DIY Tupperware

When I had my first child some women in the area brought us dinner. It was of course greatly appreciated. One women brought her dinner in old plastic cool whip and cottage cheese containers.  She told me that she always has these on hand so that she can take food to people and not worry about getting her good Tupperware back. 

When I heard this I had one of those "D'OH" moments.  The kind of moment where something is so obvious that you can't believe you never thought of it before.

So my Tupperware cupboard is now full of old plastic containers and I have used them for many things but mostly for organizing the kids stuff like crayons or cars.

They work great, but the down side is I never know whats in them since my photographic memory is still in the shop (it broke during my first pregnancy.)  I saw a post about getting the ink off of the containers and was very excited about it.

Remove Ink From Plastic Containers
You will need
Acetone (found in the beauty section next to the nail polish remover)
Dishpan
Rag
Gloves

Directions
 Wear the gloves to protect your hands and saturate the rag with the acetone.  Make sure you are in a well ventilated area.  Wrap the rag around the container and let it sit in a dishpan for 3-5 minutes.  Check the container by rubbing the paint.  If it doesn't come easily off then keep soaking.

I had never heard of acetone but it was easy to find. It was right by the nail polish remover and it was around $3 or $4. I can't remember exactly.

I soaked my rags.... then passed out from the fumes.  Ok I really didn't, but I never knew there could be a smell that is worse then ammonia.  I put the rags over the containers then went outside to get some air, the whole time I was wondering if I had any brain cells left.

After about 5 minutes I went back to rub a little of the ink to see if it would come off.  I then had to run and shove my hand in ice water to warm it up.  Yes you read that right.  I have no idea what acetone is or what  is in it, but something that smells that bad and burns my gloved hand from being so cold should be banned.  It was like grabbing dry ice.  (yes I am exaggerating again, but the rag was freakishly cold and I had to keep taking breaks so my hands could warm up.)

The Verdict: After rubbing at the ink with the wet rags I was both surprised and disappointed.  The website said that some containers will work better then others.  I ended up doing about 6 of them to see how each one would work. 

This Greek yogurt worked great.  It took very little effort for the ink to come off the container and it's lid

You would think that this is a before photo, but it's not.  The acetone didn't even smudge the ink.

I had a couple of containers that looked like this.  I bet if I soaked them longer in acetone then I could have gotten all the ink off, but this would have required longer time with the fumes and freezing rags. 

It works, and I like that I can use dry erase markers on them so I know whats it in, but I won't do it again.  Save yourself the  headache (literally) and spend the money on cheap Ziploc Tupperware. 

Christmas Serving Tray

I saw some really cute serving trays made of peppermint candy on Pinterest.  I was really conflicted about trying to make one. On the one hand I am very curious and love to try out new things, but on the other hand I had no intention of using a serving tray.  On the third hand, I have a blog that always needs updating.  Looks like my imaginary third hand wins.

DIY Serving Tray

You’ll need:
Peppermints
a cookie sheet
parchment or wax paper {I used wax paper, but heard parchment paper works better!}
your oven

How To:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place wax paper on cookie sheet
3. Arrange mints in any design you wish on top of wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet {allowing extra room on the sides}
4. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes
5. Take out and allow to cool on cookie sheet {cools in approximately 5 minutes}
6. Remove wax paper from bottom {be careful, tray is fragile and breaks easily}

I bought 2 bags of generic store brand peppermints and spent the next 3 days unwrapping them all (ok I exaggerated, it was only 2 days) then placed them on my cookie sheet covered in wax paper

Knowing I was only going to make one, I decided to experiment with it and see what the edges would look like if placed on different areas of the tray. So I put two edges against the side of the cookie sheet and let the other two edges hang out all natural.

I put it in the oven and set the timer for 8 minutes.  Around the 7 minute mark the peppermints started smoking like crazy and the edges were bubbling so I quickly pulled it out.  Fortunately it looked fine and didn't have any scorch marks.

The first thing I noticed was the two edges that weren't against the cookie sheet.  They looked pretty pathetic, and thin. I quickly grabbed a knife and cut one edge to see if I could clean it up.  I was surprised at how quickly the peppermint had started to re-harden but I was able to cut through.

