Thursday, February 28, 2013

Waterless Car Wash? - A Cottonelle Review

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cottonelle for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Over the past several years, my family has made many changes in life in an attempt to save money. Canning and storing vegetables from our own garden, making our own laundry soap and body wash, stocking up on items when they go on sale, and buying cheaper 'off-brand' products are just a few ways that we have been able to save money.

However, there is one item that I refuse to budge on and that is my toilet paper. My husband and I have been buying Cottonelle for as long as I can remember. Yes, there have been times that we thought we could get away with buying a cheaper brand, and we always regretted it!

When I started potty training my oldest (over 3 years ago) I began to realize that toilet paper alone just wasn't going to cut it. I am sure that many parents out there can relate. For a while I kept using the baby wipes but since they are not flushable, they where more of a nuisance than anything. We decide to try out Cottonelle flushable wipes and we have been using them ever since. My husband and I even decided to try them out for ourselves and we loved them. There is nothing like the feeling of being clean. And nothing leaves you feeling cleaner and fresher than using Cottonelle Fresh Care Flushable Wipes and Cottonelle Clean Care toilet paper - with a cloth-like feel and now a touch of cotton. (Seriously, they really do feel like cloth)

If you don't believe me then I challenge you to try washing your car without water! Because, after all, using dry toilet paper alone is just like washing your car without water, right? Cottonelle set up a series of hidden camera videos to show people that nothing from a kitchen table to a car can be properly cleaned without the combination of cloth and water. This car wash video was my favorite.

 

 

I also encourage you to visit Cottonelle.com to test your cleaning logic. And now through June 30th, you can visit Cottonelle.com to watch the Cottonelle Wash Test videos and submit your entry for a chance to win one of four grand prizes of $10,000 bathroom makeover!

What would you do if you won a $10,000 bathroom makeover? Instal a larger tub? Add more storage? I would definitely find a way to bring more light into our bathroom.

Visit Sponsor's Site

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

13 Handmade Easter Basket Stuffers

Easter is only a month away!

I can't believe that we are already 2 months into 2013. Please tell me that I'm not the only one still writing 2012 on my checks!




Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. However, I am not very fond of filling up the girls' Easter baskets with sugar filled candy. I am working on a couple handmade items for the girls this year and I thought I would share some inspiration that I found.


Felt Easter Egg via Handmade Kids


Fabric Easter Eggs via Retro Mama


Secret Pocket Easter Eggs via Sew, Mama, Sew


Marshmallow Bunny Plushies via Creatively Christy

What about you? Do you have any great Easter crafts you would like to share?
I am always looking for new ideas. To share yours you can fill out the "Get Featured" form
or join us every Monday for More the Merrier Monday linky party.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

More the Merrier Monday

Thank you all for being patient with me while we were having internet trouble.Everything is working now and I am looking forward to a week full of fun posts!

Welcome back to “More the Merrier Monday” where you show off your creative side. Link up your blog post with any crafty tutorials, recipes, or tips.



In order to play along, you’ll need to add the following button to your post. Edit and then simply copy & paste the html code into the top or bottom of your post. Optional, if you’re on Twitter, tweet it out so people can see it! 

<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0"/></a>
 
If you link up, please take a second to view and comment on the 2 posts above you! 
 
This way we can really get to know each other, make new friends, AND everyone gets comments.

Add your handmade projects, parties, crafts, and DIY tutorials.

hh

Sunday, February 17, 2013

More the Merrier Monday

Welcome back to “More the Merrier Monday” where you show off your creative side. Link up your blog post with any crafty tutorials, recipes, or tips.


In order to play along, you’ll need to add the following button to your post. Edit and then simply copy & paste the html code into the top or bottom of your post. Optional, if you’re on Twitter, tweet it out so people can see it! 

<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0"/></a>
 
If you link up, please take a second to view and comment on the 2 posts above you! 
 
This way we can really get to know each other, make new friends, AND everyone gets comments.

