Homemaking Organized Blog

Archive for the ‘Cleaning’ Category

crayons (Photo credit: dyetochange)

Okay so the title of this post would suggest that I have done this and am now an expert.

Quite the contrary.

Yesterday was Crayon day in school. We learned the history of crayons and also how to make crazy crayons (Have I told you how much I learning in the first grade? So fabulous. Two educations for the price of one).

Crazy Crayons Recipe

1. Take your old crayons remove paper and break in smaller pieces. Like an inch long.

2. Mix colors to your liking in small oven save bowls. We put yellows and greens together. Reds with oranges and purple. You get the idea.

3. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until melted. You can swirl them together a bit if you want. We did not.

4. Pour mixture into cookie cutters placed on wax paper or candy shape trays (can’t rightly remember the name of these).

5. Let them set up for about 10 minutes and then put in your freezer for 10 minutes more.

6. They should pop out and be ready to draw with.

Side Note: When my cousin was young (she’s in her 20′s now) she and her mother would makes these in fun shapes and she would sell them at garage sales, craft sales, etc. Nice project for a young kid.

I digress. So we made these great crayons but in the process I now have melted crayon all over one of my oven mitts.

So I need to clean this off. You might have an issue like this one day too. So where do you go?

The Crayola website.

Isn’t that nice of them? Showing us how to clear up mishaps from their product.

You can download the help sheet too.

So here we are next week and I have a whole 7 days to agonize over what kind of Housekeeping Card File I felt would meet my needs.

Mostly it needed to be pretty. Something lovely to the eye. And that I could keep out on my miniscule desk area. And I wanted to make or decorate it myself.

So that’s what I’ve been doing. We’ll call it Part 1. This part is finished and this is the result…

My Housekeeping Card File

I took this picture with my computer camera so sorry it’s not the best.

Even though the card file is not that fabulous, it took me some time to get here. I bought a white tin from the store. I went about painting it a green I wasn’t too happy with. I was trying to get a more chartreuse green but that didn’t happen. Then I Modge Podge’d it and let it dry.Then the whole kit and kaboodle started to peel. So I peeled off the whole works. Some of the paint was harder to get off than the rest.

So I ended up with a blank slate again.

I decided I would Modge Podge some paper I had around the house onto it and then once that dried Modge Podge over it again to seal it in. Then I Modge Podged some ribbon and used the glue gun to add the ribbons and buttons.

Over the whole process I discovered and found out that I NEED a Digital Die Cut machine. If you have any recommendations that would be greatly appreciated.

So once I finished the file itself I’ve been working on the dividers and cards. We’ll call the cards part 2, and the dividers part 3. The cards are just about done but I don’t think I will unveil them until next week.

For more on this see Part1 and Part 2

More closeup on the front.

Closeup of top.

So yesterday I mentioned that I’m going to be putting together my own housekeeping card file. Since I have so many irons in the fire I’m going to go about this slowly.

About the Housekeeping Card File System:

You may have heard about this way of setting up your household system from the SideTracked Home Executives.  I first read about in an old Emilie Barnes book but later read the SideTracked Home Executives version too. I tend to gravitate to Emilie Barnes stuff because of her views on making the homemaking process a beautiful one. Things are decorated and made to be attractive not just serviceable and that is how I feel about my Housekeeping Card File.

Yes I could do this in a day with the cards I have on hand and the plastic index card box I already have.

BUT!

I’m one of those that believe that housekeeeping and homemaking comes easier when it’s done with beauty and grace.

I do not want to just slap something together. It will need to be cute and appeal to me to make me want to open it each day.

I have a few of the items needed to put my file together at home. And of course the computer. But I won’t head out to the craft store until tomorrow (Wednesday is library and errands day).  This is going to take me a little while and maybe even a few mishaps. So until then I will give you some eye candy of chore housekeeping index card files (I really don’t know what to call them at this point) around the web.

Apron Girls made this cute chore organizer. BTW I think the blog is closed but left up for reference.

Rebo Scraps made this cute chore organizer for her sister. Oh were are the templates???!!!!

Again here is Travis' cute rendition for sale on her blog Spring Clean Year Round. If you can't fathom putting your own together please support a mom and buy one. They are worth the cost.Frantically Simple made this chore box for herself and for her daughter Newt.

Controlling My Chaos made these cute boxes after hosting a giveaway.

Sherbert Blossom's chore system but isn't this cute?

BackFlipFlops Cute Housekeeping File

I know people say that New Years Goals don’t stick and by the time March rolls in you’ve forgotten all about them. Well these following New Year cleaning and organizing roundups are for January (mostly) so plenty of time to get it out of your system and leave a clean and well organized home behind. Besides that’s more than 21 days which we all know is amount of time it takes for something to become habit. So get your clean on and choose your favorite way to clean and organize.

