Poor Richard's Almanac: Cleanliness is next to Godliness

On the Virtue of Cleanliness:

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

-Poor Richard's Almanack

Cleanliness is a luxury we cannot afford this week in my house. We seem more prone to filth of every kind. I woke up today to the scents of old trash, and other lovely things, as my kids have caught a fun little bug, and are sharing it amongst one another. But this was good timing! because THIS was ready:

I know. It looks like one of those formaldehyde jars from middle school science lab. But it's SO much more awesome.

It's a jar of vinegar soaked citrus peels. You simply fill a jar with peels (Any kind of citrus will do,) and fill it to the top with white distilled vinegar. Now leave it in the back of your pantry for a couple of weeks until it looks super gross, like the top pic. Now you have a lovely citrus scented vinegar ready to make the best homemade deodorizer/disinfectant ever. You will never have to buy the store bought stuff again. The cost? $0.12- $0.30 per bottle. Yep, I know. Awesome. It now holds a special place in this cheapskate's heart; right next to the Lavender Laundry Soap.

For a deodorizing/disinfecting room spray, dilute your citrus vinegar with water in a 1:1 ratio. Optionally, you can also add tea tree oil (which is really cheap at Wal Mart in the vitamin section. Wahoo!) Spray ALL OVER your house. Hard surfaces, soft surfaces, every room you watched a kid sneeze in. There are no nasty chemicals to worry about!

For a hard surface cleaner, dilute the citrus vinegar with water in a 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water ratio. Just spray on, leave a minute and wipe off.

For an All Purpose cleaner, you can use the hard surface cleaner, but I like to add a tablespoon of ammonia to the bottle and about 1/3 cup of rubbing alcohol. This makes it great for cleaning glass surfaces without streaking. 

If you want to see some scientific backing to all this, click here and check out all the studies on vinegar :)

Labels:

I like cleaning with cute products. I know that's dumb, but it motivates me. So here's a printable label for anyone who has the same cleaning issues that I do. I printed it on pre-sticky mailing labels you can pick up at Walmart. Avery 48126 to be exact.

Why not use just regular vinegar to keep your home clean? You CAN! But this smells better. A lot of people don't like the smell of vinegar, but when you use the citrus peel vinegar, it's much more mild, and then when it dries, the scent is gone, leaving behind a lovely orange citrus scent.

It beats the old trash, believe me. :)

Happy healthy days to you all!

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Poor Richard's Almanac: Date Night in Black and White

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards."

~from Poor Richard's Alamanac by Benjamin Franklin

When my husband and I started dating, we believed in doing things like rock climbing, and night picnicking, and star-gazing, and grooming.

Things have changed a bit since then.

Now we are just happy if we can go to the grocery store together without having to corral five kids and push a sticky race car shopping cart with skiwampus wheels.

In an effort to recover financially from Christmas (and to live more providently this month) my hubby and I bypassed the nice restaurant and the movie theater and the sticky race car cart last night for a date night at home "in black and white."

And it was FABULOUS!

Here are some ideas for recreating your very own 

Date Night in Black and White . . .

Hubs and I started the evening with a viewing of The Artist.  At first I was hesitant to see this because I couldn't imagine a silent film about a silent film being riveting.  But it was!  This is an absolutely beautiful film.  It is no wonder it won several Academy awards.  

And the best part:  IT IS ON NETFLIX!  Wahoo!

No movie would be complete without a good bowl of popcorn.   

Try a batch of these crowd-pleasing kernels.

Or you could even create your very own black and white inspired concession stand!  I stocked this one with hors d'oeuvres skewers featuring olives, tomatoes and mozzarella.  (The concessions sign is a picture frame with chalkboard paint.  I added a little flower made from sticky-backed felt for fun.)

And as a sweet end to your date night, serve up a tray of these darling little striped cake pops.  

(Use your favorite recipe for the inside of the pops and then dip the outsides in white chocolate.  Let the pops cool in the fridge until the white coating is hard.  Next, melt some chocolate chips in the microwave.  Put the melted chips in a baggie, snip off one of the corners of the baggie to create a makeshift frosting bag, and start swirling!)

I realize that a night spent at home in front of the TV while cuddling cake pops and popcorn isn't everyone's idea of dream date, but it sure beats a cleanup on aisle 9 caused by an unwieldy race cart.

So here's to your perfect date night this week . . . wherever it may be!

Sharing at . . .

Between Naps on the Porch 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
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Jennifer Rizzo
StoneGable 
No Minimalist Here
Common Ground
From My Front Porch to Yours   
French Country Cottage 
At the Picket Fence
Stuff and Nonsense 
Savvy Southern Style
Somewhat Simple  

Poor Richard's Almanac: Provident Living

He that is rich need not live sparingly, 

and he that can live sparingly, need not be rich.

~ from Poor Richard's Almanac 

by Benjamin Franklin

On New Year's Day last year, I made the resolution to eat more cookies.  

I am happy to say that I did SO well on that resolution that I am now the newest member of an online weight loss program.  

(And by the way, eating cookies is a much funner resolution than having to burn them from my thighs with leg lifts and saddle squats . . .)

As Miriam and I considered our own New Year's resolutions and our theme for January, we decided to turn to that King of Quips and provident advice: Benjamin Franklin.  His Poor Richard's Almanac, published in 1732, is full of famous phrases that have continued to permeate our culture.  For example: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."  Sound familiar?

And so we tip our tri-cornered hat to Mr. Franklin and his pithy wisdom.  

This month we want to do more on less, do better with what we have, and enjoy the provident and practical ride. 

As a kick-off to our penny-pinching month, I thought I'd share some snapshots I took while enjoying one of my favorite and least-expensive hobbies: model home snooping!  These come from a bedroom in an Ivory home model in Salt Lake City.  The best part is that this adorable room has hints of colonial America in its decor!  Yes, Ben Franklin.  This one's for you.

I would have never thought that corals and blues and greens could go so well together, but this combo is scrumptious!  (Or maybe I'm just starving.  A pox on this diet!)

I'm smitten with the nailhead trim on the velvet headboard.  What a fun shape!

And what should I see hanging on the wall in this delightful room, but two colonial prints of children's rhymes!

And even Ben Franklin himself would have to love this classic chair with the whimsical "political' addition of a "possibilitarian" pillow.

So off we go this month---from this model home back to our own homes---where Miriam and I hope we can prove ourselves to be staunch, flaming, dyed-in-the-wool . . .

Possibilitarians!

Happy New Year to you all!

Sharing at . . .

Between Naps on the Porch 
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Jennifer Rizzo
StoneGable 
No Minimalist Here
Common Ground
From My Front Porch to Yours   
French Country Cottage 
At the Picket Fence
Stuff and Nonsense