Good Idea Friday - Plywood Floors

We've spent the past year overhauling our attic into a bedroom. Our house, built in 1909, has amazing hardwood floors in most rooms and we were trying to figure out how we could install new flooring--on a budget--that wouldn't clash too terribly with the original flooring. After spending countless searches on pinterest trying to come up with a solution within our budget, I came across this blog post from the infamous Centsational Girl about plywood floors.

Now, I was skeptical. Really skeptical. But after crunching the numbers we realized with $80 worth of plywood, we could install flooring not just in the new bedroom, but also in the hallway leading out to the upstairs landing, So we decided to give it a try. If it didn't work out we weren't out that much money, and hey, nothing a couple area rugs couldn't cover right?

We went about it slightly different that the above post, we had the hardware store cut the wood for us, in the same width as our hardwood floors, and in various lengths. Stores generally charge for this, but for us this was still better than trying to use our extremely old and fairly scary table saw.

First to go down was the sub floor chipboard, screwed to the floor joists, then plastic foam sheeting designed to go under flooring. We laid out the planks, lined them up to our liking, and nailed them down using a brad nailer. Once in position, we used dark caulk to fill in any gaps. This is a great trick, by the way, for hard wood floors; plaster, putty, and glue-sawdust mixture tends to dry and can crack apart and/or pop out over time. Silicone caulk on the other hand, does not. You can find it in various different colors too, so get one that matches the stain you plan to use. (I got the idea from a great friend who also blogs about home remodeling and projects - Us Versus The House) 

After the caulk set we sanded, gently. Plywood is thin sheets of wood glued together, sand too hard or deeply and it gets funky looking, as some colored inner layers will start to show. Just be careful when sanding. We then applied 3 coats of a dark brown stain (Jacobean by Minwax), the same we used on the original floors, and then finished the whole floors with 3 coats of water based polyurethane.

And the final product! 

There's a few things we would have done differently with our flooring though: don't skimp on the wood. We went with a thinner (cheaper) 1/4" plywood, where as the original blog post suggests 1/2", and though it was fine for the room it's in, in a much higher traffic area we would really recommend going with thicker plywood. It LOOKS great, and nearly matches the original wood floors for us, but the sound is off. I know that sounds silly, but it actually sounds more like a laminate flooring instead of actual wood.

All in all I'm extremely pleased with the floors, and for the price (roughly $160 for all the supplies), you really couldn't get a cheaper flooring option than this. This might SOUND like a large undertaking, and something out of the reach of most people, but it really was one of the easiest projects I've done. To summarize, you basically get plywood, cut into planks, lay down subfloor and subfloor sheets, nail planks down. sand, stain, poly. Done. Something like this could easily be done in a week or less (have to let that stain and polyurethane dry!) and is a great floor option for anyone looking for something new on a tight budget. 

Oh, and because I just can't NOT post before and after photos of the attic turned bedroom, here you go if your curious. It was originally lined with wood planks and covered with newspaper from 1918. We KNOW wood plank rooms are en vogue on pinterest, but if you saw the amount of dust and heaven knows what else that fell along with the planks.. you wouldn't want that in your bedroom. Ever.

Before Remodel

After Remodel

Good Idea Friday Marble Nail Polish

I had three different people ask me bout this pin this week, so I figured I would go ahead and test it out. We've all see the photos, the good and the bad. And since I've never, ever done this before, I thought it would be a perfect example of what it's like for first timers to give it a go (and why it often ends up a hot mess and failed pin for so many).

I'm here to tell you that, yes, it IS doable. But I'm also going to break it down and explain why, if you're anything like me, this is such a huge pain in the side, that there is no way in hell I would ever, ever do this again. If you're the kind of person who doesn't mind spending an hour on their nails, this is perfect for you. I on the other hand, usually do my nails in the evenings sitting on the couch while browsing pinterest, so needless to say I don't usually do anything overly difficult. 

So here's how the experiment broken down. I originally followed the pin to a T. 

The only thing missing here is the vaseline, which I don't own any, so I reached for my trusted and loved cuticle cream (shameless plug, but I love Orange Thyme products. I own probably a dozen of her lip balms and soaps and seriously, best stuff ever. She's not paying me to say this, I'm just a die hard fan. The Earl Grey lip balm is probably my most prized lip balm ever and I have to hide it so my husband doesn't steal it.)

I added the polish to the water, and noticed right away that the coral polish was creating a strange film on the water. Weird. Well it turns out that the water was slightly too warm, and the polish was a quick-set one, and it was literally hardening in the water. So I had to redo this batch.

