Absence...

I apologize for my sudden, unexplained absence these last weeks. I have had little to no energy or inspiration lately, and have put aside some things for a season.

And yes, there is a reason. ;)

Baby Wagner is coming soon! ;) We are so excited and happy, and are anxiously awaiting the birth of our blessing!

Oxi Clean and Stain Remover-make your own!

I have learned two valuable lessons recently.
Lesson one.
Double and triple check your load of laundry to make sure none of your husbands filthy work clothes are in there with your clothes, otherwise, your favorite turtle Aerie tshirt WILL get stained. And you will forget to check said shirt for stains before drying it, thus setting the stain in. And causing me to give up hope it will ever be recovered.

Next lesson.
Do NOT forget a load of laundry in the washing machine for several days. Something will mold. That something being your very favorite, new Gap sweatshirt that happened to be a gift from your favorite little sister. Sigh. I was NOT happy about this second laundry lesson in the last two weeks. I threw a fit calmly rewashed my sweatshirt three times. The little evil red splotches all over the once-pristinely white Gap letters across the front..not fazed.
Frustration.
I googled how to get mold out of clothing. No go. Sigh. And then I remembered. Recipes for Oxi Clean and stain remover from my favorite DIY blog, One Good Thing by Jillee. And I had all the ingredients! Worth a try, right? I have to admit I was a little skeptical that it would actually work. I made the stain remover first and sprayed it on the moldy spot, rubbing the fabric against itself. Better, but not quite there. I decided to whip up a batch of the Oxi Clean as well, and let it soak in that. When I went downstairs, I also found my poor, discarded, stained tshirt on top of the dryer. Ehh. Why not? A true test.
After soaking for a couple of hours, much improvement. However, I knew those two lingering red splothes and barely-precieveable stain would drive me crazy. I whipped up another batch of OC and after I spot-cleaned the stains again, I left them to sit overnight in my concoction.

This morning I cautiously inspected my items. It worked. The shirt is stain free (even removed some old stains that have been washed and dried in for months), and the white on my sweatshirt is bright-white again. YES! :)


Homemade “Shout” Stain Pre-Treater

2/3 cups Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (I had Palmolive on hand, so that’s what I used)
2/3 cups ammonia
6 Tblsp baking soda
2 cups warm water

"Mix everything together then use a funnel to pour into an old Shout bottle or other spray bottle.

To use: shake bottle then spray on stains as you normally would.  I usually let mine “soak in” for a few minutes at least.  Then launder as usual."

source: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/08/shout-it-out-homemade-version.html

Homemade OxiClean
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup washing soda

"Another thing I learned is that once mixed together….the hydrogen peroxide and washing soda only remain effective for up to 6 hours.  If it sits around, it will loose it’s efficacy because the oxygen boils off.   I guess that explains why the original recipe was for such a small amount. :-/ So I basically wasted my “quadruple” batch.

Finally, for maximum effectiveness you need to let the clothes SOAK in the solution for awhile, preferably overnight…but at least for a couple of hours."

source: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/02/move-over-oxicleantheres-much-cheaper.html

IKEA Cork Trviets

I picked these cork trivets from IKEA in April. Not to actually use as pot trivets, but as cork boards. They came in a pack of three.

I picked out three coordinating scraps of fabric, and after trying to figure out the best way to attach the fabic, I settled on thumb tacks, which actually worked excellent. :)

I added a loop of jute.

All done! :)

Blank for now, but eventually they will have things pinned to them, I'm sure.

                               

Washboard Repurpose

I found this little beauty at an estate sale for a mere $4, and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! :)

Since the top open space was in pretty rough shape, but I didn't want to permanently cover it, I used double stick tape to cover it with fabric. :) The picture is just printed from my computer and taped on, as well.

 And because the board is also metal, it doubles as a magnet board. Pretty spiffy, eh?

Repurpose: Hall Cabinet

 In my search for a small, slim profile cabinet/table for our entry way, I found this one at Salvation Army earlier this week for a mere $15. :)
Ugly, but workable...

I removed the hardware, sanded it down a little, and started painting.

I very much dislike painting furniture, and this was no exception. :P With the help of Pandora, I made it through though. :)

I spray painting the hardware black. Notice how I got them to stand up.. clothespins. ;)

In it's new home! :)

Ahh.. Much better than nasty looking gold!

Nice low profile. :)

Total cost: $20 approx. I bought paint for it, but only used less than a quarter of a $11 can.

Oh look.. it's me! ;)

Claire *loves* watching me and getting under foot when I'm doing projects. :P She's pretty cute, though.

Repurpose: Cupboard Door

This project has taken me forever to finish. I kept coming to a standstill, unsure of how I wanted to finish it. I finally did a couple of days ago, and it turned out so cute!

I found this old cupboard door out in our barn, the mirror was facing the wrong way, so I removed it, filled the hinge holes, sanded it, and painted it tan.

And then it sat for a month or so. :P While I was painting the ceiling in the great room, I had an idea to throw a little white paint on it, and distress the edges with a sanding sponge...

I bought a Martha Stuart stencil from Home Depot, and using a darker tan from our house paint, decorated it a little. :) I wanted to decorate it so I could use the mirror vertically or horizontally. 

Total cost: around $5, including the stencil, which I plan to use for other projects.

Jute Letters & Wall Decor

I love the look of jute-wrapped wall letters.. how cute is this, right?! However, they looked fairly simple, and I wasn't about to pay $20+ a letter.
Soo.. I purchased a roll of jute at Home Depot for 3.99, and wooden letters at JoAnn's for .99 each.

Just look at all that fun stuff!

I wrapped the letters with the jute, using hot glue occasionally to keep it secure.
The end result? Jute letters, for a fraction of the price! I used maybe a 1/4 of the jute per letter, so that's roughly $2 a letter!

I also bought some wood plaques for around $2 at JoAnn's, slapped some tan paint on 'em, and glued some wall decals I got for free on the front, and filled in the empty spaces on my hallway wall. :)