Cleaning With Lemons

I recently discovered that you can use lemons to clean. Unlike many other natural cleaning products, lemons are cheap and easy to find. They are also versatile and can be used on many surfaces without risk of damaging them.

Cleaning with lemons is quick and easy.  Simply cut a lemon in half and rub it on the surface you wish to clean. You can also dip the cut lemon in salt, baking soda [LINK] or citric acid [LINK] to create a more abrasive cleaning surface.  The only thing you need to worry about is washing away the juice and pulp bits after you've scrubbed up the food and grease.

I mostly use lemons to clean in my kitchen, but you could use them in your bathroom or anywhere really.  And, because lemons are good for degreasing, they would probably be quite useful for grimy car and/or machine parts - and/or for cleaning your hands after working on grimy car/machine parts.

I often use lemons as a starter cleaning solution and then use a magic eraser to get off whatever the lemons don't. And, when the lemon is exhausted, you can simply put it down your drain and run the garbage disposer - it cleans the disposer and freshens up the smell.

Cleaning with lemons - a simple triumph!

Charm Jewelry

I really like charm jewelry! Awhile back, I went to Michaels and bought a bunch of jewelry stuff. I spent a long time in the store - probably like 2 hours. I often don't know exactly what I want when I go in to a craft store, but I always have some sort of an idea of what I want to make. This time I went in for jewelry. I knew I wanted an oak tree, an owl, birds, shells, feathers, wings, and all the findings necessary to make those things into jewelry.

Not knowing exactly what I want, I usually start out at the clearance aisle (a habit I got from my mom - my mom and I have spent a lot of quality time on the clearance aisle, and now that we live apart, on the phone talking about the clearance aisle). I love to be inspired by cheap finds.

At the clearance aisle, I found a package of little shells and pieces of shells for 80 cents. They seemed perfect for using as spacers and extra baubles to go along with the shells [LINK] I collect from the beach. So, I tossed 'em in my cart. Next, I found a necklace and bracelet style in silver and gold tones. The necklaces were three bucks each and the bracelets a dollar. Perfect! I often like to start from existing pieces.  It makes my projects faster and easier and gives me a design guide to work from.

Next, I went to the jewelry section and began looking at the charms.  Again, I really like charms.  There I found an owl and some feathers and wings.  I didn't find any oak trees or any birds I liked, but I did find some strawberries and mushrooms that were really cute.  Some of the charms were silver and some gold tone - perfect to match the necklaces and bracelets I found.  I liked all the charms and wanted to use them all in my jewelry making, but they didn't all go together.  I decided to get some small clasps to attach to the charms so that I could make them easily removable. I got all the other findings I needed and headed home.

I made my mix and match charm necklaces and bracelets and now I have several pieces of jewelry all on one - simply triumphant!

Hiding Bra Straps

Apparently there is a thing for sale called the Strap Perfect [LINK - http://www.walmart.com/ip/As-Seen-on-TV-Strap-Perfect/14248106]. For 10 bucks you get a few loops of plastic in black, white and "nude" - a "color" I think should be renamed "white people skin."  The product basically pulls your bra straps into the middle of your back so they don't stick out under your clothes. Also, it supposedly gives you more cleavage - "a full cup size instantly!"

Now, it's not that this product is completely stupid or that $10 is so much to pay, but I just can't bring myself to purchase plastic for this purpose at this price.  Also, it's something that you never think you need until you actually need it.  And, well...just the other day, I actually needed it.

I was wearing a white racerback shirt and a white bra (tip: "nude" is actually a better bra color choice when wearing a white shirt because it doesn't give you such a bra outline).  Not only were my bra straps showing, but the white bra was not brand new and the straps looked kinda dingy.

First, I grabbed a hair tie and tried to use it to tie my straps together behind my back, but the knot kept slipping out. Then, I grabbed a rubber band, cut it so that I had a rubber string and used that to tie my straps together.  It worked great! At the end of the day I just cut the rubber band and took off the bra. Triumph!

Using Shells

I like shells, but using them can be tricky.  You can buy shells at a craft store but they can be pricey and not that nice.  I live near the beach and sometimes I see a really nice shell in the sand - all wet and glistening in the sun - and I think, "That would be great in my home!"

So, I pick it up and bring it home (Note: Never take anything from a protected beach, never take any living things, and never take more than a few things.) Once I've got the shell at home, it never looks as nice as it did at the beach - it's all dried out and starting to smell!

Before using beach-gathered shells in crafts, you need to prepare them.  I start by soaking my shells in a solution of half vinegar [LINK], half hot water for about an hour.  Then, I soak them in plain hot water.  Then, I lay them out in the sun to dry. Once the shells are dry, I coat them in clear nail polish.  It returns them to their original shine of lying in the wet sand and traps any leftover smell.

If you want to make jewelry or hang the shells from something, take a tiny, tiny drill bit and make a tiny, tiny hole. I like to put the hole in one corner of the shell so it hangs on the diagonal. I also don't like to use a lot of shells.  I mix them up with something else or just use a few shells as an accent. Over-shelling can be bad for your style. Also, don't decorate a room in all shell - it's overwhelming. Shells should be used sparingly. Also, I find the best way to attach a shell to something is with hot glue, it smooshes into all the little nooks and crannies and holds your shell tight. Pretty shells - triumph!

Eat Good Cheap

I like fruit, but I am cheap. Luckily, I recently learned that at my local 99 Cents Only [http://www.99only.com/] store, produce is delivered on Tuesday night. Last Wednesday morning, I got a big bag of cherries, a cantaloupe, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, asparagus, a big package of salad, green onions, broccoflower, a big bag of plums, a big bag of peaches, and some other stuff too.  I like to buy organic and local, and some of the stuff at the 99 Cents Only store is organic and/or local.

