Tips and tricks

Organizing tips to get you back in the saddle

I love summer, but come Fall I am ready to refocus on my household routines. As I take in what’s happened to my environment over the past three months I soon realize I need some fast, easy and cheap solutions to get my life renewed and back on track. In my opinion, cleaning and organizing is a major fun sucker. This girl wants more time to do what she loves, pampering herself! While in my uncharacteristic Martha Stewart mood I discovered some ideas from Pinterest and other sources that helped me reuse, reduce, recycle and best of all, save time and money.

First, organize my cleaning routine:

Find a cleaning schedule online and reduce your cleaning to 15 minutes a day.
Get a totable plastic bin to hold all of your cleaning supplies (Protect your hands! Make sure it includes rubber gloves).
Finish what you start. The more consistent you are the easier it’ll be.

A couple of nifty tips to save green (money) and be green.

Keep a box of used, but clean, socks under the sink for quick and easy dusting.
Keep pretty bottles on your windowsill to dry washed ziploc and plastic bags.
Use newspaper to origami a compost container instead of buying expensive bags.
Check out my “Green Cleaning” Pinterest board for ideas on how to use less chemicals in your home.

Don’t let the fun suckers get you down! Now that you have extra time on your hands how about a face masque or mani-pedi?]]>

DIY Body Scrub: Banish the Oily Shower Shmutz

By Sally Waters

Curse the oily body scrubs!

Nothing puts a bee in my bonnet faster than tossing old, unused products in the garbage. Buying products that don’t work is bad for the budget. One of my product pet peeves as well as a clutter offender is those super-trendy sugar or salt body scrubs packed with loads of oil. I’m not saying they don’t do the trick but who wants to clean up a bathtub or shower that’s completely covered in grease? It’s a safety hazard and a pain-in-the-ass. So there’s another product that will sit in my cabinet unused. Lesson learned and now my blood pressure is up. A girlfriend of mine had a simple solution for my scrub dilemma. She spent some years in Japan and claimed the Japanese women use a mixture of honey and salt to scrub their bodies. The salt exfoliated and the honey left their skin soft and supple. This is an easy and economical beauty regimen with ingredients from you have on hand in your cupboard. And, it works!:

Salt and Honey Exfoliating Scrub:

Start with 1/2 cup of salt or sugar and get yourself a honey bear for the shower. The nozzle on the honey bear will help keep the honey under control. Microwave it first for 10-15 seconds to get it to flow nicely but don’t make it too hot or it will burn your skin! Or let it warm up in the shower stream to get it flowing. Put the honey in your hand with a handful of salt and start scrubbing. Repeat this until you have scrubbed all your parts. This is for the body only, never use this on your face. Once you are pretty and pink, rinse off. Always moisturize after any type of body treatment. My 3-in-1 Antioxidant Lotion with lavender and white tea is a great choice, if I do say so myself. Voila! No mess to clean up, no bees in the bonnet. Birdy loves bees, just not in her hat.]]>

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