I love Vinegar!

When I first started getting into the whole frugal and eco living idea, I found articles on some of my favorite blogs that have to do with cleaning. There's lots out there, even on places like MSN. I grew up, like probably most of you, with products. Hey, products aren't all bad. But, I never washed a floor without lysol or pine fresh growing up. So, I thought it would be fun to try out something different.

Enter vinegar. I love it! There are lots of uses for apple cider vinegar and tons for white vinegar (just look at this site with 1001 uses for white vinegar). I mostly use vinegar in three ways: as a fabric softener, as a deodorizer, and as a general cleaner. Since vinegar is a renewable resource (just look up how to make it), I am even more of a fan. I buy mine in bulk instead of making it, because I just haven't really had a chance/success yet. I'll let you know if it ever works for me!

Fabric Softener - I put a 1/2 C in during the rinse cycle or 1 C in at the beginning of a cycle (if I'm going to be busy or out of the house). Since I typically hang my clothes to dry, I absolutely notice a difference when I use vinegar. My jeans used to come out like stiff dry newspaper; like, they were crunchy feeling. After I started using the vinegar, they're normal, and our clothes never feel stiff. You do not smell the vinegar; it's very diluted anyway, and then also dries itself out, even in the dryer. Love it!

Deodorizer - So, when there's a particularly foul stench and I don't have a fresh lemon (which is most of the time; cut fresh lemon peel is an amazing deodorizer), I put out a little custard bowl with some vinegar. Sometimes I put in a drop of peppermint oil or lavender oil, but that's optional. Once I had a friend who was pregnant coming over so I put out custard cups with vinegar, dried mint leaves and fresh cut ginger all over the house. She said it was the first time she'd come to a house and not felt nauseated by smells.

General cleaner - I keep a spray bottle of a solution of 1 part vinegar: 8 parts water at all times. I adore this! I use it to spray and wipe my counters, tables, stair railing, bathroom sinks... almost everything. I even use it to wash my floor. I just spray and wipe a bit at a time. If something won't come up, I give it a few sprays, wait 3 minutes, and go back and it wipes right up. For cleaning really bad stove scum, tile grout, toilet bowls, or clearing out a clogged drain, I use full strength vinegar with a little baking soda. (I hear non-aluminum is better; I prefer non-aluminum baking soda 'cause there's no metallic smell.) Since baking soda is a non-renewable resource, I recommend using it sparingly. I let vinegar do the heavy lifting.

So, I really really really like vinegar. It's really inexpensive. It's non-toxic. I can wipe the kitchen table or counters and if my kids put food on it right after, I know they're not going to be poisoned. And there's almost no smell. As opposed to product cleaners... I can barely tolerate the smell of those anymore; they give me a headache. Which means they probably aren't that good for us. I only use products for two reasons: I have some that I might as well use up and there are a very few things that products do head and shoulders better on certain messes. (Example, goo-gone is way better at sticker mess than vinegar.)

Warning: Do not put vinegar water (unless extremely diluted) in your garden! It holds onto nitrogen and kills plants. You can put it on grass growing in sidewalk cracks, though.

A Summery Autumn in Winter

No, I'm not bragging about the warm weather down here. Over Christmas break, I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for ages but just haven't gotten around to: figuring out my season. As in, the "season" of my skin's color tone. I first started to appreciate seasons and skin tone after my second daughter, a redhead, was born. My first daughter looks great in pink (much to my chagrin, since I'm not a "pink" person), but everything that looked great on my first looks pretty bad on my second. So, I talked to some older friends about it and was reintroduced to the idea of the seasons.

Now, over the years I've learned various tidbits about skin tone from various women's events. I've heard about skin undertones (everyone is pink, purple, green or yellow if I remember right). I've heard about hair and eyes determining your season (which is not accurate as far as I'm concerned). One site I read at one point said that even within all skin colors there are the different seasons. Maybe that ties into the skin undertone thing; I don't know. All I did know is that I was having trouble finding out how to actually determine my skin tone, and then, more importantly, what colors to wear in clothing, make-up, etc. once I have figured it out.

Enter one of my new favorite websites: http://www.beauty-and-the-bath.com/Season-Color-Analysis.html .

It has a drop down color palette for ever season, and on the side are links for all the seasons to determine more. It's worthwhile to read through for every season, because they put in different tips for different seasons that should actually be in all of them.