Because it's sometimes packaged in very small quantities, the produce at the dollar store isn't always a great deal, but generally the quality is quite good - though I can't say the same for the other food.  Most of it is crap - full of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), MSG, etc. However, there are usually a few things that are worthwhile - including vinegar, baking soda and candy (it's bad for you anyway, so why not get it cheap).  And, in terms of non-food items, the dollar store is good for rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, aluminum foil, parchment paper, bobby pins, toothbrushes, toothpicks, batteries, funky socks, fun underwear, killer sunglasses, vases, wrapping paper, tissue paper, bags, balloons, party decorations, and stuff like ziploc bags and disposable plates, cups, napkins and silverware (for those odd times when I actually use throw away supplies).

Sometimes there are also yummy things that just happen to be at the dollar store. My favorites are POM teas, Milka chocolates, Almond Roca, Quaker oatmeal, and Pop Tarts. These aren't healthy things, but as long as they aren't regular things in your diet, why not buy 'em cheap. 99 cent food - a cheap triumph!

Calendar Hangers

It's the end of May and I'm just realizing what a great calendar hanging system we have in our home. My boyfriend is a genius. Actually, he's just way more stubborn, a little bit less lazy and as equally committed to not doing things the proper way as I am. My boyfriend's birthday is December 31st and I got him a calendar. So, when it came time to hang up said calendar - the day after his birthday - he created this new system.

The system is pretty simple and was born out of the frustration of having the calendar fall down all the time, the difficulty in changing the pages of the month, and the unsightliness of the previous calendar hanging arrangements. In the past we had tried to hang the calendar with a push pin, but that meant you had to pull out the tack and put it back in every month - or more often if you wanted to look back at a previous month. This led to the calendar falling because the hole eventually got too big to continue to hold the push pin. We had also tried several different hook things but they also fell out after time. Finally, somebody did something about it.

My boyfriend got a generic plastic wall anchor and a screw that was a little bit smaller than the one meant to go in the anchor. He hammered in the anchor and then used the screw to hang the calendar. Because the screw is a bit too small for the anchor, you don't need a screwdriver to get it in or out when you change the months, yet the anchor holds it in place.

The design is very simple and clean, but if you wanted and were less lazy than my boyfriend and me, you could glue a little something - like a button or rhinestone - to the end of the screw to make it less utilitarian. Or, you can use a screw with a funky top since you don't need a tool to get it in and out. There are really a lot of things you could do with this system...

- Each year, customize your screw to match your calendar. For instance, if you have a calendar of beach scenes, you could glue a shell onto your screw.
- Get 4 screws. Glue a flower on one, a sun on another, a leaf on the next, and a snowflake on the last. Now you have a different screw for each season.
- Get lots of screws and make a different one for each month. You can go with a theme like birthstones.
- Get lots of screws and personalize some for different months. Like, for a month that has a family member's birthday, you could use a cake.

Plastic anchors and screws as calendar hooks - a simple triumph!

UPDATE - January 28, 2014
In January 2010, we moved.  We now use a cup hook as our calendar hanging system.  It is also a simple triumph!

How to Get Nice Feet

This is the procedure that inspired me to start this blog.  One day I thought to myself, "Hmm, maybe this will work." Then, I tried it and it worked. It was a simple triumph.

Do you have not-so-nice feet? (WARNING: I am not a qualified to give advice on anything. If you have foot problem, go see a doctor, do not take my advice). Have you recently discovered that your feet have become less-than-smooth from various practices such as going barefoot, wearing sandals, wearing heels, wearing heeled sandals, visiting the beach, swimming,  etc? Well, don't worry, I have a solution - and it's cheap! As are most of my solutions.

First, go to your local 99 Cents Only Store or other such fine establishment. Buy some acne product with salicylic acid - I recommend something with a greasy base to help moisturize - and some Epsom salts. Go home - don't wander around the store or you'll end up with crap you don't need. But, then again, it is a dollar store, so why not go nuts? Wait, no, not $90 dollars nuts - that's a bit much. Plus, I don't think those irregular thong panties and Super Flaming Hot Beer Flavored Cheetos are good for your health...or your image.

Next, draw a bath, sink, or bucket full of hot water (I'm assuming that if you read this blog, you are not fancy enough to have a special device for soaking your feet like my mom does - it has a massage feature). Pour in some Epsom salt. I don't know how much, just go for it. Mix it up and let the salt dissolve. If you want to get real fancy you can put in some essential oil or something like that. Soak your feet for awhile. I don't know how long, just go for it. Then, use a pumice stone or foot scrubber, along with some more salt or some apricot scrub (I use the generic stuff, also sometimes available at the dollar store) to scrub the soles and sides of your feet, heels, and toes. Rinse and dry your feet.

Now, slather on some of that acne stuff - only on the soles and sides of your feet, heels and toes because you probably don't need it on the tops. My theory - arrived at by about 5 minutes of Interwebs research - as to how this works is that the Salicylic Acid helps slough off dead skin cells. I like to take this time to give my feet a bit of a massage, then - depending on how tired I am - I give myself a little pedicure.

You only have to do this whole ritual every so often - I do this about every 2 weeks. On a daily basis, you just have to slather on some of that greasy acne stuff (tip: like to do this before bed and put on some socks to hold in the grease for awhile).

If you have not-so-nice feet, characterized by dry, rough spots and perhaps even small calluses, do this. In just a few days - or, maybe a week - you'll have smoother, nicer, simply triumphant feet.