And here's the results.

I assumed due to the pin that once it had mostly set up, that I could use something as simple as a toothpick to help separate the polish from my cuticle line, easily cleaning up what is on my fingers. Nope. Didn't work for me. What ended up happening was any sort of pulling, would cause the entire thing to stretch, and tear, making me have to redo everything. So that was a huge fail for me at least.

I then decided to see if using different polishes, different temperature of water, and different shape bowls would have any sort of effect. I tried polishes ranging from $2 Sinful colors, to $12 Julep polishes, and everything in between like OPI, Sally Hansen, Maybelline, Revlon, Zoya. I was curious if the brand mattered. As it turned out, nope! What DID matter was the pigmentation of the polish. Pigmentation can vary from polish to polish, even within the same brand.

I also found that you will get 2, MAYBE 3 good swipes of polish before you need to clear the bowl (I would just use a toothpick and scoot it over to the side) and start over. By the third pass, the polish was less swirly and more clumpy.

After a couple of fails, I found  the combination of polish that worked best for me: OPI in Incognito In Sausalito and Maybelline Color Show in Mint Mist.

After I had all my polish on, I waited. And waited. Once it had set up a bit, I got to cleaning up. Dozens of Q-tips, paper towels, acetone and 30+ minutes later, here are the results. (I also used a very tiny paint brush to better clean up my nail lines and cuticle, something I actually recommend doing after painting your nails anytime for that clean, professional look.)

So there you have it. Yes, it's doable. No, it's not easy. What this experiment showed me, however, was that there were a few things that did help: highly pigmented polish, a shallow plate worked better than a bowl, tepid water worked better than warm, and you should only do 2, maybe 3 swipes before you reset the polish. Also, the clean up is KEY to getting this to look pinterest ready.

Have any of you tried this? Share your photos (the good and the bad!) and what methods worked best for you with us over on Facebook or Twitter. And if you have any pins you're curious, let us know!

Good Idea Friday - The Hard Boiled Egg Debate

So, last year we posted about how adding a bit of baking soda to your hard boiled eggs allows them to peel more easily. The response received after that post was bigger than we imagined it would be. Apparently the way you boil (or don't boil) your eggs is highly personal and widely debated. So this year we thought we would take the time to test out various methods of hard boiling eggs and see which resulted in the easiest to peel category. We posted on our Facebook page for ideas and suggestions. Armed with 2 dozen eggs bought last Wednesday (same lot, same date, same time, variations would be at a minimum) we got to testing yesterday.

I will say right off the bat that I'm not a fan of eggs and hardboiled are probably my least favorite way to eat them. Sorry. I was unable to be the taste tester, so I had my kids and husband judge for me.

Method One - Traditional Method

Place eggs in a pan in a single layer, add enough water to cover. Turn to medium-high heat and allow to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat off and cover. Allow to sit covered for 12-17 minutes.* Place eggs in a cold water bath. 

REVIEW - First off, the timing on this method depends entirely on how you store your eggs. Most reviews say 12 minutes, but having used this method myself I always find them slightly undercooked. At least in my house, my kids like the yolks to be firm, no gooey bits, but not dry. Due to how you store your eggs--some countries it's more common to store eggs out, but here in the US we tend to keep our eggs in the refrigerator--it can affect the way the eggs cook. Room temperature eggs take less time than cold eggs do, so they require a few extra minutes cooking time depending on your tastes. Personally, I find 15 minutes to be the perfect time.  

So how well did they peel? Perfectly. I give it a 5 star rating. 

Method Two - Oven Baked Method

Pre-heat oven to 325° F. Place eggs in a muffin tin. Bake 20 minutes. Place eggs in cold water bath.

REVIEW - I have heard by die hard fans (as well as my all time favorite scientist/cook, Alton Brown) that it is THE WAY to make hard boiled eggs (though they aren't boiled, so .. hard baked?). Easy enough to test out. The results though left me less than impressed. I will say that my oven, due to a couple infamous oven fires, isn't the best working oven out there. That very well may have altered the results. However, they were far harder to peel, and they were over cooked. Most had a couple hard brown spots on them, and there were several that had weird brown spots on the shell where the egg inside tried to push it's way out of the shell. All ovens vary, and I've heard using a silicone tray works to prevent the burned spots, but I didn't have one to test out. 

All in all, I give it a 3 star rating. I think if you know your oven and time it better, this may work, it just wasn't as foolproof as I was hoping it would be.

Method Three - Baking Soda Method

Same as Method One, ddd in a couple tablespoons of baking soda prior to boiling. Place eggs in a cold water bath. 

