in drawers, and makes for cluttered, confusing drawers. It didn’t take me too long to get sick of trying to find my measuring spoons in the mess of my drawers. After seeing several pins on Pinterest with ideas to hang measuring cups in cupboards, this is what I came up with:

And I love it! I know exactly which measuring spoon is where. All of my Tablespoons are on one hook, all of the teaspoons on another, etc. It saves me so much time when I’m cooking to be able to open the cupboard door and have all of my spoons right there!

My husband drilled pilot holes in the wood and we just screwed in some hooks. I used a larger hook for the tablespoons and a slightly smaller one for the other three spoon sizes.

I think the original pin that inspired me was Infarrantly Creative and I love how her cupboard door turned out.

Bobbin Organizers

I have a lovely sewing desk that I inherited from my mother-in-law and I love having an actual desk to put all of my random sewing supplies in, but my bobbins were causing trouble! I’m sure you understand…bobbins rolling everywhere, getting unwound and tangled, making a terrible mess :). Until I saw this pin from Pinterest and my life changed…

I had a bunch of the toe separators from random pedicure kits given to me and all of my bobbins are neatly rolled up and contained with an easy way to see what color thread is on each one…so there you have it, Toe Separator Bobbin Organizers. Try it out!

I’ll be linking up to Mommy Solutions, Mom’s Library, Works For Me Wednesday,

(I would have linked to the original post that I found through the pin, but apparently it doesn’t exist anymore…)

Prevent Boiling Over

If you have ever let your pot boil over it isn’t pretty, but thanks to We Are That Family, I’ve learned a new trick to prevent it…a wooden spoon. You just have to lay a wooden spoon across the top of the pot and your water will not boil over!
I had to test this out for myself and it really does work. I had the stove burner on hi, added my noodles and set the spoon across the top. The bubbles would rise to just over the edge of the pot but they never boiled over. Sweet!

Dryer Tip: Foil Ball

I normally try to avoid using my dryer, but there are times when I’m in a rush or for whatever reason do need the dryer, in which case I still don’t want to use dryer sheets…the residue builds up on clothing, reduces absorbency in towels, and can build up film on your lint screen and other interior parts of your dryer.

For the above reasons, I was very grateful when my husband shared this link from Lifehacker. All you need is a tightly wadded ball of foil in the dryer to reduce static in your clothing without having to pay for dryer sheets! I’ve used the same ball for the past several weeks and though it doesn’t completely eliminate static, it decreases the static a great amount and definitely works for me!

I’m linking up to Mommy Club Wednesday, Family Time Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday.

Ode to…

Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser saved my tail this last week! We just moved apartments and it’s incredible how well one of these erasers cleans…it would take everything off our walls that a washcloth, cleaner and scouring pad wouldn’t.

If you’ve got kids or have something that just won’t come clean, try one of these out. For the price, it’s well worth it.

I wasn’t compensated in any way for this post…I just love this product and thought you would too :).

It Never Hurts to Be Prepared!

After spending 36 hours in the last couple of days without electricity, I am even more convinced that it never hurts to be prepared! I am grateful to say that we are all fine and did well without power during that time and I know that it is in large part because of our:

• Oil Lamp…hubby and I were able to stay up a little later and read books until we got tired.
• Coleman camping stove and propane. I was able to heat up leftovers that otherwise would have gone to waste in our non-functioning fridge.
• Flashlights-my boys were in heaven running around with them the entire time and loved it!
• Cooler which kept food cold as long as we had ice in it.
• Water. Thankfully we never lost water or else we would have had to go somewhere else (or at least used lots of disposable dishes!).

This was not the kind of natural disaster that we couldn’t run to the store for more supplies, but it was good to know that if the need should arise, I think we would be ok. We have 72 hour kits for each of us as well as all of the above. The last few days were a great reminder and eye awakening for me as to what else would be helpful or what I would have done different.

If you were to lose power, what would you need to be prepared?

Getting Blood Out

A few weeks ago, I hosted a giveaway for Purex with Zout. The prompt for the mandatory entry was to tell me what stain is the hardest to get out of laundry. The number one stain mentioned was blood.