I didn't notice that the bottom part of my cut had melted back together so when I pulled the peppermint tray out of the cookie sheet there was a goofy hangnail left on the tray 

The verdict: It wasn't perfect looking but it was really cute.  The wax paper did not come off very well and it took a long time to tear off all the pieces from he back.  However, I later realized that it would have been better to leave the wax paper on. As I was holding it, the heat on my hands quickly made the peppermints sticky.  This isn't a walk around with type serving tray, it's more of a chill on the table with hor d'oeuvres (I have no idea if I spelled that right) on it or as a center piece.

There definitely was a big difference with all the edges.  The top part that was not against the cookie sheet and that I didn't cut was very sharp and brittle. 

 This is the edge that was against the tray.  It left a nice little lip and was very clean looking

Here is the edge where I cut.  I think if I had been more careful with how I was cutting it would had made a very clean and nice looking edge.

Life sure can have some funny coincidences some times.  I wrote this post and left it in my draft pile so I could come back and edit it before posting it.  Three hours after writing it my sons pre-school teacher gave him this cute ornament.

Obviously theirs didn't melt nearly as much as my tray did.  If I every make one again then I will probably start watching the peppermints around the 4-5 minute mark then pull them out as soon as they look melted enough.  Also, she put some type of finishing spray over the peppermints so they wouldn't stick to hands.  BRILLIANT!!!  If your going to use the peppermints as a serving tray then you probably don't want to put a sealant over the peppermints, you don't want any unwanted doctor trips during the holidays.  But if your using the peppermints as some sort of decor then the by all means, spray away. 

DIY Baby Wipes

When my 4 year old was about 2 months old I saw a blog about making your own baby wipes using paper towels.  I told my husband about it and gave me a "are you nuts" look.  He then gave me a great visual of a paper towel falling apart while cleaning up one of my sons many blow outs. Needless to say, I quickly forgot about making my own wipes.

Several months ago I saw another blog post about making baby wipes and I decided to give it a try. My daughter tends to have very dainty poops so I wasn't worried about creating a bigger mess if the paper towels fell apart.

I tried two different recipes and three types of paper towels so bear with me as I break it all down.

But first things first, we need to get the paper towels ready.  This is something you want to splurge on and get a brand name.  You don't want to have a cheap paper towel fall apart during use.  Trust me..... you don't want that to happen.

All three of the brands I used came with the option of pulling off a smaller size. (you know the ones that have pictures on the package of using 1 2 or 3 sheets?) This made for a good size wipe.  

Take a paper towel roll and cut it in half using a serrated knife.  Sounds easy right?  For me, not so much.  I don't know if I have a bad knife or if I just have no idea how to use a knife because all my paper towels looked like a massacre. It's surprisingly hard to cut through the cardboard center and by the time I'm done there are so many pieces of paper towel bits all over the kitchen that you would think Edward Scissor Hands had been the one to cut the paper towel. It was the same situation with all three brands of paper towels.

Once you have your paper towel cut, place it in a container with a lid that seals.  You can either open the lid each time you need the wipes, cut a whole in the lid to pull them out one by one, or pull each piece apart before hand and place them in a sealed container.

I tried to use an old Clorox wipe container but it was really narrow.  I eventually got the paper towels in, but it was extremely hard and tore up the paper towels even more then my hack job had.

Since the Clorox container was a bust I tried a #10 can and cut a X on the top.  This method works pretty good but sometimes the paper towels do fall out and it needs to be re-thread.

I also tried the pulling them apart before hand method.  It took some time to pull them all apart, but it was really easy to use during a diaper change. I kept them in a regular Tupperware container and I just took the lid off before the diaper came off then I could grab what I needed.

Both the #10 can and the pre-pulled methods work great, it just depends on your preference. 

Onto the recipes;

The first type of recipe I used came from this website. There is a great 'how to' video that starts around the 3 minute mark and there is a list of other things to make with the paper towels like glass cleaner. According to this women, the wipes cost about 75 cents each.  And she has some awesome cut the paper towel skills.

