DIY to New Headlights!

Our headlights have been driving my husband crazy for awhile now. Anytime we pass the front of the car he mentions how cloudy they look and how he needs to do something about it. Well, today he had a few extra minutes, so he did and they look great!

It was super easy, too!

Well, of course it was easy for me, all I had to do was sit back and watch my handsome hubby scrub away... but it was pretty easy for him, too. ;)

All it takes is some water, about a 1/2 cup of baking soda, a cup of vinegar, and a scrubber.

He started by rinsing the headlight and wiping off any dirt or bugs.

Then, he took the cup of baking soda and poured enough vinegar in to make a paste.

Next, he rubbed the headlight with the paste in a circular motion until he could start to see it clear up.

Finally, he wiped it and let it dry.

Repeat as needed until your headlights shine!

He did say that it takes quite a bit of elbow grease, but we were pretty happy with the results.

**Make sure that you either mask the paint and chrome around the lights or are very careful when scrubbing with the paste, because it will scratch the paint.**

Shine Up Your Bling!

Spring is here, and so is wedding season.

In fact, we have a wedding coming right up in our family!

Am I the only one who hates to head off to a bridal shower or reception with my ring looking all grimy? It seems as though everyone is checking out rings and other bling at weddings, so I like mine all shined up!

Here's a quick way to shine up your bling before heading out on the town:

All you need is a glass bowl or container, some vinegar, and a soft scrub brush.

Start by pouring enough vinegar in your glass container to cover your jewelry.

Let it soak in the vinegar for about 20 minutes.

Next, pull it out and scrub all the cracks and crevices with the soft scrub brush. I love using a fresh toothbrush from the dollar store for this.

Rinse it with some clean water, and you're all ready to go!

Now I'm ready to head off to this wedding!

Magic Cleaner

Last year at about this same time my mom called me to chat one day. 

She said, "Hey, what are you up to?" 

I replied, "I'm just scrubbing the top of my fridge with a toothbrush."

"...You're what?"

And I'm not sure that I'll ever live it down...

I'm now The Woman Who Scrubs The Top Of Her Fridge With A Toothbrush. What do ya do?

Anyway, have you ever crawled up there to check it out? It gets all greasy and gunky, especially if it's close to your stove top, like mine. 

My favorite secret weapon for tackling that nastiness is Magic Cleaner.

You haven't ever heard of it? Well, it's made of two things you already have in your cupboard, and it's perfect for tackling everything from grease and grime to hard water and soap scum.

It's super easy to make.

First, take a cup of vinegar and heat it up for one minute in the microwave. Then, add a good sized squeeze of Dawn Dish Soap to it and swirl it together. (I've seen other recipes for this cleaner that require quite a bit more Dawn, but when I've tried them they created so much suds that I couldn't wash them off. This ratio works best for me) Voila! Magic Cleaner!

Pour it into a good spray bottle and you're ready to go.

The cleaning properties of the vinegar combine with the de-greasing properties of the dawn to make a killer cleaner. The Dawn also helps the vinegar stick to surfaces that would otherwise be difficult to let a cleaner sit on, such as bath room walls or the side of the fridge.

In case you need some convincing, I just used this on top of my fridge tonight.

I sprayed it on, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then scrubbed it up.

The top is where I scrubbed, the bottom is still dirty. See how much better it is?!

I had an unknown vegetable oil leak up there I was tackling, so I used my trusty scrub brushes to tackle it after letting it soak in.

If it's not that bad, all you'll need is a warm wet rag to wipe the grease right off.

Spray Bottle Tips:

Reuse an empty cleaner bottle for your homemade cleaners.

Head over to Family Dollar for the most perfect spray bottle ever! Only $1!(The one in the pic)

Grab this pack of 6 by Member's Mark(You'll probably find uses for 6, I'm already up to 5, haha)

Happy Spring Cleaning!

DIY Carpet Cleaner

Sparkling floors make me feel put together. In honor of spring, I decided I wanted to tackle my dirty carpets. I vacuum about twice a week, but the traffic areas in our home had been discolored and matted beyond the abilities of my vacuum. 

I looked into professional cleaners and renting a carpet cleaning unit from Walmart. All of the options seemed pricey and beyond the amount I was prepared to invest into a home that I rent. I decided that this was totally something I could figure out how to do on my own. I started by mixing warm water, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. 

I also filled a bowl with warm water for rinsing. 

This bowl was also perfect for keeping my toddler busy while I scrubbed. As you may have noticed in the picture of my soapy bowl, I used a white scrub brush to scrub the the soapy mixture into the carpet. This mixture worked ok on the dingy spots in my carpet but once I arrived at the worst spot, I needed stronger reinforcements. I added my secret cleaning ingredient OxiClean and I was amazed with the results. 

Make sure to put some elbow grease into it. I scrubbed the trouble spot and left one lone area uncleaned so that you can see the difference. 

I would highly recommend adding OxiClean to your cleaning products. I literally use it for everything. When it comes to baby stains in clothing there is no comparison. I also add it to every load of laundry to brighten my colors and whites alike. It works on patio furniture, grout, carpets, upholstery, and more. I love that I don't have to keep a million different cleaners around because this one product does the job of about 6 cleaners. Happy spring cleaning! 

