DIY Stain Remover {Review}

I always keep an eye out for DIY Home cleaners/Solutions. We're on a tight budget & anything that I can make myself may take a little more time/effort, but will save major $$ over time. 

I found this Stain Remover on Pinterest & knew exactly what to try it on. 'J' has a few standard white undershirts that had MAJOR collar stains, stains on the front & were overall really dingy.

The recipe is simple: 

mix one part Original Blue Dawn with two parts Hydrogen Peroxide, 

Apply to stain, 

Rub in a little,

Let sit,

Then toss in wash

As you can see, it didn't remove the major stains on the front.

But it did brighten them up and remove most of the collar stains.

Lessons learned:

It doesn't remove all stains, but does an ok job on lite ones & dinge.

Apply lightly, probably best if put in a spray bottle.

Hand rinse it BEFORE putting it in the wash, it took forever to rinse out all the soap in the load.

All in all, not bad. I will definitely try this again, especially on fresh stains.

If you try this out, let me know if it worked for you :)

RE-Review, click *HERE* to read the update!

Photo-A-Day; May

It's crazy how fast the week/month flies by when I do this Challenge. We're already into the 2nd week of May! One things for sure, I need to start deleting a lot of pics off my phone, it's filling up fast!

Here they are, enjoy~

DAY 1; Peace

Both boys napping, Ahhh...

Peace & Quiet

DAY 2; Skyline

I was a day late on this one, oops...

DAY 3; What I wore

The essentials for a trip to the zoo

DAY 4; Fun

'J' had a fun time playing with his 

new Color Clip Cards I made him :)

DAY 5; Bird

Cluck, Cluck

DAY 6; You

It's me, myself & I.

Getting ready for our Anniversary Date Night

Check back next Monday for pictures from Week2!

Until then, heres a sneak peek of the words:

someone that inspires you

a smell you adore

something you do every day

a favorite word

kitchen

something that makes you happy

mum

Need a reminder of May's Photo Challenge? Click HERE.

Farming Fun

Yesterday sure was a treat. 

We scored discount tickets on LivingSocial for a Sheep Shearing Fest at a Farm Center about an hour north of us! 

It was 'J's first time seeing farm animals up close, & man did he get a kick out of it. Some of my fam met up with us there at 10am & we marched right into the Milking Shed to see some cows in action. Not gonna lie... was a little disappointed when I didn't see 'Milk Maids' hunched over an old wooden stool, teet in hand....apparently thats not how things are done now. At least not there. 

But we got to get up close & personal with some "ladies" & their little babies too!

Then we ventured into the Sheep Barn & got to see some piggies takin' a snooze, not too exciting, but 'J' was still squealing with delight.

There was a bunch of little lambs walking about in the pen & one tiny little fella walked right up to 'J' for him to pet him! I'm pretty sure 'J' thought it was a dog though, lol. Still, a neat sight to see.

I can't tell you how many times we heard "BAAAA! BAAA!" & "moOOooO" ...& that wasn't coming from the livestock...

'A' snuggled right up in the carrier & slept through most of the adventure. It was nice to be able to focus on 'J' & all the new sights he was taking in :)

Hubby was a little nervous when I mall walked to the Chicken Coop. It is common knowledge around here that I want chickens.

To raise.

In my backyard.

Our city recently passed the Ordinance once again allowing residents to raise chickens on their (tiny) property. Personally I think it would not only be fun & educational for the kids, but we would get eggs! Win, Win! As soon as I opened my mouth he looked right at me and said, "No. Just no. Not gonna happen". One day...one day he'll see the light. That, or he'll just come home to find some chickens walking around the backyard...it could go either way folks.

Then it was on to the Main Event, the Sheep Shearing!! We watched as this guy clipped & flipped & wrestled a years worth of wool off each one. The kids couldn't take their eyes off of it! Then we all got to feel the fresh wool & ask questions like "how many sweaters can you get from that?", "Does your back hurt?", etc.

All in all, we had a great morning/afternoon & can't wait to go back. I would love to make it a yearly thing. 

Just cause you live in the city doesn't mean you can't 'farm it up' every once in a while :)

Craft On! {DIY Color Clip Cards}

After seeing Sew Fantastics Paint Chip Matching Game on yesterdays Link Up, I just knew that I needed to get my hands on some Paint Chips!

So while out running errands 'J' & I made a pitstop at The 'Deeps (aka-Home Depot) to help ourselves to some 'complimentary' paint chips. Then had a sudden thought that there are SO many crafts out there revolved around paint chips right now that they are probably getting pissy about everyone clearing out their stash with no intentions of ever buying paint for any of the 50+ chips they just pocketed & started feeling like I was being watched & getting a "tisk tisk tisk"...

...so i bought a touch-up roller for $1.99. The bonus part is that I realized later that I actually needed that little roller. See, everyone wins.

Watch what happens when you take these:

...& cut off the ends...

...trim them to fit...

...& glue them on the ends!

Ta-Da!

