Found a great tutorial for a little zippered pouch.... There are a few of them out there, but this one explained it in such that I just GOT it I guess... I will have to post a few pics of them later... But for now, here is the link...
http://www.twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Cleaning Stainless Steel appliances
We have 3 stainless steel appliances in our home - oven, dishwasher and fridge. And a 1 and 2 year old... I know, I know. But 2 our of the 3 came with the house when we bought it!!! And they sure are pretty when they are clean (ok, that's almost never!)!
Anyway, so I've been testing a lot of products lately. All purchased from the local grocery store or from Target.
My personal fave would have to be the Scotch-Brite Stainless Steel Cleaner Starter Kit. It comes with pads (qty of 6 I think, you can then purchase additional packs) that attach to a little hand held thingy. You wipe away with the grain, and TADA! Beautiful! NO streaks! You can also remove the pad and use it by hand to clean up harder to reach spots. I have been truly amazed by this product. It's the only one that does NOT leave STREAKS on my fridge!!! NO STREAKS! I found this at Target, in the 'laundry' aisle, NOT with the cleaning stuff... ???!?? You can also find it at Drugstore.com
And a little tip - keep the pads tightly sealed in the package as directed. Or they will dry out.
I realize that stainless steel finishes can vary per appliance though, so sometimes I think it might be a matter of finding what works in your own home.
I have also tried Method's Spray and microfiber cloth (each sold separately). Smells great, and I really like Method's line of cleaning supplies, but I wasn't too impressed. Worked ok on my dishwasher (has a duller matte finish), but left horrible streaks on the fridge.
I realize that stainless steel finishes can vary per appliance though, so sometimes I think it might be a matter of finding what works in your own home.
I have also tried Method's Spray and microfiber cloth (each sold separately). Smells great, and I really like Method's line of cleaning supplies, but I wasn't too impressed. Worked ok on my dishwasher (has a duller matte finish), but left horrible streaks on the fridge.
Let's see... What else have I used?!??!
Weiman Stainless Steel Wipes, and Weiman Stainless Steel Spray. The wipes - not so good. The spray - worked well, but only when I buffed the fridge like mad for an hour with a soft cloth after applying. I know some will say that the 'buffing' is the key to beautiful stainless steel. But with the 2 kids running around the kitchen, who has time for that!?!
I'll stick with the Scotch-Brite stuff!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Product Review - Nair Shower Power
I recently saw an ad for Nair Shower Power, which apparently works while you shower. Seeing that warmer weather and shorts are on the way, and considering that I have two young children and not a whole lot of shower time, I thought I would give it a try...
I have used a few Nair products in the past and had fairly decent results... The big draw for me has always been that Nair is supposed to keep your legs smoother and fuzz free longer than just using a regular old razor. I have noticed this is true to some extent. It probably gives me an extra day, maybe 2.
The drawback is having to load your legs up with lotion/cream, and then sit around and wait for the messy stuff to work it's magic.
But Shower Power works WHILE you shower. The magic formula is supposed to stay on your skin without dissolving or washing off in the shower. When you are ready, YOU remove it with the special sponge and the hair goes with it!
So, I gave it a shot.
I used the orange side of the sponge to apply the cream to one of my legs. I let it sit for a minute before getting in the shower (per the instructions). I hopped in and enjoyed the warm shower while the cream did it's work. The instructions state to not let the cream stay on for more than 10 minutes total, so after about 9 minutes or so, I decided to see if the stuff worked...
Using the white side of the sponge, I began wiping the stuff off. I noticed that a lot of it had already washed off. Hmmmm, not good. I also noticed that my hair was not really going anywhere. Really not good.
Not super impressed.... But to be fair I decided to give it another go. I waited about a week and a half. And then I went for Round 2.
This time I let the cream sit a little longer before hopping in the shower... I also stayed way out of the water for awhile to make sure it was going anywhere. This worked out ok for me, because we happen to have a pretty large shower stall. But if that is not the case for you, you might run into problems.
I also went just a TINY bit past the recommended 10 minutes. It was more like 11.
This time I had applied the cream to both legs, from the knees on down. I noticed that it takes quite a bit of cream to cover it all. Which means that your 5.1 oz tube might not last you too long, depending on how much hair you want to remove.
Okay, so after about 11 minutes, I used the white side of the scrubby sponge to remove the hair. This time I got better results. It was coming off. I finished up in the shower, got myself ready, and then was able to take a better look at the results...