Add your handmade projects, parties, crafts, and DIY tutorials.
 
 
This post is sponsored by Social Spark. 
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Thursday, February 14, 2013

13 DIY Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!!

When I noticed that there were so many amazing valentines crafts linked up, I just had to share them with you. 



Felt Heart Monster Via Do Small Things With Love

Valentine Tree and Heart Ornaments Via Southern Scraps

Felt Hearts Via Inspired Honey Bee

Valentine's Ribbon Wreath Via Happiest Mom on the Blog

Valentine Cupcakes Via the diy dreamer

Love Toolbox Via Alderberry Hill

Valentine's Day Vignette Via Sarah Saturday

Subway Art Bookmark Via Simply Creating Home

Geeky Valentines Via Sugar Swings

Heart Tree Via We Made That

Tootsie Pop Super Valentine Via One Creative Mommy

Valentine's Day Love Banner Via Or So She Says
Crochet Heart Pins Via Coco and Cocoa
 

Don't forget to join me Monday to share your own projects!

 


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Celery Experiment

This past weekend the girls and I did a fun little experiment and the results were quite shocking, so I wanted to share them all with you.

We started out with 4 glass jars, filled them with water and added a few drops of food coloring to each one. Then we placed a celery stick in each glass.

I didn't take any before pictures because I wasn't really sure this experiment was going to work. Our celery had been in the fridge for over a week and was looking pretty limp. However, the girls were pretty excited about the experiment so we tried it anyways.

Our first surprise came about an hour later when we noticed our once limp celery was now standing straight up. It was as though the celery soaked up the water and revived itself back to good health!!

We continued to observe the celery over the next several hours but saw very little change. Here is what we did see;
  • The celery that was placed in the yellow water became slightly lighter in color, while the one placed in the blue water became slightly darker in color. 
  • We could also see some of the red coloring running up the veins of the celery stick that was placed in the red water.
  • The most noticeable change was the celery that we placed in the green water. You can't really tell much in the photo below but there are dark green spots all over the leaves.
However, these changes were so slight and not really what we hoped for. We came to the conclusion that the green celery stick was the shortest, giving the color less distance to travel. We decided to try leaving the celery in the water over night, hoping that it would soak up more color. We were shocked when we woke up the next morning to find this:



I remember reading an article a while back about red food coloring being bad for you but I just blew it off. After this experiment I think I am definitely going to do some more research on food coloring and the effect it has on our bodies. If it can do this to celery, I can only imagine what it can do to our bodies.

Here is a closer look at the red and green celery side by side.


I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Have you tried a similar experiment? What were your results?
Have you eliminated artificial coloring from your diet? If so, have you noticed any changes?

Sunday, February 10, 2013

More the Merrier Monday

Welcome back to “More the Merrier Monday” where you show off your creative side. Link up your blog post with any crafty tutorials, recipes, or tips.


In order to play along, you’ll need to add the following button to your post. Edit and then simply copy & paste the html code into the top or bottom of your post. Optional, if you’re on Twitter, tweet it out so people can see it! 

<a href="http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab68/The_Hammonds/Jamies%20blog/Buttons/MMMbutton300.jpg" alt="More the Merrier Monday" border="0"/></a>
 
If you link up, please take a second to view and comment on the 2 posts above you!
This way we can really get to know each other, make new friends, AND everyone gets comments.

Add your handmade projects, parties, crafts, and DIY tutorials.
 Social Spark. 
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Friday, February 8, 2013

Home Management Binder Completed

UPDATE: All new printables (as well as the older printables found below) can be found on THE ULTIMATE LIFE PLANNING SYSTEM page. Please update your bookmarks. 

Follow DIY Home Sweet Home on Facebook to stay up to date on new printables.


Yippee!!
This project took a few weeks but it was so worth it!!








For my binder I chose a large two inch binder with a clear pocket on the front to hold my cover page.







I laminated my tabs and glued them to black card stock.
















