Monday, April 29, 2013

Terrific Tuesdays #61



No features this week - It's crazy busy around here. Does anyone else feel like the last month of school is way to busy? I'm just trying to keep my head above water. I have a few projects that I'm excited to share, but I probably won't get to them this week. 



Now let's see all the terrific things you've been up to.

1. Link up!  No shops, or link parties please.

2. Comment, comment, comment

3. Grab my button or add a text link.


Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Car

Time to get Motivated!! Did you clean out your car last week? I'd love for you to follow along with me as we get our houses {or cars} cleaned 10 minutes at a time.


For those of you new to this series, each week I focus on an area in my house. I spend 10 minutes each day and clean or organize something in that room. On Monday, I share what I cleaned. It's been  helping me to stay on top of it. And I hope it's helpful for you as well. {The 10 minutes a day does not include bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming or doing dishes. With the exception of doing dishes, those things are done on Saturday and the kids help.}

My vehicle has been bugging me for some time. It's needed a good vacuum and a bath for a while now.

Monday - Vacuum out the Tahoe - 25 minutes.  I know...I know... This took way longer than 10 minutes. What can I say, I have a big vehicle and it was dirty.

Tuesday -Washed Windows - 5 minutes. I only did the inside of the windows, since I'll be washing the outside later in the week.


Wednesday - Clean out the center console - 11 minutes. I threw away unneeded items and reorganized it. I also stuck a package of graham crackers in there for the kiddos when they need a treat.

Thursday -Wipe down everything with a protectant wipe - 3 minutes.

Friday -Wash the outside of the car. I even cleaned the wheels and tires! My husband will be so proud. This took a while, I didn't time it since I knew it would take longer than 10 minutes. I guess I could have gone to the car wash, that would have been faster.



Other ideas of things to clean in the car:
 Put together an emergency kit to keep in the car.



 Next weeks challenge : Master Bedroom

You may also like:
Other posts in this series
How to Remove Hairspray Residue from Floor
How to Clean Your Curling Iron



Thursday, April 25, 2013

DIY Dusters

When we were little kids, my mom had some "dusters". They were basically little mittens without a thumb. We had jobs we rotated doing. One of those jobs was dusting. So we would put on our little dusters and dust off the piano.

I've always wanted to have some of those "dusters" for my kids and I finally got around to making some.


Supplies needed:
Fleece scraps
Ribbing {You don't need much, I got a 4" piece}
Thread
Sewing Machine

To begin, make yourself a pattern. {I made one, but I can't seem to get my printer to scan anymore. If I can get it figured out I'll add a link to my pattern.}

I just made sort of an oval shape that was large enough for my hand. Then I made a smaller one for my little girls hands. The bottom flat edge on mine was 3" for the child size and 4" for the big kid size.
Cut this out and it will be your pattern.

You will need two pieces of fleece cut for each duster and one piece of ribbing. I made my ribbing 2" wide. For the length, I did 6 1/2" for the child size and 8" for the big kid size.


With right sides together, sew your two fleece pieces together leaving the bottom open.


Next sew your ribbing ends together.


Now fold your ribbing horizontally with wrong sides together, like shown below.


Next place the cuff inside the duster and pin in place. Notice that the duster is still wrong side out when I insert the cuff. Sew in place.


Flip it right side out and you are done.


Now go let your kids have some fun, while they get some housework done :)

When they're done, just throw the dusters in the wash and they'll be all ready for next time.


If you liked this post, you may also like:
How to Clean Your Curling Iron
How to Remove Hairspray Residue from Floor
Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day


Monday, April 22, 2013

Terrific Tuesdays #60



Here are my favorites from last weeks party:
 Grape Jelly Tutorial by The Resourceful Gals. I haven't made grape jelly for several years. I'm going to try this recipe soon.

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls by I heart eating. I love homemade rolls.


And these Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls from Oh Mrs. Tucker look amazing.








Now let's see all the terrific things you've been up to.

