Quick Household Tips

There are so many fun household tips on the internet. I love things that make life simple, easy and inexpensive! So these are just a few of my favorites that have come my way recently:

A Straw Necklace Holder

My necklaces always get tangled when I travel. This is a simple solution! Simple string a straw onto your necklace and clasp it closed. No more tangles!

Photo Credit

Hanger Chip Clip

A friend of my shared this photo with me on Facebook (thanks Gigi!). What a great idea! Chip clips are one of the easiest kitchen items to lose or run out of…these plastic hangers seem to multiply. Sacrifice one to make the other and problem solved!

Other good chip clips:

Binder clips (my in-office solution)

Paper clips

Wooden clothes pins

DIY Dryer Sheets

This is a simple and natural laundry solution that I use. Here is what you need:

100% cotton fabric (I used an old shirt)

Water

White Vinegar

Essential Oil (I used Lavender)

A jar or plastic container

Simply cut the fabric into small squares – about the size of a dryer sheet. Fold them neatly (individually) to that they fit inside your container of choice. Add equal parts water and vinegar until the fabric is covered, followed by about 10 drops of essential oil. And you are done!

When you are doing your laundry, just toss a wet sheet into the dryer with your wet clothes. It will take it from there! You can keep reusing the liquid in your container until it gets low. Just add more vinegar and water or essential oil if it lost its scent.

The vinegar helps keep down static during the drying process. And the essential oil will gently fragrance your clothes. You can pick other essential oil scents if you choose. I really like the faint smell of lavender on our freshly dried clothes. Be sure not to over saturate with essential oil as the smell can be over-powering. Start with a small amount and add more if you need to.

What easy DIY household solutions to you use?

Spring Cleaning Complete!

This last week of spring cleaning was fairly easy….it helps that our apartment is small. Here is what I accomplished this week:

• Sanitized light switches and door handles
• Dusted furniture, blinds and ceiling fans
• Wiped down baseboards (those visible and easily accessible – I did not have time to more all the furniture)
• Bonus: We had a party so extra sprucing occurred in the bathroom, kitchen and among my husband’s piles of paperwork & official’s gear. Hooray!

What I did not get done was finding five things to get rid of. I guess I thoroughly purged everything already! For my Peaceful Pause, I did get to read a little more from "One Thousand Gifts".

It was a productive week! And I am glad to be done with spring cleaning. Now to just keep it up throughout the year...

Spring Cleaning Sprints // Week Five Assignments

This is the last week of my Spring Cleaning Sprints – I hope to make it a good one! Here is what’s on my to-do list:

Weeknight Spruce

Wipe down door handles and light switches

How often do you think to do this? I never do. Oh the germs! Time to sanitize the things we touch most around the house.

Saturday Sweep

Wipe down baseboards

It has been years since I have done this one. Mostly because we live in an apartment. I always think, maybe this year we will move and I will clean the baseboards when all the stuff is out. Then we sign another lease and stay another year and the boards are gathering more and more dust…

Dust furniture, shelves, fans and blinds

I dust furniture often. Fans and blinds are not fun to do…but I do appreciate clean air. Thankfully I have a Swiffer duster that makes some dust jobs easier. For sticky dust – a warm water and vinegar mix might do the trick.

Quickie Purge

Get rid of five things – hopefully more than that!

Peaceful Pause

Spend at least 30 minutes refreshing you.

My stack of books to read is growing. I better schedule more time by my favorite reading window so I can make my way through them!

Spring Cleaning Sprints // Week Four Complete

This was a productive week. There are fewer dust bunnies in our apartment and our bathroom is squeaky clean! 

I started with the bathroom and it actually took at least an hour to get it as clean as I wanted it. I did a lot of scrubbing on the shower tiles and our shower caddy that has rusted. It’s not perfect, but it looks much better! 

I also liked using the baking soda and vinegar…better than saturating the air with chemicals. I just sprayed on a water and vinegar mix (50/50, I think) then made up a baking soda paste and scrubbed with a toothbrush and sponge.

Rust from our shower caddy - ick.

Almost good as new!

Squeaky clean and sparkly.

I did use Tilex for the plastic shower curtain. I learned from past experience the easiest way to get scum and mildew off those things is to throw them in the washer with some rags, sprayed down with Tilex. I gave it an extra rinse cycle to make sure the Tilex washed out. Now, I have a good-as-new shower curtain without having to scrub it by hand!

