Pumpkins and Bleach... Oh My!

A woman at the grocery store told me while I was looking at pumpkins that if you either rub it with bleach water or dunk it in bleach water that the pumpkin will last longer. So, I decided to try it. I just grabbed some bleach and poured a little bit into a container of water. I then grabbed a paper towel and wiped the pumpkin with the bleach water. It made the pumpkin super shiny, so hopefully it'll work. I'll let you know what happens. 

Oh Hole No!

Back in March we found a few places with what looked to be mold on the upper portions of the wall in our living room. Of course we were freaked out, especially with just buying the house back in December. So, we decided to go ahead and don some gear and break through the walls just to make sure there were not any major problems behind it. Fortunately, there was nothing. We decided to investigate a little further with a a few scrubbings and started to notice it was dirt and grime. The people who acquired this place before us just slapped some paint on the walls and called it a day. 

Now, pretty much 7 month's later we're finally getting to the holes. They were covered with contact paper to match the wall color. However, with E's birthday coming up I decided it was time to fix it. 

I just grabbed a few plaster patches from Walmart (they were about 2.97 for 2) and then a galvanized steel patch. Following the directions I placed the patches onto the walls and wet them. Then waited 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, I was able to cover them up. 

For my first time doing this, I think I did a pretty awesome job. Horrible place to have to sand, but in the end it looks good. I need to fix a corner piece where I caught it while sanding, but otherwise it's still holding strong. I just can't wait to paint it now. 

Slightly Fixing Our Kitchen Cabinets

When my husband and I moved into this house 9 months ago one of the cabinet doors was slightly off. We ignored it and figured "hey, we can fix it once we get settled." Here we are 9 months later, still not settled, and it's still not fixed.

However, this go round we had a little motivation to fix the cabinets. Our daughter. She's figured out how to open/close each of them and that's the first thing she does every morning now. Unless she sees the dogs bowls.

So, I grabbed the drill and pulled out the screws. It was completely noticeable on why the cabinet was off. With this picture, I've pulled the screws out. But, just imagine that the gap is pretty much like this with the screws in.

I then just sat there and patiently placed it in several different positions. Holding it up with my foot each time. When I finally got it the way I liked it without any real noticeable gaps (the door clearly did not fit there)... I went ahead and drilled the screws back in. 

And it looks A THOUSAND TIMES better!!! See...

Now, onto the main project and motivation for this.... Baby E's Cabinet Safety Locks!!! 

Cork Board Project Part 1 : The Possibilties

I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with this cork board yet, but I'm thinking of quite a bit of possibilities! 

Here a few:

Thinking of maybe a place to store important notes in my makeshift office...
An art space for Baby E during each of the holidays...
A place to store menu's/weekly meals in the kitchen...
A place to store some of my husbands mini tools in the shed...

Waiting to Fix Up the Old - Back Porch Style

Looking at this today really made me think...  that I cannot wait till next spring to work on this. We may try in the fall, but with Baby E's birthday coming up and apparently Virginia weather being ridiculously unpredictable right now, it might have to wait. Mostly all I want to do is replace several of the boards that seem to be rotting and where the dogs have had a field day eating while attacking bugs. But, I also would like to reseal/paint everything to make it last a lot longer as well as for aesthetic purposes. Plus get rid of that HORRIBLE burgundy. The back porch actually used to be white until the investors painted it this blah color.

Labeling Baby E's Storage Tote

Okay, so a few days ago I shared with you the fact of how I had stored Baby E's bassinet, swing, and bouncer in a large storage container. However, I didn't really talk about how I would come to recognize what was in that storage container. Besides having to remember. 

So, I grabbed the storage container that I had put everything in and put it to the side. Then I pulled out a few old sheet protectors and decided to cut them. I just went along the perforated edges and just cut/rip. Ending up with two sheets. 

I then printed up two signs. One to sit on the outside and the other to sit on the inside. 

After that, I went back to the sheet protector and folded it to make a large envelope. Once it was folded, I just grabbed some regular scotch tape and taped the ends shut. 

Once, it was all taped together. I opened it up just to make sure that it wouldn't come apart on me. 

Once I confirmed that it wouldn't rip open, I went ahead and placed the two sheets of paper inside of it. First to go in was the paper with the names of the stuff inside and then I placed the itemized list on the inside. 

