Hung out to Dry

I mentioned yesterday that I like making my own laundry detergent as a way to reduce costs and today I have another way.  Hurray for saving money!

Once your clothes come out of your washing machine all nice and clean from your homemade laundry detergent don't automatically pop them in the dryer.  Line dry them instead!   I know many of you live in a community with homeowners association restrictions that don't allow you to line dry your clothes.  But, you CAN still line dry your clothes with a little effort.

I used a couple of folding drying racks like this one here while we lived in an apartment and in a neighborhood that didn't allow clotheslines.  In the winter I would set them over our heating vents to help them dry faster and it also helped to add moisture to the air during the cold months.  Humidifying and drying at the same time, love a multi task!


But now we live in a lovely community that doesn't put a ban on clothesline but, sadly, I don't see any in the backyards.   Right now I just have some lines strung between two trees and it can be taken down and up when need be.  I hope (cross my fingers!) that next spring I can have a permanent one set up once we clear out some more of our property.  It's a little overgrown in spots to say the least.

Why go to the hassle of line drying you ask? 

You save money but not running your dryer.  How's that for a big reason?  I don't know how much but I've seen it estimated to be about $25 a month.  It depends on how often you do laundry, there are 5 of us in my family and I do a good bit of laundry.

The clothes last longer.  Lint is fabric from your clothes, so every time you run them through the dryer a little piece of your clothes is left behind.

My clothes come out less wrinkly.  Hurray for less ironing!

I don't have to worry about leaving the house with a dryer running, you know the whole risk of fire thing.

It's good for the earth God gave us.

Sunlight bleaches and disinfects, so put your whites out during the sunniest times.

It's exercise.

Some helpful hints for those who are ready to give it a go:
Shake your clothes out before hanging them.
Hang socks by the toes.
Hang shirts by the hems so you don't mess up the shoulders.  You can hang knit shirts on a hanger to retain their shape.
Dresses can be hung on a hanger and then on the line.
I hang the undies up by one clothespin to save space.
Fold sheets in half because they take up a lot of space.
Plan laundry days around the weather.
Hang towels and other heavy items on the end to eliminate saggy clothes line.

To make the laundry chore more tolerable, I made a cute little clothespin bag.  It makes me happy. :)

pretty patchwork details

full of pins

she's bulging with all the pins we need!

In honor of line drying your clothes, my clothespin bags are all on sale through Sunday at 25% off the regular price for those who are blog or facebook followers!  Simply leave a comment to me in the "message to seller" or in a separate conversation letting me know you "follow" me and I'll send you a revised invoice for the sale price.  Love saving money! :)

Don't line dry?  Well, the clothespin bags are also great for storage.  You can use it store craft supplies, bag clips in the pantry, mittens in the winter time or you daughters tights in her closet.  And I'm sure you can think of a few more ways they could be useful!

a little craftiness

The kids are being taken care of just wonderfully  by their Mamaw and Papaw for a few days while I had planned on doing major yard work.  Somehow I missed the weather report that it was going to be cold, wet and dreary.  :(  Lucky for me I also had a couple of crafty projects up my sleeve.

First, let me say I love my laundry room.  I hate laundry but I love the room.  I saw somewhere while I was perusing home decor blogs a cute laundry room with the word WET on the wall.  I thought it was precious and opted to put the word WASH on mine.  The letters are so stinking cute!  I got them at AC Moore.  They came finished white and I luckily still had some hot pink paint left in the garage.  So happy!

Next I decided to repaint this little hutch that had been in my dining room up until a few months ago when I put it in the garage because it just wasn't working for me.  You can see it here in this post.  See what I mean, just not quite what I want.  I started to paint it the prettiest color yellow named Oyster Bisque.  And I started painting and it started to look like it belonged in a baby's room!  I was so mad and frustrated with the thing.  I kept painting it hoping I would like the color, but no.  To make matters worse I had decided to brush the paint on knowing a spray paint would look better with the spindle legs and all and the paint was not looking smooth at all.  So I headed on to the store which is sooo much easier when they are no children to pack up, bless their hearts.   I stood in the evil Walmart aisle forever trying to decide between Celery green or Yellow Bright Idea spray paint when I had a bright idea all of my own!  I happened to look down and what did I see draped around my neck:

It was my favorite scarf ever with the Celery green of the paint can and the Asparagus green of my dining room!  My decision was made and I'm tickled pink with it!

Yes, yes I need a knob and more gee gaw to place on it, give me time!  :)  

Notice the little daisy bowl at the top?  I just got it a few days ago from a thrift store they try pass off as an antique store and I love it.  Just love it.

Two bright ideas!

I admit it. Sometimes my brilliant ideas tend to fall... a little flat at times. But we're not going to talk about those. :) Instead, lets focus on my great ones!

First is a storage solution. I don't know about your home, but here we have a problem with shoes. Typically, everyone comes in through the garage into the kitchen and takes off their shoes. I hate for shoes to be on the carpet. I hate for the shoes to pile up in my kitchen though. No matter how many times I would have the family put them away in their closet, the next day the shoes would appear again usually with a couple extra pairs in tow. I felt like I was tripping on shoes all day long.

The worst part came when the little man began crawling. Like all babies, he's drawn to everything nasty and dirty and loved to chew on shoes. Think walking to school, think playing in the yard, think boys school bathroom! YUCK! To solve the situation, I looked high and low for the perfect solution that would be affordable and durable and pretty. Durability and prettiness being key. This is what I found.

It looks great, it has a ton of room inside, and it's comfortable to boot. Love it! I know most people would put this at the end of their bed or to use as a foot rest in the living room, but I needed it in my kitchen.

Next, was a communication solution. I painted my kitchen cabinets a couple of weeks ago. They were a deep stain from the dark ages of the 1970's and I brightened them up with a nice coat of white. (Not fun.) I have one tall cabinet end that I painted with chalkboard paint to use as a message board. (So fun.) Now, the kids know what's for dinner, their daily chores, and how much allowance they have earned so far. Makes my life simpler, plus they have a great place to draw. That solves the artwork being thumbtacked around the house when I'm not looking, too.