{Pinned it, Did it!} Homemade Stain Remover

Hi, I'm Kate and I pit out shirts.

It's true!

Oh did we just meet?  So sorry!  But it's true!  I can't help it.  My husband does too.  Oh, but he is waaay worse!  I am sure he will appreciate me sharing his shirt pitting out abilities on the internet!  Ahahahaha!

So with two pitter-outers in the house, I was pretty excited when I found this recipe for a homemade stain remover on Pinterest, of course.  Did you see it, too?

This pic is from One Good Thing by Jillee (she did a full test and even has pic of her own before and afters!)

So I read the blog post here.  I saw the pictures.  They were good.  Convincing-good!  But I was skeptical.  I mean, we're talking about my pit stains.  And don't even think I haven't already tried everything to get rid of them.  Especially these (brace yourself, it's gross).

In the past, I have made concoctions of you-name-it and left it sit or soak overnight.  Basically I was putting in more effort than the old shirts were worth.  

Until this week, that is!

I mixed up a little "shot" of this:

Put it on the pits.  Rubbed it in real good.  I did find that using a brush to scrub the mixture in had considerably better results.

My shirts started like this:

Now the AFTERS!
Mine:

now, it's not totally gone but what is left is in the seams.

My husband's looked like this!!  I only did one pit so I could see the difference.  And it did require two washings.  The second time, I used the brush.
After one wash:

After two washes:

There are only traces of stains left on this one.  They are deep in the seams.  But the shirt is wearable again.

I am amazed!!! We will be switching to this as my main numero uno stain remover!!!  And seriously, it must cost pennies, too.  Now, should I do the other pit on my husband's shirt????  Ha- I owe him that I suppose for plastering his pit stains on my blog without him knowing about it.

Linking Here:

Skip to My Lou ~ Mad In Crafts ~ C.R.A.F.T. ~ Making the World Cuter ~ The Girl Creative ~ Keeping it Simple ~ Sew Chatty ~ Sarahndipities ~ Sew Can Do ~ The Gunny Sack

{Feature} Couponing Tips... at delicateConstruction!

I just can't help but feature this series by Michelle at delicateConstruction!

I am so excited to share this that I can't type this post out fast enough!

I have been reading Michelle's couponing advice all week and I was just bursting this morning when I saw this post about using a binder!  Because did you see my post yesterday about making a coupon holder for your binder????  Uh-huh!

All I could show you was how to make the pocket holder, I sadly, couldn't offer any solid couponing advice.  But check-it... Michelle has put together a very informative series of posts about couponing, giving us newbies the tools to get started on a money saving spree!  Her series includes:

• Where to Get Coupons
• What Else We Need to Understand about Couponing
• How to Use Them
• How to Get Organized {Binder vs. Folder}

Did you see?  She is a Binder gal...I am a Binder gal...we could be friends?
Only her binder looks like this!

And mine is only two pages.  I have a LOT to learn.  Already, I see that I need a 9-pocket page vs. my 4 and 6 pockets.

{Tutorial} Make a Coupon Pocket Page

A few months back I showed how I made a binder to get my paper clutter and my mental clutter under control.  Well four months later, it is still working!  (miracle!)

One section in my binder is for coupons.  Now- I am not any kind of extreme couponer NOR do I know much about them. I DO know that you save money if you use them.  And I like to use them!  Always have.  Even when I was just a single gal and coupons weren't "cool".   I don't have a ton coupons, so this binder page works perfectly for the coupons that I use.

Since we are all still in "new year's resolution mode" and still cleaning and organizing, I wanted to share this little coupon holder that I made for my binder. 

Left page has 6-pockets & Right page has 4-pockets.  You can use front and back of each page!

To make this, you will need:

1. Put your cardstock in the document protector. 

I like to make light pencil marks on the center lines (horiz and vert) before putting it in the sheet protector.

2. Sew a zig-zag stitch down the middle- right through the protector!. (I used an old needle for this, then threw it away.) Remember to backtack at the ends.

3. Sew a zig-zag stitch across the page. 

For the 4-pocket one, you will want to sew *just slightly* above the center.

For the 6-pocket one, mark it horizontally by thirds and sew across your marks.

4. Optional, sew across the top of the page too for added stability when using the pockets.

5. CAREFULLY, seam-ripper below your horizontal stitch lines. Slit the plastic on each pocket individually- don't cut across your stitching. You have pockets on the back, too!