1. Link up!  No shops, or link parties please.

2. Comment, comment, comment

3. Grab my button or add a text link.


Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Kitchen and How to Clean Your Oven Glass.

Time to get Motivated!! What did you get cleaned in your kitchen last week? I'd love for you to follow along with me as we get our houses cleaned a 10 minutes at a time.


For those of you new to this series, each week I focus on an area in my house. I spend 10 minutes each day and clean or organize something in that room. On Monday, I share what I cleaned. It's been  helping me to stay on top of it. And I hope it's helpful for you as well. {The 10 minutes a day does not include bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming or doing dishes. With the exception of doing dishes, those things are done on Saturday and the kids help.}


This week I focused on the kitchen again. I haven't gone through the whole house yet, but the kitchen is a high-traffic area.

Monday - Quick wipe down of things I cleaned last time I did the kitchen - 8 minutes. I began by putting away randoms. Then I quickly washed off the stove hood, stove, dishwasher, and fridge. Since I'd given them a good scrubbing 6 weeks ago, it was done in no time. Then I moved a few items off the counter and washed it good. I also cleaned off my spice rack.

Tuesday - Forgot.


Wednesday - Cleaned out my corner cabinet - 13 minutes. I have a cabinet on my counter, where I store my toaster, can opener, blender, waffle iron and other items. I took everything out and cleaned it good. I also wiped down all the small appliances while I was at it.


Thursday - Cleaned out the drawer under the oven - 5 minutes. Basically I just wiped out all the crumbs that had fallen in there. I also turned on the automatic oven cleaner.


Friday - Wiped out the interior of the oven - 9 minutes. While the automatic oven cleaner does a pretty good job, it does leave a bit of residue. It was pretty easy to wipe off once the oven was cool.

I also did an extra job this week. After the oven was all clean, I noticed that the glass on the oven door had quite a few spots still. I tried Borax first - fail! I thought for sure it would work, given my recent successes with it. So next I tried a baking soda and water paste. It took a little elbow grease, but it worked. Check out my results below.



Other ideas of things to clean in the kitchen:
Clean outside of cabinets
Clean and organize inside of cabinets
Clean top of fridge
Clean inside of fridge
Clean baseboards
Clean and reorganize pantry
Clean out under stove
Clean out under fridge


 Next weeks challenge : Clean out the car.

You may also like:
Other posts in this series
How to Remove Hairspray Residue from Floor
How to Clean Your Curling Iron


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Crocheted Scalloped Edged Hot Pad

Last week I showed you a super easy way to make a hot pad. Today I have another version that my sister taught me. It is not quite as quick and easy, but it makes up for that in style. Doesn't the scalloped edge add so much?

One nice thing about this pattern, is that you can make a longer hot pad. My sister made me one that is twice as long. It is perfect for cookie sheets, I don't have to get out two hot pads.


I started this a while ago and just recently finished it. Because of that I didn't have pictures of the steps. I started a mini hot pad to show you the process.

How to Make a Crocheted Hotpad with Scalloped Edge


How to Make a Crocheted Hotpad with Scalloped Edge




I used a G hook.

To begin, chain 30.


Row 1 - Single crochet in each chain. Chain 1.


Row 2 - Single Crochet in back loop and unused loop of each foundation chain. Chain 1.


Row 3 - Single Crochet in backloop and unused loop of each stitch in 2nd row. Chain 1.

Repeat this pattern of single crochet in backloop and unused loop from previous row.

Once you have made the hot pad as big as you'd like, you will do your last row. You will single crochet in both loops and also the unused loop from the previous row.


You could be done at this point...

but I wanted to add a pretty scalloped edge. To do this you need to single crochet around the three remaining sides of the hot pad. {The row you just finished will already be single crocheted} It can get a little confusing when you go down the side, but I just did one single crochet for each row.

Next you will start your scallop:  


Skip one stitch. In the next stitch you will double crochet, triple crochet and double crochet all in the same stitch. Then skip one stitch. Slip stitch in the next stitch.

