I recently started making my own homemade yogurt.
Posts Tagged ‘home management’
Following the post introducing my homemade bleach wipes, Robin asked me to describe the homemade baby wipes we use.
- use as many as you want to clean a big pooey mess, without any extra cost
- soft on baby's bottom
- no unknown or undesirable chemicals or irritants
- easily customise to suit your child, by adjusting the amounts and ingredients in your wipe solution (note: please keep all baby wipe ingredients out of children's reach, as you would any other chemical)
homemade baby wipesvariations to try:You will need:Method:
- 40 or so soft washable cloth pieces, sized slightly bigger than your hand (approx 18cm x 20cm) - I use organic cotton squares like these, since I like to avoid chemicals on young babies' skin
- a pet bowl or other non-spillable, non-breakable bowl - I use a stainless steel version to make sure I can get it absolutely clean
- rubbish bin with tight-fitting lid
- two mesh laundry bags, suitably sized for lining the bin
- wipe solution:
- normal, room-temperature tap water
- 1-3 drops of tea tree oil - I use this for its antiseptic properties when a child has diaper rash, and also because it eliminates the smell in my diaper pail
- Fill the pet bowl halfway with water, and add one to three drops of tea tree oil
- Stack dry wipes next to the pet bowl at your changing station
- When confronted with a wiping situation, grab one wipe and dip it in the solution
- Wipe baby's bottom
- Place used wipe on top of the nappy
- Grab another wipe, dip in solution, wipe, place on top of nappy; repeat as necessary
- DO NOT dip a used wipe back in the solution
- Use a final wipe to grab all the used ones and drop them in the bin
- When you are running low, remove the mesh bag from the bin, close it and throw it in the wash (make sure the mesh bag isn't stuffed too full)
- Line the bin with a clean mesh laundry bag
- Retrieve clean wipes from the dryer or clothesline, stack the clean wipes, and repeat
Tags: cloth diapers, home management
A scientist and an engineer fall in love, get married, create a budget.
Fast-forward ten years later, and our budget-tracking spreadsheet has at least 50 different categories. Despite this level of detail, I have no real idea of where we stand unless I look at our bank account balance.
photo my mum took of my dad with a pear at Apple FunPark
photo my mum took of my dad with a pear at Apple FunPark
- super easy to enter (and edit) expenses and income - I admit I now enjoy entering receipts
- convenient "tags" field to add notes - much easier than adding a comment to a cell in Excel
- you never have to press a "save" button or worry about backing up any files
- enter that month's income and that month's expenses - if you purchase something you've saved for before starting Pear Budget, you can put in a receipt with a negative amount to show that you already had the money saved
- owners Charlie and Sarah are very responsive and love to answer questions - they really do want to make it easy to keep track of your budget
Tags: home management, review
We love our simple small house. It's got a great floor plan and a spacious bathroom, which is big enough for the litter box to wedge into the space between the toilet and the bathtub.
Tags: cat, home management
In the spirit of doing less this year, I plan to periodically share some of the shortcuts that allow me to parent more efficiently and work smarter.
~ ~ ~
I love having only one bathroom, because that means I only have to clean one bathroom.
The downside is that we're all sharing one bathroom.
Somehow I don't find it restful to soak in a bathtub decorated with cat litter crumbs.
And as wonderful as it is to have a toilet trained preschooler, I could do without the little drips on the toilet seat. And did I mention that we plan to toilet train our son soon?
sanitizing frequently used surfaces
homemade bleach wipesI am well rewarded for the half hour it took to make these wipes when I sink gratefully into a marvelously crumb-free bath. Ahhhh.You will need:Method:
- reusable red non woven wipes (colour-coded for the bathroom)
- an empty baby wipe container
- bleach solution:
- 1 tablespoon bleach
- 1 quart water
- Cut reusable red towels into baby wipe size (approx 18cm x 20cm)
- Fold the towels in half and place them in an empty baby wipe container
- Pour bleach solution over the wipes
- Pull out one wipe and use it to clean frequently used bathroom surfaces
- Throw the used wipe in a little flip-top plastic bin
- When you start to run low, wash the used wipes and repeat
Tags: home management, shortcut
Following on the success of the Lego® / Duplo® play mat, we recently completed a similar draw-string solution for the children's much-loved and often-scattered tea set.
Tags: home management, toddler
Nesting continues!
We love Duplo®! But I'm not so fond of stepping on them or finding them scattered under the furniture.
tiny happy posted a great solution: a homemade play mat.
During each pregnancy, I tend to start a number of projects, with the goal of getting them all completed before the new baby arrives.
photo credit :: yojimbot
photo credit :: yojimbot
- add grommets and drawstrings to the Lego® / Duplo® playmat and tea set playmat
- hem 16 cloth napkins - 8 for Nikki and Michael, 8 for Mama and Baba
- get the garage cleared out of all the unnecessary things in storage out there
- add finishing touches to the dollhouse for Nikki's 3rd birthday
- wrap gifts from the new baby for Nikki and Michael
Tags: home management, pregnancy
