Got an annoying creak in one of your doors? Here’s a neat trick: Just spray it with non-stick cooking spray, it’ll be as good as new! I’m not sure where I heard this, but I just tried it on my daughter’s squeaky bedroom door and it worked like a charm! Now I can sneak in on her at naptime and see if she’s really sleeping or not! Tee-hee…

I thought I’d just let you all know that me and my sister have decided to start a carnival about how we are minimizing the things in our lives, and what exactly we are doing. From the sound of it many of you too are beginning to reevaluate what is truly necessary in your own lives, and beginning this purging process. We thought it would be fun to host a carnival once a week to see what you have been doing in your homes to minimize things. We can’t wait to share our journey with you! Hope to see ya there!

I came across the cutest idea tonight on this blog! And I thought that this might go well with our new theme of minimizing and reusing/re-purposing things. If you have some old, outgrown clothes of baby’s that you just haven’t been able to let go, this may be a great solution for you:

Turn baby’s clothing into a keepsake quilt!

And if you don’t know how to sew, you can send your clothing to this company (for a pretty penny!) and they will turn them into a beautiful keepsake blanket. Here are some examples from their website of what they do:

I LOVE this idea!!! And it would make a great gift for somebody too!

I’m ashamed to publicly admit this, but here goes: I’m terrible when it comes to getting the laundry put away once it’s cleaned. I have a really bad habit of taking the clothes out of the dryer and putting them on the bed, with every intention of folding them and putting them away. But it never fails, I get distracted by some other chore, and as the loads continue to dry, I just keep putting them from washer to dryer, from dryer to bed. By the end of washing day, I have a bed piled high with clothes, and I’m too exhausted to put them all away. So what happens? They end up being pushed off the bed, onto the floor at the foot of it, and for a few days I dig through it finding what I need, until I finally decide, Today, I’m putting these clothes away!

The only thing that works for me is if I immediately put the clothes on the hangers or fold them, and put them away one load at a time as they get done. If I can just keep up with them as they dry, the piles don’t multiply and become overwhelming. My mission is to be more diligent when it comes to putting the laundry away… for my poor husband’s sake!

Anyone have any helpful suggestions??

Like my sister said, we are both on our journey to having less. As I’ve been reading and learning, I’m coming to realize how wasteful and overindulging our society is! We simply have so much STUFF! And it’s like we aren’t happy; we just have to keep getting more. In poorer countries some people only have two pairs of clothing, and maybe one or two bowls to eat from. And here we are, closets overflowing, cabinets toppling over with an overabundance of unnecessary items that we think we just have to have. And before long we get tired of the “old” things (though they are perfectly functional), and head out to buy new again.

I recently read a quote from a top fashion designer which has really made me re-evaluate my own role as consumer. He said,

“It is my job to make women unhappy with what they have.”

You know, that’s exactly it! Marketers are scheming, devising every plan imaginable to make us feel like what we have is inadequate, so that we go out and buy whatever they are pedaling, filling their greedy pockets. And we have been such suckers! And it’s not just the fashion industry, this goes for our vehicles, homes, appliances, home decor, and everything purchasable. How much longer will we fall for their devices, and allow them to manipulate us into feeling unhappy with what God has blessed us with? How often are we perfectly content with what we have, and then we are ambushed with a new fad or design that we just have to have and suddenly what we already posses is not good enough?

I have to admit, I am such a sucker for this! Especially watching HGTV, and home design shows where they go and remodel, or redecorate these homes and make them just gorgeous. Though the day before I was perfectly proud of the way my home looked, suddenly I’m feeling very unstylish, and like I need to go out and buy a bunch of stuff to redecorate with. What’s up with that? I know what it is, and the Lord Jesus warned us about it, it’s being covetous. I’m reminded of this verse:

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

And so, I’ve decided to go through my home and get rid of all of the things that I don’t absolutely need. Boy, is it going to be hard! I’ve started going through my closet, and the kid’s closets, and getting rid of most of the things in there (that will be a whole other post). Next I plan on going through the cabinets and doing a thorough cleaning! Who needs 10 plates and 15 glasses for a family of 4? I know I don’t, and I’m tired of feeling like do. After the cabinets and kitchen drawers have been paired down, I’ll tackle the toys (yes again!), knick knacks (though I don’t really have that many to start with), books, toiletries, and garage items. It will take a while since most of my stuff is in storage (we’re in the process of moving). But these are my goals.

I’m also reconsidering some appliances that I’ve had on my wish list, including a bread machine. Do I really need one… I know I can do it by hand? What can I live without?

