Homemaking – Page 6

Monday Madness: Donation Station

March 19, 2012 by Quin Leave a Comment

Monday Madness

As if Mondays aren’t busy enough, let me add one more thing for you to consider adding to your “to-do” list.

If you haven’t already, set up a donation station. For us it’s a table in the basement. Whenever the kids are getting dressed and a shirt doesn’t fit, or a pair of shoes get too snug they know just where it goes. This helps me because it’s taken care of right away. We aren’t dealing with the same shirt not fitting a week later, and I’m not faced with looking in the closet to see how many t-shirts they have thinking they have oodles when really only half of them fit.

So First- set up the station. It could be just a paper sack in the corner of your closet, or whatever works for you.

Next think quickly what could be added to the donation station. It might be something you want to donate it to a friend, a second hand store, the church, wherever. The point of this pile is getting it out of your everyday sight so you can live more simply.

Recipes: Organizing

March 2, 2012 by Quin Leave a Comment

I mostly just pull my recipes from the internet these days. Somtimes it’s something great I see on pinterest other times it’s something I’m craving (or saw on TV & had to have) so I Google how to make it and use which ever recipe seems easiest.

There are times that I taste what I’ve made and I JUST TOTALLY LOVE it, occasionally even the little people here love it too (praise the man of the house, he never complains about what I make)! So I have decided that some recipes are so worthy & that I must make them at least one more time while I’m on earth. Those recipes get added to my little index card recipe collection.

I also have a 3 ring binder filled with my grandma’s recipes, I love that binder & all the wonderful recipes inside. I am so honored to be able to make the things she made and hopefully someday my children will be using thoes same recipes in their kitchens.

What do you do with your favorite recipes?

Tip Tuesday- Laundry Soap

February 21, 2012 by Quin Leave a Comment

I’m not great at making my own laundry soap. I have bought all the supplies to do it, a couple of times actually.. I have never really stuck with it, though I know it is cost effective.

My tip for you today, although it’s common sense, is worth saying-
Use less soap! The guidelines for how much soap you should be using is set by the company that is making that soap and wanting you to buy gobs of it so they can profit.
With my last batch of laundry detergent I threw out the ugly green plastic measuring scoop & cardboard box that came with it. I replaced it with a nice glass jar & a stainless steel tablespoon scoop.
I much prefer the glass jar over the cardboard box, & the metal scoop versus the plastic ones. I already had these things on hand.
Now I use 1 or two of these scoops rather than half a green scoop.

What do you have on hand that you could use to pretty up the laundry area in your home?

Ditching Toxins- 1 Year Later

January 18, 2012 by Quin 2 Comments

Almost exactly a year ago I posted about how freaked out I am by toxins. Since then I DID actually pull out the lotions that had parabens listed in the ingredients, or had a list of ingredients longer than I cared to read.

I tried making my own deodorant (& toothpaste), which worked better than the store bought. That is, until it got too cold and hard (hoping it will work again in the summer, I have hyperhidrosis and am a super sweater.

I’ve gotten a little more relaxed since Christmas and started using a hand lotion that I don’t even know where it came from. I read that it had parabens but I figured I’d just use a little, and it smelled SO good!

Well, I read an article today that has again sparked my interest to remove toxins, so the lotion will be ditched.

You can read about the article here, it talks about parabens and breast cancer. It’s not that they may be causing it or even directly linked, but I do feel that women as a whole are using WAY too many products that are unhealthy and our bodies know it.

By the way, if all of you women would stop using so many products to make yourselves look good, then I could stop using so many and it would really level out the playing field. Just sayin’.

Also- I stopped using my very favorite moisturizer and swapped it for olive oil after a MOPS meeting where I had everyone making a sugar scrub. Some gals asked if it was okay to use on your face, and I said I wouldn’t, because it’s oil. Then a few other said that it was actually good to use just olive oil on your face. I looked into it, and they were right! My skin loooooves the change. Although winter winds have been tough, the olive oil is still all I will be putting on my pretty little face.

Think to yourself- What can I do to make a difference for me/my family? Then do it!

Learning something new.

December 7, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

My friend Jennifer came over last weekend and taught me how to knit.
I’m thankful for this new activity, & getting to spend time with her.
I’m not sure if it is something I will keep up, but it has been fun to try.
As I struggled with how to hold the needles and where to put the yarn, I realized what my daughter must be going through as she is so often trying to learn something new in school.

We must all begin to show more compassion to others. Learning something totally foreign is difficult & takes time, but is not impossible.

Back to Blogging

September 16, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

I would love to get back to blogging! I can’t blog from my phone (although it can do just about everything else!). I can bring up the web-site but I can’t type anything in. 🙁 So I am going to make an honest effort to turn on the laptop at least once a week & blog. It makes me feel good to write out my thoughts & it makes me feel bad to realize I haven’t been doing it. But we have had an awesome summer and kept very busy.

