Organize under the Sink

I was in search of "something" under the sink today, but of course, there was no way I was going to find it in this chaos.  So instead, I decided that this needed some improvement - Pronto!

Here is the before. Woah!

First, I removed everything and cleaned the bottom of the cabinet.
Then I cut some white contact paper and laid that on the bottom.
Then I separated the items that could be moved to nicer looking glass jars and those that I wanted to leave in the original container.
I found a white basket, that was not being used and put that in the middle.  Then I add the "original" items to the basket.  These were things that were almost empty or that I had no need to change the bottle like the Dr. Bonner's Soap, etc.  Next, with all the glass jars filled up, I just needed some pretty labels to distinguish this from that.  I already had some white contact paper, so I used THESE.  If you don't like those, you can find more HERE.  Then I took another pic and voila!  It was super easy and took only about 30 minutes and yes, you can do this too...

Here is the AFTER, Wow!

Now what was it I was looking for anyway?

VEGAN Easter Eggs

So how do VEGANS do Easter?   More specific Easter eggs?  Last year, we went in search of a new method to get those little goodies ready for Mr. E. Bunny.  We decided plastic eggs were the way to go.  But how to dye plastic???  Why Dye?  Who says you MUST dye your eggs?  We were use to the messy dye process from years ago, which I hated.  I just new something was going to get dyed that was not supposed to be.  

Since my little artists have a ton of paints and such, they wanted to use puff paints to color the eggs.  Which we did in 2012, but they ended up needing a few days to dry.  (My kiddos really piled on the paint.) This year, I wanted something that was a bit easier on the Easter Bunny to hide, without fear of the paint sliding onto the area of such hiding.

So they used their ceramic paints.  

They turned out spectacular!  Super easy and quick!  Dried in no time (good thing since we colored them on the day before Easter)!  And looked awesome...don't you think?

DIY Artwork

Yet another inspiration from Pinterest.  This was incredibly easy and rather quick as well.

Tape off some canvas.

Paint in the sections.

Let it dry.

Pull off the tape.

Instant Art!

Homemade Cleaner

I stopped using chemical cleaners about a year ago.  At first, I was just using straight vinegar to clean up, but then thanks to my pinterest friends, I discovered this wonderful addition to the family.  It is soo simple to make and does not gag you, or make your eyes water when you are cleaning your house.   It does smell like vinegar with that hint of orange, but once it dries, the smell is gone.  It cleans up even the stickiest, caked-on, crusty messes, that you will think that you are using a bottle of the store-bought concoction.  So if you are trying to rid your home of chemicals, or you just want to try it out to prove me insanely wrong, come on, get your orange on and go for it!!

  

All you will need is a clean spray bottle, some WHITE VINEGAR and some ORANGES.
For the photos I used a jar that was filled with a few cut up oranges that we
did not end up eating,  but you can just use the peels.
I usually leave a jar on the counter and when people eat their oranges they just deposit the peels into the jar.

I will keep pushing the peels down to the bottom and once the jar is filled up, I pour in the WHITE VINEGAR.  Then the jar goes into the cupboard for about 2 weeks.  I usually have 2 or 3 jars ready to go at any given time, so I never run out of cleaner.

For the first 2 weeks, while you are waiting for your first bottle of wonderful ORANGE  cleaner,
just use the WHITE VINEGAR with some water. (add a few drops of essential
oils for some fragrance, if you like) I used a 3:1 ratio of vinegar and water.
Then don't forget to start collecting more peels, so that you always have a fresh
 jar ready to go when your cleaner starts to run low.

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Once your ORANGE jar has been sitting in the cupboard for a few weeks and you are ready to make some fresh cleaner.  Just dump the jar out into a strainer.  Compost the ORANGES, or return them to jar and make some more cleaner, if they still look pretty fresh, like these were.

Then pour the ORANGE liquid into a clean spray bottle and fill the rest
of it up with WHITE VINEGAR. 

  

And there you have it!!!  Natural Homemade ORANGE Cleaner!
You will never go back to those "other guys."

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Look for more helpful tips to live
 chemical-free
 in the search tab.

Long time no see...

Wow, it has been a long time, but finally I have something to post.  Now that it is getting warmer outside, it seems like I get more done.  I have lots of things to add, but going through all of those photos is what keeps me from doing it.  My goal is to post something once a month.  Yes, I can do that.  So check back soon for some more awesome posts that I know will have you on the edge of your seat.  LOL!

Journey to the Hen House

We have started a new journey with a few little fluff balls. They are getting so big so fast. I wanted to post our progress as we hope to have them ALL out to the "hen" house, soon. Although, my son is convinced there is at least one rooster in the bunch. But, I think it's just because he would like to have another boy around the house.

We brought home ten, "day-old" chicks yesterday.

We started them all in a box, in the greenhouse room.

We were told we got 3 buff orpingtons, 4 rhode island
reds & 3 plymouth rock. What do you think?

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About 10 days later.....

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They grew too big for that box and I was worried they would actually
fly out, since they were doing a lot of "fly-jumping" and almost hitting the lamp.

So they moved into a water tank, which was much more roomy.

And the greenhouse room stayed very warm, so we switched to a regular
light bulb too, so we did not have baked chicks.

We also introduced them to their new poop-less watering system.

It took them awhile to figure it out.
The black one we call Stretch was the first to investigate.
And soon the others were trying their luck at the new contraption.

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Three weeks old now.....

They are loosing all the baby fluff and definitely gaining their own personalities.

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They are now 4 weeks old.  I turned off their heat light yesterday, as the weather has started to get warmer.  We decided to take them outside today, since the temperature reached 69 degrees....

We took them out 3 at a time, but I only got shots of the black ones in the grass.

They were not happy campers.  In fact, they acted just like my kiddos did the first time they were introduced to grass.  A bit hesitant of the foreign substance....LOL! They much preferred the sidewalk or my lap.

A few times they even attempted to fly up to my head...weird.

I felt like a mother hen...as they did not stray too far away, which was good, since I thought I would be chasing chickens all around the yard once I let them out.

I plan on taking them outside each day for about a week or so before they move into their outdoor coop.  I can not believe how big they got in only a month's time.   

One finally ventured over to my son's lap for a quick peek, before we headed back inside.

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The next day we picked up a puppy pen.
They did much better and started hunted around the ground for goodies.

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5 weeks already??

Yep, and one of the barred rocks is getting lighter each day.  I am beginning to think that our 10 pullets have now become nine pullets and one cockerel.  

They are loving their daily romp in the grass.  But their water tank is starting to get a bit cramped.  They grow so fast!!  I trying to figure out a place to put them until their coop gets finished.

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 5 1/2 Weeks...

Still no coop yet, so we moved them into a larger stock tank and out of the greenhouse room, into the screened in porch.  We gave them some more toys to play with, but they tend to just stand by their feeder.  I started giving them cherry tomatoes as a treat and they love them!!

We still take them out to the puppy pen once a day for some scavenging.

stay tuned for more chicken chat.....