Home made baby wipes

• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons baby wash
• 1 tablespoon baby oil or mineral oil

Directions 

You take half of the paper towel roll, put it in the container. Mix together to and a quarter cups of water, two tablespoons of baby wash and 1 tablespoon of baby oil or mineral oil depending on if you would like the fragrance or not. Then you are going to pour that over the paper towel roll. Then you are going to reach in and pull out the cardboard tubing. It's easier to pull out once it's wet. Then, as you need a wipe, you just reach for the center and pull out as you need a wipe, very easy. You can cut little slats in the top of the container so you can pull it out and it remains closed. Or you can leave it and just pull the lid off as you go.  

The verdict: These worked pretty good but I wasn't a huge fan.  Towards the end of the roll, they started to smell a bit funky, and my daughter seemed to get more diaper rashes.  Plus they just seemed too wet.  The next recipe uses a 1/4 cup less water and it made a big difference. (I have no idea why this font is different, blogger is being crazy today)

Then I tried a recipe my sister sent me from her DoTerra magazine

DoTerra Homemade Baby wipes

2 cups warm water

2 T doterra fractionated coconut oil

3 drops lavender

3 drops melaluca (tea tree oil)

Directions
cut paper towel roll in half with a serrated knife. Use half of the roll now and half later.  Place towels in storage container. Add the oil and water mixture, turning until liquid is absorbed. Remove the cardboard roll, and pull wipes from the center. 

I don't have DoTerras coconut oil and to be honest, I have no idea what they mean by fractionated.  So I just used the regular coconut oil you can get at a store and melted it before adding the other ingredients. 

The Verdict: I really love this recipe.  The wipes always smell so clean and fresh and my daughter rarely gets diaper rashes with them.  Plus I am surprised at how much a difference it makes to have 1/4 cup of less water. I did have one batch that had mold on the last paper towel. My guess is because I didn't measure my ingredients well that time and I didn't mix it before I poured it in.

Ok are you still with me?  We are almost done I promise, get up, stretch your legs if needed.

Now the paper towels I used.

Bounty's Verdict: This is the only paper towel that I used both recipes on.  The recipe with the baby wash had too much water.  That extra 1/4 cup of water made the paper towels pretty wet which made them tear easily.  But with the DoTerra recipe these worked great.  They come out of the #10 can very easily.  Towards the end of the roll they do get a bit thin, I think they sort of  deteriorate.  But I just double up on wipes and they still work fine.

Viva Verdict: These are thick and feel almost the same as some store bought baby wipes. They are also really soft.  But they are impossible to tear apart with one hand.  When I pull them out of the #10 can they just keep coming.  It's like a cheesy magician trick where the handkerchief keeps coming out of his sleeve.  These are ones that need to be torn into their individual squares before hand.  It's a little annoying but it makes diaper changes a lot easier. Also, the rolls are smaller so I go through the wipes faster.

Brawn Verdict: I have nothing good to say about this one.  They were to thin and fell apart easily.  I got so annoyed with them that I tossed the roll about half way through.

The Verdict of the Verdicts: The DoTerra recipe is great and works very well.  Bounty and Viva are both good and I really don't have a preference between them.

PHEW!!!! Who knew there could be so much information on a poop cleaner?  If you actually read this whole post then I am very impressed.  Or maybe I should lecture you for using this post as an excuse to procrastinate when you really should be cleaning something.  HA HA  BUSTED! 

Crayon T-Shirt

Now that it's getting colder, we are trying to find more indoor activities so the kids don't get cabin fever.  I saw a blog about a crayon t-shirt and thought it was such a cute idea.

You will need:
crayons
white shirt
sandpaper (the finer the grit the better)
iron
towel

Directions:
1) Color a picture on the sandpaper (it will be reversed on the shirt)
2) place a towel between the shirt so the color doesn't bleed onto the back
3) place the sandpaper on the shirt (image down) 
4) using a cotton setting, iron the back of the sandpaper for 30-60 seconds
5) put the shirt into the dryer for 30 min to set the color

I grabbed some 400 grit sandpaper and told my son to color whatever he wanted. My daughter is a little to young for this activity I think.

As he was coloring he gave me the play by play of what it was.  It started out as Iron Man, then it turned into Iron Women then he decided it should just be a big ball of fire. He tends to draw really light, so I went back over it and made the layer of crayon wax really thick on the sandpaper.

We put a towel in between the shirt and I let him do the ironing. 

