Make your own homemade dishwasher detergent
I fear my hot water bill is going to be SKY HIGH next month! For the last couple of weeks I have washed and re-washed and re-washed AGAIN load after load of dishes trying to figure out just the right “recipe” for clean and CLEAR dishes! After taking a good, long look at my own dishes, I had to admit that the homemade version wasn’t doing quite as good a job as the stuff in the green box I’d been using for years.
Of course the store-bought stuff hasn’t been doing as good a job as IT used to do either since the ban on phosphates in dishwasher detergent went into effect. It took us MONTHS to figure THAT one out.
Anyway, I’ve got it sorted now — and I’m pleased to share.
How to consume ethically: reducing and recycling electronics and home goods
Recently we discussed Lolly’s question about how to consume ethically. Here’s what we came up with.
A New Zealand dorm gets invaded
It was always one of my boyfriend’s dreams to be an RA. He signed up this year and the first years move in this weekend, so we got to decorating.
Floor themes used to only consist of RA’s sticking up printed posters on doors, but, as it was a competition we decided to lift the game 500%. Hope the kids like it!
Not your auntie’s boring curtains: how about a glittery/retro window dressing solution?
All the curtains I can find are way boring. Where do you guys go for curtains?
I’ve thought about buying fabric and making my own, but I’d prefer not to. Also, when I say redo, I mean going from a “Hey, this is cheap and we can use it” to a “Hey, this is thoughtfully put together and really shows off the occupants’ personalities.” Which in this case is retro ’60s (him) and anything glittery (me).
So if anybody has any ideas or links to cool curtains, I would love you forever. But since this is the internet I think forever means like a nanosecond…whatever, I would be really grateful. -Christine
Renting: Adventures in Lighting
When looking at places to live, there are certain things that just don’t cross your mind. I never realized how important lighting was until I started to rent. Apparently, I need a lot of light to function. Or, rather, I like having the option of a lot of light.
I grew up with a lot of light, I guess, so I didn’t know I had this need until I got my first apartment. Now I know what I need to look for to be well-lit and happy.
Oh shit, we bought a house! What now?
I called my husband and told him, “Oh shit, we bought a house.” He said, “Okay, we need to sit down tonight and make a list…” A list of what? He owned a house well before I met him so he’s gone through this before; but we’ve been together seven years now, which means that house was long long ago and what to prepare for was a distant memory.
What I need is a checklist — and I don’t mean things like get an inspection and such because that’s been done. We’ve got a house that we need to prepare to move in to, so what do we need to do? I mean, I get the change of address to the USPS and the utilities, pack, get a rental truck for the small stuff and price movers for the furniture but what else is there?
Oranges! Blues! Feet! Dogs! Tiny lizards! All this week in our reader photos.
Happy Monday, Homies! Good to see you back. In this week’s photos we have a lot of COLOR, and in this week’s Clicky Links there’s a lot of helpful hints.
Share your photos by posting to our Flickr group, and share your inspirations with us on Pinterest.
Learn from a slob: $4 gets you a cleaner, more organized home in 28 days
We talk a lot about successfully riding the bucking stallion of cleaning and organizing, and today Nony from A Slob Comes Clean comes on board as our new sponsor.
Nony’s got a new e-book called 28 Days to Hope for Your Home, wherein she lays out a simple, stepped plan for conquering your inner slob. Using kind words. Words that won’t spook your feral inner slob.