Un-paper towels.

I find myself, on a daily basis, wiping up sticky messes, eewie gooey crud, and just random "what is that!?" spots. So, of course, I love prepackaged wipes. I mean loooove. As in dewy eyed drool on myself trip over my feet L-O-V-E. Not everyone feels this way about wipes but not everyone has kids either. (I'm sure other moms out here have a similar infatuation.)

Small problem with wipes... They're expensive!

So how to solve this? Unpaper towels. A simple linen napkin that I wet with either water or vinegar to wipe up messes. Works just the same as a pop up wipe but I can toss this into the laundry when done.

What's that? Do they scrub? You bet your cookies they do! I never dry these with dryer sheets and most of the time I hang them so they do scrub really well.

Now if you don't like my simple linen wipes they have a ton of cutesy ones on etsy. If you prefer scented just fill a container with 3 parts water, 1 part vinegar, and your choice of essential oil (just a few drops should do). Either put the mix in a spray bottle to spray and wipe or put he mix in a container with the wipes and leave them until you need them. I personally prefer the spray method but I know some people that use the soaked ones.

Either way you look at it unpaper towels will save you a bundle.

Stay green,

Yasha

I finished a project!

Now to get the pictures posted before I forget! I repainted the kids' toy box. Eventually I will add a lid to it also but for now, at least, it is painted!

Before Picture; not so pretty. This was my Husband's toybox that his grandpa built when he was 3 or so. That is the origional paint job. (His sister added her name later to the corner.)

 Primer White It took 2 cans and a part of a third of Krylon "2 in 1 Primer and Paint" in White

 Taped off. Random spacing because I'm too lazy to measure. I don't care if the lines are crooked or uneven. It will add character. At least I will say it's character.

Painted and waiting to dry so I can remove the tape! Krylon Pistachio (green) and Krylon Peekaboo Blue (blue) are the colors I used for the stripes. I did one blue one green rotating colors. it helps to spray a bit of the base or top with the correct color before doing stripes so you don't mess up.

Ignore the screen in front of the camera. I got lazy. Note to self Clear coat the white before taping off! Yeah, I will have to go back and touch up the white.

The Natural Remedy

Over the years I've come to trust modern medicine to help with all sorts of things. I guess the more I go down the "runny nose aisle" as I like to call it the more I become distrustful of it, though. When I see 15 little boxes that only help with a handful of symptoms and 15 other little boxes that help with the rest I kinda get disappointed with how medicine has become way too common.

Don't get me wrong, when I have a cold I'm the first one to ask for a bottle of cough syrup. I don't want to suffer any more than the rest of us. However, since I first became pregnant in 2008 I have had a 3 month break where I wasn't either breastfeeding or pregnant. That alone has limited what medications I can take. With those limitations I have looked into more unusual methods to relieve my symptoms.

So just what have I come up with?

Elderberry.

So just what can this little berry do? Well according to some doctors doing a double-blind study over in Europe "a complete cure was achieved within 2 – 3 days in nearly 90% of the elderberry-treated group [...]" Sounds like pretty good results to me.

Now I love my local hippies as much as the next person so when I first was told about Elderberry syrup I totally blew it off. I mean if this stuff was so great why do we have NyQuil? It wasn't until I stumbled upon this research article that I actually put some thought into it.

So if you'd like to try something new or just wanna check it out. Try asking for Elderberry syrup next flu season.

Check out the full article here: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/field/jimr/2004/00000032/00000002/art00005

Legwarmer Frenzy

I love love love baby legwarmers! Ever since My little girl started wearing them at 9 months we've always kept a pair handy. They're great! Perfect for protecting little knees from rug burn and scrapes. They keep legs warm in the winter and protected from sunburns in the summer. Adorable and fashionable, what more could one ask for in a child's clothing accessory?

Now that our son is here we have acquired more pairs (this time with sports themes.) Our daughter still wears her legwarmers too, sometimes on her legs, sometimes as makeshift sleeves. She gets creative with them.

Legwarmers are just so cute! Here are some of ours.

Stay green,
Yasha

Dolls and Diapers and Bears oh my!

Ever feel swamped in kid stuff? I live that life. 1000sqft shared between 2 parents and 2 children. The kids have taken over.

Someone somewhere must have a good idea on how to organise this stuff! Please send me some tips!

My desk-diaper-play-kitchen-ma-bob

I've seen many online DIY tutorial thing-a-ma-jigs recently on how to convert a desk, nightstand, shelf, or porcupine into a child's play kitchen. They are great. Using materials you have on hand is much better than purchasing everything separate or a prefab kit. To demonstrate how awesome these things are I shall now plug someone else's blog; her husband actually installed a semi-working sink. Thank you Nap Time Crafter.

So for our oldest's 3rd birthday I am hoping to turn what used to be a desk into a play kitchen. If you read some of my older posts there once was a desk that became a diaper station. It shall now and forever more be the basis for a play kitchen. Probably. Hopefully. Maybe. We'll see...

I promised more than a year ago to post a pic of the diaper station, here it is. Not much changed I can assure you.

Stay green,

Yasha

Baby feet wine glasses.

Ok I'm bored and bad things happen when I'm bored. I love my wine glasses but they are a bit vanilla. So I decided to put my kid's first foot prints on them.

Step 1. Gather your supplies.
You will need:

• Tracing or printer paper
• a fine tipped pen (I use Zig 05 tip)
• a copy of your baby's footprints or other picture you wish to use
• scissors
• scotch tape
• Rubbing alcohol
• paper towel
• glass paint (I used Gallery Glass Window Color found at Hobby Lobby)
• fine tipped paint brush (I used a 0)
• a steady hand

Step 1: Trace and cut out foot prints.

Step 2: Tape the prints inside the wine glass. Wipe off the outside of the glass with alcohol to remove oil from fingers.

If you are adding handprints or a name place ALL of the designs before moving to step 3.

Step 3: Using the origional prints for reference; carefully paint the prints onto the OUTSIDE of the wine glass.

Enjoy!

Stay green,
Yasha