Lastly, after everything was stuffed into the envelope. I just grabbed my tape and placed it onto the outside of the container. Mostly in a space that I knew I could see and easily access the list just in case. 

                                     

Once it was taped and all said and done. I just placed the storage container in Baby E's closet. She has the room and with the fact that it's been so hot especially in the attic... I'm just kind of being lazy and don't want to store it up there at the moment. Mostly, because I'd like to be able to breathe and not feel like I'm suffocating. So, for the time being until it get's cooler it's just going to hang out in her closet. Next to the storage bin with her clothes in it.

Hello Screen, Goodbye Screen!

With Summer in full swing, we've noticed a TON of bugs coming in and out of the house. Especially, when we have to stand there forever waiting for the dogs. It just seems like all those little buggers sneak on by us.

While watching TV we saw an infomercial on a little screen for your door. It's magnetized in the middle to snap easily after you without letting all the bugs in. We laughed about it. Then a week later, my husband brings one home.

After, a few weeks of having it sit on the table... we decided to put it up.

I laid the screen on the dining room floor and placed the velcro strips in their designated places. We then brought one by one outside and hung them up.

     
      

Of course, we were super excited when we were done. We could let the dogs in and out. Not having to worry about stealthy fighting the bugs coming and then chasing all the ones that get by us. Of course our puppies were a little weirded out by it. Mostly with the snapping of the magnetic strips. They quickly got over it though and made it ten times easier to just let them do their thing.

That lasted about a few weeks.

My puppy got overly excited chasing a bug that was sitting on it. She jumped up and scratched the hell out of it. Which then in turn pulled it from the top. Needless, to say it ripped.

Now it's gone. But it was awesome while it lasted. Thank God it was free! And no, my husband didn't steal it, one of the businesses around his work threw it out in the trash. A brand new box. So, he took it.

Storing Baby E's LARGE Items

Baby E has pretty much outgrown several of her essential items. So, the other day I decided it was time to pack them up. My baby girl is growing up. A bitter sweet moment.

So, before I started to pack everything up. I took pictures of everything. 

• how the item looked (before I broke it down)
• the items that belong with it (seating pads, screws, rods, etc.)
• the labels (everything that I labeled)
• everything together while it was broken down

Taking the pictures kind of helped me to remember everything that went together as well as hopefully help me in the future. 

~*~

Here are two of the items that I took pictures of before breaking them down. 

 

After I had taken the first picture, I began to break down the swing. I broke it down one by one and labeled everything as I broke it down. That way when we go to use it again for a future baby, we know how to put the stuff back together. This is mostly because my husband threw away the directions to the items and we can't find them on the companies websites.

 

Once everything was labeled and pictures taken, I placed them into the bin. I also grabbed all of the screws/tools and placed them in corresponding plastic sandwich bags. 

~*~

This is where it became tricky. I wanted to fit the swing, bassinet, and bouncer together in one box. And I was able to as well, except for the frame to the bassinet. That part didn't break down (I'll explain what I did with that part later). 

With trying to get everything to fit, I just had to find a way to get everything to work. I would lay out the different parts and move them around if necessary. 

Once, I got the basis down of how I wanted to lay the majority of the rods and especially the top of the swing. In the picture below, you can see that all the rods are in place for all three items. The top of the swing is laying on its side. I placed a few grocery bags around it to support it. I also took majority of the swings parts and placed it in the blue bag next to it. Also providing additional support.

Now, before placing the seat pads and other miscellaneous fabric parts into the bin; I made sure to wash each one. This way I could get any stains and funky smells that may have been embedded into the fabric. I can't stand putting dirty things away. Especially in storage.

After everything was washed and dried, I placed them in several grocery bags and used those as cushions as well.

I then placed the seat to the swing on top of everything.

To ensure that the screws and other items that were in plastic baggies wouldn't fly everywhere in the bin or get lost at a future date, I decided to tape them to one side of the bin (on the inside).

After taping them to the side, I placed the swing cushion on top and then to top it all off... I also placed the wooden bottom and cushion of the bassinet on top of that.

Then closed the bin and that's all she wrote.

Now, all I have to do is write up the labels for the outside of the box.

The Bags Need A Container.