Okay- My goal of becoming a better homemaker has been going well.
A wonderful woman from church has given me her bread maker. Making fresh, nutritional bread for my family is amazing!

I’ve realized in the past year how seriously important the food we eat really is. I can tell what types of food my kids have eaten based on their attitudes & attention span. My body feels so different based on the food I’ve put in it. I compare it to how your car would run if you filled your tank with water instead of gasoline.

Starting Sept. 26th I’m joining in on Menu Planning with Keeper of the Home. I’m hoping that doing this will help me be more prepared for meal time so I can serve nutritional food & save money on our food. Because saving money is always a good deal. 🙂

Quick & Easy Money Savers For a One Income Family

May 25, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

I get asked this and sometimes even ask myself:

Family of 4 living on one income and you still stay home, how do you do it?

First I want to give a big huge thank you to God, for placing the 4 of us together. Without Him we just couldn’t do it. He is a mighty, wonderful God who blesses us in so many ways. Second a big huge thank you to my husband. I appreciate him waking up each morning and going to work for us. I know he enjoys his job, and that helps all of us live happier. He is a godly man who is very involved with his family. And a third thank you to everyone who has shared their tips with me.

Okay here it is, Money Saving tips, by room:

Starting with the Laundry Room:

Wash clothing using the appropriate water level, on cold. I’ve been doing this for years now and have found the clothes get just as clean on cold as they do on hot. No special soaps needed.

Speaking of laundry soap, use only about half of what the package tells you to use. It will be easier on your clothing, and save you a bundle on the soap.

Easy Step: Shorten your drying time (stop the dryer before it gets to the cool down).

Next Step: Hang clothes on hangers and hook them on the shower curtain bar to dry in the bathroom.

Advanced Step: Line dry your clothes outside. I’ve found this to actually be quite therapeutic.

Also- Quit buying dryer sheets. They’re dangerous in terms of build up on your lint screen and causing house fires, but also loaded with chemicals your precious family would be better off without. If you do need something to make your clothes a little softer use vinegar in your washing machine. It works, promise.

Kitchen:

This is a money and time saver; cook a double batch of whatever you’re making. Save the leftovers for another day.

Buy in bulk; especially beef if you like it.

Eat less… I’m not really joking here. How often do you go for the second burger that you really don’t “need”. If you could have that one for lunch the next day and still be satisfied you’ll be saving.

I save left overs, even when it’s literally only 3 bites. Because that 3 bites will satisfy my toddler just fine. Or I chop whatever it is up small and add it to our Friday night pizza.

Yes… We do Pizza almost every Friday. I clean out the fridge… Sometimes it’s carrots and parmesan because we don’t have mozzarella on hand (which we’ve found is actually a combination we love) other times we can add more to it.

Soap dispenser: I use a foaming soap dispenser. 1 part soap 5 parts water. I just refill it when needed. This has cut our soap use by SO much! I’m also pretty sensitive to soaps, so my hands look like I’m 70 after washing in straight soap; the foaming soap has helped this.

The next step took me awhile, but I eventually threw out pretty much all household cleaners and sprays. We now use just a spray bottle of vinegar/water mix. For tough things that need to be scrubbed I use baking soda. Vinegar is a natural disinfector, and come on people, the smell does NOT stay around, so get over buying your expensive products that are attacking your body and pick up a gallon of vinegar & a cute $1 spray bottle. Everything is getting just as clean if not cleaner than it was using the toxic sprays. And yes… I wipe up raw meat using this spray, or soap and water. No problemO’.

Paper towels/napkins: We were a little crazy with our paper towels, going through about 2 rolls a week… I do not know anyone else who has ever used that much, but we did. And at about $1 a roll, we cut just over $100 out of our yearly spending by using dish towels instead. For napkins we bought wash clothes from Ikea that have a cute colored loop on them. This way I know they don’t belong with the bathroom wash clothes. I store them in a basket in the cupboard. They’re much more absorbent and can be used more than once.

Turn off your oven about 5-10 minutes before the timer goes off. You’re using less energy and the oven is still hot inside. In the winter, (if you don’t have little ones that might get hurt) leave the oven door open for a bit to let the heat into your home.

You can use this same concept on the stove top for most things. I turn the burner off before it’s done (unless it’s rice.. that stuff is pretty picky!), my husband sometimes leaves it on even after the food is on the table…So, I think we balance each other out here? 😉

Okay enough of the kitchen… On to THE LIVING ROOM:

Watch less TV! Spend more time playing board games, cards, and reading. Our TV is on a power strip that I sometimes will turn off for a week or better. Most commonly though, it’s only off for a couple of days at a time. It’s not hard, no one misses the TV and to be honest, it’s pretty fun to go without it.