Deep Clean Your Bathroom with 3 Household Products

I already admitted my love to deep clean, so now you get to hear all about it for awhile!

A couple years ago I started to hear about cleaning your house with natural products. I was drawn in by the fact that it would save me from having to buy expensive cleaners anymore, loved the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about my toddler getting into my cleaning supplies and getting sick, and the fact that it would limit our family's exposure to harsh chemicals was like icing on the cake. I was sold! Fast forward three years, and I do almost all my cleaning with vinegar and baking soda. When I'm deep cleaning, I still love a little bleach to help whiten things up. These are my three go-to products for deep cleaning the bathroom.

It's easy and cost-effective, need I say more?!

I start by doing my regular cleaning with my vinegar-and-water spray bottle and pin-pointing any spots that might need a little extra help. Then, I bust out the baking soda and my cleaning brushes.

I love my giant bag of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, because I never have to worry about it running out!

I pour some baking soda in a cup, wet my cleaning brush(which is actually a dollar store toothbrush), dip it in the baking soda, and start to scrub. I love how easy the toothbrush makes it to get into the little crevices around the faucet and drain. I just scrub the spots that I think need some extra help. You can scrub the paste on and leave it for awhile before you wipe it off, or you can scrub it right off if it's not very bad.

In my bathtub this time I had some red algae that's been giving me troubles and some soap scum. Can you see the red streak down the wall? Gross!

To loosen up that scum and algae, I sprayed on my magic cleaner and let it sit for awhile. I'll tell you all about my magic cleaner in a future post, so stay tuned! ;)

Then I used a bigger scrub brush for the tub, sprinkled the baking soda right on it after I got it wet, and started scrubbing.

The soap scum came right off and shined right up!

The algae needed a little extra convincing...

This is where my good friend Bleach came in. I grabbed a bowl, a roll of paper towels, and headed for the bathroom.

I love my select-a-size paper towels for this, they're the perfect size!

I poured some bleach into the bowl, tore five or six sheets of paper towels, and put them in the bowl, too. After they soaked full of bleach, I pulled them out one-at-a-time and placed them on the problem areas in the tub. This time I used them around the edge of the tub, but I've also used them down in the bottom of the tub and they whitened it up great, as well.

Next, I just left them there for about 20 minutes. Don't forget to leave the fan going so the smell isn't too strong when you go back in!

When I went back in, I pulled them off, threw them away, and ta-da, all white again!

Now I can move that slip of paper into the Ta-Done Jar!

To-Do List Jars

Each year I can't help but get a little excited as Spring Cleaning approaches. While I admit that I don't love the actual cleaning process, I do love the great feeling of a spotless house! This year I'm getting started a little early since we have guests coming next month and I want everything to be spotless when they come!

A couple years ago, I was having a hard time finding the motivation to get started with my Spring Cleaning, so I came up with the "To-Do List Jars" to shake things up a bit. I've used them every year since then, and love them.

The idea is that whenever I have a minute I pop open the "To-Do" jar, pick out a task, complete it, and put it in the "Ta-Done" jar. It's a surprise every time and mixes up the fun and not-so-fun tasks. Plus, I get to watch the "To-Do" jar slowly empty while the "Ta-Done" jar fills up!

If you'd like to try some of your own, here's how I did it...

1. Pick out two small jars. I used baby food jars since there seems to be a plethora kicking around my kitchen at the moment, but you could use any size or shape you'd like. They don't need to be very big since the slips of paper don't take up very much room.

2. Paint the lids. This step is optional if your jars have plain lids, but I wanted mine to be a cute springy color. I used acrylic paint and two coats covered the lids nicely.

Tip: You'll need two small stands to put them on while they dry. Two thimbles would work great, or two soda pop tops. I used the lids from two bottles of body spray since that's what I had around and they worked well.

3. Make your list. I used a table in a word processor to type up my list in a format that could easily be printed out and cut into strips. You could simply write your list out and cut it into strips. I printed mine on some cute yellow paper to add some color to my jars. You could use card stock, fabric, little discs, etc. to personalize it.

4. Cut your list out. Make sure the slips are small enough to fit easily through the openings of your jars.

5. Make the labels. Be creative on this step. You can keep it simple with paper, markers, and glue like I did, or you could go crazy-crafty. Have fun and make sure to make it something you don't mind having out on your counter.

6. Attach the labels. I used some Tacky Glue for crafting and they adhered to the glass perfectly. I LOVE Tacky Glue and try to always have a bottle on hand when I'm crafting! It works for almost everything crafty and lasts FOREVER! Seriously, if you haven't tried it before, you should go pick some up... like right now... what are you waiting for?! Anyway...

7. Get to cleaning! Now that you have some extra motivation, pick out your first slip and get to work on your to-do list!

P.S. You could use these for any sort of To-Do List you have. Daily tasks? Ta-Done! Long-term tasks? Ta-Done! So many possibilities...