DIY disinfecting wipes

I have been using homemade disinfecting wipes for about a year now... and as is usually the case after you  start something new, you hear many reasons why what you are doing is wrong... In this case, an article surfaced as to why you should not combine Castile soap with vinegar (the acid of the vinegar and the base of the soap negate each other) So after consulting a few other blogs, I came up with my own recipe.

I am going to include my complete directions below, but I am crediting the originating blogs here...  I  used the paper towel idea from  Home Made Baby Wipes from the White House Black Shutters Blog  and was directed to my original disinfecting wipe recipe (using Castile soap and vinegar) via One Good Thing By Jillee - Homemade disinfecting wipes  (original recipe via LiveRenewed.com). Originally, I was not interested in the whole going paperless thing, but,  from a purely frugal standpoint, I was quickly won over after reading this blog post by Jillee - Throwing in the Towel. I have included the instructions for using paper towels (disposable wipes) and using cloth (reusable) wipes below. 

The original recipe is no longer online so I can't even link to it or remember it correclty, but it basically had vinegar, water, Castile soap and tea tree oil. So without further ado.... here are some recipes for the disinfecting solution....

Live Renewed Disinfecting Wipes Recipe #1

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp Natural Dish Soap
• 8-10 drops lemon essential oil

The vinegar and lemon have disinfecting properties and the lemon also gives it a pleasant scent. The dish soap is for extra cleaning power. The combined scent of the dish soap and lemon essential oil smells really fresh and clean, and covers up any smell of the vinegar in this recipe.

Live Renewed Disinfecting Wipes Recipe #2

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp Castile soap
• 8-10 drops tea tree oil

The Castile soap is a vegetable based soap (cleanser) and the Tea Tree Oil is a natural oil with antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic properties.

Christine's Disinfecting Wipes Recipe

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbs vinegar
• 8-10 drops tea tree oil

I prefer to clean with vinegar, and while I don't find the scent of vinegar bothersome, the tea tree oil does have a fragrance that dilutes the scent of the vinegar.   Basically, I have adapted recipe #1, but since I have castille soap on hand, I may also make some of recipe #2 just to compare... I'll keep you posted....

Here are some pics and directions from the first time I made the "original" recipe... I basically want you to see how the paper towel thing works to make disposable wipes...

Assemble and combine ingredients.  Push a full roll of paper towels into an empty disinfecting wipes container. Then, using a funnel, pour your solution down the center of the paper towel tube.

 As the paper towels begin to absorb the solution you can push the towels completely into the container, let it sit awhile and then you can pull the tube out from the middle of the paper towel roll. You will then be able to pull the first paper towel up from the center of the roll.

Put the lid on the container and voila! Your homemade, disposable disinfecting wipes. 

Reusable Wipes

Start by purchasing a pack of flour sack towels (about 6.00 at Wal-Mart).  Cut the towels into 4 to 6  pieces, depending on the size of the wipes you prefer... you can hem the edges if desired, or just leave them raw - completely up to you. Since I am continuing to reuse my old "Clorox" wipes container, I have rolled my towels so that they overlap slightly.  Hopefully when I pull one, the next one pulls up.... Line them up with the overlap, then roll them up and pull the inside towel up to use as your first towel.

 Pour the solution into your container and add your towels...

And voila!  My reusable disinfecting wipes!  Now I have to go clean my bathroom...Until next time...

Love and God's peace to you,
Christine

Redecorating 2013 - Jewelry Organization

My next project in this series was for my Master Bedroom.  When I started to bring everything back in to the room after painting, I was really appreciating how clean and uncluttered everything was.  The problem was, the bedroom was clean and uncluttered, the dining room was a different story...all my junk was still in there.  So I started clearing some things out and decided I didn't want my jewelry on top of my dresser anymore.  Here's what it looked like before...

Not the worst system ever, and also the cleanest my dresser has EVER looked...I always end up piling other things there too.  Also, my necklaces often got tangled and taking the earrings off that rack was annoying because it was hard to reach around and put the backs off them.  So I scoured the internet for some ideas.  I found this idea on Where Beauty Meets Functions.

So, I set off to Hobby Lobby and Lowe's to see how I could recreate this idea.  Here's what I bought...

3 open pictures frames (2-9x12, 1 12x24), A roll of cork, Foam core, fabric, galvanized steel wire, eyelet screws, picture hangers (for the back of the frame, because they weren't included).  You'll also need tools like a staple gun, wire cutters, pliers and a utility knife.

First, I cut the foam core to the size of the frame, and cut sheets of cork to match. 

Then I stapled the cork onto the foam core (I just needed an office stapler for this) and trimmed everything to size (cork is stretchy, so you'll probably have to trim it).  I tried gluing it, but it wasn't working...so I switched to stapling.

You could skip the fabric step and just put it in the frame this way, if you like this look.  If you do, be careful of where you staple, they might show (mine did).

I had planned to cover the cork in fabric to go with my bedroom color scheme.  So I cut the fabric so I could wrap it around the cork/foam core.

