Living In and Loving a De-cluttered House

My dear friends Betsy and Warren Talbot of Married With Luggage have truly inspired me to live in and love a clean house. Let me rephrase that, they inspired me to live in and love a DE-CLUTTERD house. I have always loved a clean house and I have always had a clean house but for some reason I often felt frustrated and I couldn't put my finger on why. After Betsy and Warren took off on their life changing adventure (read about that HERE!) and wrote a couple of books on the subject of paring down your life I got inspired to clean out. I took a hard look at what I had and I went through it asking myself  "If I had to leave for a hurricane what would I take? What do I truly value?"
I have to admit I was shocked because about 95% of what I looked at I truly didn't value! It was just stuff and it was weighing me down. I started to lighten the load and I was astounded at what I got rid of and never thought of again!
Not only am I thousands of pounds lighter in the junk area but my wallet is a little bit fatter because of it (that is another post that is yet to come)!

Here are some of my personal suggestions for de-cluttering while keeping what you love.

1. If you have to move it to live get rid of it!
That huge vase of flowers you have on the table that you have to move EVERY SINGLE TIME you go to set the table? Get rid of it! Opt for items that are lovely but functional like a colorful tray with your napkin holder, the salt and pepper shakers and any other items your family uses during meal times. You will still have decor on your table but it is functional and not frustrating to you on a daily basis! If you love flowers get a very small vase and put a couple of flowers rather than a huge vase with a full bouquet. Even better, use flowers that are growing in your garden to add that personal touch!

This is what sits on my table. 

2. Let go of the idea that you HAVE to keep all the family heirlooms.
This one is by far the hardest for most everyone I know. Guilt about items you inherited is a big problem. People tend to think that if you get rid of the item it doesn't mean you don't love Grandma or that you will forget her!! To that I say poppycock! If you inherited a cup and saucer that was part of Grandma's extensive collection of cups and saucers and you feel guilty about getting rid of it then repurpose it so you are glad you have it.
There are a multitude of ways to re-purpose family heirlooms in a way that are beautiful and functional. Below are a couple of ideas.
~China can be used to make a beautiful serving tray. You get to see the china and actually USE it rather than having it sit in the cabinet.

~Tea cups and saucers make amazing candle holders. Use an epoxy to glue the saucer to the cup, drop in a tea light and VOILA! You have a candle holder. Form and function! (I would strongly suggest using a tea light rather than burning an actual candle in the cup because of the unknown strength of the china. You wouldn't want to wind up with wax everywhere from a broken cup.) If you are the brave sort you can find a million tutorials on making candles in cups. Some are located at Design Sponge, Martha Stewart and Inhabitat.
~Tea cups and saucers also make amazing bird feeders. Again use epoxy to glue the saucer to the cup. Once that is dry glue the saucer to a stand and put it in your garden. Fill it with birdseed and enjoy watching the birds enjoy Grandma's china! : )

This item can be used as a candle holder or bird feeder. You can find it here.

~Silverware can make amazing wind chimes. I looked on the internet for inspiration because I knew what I wanted to do but my execution was poor. The chimes I had died in a hurricane and I haven't made another set. That is on my to do list for the summer. When you are preparing the flatware use a drill to make holes in the handle of the silverware then put a jump ring through the drilled hole and thread with fishing line or wire to your chosen topper. The jump ring keeps the sharp edges of the drilled hole from severing the fishing line. Some ideas are pot lids, serving trays, interesting shaped wood, a colander, a tea pot or a metal serving plate. Garden Drama has a great tutorial and I included a photo of the completed project from their site.

This amazing photo is from the Garden Drama site.

These ideas just barely scratch the surface of what you can do with a little thought and some elbow grease! Watch for future posts on recycling and re-purposing what you have! : )

Cleaning the Natural Way

Lately I have become increasingly concerned about all the chemicals in my life. In an effort to cut down my family's exposure to toxic substances I have begun to use more natural remedies for dirt and grime.
One of my new favorite things is lemon (or lime) infused vinegar! This stuff is amazingly easy to make and actually works very well. I must admit that I am not the originator of this amazing stuff. I have seen it on many blogs (remember I do research before I try something) and I thought, hey, if they can do it then I can do it! Here is the blog I snitched the recipe from - One Good Thing. Here is another page that has some great ideas for lemon for lemon-lime cleaning spray.

So without further ado here is my foray into the world of lemon and lime cleaning spray!

I love a bargain so I go to the bargain fruit bin and get a bag of lemons or limes for a dollar. As you can see this particular bag had about 15 limes in it for a dollar. That is a bargain when citrus is at the summer high.

 Take a clean Mason jar. I use quart jars because I use this cleaner on almost EVERYTHING. I even use it as an air freshener because I have two dogs and two cats as well as a smelly husband living with me.

You can use a lid with a ring or these nifty reusable plastic lids. They are made by Ball and you can get them online. I bought mine from ACE Hardware's online store. Take a look here. They are a little pricy but considering you can use them over and over the cost dissipates after time.

 Get some plain old vinegar. I buy it in the gallon size because of my copious use of my spray.

Before I cut the limes I roll them on the counter. This will get the juices flowing for easier squeezing.  I cut my limes long ways because I want maximum exposure to the vinegar.

 I squeeze the lime juice into the jar them drop in the rest of it. I like strong lime smell so I fill my jar pretty full of limes. You can use less if you like but I don't recommend it. I mean, if you are going for a lime smell why skimp?

 I hope you can see that the bottom of the jar has a concentration of lime juice. I give my jar a shake to mix it all up. I don't want the lime juice and the vinegar to be separate so a gentle shake mixes it up.

I was able to get two jars of lime vinegar from the bag.

 Put your limes in a dark quiet place and don't bother them for at least two weeks. I always mark my calendar because I get way too excited and will dig into the jar before the limes have had time to do their thing.

 After two weeks your limes will look a little less colorful and your liquid will be a yellowish color. Not to worry, this is what you want. You want all that good lime infusion.

 I strain my vinegar in a pretty fine strainer because I don't want little bits of lime clogging up the squeeze bottle when I am trying to clean.

Once you have your lime vinegar ready to go store it in a clean spray bottle. Don't mix it with anything else. If you don't like the strong smell you could put in a little distilled water. I don't because I want it strong.

ENJOY! : )