Organizing My Paint Cans Tutorial

I've been trying to organize some things in my basement

and one of the spots is my section where I keep my

leftover paint.  After awhile, the cans have grown to quite the collection and taken up more and more space.  Can anyone relate?  

Every time we paint a room, there is always leftover paint that I don't want to throw away, because I'll need to use it later for touchups.  Which leads to the large amount of cans I have now.



This is how I organized all this into a controllable amount and use of space!

I took out a glass jar for each can of paint I had.  If I had a lot of paint left in a can, I used a quart sized jar and for a lesser amount, I used a pint sized jar.

In my craft box I had a roll of big white stickers that were perfect for what I had in mind.

On each sticker, I wrote the room where the paint was used, the place I bought it, the formula and the date purchased.

Next, I opened up the can of paint I made the sticker for, and poured that paint into a glass jar.  The sticker was applied to the front of the jar and pressed firmly to make it stick well.

Before placing the lid and ring on, I covered the opening with a piece of serran wrap, to make it even easier to get open later, if any moisture were to try and get it and make the lid rusty (since they are stored in the basement).

This is what I ended up with and I'm so happy with it!  Now, it's so easy to find what I want, not only because I can see the color easily and read the label, but it's easy to see how much I have left of it.

The other and bigger bonus, is that the paint section is now MUCH smaller than before!

If you try this, let me know how you like it, too!

Have a great day,

Ren

Make It Monday / Dishwasher Detergent

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I know that there are some people out there who love doing dishes by hand.  My family is not in that group.  Really, I'd much rather fill up the dishwasher and let it do it's job, while I am wiping down counters and putting things away.  Then, when I'm done, I'm done.  Off to other things I'd rather be doing, and then just come back later and put them away.  It takes me 5 minutes to put them away.  Yes, I love a machine that does the work for me. 

Also, because I get these funny little red dots on my hands that itch and spread, I prefer to only wash by hand what I have to.  Like things that I don't want broken because their too vintage and aren't dishwasher proof.

I've been looking for a recipe that worked for me, and my hardwater, that would clean my dishes.  I make most of my own soaps, and since I have a lot of ingredients already, I knew I could make this, too, if I had a good recipe.

This is the one I chose and I've been using it for quite awhile now and I really like it!  It's so simple to make, and my dishes are clean. 

Here are the 4 ingredients:

Here is the recipe I use:

1 C. Borax

1 C. Washing Soda

1/2 C. citric acid

1/2 C. table salt

You can find Borax and Washing Soda in the cleaning aisle at your grocery store.  You can buy citric acid by the canning section at the store also. 

Put the Borax and Washing Soda in the bowl (or bucket).  Add the citric acid and salt.  Mix well.

I keep my soap in a bucket and keep it under my sink.  Nothing fancy, just an empty ice-cream bucket!

See that bag of rice in there?  I keep that in there because the citric acid in the mixture will clump up.  The rice will absorb any moisture and then the citric acid won't clump.  I put the rice in a baggie....

and I poke some holes in it.  Not huge, and not a ton of them, just enough to let the air get in (and the moisture):

  I keep an odd kitchen Tablespoon in there.  To use this soap, I only use one Tablespoon.  That's it. 

Besides using this homemade dishsoap, I only use vinegar for my rinse.  I fill up the dispenser, and it leaves no smell on my dishes.  For the price of a gallon of vinegar, it's a lot cheaper than the blue stuff.  It rinses well and helps take care of the spots.  I will still have some spots, but I have even more when I use the blue stuff. 

Try it, and let me know what you think!