After 30 seconds I pulled up the corner.  I could tell it was transferring but decided to go a bit longer.

The Verdict:  It was lighter then I thought it would be but it still looked good.  My son loved wearing a shirt that he made but unfortunately it didn't last. 

 Two washes later and it was starting to fade.  About the 4th wash it looked like a faded spaghetti stain. When he wore it it was no longer a cute homemade shirt but a pathetic neglected shirt. 

The next time we do it I think I will try it on a pillow case and  iron longer on a higher setting.

I've been staring at this blog post for about 30 min trying to figure out how to make it more entertaining by throwing in some humor.  I have nothing.  Apparently there is nothing funny about crayons and t-shirts.  So have a nice day

Chalk Board Paint

Thanks to my Little Picasso, I have learned that most paint colors and finishes can be used as a chalk board.

Allow me to demonstrate, but first, you should know that for some reason my camera refused to show the true colors of the paint on the walls, so you will just have to take my word for it.

Here is a light tan, flat finish with blue chalk

Using a regular chalk board eraser, the chalk came right off.

Here is a gray, glossy finish with yellow chalk

Again, I used a regular chalk board eraser, but if you look closely you can see that there is a slight mark left behind after I used the eraser.  A wet cloth took it right off.

And finally, an olive green, flat finish with white chalk (I promise that the paint is an olive green) Did anyone else make these awesome S's about 20 years ago?  My Trapper Keeper was covered in them because it was the only thing I could draw.

Comes right off.

Painted walls work so well as a chalk board that if I didn't have little kids watching my every move I would probably write on the wall at the family command center.

I saw a post about making your own chalk board paint that I wanted to try so I could see if it was better then my regular painted walls.

The directions are simple;
Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

I built this play kitchen for my kids for their Christmas gift and I wanted to put the chalk board paint on the fridge doors. (Please don't judge my craftsmanship. Due to some cheap wood and my lack of skills, this kitchen was doomed from the start.)

I headed to Lowe's to buy the grout. Because of some recent home repairs, and building this kitchen, I have recently spent countless hours in Lowe's.  I thought I knew the store better than Tim the Tool Man Taylor, but after wondering around the store like an idiot for awhile, an employee finally pointed me in the right direction. I found myself in a section that I didn't know existed.  I quickly realized that the section I know so well is actually the "Lowe's for dummies" section and I was now in the "Lowe's for people who actually know what they are doing" section.

I got to the aisle with tile grout, took one look around and realized that I was seriously out of my element.  

Do you remember that Hardee's/Carl's Jr commercial where a man is standing in the bread aisle looking completely lost and stressed out, then you hear a voice say "without us, some guys would starve."
I felt like that guy.

I put on my game face and started to read the labels. Meanwhile, my 2 year old daughter had dumped a box of bolts on the ground and was doing snow angles in them. I was really tempted to give the grout aisle the bird and join her. 

I finally picked a grout that I assumed was unsanded because it was the only one that didn't say that sand was in it. 

I mixed it into my paint and quickly saw that it was pretty gritty.  Looks like I got the wrong grout.  But I thought, what the heck, I'll paint it on then sand it off if needed.

After the paint dried on the doors it was very obvious that this was sanded grout.  I tried to write on it with chalk but the sand just ate up my chalk and left chalk dust on everything.  However, I decided to keep it because I like the texture that the sand gave the door. 

The Verdict: Inconclusive. I bought the wrong grout so I don't know how adding unsanded grout to paint compares to regular paint and I really don't want to buy another thing of grout just to test it on a piece of wood that I will toss.

So for now, my painted walls with no grout in them work just fine as a chalk board. 

Wrinkle Free

Lets get one thing straight....

I HATE ironing.  

I hope that was clear enough for you. There is no beating around the bush or sugar coating how I feel about ironing. 

Let me explain why I hate ironing so much.  It's really very simple.... I can't do it.  I have tried for years!

Many people have shown me their fancy sure fire never fail tricks and I still stink at it.  Try as hard as I can, I can't do it. The clothes look sloppy and uneven and it's just plain sad.

So you can understand my enthusiasm when I saw this homemade wrinkle release spray. Heck yea I was going to try it.  I went to the store just to buy the fabric softener so I could try it that day.

