Removing Red Wine Stains (and yellowed neck stains)

My husband works in a restaurant and has for almost the whole time I've known him. And though he comes home with all sorts of stains and spills on his white shirts, I was confronted with a new kind of stain this week. Red wine. We don't drink, so I've only heard rumors about it's mystical staining powers. I was a little scared. Mostly because I'm currently out of a laundry pretreater/stain remover.

So what did I do? Googled it, of course! I wish I could link you to the source, but unfortunately our internet was down and I was searching on my phone. I have no idea where I actually wound up online. Sorry.

So how to remove this monstrosity? Equal parts hydrogen peroxide and Dawn dish soap. Yup. It was that easy. I mixed it up, dabbed it on with a q-tip, and watched it disappear. And thank goodness for that. The stain just had to be on his one GOOD white shirt. And white I was removing stains, I was curious to know if the mixture would remove the yellow stains around the neckline. I applied it to about 1/4th of the neckline and just threw it in the wash. In the morning when I checked, the part that I applied the mixture to was gone! Yay!

The stain removal fun was late at night right before bed, so I left the mixture in a little ramekin overnight (because if it worked, I wanted to save it). When I woke up, the Hydrogen Peroxide had turned the blue mixture clear. I ended up just empyting it into an empty baby food jar and putting it in the laundry room.

Any fabulous stain removal tips you use?

Framed Fall Letters

Part of the reason I wanted the entryway shelf that I posted about last week is because I want something to decorate. I don't have a mantle or a porch and our entertainment center is just too crowded with the stereo system and the overflowing DVDs.

So now that my shelf is up, I decided it needs to be a little more festive.

It's not a very big shelf, so there isn't a lot of room, but I still think it's cute! And those framed letters were super easy to make. Or at least they would have been if I weren't so indecisive!

The frames are just a 4x6 size - each of them are different and from the D.I. You can't beat $0.50 for a frame, especially since I just painted over them.

I picked 4 fall colors (I used a brown, green, cream, and wine), picked some paper (the hardest part) and them cut out the letters with my Silhouette (the most frustrating part). I think I changed my mind 10 times about the paper I was going to use. Even now, I'm not completely in love with it. I'm sure if I were to scour the racks at the craft store I could find something I LOVED. But I'm trying to be cheap and just use what I have on hand. It's growing on me though.

The inspiration for these letters came from this picture which I found through pinterest and then posted about here a couple weeks ago.

I think I'm going to do something a little more Halloweeny, or at least pumpkinish for the entertainment center. Be sure to check back and see what I come up with!




Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get Your Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Categorically Crafting

Key & Coat Shelf

Hubs and I have been married for almost 5 years now and throughout that entire time, I've always meant to come up with some kind of coat rack. In our first apartment, we used the vacuum cleaner as our coat rack. The coats and jackets just got piled on top of the vacuume cleaner. Sad, huh!? In our apartment now, the high chair was used as a coat rack. Whenever we needed the high chair, I'd pile the coats ontop of the table for a while. The high chair is in storage now and the jackets are moved around to different chairs around the table depending on where we want to sit. Right now the jackets are hung up in our bedroom closet (so their not cluttered on the table and chairs) but it's going to be time to pull them out again. In fact, we already did on Saturday! It was rainy and yucky and about 55 degrees when we left the house. And since they're out, they need a home. One that isn't the table or chairs, preferably.
No longer will the coats ben shuffled around. No longer will the keys be lost in the mess on the table or buried at the bottom of my purse!

I found this little unfinished beauty at the D.I. We have another shelf much like this one (without the hooks though) above our couch that has our last name carved into it. When I saw this one with the heart on it, I knew it would be the perfect companion for our other lonely little shelf.

Two dollars. That's all she cost! Adding in the cost of the paint I used, this little project cost a total of $3.75! Yay for cheap!!

I used Dark Chocolate and Fawn from the Americana Paint line. As a side note, I was NOT at all happy with the coverage of the Dark Chocolate. It took about 4 coats and almost the whole bottle of paint to get good coverage. I've use Americana and have always been happy with the way it covers (so much better than the super, super cheap stuff). I don't know if they've reformulated or if it was just this colors. Anyway, back to the project.

So, I slathered on the Dark Chocolate until she was good and covered. Then did some dry brushing with the fawn to add a little more of a textured look. You can't really see it in the picture though.

It now hangs right by our door, all decorated and pretty. Once I get some of my fall decor stuff done, I'll be switching these things out and putting some of it here on this shelf.

Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Halloween Subway Art + Free Printable

As part of my Halloween decor, I created this cute little subway art printable!

Want one too? Click here to download your copy! Remember that this is only for personal use, please. If you'd like to share it with others, please be sure to link back to this post.

Also, this is a PDF download. I made the image small enough so that you could frame it as an 8.5x11 or also trim it down to put in an 8x10 frame (which is what mine is in). If you go for the 8x10 size, you'll probably need to trim it down by about 1/4" on each side, but that will vary based on the frame you're using.

Enjoy!



Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Inspiration for Fall Decor

I'm not sure how the weather is where you are, but it's still fairly warm here - in the 80s and 90s during the day. I'm really looking forward to cooler temps! Nothing much, just in the 70s. In hopes of helping to usher in fall, I've been eyeing some super cute fall decor. I haven't started on anything yet, just browsing.

(All of these were found through Pinterest, so some may not have the actual source included. Sorry - I tried!)

So far I'm loving the whole pumpkin theme. Check out these Magical Pumpkins from The Charm of Home.

More pumpkins! I'm loving the Pumpkin Garland from A Glimpse Inside. This is something that I think even Andyroo could help make!

I also really like the look of the leaves on this Centerpiece from Thrifty Parsonage Living

These framed letters would be perfect for our apartment if they were a little smaller. Easy enough, right?

Source

I have yet to put up a wreath - ever. Anyone else with me on this? After seeing some of these cute (and easy) wreaths, I just might have to give it a go!

Found on Pinterest - Pin source says Ucreate. I didn't search through
the whole website to find it. Sorry :)

Recycled Magnetic Organizers

One of the things that drives me nuts is having piles of paper scattered around the kitchen counter and tables. We have a small apartment, so I try my hardest to keep things put away and uncluttered. (No comments from those of you who have seen my house at it's not-so-great moments!) I would love the ability to set up a whole functional (and pretty) station or desk to keep myself organized. I just don't have the space for that, so I came up with this instead.

Want to know what I used?

That's right! A Pringles container and a couple of empty boxes!!! I had everything on hand, so this project was completely free. Free is awesome!

This project is pretty self-explanatory. Pick a couple of boxes. I used some fruit snack boxes because they were big enough to fit full-sized piece of paper. I contemplated using a couple of smaller boxes, but just stuck with 2 fruit snack boxes and the Pringles can.

The Pringles can cuts down easily with just a serrated kitchen knife.

Pick some paper and mod podge it onto your boxes.

Attach some magnets. Initially I used hot glue, but the magnets kept falling off, so I pulled out my trusty E600 which worked like a charm. I used 2 magnets on the can and 4 on each of the boxes. I didn't want them sliding around on the fridge.

I also used my Silhouette to cut out some vinyl labels. You could easily print labels or use stickers. One box is for things that I need to file and the other is for things that need my attention or that I don't want to lose. I think they might have looked a little better if I had put the vinyl on a solid piece of paper then glued it onto the boxes, but this will work for now!

Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:


Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays

Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander

Free Calendar Printable

One of the thinks that I think is crucial to running a household is a good calendar or scheduling system. We all have our own ways and preferences and we use what works best for us, but I thought I'd share what works for me!

After high school, I worked as a nanny for a family in Connecticut and I was in love with her calendaring system. She had a gigantic wall calendar and used a different color pen/marker for each family member. I thought it was pretty genius!I tucked that method away for future use - and I used that system after Hubs and I first got married. But for newlyweds, it was a little bit overkill. I loved the large spaces and the color coding though.

The apartment we're in now has amazing cabinet space, but not a lot of wall space. Which means my gigantic calendar is out, for now. Someday! About 3 year ago, I found an awesome "mommy" calendar on clearance at Borders. It had loads of room to write and a space for each member of the family. Something like this...

Source


It's hard to see, but can you see the spaces on the left hand side for family member's names? I LOVED THAT! The next year, I searched and waited for the same kind of calendar to go on sale but I never was able to find it. I needed a calendar though, so I created my own!

It has the spaces on the left for out names and space to write more than one word. I can customize it for whatever month I need and then print it out. You could even print it out and then get it spiral bound for easy hanging or reference. It prints as two pages .The picture above is the first page. On the second page, there are another 3 weeks worth of spaces and a space for notes.

Want to try it out? Click here to download your own!

When you print it out, you'll be able to better see that there's a small line above each of the weeks to write the date.

