So we have been pregnant over here at the crafty senoritas. We were pregnant at the same time even, with due dates only days apart. We even had a friend who was pregnant with twins, with a due date the same day as well. Unfortunately she had her twins at 25 weeks and they have had a rough battle which they have been overcoming one day at a time. I, shortly before she had her twins, lost my baby to a miscarriage. Not my first experience with that either. We went from 4 babies to one, Ashley was now the only one expecting. A few months after my miscarriage I ended up pregnant again. Which was good news, but I had my sister's wedding I was suppose to decorate for in only a few weeks away. Battling morning sickness while trying being a wedding planner is not an ideal situation. Then once the wedding was done, I started having spotting. I was so not happy at this point, thinking that I was losing the baby again. I had 3 ultrasounds in the first couple months because I kept having signs of a threatened miscarriage. But gratefully the baby was fine each time and I am now in my 20th week of pregnancy. Ashley just had her baby, early. I think he was 6 weeks early, but baby is fine and mom is healing. So needless to say things have been a roller coaster over here at the Crafty Senoritas. So blogging has not been a priority and I apologize to those who still follow us. Hopefully we can start getting back up to speed, with no more unwanted complications. (crossing fingers) In my past pregnancies once I hit half way I would start having simple complications. Simple, but complications are complications. So far all my complications have been at the beginning and things have been getting better as I get further into it. Hopefully this keeps up.
Ok. So has anyone ever experienced 'nesting.' I haven't with my other pregnancies. I would get this burning desire to have the whole house carpets professionally cleaned, but that's about has far as the nesting would go. With this pregnancy..... it's a whole other ball game. I think I caught 'spring cleaning fever!!!' I have been DEEP cleaning like every day and if I don't, I get grouchy. WHAT?!!! That's like oil and water right there. I hate cleaning. If I could hire someone to do it for me I would. I guess I'm just lazy, it's sad. But seriously I loath cleaning. It's just a part of life and that's fine but I hate it regardless. So me getting grouchy because I didn't DEEP clean is crazy. I think my husband is wondering what happened to his wife. Bahahaha. She's been taken over by a crazy pregnant lady. Mu ahahaha. So I've hit my pinterest boards and looked for tips on how to clean things faster. I've tried a few lately with success and failure as well.
I'll share what I've learned.
Homemade Laundry detergent. I used to do
liquid Homemade detergent but have since been converted to the powder form. Only reason is it's easier to store and the liquid seems to lose it's cleaning power the longer it sits. With the powder I can make a huge batch ahead of time and I can store it in smaller containers, so it takes up less space. I have a small laundry room so space is definitely hard to come by. I got a recipe from a friend who has a picky husband and she said he loves this recipe. Well I took it home and lost it on the way to the store...... figures. I could remember the ingredients but not how much I needed of everything. I have pinterest on my phone so while I was at the store, standing in the laundry isle, I did an emergency search. I found this recipe
here at
How Does She? Pretty sure it's the same recipe if not super close to it. Only thing I would recommend is sticking with the Zote soap. I've used the Fels Naptha but I like the Zote a bit better, just a personal preference. I ground up my soap, which is the hardest part, and mixed everything in a 5 gallon bucket. Once mixed, I stored most of it in a Jar and the remaining I used the empty purex crystals bottles. I have a ginormous washing machine and dryer. It's the biggest size you can get before you go industrial, so I seem to use a bit more soap than a standard size machine. I found coffee scoops at my local dollar store that measure 1/8 cup. Perfect amount for my machine.
Shower Cleaner- Half Dawn dish soap and half vinegar in a fillable dish scrubber. I keep it in the shower and wipe down the walls every time I shower. I've noticed it keeps the soap scum and hard water spot at bay. I still clean the shower with cleaner but I don't have to scrub off soap build up and water spots.
Streak Free Window Cleaner- I didn't follow this recipe exactly and it didn't work as well. I had some areas on my window that dried with spots. I don't use powder dish detergent. I've made my own and I hate it. So I used some of my homemade laundry soap to see if that would work. Not so much. Next time I'm going to try liquid dish soap. If that still doesn't work I'll give in and buy a box of powdered detergent. I'm cheap what can I say, that and I like to use what I already have on hand. Also I could cut the recipe in half because I don't have a ton of windows so that would save some money too.
Homemade Dish Detergent-I tried a few different recipes. Conclusion: I works just like the cheapest powder detergent and it cost more to make. I did not like homemade dishwasher detergent. I always had a nasty film and the dishes weren't getting clean. I thought it might be my washer starting to crap out on me. So I tried cleaning it, I tried adding more citrus acid to the mix because here in AZ we have really hard water. I went and bought some different types of detergent. I what I learned was the expensive stuff is expensive for a reason. At least for dishwasher detergent. Once we switched back to our previous method of cleaner our dishes have been fine. The come out sparkly and CLEAN!! I do like using vinegar as a dishwasher machine cleaner. About once a month I run the machine empty with vinegar to keep it clean. I use to buy the machine cleaners but now I don't have to. Vinegar works just as good.
Amazing Grout Cleaner!!!-seriously this stuff is amazing. It really, really works. The best stuff I have found!! Just trust me and try it, you will be amazed.
Clean Blinds-I found a tip for cleaning blinds. They use and old sock and vinegar. I don't know what it is with ppl and old socks but whenever they suggest to use an old sock for something it never works out for me. It just makes things worse. Maybe its just me. After some trial and error I found a system that works for me. First I get my trusty vacuum and its brush attachment, then I attack the blinds starting from the top and sliding down (blinds are closed facing down) then I switch them to facing up and start from bottom and slide to the top. This get most of the dust off. Then I spray them with my water vinegar cleaner (one part water, one part vinegar) and with a damp rag wipe the blinds down. This has been the fastest, less messy and easiest way for me. After I clean the blinds I clean the window.
Window Track Cleaning-My window tracks were looking pretty nasty. Vacuuming was just not cutting it anymore. So I found some tips on how to clean those. Most said to use Q tips and vinegar. I started doing that then quickly learned I was going to need a whole box per window. No thank. Some other people said use a toothbrush. So I dipped my cleaning toothbrush in vinegar and tried that. It got most of the dirt and grime but I couldn't quite get the tight corners. That is when I used the Q tips. After a good scrub I took a paper towel and wiped up the excess vinegar and dirt. Now they are all sparkly and clean.
Ask Anna has some great tips for deep cleaning window too.
So this is what I have learned so far. I have more to do and more things to try. Come back soon for more tips and new posts. I have been crafty up a crazy too. New car seat cover, new kitchen crafts, fun stuff I hope to get posted soon.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of my 2 1/2 year old daughter. We were in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast and she dragged her chair from their room all the way into the kitchen, plopped in from of the garbage can, demanded a scrubby and went to "cleaning." This sassy lil' girl loves to help and clean. She doesn't get that from me. But I just love love love that she loves to clean and help. She has her own little broom and scrubbies. I give her a spray bottle with water so that she can 'help me clean.' I hope she keeps that joy and happiness always. She is my inspiration and helps me 'enjoy' (sort of) cleaning a little bit more. Also she is the tornado in our house. She makes a bigger mess than the rest of us put together. Ha ha. So when she wants to help I gladly except. My sweetheart son isn't very messy and hates to clean like me. So he does his chores and thats good enough for me. Who wants to clean up after their slob sister anyways. :)