The 1st page in my binder is my Dates to Remember page.
This is a great place to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, and any other yearly celebrations that I need to remember.





The 2nd tab in my binder is my Monthly Calendar. I have transferred all of my dates to remember from above to my this section. I also keep track of my husbands work schedule and pay days, due dates for monthly bills, library book due dates, special events for the kiddos, and any other activity's we have planned for the month. 









After my monthly calendar is my Daily tab with my Daily To Do List. I try to sit down every night and write down a couple things that I am thankful for in the bottom right corner. I then grab a new Daily sheet and write down everything that needs to get done for the following day.
The water section has been a huge help in keeping me accountable for drinking enough water throughout the day.

This system works great for me but for those of you that prefer a weekly planner sheet, I have included a link at the bottom of this post.










Behind my daily schedules, I keep a copy of my Cleaning Check List. Without this reminder of what needs to be cleaned my house would be a disaster.














I keep of the Weekly Menu Plan/Shopping List on our fridge throughout the week so that my husband and I can quickly jot down anything we are out of or items we would like to buy. Then sometime during the week (usually on Thursday's), I will write down our menu for the following week and add any ingredients that are not already on the list. We usually do our shopping on Fridays. Once I am done with the list I will place it back in the binder for reference and place a new one on the fridge.




 My Contacts' pages are amazing! My last Home Management Binder didn't have the tabs in the contacts section and it became a major pain to find anyone's phone number. I printed off 13 pages and then cut off all but one tab on each page.

If you follow the link above there is also a link to a contacts page without tabs if you would prefer not to deal with them.













I use the to do list on my daily page for any thing that I need to get done in a single day. I use this To Do List for larger Projects that will take a couple days, such as this binder, deep spring cleaning, and current home remodeling projects.













This Master To Do List is to keep track of all our projects that need to get done someday but are not yet a priority. I will be going over this list often and transferring items to my daily to do list as needed.






Behind my to do list is a notes section where I keep this fun Jot It Page. This is such a great way to keep track of the millions of ideas that run through my head every day. Of course I don't write all of them down. Just the important ones:)













Next I have a tab labeled LISTS. Which includes my Books To Read List, Wines To Try List, and Movies To Watch List.















I am always changing my passwords, and in turn, I am always forgetting them. This Password Log works wonders to help me keep track of what password I am currently using for what site.





The second-to-last section in my binder is my medical section. This Emergency Information page is a great place to keep all of our family's medical information.
















I also included this Medical Expenses page in the medical section to keep track of how much we spend on medical bills throughout the year.















The last page in my medical section is the Doctor Visits page. This way we can keep track of dates and reasons for our doctor visits as well as prescriptions that where given.













The last tab in my Home Management Binder is my finance tab. In the front of this section is my Bill Payment Checklist. I love being able to glance at this and know what bills are already paid and what we still have left to pay for the month.















This Bills To Pay Account Information sheet saves me so much time. If I ever need to contact someone regarding one of my bills, need to cancel a service, or add to one, I no longer have to search through a stack of paperwork to find a phone number.













This Bank Account Information page is where I keep all of my information for mine and my husbands bank accounts. I wouldn't recommend that you include this page in your Home Management Binder if you are planning on leaving it out in plain view. This is not information that you would want in the wrong hands.





There are a few other pages that I did not feel I needed to include in my Home Management Binder but you may want to include in yours. Those pages are;






Full Page Monthly Calendar - Portrait View







Weekly Planner Page






Freezer Inventory List










And there you have it. My Home Management Binder is complete for now. Over the next several months I am sure there will be many changes to my binder as I decide what works and what does not work for my family. I will be sure to keep you all posted and up to date on any changes I make or any new printables I add.

UPDATE: Since writing this post have received several requests for more printables. I am currently keeping a list of these requests and working on new printables as I have time. If there is a printable that you would like but do not see on this page please leave me a note in the comments section and I will try to get to it. 
If you would like to stay up to date on when I post new printables please like the DIY Home Sweet Home Facebook page