We have a big TV and when I say big I’m not talking about the screen. Our TV is almost 10 years old. Sure we could go buy a new big screen, but then we’d need a new entertainment center too, and frankly I like the one I have, it serves its purpose well. I do enjoy watching TV at friends and relatives houses though, as corny as it sounds, I feel like it’s a real treat.

Over all tips:

Thanks to my daddy, this has been drilled into my head: If you leave a room, TURN OFF THE LIGHT!!!

Along with that don’t use a light unless you need it.

Don’t turn on the water full blast when doing anything (showering, brushing teeth, washing hands, etc).

Take quicker showers using warm water instead of hot.

I think you will find these things are easier to implement than you think. Oh & I’m not a professional, so use your own discretion when trying these. But they do work for us.

What other easy money savers can you share? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Bathroom Upgrade: Shower Filter

March 7, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

Last night we installed a shower filter.

It all started yesterday, Sunday, when went to Home Depot for a few pieces of lumber we forgot to order from the local lumber yard on Saturday (when they were open and we ordered the rest of the lumber we needed).

I was browsing and decided to look for a new shower head & hose for the kids’ bathroom. Theirs has been broke for quite some time, so they’ve only been using the bath in there.
After MUCH comparison (mostly on the gallons per minute, and the “looks”), I decided the $12 shower head was just as good as the $74 one.

So it was settled, until….. I saw a shower filter! This is something I’ve been meaning to look into. So there I was again, now comparing shower filters for our grown up bathroom (the one that doesn’t have rubber ducks everywhere). I decided on the Sprite Slim Line.
This brand claims to do quite a bit, you can read about that HERE.

Total cost of upgrade, about $20 and 20 minutes

Oh, and the lumber there didn’t work out for us… So I’ll be ordering that from the local lumber yard today 😉

Activity Calendar

March 1, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

Last Thursday I unplugged the TV… literally.. I disconnected the DVD player, VCR, converter box, Wii, & UNPLUGGED the whole stinkin’ thing from the wall. I even covered up the entertainment center with a huge piece of fabric. AND put the couch in front of it so it is NOT easy to get to it.

It’s not that we don’t like our TV… You see, we are a little hooked on so many shows that really aren’t doing anything for us. For me, watching TV even just a 30 minute episode is taking away from time I could be spending helping my daughter become a better reader, or teaching my son the right way to use his scissors and draw a straight line. Or ummm.. I could be doing laundry!

Having the TV on as background noise isn’t something we do here, so any time it is on, it is very distracting to the little people in this house.

I came up with this cute little chart, inspired by a friend who made a much more adorable one for her boys.

We are using this as a FAMILY activity chart, so even Daddy played Barbies with us last night. By having a plan in place we are less tempted to run to the TV to entertain us. I am especially excited for warmer weather so we can add in things like…Dinner at the park, riding bikes, and other outdoor activities!

Total cost about $17. All items from Wal-Mart.
$7.88- Magnetic Dry Erase Board
$5.44- Plastic Name Badges
$2.97- Week Day Magnets

…Used 3 sheets of card stock & some markers for the pictures. I measured for the grid & applied it with perm. marker.

Kitchen Uprgade: Plastic Storage Containers.

February 3, 2011 by Quin Leave a Comment

My husband mentioned that the toy isles of Wal-Mart smell when you get close. That darn plastic smell. Have you noticed this?

I haven’t, just because I avoid those isles. I’m always shopping with children, and rather than saying “no” all the time, we just skip it all together.

Well it got me thinking about this drawer in our kitchen that was full of plastic Ziploc storage containers. I never noticed it until this morning, but when I open that drawer.. it STUNK, like plastic.

Plastic smells so nasty.

I started taking out any plastic containers that were “pitted”. I ended up with just TWO that were decent. I ended up putting all of them in the recycling bucket and nicely lining the drawer with my new adorable jelly jars (They were on clearance at Wal-Mart).

They look so much neater than the plastic. We use these to store food in the fridge, cupboards, snacks in the car, wherever! we also use the larger jars as our “bottled water”.
In the fridge I date the tops with a dry erase marker, so we know when the food was made. Oh & these awesome, adorable little jars are MADE IN THE USA. How cool is that? Oh, it’s pretty cool!

This was a very refreshing change, one I’m happy I made! Are you making any, or have you made any changes that you’re happy about?

As a mom, God is trusting me with my familiyand it’s my honor to look after their health and nutrition.

Psalm 20:4 (Amplified Bible)

4May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.

Disclaimer- I did keep a few square plastic containers my husband takes his sandwiches to work in. I want to replace these with stainless steel containers, but haven’t found them reasonably priced yet.

UPDATE- He’s now using stainless steel containers!

Psalm 20:4 (Amplified Bible)

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