Grout Cleaning

The grout in our entry way has been less than appealing for quite some time now. I've seen expensive grout cleaning kits but really didn't want to spend the money on it. I did some research online and rediscovered my old favorite for cleaning. Vinegar and Baking Soda. I used to clean with it all the time but my husband hates the smell of vinegar. It seriously cleans everything.
So I decided to try it out on the grout in the entry way.

Here is what it looked like before.

 Here are my weapons.

 I sprinkled baking soda on the grout and then sprayed vinegar on it and let it sit for a couple minutes. Then I scrubbed with an old toothbrush and wiped it away with a rag.
This is what it looked like after.

It's not perfect, but a vast improvement.

Become...

a smarter online shopper! Become.com is a website that will make your online shopping stress free, and probably more fun! I have used this site several times in searching for items at halloween and items for my crafting addiction. This site is a way to shop and compare similar products from different stores. Simply type in what you are looking for, say "car Christmas ornaments", and the site will bring up a list of matching items, a picture and price, from many different retailers. Instead of searching 5 different online sites looking for that celtic bedding you've been dreaming of, just go to Become.com and search once! In one afternoon you could comepletely redecorate your living room. Find drapes, rugs, end tables, cheap accent chairs, and artwork all in one stop! Before you spend all day searching online, check out Become.com. You'll get all your shopping done, and still have time for the more important things in life.

Doing some fun office caroling

Guest post written by Anna Willows

I don't work in a very large office and there are lots of office suites on our floor. We're all pretty friendly with the other people that are on the same floor as us, sometimes we even just go out to lunch together and stuff. So I got a really good idea for people from our office to go around caroling with everyone else. My coworkers were really into it, so now I'm in charge of it.

I was looking online to find some lyrics to print out of Christmas carols and while I was doing that, I ran across the site http://hearingaids.miracle-ear.com. I'd been thinking about hearing aids for a while now, so I'm going to go and get a hearing test.

I'm even putting together some caroling covers for our lyric booklets. IÕve also already sent ahead some emails to people in the other office to give them a heads up. I would hate to come around and interrupt an important meeting or phone call. WeÕve even practiced caroling a few times in the conference room to get ready!

Did you know?

Did you know that you can use baby oil to remove sticky residue from empty bottles (and I'm sure other stuff). I was making a sensory bottle for my son and had to peel a very resistant label off of the bottle first. After I had removed the label there was an extremely sticky residue left behind that would not come off using soap and water. Growing up we always used Avon Skin So Soft to remove the sticky, but alas, I did not have any. So I went to the cabinet in our bathroom to look for something comparable. When I saw the baby oil I thought I'd give it a try and holy moly it worked! (Okay, I'm probably not the firt person in the world to realize this, but humor me, okay?)
Anyhow, I rubbed the oil in for a few seconds and then washed the bottle with soap and water and voila! It was clean and sticky free! I'll be sure to keep a bottle fo that in my cabinet from now on!

Busy Busy Airport

I posted here about a fun Busytown game that we bought for my son on his birthday. For Christmas my 2 (almost 3) year old received another Busytown game that the boys are equally in love with. This game is called Busy Busy Airport and is for ages 3-5.

To play this game each child gets their own airplane and rolls the dice to see if they are going to pick up passengers or drop them off. There are 4 destination to carry your passengers to which you are to place in different areas of the room so that the kids have to actually get up and move while they play. Each time you drop off  a passenger you pick up a souvenier card and when all of the passengers have arrived at their destinations you add up your souvegniers to see who wins.

My boys have had so much fun playing this game. It's been a great game for us all to play together.

addicted to Pinterest

Have you tried Pinterest yet? I absolutely love this site and find myself addicted to it at times. If you haven't heard of Pinterest  it is a photo pinning site in which you create boards of related photos to organize thoughts and ideas. You can pin items directly from the site, or you can pin them from other websites as well.
I have found that the most popular boards among the site are about food, fashion and fitness. It's a great way to orgaize your goals for the new year and create a board of inspiration to help you keep those goals.
Some photos are linked to websites with more information on the product, recipe, or project. I have found it awesome for pinning craft ideas to do with my children.
To start using Pinterst simply click on the link. Once you are there you will have to request an invite, or ask one of your friends who is already using the site to send you an invitation. Once you are in (everyone is accepted) you can follow all of your friends pin boards, and even find other pinners via facebook.