For example, under the link for summer skin tones is the best do-it-yourself method for determining skin tone. You take a piece of fabric (you can use fabric, existing clothing, a towel, whatever as long as it will cover the top of your torso). Drape the fabric over your shoulders. Stand in front of a mirror. Close your eyes. Open them. Do you notice the fabric or your face? It took me a while to really get it down. I noticed that even if I stood there for a while, if I had the wrong color on, my eyes were naturally drawn to the color. And the right colors, I just saw my face and barely noticed the color. Thinking about it, wearing the wrong color draws people to look at your body. If women wore the right color, I wonder if men would notice their faces more than their bodies. Just a thought.

Second critical piece of info for me: autumns can cross a bit into the other seasons. You see, I discovered I'm an autumn with some summer tendencies (hence the title of the post). I can pull off some summer colors, mostly in the blues, but sticking with mostly autumn colors look waaaaaaay better on me. I also changed the color of my blush and lip gloss (I love burt's bees camel shimmer gloss), and I think it looks lots better.

Anyway, it's been a fun discovery for me. Now I just get to revamp my wardrobe, 'cause I pretty much have mostly the wrong colors.

On another note, I just found my new favorite make-up tip: filling in your eyebrows a shade or two darker than your hair (unless your hair is already dark; then just fill them in, I guess). Not only does it define your eyebrows, it makes your hair look like you've had it highlighted without ever dying your hair!

Cardboard Dollhouse/Fort

I meant to get this posted before Christmas. You know, with all the boxes still in the house. But, kids intervened and I completely forgot I'd even started the post. Well, here goes "How to make a Cardboard Dollhouse/Fort":

materials:
*a medium sized cardboard box (like the size of a diaper pack from Costco) - book boxes, t-shirt boxes or other double layered boxes work best as they're sturdier; but if you don't plan on keeping it long any box will do
*razor blade
*packing tape
*stickers, paint, crayons, markers (optional)


Instructions:

Step 1 - Make sure you are working on a surface that can withstand a razor blade... so not your kitchen table. With the razor blade cut off all the flaps from one side of the box. This makes your front opening. I guess if you wanted to be able to close "doors" you could keep on the two long sides, but I don't know if you'd have enough scratch cardboard for the inside. Cut off a short flap from the other side (at what will be the back top side of the dollhouse).
Step 2 - Make a cut through the middle of the top of the box. Then cut little trapezoids out of each side of the cut you just made - about 3, short side of the trapezoid on the cut line. These make the sides off the roof.

Step 3 - Using one of the short flaps you cut off, make a small rectangle. It's going to be the top of the roof, so you want two edges to match the length of the roof sides. Mark on where you cut trapezoids out of the roof sides. With a pencil, mark out trapezoids with the long side on the edges. Cut out the excess. It should look something like the roof top above.

Step 4 - Tape the back of the box together, except the top. Put the top of the roof on the sides of the roof. They should fit without needing tape, but you can tape it if you really want to.

Step 5 - Next comes the inside. Use a small flap you cut off for the vertical line, and a long flap for the horizontal line. You will probably need to make the horizontal flap a little thinner, but keep it 8" longer than what you need it. For both of these pieces, cut a rectangle out of the short edges that is 4" deep and 2" shy of either side. I didn't make mine a full 4" and I was sorry for it. You should end up with a 4" x 2" nub on each of the four corners.

Step 6 - Draw a line through the middle of the "floor" of the dollhouse. Cut out a 2 1/2" slit at either end of the line. You may need to widen it a bit. Put the vertical piece from step 5 upright inside the dollhouse, feeding the nubs into the corresponding slits. Fold one nub to the right and one to the left. Tape down (should be on the very bottom of the dollhouse).

Step 7 - Draw a line down the middle of the horizontal piece you made in step 5, parallel to the shorter sides. Cut 2 1/2" slits like you did in step 6. Put the horizontal piece in the dollhouse. Feed the nubs from the vertical piece into the two slits you just cut, taping one to the right and one to the left.

Step 8 - With a pencil, mark where the nubs of the horizontal piece hit the sides of the dollhouse. You will need to cut 2 1/2" slits at all four marks. After that, feed them through that same way as in step 6 and 7, taping them down.

Step 9 - Have the kids, paint, color, whatever. They LOVE this part.

If you wanted to do a shorter house, like the one pictured below, just skip steps 5-8. It's way easier and the kids may not even care about a second story. I'm sure these same principles could be used to make a cardboard castle, too, if you wanted to get really creative. Feel free to comment about any erroneous or confusing instructions!