Frankly, I was baffled. Why? Because I rarely have trouble getting blood out, and it really is not difficult:

As soon as a piece of clothing gets blood on it, take it off and soak it in cold water. The water itself does a fantastic job getting blood out, but if there’s still some blood on your clothing, spray it with your usual stain treater and wash in cold water.

If the article of clothing still has some blood on it, do NOT dry it in the dryer (heat will set the stain)…wash it again.

How do you get blood stains out of clothes?

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday, Homemaker Monday, and Don’t Waste Your Homemaking.

Get the Stink out of Dishcloths

When my husband and I got married, my mother-in-law gave me a beautiful, colorful batch of dishcloths that she had crocheted. Having been raised in a sponge home, it took me a while, but eventually I began to use and enjoy the benefits of dishcloths.

The downside? After a while, they can start to stink…if you’ve had stinky dishcloths you know exactly what I’m talking about! I had tried washing them and adding vinegar to the load but the smell was just as bad.

A while ago, I read somewhere in the blogosphere to soak the dishcloths in pure vinegar and I did overnight. Make sure they are completely immersed. I then washed them as normal, and guess what?! No stink! I was so excited that I can keep using the dishcloths my mother-in-law made since she passed away 2 years ago and I really don’t have many things from her.

Have you found any other methods that work to get the stink out?

Seed Starter

If it’s still too cool outside but you want to get some seeds started for your garden, don’t go out and buy pots that you’ll only use for a month or two. Recycle and use milk jugs. Simply cut off the top portion, fill with dirt and plant your seeds. This should be plenty of room for your seeds to start growing until the weather warms up and you can plant them outside. Recycle and get plants out of it!

Ideally, a milk jug will also be enough room for one plant to grow and produce some yummy veggies for us apartment dwellers who have no land to call our own :). I plan to move some of the seeds when they get bigger and though it’s not the prettiest, I feel that my children will benefit more from learning about plants and where food comes from, than how much my pride will be hurt…

Toy Storage: Ice Cream Bucket

My boys are hoarders…so much so that C, my 22 month old, can carry 10 cars tucked under his chin in order to keep them away from K. This usually leads to dropped cars, and tears.

The best solution I’ve come up with so far? Give them an ice cream bucket to carry/store all of their cars in.

It’s cheap, and if they break it, it’s no big deal. Maybe one day I will Mod Podge something cute on it, but for now, it’s doing it’s job and my boys love to carry it around.

That’s what works for me :)

Eat Your Frog

Over a year ago, Tsh from Simple Mom shared a post about eating your frog. The title captured me, and the message in her post has stayed with me ever since.

The basic premise is based on the quote from Mark Twain who said “Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

What I took from this, is that each morning, do the task you are least looking forward to that day, and surely your day can only get better. Since I despise unloading the dishwasher, that is what I try to do first thing in the morning. This works perfectly for me because I have propped the dishwasher open overnight to allow the dishes to dry, and can put them away quickly (preferably while my boys are eating cereal…otherwise the task gets longer and longer if you know what I mean).

I then have a dishwasher ready for loading, and my dishes don’t pile up throughout the day.

What is your frog every day?

Eating my frog works for me!

72-Hour Kits

I don’t know if you’ve heard about the flooding, or fires that Australia has faced these last few years, but my cousins live there and during the worst of it, everyone is constantly on their toes wondering if they are going to have to evacuate. There are many times during natural disasters that families are given 15 minutes to get out of their houses and rush to safety.

In our church, we are encouraged to be prepared…to have 72-hour kits which are kits with enough provisions to survive 72 hours until help arrives in case of emergencies. Sometimes the idea of packing enough for your whole family for 3 days can be overwhelming, but it can mean the difference between life or death. But, it’s not only our church…the Red Cross and many other websites encourage each family to be prepared for any disaster.

Use Binder Clips to Organize Your Desk

If you’re anything like my husband and I, you have a million or so cables that are used in your USB drives for a million different things…each of our cell phones has a different cable, the Kindle has a cable, the external hard-drive has a cable, etc, etc. Our cables were getting out of hand; constantly tangling.

