Sheet Curtains

Check out my new curtains! They're made of sheets! The best part? Each panel was five dollars (not including the stripes I added later)! I will make a post later for a description of how I made them (they're so easy)! For now though I am off to tend to a sick baby.

Vinegar Disinfecting Wipes

Lately I've been using a lot of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to clean up messes on the counters, stove, bathroom sink, the bath tub, and pretty much any gross spot in a house that you can think of.  Then, after one of my microbiology classes which talked about disinfectants and antiseptics, I thought, "I never ever wear gloves when I use Clorox wipes..."  So, I googled the effects of those bad boys and didn't really find much (the container does say to wash your hands afterwards), but I also didn't want to be spending a ton of money on them and harming myself so I am keeping those bad boys on standby for when the house needs a deeper clean.
In my microbiology class we were talking about using vinegar as a cleaning product because it can remove biofilms and other nasty build up.  I had seen some ideas on Pinterest, so I decided to make my own wipes since I have a ton of vinegar already.


Here is everything I used:
a roll of paper towels
rigid knife (I have no better way to describe it...I also call it a vegetable knife if that helps anyone)
zip-lock bag
white vinegar


Step one: "Saw" your roll of paper towel in half
Step two: Stick one half of the roll in to a zip lock baggie (I used an empty zip lock bag that once held baby wipes we used and it fit perfectly in there)
Step three: Pour white vinegar onto the paper towel roll until the entire roll is wet.
Step four: Pull the cardboard center out of the roll (this should come out easily once the roll is wet. Just squish the entire roll a little bit and you should be good).
Step five: Zip the bag and enjoy your wipes.


This was incredibly easy, but I would suggest pulling the first wipe of the paper towel loose before soaking it.  I didn't do this to mine and it was difficult to figure out where the roll started.  I used Sparkle brand paper towels because that is what we had on hand and they held up well.  They didn't rip, tear, or crumble apart when I wiped the counters down and they are half size paper towels so that was actually nice because the wipe wasn't too big. I will probably end up storing mine in an old baby wipe container or old Clorox container, but for now they will remain in the bag. Either way they tear apart great and these wipes cost me about 50 cents since eight giant rolls are a little under eight dollars and the gallon of vinegar I had was probably 3 dollars or less and I used very little of it.

Kasie

Homemade Card

Over the weekend I had a bridal shower to go to and when I woke up on Saturday I realized I didn't have a card.  This happens to me ALL the time! Oh, and I don't like to pay like four bucks for a card...or whatever they cost now.  So, I made one.

I had all of the materials around the house and here is what I used:

scissors

construction paper

mod podge

foam brush

paint chips

I knew I wanted to do some type of flower on the front, so I googled paper flower and this is what came up.  The tutorial was easy to follow, but it took me a couple of tries to figure it out.  I needed to make my strip to cut out wider and a bit shorter.  Then, I used mod podge to fold the very end of the flower (the outermost layer) and glue it to the part of the flower I would be placing down on the card as well as gluing some of the other layers together to be sure that it would hold up.  I ended up making three all together.  

After my flowers were finished I picked out some construction paper and paint chips I had on hand that I thought would go well with the color of my flowers.  The construction paper was an off white and the paint chips were a grayish midnighty blue (so specific right?). I took my construction paper and folded it in half (I think hamburger style, but I was never good with the whole hamburger/hotdog folding thing). Then, I cut along the fold and took one of the halves.  I then folded this in half and started on the paint chips.  I had some fairly long ones and decided to go for stripes.  I used two paint chips and cut them length wise about an inch thick and ended up deciding to use three stripes.

I put mod podge on the back of each of the stripes then lined one up with the top of the card, one with the bottom of the card, and placed the third one as close to the middle as possible.  Once this was mostly dried, I put mod podge on top of the whole front of the card.  After that dried I was almost done, all that was left was to glue the flowers on.  I picked an arrangement, put them in the top corner, and used mod podge to glue them down.  When it was done drying, the card was finished! The process was really easy and free!