If you need to make custom pockets to fit your coupons, use whatever size you need.

I got this idea when I saw a lady at the grocery store a coupon binder and she used baseball card holders for her coupons!  Genius!  But I didn't want to buy the baseball card sheets (cheap-o me) and I had document protectors already (use what you've got, right?).  Now, I can't help you with how to organize your coupons- that is not my area of expertise. The only thing I am doing, is separating out the ones that are store-specific (Target, commissary). This makes it easy to find my store-only coupons.

Was this helpful? I would love to hear from you...leave me a comment so I know you were here!  

I will reply back, too!  SO PLEASE have your email address in your profile or my reply just goes into outerspace...boohoo.

Linking to these fun parties:

Organizing Paper Clutter. I Made a Binder.

Here's the skinny on the Household Binder: GREAT, great, great tool to stay organized!!  Until now, I thought these binders were mostly used to help you keep a clean house.  But, helloooo, you can CUSTOMIZE it to your own needs!  See how I did that...

I have seen many, many, many of these "Household Management Binders" over the past few years of reading mom and craft blogs.  At Organized Home, they are called Household Notebooks and you should hop over there to get the whats, whys, and hows about making one!  They also have a ton of free printable pages.

Anyhoo...Seems that these binders are the thing to have in your house. Preferably the kitchen. And while I have thought about making them in the past, I just never thought they addressed my needs. A typical binder is divided into sections such as: babysitter info (don't have a sitter and don't go anywhere), budget (I use Quicken for that), emergency phone numbers (um, iPhone), menu planning and grocery lists (already have a system for those), to do lists (I already make a zillion of those!), and then several sections for cleaning (crickets, crickets).

I have this calendar in the back cover.

I needed a solution to the my piles of papers in the kitchen (and my bedroom dresser, but I don't want to get ahead of myself!).  See, I didn't need help with a budget, or emergency contact numbers, or a cleaning schedule.

This is me:   

I get papers from school and I never know where to put them. So I make a pile for school papers. Then I get something in the mail that I need to keep, and it goes in another pile. Coupons get stuck in a drawer, then I forget about them. Important papers go on the fridge. I have *lots* of important papers.  One pile might be things to get done today. Another pile is for things that can wait 'til next week. So, piles all over my kitchen. Then my husband comes home and mushes all my piles into one big- but neat- pile. He thinks he is helping, but he just messed up my system! Which means, digging through the really big pile to find everything and re-sorting it all later.

I have tried folders. But too messy.

OK, that's all I have tried. : )

So these home management binders really got me thinking...I could apply this same concept to my paper mess!  Check. It:

Here are my categories:

I Bought Supplies.

1.5" Binder

2 packs of pocket dividers

document protectors

3-ring pocket thing that I have not really used for anything yet.

After using this book for a couple of weeks, I also need a zipper pouch for my coupons.

I Selected Categories.

My binder might be the only one without a section for cleaning- HA!

I started by jotting down the categories I thought I might use. I set up my binder and followed these preliminary categories for a few weeks before committing to a set of categories that I know will work for me. I committed to them when I busted out the label maker and printed the labels.

This binder (just Up&Up brand) is very cool, because it has two pockets in the front and back covers.

~~ I use the front cover to stow little "now" things- receipts, to-do lists, etc.

~~ The back cover holds things that need no attention- just need filed.  (Mail, paid bills, or receipts) They are in the back and I will never look at them until I go to empty the pockets.

And the Binder Pocket (by Up&Up) might be useful for the coupons

Notice, no cleaning schedule???
Not that I don't need to clean. Ha! I need to clean. But seriously, I am not going to, let's say, wipe down my doors every Thursday, or dust on Mondays. Heck, I can't even commit to cleaning the kitchen floor on a regular basis. My method is, when it needs cleaned, I clean it. I tend to clean the kids bathroom in parts. One day I get the toilet, when I notice that someone peed on the seat. Next day the sink because it is covered in spit. And when I notice the bathtub has a ring of dirt around it, I clean it real quick before I give the kids a bath. See? It gets done. Just not on a set schedule.

So that's my new system. I have always been pretty good about going through the mail and immediately sorting the "recycle" from the "pay/keep". I also flip through catalogs and toss them into the recycle right then or same day. I just needed a system (and not piles everywhere) of the important papers.

I feel so organized now. I said "feel". No, I really am better organized now : )

Linking here: