Spider Repellent

 Hello, All! I have a recipe that I hope you'll love! I hope you like the scent of peppermint because your house is about to smell like it. This recipe I have used for a year and had success with.

I needed to find something that would be safe to use in the house with my kid and cats. I wasn't 100% successful when it comes to cats, but according to all my research cats will be fine around peppermint oil if they don't ingest it.

As for babies and toddlers, don't use this where they could get to it; use it around windows that are higher up, in places like the garage or maybe the basement where they wouldn't be playing at such a young age, and then around the outside of your home. 

It's an easy recipe and I absolutely love it. 

So what will you need?

- A spray bottle (16oz) 

(Depending on the size of your home you may have to fill the bottle a few times, you may consider buying a bigger sprayer and multiplying the recipe.)

- Peppermint Oil

- A dash of dish soap

- 16oz of water

Open up the spray bottle, add 5 drops of peppermint oil, a dash of dish soap (I use Dawn) and fill the rest of the bottle with warm water, insert and secure the top of the spray bottle, and shake.

My suggestion is to start in the house, spray around the entirety of the windows and exterior door(s) in each room. 

Next, go to the garage and spray around the border of the garage, around the door that goes from the garage to the house, and the same as before around any windows or exterior doors. 

Now head on outside, spray around the exterior border of your house, completely around every window or door, and in any area that you don't want a spider hanging out.

Repeat monthly. I hope this works well for you all.

Homemade Glass Cleaner

Hello all! As promised I'll be posting some recipes for cleaners, repellants, and hopefully, other goodies that I come across. Today’s recipe is for a Homemade Glass Cleaner. 

Ingredients: 

¼ cup Rubbing Alcohol 

¼ cup White Vinegar 

1 tbsp cornstarch 

2 cups warm water 

The only instructions posted were, “Shake a little each use if you see cornstarch at the bottom.” With the lack of directions, I’ll use an empty bottle, put it all together, shake, and pray it dissolves correctly. 

As I mentioned in my previous post I haven’t tried these yet, but I will review them in a second post with a link to this post once I’ve had a chance to try them. 

If you’re reading and happen to get to try this before I do please comment with a review. I’d love to know how others feel about the product. 

Let’s be clean and save money together! Yes, I'm cheesy, I know. 

Home Cost Savings

As a homeowner, you hope to find ways to save money each month. I decided to start looking for ways to save money. The first site I came across was www.houselogic.com by Realtors. Houselogic had a post on “35 Money-Saving Household Habits” on it they list some helpful tips. Examples; keep your fridge full, switch your lightbulbs to LEDs, use a toaster oven when possible, and wash clothes in cold water. I had known some of it, not that I practiced all of them. Issues that they mentioned, like insulation, can be costly and I wanted to focus on things I could fix more easily. Years ago I had begun this journey, but my life being what it was I never got to try any of the tips I had researched. Today I have an album with some recipes for homemade cleaners; I found some today, and others are from years ago. I have most of the ingredients in my online grocery list, but they were out of a few items I needed. I’ll be posting the instructions in the next couple of days for at least a couple of the cleaners. I’ll later make a second post giving reviews on each when I’ve had a chance to make them and see how I like them. Hopefully, this link can help out other homeowners and renters alike.

Lemon Peel Stitch - Crochet

It's been a hot minute since I've posted, but this should explain why.

  I recently found out that a friend will be having a baby next year; it had me thinking about baby shower gifts. I love the idea of crocheting blankets to give at baby showers, but a single or double stitch is just too plain. 

What did I do? I looked to the world wide web; it didn't fail me. I looked for a simple pattern for beginners and the first one I came across was the Lemon Peel Stitch. Being me I had to try it right away so I have spent 8 hours and 3 minutes on it, not all in one sitting, of course.

I decided I wanted to know how long it takes to do the projects that I'm doing. I wanted to have a general idea of how long it would take to finish a piece. I'm also keeping track of how much yarn I'm using and how much that yarn costs, just in case I ever decide to sell my work I'll already have an idea for the price range. 

I love how easy this pattern is. You know how I said single or double is just to plain? Well, how about single AND double? That's exactly what this is. You chain an even amount to the length you need for the project you're making, you then you start the second row and single stitch, double stitch, single stitch double stitch until you get to the end of that row start your new row as usual (chain one, flip) The goal is to put the singles above the doubles and the doubles above the singles and it gives it a cute little pattern. It's nothing major, but it looks like more effort than the only single or only double. Once you get the rhythm of it its easy and I love it way more than doing just one or the other. 

Here's how mine is looking so far: 

 

Here I'll show a single next to the Lemon Peel. They are different sized yarns and hooks but it gives a general idea. 

I have way too many projects going 🤦‍♀️ Help! 😂 I know I will feel so accomplished when I finish each one. 

I hope that something you do brings the same feeling of accomplishment.