 

This was so simple & quick that I actually did it while 'J' & I ate our lunch today! I think the next time I'm by The 'Deeps I'll pick up another set (or 2 or 3) of cards. If I put 2 back-to-back & wrap in clear packing tape to "laminate" it, they will be a lot sturdier & last longer.

'J' had a lot of fun playing with them after his "nap" (< I'm putting that in quotes because his sleeping has been sub-par as of late. Naps are averaging about an hour & only about 10hrs at night...ugh...). They are not only helping with fine motor skills, but with learning his colors & matching too. This is definitely getting added to my "DIY Toddler Gifties" folder! Once he masters these colors, I'll add more to the set (pink, light blue, light green, grey, etc) & may even draw a small square on each card for him to try & clip on to help with hand/eye coordination. 

All in all, this cost me $0 & took 5 mins of my time...thats a WIN folks!

I Spy...

I spy with my little eye...

{Courtesy of PoorBabies}

some therapy in this kids future!

I must admit that there were a few pics on this site that I found myself saying, 

"Aw, actually thats kinda cute...", LOL!

But, for the most part they are just wrong, wrong, wrong!

Spoiler Alert: One picture involves a baby in a lobster outfit & a pot on the stove...

Get your Brag on

Linking up today with Brandy over at Gluesticks for the Get Your Brag on party!

Check it out for some great tutorials, like Sew Fantastics Paint Chip Matching Game. Definitely see that being made in the future!

A years worth of dates~

Today marks 3 yrs since the day we made it legal. 

1,095 days of wedded bliss.

It's weird how it doesn't feel like its been THAT long, yet at the same time it feels like longer. Not so much 'new' anymore, but still fresh. 

Since the kiddos arrived, we no longer exchange gifts & we don't really 'celebrate' much. We have parties for the kids, but nothing really for ourselves. It's not like "We're burnt out & can't even do anything for ourselves!" it's more of "We're grown-ups & had plenty of years celebrating ourselves, now we just want to shower our kids with celebration!"

For our 1st Anniversary I was 8+ months pregnant with 'J' & not exactly "comfortable", so we went out for Fondue. Just something fun that we hadn't done before.

Our 2nd Anniversary we took the train to Chicago for our 1st weekend away from 'J'. We rented Bicycles & biked the pier & around the city. Ate Sushi, read books laying in the park & relaxed. It was perfect (other than losing our brand new camera on the first night...I'm not going to say WHO lost it, but I will say that it wasn't me...).

And that brings us to now. We almost took the easy way out & used up a Groupon for dinner & movie passes for a show, but I decided to put my foot down. Even though we don't do much...we should at least do something somewhat special. It is our Wedding Anniversary after all! I looked around & found a movie theater that offers a special 'Dinner & a Movie' package. They set up a gourmet buffet & dessert table an hour & a half before the show, & you also get refreshments, popcorn & pop during the show. A show that you watch in a Premiere Theater with Temper-pedic Leather seats & wooden side tables! 

Perfect!

So we went ahead got tickets to see The Avengers this saturday night. I can't wait!

But what to do for a gift?

Not only do we have a budget of $0 for that area, but we kinda have a 'no gifts' policy in place. BUT- I'm not one to always follow the rules...
Then I remembered something I saw on Pinterest a while back, date envelopes...

I got out a stack of blank note cards I had laying around & got to work

At the beginning of each month you open the card 

& see what date you have planned. 

(or in our case you open it the month prior

so you can budget/plan a month ahead)

I did a mix of free/discount dates, older "memory" dates & new dates. Any coupons/gift certificates/vouchers we already had were also put in the card so we don't forget to use them. I put the most expensive ones in our birthday months so it will count as our birthday night out as well, win/win!

Heres what we have in store for the next year:

HUSBAND, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, NOW IS THE TIME YOU SHOULD LOOK AWAY!! DON'T RUIN A YEARS WORTH OF SURPRISES!! BUT ALSO DON'T BE A LAME-O BY NOT LETTING ME TELL THESE FINE FOLKS WHAT I CAME UP WITH!! WHY AM I STILL YELLING?!?! BACK TO WHAT I was saying in a normal tone...

JUNE- Dinner out (using Groupon that is going to expire)

JULY- Putt Putt Adventure

AUGUST- Movie Night *Gentleman's Choice, using vouchers

SEPTEMBER- Drinks at the new Speak Easy style bar (for Hubbys bday)

OCTOBER- Painting with a Twist (my bday)

NOVEMBER- Kids Sleepover at Grandparents *includes breakfast in bed ;)

DECEMBER- Night of Bowling Fun

JANUARY- Improv show at local comedy club

FEBRUARY- Candlelit dinner at home *Gentleman's Choice

MARCH- Movie Night in *includes popcorn & bottle of wine

APRIL- Pottery Painting at local studio

MAY-4th Anniversary, Dinner & a Movie at premiere theater

I think this would be super fun for a childs gift as well! You could put things like 'picnic in the park', 'zoo date', 'ice skating', etc. And each month they get to open the date envelope & have a special day ready & waiting for them :) I think we will definitely do something like this for 'J' when he gets a little older.

And there you have it, a DIY gift that keeps on giving...literally..for a year ;)