REVIEW - Honestly it worked just as well as the traditional method. Since I was using week old eggs for this test, it didn't make much of a difference. Having used it on fresher eggs in the past though, it does work. 

I give it a 4 star rating on fresh eggs since it's not perfect, but it works better than just a plain boiling method on fresh eggs. 

So there you have it. There were other methods I've came across just tonight that I was unable to test out in time, pricking the bottom of eggs with a pin, baking in the oven in a muffin tin with water in the cups to prevent drying out/burned spots, boiling with a bit of vinegar instead of baking soda, boiling room temperature eggs, etc., etc.

Really though, the truth is the reason eggs stick to their shells is because of a thin membrane under the shell. So I don't doubt some of this methods will work; the pin prick, the baking soda, and the vinegar all act as ways of separating the membrane from the shell. It's one of the reasons you are suppose to put the eggs into an ice bath right after cooking, in hopes the thermal shock will aid in it as well. It's also why older eggs peel better, as they age the membrane separates from the shell.

And as always, you can find us on facebook and twitter. Please let us know what your favorite method is and let us know if we forgot to test out a certain way.

History of April Fool's Day

Love it or hate it, April Fools is a holiday that is hard to avoid. There is a lot of myth and legend surrounding the history of April Fool's Day, but what is the true history of the April Fools that we know today?

Well I've spent months researching the holiday for today's post. I first got the idea last year when I saw the above image. The truth behind the holiday took me by surprise. It didn't start out as a holiday for fools and pranks. It originated in victorian era France as a spring gift giving holiday. You see, before electricity and refrigeration, fresh food was scarce during the winter months, and people resorted to eating dried and salted meats throughout the cold season. So when spring finally hit and the rivers and ponds thawed it meant they could finally have fresh fish. What does fish have to do with all of this? Well much like the bizarre trade of tulips with the Dutch, come spring it became tradition to gift those you love with fresh fish. (source) The demand for fresh fish became so great, that they increasing sold at higher and higher prices. If you really loved someone, you didn't give fine chocolates, you gave fish. This tradition became so popular that they would often give "Fish Day" cards such as these.

But how did a national holiday of fish giving lend to the holiday we know today? It started back during WW1. (source) Occupying soldiers from outside of France witnessed this bizarre custom. Puzzled as to why the French would gift fish in such an elaborate way, they assumed it was some sort of prank. French soldiers also talked fondly of such traditions from back home as the bunkered down with allies in the trenches. Once the war was over and they returned to their home countries, the practice of pranking the ones you love stuck. However Fish Day is still celebrated today in France, but due to modern sensibility out has gone the practice of gifting real fish, and instead they use paper fish.

So if you take part in April Fool's Day just remember - it all started with fish. What are some of your favorite April Fools pranks? Let us know! Share your prank ideas on our facebook and twitter.

And as the french say today, "Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire" Happy Fish Day! 

Good Idea Friday - Paper Weed Blocker

Newspaper Weed Barrier : Rosemary On The Tv 

A fan posted a question on our facebook, asking if this was a legit pin or not. Now I know some of you are probably still facing down piles of snow, but here in the Pac NW spring has finally showed up, so it's not too early to start thinking about gardening.

Well start saving those old newspapers and cardboard boxes, because it does work really well. If you're looking for one of the best ways to prevent weeds from popping up in your flower beds or gardens, look no further. 

Now what about professional weed blocking sheets you ask? They have their pros and cons - if you don't plan to do a lot of planting or plant perennials in that spot, then a commercial non-biodegradable sheet will work just fine. The con is of course that they don't break down fully, so if you want to gut your flower beds or move plants around, it becomes a huge hassle. They also aren't foolproof, and can fail over time which means you have to rip them out and redo it. 

With things like newspaper or cardboard however, it does break down over time, and is generally great for the soil - think of it as compost that helps fight weeds. It can also help maintain a damp soil, since the paper or cardboard will absorb the water and stay moist longer.

If you're interested in reading more about using newspaper or cardboard as a natural barrier, the forums over at Organic Gardening have a lot of comments and suggestions on it. The orginal pin just went to one of the ever so common relinking websites that had little information on the actual image or idea, but I was able to hunt down the blog where the image originated from - Image credit goes to Rosemary On The Tv's blog post about this - creatively titled Manscaping (which gave me a good laugh) You can read her posts about it here. 