If you do use it, let me know. I'd love to hear what you think! I'd also love to hear what you use for a calendar or scheduling system!

Dollar Store Storage Bins

I'm in the process of redoing Andyroo's room. He never got a "proper" nursery when he was born, so I'm making up for lost time and giving him a new big boy room. Part of the new room is some cleaner, more efficient toy storage.

One of the things that drives me nuts about his room is the toys! I know I'm not the only mom out there who feels that way about their child(ren)'s toys. When he was younger and had fewer toys, I tried the shoe size (6 quart-ish) plastic bins. They worked, but he eventually got too many toys and the lids didn't fit or they were stepped on and broken. For a while, his favorite thing to do was dump out the little toy boxes. I finally gave up the insanity of separating the toys and just got him one big box.

But when he dumps that out because he's looking for his tiny green army men, I go crazy. I may be the mom, but I do NOT like cleaning up after the other people in this house!

I was considering making some canvas bins, but I'm afraid that they'll just get ruined very quickly - ripped or crushed or whatever. I wanted to do something that would be sturdy, so I was considering using cut up cereal boxes or plastic canvas as inserts in the middle of the canvas to make them stronger. But I kept thinking about how they would get destroyed so easily. So I put off making them for a few months.

Then as I was walking around the dollar store, I found the plastic bins in pink and light blue and my mind immediately went to the spray paint for plastics! So I grabbed 8 of them. There were only 10 on the shelf and while I considered taking all 10, I thought that was a little greedy. Instead I took 8. Hehe.

Krylon makes a great Plastics spray paint in quite a few colors. I found mine at Walmart for around $4, I think. It was windy, I got a little spray happy, and then towards the end the can wouldn't stop spraying. So the can only did the 3 I needed. *Phew* Even so, a total cost of less than $2.50 per bin isn't bad at all.

Only 6 would fit on Andyroo's shelf. Of the 8 I bought, 5 were a light blue and 3 were a bright pink. Since I needed 6, I was going to have to use one of the pink. I decided to use 3 light blue and 3 pink and paint the pink ones a darker shade of blue. I had pictures of the pink bins (so you could see just how pink they were), but they've disappeared somewhere into the abyss of my computer. Oh well. Use your imagination :)

The 2 shades of blue ended up matching the his Thomas the Train comforter (which I found on Clearance at Target - total score!) really well, which made me extra happy. I'm kind of pulling colors from his comforter for the rest of his room. Someday I'll get it finished and let you all see!

Much more tidy, don't you think?

Each bin is used for a different set of toy - potato head, cars, train, etc. Now everything has a place! And Andyroo doesn't have to dump out the whole bin when he wants to find Potato Head's moustache.

I think I want to add some picture labels, but I haven't decided yet. So far Andyroo's pretty good about just looking to see what is in each box. And I still usually have to help supervise clean up anyway, so I just grab a bin and tell him to put all his cars in it.

These have been in Andyroo's room for a little over a month now and they're working really well. The paint isn't peeling or being scratched off (another of my worries) and they're just so darn cute!

I'm also thinking of painting or redoing the book shelf. Any suggestions?

What system do you have to keep the toys from taking over your house?





We're linking up with these super awesome parties:


Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednseday, What I Made Wednesday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Frugal Friday, Lovely Little Linkup, Craftastic Monday, Woot Woot Wednesday, Strut Your Stuff, Our House of Joyful Noise, Get You Craft On, Wow Me Wednesday, Weekend Wander, Turquoise Lovin', Pity Party

Homemade Cleaning Products

One of the small changes I've made over the last year, and even since Andyroo was born, is trying to use fewer chemicals in our house. I'm no expert and I'm not doing this to be considered more green. I just think that all of those harsh chemicals that we inhale and touch cannot be good us or our little ones. Besides being able to breathe easier, it's also cheaper to use homemade products. Even using coupons, I still save even more money by making my own cleaning products - it's seriously SO cheap!

Some of my favorite cleaning ingredients include vinegar and baking soda (not usually mixed together, though).

Why Vinegar?

I know most people tend to think of vinegar as pretty gross smelling, but it has many purposes and uses. It has anti-bacterial properties, deodorizes (the vinegar smell really doesn't stick around, honest), and leaves a great shine (especially on stainless steel) - just to name a few. It can be used in place of fabric softener sheets/liquid. Just add about 1/2 c to your laundry. As an added bonus, it will help brighten your whites and help rid your washer of any built up residue. Have a stinky washing machine? Run an empty load with some extra vinegar to clean it out and get rid of the smell.

