DIY Budget Bulletin Board

Today I made a budget friendly bulletin board for our kitchen/classroom. We have always tended to use the door to the garage as our school bulletin board, but taping everything was getting tedious and I wanted another solution. I have been thinking about getting a cork board, but those are pricey. Here's my take on a DIY bulletin board, let me show you what I did.

I took a heavy cardboard box and cut all the flaps off, just leaving the body of the box. This box is super thick, which is why I chose it. I wanted something I could nail to the wall and was thick enough to handle thumbtacks.

I took my hot glue gun and liberally pumped hot glue all over two interior sides of the box, then pressed it together and made a cardboard sandwich of sorts.

I then covered the entire front of the board in thick craft paper. If you were doing a darker or thicker fabric, you could probably skip this step. But because the fabric was both lightweight and light and color I did this. Didn't want to have the printing on the box showing through.

I then used my hot glue gun to affix the fabric directly to the board. No secret strategy, just glued and then stretched the fabric to fit. As you can tell, I didn't iron my fabric before hand. However since most of the time the majority of the board will be covered, I didn't worry about it.

I just used regular nails to hang directly to the door. Three on the top and bottom and one in the middle on each side. It went up really easily. Be careful though that you don't completely puncture the cardboard, which is why a thick cardboard box is a must.

There you have it, quick, simple and cheap! Everything I used I already had on hand, so free is always fabulous to me! Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" on the right to see where I'll be sharing my latest project.

Household "Hyacinths"

So lately I'm really all about finding "Hyacinths" for my soul. What are they you ask? Special little somethings that really make you happy, speak to you or just bring you joy. My Momma introduced me to this concept, and I'm all over it!

So from time to time I want to share my special things and hear about your special things! Today I wanted to share my "Hyacinths" for the house. Things I use while cleaning that make me happy, or make my life easier. Here they are, in no particular order.
So I discovered Caldrea products, and they are amazing! Target sells their line, a more budget friendly option. I bought their hand soap, in an awesome scent called "Olive Oil". It smells nothing like olive oil, but it does smell amazing and makes me sigh a little sigh every time I wash my hands at the kitchen sink. Oh, and did I mention I hide it from the other little grubby paws in the house and hoard it all to myself?

Hands down, the best dishwashing liquid ever. We have the top of the line dishwasher in our house, me! So I am always looking for a yummy smelling but hard working dishsoap, and this one definitely fits the bill! I have tried a few different scents of theirs, my favorites are "Geranium" and "Basil". Heavenly smells I tell you, I have no problem zoning out when doing the dishes while using this stuff.

Ok, I have a confession to make. I'm freakishly kinda neurotic when it comes to cleaning the bathroom. I like it to smell like a hospital when I'm done. Yeah, I'm sure that I'm killing lots of brain cells in the process but I like it to smell "clean". Lysol sells this super concentrated cleaner, one bottle will last you a year (seriously, if not longer). It cleans every gunk and gook you can find in the bathroom and you will be left with a both a clean and a clean smelling bathroom.

I am gonna say it, judge me if you will. I would give a long, lingering kiss to the person who invented this thing if I ever met them. The "magic eraser" is a gift from above. I cannot even begin to describe what I've gotten off of walls and floors with this thing. I cannot imagine my life without it, and that is not even a slight exaggeration.

I finally broke down a few years ago and asked for this for my birthday. I know, what a gift! But it actually has ended up being quite a gift to clean my floors. We have yicky old linoleum floors that have lots of nooks and crannies, perfect for collecting all sorts of creeping crud. That and my kids are the messiest eaters on the planet and my floors are always sporting whatever they've had for their meal. I love how easy this is to use, and while the refills are pricey I've found a way around part of that by figuring out how to refill the cleaning bottles with my own solution.

So there are my household "hyacinths". I'd love to hear about yours, I'm always on the lookout to add to my collection!

I am not being compensated at all for endorsing any of these products, they are just ones that I truly enjoy using!

My Little Laundry Helpers

So as most Mom's, I've tried my fair share of different laundry products. Sometimes I'm looking for inexpensive products, trying to get the most bang for my buck. Sometimes I'm looking for products that really get the job done. I wanted to share those "go to" products that I use that really get my laundry clean when normal washing doesn't. Meet my little friend, Zout. I've never had a friend who's name has begun with Z. Not many names out there that begin with Z. However, I am so so glad that I met my uniquely named friend Zout. He is a terrific friend. He gets out all sorts of stains that my normal laundry detergent doesn't get out sometimes. Like mud, grass stains, blood, chocolate, ink and grease stains. Oh how he eats up those grease stains. Even stains that have gone through the dryer. Yep, he eats those "set in" stains right up.

In all seriousness, this stuff really does work well. Someone introduced this to me after the birth of my first child, I've been hooked ever since. It gets out an amazing number of stains, and like I said it even works on things that have gone through the dryer. How many times have you pulled a shirt out of the dryer and a grease stain has magically appeared that wasn't there before? Squirt some of the Zout on it, let it sit 20 min or so and that stain will come out the next time you wash it. I've not had it work on a grease stain yet.

My second "go to" for laundry involves this stuff, Clorox 2. Again, when expecting my first child I was turned onto this stuff. I buy lots of baby clothing second hand. Some of it was a little on the dingy side and normal detergent wasn't getting it very clean. I was told about this concoction (by my lovely Momma) and have soaked many an item in it and it's really brightened the fabric and gotten out some old, set in and yellowed stains.

Here is the "recipe": Take 1/2C of Clorox 2 (it has to be this, no substitutions), 1/2C of cheapie automatic dishwasher detergent and dump it in a bucket. Place the clothing inside and fill the bucket with HOT water. Hot water is important, so make sure to just do like colored items to prevent bleeding. Mix it all up well and let it sit, the longer the better (overnight is best). Then dump the bucket, water and all in your machine and wash it on a small load with a small amount of regular detergent, again on hot. I'm telling you, this stuff if magic. Sometimes I'll have to repeat on really stubborn stains but I've only had a few items that this treatment didn't work on.

So those are my "go to's" for tough stains and dingy clothes. I'll share my "bang for my buck" products, including make your own detergent and the cheapest laundry detergent you can buy on another post!