DIY Silver Cleaner and Glass Cleaner (Pinterest Pins I've Actually Done)

I've been really interested lately in making my own household cleaners...partially because of the cost, and partially because I'd like to use less chemicals in the house. Here are the latest I have tried:

DIY SILVER POLISH:

I found this solution on Pinterest here:http://creeklinehouse.com/2015/01/clean-really-tarnished-silver-naturally.html

  I had 'acquired' some of my parent's wedding silver when I found them at my sister's house getting ready for a yard sale years and years ago. (Meaning I took them lol) I can't blame her much for getting rid of them...I hadn't really used or displayed them until now, but I am a sucker for pieces of history in my family, and I couldn't part with them.

I finally found a perfect use for them and a beautiful way to display them - I needed trays for the top of two wire shelves in my bathroom so I could set things on them without falling over. The little feet on them helped to give them stability so I didn't need anything to attach them, but they were quite tarnished from years of neglect.

I followed the pin's instructions: lined my sink with aluminum foil, put the silver in, sprinkled 1 cup of baking soda on top and covered in boiling water (note: I did leave it in the sink for a 1/2 hour, as the tarnish was bad). After the 1/2 hour, I removed the pieces and rubbed with a soft cloth. What a difference! I will probably need to do it again to get all the tarnish off, but they came out beautifu...I even tried it on some other metal pieces I had in the bathroom which weren't silver but did have that green metal tarnish on them...they cleaned up nicely.

DIY GLASS CLEANER

I have just started using this, so I haven't seen it's full effects, but it seems to work great! I found the pin here: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/homemade-glass-cleaner-glass-cleaner-recipe/

The ingredients are 1/4 cup of vinegar and rubbing alcohol, 2 cups of water, 1 tbsp of cornstarch and some essential oil for scent. I used peppermint because I love the scent, and it's the only essential oil I have. Peppermint makes everything smell fresh! The only problem I am finding is the 'lint' from the paper towel I am using to clean doesn't always come off. Anyone have a better alternative?

Ready For The Next Step

Well, the date has finally been set. On Friday, October 23rd at 8 am, I will be having reconstruction surgery on my left side. It is somewhat of a major surgery (6 hours), and will use some of the muscle and tissue from my back under the left shoulder, along with an implant, to rebuild that side. It will also take multiple procedures: one to move the tissue and muscle as well as put in an expander, another (or two, or three) to expand, and a final one to place the implant as well as reduce the size on my right.

I've been asked by some people if this is necessary surgery, or just something I'd like done. The answer is 'yes' to both...I can feel my left shoulder turning in some and my back twisting a bit when I am not wearing my prosthesis, and, quite frankly, I find that it's hard to keep up with my kids sometimes when I am worrying about prosthesis placement while running around with them and especially when we're swimming...and I want to be able to keep up with them. Do I really want more surgery? No. But I believe this surgery will help improve my quality of life and my overall health.

Recovery is about 3 weeks (I think) for the initial surgery, as long as everything goes well. Waiting until this date also gives time for me to have my follow-up MRI on my right side in October. Not to mention that I will be able to lose a little bit more weight between now and then :)

So, for now I will continue to eat healthy, exercise and build up my strength, while soaking in all the time I can with my little girls and husband. It's been almost a year since my last surgery...I'm ready for this!

DIY Bathroom Cabinet

I think this has been one of my favourite projects so far!

We deperately needed storage in our bathroom, but I find store-bought cabinets for the bathroom to be really expensive. I had seen wooden-drawer shelf ideas on Pinterest, and one day while I was shopping at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, I saw a great wooden drawer and thought, why not make a cabinet out of one? So, I bought the drawer for $5, and when I went home I searched through my old cabinet door stock and found one that was a little bit shorter than the height, and 1-2" shorter than the width.

I removed the hinges from the door and handles from the drawer, and used wood filler to fill the holes. My husband cut some wood we had for shelves, and cut the trim to fit around the opening. he attached them to the wooden drawer with a nail gun (I really need to learn to use the power tools!)

I sanded everything down, put on a coat of primer, and then a couple coats of white paint (I think we used eggshell finish). 

I had been looking at different designs for the phrase "Wake Up And Be Awesome", and figured out one I liked, and painted it on the cabinet door, finishing it of with a coat of clear satin finish spraypaint.

We reused the original hinges on the door to attach it, and used an extra knob we had that matched. Darren attached it to the wall in our bathroom with screws (It took us a couple tries to find the studs in our walls). I'm sooooo happy with how it turned out, and hope that this gives some of you some inspiration on how to make your own :)