Then repeat all the way around the hot pad. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Questions? I'd be happy to try and answer them.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Terrific Tuesdays #59



Here are my favorites from last weeks party:

Don't these look yummy! Head over to Semi Homemade Mom to see how super easy they are. 
 You all know I'm into cleaning lately. Angela Says has some great tips. 

I love this embroidery by The Simple Craft Diaries. Such fun colors!

I totally need to update my 72 hour kits. Go get some great ideas over at Simplistically Sassy.








Now let's see all the terrific things you've been up to.

1. Link up!  No shops, or link parties please.

2. Comment, comment, comment

3. Grab my button or add a text link.
 


Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Laundry Room

Time to get Motivated!! What have you been cleaning this week? Have you organized anything lately? I'd love to know - leave a comment.


For those of you new to this series, each week I focus on an area in my house. I spend 10 minutes each day and clean or organize something in that room. On Monday, I share what I cleaned. It's been  helping me to stay on top of it. And I hope it's helpful for you as well. {The 10 minutes a day does not include bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming or doing dishes. With the exception of doing dishes, those things are done on Saturday and the kids help.}


This week I focused on the Laundry Room. This is the smallest room in my house by far. So luckily it was fairly easy to get cleaned up.


Monday - I totally spaced it and forgot!


Tuesday - Cleaned off the washer and dryer - 8 minutes. I started by putting away random items that had gathered on top of the dryer. Then I washed off the top of the washer and dryer. Then I washed under the lid of the washer. I also took out the trash.


Wednesday - Sweep, mop, and caulk baseboards - 11 minutes. If I could sweep and mop the other rooms in the house as quickly as I did this one, then I might do it more often.


Thursday - Paint baseboards. This is probably not something most of you need to do. Our baseboards were painted. When we nailed them to the wall we filled the holes, but never touched up. Over time the filler discolored and looked yucky. Not anymore. I should have done this a long time ago.


Friday - Clean spinner inside washer. - 8 minutes. Take a look at what my washer spinner looked like before and what it looks like now. What did I use to clean it? Borax and water paste and an old toothbrush! Go here to see how else I've used Borax.




Other ideas:
Wash cabinets
Organize inside of cabinets
Iron
Paint



Next week I'll be working on the kitchen again.

You may also like:
Other posts in this series
How to Remove Hairspray Residue from Floor
How to Clean Your Curling Iron


Monday, April 8, 2013

Terrific Tuesdays #58



Here are my favorites from last weeks party:

 I am in love with this little dresser table by Must Have Wear. I love the ornate details.


This is a great makeover by home happy home. I love how she painted the pantry door black.

And make sure to go check out this Burp Cloth Tutorial by The Thinking Closet. Such the fun fabric choices.





Now let's see all the terrific things you've been up to.

1. Link up!  No shops, or link parties please.

2. Comment, comment, comment

3. Grab my button or add a text link.
 


Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Office Area



It's Monday. Time to get motivated. Did you all get any cleaning done? I'd love to hear about it. Leave a note in the comments. I'd love for us to all motivate each other.

For those of you new to this series, each week I focus on an area in my house. I spend 10 minutes each day and clean or organize something in that room. On Monday, I share what I cleaned and how long it ended up taking me. It's been  helping me to stay on top of it. And I hope it's helpful for you as well. {The 10 minutes a day does not include bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming or doing dishes. With the exception of doing dishes, those things are done on Saturday and the kids help.}

I feel like I should change the title of the post this week. I did not follow my own rules. First of all the area I decided to clean needed a LOT of work, so I ended up spending WAY more than 10 minutes. And secondly, I had two of my sisters and their kids over to visit for spring break, so I did it all at the beginning of the week instead of spreading it out over the whole week.

I decided to clean out our office area of our kitchen. This has been bugging me for over a month, but I never made the time to get it all cleaned up. Mostly this was all just organizing. I did sweep out the floor under the desk, but that was about all I cleaned.