Good Idea Friday - How To Clean Really Stubborn Pots and Pans

Saving a Ruined Le Creuset Pan : Squidyboo

So as some of you probably know from reading my blog, I am not a baker. At all. In fact my husband has pretty much banned me from using the oven after countless kitchen fires from my attempts at baking. But where as I can't bake, I can cook. Really well I might add.

But even the best cooks make mistakes, and that is how I was faced with a dilemma some time back (which is why this post is lacking photos, sorry!)

You see, I was using one of my beloved Le Creuset pans and ended up burning the risotto terribly. It's bad enough ruining dinner, but the idea I may have ruined a $200 pan was more than I could bare. I tried to clean it best I could by soaking it and using a melamine sponge (Magic Eraser). That barely touched it. I then tried Barkeeper's Friend, which again didn't do much, so I tried straight up baking soda, but the black remained stuck to the bottom of my pan.

So what to do? I spent quite some time doing research and seeing what other sites would recommend. I wanted to be careful not to ruin the pan by cleaning it (so oven cleaner was right out, though that does work on things like uncoated stainless steel just fine)

Well after reading a lot of forums on pan care I found the blog post over at Squidgyboo. Looks like we were in the same boat. She tested out 3 different ways of cleaning her Le Creuset, and had best results with... boiling water and baking soda?

Seriously? How is that going to work when scrubbing the damn thing with baking soda didn't work? But I was desperate and willing to try anything at this point. And wouldn't you knowit, it worked! I took about a half hour of effort, but it worked. I skipped her suggestion of a butter knife since my pan is my baby and I was worried about to ruin it, and went with a wooden spatula (rice paddle, really) instead.

So here's the trick: 

Take your baked on possibly ruined pan or pot and place it on the stove. Add 1-2" of water and bring to a gentle boil. Grab your baking soda and add about 1/2-1 cup. It will fizz. This is good. Take your wood spatula and gently start working the spot or burned on area. After a short time it'll start to flake up. If it stops flaking, add more baking soda. Once the water gets too nasty or stops fizzing when more baking soda is added, dump and start again.

That's it. I have tried this before using just water with mixed results, but I noticed a huge difference once I brought in the baking soda. So go out there and test this on any pans you may think are ruined. And if you have any other great tips on saving baked on, burnt on, pots and pans, let us know! Leave your comments and photos on our facebook or twitter page.

Good Idea Friday - Frozen Bubbles

And we're back from our break! Hope everyone had a great holiday season! A huge cold snap has taken over most of the U.S., and with cold weather comes a lot of interesting pins, one of which is an image of a bubble freezing over. I had at least a half dozen fans send me this image asking me "This can't be true, can it?"

Well, actually, yes! I know, I was skeptical too, but it turns out that yes, bubbles can and do freeze if the temperature is low enough.

There are a few tips to doing this though. First off it needs to be COLD outside. I'm not talking barely 32 degrees, it needs to be really cold outside. According to this great youtube video that shows a bubble freezing, he says that it needs to be at least 8 degrees for it to begin to freeze. Even then, it does take some time for the bubble to begin to freeze. You can read more about it and see some amazing photos here.

So has anyone tried this yet? I live in the Pac NW where it doesn't get that cold, and we were spared the cold snap that has moved across the country this week, so I haven't been able to test it. Share your stories and photos over with us on facebook or twitter.

Good Idea Friday - Glow in the Dark Cupcakes

Goulish Glowing Cupcakes : Recipe Snobs 

Pinterest  in general (well, the people on pinterest, so I guess "Pinners") have this weird obsession with all things glow in the dark. I've never personally put a lot of thought into what I can and can't make glow in the dark, but on pinterest a quick search can pull up dozens of different ideas, most of which are wrong and won't work.

A fan of the blog sent me this, and I was delighted to see something glowing that isn't a bad idea for once! Not only that, it's cupcakes! And who doesn't love cupcakes?

So, what's the secret? Well it's tonic water. It's the quinine in the tonic water that does the trick. However they won't just magically glow in the dark, you need a black light to activate the glow of quinine (just like you do with the infamous "Galaxy Cocktail")  I can't vouch for how this tastes, but it would be a fun and easy enough project for Halloween to test out. Head over to Recipe Snobs for the full recipe. 

And remember, if you have a pin you are curious about, we're always taking ideas! Find us on facebook or twitter. 

Good Idea Friday - Bleaching Pumpkins

Preserving Jack O' Lanterns : My Science Project

I wasn't planning on doing these pins quite yet, but after everyone on my Pinterest page started pinning autumn things I figured I'd jump in. I've seen this pin and others like it a dozen times or more this time of year; so, does bleach really help keep cut pumpkins lasting longer? 

