Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Redskins vs Cowboys!
I finally fished my chair for my brother and his girlfriend. He is a Redskins fan while she is the horrible Cowboys fan. Regardless, I love them both so this is their graduation gift from me.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
15 Plants to Clean Your Home's Air
- Bamboo Palm (Red Palm)
- Chinese Evergreen
- Elephant Ear Philodendron
- English Ivy
- Ficus (weeping fig)
- Gerbera Daisy
- Golden Pothos (Devil's Ivy)
- Heartleaf Philodendron
- Janet Craig
- Marginata
- Mother-in-Law's tongue (snake plant)
- Peace Lilly
- Pot Mum
- Spider Plant
- Warneckei
Snow, Sara. Sara Snow's fresh living: the essential room-by-room guide to a greener, healthier family, and home.. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, 2009. Print.
Green Cleaners
- Vinegar- distilled white: kills bacteria, mold, and viruses. Used for disinfecting, deodorizing, and cutting grease and wax build-up, stains on carpet, countertops, pots, pans, and cofeepots.
- Baking Soda- Effective at removing stains and odors. Also a mild scouring tool for pots/pans and kitchen.
- Lemon Juice- Cut through grease so works well in kitchen.
- Soap- Biodegradable, dye free, and non-petroleum based. Castile or plant based is best.
- Olive Oil- good for moisturizing and conditioning.
- Borax- Effective at cleaning, softening water, deodorizing, and disinfecting.
- Hydrogen peroxide- Gentler than chlorine bleach and can be used for sterilizing and disinfecting home and body.
- Tea Tree Oil- Natural fungicide, germicide, antibacterial, and antiseptic. Fights fungi and bacteria that causes acne and athlete's foot.
- Essential Oils- Make your own scents
- Spices- Used for cooking, deterring rodents, and room fragrances.
' =p' = equal parts
Vinegar
*All Purpose Cleaner: Fill an empty spray bottle with =p water and vinegar. Use on countertops, glass, chrome, and tile.
*Toilet Bowl: Pour 2-3c of vinegar into toilet. Let sit for a few hours then scrub and flush.
*Windows: Fill a spray bottle with water and 1/4c vinegar. Use newspapers instead of paper towels.
*Wood Floors: 1/4c vinegar to a pail of water.
*Washing Machine: 1/4c vinegar to machine rise cycle.
Baking Soda
*Laundry: 1/4c baking soda to wash cycle to soften fabrics.
*Kitchen/Bathroom: Mix small amount with castile soap for countertops, sinks, and tubs. Add essential oils for fragrance.
*Carpet: Sprinkle before vacuuming to release odors.
*Oven: Mix 3p baking soda with 1p salt and 1p water. Spread and sit for 8 hours. Scrape and wipe clean.
*Drain: 1/2c baking soda down the drain followed by 1/2c vinegar. Flush with hot water.
*Toilet: 1p baking soda and 4p vinegar. Sit for 15 mins, scrub, and flush.
Lemon Juice
*Air Fresher: 1/2q hot water with =p baking soda and lemon juice. (1tsp each)
*Laundry: Brighten whites with small amount in rinse cycle
*Dish Soap: mild soap and lemon juice. (not on silver)
*Windows: Spray bottle with water and 1/4c lemon juice
Soap
*Wood Floors: warm water and drop of soap. (use damp not wet rag/mop)
Olive Oil
*Furniture Polish: 2p EVOO and 1p lemon juice
*Brass: rub with cloth dampened with EVOO
*Stainless Steel: Rub to remove streaks and prints
*Shoe Polish: 1/4c EVOO and drops of lemon juice. use rag, wipe on, buff out.
Borax
*Disinfectant: 4Tbs vinegar and 2tsp borax and 3c hot water. A few drips of soap could be added
*Carpets: spot treatment. =p borax, salt, and vinegar. apply paste to stain then dry. vacuum up the paste.
