Fruit Fly Trap

I'm a bit of a fruit fanatic.  I always have fresh fruit in the house and I could live off of just that, but alas, I still need those greens to keep my motor running.

Of course the fresh fruit attracts fruit flies by the thousands and of course they decide to take up permanent resident near the fruit bowl.

I kept seeing those wasp traps made out of a two liter bottle then one day I saw that you can do the same thing for fruit flies, you just change the bait. 

Bring it on bugs....

I forgot to tag the blog post I used so I can't find it, but this one gives you pretty much the same idea.

Fly Trap
You Will Need:
2 liter soda bottle
scissors
bait

Directions:
Cut the top off your soda bottle, just below the tapered neck. Remove the soda cap, turn the top upside down and place it inside the bottom of the bottle. Put the bait in the bottom of the bottle. 

The bait you use will depend on what you are trying to catch, but I kept seeing a common theme of  watered down jam.  The sweet smell should attract the flies/wasps then they should drown in the water. 

I used the 2 litre bottle I had after making the 4th of July drinks. I cut the top of the bottle off and it sat in the bottom perfectly with no seams around the edge.  I mixed enough water into the jam to make it liquid then set the bottle next to the fruit bowl.

The Verdict: Either those flies are smarter then I give them credit for, or this trap is a big dud.  I left it there for 5 days and not one fly went into that bottle.  Even when I covered the fruit bowl the flies still figured out a way to get past the seal and attack my bananas instead of going into the bottle.

I decided to try again with a different bait so I put the bottle outside on the porch and planned on cleaning it out later that day. About 5 hours later I went to get it and found this

 Apparently those flies are smart.  It looks like they only went into the bottle when it was the only option of food.  Once I saw this I decided to try a whole new method.  Stay tuned......

DIY Febreze

Over the last several months I have had many inquires about homemade Febreze and my answer was always the same "I haven't tried it yet, but it's on my list." I was planning on testing it eventually, but it wasn't a big priority. 

Last week when my younger sister asked about homemade Febreze she apparently didn't approve of my response because about 20 minutes later I got a text from her telling me that she just made her own and what she thought of it. 

So this blog post is courtesy of my younger sister, Pig.  Why do I call her Pig?  I have no idea, but that's been her nickname for the last 20+ years.

Homemade Febreze
You Will Need:
1/8 Cup of Your Favorite Fabric Softener
2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
Hot Tap Water - enough to fill the bottle (Pig used a 16 oz bottle)

Directions:
Pour all the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake until well mixed.  Spray onto any fabric surface. 

Looking around the Internet I have found many variations of this recipe so it looks like you could play around with the amount of ingredients until you get a combination that works for you.

Pig, mixed her ingredients together then used the spray on her couches

Disclaimer: Neither of us use store bought Febreze so we can't tell you how it compares,  all I can give you is her opinion of the homemade stuff. 

The Verdict: Pig said "My couches, the whole living room, smells super yummy." It didn't last long though.  Pig said by that evening the smell was completely gone and her couches smelt the same as they always do. 

Even though it was short lived, Pig's son enjoyed the smell while it lasted.  

Going 'poo Free

Back in January I tested some homemade deodorant. When I clicked on the Pin to get more information about making the deodorant I was taken to a website about going shampoo free.  The website has 3 main reasons for going 'poo free and I was intrigued by them.  So eventually I tried it out.

Shampoo Free
You Will Need:
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Water

Directions:
Mix ingredients together and pour into a squeeze bottle. In the shower, soak your hair with water, then squeeze a bit of the baking soda mixture on your scalp, starting at the crown. Massage it in as you go, squeezing a bit more here and there, concentrating mostly on the scalp. You can include your hair as well, but since most of the oils originate from the scalp itself, the hair will naturally get cleaned once the scalp is clarified. After a few minutes, rinse it out. Those with curly or thicker hair might need a bit more baking soda, and those with thin or fine hair might need less. Experiment, and see what works for you.

The original poster talks about how she uses apple cider vinegar as a conditioner.  Wanting to keep my hair on my head, I refused to do this and decided to continue using my regular conditioner.