Yes! I figured it would, but I had no idea just how well it worked until I found the source of the above image.  Over at My Science Project they run a pretty extensive test on some of the more common methods people use to preserve cut pumpkins. It's pretty interesting read, and wouldn't you know it, but bleach actually came out the winner (neck-in-neck with a commercial product, but bleach is cheaper and would be my go-to), with the cut pumpkin lasting a whole 2 weeks before molding.

So with autumn just around the corner, it would be a good idea to keep a bottle of bleach on hand when you carve those pumpkins. 

Good Idea Friday - Monistat Cream as Face Primer

Monistat as Primer : My Vanity Basics

I first heard about this many years ago on a bargain forum and couldn't believe when I found the pin it was still a thing. I mean come on - it's an anti-chafing cream for a lady's more, uh private, parts, and people are putting it on their face? Just as skeptical now as I was years ago when I heard about it, I decided to do more research on it.

Lets start by taking a look at the ingredients of Monistat gel vs Smashbox primer (here is where I warn you that when they say Monistat, they are talking about a certain anti-chafing gel, not the yeast infection medication. Please don't just grab any monistat product and start rubbing it on your face.)

Smashbox Ingredients:

Original Photo Finish
Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Trisiloxane, Silica, Dimethicone/ Vinyldimethicone Crosspolymer, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Extract, Propylene Glycol, Water (Aqua, Eau), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Cola Acuminata Seed Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract.

Monistat Chafing Relief Gel Ingredients:

Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica, Tocopheryl Acetate, Trisiloxane

In fact, chances are any face primer you grab will have at least dimethicone in it. The science behind it that basically dimethicone stays on the surface of your skin, helping to minimize the appearance of wrinkles and pores and prevents your foundation or base from rubbing off. I can't say if it's really the best thing to be smearing on your face (most reports say it's pretty harmless, but some say dimethicone adds to your skin drying out and over time can cause more problems, and that its not biodegradable, so there's always the environmental factor of it.) Also most major primers have added moisturizers and SPF added to them to better aid your skin. 

So does it work? Yes, as well as the Smashbox primer does. Pretty much all cosmetic companies today have a facial primer on the market, and as much as they vary, the one thing in the common they all share is dimethicone. It's the price point that wins most people over; an ounce of Smashbox primer can cost over $40, whereas a bottle of Monistat anti-chafing gel? Around $6 a bottle from Amazon. 

Good Idea Friday - Ziploc Bag To Keep Flies Away

"Ziplock bag of water with 5 pennies in it - keeps flies away - AMAZING"

I'll be honest, when a fan sent me this I laughed and thought it had to be one of the most ridiculous pins I've seen in awhile. I mean really? I was skeptical to say the least.

However, a quick search later and I realized I was so very wrong in my original assumption. Not only does it work, it works well. You see the light reflecting off the water and pennies in the bag freaks out the flies eyes, so they can't see well, and will avoid the area. You can read more about it here. Sadly it doesn't seem to work on anything other than flies, so if you think it might work on mosquitoes and other insects best to try other remedies (we offer some suggestions in previous posts, ideas for both mosquitoes and wasps).

And because lets be honest, this is Pinterest we're talking about, if the idea of having baggies swinging from your porch isn't as aesthetically pleasing as you'd like, there are other options: 

You can buy this rather dashing glass one from designer Jose de la O. 

Anti-Fly Sphere : Jose De La O 

Or in true Pinterest fashion you can even DIY one with the ever popular mason jar! Just wire wrap around the neck of the jar, fill with water and a couple pennies and hang by your door.

Good Idea Friday - The Truly BEST Fruit Fly Trap

Fruit Fly Trap : Wormilicious

That's a pretty bold statement in the title, I know. And today's Good Idea Friday didn't come from Pinterest (sorry!) but it's so amazing that it should be on Pinterest.

A few weeks ago we woke up to a to a huge fruit fly invasion, out of the blue. Apparently they are really common this time of year. We spent the day cleaning the kitchen really well, setting out glasses of wine with a few drops of dish soap in it, and figured that would take care of that.

We were wrong. Very wrong. By the next day, they had invaded every room of the house. I was so skeeved out I wanted to run out of my house screaming. So we spent all day doing a huge deep cleaning of the entire house, setting houseplants outside, pouring boiling water down the drains, trying the paper cone method that is fairly popular. We even set out bowls of fruit and vinegar, with plastic wrap over it with holes poked in.