I didn't have a way to put the card on the gift I was giving so I took some thin twine, looped it through the card, used a hole puncher to make a hole in the wrapping paper, then pulled the two ends through the hole and tied a bow.

Here's how it turned out.

Kasie

A Productive Spring Break

I haven't posted in what seems like forever, but within the next week I have a huge project to share! We've been working hard in the kitchen this whole week to complete all of our work, so while this spring break hasn't been the most relaxing one, the outcome of our kitchen will be worth it!

We have had quite a bit of excitement this week though as our sweet little girl began to crawl! So in between working on the kitchen during naps, I have been chasing her around telling her "No you can't play with the power cords."  Seriously, I move her away and show her all of her toys and her first pick is still the power cords.  Thankfully, we keep most of our electronics unplugged when they aren't in use!

I will be sure to get back later on in the week with the progress in the kitchen once everything is put back in its place!

Kasie

I Work Out

I've mentioned a lot about how I always seem to be busy, but I don't know if I've actually ever said how much I actually appreciate being busy! Although I do enjoy relaxing, I am not the type of person to be able to sit around all the time and be satisfied with just that. My husband can get so upset because I always have a list of projects that need to be done around the house and I don't blame him.  He enjoys relaxing all weekend and I enjoy relaxing for an hour and then I start to get fidgety. So here's what keeps me busy

Being in school.

Who doesn't love being able to get an education? While I am sick and tired of living on such a small budget, I also forgot to mention that I will have very little to pay back once I graduate.  I'm so thankful that my husband and I have been blessed with the job he has...it has paid for most of my schooling (and some of his)! While the pay isn't great, that is one AWESOME benefit! If you can't tell from the books, I'm one of the nerds who actually likes science and it consumes a large portion of my life. 

Sweet Feet.

These sweet little feet are by far my favorite.  This precious little girl takes the cake when it comes to time consumption and I don't mind at all.  Did you know that when your parents say "it seems like just yesterday you were born" or "you grew up way too fast" that it is actually true.  I'm learning this every day.  In my busy life these sweet little feet have taught me to enjoy every moment because life really does fly by.

Housework.

Seriously, I regret all the times we would pick on my Mom because she was a stay at home mom (not that we didn't appreciate it, our family just jokes around like that).  Moms do a lot. Not only do they take care of their kids but somehow (my mom at least) they manage to keep the house clean, cook dinner, run errands, and all that other mom stuff. Now I know...housework is a pain! 

    

Spare time

Crafting and Home Improvement 

Mmmm how I love this.  I swear if I had the money and time I would be doing crafts and home improvement projects every day! I also have project ADD, so you could probably find about five projects around here that I have yet to finish. 

Work out. 

All I can think of when I say that is the song "Sexy and I Know it" by LMAFO. Are you singing it yet? Anyway, this is my love hate relationship that I have to make the time for most days during the week.  

So, when it all works out right...somehow during little girl's nap I try to clean, workout, and shower.  Then when she is awake we can play and I can do homework during her next nap or later when my husband gets home. Some days it is a little off balance, but it works out!

Kasie

Back to School

Now that school has started back up, so has our crazy life! No more relaxing all day long with the little Monks (baby girl) with a little bit of picking up the house while she naps! Her nap time = my school time! That's been the biggest bummer since I have been loving the three hour naps she takes so that I can nap too clean up or get dinner prepped before my husband gets home! 

To start the school year off right my computer kicked it and the computer charger for my husbands computer stopped working about two days later! Awwwesome.  So I have been sharing a laptop with my very generous little sister (thank goodness she lives with us)! Fortunately, our new cord came in and hopefully soon I will be able to figure out which computer would be best.

In the meantime, I have been shopping for a new camera as well...Nikon d5100 say what???

Love her. I think I have been checking the prices every day since at least November.  Soon sweet camera, soon. 

Decorated Baby Wipe Container

Here is a quick project to do while you're just sitting around watching TV. 

This is everything you need, plus something to use as a straight edge...like a ruler.

And here it is after drying

I already had everything except the paper and the container, so this was only about three dollars! Now I just need to make one for our sweet girl!

Kasie