Extending the Life of Your Hairstyle

I promised my friend Rebekah I'd write about this many moons ago. Last January I was perusing some of my fav blogs when I found this article called "Going poo-free" (as in no shampoo ever again). I also let a friend/hairstylist cut my hair.* She told me she washed her hair once or twice a week. I talked about it with another friend who's mom washes her hair once a week (I think), and uses a specific product for her scalp. Here are the tips I heard for going more than one day without washing your hair:

1. If your scalp starts to get oily, lightly sprinkle/rub some baby powder or corn starch in. It absorbs the oil and deters future oil.

2. Spritz roots with hair spray before going to bed; it'll dry up the oil, but your hair won't be stiff in the morning.

3. Rat just the roots. Gives hair lift, so there's less contact with scalp oils, and it doesn't look matted down.

4. Nioxin used once a week to help with the scalp.

5. If you have your hair colored or highlighted, you shouldn't wash as often anyway; coloring dries out the hair.


So, my story. Starting in January, I began by going every other day without washing my hair. After about two weeks my hair was starting to get used to it. Then I went to every three days. Then, twice a week. And last, I made a big jump to once a week. (I waited a month before making any changes.) For now, once a week is my limit. If I try to go farther than that my scalp itches and I just don't like it. Not that I've seriously tried. I like once a week. Every Saturday morning, I pamper myself a little. I do a face mask; I exfoliate my skin and heels; I wash and spend time styling my hair. I take that one morning where I spend 45 min. or so on me. For a mom, that's a lot.

My routine is this (pics are under the day of the week I took them on):

Sat - Wash and style hair. If I don't style it on wash day, it looks kind of bad the rest of the week.

Sun - Just wake up, put my hair up to shower, and go. No styling necessary, and it's my best hair day.


Mon. - use baby powder at the roots and rat roots. I can wear it down, up, half-up, whatever.

Tues.- Maybe use baby powder, but usually not. I usually start wearing my hair at least halfway up.



Wed.- pony tail or pig tails or back in a hair clip


Thurs - Definitely a pony tail and headband. Almost every week.

Fri - Pony tail, french braid, tight bun, or dork knots. Kind of sucks for my hair to feel it's icky if I'm on a date, but I still prefer Sat as my wash day.

Here are my big pros for this: I spend less time in the shower and save money and water; I feel better about my hair because, overall, it looks much better than when I tried to style it every single day (even my ponytails look better); I use less shampoo. Cons: Sometimes I have an itchy scalp on the last day; my hair doesn't always look nice Wed-Fri, so if I go out on those nights, it's not quite as fun... but hair still looks ok.

Note that I don't use tips 2, 4, or 5. So, there's plenty more you can do, I just don't. Happy hair styling!


*Please note: I have cut my hair since high school with three exceptions by two friends I watched VERY closely before I let them touch my hair. After many many bad experiences, I figured that if I was going to be angry at anyone for my bad haircut, it would be me. And before I let those two ladies cut my hair, I made absolutely sure I'd seen enough that they couldn't disappoint me. So, it took me a long time before I actually heard any of this advice.

Little Girl Dress from Shirt

So, I have this shirt from the Australia Zoo that I bought on a vacation several years ago and I never wear. Often the things I decide I will never wear that are bright colors go in my girls dress-up clothes. My youngest found this and wanted it to be a dress, so I obliged.

It started out like this:
And ended up like the first pic. How? Well, you can kind of see it on the pic below. I ran darts (for those familiar with sewing), two on the back and two on the front, from the neckline to the hip area. It helped to bring it in and also created a bit more of a flare for a skirt. Then, I put elastic thread in my bobbin and ran a regular stitch under the arm and around to the top of the shoulder (almost to the neckline; about 1" away). That gathered it enough to make a poofy sleeve. If I remember right, I also did that around the bottom of the sleeve to complete the "poof."


I will leave one tid-bit I discovered. This was one of my first times using elastic thread. You only need it in the bobbin, so don't waste it on the main thread. My tid-bit, though, is to leave enough of a lead at the start and tail at the end that you can tie a knot with the elastic and main thread. Otherwise, when it's stretched, the elastic will come right out. Ah, the great teacher experience....

Knit/Crochet Dishloth with Tulle and Yarn

So, perhaps this isn't the most loverly dishcloth you've ever seen. For me, I had some extra green tulle a friend had given me and didn't know what to do with it. I also had some leftover cotton yarn. I had seen knit and crocheted dishcloths before. They looked like fun, but I regretted them not having more scrubbing power. Inspiration was in combining the cotton yarn with the tulle.

I just used a garter stitch for the rough part. To make that, I simply wrapped 1/2"-1" strips of tulle around the yarn as I went. I did that for 1"-2", making a nice scrubbing edge. Then I did the stockinette stitch for the rest. Total, it measures about 4"x6". You could crochet as well; the cloth may come out a bit thicker, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I would suggest looking at Lion Brand Yarn for some of their free patterns. I really like them.