This is the cabinet is kind of a catch all.  I went through all my recipes. Before there was such a thing as Pinterest, I would print out any recipe I thought looked good. I probably have only tried about 5% of them. I went through them all and threw away lots that I knew I would never try, and kept the ones that still looked good. Other than that I just reorganized it all and threw away random things that were no longer needed. This took me about an hour to organize and another hour to go through the recipes. Way too much time! But next time, I'll be able to straighten it up quickly.


This is where everything gets thrown. School papers, mail, kids broken toys, phones etc. This took me about 25 minutes to clean up. Mostly it was just putting things where they belong.


This is our junk drawer. I throw coupons in there and never look at them again. A lot of them are for fast food - and we don't eat fast food very often. I think I'll just save the Joann's ones from now on, because they are the only ones that I actually use. This drawer took only 13 minutes.


And last but not least my mess underneath the desk.
I love this space, it's kind of hidden, but easily accessible. Unless you let stuff pile up like I had. I used to have a little curtain that hide it all, but the kids broke the tension rod and I didn't like the fabric anyway. Maybe that should be my next project - make a new curtain to hide this stuff a little better. This took 23 minutes to straighten up. 

Next week I'm going to work on the Laundry Room. It's not as messy, so it should be easier to keep it to 10 minutes a day.


You may also like:

Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Kitchen
Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Bathroom
Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Living Room


Monday, April 1, 2013

Terrific Tuesdays #57



Here are my favorites from last weeks party:

 Vintage Mason Jar Vases by A Mommy's Life with a Touch of Yellow. I have seen lots of mason jar makeovers, but I have never loved any as much as I love these. I have almost everything on hand too - I definitely want to try this.


Pretzel Rolls by The Patriotic Pam. I love homemade rolls and breads. I will definitely be trying these! Make sure you go check out the recipe.

I love these pretty pink hoop earrings by A Little Bit of Craft. Head over there for the complete tutorial.

The Perfect Pumpkin Roll by Krafy Cards etc.
I love a pumpkin rolls, but I have yet to try to make my own.





Now let's see all the terrific things you've been up to.

1. Link up!  No shops, or link parties please.

2. Comment, comment, comment

3. Grab my button or add a text link.


Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Entryway



It's Monday. Time to get motivated. Did you all get any cleaning done? I'd love to hear about it. Leave a note in the comments. I'd love for us to all motivate each other.

You may have noticed that I didn't share anything last week. Unfortunately my Grandpa passed away. He lived out in South Dakota. It's about an 11 hour drive from my house. I got back Sunday night last week and getting the post up for last Monday didn't seem important.
 
For those of you new to this series, each week I focus on an area in my house. I spend 10 minutes each day and clean or organize something in that room. On Monday, I share what I cleaned. It's been  helping me to stay on top of it. And I hope it's helpful for you as well. {The 10 minutes a day does not include bathroom cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming or doing dishes. With the exception of doing dishes, those things are done on Saturday and the kids help.}


We'll  just pick up where we left off. I was working on the entryway.

Monday - Shoes 10 minutes. I started by picking up all the shoes that get left by the garage door. I straightened all the shoes on the closet floor and in our shoe organizer {You can check out my tutorial to make your own}. If shoes were too small, but still in good enough shape for younger children, I took them downstairs. {I have a box down there that I store them in.} I took worn shoes out to the garage. When the kids help in the yard or when we go camping I have them wear those shoes so they don't ruin their nicer shoes. I also took all the snowboots downstairs for next year.

Tuesday - Coats, Hats and Gloves - 12 minutes.  I went through the coat rack and threw all the coats into the washer. {I did not count the washing time, obviously} I went through all the gloves, hats and scarves and put them away until next winter.

Wednesday - Dust - 5 mintues.  I dusted the table, shelf and all the picture frames in the entryway.

Other ideas:
Sweep off porch
Organize closet
Sweep floor
Mop floor
Wash window in door



I've been thinking that now that spring is here, I will probably be spending one day each week out in the yard. So I won't be doing any inside cleaning that day.


Next week, I'm going to be working on the office area of the kitchen.

You may also like:

Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Kitchen
Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Bathroom
Clean Your House in 10 Minutes a Day - Living Room