*Heirloom and china: dissolve in hot water
*Rodents: Sprinkle at the point of entry
Hydrogen Peroxide
*Tile: Moldy grout. Fill spray bottle with 1/2c hydrogen peroxide and 1c water. spray, sit for hour, rinse off.
*Disinfectant: Spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. Spray bottle of Vinegar. For veggies and surfaces. Spray with one then the other and wipe clean. Good for cutting boards as well.
*Mouthwash: Hydrogen Peroxide
Tea Tree Oil
*Mold/Mildew: 5-10 drops to 1c water in spray bottle
*Shower: tea tree oil and water
*Rodents: Wipe pantry doors and cupboards with towel damp with tea tree oil.
*Laundry: 2tsps to washing machine
*Vacuum: Dap a few drops on a tissue and put in vacuum bag to kill dust mites.
*Bath: 25 drops to hot water
Essential Oils
*Air Purifier: Mix oils in spray bottle and spritz in rooms. (Eucalyptus, lemon, thyme)
*Defog mirror: Rub with eucalyptus oil
*Stains: Eucalyptus oil and steel wool. On a rag- sticky residues.
Spices
*Moths/Rodents: Mix =p cloves, rosemary, thyme in cloth pouch or tea bag. Hang in closets and clothes in storage. Dried lemon peels also work.
*Air Freshener: Simmer cloves and cinnamon in water. Add orange for fragrance.
Snow, Sara. Sara Snow's fresh living: the essential room-by-room guide to a greener, healthier family, and home.. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, 2009. Print.
Cleaning Product Ingredients to Avoid
- Alkyl Phenoxy ethanols (APEs)
- Ammonia
- Butyl cellosolve
- ethylene glycol monbutyl
- chlorine bleach/sodium hypochlorite
- crystalline silica
- dichloromoethane (DCM or methylene chloride
- diethanolamine (DEA)
- dioxane
- ethylene glycol
- formaldehyde
- glycol ethers
- nitrobenzene
- para-dichlorobenzene (p-dichlorobezene or p-DCB)
- phosphates
- sodium hydroxide
- sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate
- synthetic fragrances
Facts about Cosmetics
Red-Light Ingredients
1. Fragrance- Various chemicals used to make a product smell a certain way. There is no regulation for it. Many contain neurotoxins and allergens. 2. Phthalates- chemical group used to add flexibility and dissolvability to other ingredients. Common in perfumes, hairspray, and nail polish. They are a hormone disruptor.
3. Parabens- extremely common type of perservative. Extend shelf life of shampoos, lotions, toothpaste, hand soaps, ect. Four types: methylparaben, ethylparaben, butylparaben, and propylparaben. Hormone disruptor. Usually listed on the label.
4. Petroleum- Contains a contaminate known as BAHS which is a possible carcinogen. Put in lipsticks, moisturizers, sunscreen, ect.
5. SLS (Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates)- Foaming agent. Cause Skin irritation.
6. Mercury- Effects the human nervous system. Still find it in products like lip liners.
7. Formaldehyde- Shows up in eye shadow, mascaras, and nail polish. Known human carcinogen.
8. Skin Whiteners- Hydroquinone. Is a known animal carcinogen and toxic. Allowed in US but not Europe. Found in facecreams, lipsticks, ect. Anything that "lightens" the skin.
9. Lead- Allowed in cosmetics. Possible human carcinogen.
Snow, Sara. Sara Snow's fresh living: the essential room-by-room guide to a greener, healthier family, and home.. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, 2009. Print.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Here is the basic recipe I use. I do tend to change it though.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Interesting Recycle Ideas for Butter Packets
Butter Packets (the individual packets you find in restaurants)
- Take them home, wash them out and then fill with homemade fudge. When the fudge cools, pop it out. You have perfect fudge squares.
- Use when working with small amounts of paint.
- Use for starting seeds. Just put in a little potting soil and a seed. In a few weeks transfer it to the ground.
"Recycle: Butter Packets - Recycling Database." World Environmental Organization - World.Org. Web. 02 June 2011. <http://www.world.org/reuse/butter.packets>.
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