Simple Tip - Box 'em Up

Hey there friends!  Did any of you spend the weekend getting some Christmas shopping done?  I am about 95% done and it feels soooo good to be nearing the finish line.  Now I'm just counting down the days until my family gets to open their gifts.  I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!  I LOVE giving surprises.  

I haven't shared any simple tips on this blog for a reeeealy long time.  But here's a little simple tip for this special time of year.  Maybe it's something you already do, but if not, it can save you some cash.  

Save your cereal boxes, cracker boxes, Costco boxes, etc. and use them to wrap up your gifts.  A lot of gifts I buy would completely give their surprise away if I just wrapped them without a box.  But by putting them in a cereal box first and then wrapping it, I can disguise the shape of the gift and my children are none the wiser.  And it's way cheaper than having to buy gift boxes.

Merry Christmas!

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-Next week I'll be sharing a little makeover we've been talking about doing in our home for the longest time!  Built-in bookshelves by our fireplace!

I love the way they turned out!

How to Clean Dirty Blinds

I posted about how I clean my blinds back in THIS post in 2010.

Well guess what my fabulous friends, I haven't hardly touched those blinds since then.
Isn't that pathetic?  Don't answer that.  

Anyway, here's a re-cap for those of you who may be new to my blog:

Mix equal parts vinegar + water in a bowl. 

 

Then slip an old sock on your hand, dip your hand (with the sock on it) into the vinegar and water mixture and wipe down each individual slat on the blinds. 

Easy.

After every couple of slats, dip the sock on your hand into the cleaner and squeeze it a bit to rinse off the dirt.

It's also helpful to have a second old sock.  Once all the slats have been cleaned, slip the second old sock onto your hand and dry off each slat.

The result is beautiful!

Cleaning blinds is not my favorite chore in the world.  (obviously)

But cleaning them is really not that difficult.  

Especially when using an old sock, which is way less bulky to use in-between all those small spaces, than an old rag would be.

Happy Cleaning!

Make Less Look Like More

About a month ago I bought some basket filler "stuff" at the dollar tree.

I put it in a basket on top of the toilet in our main bathroom.

Two bags of this stuff didn't quite fill 'er up enough.

Solution:

Take out all the filler "stuff", place three plastic grocery bags on the bottom of the basket, and then put the filler "stuff" back in.

Just another way to reuse plastic bags

and

a great decorating solution to a fuller looking basket.

Have a Happy Wednesday!

Linked to:  Tatertots and Jello

Quick Tip Tuesday

I haven't shared any quick tips for awhile but this one I just couldn't keep a secret!!!

My sister is the one who told me about it.

This amazing stone gets rid of hard water stains on the old round chair.

{...get my drift?}

All you do is gently rub it in small circles on the hard water stains in your toilet and they disappear!

Like magic!

This is seriously one of my new best friends when it comes to cleaning my bathrooms.

And after inheriting a thirty year old toilet when we bought our house, we had some major hard water stains going on. 

{I do have to add that we did buy new toilet seat lids for all the toilets in our house...just couldn't bring myself to sit on the old ones...I'm just say'in.}

This stone was so easy to use and just look at the results!

I found this bathroom stone at Fred Meyer, but if you don't have one of these stores in your area, you can probably google "earthstone bathroom stone" to find out if they sell them at a store near you.

***I have NOT been compensated in any way for mentioning earthstone's bathroom stone.  I just really like their product!

Freezing Herbs

My garden this year is thriving and I am beyond thrilled!

So far we've harvested some zucchini, sugar snap peas, and cilantro.

The thing with cilantro, or any herb for that matter, is that if you planted a lot of it, it's hard to use it all at once while it's fresh.

So I freeze it!

In case you've never done this before, here's how:

After the cilantro is picked and thoroughly washed, chop it into small pieces.

Then put it into ice cube trays and fill the trays with water.

{Approx. 1 tbs per cube...but I didn't measure it exactly.}

Put the ice cube trays in the freezer for about one day and then break the frozen cubes of cilantro out of the tray and put them in a Ziploc freezer bag.

