Get Organized in Less Than One Month (+ a Printable!)

Happy Friday! 

I hope you had a great week, and that you have something fun planned for the weekend. Spencer and I will be in New Jersey celebrating the wedding of two great friends. Yay!

This week, I ran across an article from PopSugar that lists 116 items to throw away (or donate) in your home. If you're anything like me, a list of 116 items seems pretty daunting! Have no fear. I am sharing the list with you (original article here) and also suggesting a way to tackle it.

Spring Cleaning Challenge

Ahhh, spring.

The time where flowers bloom, birds chirp, and children play. It's also the time where pollen coats everything, sunlight points out every fingerprint, and grass and dirt get tracked indoors.

Thus, the ever-dreaded SPRING CLEANING.

I don't generally subscribe to a cleaning schedule, but rather clean things as they seem to need them. As I seem to be getting behind on my housework these days, the idea of a schedule is looking better and better.

I pinned this post from Lisa loves John a while back, and think I will need to take part in this 30 day cleaning challenge.

Who's with me?!

Starting Monday, April 13th, I'm going to do my best to get through this entire month of "Spring Cleaning." If I need to miss a day (because I'm out of town or something), I will double up another day to get it done. 

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Want to join me? Post it, tweet it, insta-it...let me know! I'd love the encouragement - and some pictures of some beautifully clean homes!


Until next time - - 

Laundry Room Art: Single Socks

Happy Hump Day!

First, thank you to everyone who left sweet comments on Monday's post regarding my aunt's passing. Your words, prayers, and emails meant so much to me! I feel so lucky to have such caring friends, readers, and fellow bloggers.

So today I wanted to share adorable printables designed by Marielle at The Resplendent that I discovered via my Real Simple email. 

She has shared 4 FREE printables that you can print, frame, and hang in your laundry room. Just glue some clothes pins to the frame and VOILA! You have a place for those mysterious single socks to wait for their perfect mates. 

I'm going to print and frame the one in the picture below - which one will you choose? Just click HERE to view the others and to download.

Aren't they clever!?

Until next time - - 

True or False: Iron Out Carpet Stains

As you remember, I started a new series called "True or False." If you missed the first post where I tested out cleaning up headlamps with toothpaste, you can see that here. 

The next test I had to try was ironing out carpet stains. I pinned this pin, and have been wanting to try it for myself. So, I did. 

(Side Note: no judging my dirty carpet, got it? If you do, we can't be friends)

My supplies:

• Windex (I used the clear Windex with vinegar, but the person in the pin used blue and said it worked fine)
• White cloth (you can use any color, but I wanted to see if the stains were being lifted)
• Iron (dry setting)

It's as easy as it sounds. First I located a mystery stain on my carpet...which in person was orange, but looks alarmingly brown in this photo (wasn't hard to do - please tell me I am not the one with carpet that has oodles of stains that seemingly appear overnight while we're sleeping. What on earth?!).

After squirting the stain generously with Windex, I placed the cloth over it and ironed as I would a piece of clothing (as in, not holding it in one spot to avoid scorching). 

Within 5-10 seconds, I could see color appearing on the cloth, in the shape of the stain underneath. Hmm...sure enough, when I lifted the cloth, voila! The stain was gone! It was absorbed into the cloth. Woohoo!

 

If you're anything like me, then you probably already guessed that I giddily flitted around my home, squiring and ironing anything I could find. 

Be aware. Two stains I could identify did not come out: ink and a paint drip. Can't blame a girl for trying.

Verdict:

TRUE (with exceptions)

New Series! True or False: Toothpaste for Clear Headlamps

In this age of Pinterest and Google, there are endless ideas, how-tos, and clever tricks for so many things. Many times I find myself reading these and thinking "I wonder if that really works. That is awesome!" I will Pin them, and never go back.

If you've wondered and done the same thing, then today is your lucky day! I am starting a new series called "True or False." In this series, I will test a cleaning trick, a quick fix, or a clever idea to see if it really works. If you ever see anything that you would like me to try, please send it to me!

Today's T/F comes POPSUGAR's list of Car Hacks.

According to the list, a little bit of toothpaste on a cloth can buff out residue and film from the headlamps on a car. This was particularly interesting to me because one of my headlamps is really cloudy! So I decided to give it a shot (all I have to lose is a bit of toothpaste - or maybe some headlamp film)!

First, I started by gathering my materials: toothpaste and a cloth. Check.

Then, I snapped a couple of "before" pictures to share.

With a dab of toothpaste on my cloth, I got to work. It took less buffing effort than I expected it to... 

Once I felt the stickiness of the toothpaste go away, I stopped buffing to check my results. Here is what I saw:

Do you see it? Look on the right side. It's so much less cloudy!

I finished up the whole thing, and took an after picture for comparison's sake. Also, I want to throw out that I edited no pictures in this post (other than to add text). I didn't adjust coloring or anything so that it showed the most accurate results. 

I was shocked at the difference! I've had this car for 2 years, and one headlamp has been cloudy the whole time. We tried washing, scrubbing, I looked at removing it to wipe out the inside...who knew that the solution was in my bathroom drawer the entire time!?

See the difference?

Verdict: 
TRUE


Until next time - -