• 1/3 cup liquid fabric softener
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup water

Mix your three ingredients and pour them into a spray bottle. Then take your wrinkled garment, place it on a hanger, spray it thoroughly (though not soaking), and give it a shake. The wrinkles will be gone in a matter of seconds! It is seriously like magic!!

I mentioned in my bathtub cleaner post, that I get really skeptical when people proclaim that something is the greatest, so when they said "it is seriously like magic" I started to doubt, but I was still hopeful and cheering for a good outcome.

I bought the cheapest fabric softener I could find and mixed everything in a spray bottle (do you have any idea how many spray bottles I have around my house right now? Way to many to count)

I have a skirt that is always wrinkly, it was the perfect victim.  I sprayed it until it was wet then gave it a good shake. 

The Verdict:   The wrinkles were gone!  Completely gone!  I was blown away.  The original person who posted this was right, it was magic!!!!

Then I went and grabbed one of my sons white shirts to see how the spray would do on those microscopic wrinkles that make a shirt look like an old piece of waded up paper. 

Again, blown away.  Of course his shirt didn't have that crisp freshly ironed look, but it was wrinkle free, and that's what's important. 

Unfortunately there is a downside, this isn't a "oh crap I'm suppose to be somewhere in 10 min and all of my clothes are wrinkled" fix.  The fabric softener left a noticeable smell, but it faded in a few days.  Also, you are spraying until the fabric is wet, and it takes time to dry.

However, these two downsides are very fixable; I now keep a bottle in my closet so when I'm hanging up clothes I can take care of the wrinkled ones right then.

I love when I find something this fantastic that makes my life easier. Now all that is left is to give my iron and ironing board their eviction notice. 

Less Slippy More Grippy

This blog post is going to be three in one.  Don't you feel so special right now?  It's a blog post jack pot!

All three have to do with creating a grip so things don't slip. And to make this reading experience even more enjoyable, you can hum Slip Sliding Away by Paul Simon to yourself.

Lets start with hangers.  For some reason I have a plethora of wide necked shirts right now.  Because of those wide necks, I frequently find shirts on my floor and have to re-hang them..... ok lets be honest, I kick them into the corner and forget they are there until the pile is creeping out of the closet.

On Pinterest there is a picture of a hanger with a hot glue gun zig zag pattern on it.  I wish I could credit the source, but clicking on the picture just took me to a blocked site. Good thing the picture was pretty self explanatory and I didn't need the website for details.

So I got a hot glue gun and I put zig zags on one hanger and straight lines on the other, just to see if the pattern made a difference.

The Verdict: The lines just pealed right off and did nothing but the zig zag worked great. My shirts don't fall off anymore.  The only down fall is I can no longer grab a shirt and pull until it pops of the hanger and the hanger shoots into the air and does an awesome spin around the pole.

Grip number 2: The floor mat

The mat we have that leads into the garage drives me nuts.  That thing is NEVER in the right place. Just breathing next to it makes it take to flight.

So I decided to try the caulk method. I got a cheap tube of caulk and ran lines down the back of my mat, about 3 inches apart.  I let it dry over night then put it back onto the floor.

The Verdict:  It helped a little.  It now takes a sneeze instead of a slight breath to move the mat.  The caulk doesn't really grip. I think the only reason the mat stays a little more put is because it's heavier.  Plus if you stand on the mat with bare feet you can feel the lines of caulk and it's pretty annoying. 


And finally, socks.
My son needed new socks and I could not find any with grips on the bottom.  Either I am blind and just couldn't see them in the 200 stores I went to, or they don't make socks with grips for his size.  I prefer the second option, it helps my pride.

I saw this website about putting puff pant on the bottom of socks and I LOVED it. I thought the designs this women had were SO cute.  So I bought some socks and puff paint then I remembered that I have no artistic skills and if I even attempted to make something cute it would turn into a big sad blob. 

So I was very boring and just put my sons initials on the bottom of his sock with simple blue puff paint.

The Verdict: It seems to work very well.  He doesn't wear socks often, but when he does I haven't seen him slip, and he tends to run pretty fast in the kitchen.

