DIY Outdoor Pallet Swing Bed - PROVEN

My friend/cousin/neighbor is credited for finding and executing this awesome idea.

I really wish I could do the same, but there are no trees on our property that would allow for this.  I am happy she had the perfect shade tree.

My husband brought her some pallets from work, she painted them and her hubby attached them together to make one large pallet.  

We wrapped the mattress in plastic to protect it from rain.  It was a lot of fun to be able to help out this with project and it really looks awesome and is very comfortable.  I might wander down there sometime to enjoy a book and the cool breeze.

The kids sure loved it!

Maybe the only modification she might make is to add a piece of USB/particle board between the pallets and the mattress to make it more comfortable.

I love the way it looks, so inviting and relaxing!

I suggest you look for an appropriate tree limb in your own yard!  Everyone could use a little slow down! 

DIY Father's Day Frame - PROVEN

I found an idea for a homemade Father's Day gift on Pinterest.  I saw this photo and knew I wanted to attempt making this for my hubby from our daughter.

The only problem is, the only thing I found was a photo.  No instructions at all, and even when clicking on the pin to go to the link associated, it showed nothing on how to create this masterpiece so I went at it semi-blind!

The first thing I did was order prints online of some of my favorite photos of my husband and daughter together. I ordered 20, even though I only needed 5!  There are many places online you can order prints but my favorite is www.mpix.com.

I bought a $6 frame at Dollar General and a couple 4x6 frames ($1.50 each). While at the dollar store I also picked up a piece of small poster board.

I printed out DADDY in extra large block letters to use as a guide when cutting out the poster board.

I had to first cut the poster board to the size of the frame, I used the piece of paper that was in the frame, traced it and using scissors, cut it to size.  After that I cut out the letters I had printed and laid them out.  After realizing I didn't have enough room, I staggered them to get them to fit.  I traced them and using an exact-o knife, I cut the letters out of the poster board.  This was not an easy task.  It took a steady hand and patience, neither of which I have much of!

I then chose the pictures I wanted to use to represent each letter, those also had to be cut to fit, I taped them to the back of the poster board to make sure they wouldn't shift around.

I then used a pencil to write the words "I'm lucky as can be the best [DADDY] in the world belongs to me!" After I had that done I used a sharpie to trace over those letters and erased the pencil markings.

I realized a little too late that the words were not centered on the board, and if you know me, that is NOT OK.  Also, the bottom line is at an upward angle and it still drives me a little nuts, but the imperfections are what make it homemade, right?.....Sure.  In order to add Madison's touch and also take up some of the extra space on the right side, I had her add her pink hand print!  It acts like her signature to the art, and it is perfect!  I am glad now that I didn't get it centered perfectly!

I used the smaller frames I purchased and put a couple photos of my precious family in them for my husband's desk at work.  The homemade gift is now hanging on the wall in our hallway at home. :)

Here is the finished product!!!!

Dye Easter Eggs with Whipped Cream - PROVEN

This was so much fun!!!

My husband was a total skeptic, stuck in his traditional methods for doing things and was unconvinced that this would even work.

Well, we proved him wrong!  He still thinks we should try the traditional way next year...we will see about that ;)

I started with a recommendation from my friend Vanessa on dying Easter eggs with whipped cream.  I thought it sounded like a fun alternative to the traditional way and something our 2 year old would really enjoy (and find tasty).  I was right!

We followed all the directions and we were very excited and pleased with the results!  I did soak them in vinegar as recommended and I used gel food coloring, which I had never heard of, but was easy to find right in with the liquid stuff!

Madison loved playing in the mix, rolling the eggs and licking her fingers off and making quiet the mess.  But, kids are prone to messes anyway so we did this project outside!

It was harder than you would think for us to be able to dye eggs at all. We were in the process of moving and the new place had no appliances, so I had to go back to the old house just to boil the eggs and then transport them back to the new homestead, but that little jaunt aside this project was fun, easy and worked great!

Use Oatmeal to Keep Cast Iron Skillets Clean - PROVEN

Cooking on cast iron is pretty awesome, except when you are left with a mess that is hard to clean up.  And since cast iron is a special material that you aren't supposed to clean with soap it becomes a hassle to keep the pans clean and maintain the "seasoning" you have done so far.

Well my sister found this awesome idea and it's just too good not to share.

Because of this, I will probably uncover and dust off my old cast iron cookware and start using it a lot more often.  Takes a lot of the hassle out of the clean-up and it works amazingly well.

Click the link above to get a detailed list of directions.   She used oatmeal (which I have a ton of in my cupboards)

Can't wait to do this and to be able to use my cast iron more often!

Thanks for sharing the story and pictures, Ann!

Cleaning the Inside of an Oven Door - PROVEN

I am so excited about this one, people!

I have been searching for an easy way to clean inside the glass of my oven door.  There is a double pane and things, nasty, terrible things get trapped there and I needed to get them out.....especially because we have an Open House this weekend!

Beth was here today watching Maddy and I roped her into helping me with this project.