What I don't like about it: At first, the loose tulle would get some sticky things (like flour) stuck in it that were a pain to get out. Over time, the tulle has settled in and now no longer does that. I would not pick these colors again; the natural colored cotton hasn't retained too many stains, but it looks a dull gray now. I would definitely pick a medium to darker colored tone next time, or even a multi-layered color scheme.

What I do like about it: The size. It's about half the size of a normal store-bought dishcloth, but it's also thicker. My husband prefers these ones because they fit in his hand without him having to fold it over or deal with all this loose extra fabric while washing dishes. It does just fine wiping the counters even without the extra fold room. I also like the tulle for scrubbing. Especially now that it's settled in around the yarn, it's really pretty effective on non-stick surfaces while staying pretty gentle.

Ready to take the Plunge to Slave-Free Chocolate

I just wrote a whole long post ... and lost it. Grrrrr! It took me two days, too, what with kid interruptions.

So, short, less rational and less passionate version: I first heard about child/slave labor on cocoa farm here. It took me a while to really internalize that and decide to avoid child/slave labor chocolates, but now I have and I've been doing some online research. My biggest hang-up has been whether or not I need to avoid my favorite chocolatier, See's. Unless someone has already received correspondence from them, I'm going to write them and check.

There's a lot of back and forth you can read on this subject on the internet, and you can't believe everything you read, or just go with what comes up first on your google search. I've decided to believe that child/slave labor does indeed occur and that there is something however small that I can do about it. Why? Because the history of big business has depended on the exploitation of workers in the past and with political and social turmoil in the areas where cocoa is grown I wouldn't be surprised if it happened (Central African nations are of the most concern, though cocoa is also grown in Brazil and Central America-most of the slave rap focuses on Africa). Today I ran into this article, but it still leaves concerns about treatment of workers to me.

So, what to eat? Well, Consumption Rebellion has compiled a list/ranking of major chocolate companies that you can read here, though it is for Australia. I decided to check out the big players, and here's what I found:

Mars: Has a Cocoa plan thing; mostly focuses on environmental impact; depends on World Cocoa Foundation and International Cocoa Initiative - in CR's opinion these are meaningless in regards to actual working conditions, and I'm going with her viewpoint

Hersheys: Also has this Cocoa plan thing (lost the names and too tired to look them up; you can find them on each companies website); seems pretty similar to Mars; references WCF and ICI

Lindt: No mention whatsoever on website as to anything pertaining any of this as far as I could see

Nestle: Working toward Rainforest Alliance Certification by a certain year

So, it would seem from all this that of the big players, Nestle is doing the best. And it quite possibly is. I have a few concerns, mainly these:

1. One of Nestle's executives is on the Board for the Rainforest Alliance. Even if this doesn't mean their interfering now, I see this as a potential conflict of interest and compromises Rainforest Alliance's evaluation of Nestle.

2. Rainforest Alliance focuses mainly on environmental impact (which is great), but requires very little in the way of fair treatment/pay of farm workers. They don't permit child/slave labor, but due to reason #3, I'm not sure (especially 'cause I'm not sure if I read right) if this is a complete comfort.

3. Rainforest Alliance certification isn't very stringent; to get the logo only 30% of the product in question has to be certified (the actual percentage must be on the package). Why only 30%? Apparently they can't verify the sources for all of the product. Granted, they cover more than just cocoa, there are middle men, etc., but I still think that's silly. Also, from what I read, which I could be misinterpreting, it appears that the 30% in question only has to adhere to 50% of requirements. Again, not sure on that. Either way, too many loopholes. And big companies will find those.

I know some of these comments are knocking Rainforest Alliance. I think they are actually trying to work within the current system, and are actually finding a step that big companies will take, so I'm not completely opposed to Rainforest Alliance Certified products. With chocolate, though, I will only go for products with a high percentage of certified cocoa.

There is also Fair Trade and certain Organic Certified chocolate to take into account. I haven't done much research on the organic certified, and there are all sorts of organic certifications so that one is up in the air. I like what I've heard about Fair Trade. They operate with small business (which I like), and require much better payment/treatment of farmers and employees. I think that smaller business is more sustainable economically and also environmentally. Anyone who's ever had a garden and actually worked with the earth is more likely to make conscious decisions as long as their life isn't on the line.

As far as the differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade Certifications, I like this article. Basically, they both have pros and cons. But, mostly, they're coming from different perspectives (environment and social ethics).

Hope this was informative! Now, go eat some chocolate and let it sink in. :)