So there you have it, a three in one special.  Merry Sunday

Weed Killer

When we moved into this home it was apparent that the landscaping had been pretty neglected for several months. The amount of weeds were very impressive.

Most people would get annoyed and complain about all the work they were going to have to do to get the yard looking decent.  Not me, my thought was "YAHOO! I have a reason to test my new weed killer."
My life must be pretty boring if I get that excited about weed killer.

Ivory’s Non-Selective Herbicide

2c vinegar
1 T liquid soap
1 T salt
Mix the three ingredients in spray bottle. Will kill anything it touches.

The website is very clear about how this mixture will kill any plant, so you need to be careful where you spray it.

I used Green Works liquid soap and mixed everything in my spray bottle.  I made sure I had a fresh bottle of face cleaner before heading outside for another several hours of yard work.

I picked three different spots to try this weed killer on. 

First, I sprayed it on weeds that were surrounded by grass. I wanted to see how much of the grass around the weeds would be effected. 

Then I sprayed a spot with the same type of weeds but nothing around them so I could spray liberally and not worry about killing anything else.

Finally, I picked a spot with a different kind of weed so I could see if the weed killer reacted differently to different weeds.

As you can see, I got very scientific with this DIY.

I sprayed each weed very liberally then went out every day to check on the progress.

The Verdict: Every day I went out and checked on my little science projects, and as each day passed I was more and more surprised to see them thriving and growing. After two weeks I got so annoyed at those little weeds that I committed weed murder and yanked them out by the roots.  Whose laughing now little weeds?

That afternoon, I read that some weed killers can take up to a month before you see any results. Guess I should have been more patient and not yanked them out of the ground so fast.

Not to worry, some more weeds were growing in the backyard.

This time the science nerd in me was to annoyed to be scientific, so I picked one spot with a lot of weeds and went to town.  I sprayed until those weeds were wet and the ground around them was wet.  I might as well have dumped the bottle on them.

This time I waited for 5 weeks.

The Verdict: Not only did those suckers survive their weed killer bath, but apparently they mistook it for plant food and grew to over 3 feet tall. 

I am really surprised by this.  How is it possible that vinegar and salt didn't kill any of my plants?
I have two theories;
1) We got a lot of rain during the two months that I was keeping track of these weeds and I wonder if the weed killer was washed away before it could take effect.
2) My weeds have sass and attitude and enjoy mocking me. 

I prefer the second theory.

Teeth Whitener

Several months ago, I had the misfortune of using a very poorly made teeth bleaching kit.  I posted the outcome on my personal blog and have re-posted it on the bottom of this post for your reading pleasure.

A few days after I posted about this incident, a friend of my tagged me in a pintrest about DIY teeth bleach.  After I gave her the finger through the computer (just kidding shay) I started looking into DIY teeth whitening.

Several of the websites I looked at agreed that putting a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide on your teeth was the best method to whiten your teeth.  What they didn't agree on was how often to put it on and how long to leave it on.

So I decided to base my experiment on this website and do it every other day for 10 days and leave it on for about a minute. 

 Here is what the website says;
You will need:
-1 tsp of baking soda
-A few drops of hydrogen peroxide
-Toothbrush

First combine the baking soda and peroxide and let sit for a few minutes so that the mixture forms a paste. Apply directly to teeth using a toothbrush, avoiding gums and lips. If you do get the mixture on your gums or lips, don't leave it on too long or they will start to tingle. Rinse mouth thoroughly and brush with normal toothpaste and again, DO NOT swallow the mixture. In about 15 minutes, you'll notice a difference.

Did you catch the part about not getting the mixture on your gums and lips?  This person wants me to brush my teeth and not get anything on my gums or lips?  HAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one.

I made my mixture and while it was sitting I decided to brush my teeth really good so the mixture would actually bleach my teeth and not my left over dinner of pizza tofu.

I dipped my toothbrush into the mixture and started to brush it on the front of my top and bottom teeth.  I did my best to avoid getting it on my gums and lips but that was pretty much impossible.

As I was brushing, the first thing I noticed was how gross it tasted.  No worries about swallowing that nasty stuff, and then..... HELLO PAIN!!!!!  My gums were on FIRE!!!  I can't believe how fast that pain came on.  I spat and rinsed as fast as I could and fortunately the pain did not last.