By day three however, it was apparent nothing was working. None of the traps seemed to work. They just hung out on the rim of the soap laced glasses, and very few ventured into the paper cone method or plastic wrapped bowls. We talked of bug bombing the house, because at this point I couldn't even pour myself a glass of wine without having fruit flies instantly descend into the glass.

But as luck would have it, we didn't need to bug bomb the house. Instead, we grabbed the fly tape. Yes, the cheap fly tape you can get at the dollar store. We hung it over the sink with a glass of wine below it, and waited. By the next morning, there were noticeably less fruit flies flying around, and the fly tape was honestly disgusting looking it. By day two of having the fly tape up, we were pretty much fruit fly free.

Unfortunately my husband and I were so grossed out by the sight of the fly tape that we tore it down before I got a photo of it for the blog, but trust me when I say this is by far the quickest easiest method I've ever tried to get rid of fruit flies. I decided to do a google search and was amazed to only find one blog post about this method. Over at Wormilicious, she builds a really ingenious trap using fly tape as well. In fact, my husband was trying to figure out how to get a fly tape around the glass to begin with. I think next time we end up with an invasion on our hands, we're going to try her method.

Post Update: I've also had a few people ask about where to get sticky tape for the fruit fly trap. I found some just the other day at Winco actually, but I assume most hardware stores will carry it. It's actually marketed as a window tape for flies, it comes in a little package that reminded me of those hand warmers you find around winter time.  And of course you can find it on amazon if you don't feel like hauling yourself to the hardware store.

Good Idea Friday - How To Open A Bottle Of Wine With A Shoe

"Open a Bottle of Wine with Your Shoe Maybe the most useful thing anyone needs to know, ever."

This is a trick I found on pinterest a while back that I was really excited to try. I watched the original video posted, and it looked easy. But if it's so easy why isn't this a common party trick? So I decided to test it out myself and film the results: 

I decided to skip the idea of hitting it on a wall because A: I didn't want to damage my walls and B: I figured this is best used when away from home and without a corkscrew handy, so chances are you won't have a wall to hit. Despite hitting it on various things, my husband was unable to get the cork to even budge slightly.  However once it was opened, and recorked, we tried again with far easier success.

I've since watched a couple more videos on youtube of people trying this, and it seems those who did succeed were hitting the bottle for quite some time before it started to budge. So I'm going to go ahead and say this will work, but it would be easier all around if you opened the bottle, recorked it, and then did the tree/wall method like we showed. 

So has anyone tried this yet? What were your results? Do you have any other tricks and tips to opening a bottle without a corkscrew? 

Good Idea Friday - Lemon and Clove to Scare off Wasps

"A way to get rid of wasps! Lemon with 10 cloves or put out a saucer with cloves in it. Wasps hate the scent!"

Lemon and Cloves : Warsztat Mamy

This is a pin that I thought would be easy enough to research and instead has taken me weeks of research and emails to people to collect data on, only to I realized I was focused on the wrong part of the pin. 

You see, I was honestly really skeptical about this. How often do we see natural remedies or pest control ideas on Pinterest (like garlic for mosquitoes) that just aren't effective. Having grown up in a very rural part of the country myself, I have seen the way wasps especially flock towards any fruit (you learn real quick as a kid not to run barefoot near the apple trees) Wasps like the scent of fruits and meat, so I wasn't too sure if a fruit like lemon would really drive them away. I spent some time on google trying to find if wasps really didn't care for the scent of lemon and was unable to find anything regarding it. I decided to go straight to the source. If there is one person who would know if wasps like lemons, it would be the owner of a lemon orchard. 

I sent out a couple of emails and Karen from Lemon Ladies Orchard in California was kind enough to reply. She keeps bee hives next to her orchard (great for pollination) but hasn't noticed any wasps. Is that due to the lemons, or the bees? She sent my question on to other lemon growing friends of her. Susan Burchiel of Birch-Hill Organics replied and said she hasn't seen wasps in the orchards, but does have yellow jackets. Interesting, I started wondering if the honey bees and yellow jackets were chasing off the wasps or if really was the scent of lemons. Yellow Jackets are actually a class of wasps themselves, so I was starting to think maybe this wasn't a true remedy to deter wasps. 

And then I decided to start looking at the clove aspect of the pin and that's where I became surprised. You see, a lot of bugs really do hate the scent of the cloves. In fact, it's one of the most popular form of natural pesticide and is used in even commercial products. (source) It's called eugenol oil, and is found in cloves, cinnamon, basil, and bay leaves. Now eugenol oil despite being natural does come with it's own host of dangers, mainly that in large amounts it can kill you if ingested. (source) But it works, and since this idea uses cloves in their natural form it's probably a far safer method than using just pure eugenol oil or other pesticides. 