We found this pin on how to clean inside, between the glass and got moving! 

This is my oven before....like all my other 'before' photos, please don't judge!

First we tried it with a wire hanger, because I thought that was a better idea than the stick the pin suggested...plus it was raining.  Also, I didn't have any duct tape handy so I used scotch tape and it worked perfectly (the tape, not the hanger)

Unfortunately, that idea was a bust, I should have put trust in the pin.  The wire hanger was too thin and I couldn't create enough friction with it to clean the inside of the glass, so we went in search of the perfect stick.

I am so happy I did this.  Who thinks about how to clean the inside glass of the oven door?  This girl...she does! And she did it!

Do this one, it is amazing and I couldn't be happier with the results.

(I also cleaned the rust stains from inside our dishwasher but that's a separate issue...I just want you to know I have been busy today! Haha)

Homemade Edible Fingerpaint - Proven

I love when kids get to explore new things and especially when their little creative minds start to work. When I came across this pin for Homemade Edible Fingerpaint I couldn't wait to try it with Madison.

I followed the directions exactly and it was a pretty simple and fast process.

Madison loved to play in the goo that was created and she did take a taste of it but it was not to her liking haha. She enjoyed smearing it around the paper and feeling the paint for a few minutes. The project was rather short lived but it was a lot of fun. She seemed to enjoy everything about it.

I put her in the bath immediately and there are no stains left over, even faintly, on her hands. We will do this again soon....the recipe made a lot and we barely made a dent. The pin suggests that the paint will last a month or more in the proper container.

Can't wait to do this again!

Cleaning Microfiber with Rubbing Alcohol - PROVEN

My couch is long overdue for a good cleaning.  I have used other products before that weren't effective.  At the time a stain occured I would use carpet cleaner, which removed the stain only to leave a large water mark on the couch.

With a one year old and 5 animals inside the couch has always been a bit of a tough piece of furniture to keep clean, even when we don't let the animals on the couch.  (now we only have 4 animals and all the cats are "outside" cats now...makes it a little easier)  but still, babies and microfiber are NO match!

Don't judge my before pictures...they are terrible, but it shows even more how effective this process is.

The pin says to use Rubbing Alcohol in a spray bottle, a sponge of similar color to the couch and a bristle brush.  Well, I used a blue sponge (the white one shown started to crumble as I was using it!) and a blue bristle brush and there was no color transfer.

DURING PROCESS:

The results speak for themselves, but even the overall appearance of the couch it better, it appears "fluffy" and like new, not to mention that ALL the stains and water spots are GONE!  With a little help from the products I purchased and some elbow grease my couch looks awesome!

I am so pleased with these results that I will continue to use this process on anything and everything I ever own that is microfiber.  I believe they sell microfiber cleaner, but it's not worth the money.  I got the rubbing alcohol, spray bottle, sponge (assortment pack of 6) and brush from Dollar General for a total of $4, and I can use it more than once.

I am sure you will be just as surprised and pleased with the results on your microfiber furniture!  Enjoy!

Homemade Febreze - PROVEN

I recently wrote a status on Facebook saying how I really wish someone would create a candle, oil warmer or spray that smelled as good as my fabric softener.

I got a lot of responses and most of them included making my own Homemade Febreze!

I have had this pinned on my Pinterest DIY board for a while now and I had completely forgotten about it! 

I have used Febreze before, all the different types and scents and I like them, especially the "seasonal" ones, but not so much that it's worth spending the $4 a can/bottle on, even at the dollar store.  So, when I found out that I could make my own and I could determine the scent, I was sold.

I happened to have an empty spray bottle in the basement (which I just happened to find when we deep cleaned down there...yuck.)

Beth helped me and we had to use a make-shift funnel...but hey, whatever works!

 

I doubled the recipe because I use a cheap-o fabric softener (I had a coupon) and I wanted the scent to be more concentrated.  It smells amazing!!!!

The one and only complaint I have, is that the scent doesn't seem to stick around long enough for my liking, but I believe that has to do with the Purex I was using.  If I would spring for Downy I am sure it would last a lot longer, but I don't see that happening in my near future.

Get on this one people, saves a lot of money and smells SO good....it really does work!

Wish you could give this a whiff! Haha!

Oxygen Bleach to Clean Grout - PROVEN

My husband came up with this idea actually, and I later found it on Pinterest.

He used AJAX Oxygen Bleach, Vinegar and Water to clean our bathroom grout.

The online version I found did not include white vinegar, but he used it anyway and the results were amazing.  He decided on the Oxygen Bleach because it is safe for kids and pets and we have both :)

I am embarrassed about the condition of our grout in the before photos, so please don't judge.

I knew this item needed to be crossed off our to-do list, we just never seemed to get around to it.  I came home to my husband on his hands and knees in the bathroom with a scrub brush and the stinky smell of vinegar.  The results were beyond what I could have imagined and I am so happy that this is done.

Our tiles look brand new and the vinegar smell only lingered while he was scrubbing, airing it out was a breeze ;)

Can you tell which area has been scrubbed??