Now when I want to make salsa or some other yummy dish later in the year, all I have to do is defrost the cubes.

This little bit of work and planning makes cooking in the future so much easier!

Simple Tip Tuesday {Part 7}

Cleaning my blinds is one of the last things I usually put on my to do list.

However, living in a deserty, dusty, windy area makes my  blinds extra dirty every time I want to open my windows for some fresh air.

So here is a simple way to clean blinds.

Mix equal parts vinegar and warm water in a bowl.

Slip an old odd sock on your hand and wipe all the grimy dirt away.

When your sock gets really dirty, rinse it in some clean water and repeat the cleaning process.

Happy Cleaning!!!

...also re-posted HERE.

Simple Tip Tuesday {Part 6}

Ever walked past your kitchen sink and smelled something not so pretty?

It could be a dirty grimy garbage disposal causing the smell.

To clean your garbage disposal and get rid of the smell, pour some ice and the peal of a lemon {or an orange} down your garbage disposal and turn the disposal on.

The ice will remove any left over grease or other yucky debris and the peal will leave a nice smell.

It's easy and works like a charm!!!

Simple Tip Tuesday {Part 5}

{Image courtesy of Google}

Today I thought I'd share some great uses for old newspapers that I found as I was cruising the internet last night.

Some of these tips I already knew about, but a couple of them were new to me! 

Like hey, did you know that you can use old newspapers to line the bottom of your vegetable drawer in your refrigerator and that this will keep your vegetables fresh a little while longer? {This might also be great for when you forget about all the vegetables at the bottom of your vegetable drawer...makes for an easier cleanup.  Eeew!}

Check out the link above for all the uses for old newspapers.  The ones I listed below are some of my favorites.

Use for cleaning windows and mirrors

Use for starting a safe camp fire or using in a wood burning fireplace

Use for the lining of the bottom of an animal's cage

Use for packing breakables

Use for wrapping paper

Use to make a pattern for sewing projects

Use to make homemade paper mache crafts

Use to ripen tomatoes faster (wrap the whole tomato in newspaper!)

So instead of throwing away your newspapers after they've been read, save them!

You never know what you might use them for!

Simple Tip Tuesday {Part 4}

Now that it is officially summer, we are breaking out the popsicles like mad.

Here's a quick tip to stop your childeren's (or for that matter, your own) popsicle from melting all over and staining perfectly good clothes and making super sticky fingers.

With scissors, make a tiny slit in the bottom of a cupcake liner. Then slide your popsicle stick right through the slit.

And there you go!

No more sticky mess.

{Super Simple}

Simple Tip Tuesday - Part 3

*** Quick Tip Tuesday is now going to be called Simple Tip Tuesday since this blog is all about keeping things simple.

I don't know about any of you, but I buy use to buy tons of paper towels every month.

In an effort to save a little moo la, I decided to store clean rags in a basket underneath my sink instead.

Now when my kids spill something (which is almost hourly) or something else needs wiped up, we've gotten into the habit of grabbing a rag instead of a paper towel. 

It was totally weird to me at first, but now it's paying off.

(Note: I still keep one roll of paper towels in the pantry for anything super gross or unsanitary that needs wiping up.)

P.S. - I started off with an old basket like this but was tired of the honey color so I spray painted the basket black to get the result above.  Hip Hip for spray paint!!!

Quick Tip Tuesday - Part 2

Do you ever get fruit flies in your home? 

Here's how to get rid of the pesky creatures!

Fill a small bowl with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap.

Set it out over night before you go to bed (that way you won't have to smell that vinegary smell all day...unless you enjoy the smell of vinegar...).

 By morning you'll have a bowl full of drowned fruit flies.
Rinse and Repeat as necessary!

Quick Tip Tuesday

Anyone besides me have a basket full of odd socks???

(Hello!  How many socks can a single dryer eat?)

Well, the other day I was complaining to my mom about this very thing and she gave me this quick tip:

Turn them into sock dusters!

Just slide your hand in and Walaa!

Perfect for little hands who want to help out with household chores!