Okay, so we all have it. That moment when you open up the doors underneath the sink and every bag falls out. Of course, you may have a few words come out and then shove them back in. Talking about how you'll find something to put those bags in, then of course you never do it. Getting more and more frustrated each time. Of course, that's my husband and I.

So....

One day after perusing Pinterest, I found an easy way to kind of maintain the bags and store them in other places. You know, where they're actually needed but aren't really there. This way you don't have to walk everywhere just to grab a bag.

So, like I said while I was perusing I found this awesome way to reuse a Lysol/Clorox/Store Brand/Whatever You Use Container into a plastic bag holder.

It didn't require shoving bags into a jumbled up mess. It's so neatly organized. It's awesome.

I clicked on the picture and found this adorable little website called Infarrantly Creative with detailed directions on how to complete this.

I grabbed all my grocery bags and threw them into the laundry hamper.

I then picked through each. Throwing away any that had random holes in it. I then flattened out the good ones on the table.

Once flattened, I would fold them in half. Smoothing them out and placing them to the side. I did this about 14 times.

 

As I finished that, I laid each on top of the end of the next one. Making a little train.

I then tightly rolled them together, pushing any air out as I went.

Grabbed my Lysol Container and placed the bags into it. With the tail sticking out.

 

Taking the tail, I pushed it through the opening of the top of the container. Sealing it.

I did leave the outside blank. This one just hangs out next to my daughters trash can. You can't see it. So it's all good.

Oh and let me just say, this has become ridiculously hand when it comes to replacing the trash bags in Baby E's trash can. Just pull, replace, and go.

Goodbye Rocks!

Okay, so I don't know if the previous owners put these out and created this little area. However, this girl likes to go barefoot and walking over these rocks gets a little old. Plus, they go everywhere. I mean end up at the end of the sidewalk, everywhere.

It even had this weird bumper around it to define the area. I wasn't feeling that either. So, my husband pulled it up and took it to the dump. Then, we were left with rocks. Lovely rocks.

With the fact that it was continuously raining or we were busy with Baby E, we never really got around to it. Until... I pick the hottest day to rake rocks. Even with that, it still looks better.

I had to rake them into piles, but that's okay. It still looks a lot better than what it did.

Now, to just get a wheel barrow. Scoop them up and take them out front. I'm just going to add them to the random hole in the driveway.

It just looks so much better. All I have to do now is figure out how to get the remainder of the rocks up. You know the ones that are stuck under the mounds and mounds of dirt.





Even the sidewalk, that seemed to gather the rocks on it as well. I honestly still haven't figured out how the sidewalk accumulated that many rocks. Here's a before and after shot.

        

 

Oh Baby, We're Scrub a Dubbing Our Pool!

Every day this summer, I've tried to get Baby E into the pool. It's something I've always enjoyed every summer and since she loves the water... I figured she would enjoy it.

We haven't been in the pool though lately because the rain has been never ending and then someday's it's just to hot for her. Overtime, even after wiping the pool down every couple of days. We seemed to gather a little gunk in the crevices. Plus, it didn't help that with the past few rains/winds... the tarp keeps getting blown off random crap has been falling off the trees and into the pool. Oh and let's not forget our little buggy friends.

<- Grandaddy Long Leg

Some ->
Random Caterpillar






The lovely grime with tree particles

Since, the weather gurus have forecasted rain for the next umpteen days. I figured now would be a great time to clean the pool.

So, since vinegar and baking soda are my favorite things. I started with that. It got quite a bit of grime up, but there was still quite a bit left. I added more water to it, rinsed it, dumped it, and added water again. This time I took the dish soap and scrubbed. This helped even more. Got a lot of the gunk off. However, there was just still quite a bit left.. plain ol' stubborn gunk.

As a last resort, I grabbed the bleach and poured it into the pool diluting it with a crap load of water. I then scrubbed the pool again. Of course, the bleach seemed to melt the gunk off. It even seemed like I had a completely brand new sparkly pool.

~*~ I didn't really want to use bleach cause of Baby E,

 but also because it breaks my hands out like nothing before... even with gloves. ~*~

I dumped that water, added more water, rinsed, and dumped again. Then hung it up to dry. Oh yeah, I hung my pool up to dry.

Now, all we need is for the rain to stop so we can get back into that sparkly pool. I'm beyond ready and I know Baby E is!

Do you guys have any great tips on cleaning a baby pool?