HomeMadeSimple Get Organized in 30 Days

CleanMama Clean and Organized in 2012 complete homekeeping calendar for Jan 2012.

I'm a little late with this one but it only takes 14 days. I'm impressed with the fridge on Day 4.

Home Storage Solutions is continuing on with their 52 Weeks to an Organized Home missions. Jump in to get your Kitchen in gear.

Get on top of cleaning your home this New Year and get your copy of the CREATE YOUR PERFECT CLEANING SCHEDULE ebook for 50% off the from January 1st to the 7th

Use the Promo Code: CleanNewYear2012

Update on the mouse debacle.

My husband caught 4 mice in the garage. It seems they were making their way along the perimeter of the wall.

From their “trail” it looks like they came in from the garage door. That is strangely comforting as it means (I hope) they are not in the walls and the rest of the home. No other signs at least.

I am so impressed with my husbands work in the garage. You know your garage can really become a dumping ground if you’re not parking a car in there. I’m guilty of opening the door and tossing in boxes to break up for recycling time. My husband has been going through the garage inch by inch, organizing, de-cluttering, and cleaning the floor with a bleach solution. He has this special fondness for the garage and the fact that it had been infiltrated is not setting well with him.

This all has inspired me to do the same level of cleaning in the main home.  Roxanne over at Homeschooling J calls this “Brawn Week”. I love that term AND the idea. I think it will take me much more than a week but it’s makes me feel good to see the corners of the home slowly getting the deep clean they need. At least I know I’ll be done by Thanksgiving. So far I’ve started in the linen closet and the home office. Lot’s of organizing, dusting and vacuuming. It’s amazing how messy a home office, also used a sewing room, can become.

Now for those of you who may be concerned about mice invading your comfortable abode here are a few links and resources that have helped us out.

Mouse Repellent => Fresh Cab

Natural Mouse Repellent => Peppermint

***This giveaway has now ended. CONGRATULATIONS entry #1***

I was sent a bottle of Black Diamond Granite Cleaner to review (and to host a giveaway). My countertops in both the kitchen and bathrooms are of the tile variety. I do struggle with what to clean them with, especially the bathroom. Most cleaners I was using left streaks or a buildup and then what if they were destroying the sealant used to protect this lovely investment?

So then Black Diamond Granite Cleaner (marble and tile too) to the rescue. pH balanced designed to, first of all clean your counters, leave no streaks, leave a shine, protect your surfaces AND leave an invisible shield that will resist other water spots, grease stains, soil etc.  Black Diamond Granite Cleaner is also non-toxic so it’s safe to use around your family and pets.

My Review:

Well first off the scent got me hooked and I found myself wiping over and over. I used a microfiber cloth and cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom counters and love the smell…did I say that already? It cleaned up the counters nice and spic and span and again I saw no streaks. I do think using microfiber helps with that. A lot of cleaners I use on the counters leave a residue I have to rinse and wipe up. I didn’t get that with Black Diamond. I also suprisingly saw a bit of a shine. I like that it is safe to use around my growing little one and also safe to use in the kitchen. I’m going to keep it for the kitchen as that is where I struggle with what to use to clean.

Giveaway: The giveaway ends Friday June 17, 2011

To enter the giveaway.

1) You must leave a comment and join the Black Diamond Mailing list (tell us you did so in the comment).

Extra entries…

2) Follow @momtools and @BrilliantSR8 on Twitter (leave twitter ID)

3) Blog about this post and trackback.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Sponsored by Tomoson.com

Act like you saw this a week ago. I forgot to hit PUBLISH!

If you’ve seen the little banner on the right side of Homemaking Organized then you know it’s Spring Cleaning time. At least in my home.

Like any women surrounded by junk I get the itch this time of year to see if I can put on a new faces at least in the hidden spaces of cupboards and closets. I admit that exposed surfaces are ‘okay’ but I know I can do better. I’m stuck in gardening mode and in attempting to sew my daughter some dresses since I’m so disgusted at what’s in the store but that’s another story.

This week, if you signed up for the Vintage Spring Cleaning ecourse a week ago, is all about the kitchen. Scrubbing it up and getting it cleaned out. As noted in the printable I’ve been cleaning a section a day. I actually started in on the freezer on Saturday. I’m taking it very easy because upending the house right now is not an option.

I have found that if I tackle one particular Spring Cleaning chore each day then things are much easier to digest and get done. That is how I set up the Vintage Spring Cleaning ecourse to be tackled a week at a time. You may finish said room in that time and you may not but it will be easier to make some headway when you work a little at a time.

Are you Spring Cleaning this year? And if so what room is really calling your name? This year it was my daughter’s room. I’m taking it a step at a time.

We have a new Vintage Spring Cleaning e-Course.

You can sign up for it by clicking the big button.

Sign up for the Vintage Spring Cleaning e-Course