The mixture was on my teeth for only about 10 seconds so of course I was not surprised that 15 seconds later my teeth looked the same.

Two nights later I decided to try again and try really hard to avoid my gums.  Once again that was impossible but I did notice that it didn't hurt my gums as much.  Each time I brushed this mixture on my teeth the pain was less and less and I was able to leave the stuff on longer and longer.  I never went longer then a minute because after that there was a good chance of accidentally swallowing it because of all the extra saliva that kept piling up.

The Verdict: It worked very well. After the 10 days of brushing the mixture on my teeth every other day, my teeth were noticeably whiter.  In fact when we had our photos professionally taken by Bridgette she told me that my teeth were extremely white and she didn't have to touch them up in photo shop.

Like all whiteners it's not going to last, but one website i found said that if you do it about once a month this will maintain the shade you have. 

These before and after photos aren't great because you can tell that the lighting I am in is different in each photo and a light bulb can definitely make your teeth more yellow in a photo, so you will just have to go on my word and the word of Bridgette that it worked very well.

Here is my original post about the horrible bleach kit I bought;

Disclaimer: below are some very unattractive pictures of me, but I just had to share this oh so fun experience I had.

Recently there was a Groupon deal for an at home bleaching kit that promised to whiten your teeth 1-5 shades.  It was 70% off the regular price, how could I refuse?!?!?!? So I bought one for me and one for my husband.  I eagerly waited for the package and was very excited to have a really white, new smile.  Oh, how I was punished for my vanity.

 Finally the package came, and as soon as the kids were in bed I tore that sucker open.  Looking at the contents and reading the directions made me quickly realize that this was going to fall under the category of "Beauty is Pain."

Inside was a mouth guard full of bleach goo that would be tight in Shaq's mouth. It also had a light that you had to hold against your teeth for 30 min.  This was sounding more and more difficult but I was not going to be discouraged.  So I did the prep work of rubbing Vitamin E all over my gums, then put in the mouth guard.  That thing was HUGE and I couldn't close my mouth over it.  I then pulled out the light and...... it didn't work.  So here I am with the mouth guard in and my light isn't working. Fortunately I had gotten two packages so I quickly opened my husbands and yanked the light out.

I was all panicked that those precious minutes with the guard on and no light was going to mess up my teeth some how.  So I grabbed the light and hip hip hooray it worked.  However, it also had a huge guard on it and now some how I was suppose to stretch open my mouth even wider and fit this huge light in my mouth.

With some force, I got it in and had my lips around it.  Now I had to stay like this for 30 min. You've got to be kidding me! 

After looking at myself in the mirror all I could picture was this.....

While looking for the light that worked I noticed my gums tingling.  With in about 2 minutes they were on fire. The pain was so bad that my mind started racing through profanities which made me laugh because then I was picturing why poor Ralphy had the soap in his mouth.

I kept thinking that I should probably take it out because I was in serious pain but my vanity and tight side took over and I kept chanting to myself "I paid $30 for this and it will be over soon and I will have beautiful teeth." So I decided to take my mind off it by cleaning the house.  Oh how foolish I was.

As I started to move around and pick up toys, the bleach in my mouth decided to move and now my tongue was burning.  I quickly stopped and sat on the couch begging the timer to go faster "baby steps 30 minutes." By the end of those horrible 30 minutes my jaw and lips were aching from clenching down on the mouth guard and light. Finally the timer dinged.  I raced to the bathroom rinsed my mouth and looked at the damage......

 

I know the picture is gross, but seriously check out that damage.  All the white parts are blisters.  After whimpering and cursing myself for keeping those stupid trays in, I looked at the directions to see if there were any final directions I missed.   The final direction said "rinse and brush thoroughly."  Um, excuse me?  You want me to brush my teeth while I have blistering and bleeding gums?  What type of sick and twisted sadistic person invented this blasted kit?!?!?!?! 

The next several days my gums ached but it was bearable and my teeth went up 3 shades.  Yahoo!  I could deal with that.  It hurt but it was over and I had white teeth.....

A week later I looked in the mirror to once again be awwed by my white teeth and wouldn't you know it, they were back to their old shade.  "OH FUUUUUUDGE!"