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Thursday, October 7, 2010

How to Clean Pewter

I love the idea of homemade cleaners and scrubs and polishes....but for the most part I go the easy route and just buy those things at the store. I know that homemade cleaners can be cheaper, safer, and just as effective, but sometimes convenience wins out!
Last week, I really needed to clean a pewter chip and dip bowl that I bought a few years ago. It had gotten kind of tarnished and dirty, and I had no time to find the correct cleaner at the store. So I googled "how to clean pewter" and found a recipe for a homemade cleaner.

This is the piece I started with:
And these are the three ingredients I need for the homemade pewter cleaner.
1 cup of vinegar
1/2 cup of flour
1 tsp of salt
You mix the ingredients together and make a kind of paste. {I ended up adding a little more flour to make the consistency a little thicker.} Then you smear the paste all over the piece you are trying to clean. I scrubbed a little bit and then let the cleaner dry on the piece for about 30 minutes. I scrubbed a little more and then rinsed the chip and dip bowl off. I ended up cleaning it twice to make sure that I had gotten it as clean as possible....and I was pretty impressed with how well it worked.  
The cleaner didn't get out all the marks, but it did make the chip and dip bowl a lot shinier and clean! Sorry no after pictures, as soon as the bowl was clean I loaded it up with a ton of fruit and yummy fruit dip.

I think I may try to make a few more homemade cleaners....when I have the time:)
Are there any homemade cleaning products that you love to use?
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Guest Post: Lizard & Ladybug

Hi everyone...I'm Staci from Lizard & Ladybug.  
I can't tell you how excited I am to be here!  
I a huge stalker fan of Kelli so I was THRILLED 
when she asked if I would 'guest blog'.   
What The What..was my first thought :)  
After I told everyone I knew that someone else was interested in what I had to say...
I had to come up with something to share.

I don't know about you but I LOVE Halloween.  Having 2 little ones really pushed me into "Halloween crazy town".  This year, my son began preschool (& loves it) so he wanted to invite his entire class to our Halloween party.  I decided that this year's theme would be 'Halloween Carnival' complete with games (sack races, eyeball toss, pumpkin bowling etc) and lots of treats (candy, candy and candy).  
I wanted something a little extra but I didn't want to spend too much extra moola.  
Candy skewers are what I really wanted for the carnival..and even though they are SO cute, it doesn't really fit in my budget when I need 25+.  


So I made my own!  And here's how you can too.  
So easy (and so versatile). 

Start with your supplies.  Candy (preferably gummy candy) & skewers 
(I intended on using the 10" ones but went with the 6" skewers).
I wanted to do a 'creepy' candy skewer and a 'gross' one.  
I bought gummy worms, bugs, spiders, body parts and sour gummy dots.  
Then it's time to get to work.  Slide your gummies onto the skewer.  
*I will tell you that the gummy worms were the easiest to slide.*
Here's a shot of the 10" skewer...

I realized that a longer skewer meant MUCH more candy..
I switched to the shorter one...
Here are the shorter ones with eyes, a finger and worms

I am really happy with how they turned out.  
If you were giving them as 'takeaways', 
put them in a clear cello bag & tie with a cute ribbon.  
If you want to display them..stick them in a floral foam brick covered with candy.

I tested these out on the kids...I passed with flying colors.
Looks like I'll be making more :)

Thank you for letting me share these creepy/gross little treats with all of you.  
BIG Thanks to Kelli for trusting me with her SUPER blog!!
Your bouquet of eyeballs, spiders and worms is on the way :)

***********************
Thanks so much Staci for sharing such a fun {and kind of creepy} Halloween idea with us!
Make sure to head over to Staci's SUPER cute blog Lizard & Ladybug and check all of her other really great ideas!

Here are just a few of my favorites:
Sq'eek'y Clean Soap

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