Pinterest Projects- 45 Uses of Vinegar Part III

I tested these uses & wrote this post right as we were moving from IL to IN. It got put on the back burner until now. I have really been intrigued testing various ways to use vinegar! You need to give some of these a try!!!



I found a list of 45 uses of vinegar on Pinterest. I have tried several of the suggestions. You can read about the other uses I  have tested Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

I made Dryer Sheets using vinegar and I love how they turned out. This idea was NOT on this list "45 Uses of Vinegar"  I got the idea from my sister in law. Be sure to check out how I made them!

15. Put an end to itching. Dab a cotton ball soaked in white vinegar on mosquito bites and insect stings. It will stop them from itching and help disinfect the area so they heal faster. I tried this on Cora when she had a mosquito bite. It seemed to help! But since I didn't have one of my own it was hard to know for sure.

16. Whiten your teeth. Brush your teeth once a week with white distilled vinegar. Dip your toothbrush into the vinegar and brush thoroughly. It will help prevent bad breath, too. I haven't noticed a difference yet. Probably bc I drink too much coffee ;)

17. Make nail polish last longer. Before you apply nail polish, wipe your nails with a cotton ball soaked in white distilled vinegar. The clean surface will help your manicure last. Hmmm, I don't know about this one. I don't think it made my OPI last any longer than normal. But I'd say try it for yourself :)      

37. Sticky stickers. Don’t scratch at the residue left by stickers or price tags. Instead, apply vinegar to the gunk, let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe the glue away. This worked great. Cora leaves stickers all over the house. These 2 have been on my floors for awhile now....But w a few squirts of vinegar they came right up!!!

Have you seen this picture floating around Facebook? Some reports don't support the claims on this picture. But I am going to try it! When I researched apple cider vinegar benefits I found several other claims too: heals sore throat which I currently have :( A shot in water, juice or a smoothie everyday for at least 30 days to see if I can tell a difference in any way. If I do notice any effects I'll be sure to post!
So *Cheers* to apple cider vinegar! ;)

Pinterest Projects- Cinnamon Swirl pancakes & Bath paints

 

I tried 2 "pins" from Pinterest this week. 1 a flop 1 a success!

 

 

Have you seen that perfect picture floating around Facebook of cinnamon swirl pancakes? Looks so so yummy! Well I made them Saturday morning. They were a FLOP! (Pun intended ;)

1. The recipe would feed an army, which is NOT what my family is
2. Wayyyy too sweet & I even left off the "cream cheese icing"
3. The recipe says to add the cinnamon filling then to flip the pancake. When I did that the cinnamon filling seeped out & burned all over the pan.

Although Cora love them, I will not be making these again!

 

 

 

The second idea I got from Pinterest was bath paints! Cora absolutely loved these. As she was helping me mix up the paints she said "Mommy, I just LOVE you!" about 5 times :) It took no time to make 3 colors & well worth her excitement. She had a great time using them during bath time & to my surprise they weren't as messy as I expected. This batch will last us awhile but when they are out I will defiantly make these again for lil Miss MaeMae!

 

1/4 c. corn starch

1-2 tbsp water

food coloring, a few drops

1/4 c. shampoo or body wash

 

-Mix in order given. Store in a baby food jar or a container similar in size. (The recipe makes about 3/4c. total)

Pinterest Projects- Banana "Ice Cream"

 

I pinned this banana "ice cream" a few months ago but just got around to trying it. It was excellent!

 

Here's what I did:

3 ripe bananas, frozen about 2-4 hours

1 tbsp natural peanut butter

 

I thought my new blender would be able to puree the frozen bananas but it couldn't so I transferred it to my mini food processor & it worked great. Once bananas were a smooth texture I added peanut butter & pulsed a few more times.

 

Cora went bananas over it ;) And Ken raved about it too. It will be the perfect "dessert" for me & Cora this summer. Enjoy!

 

Pinterest Projects- 45 Uses for Vinegar Part 2

I recently found a site via Pinterest w/ 45 home uses for vinegar! LOVED it. Be sure to read my "Part 1" post here.

Vinegar Failures: Here are 3 uses of vinegar that DID NOT work for me. I thought it would be just as useful to see my failures. Let me know if these worked for you. Maybe I was doing something wrong?
6. Tidy up a toilet Pour a cup or more of diluted white distilled vinegar into the bowl. Let sit several hours or overnight. Scrub well with a toilet brush and flush.
I'll spare you a picture of my toilet but trust me this did not work for mine. ;)
13. Banish weeds. Pour white distilled vinegar on the weeds growing in the cracks of your walkway and driveway. Saturate the plant so the vinegar reaches the roots. I saturated some dandelion weeds that were growing in my mulched area. It didn't seem to do much- just a little bit of burnt/dead area. But it didn't kill it completely so it was still had to pull it. So in my opinion it was just a waste of vinegar b/c I used a lot!!!
43. Unclog drains. For a natural, nontoxic way to clean clogged pipes, pour one cup of baking soda, followed by one cup of white vinegar, down the drain. Let the products bubble and foam, then flush the pipes with a pot of boiling water.
My shower drain was clogged so I tried this method. I saw no improvement at all! So, I had to pull out the Drano- which did the trick. I want to try this on a different drain that may not be as clogged.


41. Restore showerhead pressure. If your showerhead gets clogged with mineral deposits, soak it for 15 minutes in a mixture of ½ cup vinegar and 1 quart water.

Before=Ewww

After= So much better!
 I did add some baking soda so the vinegar solution would fizz- that seemed to help.

4. Kill bathroom germs. Spray full-strength vinegar around the sink and tub. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.                                