Maybe I can challenge you today to think more about your role as a brainwashed consumer, and to pray about being more content with what you have, and maybe even striving towards less. And as I journey on my road to less, I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and efforts!

Just mentioning the topic swiftly reminds me of the occasional childhood Saturday’s when my dad would call me outside for an exciting chore (note the sarcasm). Neatly spread out on the grass would be our white shower curtain, along with a bucket of warm, soapy water and a scrub brush beside it. My job was to scrub all of the mildew and scum off of the curtain until it was nice and clean again. Yay.

When I finally got married, moved out, and had my own shower curtain to clean, I decided that there must be a better way to clean the thing! To my absolute delight, I found a great method which didn’t include a bucket or scrub brush, and I’ve been doing it for the past 7 years. Here it is:

Place your shower curtain in the washing machine along with two or three white towels. Fill with warm water; add detergent and 1/2 c. baking soda and wash. When it comes to the rinse cycle, add 1 c. white vinegar. Hang dry on curtain rod.

Works wonderfully. No more hand scrubbing for me!

You don’t have to have a long clothes line to be able to hang dry a lot of clothes. Here’s a lesson from the Chinese: to conserve space, they hang shirts, blouses, and dresses on clothes hangers before putting them on the line. They also clip socks and washcloths to the lower edge of other things.

I have found that an effective way to keep my bedroom clean and orderly is to simply make my bed first thing in the morning. When the sheets are pulled straight, and the pillows are in their spot, it somehow motivates me to keep everything else in it’s place as well. When I do let the bed making slide for a day or two, I end up with clothes piled on top of the disheveled sheets, and everything else seems to follow in the same messy disorder. I feel proud when my husband can walk into our bedroom to find a nicely made bed, clothes off the floor, and no clutter to be seen.

Baby’s First Valentine’s Day

Buttons & Love

Okay, if you haven’t heard of this term before, you need to check this out. Recently my sister did a post on Replacing Disposables with Permanents. A few people commented on this thing called “Family Cloth”, a term I had never heard of before then. It refers to a washable rag replacement for toilet paper. Now, before you get all grossed out, just hear me out. Instead of good ol’ t.p. some people are using cloths to wipe with. At first I was like “Oh gross. I don’t think I’d go that far to be more environmentally friendly, or to save money”, but I was still interested in the idea, so I did a little research to see what others were saying about it. Here are a few excerpts I found:

“I continued to think about the claims I heard like “it’s softer” “no more fuzz” and “I’ll never go back” so I decided I had to try it. After all, I was already washing cloth diapers. I could just throw my cloths right in the washer with them, no extra work required.”

“The next huge difference was the massive change in toilet paper consumption. I didn’t really keep track before but I estimate we went from buying one huge package every other week to one small package a month!!! For a family on a limited budget this is a major savings. After noticing this I knew there was no going back.”

To read this article in it’s entirety, go here.

Here are some other comments that I’ve found:

“I too have ditched the tp. I cloth diapered my kids so family cloth was an extension of this. We’ve done away w/paper towels too Easier on the environment, the sewers, my wallet AND our bodies!”

“…for families that are already familiar with cloth diapering or using cloths instead of disposable baby wipes, it’s really not that much of a jump.

However, there are variations in usage, according to the article, even among proponents of the family cloth. The article notes that some men refuse to use it, some households use it only for urination and many families will stock regular toilet paper for their guests.”

“We use family cloth at our house. The used cloth gets tossed into the diaper pail and washed with the diapers. I have yet to pull anything out of my dryer that smells like poo. My first reaction to family cloth was that it was disgusting and I would never use it. It saves money and trees and doesn’t use any extra water at my house because we already have to wash the diapers. There is no “scrubbing the inside of the pail” since we have washable pail liners. Really, it’s not as gross as you think. It’s so easy my 3 yr old can do it.

And anyone grossed out by putting soiled garments in the washer is missing the whole point of a washing machine. It’s the machine’s job to clean things. Unless you throw out your underwear after every use, some of those bodily fluids and yes, even some solids, will find their way into the washing machine.”

After giving it some thought, and reading how happy those who have at least tried it are with the concept, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d like to give it a shot as well. I realize how socially unacceptable it sounds; but you know what, who cares! Hubby is all against the idea, which is fine with me! I’m only interested in the girls using it. My terms of usage will be: just for the girls, just for “tinkles”, and of course I’ll have regular t.p. for guests. I think baby girl will like it better too. And since I’m already washing cloth diapers, it won’t really make much of a difference. So, when I get a spare moment I’m going to cut up some old t’s and try it out! I’ll let ya know what I think once I’ve been doing it for a while.

If you are interested in reading more from other’s who have made the switch, I found this forum to be very interesting!