She also says that their could be a transition period where your hair produces excess oil.  This transition period could last a few weeks or a few months.

After reading all this information here was my plan;
-even though my hair is really thick, I was going to stick with the original recipe
-since I refuse to use the apple cider vinegar, I would continue to use my regular conditioner but try to use the bare minimum
-I wanted to at least try it through the transition period so I could see how well it worked once my hair got use it.

I do have to confess, I cheated the first week.  I had a hair appointment I had forgotten about so I washed my hair with regular shampoo the day before.  I didn't want to get this reaction from the beautician




The Verdict: I only made it 2 1/2 weeks until I couldn't stand it anymore and gave up.
Oh how I hated it!  Let me count the ways;
1) It didn't get all my products out of my hair.  The original poster said that she no longer needs any hair products but if I don't use some sort of frizz control spray, I will look like this

 2) My roots felt pretty clean, and they never did get extra oily but the rest of my hair felt dirty.  It felt like I had grabbed a hand full of sand, rubbed it all over my hair and went on with my day

3) Because it was basically water, it was not easy trying to massage it into my scalp, especially around the base of my neck.  I would try to flip my head over so gravity would help but then the baking soda water would run up my nose or into my eyes.

4) Even with using regular conditioner my hair started to dry out and break very easily, especially when blow drying it.

5) I got some awesome static cling.

Maybe this was all part of the transition period and I gave up to soon, but I just couldn't endure one more day of dirty gnarled hair sticking to my face.

Deep Clean Your Linoleum

I know some people prefer hardwood floors or tile, but I'm actually a big fan of linoleum.  It's durable, low maintenance and easy to clean.  However, some types of linoleum like to capture dirt and hold it hostage in it's little grooves and it becomes impossible to clean it out with just regular mopping.

I use to use a Mr. Clean Eraser to scrub the dirt out of the deep grooves and it worked just fine.  The problem was, I would go through several of them and the price could add up.  So I wanted to come up with a cheaper different method. 

Linoleum Deep Cleaner
You Will Need:
Baking Soda
Hydrogen Peroxide 
Scrub brush (stiff enough to scrub, but not stiff enough to do damage)
Cloth

Directions
Combine baking soda and hydrogen peroxide until you get a paste (I like it to be thinner but you may prefer a thicker paste).  Scrub the mixture into the linoleum then use a wet cloth to wipe away the mixture and dirt.  Ta-daa

The Verdict: It does take some scrubbing and it can be time consuming depending on how big your area is, but it works great and the floor always looks fantastic afterwords. 

Depending on the foot traffic and the type of linoleum you have, you might be able to get away with 6-12 months between scrubbings.  Not a bad trade off in my opinion. 

Castile Soap Laundry Detergent

According to this site, you should never combine Castile Soap and vinegar because "They will directly react with each other and cancel each other out. So, instead of getting the best of both, you’ll be getting the worst of something entirely new."

 When I saw a claim about how a laundry soap with Castile soap and vinegar was a great laundry detergent I was very skeptical, but had to try for myself.

#10 Powdered
You Will Need:
1 cup Vinegar (white)
1 cup Baking Soda
1 cup Washing Soda
1/4 cup liquid castile soap

Directions: 
Mix well and store in sealed container. I find it easiest to pour the liquid soap into the bowl first, stirred in the washing soda, then baking soda, then added the vinegar in small batches at a time (the recipe foams up at first). The mixture is a thick paste at first that will break down into a heavy powdered detergent, just keep stirring. There may be some hard lumps, try to break them down when stirring (it really helps to make sure the baking soda isn’t clumpy when first adding). I used 1/2 cup per full load with great results.

I used peppermint Castile soap and mixed everything together. I stirred for about 10 minutes while the mixture went from a cottage cheese texture to a stiff powdery texture.

 I put it into a new container, sealed it tight and didn't use it until the next day. 

The Verdict: if you read the original directions, the person says, "There may be some hard lumps." What they call hard lumps, I call cement.  The mixture was rock solid.  I had to get a knife and small hammer to break off pieces to put in my washer.

 My clothes came out clean but I had to use about a cups worth (I say about because it was hard to measure the chunks)

So even though it worked, if you have to use a hammer with your laundry soap, it's not worth it. Time to try another one.