So if you're looking for a natural way of combating pesky wasps and other bugs at the picnic table, this is a pin I would suggest trying. 

Good Idea Friday - Cleaning your Whiteboards

I was honestly highly skeptical about this tip. I'm in the middle of preparing for a yard sale this week, and I stumbled acrossed a cute whiteboard that used to be in my kids' playroom. The problem? It had been sitting in the basement for over a year covered in ink. Yikes. So I did what I always do - I busted out my trusty  melamine sponge (Magic eraser). That worked ok, but the board itself seemed stain from the ink. So I took it into the bathroom and applied a thick paste of bleach gel. A day later, and it was still stained. 

So I turned to pinterest. I knew I had seen a post before on how to clean whiteboards, but I assumed they all offered the same advice I had just tried. Until I found this post from over at the blog Milehimama. 

Her suggestions? Toothpaste. Yes, cheap, old school toothpaste. A similar tip to my post on how to clean your headlights I wrote about. But can it do the work my melamine sponge couldn't? I was highly skeptical. So I tried it on half the board and sure enough it worked! Knowing then that it was the grit of the paste and not the toothpaste itself, I tried a cup of baking soda with a wet cloth on the other half, and it worked just as well. So next time you're staring down a not so whiteboard and thinking it's a lost cause, break out the baking soda or toothpaste and give it a try. 

Good Idea Friday - Aluminum Foil Dryer Sheets

I know, I know. If it was that easy why isn't everyone using aluminum foil instead of wasting money on dryer sheets? But it is. In fact there is science behind it. It's as simple as taking some aluminum foil, roughly crumpling it into a ball, and adding a few of those to your dryer. It won't give your clothes that scent that dryer sheets do, but it DOES cut a lot of the static away from your clothes, which is at least the #1 reason I use dryer sheets. But how does it work? Easy - it all comes down to ions. 

You see, what causes static electricity in the first place is run away ions. You can read more here on a quick and simple rundown on what causes static electricity if you're interested. My theory is that as aluminum is a pretty good conductor that it simply discharges any of the static in your dryer, instead of allowing it to build up on the clothing. Another alternative you see mentioned online is wool dryer balls or tennis balls, but those don't work on static, only on speeding up drying time and making clothes fluffy. 

So has anyone tried this? Since I take my clothes to the laundromat I've been a bit hesitant to personally try it, but I'd love feedback on if you think it works well or not. Leave a comment here or over on our facebook page. 

Good Idea Friday - How to Polish Silver With Ease

To polish silver: Wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking-soda solution (1 cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) and cover for a few seconds. The result? A chemical reaction that gets the black off the gravy boat. 

I work with silver on a daily basis at my day job as a jeweler, so I not only have every tool imaginable to polish silver, I also have heard the crazy way people clean their jewelry. Everything from mouthwash to toothpaste has been mentioned to me. But this, this is not only a really amazingly simple way to clean jewelry or silver dishes, flatware and vases, it WORKS. This is honestly how I polish 99% of the items that come to me highly tarnished.

Before we get into the how to, lets talk about what tarnish on silver is. Tarnish is basically a thin layer of the silver that is corroded away. Because of this it's very important - especially for antique or silver plated items - that you try your hardest to prevent tarnish in the first place. Something as simple as tarnish preventing strips or a tarnish resistant bag is perfect for that. The more tarnished a piece gets, the more times you have to polish it, the more damage is done to the finish. Especially with silver plated items, which often just have a thin silver coating over base metal like nickel, this is important, otherwise over time the silver will fade away leaving the darker base metal exposed.

 I would highly suggest testing this on just a spot if you're working with an antique or silver plated item. Just an FYI.

So lets  get down to it - how to polish silver pieces with out scrubbing, buffing, or nasty smelling polishes.

Simply layer a small glass dish or sink depending on the size of the items with aluminum foil, set your pieces on the foil, add in a handful or 2 of baking soda and cover with boiling water.

Yep. That's it.  I guess I should also mention that often times you will smell sulfur when you do this - don't worry. The tarnish is produced by sulfur. In fact in jewelry making we USE sulfur to pre-darken pieces.

Why does this work though? Well the science nerd in me loves knowing why things like this work, and I found a great write up here about it. Basically the sulfur producing the tarnish is more drawn to the aluminum than it is the silver, so with the add of the hot water and baking soda, it transfers to that instead of staying on the silver.

