Fall cleaning: The new Spring cleaning!!

I've changed out all of my candles from sweet florals and clean linens to smokey bonfire and pumpkin spice. But even though the fall and winter months are rolling in there is always room in every season for some good 'ol "Spring Cleaning". And, if there is one product I have to have for Spring cleaning it's Febreze. This wonderful product eliminates the everyday odors of living with two dogs and an avid cyclist as a husband while leaving behind a "just laundered" scent. LOVE this stuff! The only set back is that this instant refresher is a little pricey for as much as I like to use it. Lucky for me and for all of you other cleanoholics I happened across a recipe for an inexpensive homemade copycat to our beloved Febreze. Recipe is as follows, and it works just as well if not better as the real thing!!

"Faux-breeze" ..... couldn't help myself.

-2 cups warm water
-1/4 cup of your favorite fabric softener
-1 teaspoon of baking soda

Combine all ingredients into your empty Febreze bottle or any other spray bottle, replace bottle sprayer, shake and spray!!

Easy-peasy.

Castile Soap

Time to clean house again.. Today I am going to try using liquid castile soap in place of my household cleaners. Castile soap is said to work just as hard on grimy surfaces as mainstream house cleaners but is much gentler on not only the surfaces you're cleaning but also your skin.. Not to mention no offensive chemical smell!! Who wouldn't want to fill their house with the scents of lavender or peppermint! Mmmm, so fresh! Castile soap tends to be kind of pricey for the normal sized bottle, you can find castile soap at health food stores and some grocery stores. I found just the thing for my cleaning trial at Target. Target sells small sample sized bottles of castile soap in lavender and peppermint scents and they only set me back $1.99 ea. (you can find them in the aisle with the "natural" alternatives for skin care.) Thanks to my beloved Target now I can give this new cleaning alternative a whirl in my weekendly routine without having to dish out big money right away. Check out all of the hard jobs you can conquer with this gentle cleanser!

Clickity-click

How to Recycle Anything | Real Simple

An A-Z list of how to recycle everything! Check it out.

How to Recycle Anything | Real Simple

Storage For Spices

I've been trying to figure out how I wanted to store my spices. These recycled medicine bottles made of glass with rubber stoppers were just what I was looking for. After being thoroughly cleaned and sanitized I let them dry before I labeled them with a paint pen & filled them with my favorite cooking essentials. I love that the colors of the spices are perfectly displayed through the clear glass of the bottles. It seems almost sinful to hide them in the cupboard.

Dinner is knocking

This is the lovely table that my husband built as his wedding gift to me. I used to joke with him all the time that I wanted him to build me a table, never thinking that he would ever actually do it. To my surprise I found this work of art perfectly placed in our new dining room the weekend of our wedding! He had been working on it for the last six months and all without me knowing. He got the door from a friend who graciously handed it over for the hefty price of zero dollars and the wood used for the legs were pulled from the neighbor's curbside. He brought the door to a glass company and had glass panels laid into the depressions. The glass panels, hardware, paint and the beautiful glass doorknob were all purchased setting this project at about eighty dollars. Not bad for a dining room table for six. We picked the chairs up at a local antique shop for sixty dollars.