Do yourself a favor and clip the corners so you have less bulk to wrap.

Again, I used an office stapler to secure it in place.

One of the 3 holders was going to be used for earrings, so I attached the wire and eyelet screws so the earrings could hang on them.  Skip this step for the other frames.

Some tips, attach the eyelets on both sides then thread the wire through and pull it as tightly as possible and secure it.  Then, to get it tighter, try turn the eyelets tighter to increase the tension.

Next place the fabric wrapped foam core in the back and secure with a staple gun.  Be careful that you don't staple all the way through the frame!

Next, attach the sawtooth hangers to the back of the frame (if necessary).

And...tada!  Repeat process for the other frames, minus the wire.

And here's what I ended up with!  To attach necklaces, I just used straight pins.  I used plain ones, but at some point I might upgrade to the ones with the pearl balls on the end.  For a more fun, colorful look you could use the ones with the colored balls.

And here is how it looked once I put all of my jewelry on it.  The necklace boards are a little more crowded than I anticipated (turns out I have a LOT of jewelry), but I still like it.  And, I love that things don't get tangled, its easy to remove and rehang everything and I can see everything at once.

The only downside to this system for earrings is that it won't hold anything with a post back.  So those are all in my jewelry box.

Total cost of project.

Open Back Frames          $49
Foam Core                      FREE (already had it)
Cork                               $11 (with lots left over for another project)
Fabric                             $4
Wire & Hardware           $5   
Total                               $69

The frames really upped the cost of this project.  If you wanted a more vintage or eclectic feel, you could probably hunt up some thrift store frames and save a little money.  That look wouldn't have worked in this space, so I spent a little more.  But I really love it, so its worth the extra cost to me!

Be sure and comment to let me know what you think or if you make something like this for yourself...I'd love to see it!

Grace and love,
Jenn

Redecorating 2013 - Subway Art

Because I am between jobs right now, I'm using this time to do some projects around my house.  Things I never seem to make time for when I'm working.  So this series will include a variety of DIY projects that I completed for my Master Bedroom, Dining Room, Living Room & Kitchen.  The house is really starting to come together!

Up first is two different DIY Subway Art projects I did, one for the Master Bedroom, one for the Living Room.  The first one, for the Master Bedroom, was surprisingly easy and designed at 3 am one night when I inadvertently drank coffee too late in the day!  The idea came from Withywindle.

Traditional Subway Art is usually a list of places, often ones that have some meaning for you.  I decided to take the concept and use a Bible verse that has a lot of meaning for me.  I did the formatting in Microsoft Word, which limits the design capability, but because I'm familiar with the program and already have it, it was the best option for me.  I made a custom size page that was 12 x 18, so that it would easily expand to a 24 x 36 when I sent it to Staples.

Staples charges about $25-30 for poster prints, but black and white "engineering prints" are about $4 for a 24x36 sheet!  It's a simple process to upload a pdf to the staples copy & print site and send it to them for printing.  After I picked it up, I spray glued it to a piece of foam core.  Simple. Easy. Cheap!

Cost of Project.
Print from Staples             $4
Foam Core                      $8 (7 for the board, 1 for them to cut it)
Total                                $12

Project #2 was for my living room and was a little more involved.  The idea came from A Beautiful Mess.

The suggestion was to use an old painting from a thrift store as the background.  So I set off to a couple of thrift stores, but couldn't find a painting.  I found a few on craigslist, but they were upwards of $50...a lot to pay for something you're going to paint over.  So my twist on the idea was to use a jigsaw puzzle!  Puzzles are one of our favorite family activities, especially in the winter, so I had a lot to choose from.

I forgot to take pictures of the first steps, but I think you can figure out how to put the puzzle together, and then glue it together (I used mod podge).  I glued it directly to the back piece of cardboard from the frame I planned to use.

Then I cut out letters from vinyl using my Cricut and laid them out on top of the puzzle.  Go ahead and draw some lines to make sure the words go across straight...they won't be visible when you're done.

When you have it laid out, make sure the vinyl letters are sealed on the edges to prevent bleeding - it won't be 100% effective, but you want to prevent as much as possible.  Then paint over the the entire surface.  I used spray paint, but acrylic would probably work better.  The letters curled and the spray paint bled.

Once the paint is dry, peel off the vinyl letters.  You may need to use an exacto knife or razor blade to keep the paint from coming off where you don't want it to, or to get the letters up off the picture.

Frame and hang!  (I decided that the paint color I spray painted was too dark, there wasn't enough contrast between the puzzle and the paint, making it hard to read.  So I actually went over it again with some latex paint and a brush...it was a pain, but the result was pretty good.  The moral of the story is to choose your paint color carefully....)

Cost of Project
Puzzle                      FREE (already had it)
Frame                      $23 (Clearance at Michael's!)
Vinyl for letters        FREE (already had it - it'll run you about $10 at Hobby Lobby)
Spray Paint              $4
Total Cost               $27

Comment and let me know what you think or if you try one of these for yourself!

Grace and love,
Jenn