green cleaning machine

Let me talk about baking soda for a minute.  It is probably the miracle product of all time.  You can use it in baking, cleaning, laundry, beauty, etc....and I DO!  It's great for cleaning because it's softer than the finish on stoves, sinks, tubs, and various other household appliances.  As most of you already know, I live in an old apartment with really old, vintage appliances!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my vintage kitchen!  But, I've always been bothered by the baked on crud around the burners.  I knew something could be done, but I refuse to use harsh chemicals!  Cue the baking soda!  I decided to make a paste with water and asking soda and scrub the dickens out of the stains....turns out I didn't need to scrub as hard as I thought!  Some small spots didn't come out, but I'm going to try hydrogen peroxide and baking soda on those.  

Stove top before:  

This picture was taken AFTER I cleaned with glass cleaner.  How gross is that baked on crud?

Stove top after:

I think I'll take it!!

The baking soda even worked on my teapot:

I didn't take a before pick of this, but it had baked on grease all over it from cooking (I'm beginning to think I'm a sloppy cook!).

And my stove in all its vintage glory:

it's that time of year again...resolution time!

With Christmas behind us it's time to focus on the new year.  I have a lot of goals this year and have kicked my motivation into high gear!  First, I wanted to redecorate my bedroom.  On a small budget, that can be hard, so I decided to only do a little at a time, and only use recycled, thrifted, or sale items. Originally, my mother was going to buy me a cube storage unit from ikea to put in the center of the room, but I moved my furniture around, and it turns out that it won't fit.  Not with the existing couch at least.  Maybe if I bought some chairs, but it's not in the budget right now.  So, I had a problem.  I STILL need the storage--my living room is trashed with all the stuff that was in that room! My friend told me about a set of lockers that was in the high school before they ripped them out my sophomore year.  That's perfect!  Even more perfect was the price...$20!  I plan on painting them and putting them where the desk was.  I haven't decided on a cheveron pattern or chalkboard paint....maybe I can find some white chalkboard paint and dye my own so I can do a chevron pattern With chalkboard paint!  

My second goal was to be more social.  Tricky, seeing that I'm a hard core introvert...I thought I'd start out slowly and have people over once a month!  So, the idea to have a "Kick Ass Craft Night" was born.  The first one is on January 29th, and is going to have a LOT of bacon and booze....and crafts of course...no power tools though...I promise!  (Maybe)...