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!"

Microwave Cleaner

I grew up watching my mom clean the microwave with this fancy trick;

Fill a microwave safe container with water and put it in the microwave for 10-20 minutes.  The goal is to have the water boil for several minutes to soften all the crusted food inside of your microwave.  Take a wet warm washcloth and wipe down the inside of your microwave.  Everything should wipe right off

I like to wad up a really thick wash cloth and dip the end in the boiling water and use that to wipe everything off.

It doesn't matter how dirty my microwave is, this trick has always worked for me and it doesn't take much effort. 

Recently I started to see this same concept on the Internet, but other people were adding vinegar to the water.  I was really curious to see if this made any difference so I gave it a shot.

So I filled a bowl with about 2 T of vinegar and about 1 1/2 cups of water (as a side note, it's better to use a measuring cup, or something with a handle so it's easier to take out of the microwave.  In case you didn't know, boiling water makes a bowl hot.)

I have to apologize for not having a before photo.  I wish I could give you a really awesome excuse as to why I didn't take one, like Ed McMahon showed up and stole my camera, but the truth is I just forgot.

So close your eyes and picture a bowl of thick red chili.  Now picture the chili exploding in the microwave.  That is what my microwave looked like.

But this is how it looked afterwords.  

The Verdict:  I didn't notice any kind of difference between using plain water and water mixed with vinegar.  I would try to argue that the vinegar can sanitize your microwave, but ummmm it's a microwave, I don't think bacteria stands much of a chance in that environment.

Miracle Workout

I know that some of you are going to argue, and say that exercise is not a DIY product.  Well I have two arguments for you; being healthy and losing weight is very much a Do It Yourself, but more importantly, it's my blog and I get to post whatever I want.

Ok, the real reason I am posting this is because of how pumped (pun intended) I am about this routine I found.

I am currently in a healthy competition (I’m gonna win) with some family members.  It's a basic competition (I'm gonna win) where you get points for doing certain healthy things each day, and lose points (not me) by eating un-healthy food.  At the end of three months, whoever has the most points (me) will win some cash.

When I started this competition, (I will win) I wanted a new exercise routine that would be quick but effective. 

I found Shaun T's Miracle 15 min Workout and decided to give it a go

Now before my family starts accusing me of cheating for not doing a 20 min workout, as is required by the rules, I followed up each workout with 5 minutes of abs. (So I can win)

As I got ready for my first workout I was pretty excited (excited to win) to try something new, and I looked like this.

But then this was me after my workout.  It was SO hard

(I might have exaggerated a little bit in these photos)


I have never done Insanity, but I hear that this routine is pretty similar.

I did it 5 days a week for two weeks (winner right here) then after those two weeks I got bored with the repetition of it.  The next 2 weeks I did it 3 days a week but did similar high intensity routines the other days so I could still get the same benefits. 

The Verdict: I lost 9 pounds in a month.  6 of those pounds were in the first 2 weeks. My diet pretty much stayed the same so I know it was the routine and not the food that got me in better shape.  I love that it is only 15 min and I feel like I’ve worked out for 60 min. The moves are very easy and require no coordination, which is great for me.  It is a lot of jumping, so if you have bad knees or ankles it may not be the best for you. 
What I like the most about it is that it requires no equipment and a little room.  All you need is about 4 feet of space and a serious amount of will power (so I can win)

So here I am, 1 month into a fun (serious) competition, where it doesn't matter who wins (me) or loses (everyone else). What matters is that we all have fun (and I win) and develop healthy habits (and win money) that will give us healthy lifestyles.

Makeup Remover

 The other day someone asked me what my favorite DIY is. As I was telling her about the makeup remover I use, it occurred to me that I had not posted about this stuff.  You would think, that when starting a blog about DIY's I would start with the one that I am the most passionate about, but no, unfortunately I tend to have moments where I am a few cards shy of a full deck. And by moments, I mean all the time.

So lets hurry and get the basics over with so I can tell you why this is my favorite DIY product. 

Makeup Remover
1 C water
1 1/2 TBSP tear free baby shampoo (I use Bert's Bees)
1/8 tsp olive or coconut oil

Mix them all together in a container
Shake before each use

I fill up a 3 oz bottle that lets me squirt the mixture onto a cotton square (I have no idea what the real name is for those things)

I store the rest in a mason jar under my sink.

