The other day, I was in an organizing mood, so I decided to take on my laundry detergent space. Living in the country we have super hard water, so I usually use borax or super washing soda in with my detergent. I also use baking soda for other things in my bathroom, so its nice to have that on hand. I just started making my own powdered detergent (more on that on another post) but have store bought detergent as well. My husband is an industrial technician and gets REALLY dirty, so I still have store stuff till I can get a handle on his clothes. His work clothes are beyond hoping that stains will come out, but at least they don't smell like Form Oil! (Plus he is really skeptical and doesn't think my stuff will work) I also use vinegar in the fabric softener compartment and have found it works really well. Its much cheaper than fabric softener, and doesn't have those nasty chemicals that absorb into your skin! Fabric softener sheets can be used for dust around crown molding, and to get off baked on food on grills, and I'm sure for other things too. Even though I haven't done those things yet, I have them around just in case I get a wild hair to try! I have some really good ideas on how I can make my formula better,(which right now is just ground fels-naptha, super washing soda, and borax) so be looking forward to that in the near future!
So here is what it looked like before:
I saw this really cute idea to use spaghetti and pickle jars as "apacarthy" jars from the Parties for Pennies Blog, found here: http://partiesforpennies.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-apothecary-jars.html but I didn't have any knobs laying around so I just painted the lids different colors that match my bathroom. (BTW my house will NEVER look like hers!) My plan is to gets some knobs and add them to the lids. I also thought about adding a candle stick underneath one to increase height, but this will have to work for now.
Looks much better, aye? I just want to say this took me about an hour, which isn't too bad considering I painted the lids. The hardest part was getting the labels off the jars. I actually threw a few of them in hot soapy water before I left for work in the morning. I found that worked the best. I read about a technique where you blow dry the label and it'll come right off, because the glue heats up but it didn't work that well. It just left a lot of glue to figure out how to scrape off. I didn't have to use much elbow grease on the ones I soaked.
Well, that's Momma's Best Shot :)
So, I know this is a little late, but I made short stuff's Halloween costume this year. I am always amazed at how expensive costumes are, and how, especially little ones costumes are made without thinking that its going to be the end of October, and it might be cold! You would think they would make them with a little heavier material. Then there's those parents that dress their 2-5 year old in one of those costumes, and complain that its too small for their kid to wear something underneath, so their kid has to cover it up with a coat. HELLO?!? Where have you been on Halloween for the past 25-35 years?! Yes, its going to be cold in IOWA on October 31! ...sorry for the tangent, I digress....
Short stuff is now at that age where she can pick what she wants to be. Her first Halloween she was a bumble bee (she was 3 months), then a pumpkin, and last year a fairy. This was the first year I really "made" her costume. Last year, she just wore a tutu and some wings she had for dress up. This year, she wanted to be a puppy. I asked her what color of puppy and she want to be and she chose white, like her Nana and Papa's puppy. So I found a white hoodie at a secondhand store for $4.00, and I had some white 18 month pants, which fit around the waist but were a little short. I also got some brown and white felt at wal-mart for $0.15. sheet (I got 2 brown and 2 white)
Here's what I did. First I cut out a brown circle to go on the chest (to hide the large logo across the front of the sweatshirt) then, I cut out white ears and a tail and sewed them. I folded the felt over and "free cut" the ears, then did that again but used the first one to copy the second set of ears. I just cut a strip of tail to be folded over, and rounded off the edges. ) After I sewed the ears and tail, I put some stuffing in them. I didn't have any conventional cotton stuffing, so I used some paper bunny bedding we had! (I've said this before and I'll say it again, use what you have!Then, I hand sewed them onto the sweatshirt. Here's what it looked like on Short stuff!
Oh and I also made cuffs for her legs since her pants were too short! But I didn't sew those on :) You can see that the brown circle is off center, and the ears aren't in the right place. She sure is a cute little puppy though! Not bad for a $5.00 costume! I'm crossing my fingers for a kitty next year, and we can re-use the sweatshirt just with a black patch, and some pointy ears! :) Well, that's Momma's Best Shot!
What were your kids for Halloween?