Overall, not super impressed. I don't have very thick hair, but there were some stubborn spots where I guess the cream wasn't thick enough, or it just wasn't working very well...
I also don't have very sensitive skin, and I have never had problems with Nair products in the past, but this time my legs were kinda irritated. Definitely not painful at all... But slightly red and splotchy, and my leg pores were all of a sudden VERY large and noticeable. This seemed to be the case for a few days. My legs DID feel smooth for the most part though, and these smooth areas seemed to last for a couple of days.
I didn't have much cream left in that tube, and to be honest, I threw the rest away!
I had once tried Nair's Bladeless Shaving kit and had MUCH better results. It might be worth it to try it out again.
Otherwise I might just stick to some nice shaving gel and good razors. I might have to shave more often, but at least I get nice smooth results for a day!
I have used a few Nair products in the past and had fairly decent results... The big draw for me has always been that Nair is supposed to keep your legs smoother and fuzz free longer than just using a regular old razor. I have noticed this is true to some extent. It probably gives me an extra day, maybe 2.
The drawback is having to load your legs up with lotion/cream, and then sit around and wait for the messy stuff to work it's magic.
But Shower Power works WHILE you shower. The magic formula is supposed to stay on your skin without dissolving or washing off in the shower. When you are ready, YOU remove it with the special sponge and the hair goes with it!
So, I gave it a shot.
I used the orange side of the sponge to apply the cream to one of my legs. I let it sit for a minute before getting in the shower (per the instructions). I hopped in and enjoyed the warm shower while the cream did it's work. The instructions state to not let the cream stay on for more than 10 minutes total, so after about 9 minutes or so, I decided to see if the stuff worked...
Using the white side of the sponge, I began wiping the stuff off. I noticed that a lot of it had already washed off. Hmmmm, not good. I also noticed that my hair was not really going anywhere. Really not good.
Not super impressed.... But to be fair I decided to give it another go. I waited about a week and a half. And then I went for Round 2.
This time I let the cream sit a little longer before hopping in the shower... I also stayed way out of the water for awhile to make sure it was going anywhere. This worked out ok for me, because we happen to have a pretty large shower stall. But if that is not the case for you, you might run into problems.
I also went just a TINY bit past the recommended 10 minutes. It was more like 11.
This time I had applied the cream to both legs, from the knees on down. I noticed that it takes quite a bit of cream to cover it all. Which means that your 5.1 oz tube might not last you too long, depending on how much hair you want to remove.
Okay, so after about 11 minutes, I used the white side of the scrubby sponge to remove the hair. This time I got better results. It was coming off. I finished up in the shower, got myself ready, and then was able to take a better look at the results...
Overall, not super impressed. I don't have very thick hair, but there were some stubborn spots where I guess the cream wasn't thick enough, or it just wasn't working very well...
I also don't have very sensitive skin, and I have never had problems with Nair products in the past, but this time my legs were kinda irritated. Definitely not painful at all... But slightly red and splotchy, and my leg pores were all of a sudden VERY large and noticeable. This seemed to be the case for a few days. My legs DID feel smooth for the most part though, and these smooth areas seemed to last for a couple of days.
I didn't have much cream left in that tube, and to be honest, I threw the rest away!
I had once tried Nair's Bladeless Shaving kit and had MUCH better results. It might be worth it to try it out again.
Otherwise I might just stick to some nice shaving gel and good razors. I might have to shave more often, but at least I get nice smooth results for a day!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
You need this...
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
Seriously, it is MAGIC! Or close to it! We recently moved, and bought this item to try to clean up scuff marks on our walls before showing our home. Amazing!
Great for bathrooms too! Give your tub a little love - sparkling white again!
And today it saved me again! My toddler took a big ole permanant marker to our wood floors. Left him for a second; came back to find a HUGE disaster. I'm not sure Magic Eraser is meant for wood floors, so you might want to check before taking it to yours. But I was VERY desperate! Had to use a little arm power, but the marker is GONE! And it didn't seem to do any damage to the floor.
Ohhhh, thank you Mr. Clean!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
When the Crayola Box can't help you...
I love colors. (And I love boxes of crayons too!)
But when you are creating things on the computer, sometimes you need a little more help. I often need to find 'hex codes' for colors. One tool I really like, is the color wheel here. It's easy to click on any color, and find the code. It's also easy to see other 'schemes' (like a color triad, or contrasting colors) and their corresponding codes.
Another site I have seen, but don't know much about, is colourlovers.com. I know you can go on and create and share your own color pallets. I'll have to look into it some more...
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