Oh and for those who have seen this pin that also states in all caps "BE VERY CAREFUL IT WILL EAT YOUR HANDS AND THROUGH RUBBER GLOVES!" I have to laugh at that. NO, no it won't. The only side effect of this is highly polished silver and faint sulfur smell in the air. It's perfectly safe to use and I often times use my bare hands to fish the finished pieces from the water.

Good Idea Friday - Soap Ice Pack

"DIY Ice pack: The soap doesn't solidify so it molds to the shape you need." 

Thanks to a fan for posting this over on our facebook page. I was pretty skeptical about this one personally, but it was easy and cheap enough to test out. Sure enough, it works! It  freezes but not solid like water does, and you can mash it up once it's frozen to better wrap around what you're icing. It's so easy, all you do is fill a zip top baggie with soap, squeeze out the air, and freeze. Soap does take longer to freeze than water though, so best to always have one on hand waiting in the freezer for when you need it.

In other news - you may have noticed posts here have been lacking. I run this blog in my spare time, and real life and work have suddenly picked up, so I don't have as much time to be on Pinterest like I usually do. This is where I would love help from my fans! I'm always in need of  ideas, both good and bad, so if you see something on Pinterest you are wondering about, either email it to me or just posted it directly on our facebook page. I should be back to posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in a few weeks, so don't think I've forgotten this blog.

We also had an awesome fan who shared her own attempted at the "Glitter Sugar" I wrote about on Monday. She said "So, edible glitter was an epic pinterest fail!" I think I can agree with her there. Another problem with the suggestions on the sugar was no temperature was ever mentioned for your oven, it's important to remember that sugar is fairly easy to melt, so anything over, say, 170°F is going to melt it. 

Good Idea Friday - Kool-Aid For Your Dishes

"Just use a pack of Lemonade Kool-aid to clean your dishwasher" 

Before you all click away thinking I've lost my mind--stick with me on this. It is a good idea. Sort of at least. Why? Because of the citric acid found in the drink mix. 

So first off, let's talk about what is citric acid. It's an organic acid that is oftentimes is used in foods to create that 'zing' or sour taste, and also as a preservative in things like canning fruits. (It can also be used in everything from bath salts to drink tablets to help create fizz) 

In cleaning it is used as a descaler and very useful in removing lime and mineral buildup and softens water. Which is why it works so well in your dishwasher.  Often times, especially if you live in an area with naturally mineral rich water or hard water, you dishwasher can get clogged over time with build up. 

In my research I was curious though as to just how MUCH citric acid is in Kool-Aid. For all I knew it was just a small amount, making this worthless as you'd need to add a lot of packets to get the desired effect. But I found several science papers on the content of citric acid in Kool-Aid. Who knew? Apparently it's a common item in high school chem classes!  These papers state that the content of citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is 100:1 ratio. The size of a package of Kool-aid is .23 oz, and costs about 10-20 cents a pack. 

Not to mention you can buy straight-up citric acid online for around $16 for a two pound jug. Doing the math on that, that is the same as spending around $27 for the same amount in the Kool-Aid packs, and without all the other stuff (flavors, dyes) that are found in the mix. So you're actually getting a far better deal buying just citric acid than you would buying the Kool-Aid. 

If you've ever used lemon juice to descale your kettle or coffee pot, you can see how powerful citric acid is in cleaning. So yes, this is a good idea, and yes, Kool-aid will work, but you're better off keeping Kool-Aid on the shelf and just reaching for pure citric acid instead. Most grocery stores carry it, if not by name then as "Sour Salt", it's often kept in the canning section of your store. And you can use it elsewhere besides your dishwasher--you can even mix some with hot water in a zip top baggie, place over your clogged shower head and tie in place. Leave over night and it's build up free by morning. Anywhere you get mineral build up can be cleaned with citric acid (think of if it as a more natural CLR for the house).

Good Idea Friday - How to Boil an Egg

"Add baking soda to the water when you hard boil eggs to make peeling easier"

Just in time for Easter, this is going to make a lot of peoples lives a tad bit easier. Because yes, it's true! I was honestly skeptical myself so I gave it a try and did notice it seemed to work really well. But WHY? Well over at TheKitchn, there's a great write up that talks about the science behind this. Turns out that the baking soda helps alter the pH of the egg membranes, allowing them to weaken and making it easier to peel. All it takes is a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water to do it's magic. They do mention sometimes it can cause the eggs to taste more sulfuric, but my kids haven't complained so far. (disclaimer - I hate hard boil eggs, so I haven't tried them myself)