 The Verdict: FANTASTIC

Ok, now that the basics are out of the way, "let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

There are 2 main reasons why I love this stuff;

1) It's cheap.
For a long time I was using Bert's Bees face wash (the disposable cloths.)  I spent $5.97 a month for them.  That really isn't bad, I can handle $5.97 a month.  But lets compare....

To make the DIY makeup, the recipe I posted above, it cost me...

wait for it...

$0.58

You read that right 58 Cents...

AND

That mason jar will last me about 3 1/2 months.

Lets compare those prices another way;
In 1 year I was spending about $72.62 on Bert's Bees
Now I spend about $1.99 a year for the DIY stuff

Do you know how many pints of Ben and Jerry's I could get with that extra $70?

Onto my next point....

2)  IT WORKS!!!!

My makeup comes right off.

 Now, I wish I could say that all the brown in this next photo is base, but it's not. That is all the dirt that came off my face (yummy).  Now before you judge me, just know that I had spent several hours doing yard work that day.

So lets really compare.  One day, after another several hours doing yard work, I used one of my old Bert's Bees face cleaner.  You can see where my finger was really scrubbing to get the dirt off. 

Then I went back over my face with my DIY stuff.  Can you see the brown in the middle? Yeah, this stuff was picking up dirt that my old stuff left behind.  It's like the Dyson of the face cleaning world.

I still do get an occasional zit, so it's not a cure all, but my skin is a lot softer and I now get complements on my complexion. 

So in case you didn't catch my enthusiasm about this...
DIY makeup remover = awesome!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

I recently heard about budget101.com.  How is it possible that I am just now hearing about this site?  It's a fantastic site with a lot of money saving tips.

One of my favorite things about that website is the mixes list. It has a ton of recipes for dry mixes that are easy to do and save you money on your grocery bill.

 Ranch salad dressing.- For ingredients and directions please see the original website.



I was impressed at how well the dry ingredients blended together in my cheap-o-matic blender. 

Keep the dry ingredients in an air tight container until ready to use: combine 1 Tbsp. of dry mix, 1 cup of mayo  & 1 cup of buttermilk. Mix it all together and enjoy. (I used homemade mayo, but that's for another post)

I halved the dry recipe from the website and I got about 16 Tbsp. of dry mix.  That gives you about 32 cups of Ranch dressing.  Unless you drink this stuff by the gallon (which is tempting), it is going to last you a very long time.

The verdict: It tastes nothing like ranch.  Nothing!  But I love it, and so does my husband. I was afraid that all the garlic was going to be over powering but it wasn't.  The consistency is pretty runny, which at first I thought would bother me but I really like it.  When I pour it on salad it actually runs off the pieces and coats every bit of the salad. This is a really nice change from the usual Ranch glob I get in the center of my salad that seems to latch onto 5 pieces of lettuce and nothing else.

Also, when I dip veggies in it, it just lightly coats it so I get the flavor without a big glob.  And in my mind that means less calories.  Yahoo.

It does seem to lose some flavor the longer it sits in your fridge, so I now just make half.  I still get 1 cup of dressing, which lasts a few weeks in our house.

So I love it, my husband loves it, but a couple weeks ago I really put it to the test.  I went to a small get together at a friends house and brought cut up carrots and the ranch.  People started eating it and said "oh, this is good" but I couldn't tell if they were sincere.  For all I knew they were really thinking "wow, this is horribly disgusting and I'm going to toss it in the fake tree when your not looking."

But then a pregnant woman came in.  I've been pregnant 4 times, I fully understand how a pregnant woman's sense of smell and taste become heightened and it's hard to hide that heightened sense of taste.  When she got a plate of carrots and dip I started to watch her out of the corner of my eye (just call me a stalker). She ate it, then got more and ate that, then she started dipping popcorn in the ranch.

So there you have it, Homemade Ranch Dressing: Jannie tested, pregnant women approved.

 UPDATE: I tried a batch where I substituted the buttermilk with plain Greek yogurt.  I didn't notice any change in the flavor but it did make it a lot thicker.  So depending on what consistency you like, the buttermilk or yogurt both work great.