Frog In Stitches

DIY vannilla :)

If you have been reading my blog for long you know that I love DIY... I have another one for you! DIY Vanilla "Extract"!

What you will need....
3-4 vanilla beans
1 small bottle of vodka
1 Med-large bottle of vodka

Take the vanilla beans and splice them down the middle. Drop them in the small vodka bottle and shake.
Make sure the vodka completely covers the beans. Store the bottle in the dark for a few weeks, until the vodka turns dark brown. Use it as you would any other vanilla extract. Use the larger bottle of vodka to re-fill the small bottle after each use, make sure that the beans are never sit exposed to air so that they do not mold. I have been using my vanilla for years and have a friend that has been using hers closer to a decade.
Now... if for some reason you don't want to use liquor.... you can replace the vodka with vinegar. :D

More DIY:
Dish Detergent
Window cleaner
both of the above also have more links for many many more cleaners as well :D Check 'em out if you haven't before!

Make sure you check out the comments on the Dish Detergent, there is a FANTASTIC link for laundry detergent by one of my commenters! :D

I got my beans from Rainbow Grocery but if you need a link... You can go here to get your beans!

Family Adventure

Sorry about Friday folks. It was a crazy week... On Thursday Lil'C had a checkup with his cousin Lil'E. Yep.. two infants at a Dr appointment at one time, and both getting shots. They both calmed down pretty quickly. After that I started having a health issue and ended up in the ER. Lil'C stayed home with my family while hubby, my mom and myself was at the hospital. Mom left earliest and stayed with Lil'C until we got home sometime after midnight. All in all.. I'm ok but have to take it easy for a bit.
Wait till I tell you about the booby traps I got because of all that! It was hard not to laugh in the face of some "medical professionals" but more on that later.

Also this week is our church's VBS. What kind of art teacher would I be if I didn't help with crafts? .... I'm not so good at taking it easy.... We're doing "Pandamania" it's ... interesting. I came into it kinna last minute so they ended up getting mostly "pre-packaged" crafts... and if you have ever done those you will know that they don't usually take long to do. So I'm working on coming up with some ideas for filler crafts.
Got any ideas??

DIY Dishwasher Detergent

As I have said before I prefer to DIY, and I have already shared with ya'll my window cleaner.
I have found a pretty effective method for DIY Dishwasher detergent.
I searched all over for recipes and ended up mixing some ideas..

For my system you will need: (notice that it is divided into 2 sections)
Baking Soda

1 part vinagar
1 part castle soap
1 part lemon juice (or double the vinigar)
1 part water

Combine the vinegar, castle soap, lemon juice and water in a container. A squirt bottle works great for this. Shake before each use.

When your ready to run the dishwasher put your mixture in the main soap spot (the one with the lid) and put about a tablespoon or two of the baking soda in the pre-wash soap spot.

The baking soda will help break up what is on your dishes and may even have a slight reaction with the vinegar in the main wash cycle to add to the scrubbing power.

I love it and think it works great.   My mom still prefers to use Cascade (remember she prefers to buy) and I can now taste it when she does the dishes. ick...

What DIY products do you like to use?   Have you found anything new lately?
Check out this post for a large list of DIY cleaners.
Some more to add to the list:
All purpose cleaning spray
List of Homemade Cleaners (Faux Fabreze too!)
A nice multi-list

There is one common cleaner that I don't use.. DIY or store bought.   I don't use carpet "cleaners", you know those powdered thing?    We have a specific reason for that... Years ago when we were replacing my parents carpet and we pulled up the carpet.... ick...   years and years and years (my mom is gonna hate me for posting this!!) of carpet "cleaner" powder alllllll over the place under the carpet and carpet mat..    My one exception would be in the case of fleas.. because one of the ways to get rid of fleas in carpet is by putting baking soda on your carpet since it dehydrates the evil little critters and their eggs. ick ick...
Do you have any products you refuse to use... most of the time?

Happy 4th!

To all my fellow American's... Happy independance day!!!!

Time to blow stuff up! At least that is what will be happening at my house. Three Pyros with 42 acres to play.... yep. Stuff blowing up. Probably gonna set off the potato cannon and a sparkler bomb or two.

What does your family do for the 4th?

The 4th is a perfect day for swimming!

I have noticed that I have TONS of Austrailian readers and I was wondering... when is ya'll independance day? Australia is one of those places I have always wanted to visit.. I had a friend years ago who lived there and he said that the kangaroos were like deer are here... a pain in the neck. I still think they are cool, but I don't have to worry about them totaling my car!