7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 4

Today's experiment of ingredients are: lemons (or lemon juice) and baking soda. The directions did not give amounts but by day 4 I know I do not need more than 1/3 of a cup of anything for the small cross section. So I used 1/3 cup of baking soda and enough lemon juice to make it slightly pasty and a little runny. This got my lowest total yet, a 2 out of 10! While it fizzed a little when I added in the lemon juice that was the most excited I got. This took lots of elbow grease and it did the least amount of its own work so far. Back to Day 3 and Day 1...They are looking better daily so I decided to mop with hot water to make sure I got out all of the white substances (baking soda mostly) still on the surface and giving me a false outcome. It looks like they just got better on their own and it was not build up. Guessing maybe I should wait to judge after an hour or more.

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 3

Todays experiment's ingredients are: 1/4 cup of bleach and 3/4 cup baking soda. So this made a gooey like paste and I spread it on a 't' shape of the intersection. I would give it a 6 out of 10 because it did do Ok but took some elbow grease. An hour after I had cleaned it up it looked better, almost as good as day 1 solution. So I wonder what it would look like had I left it longer? Either way, this baking soda is awesome! makes me want to use it to brush my teach but a little scared it might eat away the enamel, lol!

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 2

Today's concoction is:
1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup vinegar
EXPECT a fizz over! This is a cool science experiment but not very good in the cleaning grout department. Today's experiment gets a 4 out of 10 because it took a lot of elbow grease and hardly made a dent. I wonder how much of the work was done by the salt and brush friction? And what a mess to clean up! It is like tracking in a cup of sand and then cleaning it up on a wet floor. Skip this one, read Day 1 for better results.

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 1

My kitchen tile grout use to be a cream/peach tone. But now it is more the color of toe jam. I have tried to leave bleach on it for hours and it does not make a dent. I have tried Cola Soda (read it somewhere thought i would try) for hours, that certainly didnt work. So I ventured out to find a homemade DIY grout cleaner and found a whole bunch. So I have decided to tackle one a day. (sorry that I do not have a before photo on day 1).
RECIPE FOR DAY 1: 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, if you have a small job use 3 tsp bakingsoda to 1 tsp of h2o or 3 cups to 1 cup for large job. I bought some baking soda to use but decided to put it in the fridge and pull out the old baking soda and use it up.
The photo is obvious what it looks like now and what it use to look like by the other intersection close to it. I give this concoction a 9 out of 10 because it worked fast 9in minutes!) and took very little elbow grease.

Fall Wreath

Ok, not really been sewing lately since Ashley went to wearing uniforms. Then I discovered Pinterest, the land of to-do lists! Now I have this craving for wreaths, one for every month maybe. I had already done a mesh wreath for Halloween (wasnt worth photos) without a tutorial so cant wait to do another different Halloween one for next year.
And burlap (jute) is the new wreath fabric craze for outdoor wreaths. I found this wreath: http://pinterest.com/pin/24629129181771205/
and decided to try it. I am very happy with it. I used a straw wreath form (kept the plastic on for less mess) then wrapped it in black burlap, hot gluing on the back side every few wraps. Then I wrapped the wood letter (.79 at hobby Lobby) with Jute string/twine. That was no easy feat! Get letters with simple edges. That 'H' was aweful, glue, glue, glue. My husband said the H was crooked, but that was suppose to be that way, i like it and I am the only one who needs to like it!
Then I found this cute houndstooth barrette at Hobby Lobby and since we are Bama fans, I decided to go with a fall/football wreath. The red button is a fabric covered button (old craze of mine), i just glued it on. The pumpkins were out of a mixture set from Walmart, I painted them red, they were cheap orange. The pine cones came from that too.

Now the bow, that was gonna be a bugger but the floral lady at Hobby Lobby helped me. I wanted to buy some burlap ribbon (with wire) but there was none to be found in a small town. I got red burlap fabric cut and cut it in 3- (4") strips as long as the fold over of the fabric. I made one loop with one, one loop with the other and the bow knot with the last. (find any bow tutorial on that one) I made the bow but it was very droopy. The girl at HL suggested I stuff the four loops with store bags, inside out so the print wouldnt bleed and the plastic would not stick like newspaper. Then buy floral spray that stiffens, it is over in the floral department for $4.99 a can! I sprayed it 3 times and it stiffened it very well. A 35 degree night in the garage might have helped as well, or not. tada! I finally made something on Pinterest! But I think I need to read some photo taking tutorials cause this photo needs work.

Sew Beautiful Swimsuit

This is the toddler swimsuit that is in the Sew Beautiful magazine this month! I love, love, love it! And even though Ashley is nearly 6, she is petite and can pass this off...I hope She does not like it, too many frilly things but is happy it is blue. It is my most favorite thing I have ever made. It is blue seersucker (Hobby Lobby) with monogram script font on the MW+ software. Sorry no pictures of her in it, never know who is watching!

Dinosaur Crazy!

Well, it was bound to happen and I don't care that they left but Ashley has fallen out of love with CARS the movie. And is onto Dinosauuuuuurs. This are much easier to find because they are not copywrited! I decided since she grew 3" in 1 year to wawit and see if the craze stuck before making anything. So I made a few spring items and several summer items. Pretty dinosaur fabric is far and few. But I did find some for her trek to the Mobile Explorium with my parents to see the Dinosaurs exhibit. That is the one with fossils. She loves these.