Regarding Pinterest

Just an FYI. Anything I post on this blog, you may post on Pinterest if you'd like. Actually, I'd love that!

Homemade Cleaner

I've really been on a homemade cleaner kick. Saves money, saves plastic and is overall better than using all those chemicals in the house. My first cleaner I tried was my own fabric freshener (similar to Febreeze). So far that has worked great. I think it really works better than store bought.

Next I've been trying the no shampoo deal. I haven't quite figured out the combination for my hair. It'll get real oily, then real dry. I'm going to keep on trying though. I'd love to have healthy hair.

Two days ago I tried the homemade soap scum cleaner in my bathtub. All I can say is amazing! Everything is so shiny. For some reason there are two areas on my tub that didn't get clean. It's almost like something permanent is stuck on it. I used it all on my shower, but next I want to tackle the kitchen faucet. It's a cheap apartment faucet, but I'd like it to shine.

Recipes:
Homemade Fabric Freshener
1/8 cup your favorite fabric softener
8 Tbs baking soda
Hot tap water
I reused my old Febreeze bottle. Be careful when adding the baking soda to the mix. After all 3 ingredients are added, mix well.

Soap Scum Cleaner
1 part white vinegar
1 part blue Dawn dish detergent
Heat the vinegar for about 2 minutes, mix with Dawn and shake well. Use after mixing, don't store it. Spray all over the shower, leave for 30 minutes - 2 hours depending on how scummy. Wipe down with clean sponge and warm water.

I'd recommend searching blogs, websites for your own mixture of DIY hair care. I use 1Tbs baking soda per cup of water. I boil the water first since it appears I have hard water. But it's not working like I'd hoped so I'm in search of other remedies.

I'm off today to make some more goodies for my Etsy page. Until next time.

Foodie night

Apologies for slacking. Tonight's post should be good. It's filled with yumminess. I've been really trying to find good and easy recipes to try. I got into a rut where I seemed to be making the same things each week. Rotisserie chicken, stir fry, pasta, etc. Not that those are bad things but I wanted a change.

So tonight I bring you:
Honey garlic pork chops for dinner and Nutella cookies for dessert :)

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I'd try. I tweaked it a bit. The recipe calls for grilling, and living in an apartment, there's no grilling.

Here's my version
4 pork chops
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp minced garlic

Wisk the honey, garlic and soy sauce in a shallow dish, pre-heat over to 350:

Coat each chop on both sides and put in glass baking pan (use the pan of your choice). On a side note, I have  recently discovered the Reynolds pan liner, which is aluminum foil on one side and parchment paper on the other. THE BEST EVER. Can use it to cook and bake. 

Drizzle the honey garlic sauce over the chops and cook for 20-25 minutes in the oven, flipping half way through. 

Serve with sides of your choice. Mine are broccoli and cheese, cinnamon applesauce and a baked potato. This was so good. Wasn't too garlic-y, so you can tweak the recipe to your liking. 

Ok now onto dessert. This is another recipe found on Pinterest. I recently discovered the amazingness of Nutella. Why I thought it would be gross, I have no idea. Aside from graham crackers, I couldn't really think of a way to use it in food. I followed this recipe. It's 4 ingredients, which I thought was a piece of cake. 

So I blended all the ingredients, which wasn't easy measuring a cup of Nutella. The mixture never got a smooth consistency. It was very powdery and crumbled easy. I pushed on anyway. Thankfully the mixture formed into little balls. The recipe called to press them down, which mine couldn't do. They'd crumble. So I left them in little balls. Baked for 8 minutes and let cool. 

Once cooled, they are soft inside, hard on the outside. But they were really yummy :)

I can't wait to next try the new Duncan Hines frosting mixes! 

New creation!

Apologies for the lack of posts. I've been dog sitting for 3 weeks and haven't really been able to post. However, I did create a new scarf!

Started off wandering through JoAnns for something different, and boy did I find it. Deborah Norvilles Everyday yarn in Parrot. Made from 100% acrylic.

I'm not much of a knitter yet. Only simple things. But I found this pattern and had to try it. Cast on an odd amount of stitches, a multiple of 3 (ie. 21, 27, 33). k2p1 and you wind up with one knit, one purl and one moss stitch. It's very flexible and stretchy.

I've found her yarn to be great and easy to knit with. Just wait until you see what I do next! By the by, this one is for sale on my Etsy page.

Clean up is a snap!

In 2007 I purchased a new living room set from Rooms To Go. Bought into that whole microfiber suede craze. The sales man convinced me that it couldn't be punctured or stained. I figured this fabric was from the future, so I bought it. It was gorgeous. I still wonder why I chose a red love seat and cream sofa. Within a month, my cat Sally had clawed her way across the front of the couch. And over the last 5 years it's been stained, and cleaned, and stained and cleaned. Now they sold me on the whole 'use this fabric cleaner and it'll be like new'. Yah right. What they don't tell you about microfiber is that if it gets wet then this nice little dark ring dries and makes a new stain. So over the years, I've been scrubbing, steaming and soaking my cushions to get them clean. Until I joined Pinterest, that is. I've been seeing DIY cleaners for this fabric, but in reading on another blog, most people just toss the cushion covers in the washer and dryer. I figured what the heck, they're 5 years old, if my red love seat turns pink, so be it.

The following 2 are before. Most the small stains are from my heard of pets.

This is my beagle Haley keeping warm on one of Florida's colder days.

And here is after washing! Tada. There are a few spots left, but it's 98% clean. Real soft too!

I forgot to take before and after pictures for the red love seat but the results were amazing! Didn't see ANY spots on the red one.

Here's what I did:

  ~ Removed the covers.
  ~Turned inside out and zipped up almost all the way.
  ~Washed in warm water with my regular detergent and a spot of Borax.
  ~Dried on the low heat setting.
  ~Before putting the covers back on, I sprayed the cushions with my DIY fabric freshener.

So far so good. Now I know if something spills, they're easier to clean!

Just have to share

So as all (3) of my followers know, I am unemployed. I'm always looking for ways to save some money. I love shiny, sparkly eye shadow but all the cool ones seem to be expensive. The other day, I was browsing the mall with my mom and cousin for good deals. In Forever 21 by the registers, they have all these cute little products, mostly under $5. So I found this cute set of 16 colored glitter eye shadow and decided to try it. Lo and behold, it's awesome. Intense pigment and stays on! No need for primer.

Next time you're in there, check it out! I'll post more deals when I find them.

Crafting time

So the last few days I've been making some stuff. Knitting, card making and treat bags. The cards are for Valentine's Day. Here's what I've been doing,

Started off with my supplies. I find great deals at Michaels, Jo-Ann and Wal-Mart with the Studio G $1 items. The cards, wooden stamps, glitter and ink pads were all $1 items. Of course, my Cricut is very useful.

My Cricut personal and amazing Ott Light

Ta-Da! XOXO cards, for sale on Etsy here.

Hot pink Smitten cards for sale here.

Cute little simple blank Valentines cards.

Haven't finished all the treat bags, but I've also been utilizing my new Cricut cartridge that makes treat boxes! More pictures when I'm done with those later.