Why Baking Soda?
Baking soda isn't just for baking! It's also a great deodorizer. Think of the commercials advertising the baking soda boxes for your fridge - they help absorb the smell! When you mix it with a little water, it creates a great paste which will remove all sorts of grime, scum, hard water, etc. No need to use harsh scouring clearners.

My favorite all-purpose cleaner is made with very simple, household ingredients. I use this to clean everything - the kitchen counters, stovetop, our tile floors, the bathroom counters and mirrors, and even the walls and anything else that I need to clean. It's non-abrasive, so it isn't going to scratch any delicate surfaces and I don't hesitate to spray it on.

All-Purpose Cleaner
1/2 c white vinegar
1 tsp Dawn dish soap
water

Add vinegar and Dawn to an empty spray bottle (about 20-26oz) and then fill with water. Gently shake to mix ingredients. You'll probably see some suds at first, but you won't be spraying suds on everything.

If you're looking for a replacement for your basic anti-bacterial spray and don't want to use vinegar, you can also use the following mixture:

Bleach Spray
1/2 c Bleach
Water

Pour bleach into a spray bottle (about 20-26oz) and then fill the bottle with water.

Here are a few other mixtures that I use...

Window/Glass Cleaner
1 c Rubbing Alcohol (the isopropyl stuff)
1 tbsp white vinegar
water

Mix in a spray bottle and you'll have a streak free shine better than Windex

Furtniture Polish
1 c Olive Oil
1/2 c Lemon Juice (the real stuff, not the extract)

Mix well and apply to a cloth, then rub onto your furniture. Use a dry area of your rag to shine.

There are a lot of recipes for homemade cleaning products out there. What are your favorites? Has anyone tried making their own laundry detergent? It's something I'd like to try but I've been a little hesitant. I'd love to hear about the homemade products you use!!

Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pizza

I mentioned this pizza in my Cheese Stick Recipe post and thought that I should show you my pizza too.

What you'll need:

• Pizza Dough (I HIGHLY reccommend this Breadstick dough from Our Best Bites)
• Garlic Bread Seasoning (also from Our Best Bites)
• 1/2 c butter or margarine
• Alfredo Sauce, approx 1/8 - 1/4 cup
• Bacon Pieces (depending on how much you like - I LOVE bacon)
• About 1 cup cubed/diced/shredded Chicken (cooked and seasoned to your preference) (I'm using canned chicken this time)
• 5-6oz of shredded Mozarella Cheese
• Corn Meal or Corn Grits (if using a pizza stone - optional)
• Any additional toppings - tomatoes, onions, etc

1. Follow the recipe here but stop before you cut and twist the dough into breadsticks. Instead, spread some corn meal/grits onto a pizza stone or pan and roll out the dough. Let it rise for a half hour or so. (Here is where I use the Corn Meal. Spread a bit onto your pizza stone before rolling the dough onto the stone. Technically you're supposed to preheat your stone and then put your dough on. I did that the first time I used my stone, but it was such a pain in the butt to try and move the dough. Now I just put down some Corn Meal and roll the dough straight onto the pizza stone without preheating it. The Corn Meal keeps the dough from sticking too much. Flour does NOT work so well to keep the dough from sticking. I may have tried that, very unsuccessfully.)

2. Mix 1 1/2 TBSP Garlic Bread Sesoning and 1/2 c butter or margarine together. Heat in microwave until melted.
3. After the dough has risen, spread the butter mixture onto the dough, covering completely.

4. Spread the Alfredo sauce on top of the butter, making sure to leave an inch or so around the edge for a crust. I find I like the pizza better if I don't use quite as much sauce. I think I use maybe 1/4 cup total.
5. Sprinkle the chicken, bacon and any other toppings (I used tomatoes) on after the sauce.

6. Top with mozzarella cheese and slide that puppy into the oven. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

7. Remove from the oven and coat the crust again with the garlic butter mixture. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

We like to dip this in either Alfredo sauce or the remainder of the garlic butter mixture. That might sound weird, but it's no different than dipping in in the garlic butter from Papa Johns. The homemade mixture is just better (trust me, I've tried them both).

Doesn't this just look heavenly!?

The garlic butter is really what makes this pizza sooo good. The first time I made this pizza, I didn't use the garlic butter and the pizza was okay. The next time I made it, I got the crazy idea to spread the garlic butter on first and Oh.M.Gee!!! Adding the garlic butter took this pizza to a whole new level. Yum!