Little binder clips were the answer to all my cable problems. I can now grab my cell phone cable and plug my cell phone in with no confusion or hassle :).  They keep your cables in one place and you can either grab the other end to plug it in, or keep all of the cables plugged into a USB port.

All you have to do is clamp the clip to your desk and thread the cable through the metal handles. The metal handles or prongs or whatever you call them come out so you can thread bigger cables through it, and pop them right back into the clip.
You do have to make sure the clips are large enough to attach to your desk. I found these at Wal-Mart on clearance. $1 for a little more sanity…it just might be worth it. :)

Thank you Lifehacker for simplifying my life and my desk!

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, and Penny Pinching Party Wednesday @ Thrifty Home, We're Organized Wednesday @ Organize and Decorate Everything.

DIY Laundry Soap

Did you know  you can make your own laundry soap? Seriously! If you do it right, it can save you quite a bit, and it’s easy!

You can make liquid or powder laundry soap, and I have been dying to try making a powder soap for months but had to use up the rest of the soap I got on clearance. When Kim posted the recipe she found, I knew that was the one I wanted to try! I have been using this homemade detergent for 2 weeks now and am very pleased with the results! It cleans just as well as store bought detergent and took 20 minutes to make!

How to get rid of fruit flies

Before I start, please promise you'll still read my blog after seeing the picture I'm posting below...

But, I feel it is crucial to share with you the secret way my husband discovered on how to rid your home of a fruit fly infestation. Those little bugs are so annoying and look nasty!

The best part...it's natural; no chemicals or baits. All you need is apple cider vinegar and dish soap! Fill a cup/glass 1/4ish of the way full with your apple cider vinegar and pour a few drops of dish soap on top.

The dish soap releases the surface tension of the vinegar so when those pesky flies land on top of the cider, because it smells so much like the rotting fruit they love, they will sink right in and meet a cider-y grave! Want proof? Check out how many we've caught this last week: Yeah, all those brown spots...fruit flies. Gross huh?!

Yes, it stinks and drives my nose nuts, but I'd rather see those little bugs drown (sorry for the violence) than fly around my head while I wash dishes! Make sure you set your cup somewhere you're less likely to knock it over :)

I'm linking up to Homemaking Monday @ 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven and Works for me Wednesday @ We Are That Family.

How to Easily Clean Your Shower Curtain

I really hope I'm not alone in the fact that even when I'm doing really well at keeping our place clean, there are things I just never think to clean until I'm totally out of energy...like my shower curtain (no need to comment honey). I have no desire to climb in the shower, spray down the curtain and scrub it! Maybe I'm the only one who hadn't thought of other options, but all I could think to do is what I described above, and I was never in the mood for it. Seriously, for the entire year we've lived where we're at, I haven't done it.

I'm just about mortified to show you the picture of our shower curtain, but it's for the greater good, right? I had seriously forgotten that it was a clear curtain...
I recently got a free Taste of Home magazine in the mail, and in that magazine came a handy little cleaning tips sheet. I bet you'll never guess what was on there? Yeah, how to clean your shower curtain. If yours is as bad as mine, I really wouldn't mind you commenting so I can feel slightly less bad about it :)

Is your shower curtain desperate for a good scrubbing? Here's how:

Take your curtain off the rings and put it in the washing machine with two bath towels (this won't work without the bath towels, according to Taste of Home, and I wasn't about to mess with their wisdom!).

Add 1/2 cup detergent and 1/2 cup baking soda and run your curtain/towels through a complete cycle.

On the rinse cycle, stop it and add 1 cup vinegar. This will help stop streaks and add shine.

Stop your machine before it spins the final spin and hang your curtain up asap. You can leave the towels in to spin out. The wrinkles in your shower curtain will disappear as it dries and you will be shocked at how beautifully clean your curtain is! Your 18 month old might actually let you close the curtain when he's bathing because he can see you and still splash without getting you all wet.

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family, Frugal Friday @ Mrs. Moneysaver, Fab Friday @ Frugal & Fabulous Design, and Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous, most of which are frugal links, because what's more frugal that washing that old curtain and making it look like new :)?