DIY Sidewalk Chalk

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE sidewalk chalk.  There is just something really exciting about being able to draw a 10 ft building. For the first 2 weeks of summer our back patio was constantly covered with all sorts of fun drawings. 

Sidewalk chalk isn't that expensive, but when your going through a pack a day (yes, I'm exaggerating) then it can add up so I wanted to try and make my own

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk
You Will Need:
Plaster of Paris
Tempera Paint
Warm Water
Plastic Cup
Plastic knife
Empty toilet paper/ paper towel tubes
Wax Paper

Directions:
 Prepare your tubes by cutting down the middle and line the inside with the wax paper.  Roll the tube back up to the size you want it to be and tape close.  Cover one end with wax paper so your mixture doesn't come out. Mix 1 cup of Plaster of Paris with 3/4 cup warm water, then added a couple squirts of tempera paint and stir. Pour mixture into your prepared rolls and let dry for several hours.
Note: don’t add too much paint, it will change the consistency of the chalk, and will crumble easy. A couple of squirts, or no more than 2 teaspoons will work fine.
 
I had no idea what Plaster of Paris was, but I found it in the craft section of Walmart.

Instead of wax paper, I used Saran Wrap Press N Seal.  It worked well and I didn't have to worry about it shifting around when it was time to pour the mixture in.

As I started to mix everything together I realized I was in trouble.  The mixture was hardening VERY quickly.  By the time everything was mixed I had a pretty thick putty that was hard to get into the tubes.

  It took about 5 hours for it to be completely dry and the tubes pealed away very easily

 The Verdict: Lets do a pro and con list for this one shall we?

Pro:

It worked

That sums up the pro list

Con:

-It was very messy.  The Plaster of Paris got all over the place, especially when I was frantically trying to get the mixture into the tubes before it got to hard. 

-It took 30 minutes of work, then another 15 to scrub everything

-It was more expensive.  For 1 piece of homemade chalk it cost .37.  For walmart chalk it cost .12

-The color didn't last. By the end of the day all of the kids drawings were bleached to white.

Unless you want a huge mess, I would skip this one and stick to the store bought.

Pepe Le Pew

My dog was in the backyard when very suddenly he started barking madly. I went outside, called for him and saw him crawl out from under the shed.  Not a good sign.  I walked towards him and was punched in the face by skunk odor. A really bad sign.  I bent over, smelled my dogs head and for the first time in my life was overwhelmingly grateful for a head cold.  I don't even want to know how bad the smell would have been with out a stuffy nose. 

At this point I'm sure your thinking "tomato juice"  But believe it or not, that method doesn't work so well. How do I know this you ask?

Meet Butch, my pet skunk. I was his mamma for a few months and he was very sweet to me, but one day the dog jumped at him and the little guy didn't have very good aim so my arm became the victim instead of the dog. 

 Notice my "truck stop" shirt? I was pretty glamorous back then.

Knowing tomato juice doesn't work very well and that dog fur is different from human skin I headed to the Internet. Several websites said using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide was the best combo

De Skunk a Dog
You Will Need:
Plastic container
1 quart hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tsp of liquid soap
disposable gloves to protect your hands from the smell
old clothes to wear in case the scent gets on you

Directions:
Mix the peroxide, soda and soap then immediately apply it to DRY fur.  Skunk goo is oil based, so if you get your dog wet you will only succeed in making the dog more smelly. Rub the solution into your dogs fur until the fur is wet. Allow the solution to sit on your dog for 5 minutes.  Rinse your dog and repeat if necessary. 

I tied my dog to the back porch then I slathered the mixture all over him, focusing on his head.  He's 40lbs and this mixture was enough to cover everything but his belly.  As we were waiting the 5 minutes I realized that I was in the middle of a DIY and I grabbed my camera. 

The Verdict: there was still a slight smell on  him but by the time he was dry it was gone.  This was easy and effective and and it didn't seem to irritate my dogs skin at all.

 You think I would have been really annoyed at this, but actually I was grateful, grateful that it was the dog and not one of my kids that found the skunk.