After the bathroom, I cleaned off a bookshelf and cleared out my magazine rack. I found a few books to get rid of (donate, gift or return to the church) and a pile of magazines I decided to finally part with. I rarely look at them and they are just cluttering precious space. Out they go!

Finally, I vacuumed (including under the couch) and mopped the floors. Nothing exciting about those tasks, but they do reduce the dirt and dust that builds up over time.

The best part about this week was my Peaceful Pause spent at the beach with a friend. SO refreshing. 

I hope you are regularly experiencing God’s peace in similar ways. His presence in moments like those is like air – we suffocate without Him. My prayer is that you can make some time and space with Him and be refreshed this week!

Freezer Meals Tip // DIY Vacuum Seal

One thing that makes people nervous about preparing their own freezer meals is being able to seal the containers to protect the food from freezer burn. At least, this was always something that kept me from utilizing my freezer more.

Of course you can purchase vacuum sealer systems and special bags that create an air-tight environment for your food. But I’m cheap – how about you?

So I have discovered a good-enough-for-me approach to sealing up all those meals I spent so many hours preparing. Here is my supply list:

• Air-tight Freezer-Safe and Microwavable Containers
• Freezer Bags
• Plastic Wrap
• A Straw

(Note: If you are not a fan of plastic-on-food, use glass containers and parchment paper instead of plastic wrap. I have not used parchment paper for freezing, but read of others who do. The freezer bags will not touch your food.)

What we are working against when freezing food is both air and moisture.  (Get ready for a very basic semi-scientific explanation). Moisture escapes from food when it comes into contact with dry freezing air resulting in freezer burn. This is a result of poor packaging that allows too much air to touch the food. 

Our goal is to wrap the food as tightly as possible to prevent freezer air from sucking out all the moisture.

Step One:

Put food into a freezer-safe container that will seal tightly. I use Rubbermaid containers that are safe for freezer and microwave. They seal up great.

Step Two:

If food is still warm, let it cool to room temperature before sealing and freezing. This will reduce the amount of moisture lost during the freezing process, keeping those ice crystals at bay.

Step Three:

Cover the food with plastic wrap (or parchment paper). I like to press the wrap onto the food and tuck it around the sides of the container. I also leave some length on sides to be folded over the edge of the container. This creates a close protective barrier from air that might be trapped in the container once it is sealed.

Wrap is tightly covering the food with a little draped over the sides for sealing.

Step Four:

Seal the container by tightly closing the lid. Try to expel as much air as possible and trap the plastic wrap under the lip of the lid to create a seal.

Step Five:

Place container inside a large freezer bag. Seal the bag leaving about a half-inch opening. Push out as much air as possible.

Step Six:

My favorite part: Insert straw into opening and suck out the rest of the air – this is DIY vacuum sealing!

The STRAW!

Keep air in by pressing on straw between breaths.

You are done! Put your meal in the freezer and leave your freezer-burn worries behind.

Tightly sealed!

I will also use the straw trick when freezing fruits and veggies in plastic bags. It is fun to watch the bag close in on the strawberries as I am drawing the air out. It is quick, easy and FREE….aside from the cost of the straw. 

Hope this helps your freezing efforts. Love your freezer food!

Spring Cleaning Sprints // Week Four Assignments

This week get into some actual cleaning (rather than simple sorting and organizing). This will take some grunt work and the will to burn some calories. Ready?

Weeknight Spruce

Clean under couches and beds.

This means you will be moving furniture, pulling out items stored (or lost) beneath them and giving the area a good vacuum. Just because we can’t see them, doesn’t mean there aren’t dust bunnies lurking.

Saturday Sweep

Vacuum and mop floors.

Pretty self-explanatory, but if you need a good all-natural floor cleaner, try this recipe:

1 cup white vinegar

2 gallons of water

Use a mop or rag to scrub and wipe. Let air dry.

Scrub the bathroom (tiles, bath, toilet, sink, shower head, clean out drain).

I think baking soda is your best friend for cleaning the bathroom. It whitens everything! For tough scum, soak in vinegar then follow by scrubbing with baking soda.

I will also be tackling the pesky mildew stains on our shower curtain and a shower caddie that has decided to rust. I’ll let you know if I figure out any good cleaning solutions!

Quickie Purge

Take a glance around the home and look for five more things to get rid of. 

Peaceful Pause

Spend 30 minutes refreshing YOU. I think I know what I will do this week…check back on Monday for an update! ;-)