When I was reading up on vinegar I learned that it is antibacterial! So I made a squirt bottle to keep in the bathroom for when a certain lil girl "misses" when going potty!

 

Pinterest Projects-45 Uses for Vinegar Part 1

I recently found this site  via Pinterest w/ 45 home uses for vinegar! LOVED it. I have since tried a few of the uses & plan to try more in the future:::

 38. Clean the dishwasher and coffee pot. Reduce soap buildup and food residue by pouring a cup of vinegar into your empty dishwasher or coffee pot once a month and letting it run a full cycle. My mother-in-law told me this years ago when my coffee pot stopped working. I tried it & it fixed the problem. I do not do it once a month and this reminded me it has been awhile. So I ran vinegar through my coffee pot!
    
23. Steam away a microwave mess. Fill a small bowl with equal parts hot water and vinegar, and place it in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. As the steam fills the microwave, it loosens the mess, making clean up a breeze.   


OMG- So embarrassed to show you this!  But Hey, let's just blame the newborn I have. She hasn't allowed me time to wipe out my microwave?

I used a Pyrex bowl w/ equal parts vinegar & water. Cooked it for 3 minutes & wiped out. All the gunk came off so easily! Looks great, Right?

9. Wipe off a dirty faucet. To get rid of lime buildup, make a paste of 1 teaspoon vinegar and 2 tablespoons salt. Apply to sink fixtures and rub with a cloth.

Embarrassed again :/ I admit I have tried & tried to get my sick clean. I wipe it down daily from hairs, tooth paste etc. But I can never get the brownish stain out. (My mom actually got it really clean when she was here w/ Commet. But I ran out & didn't want to buy more) I tried just Vinegar & Salt but that didn't seem to do the trick. So I then added baking soda & let it sit & bubble for about 5 minutes. I scrubbed really hard & rinsed w/ warm water.....



Another Before picture

Best part? Cora could help me! When I use chemicals to clean I don't even allow her in the bathroom. She loved helping me!

Turned out great!

Sparkling!!!!

       26. Rinse fruits and vegetables. Add 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar to one pint water. Use the mixture to wash fresh fruits and vegetables, then rinse thoroughly. The solution kills more pesticide residue

Just so happened I got strawberries super cheap a few days ago & hadn't gotten them washed yet. So I tried this tip! Cora was again helping me & she was worried the strawberries would taste sour. (B/c she smelled the vinegar & saw me put it on the berries)

But they passed her taste test. "Not sour, Mommy!"



I didn't see this particular idea on the list. It came to me as I was reading up on vinegar. B/c I do not have a dishwasher it's hard to get Cora's sippy cups clean. I usually soak them in dish soap. But this time I tried hot water & vinegar. To no surprise- it worked awesome! :)

Pinterest Projects~ Mother's Day Craft

On Friday we attempted this Mother's Day craft. It was a lot of fun. Cora & her friend Kyleigh, whom I was watching for the day, really enjoyed this one :)  Messy finger paint & stickers? How could I go wrong?

I sure hope Grandma Stoney doesn't see this post & see her Mother's Day present from MM ;)

Pinterest Project- St. Patrick's Day clovers

We attempted 2 more crafts thanks to Pinterest & especially this site. But I didn't think either turned out that great. But I wanted to share b/c older kids could easily do these. The first is suppose to be a 4 leave clover for St. Patrick's Day. To be honest it probably is a good craft & I just didn't conduct it well. Cora had a good time b/c after 3 attempts to get a good looking clover I just turned her loose w/ the paint :)



The second craft is also a clover. The end result was cute but really I was the one who did the whole craft. Cora was too young to really cut, shape & staple it. But she did like running around w/ them after & passing them out to her babies.

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Next week I plan on making a few different recipes from the above link to celebrate the day of GREEN!

 



"Pattern Power"

I actually came up with this craft all on my own! No Pinterest needed. So proud:)
Mae was full of energy & I needed something to entertain her before bath & bedtime other than TV. It took her 30 minutes to make a necklace that she wore proudly!
Since she knows her colors I decided to work on patterns with her. She impressed me with how quickly she caught on. It was fun sitting with her & encouraging her. I made 4 different patterns for her to do. When she got distracted or a little bored I would give her a different pattern to follow. This craft also encourages fine motor skills as she had to get the string in the small cereal hole.


You'll need:
string/shoe lace
fruity cereal
crayons & paper

1 of the patterns I gave her

Who knew a simple craft could bring her so much joy?



Love this picture

Pinterest Project- " Rainbow Craft Time"

It has been 5 1/2 weeks since baby Evelyn arrived! We are settling into life as a family of 4 & it is wonderful! The past couple of weeks she has been sleeping better & is more predictable. Since things are getting easier with the baby I feel like I need to get back on track w/ Cora. Since Evie was born and probably even several weeks before, I have been lazy when it came to Cora. I was tired & just getting through the day. I let her watch way too much tv, play too many games on my phone & I just did not spend good teaching time w/ her.But now it is time to be more intentional through out our day again!

Lil Miss Cora absolutely loves "craft time" as she calls it! Although I enjoy sitting at the table spending time with her, I am not crafty! So I turned to a website probably none of you have heard of....Pinterest for ideas!!! ;) {That's right I joined Pinterest--Something I said I never would do.} I found several ideas that I want to do w/ Cora & I hope to post regularly about our progress.

Cora loved making this craft as she  also snacked on the cereal! She did a lot better than I expected at matching the colors. I thought she would just glue cereal anywhere. You can tell by the finished project though that she got bored w/ the craft? Hey, she's only 2 1/2!

It's suppose to be a rainbow :)