Tuesday Tutorial-ish

Well, with me on vacation and my kids starting school, and Jackie doing her canning and being a "ref-widow", we just weren't able to come up with a "real" tutorial this week!  SORRY!  Maybe Jackie will be able to come up with something for getting ink out of pants, but so far nothing is working!  I did want to share a few factoids that I learned this past week, instead:

1.  The BUTTER COW at the Iowa State Fair is 100 years old.  It was interesting to see... more impressive was the sand sculpture tribute TO the butter cow, which was on display elsewhere at the fair.  This was at least the size of my living room... talk about a "sand castle"... we were pretty impressed!  Also inspiring was the fried candy bars we got at the fair (OK, honestly I thought they were gross, but my kids liked them...)  We weren't brave enough to try the fried butter.

2.  Witch Hazel, like Crisco, can be used for a large variety of things.  GOOGLE it!  I did!  Long story short, Crisco is good for all sorts of moisturizing, and can also be used to lubricate things like bolts that are stuck.  (oh, and frying chicken!)  I was inspired to search this after watching the HELP.  (Incidentally, a very good movie, stays true to the book... read it, then watch!)  Witch Hazel is good for soothing things, as well as reducing swelling, irritation, and redness... uses include treating bug bites, acne, diaper rash, etc.  Our Sassy Stylist inspired that one!

3.  Dryer sheets, apparently, can be used for all sorts of things, too... I stumbled on this while I was searching the facts about Crisco and Witches Hazel. Tips include using it to scrub shower doors, and also to help get rid of stuck on crud on dishpans... check out this link for more information!  I'm a little sorry that I switched to dryer bars awhile back, now that I've found uses for those annoying things!

OK, I've shared some tips that I've learned this week.  Why don't you guys provide us with some tips this week, too!  Share your favorite household tip via comment below!  We're all busy and can use some fun time saving tips that we can share! 

Once again, sorry we don't have a formal tutorial today, thanks for understanding, and sharing your tips with us!

Tuesday Tutorial- Shower Head Cleaning

Today's Tutorial is more of an experiment.  I've noticed that our shower head was looking pretty gross,

and thought it would be fun to do a tutorial on cleaning this.  I've tried cleaning it by just spraying it with whatever I use to clean the shower, and that wasn't cutting it.  So, on to the trusty Internet I went!  I liked the recommendation to try to use vinegar to clean it!

So, the next step was to unscrew the shower head, which was surprisingly easy for me.  Then, I just put it head down into a bowl, and filled with vinegar until the head was covered... you can't really tell from the picture, but that's what's going on.

Next, I waited.  This was the easy part.  I put the bowl in the tub, made and ate supper, spent time with the family, and two hours later, TA-DA!

All I had to do is rinse and wipe with a sponge.  It was quite easy.  There are some scratches on the shower head, and the pictures don't do it justice, but, it was much MUCH cleaner than before.  I am convinced that this is a winner!

Meanwhile...

Shortly after beginning my experiment, I was talking to our Super Spunky Sassy Sister-in-law, who happens to be on maternity leave.  She's getting a little bored at home, even though baby's only about a week old. Unfortunately, she had no idea what "Tuesday Tutorial meant, since she hasn't BOTHERED to check out our BLOG yet!!!!   SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!!  OK, we'll forgive her, but only because our sweet  sassy niece is so cute!  (She does follow us on facebook... which is also in her favor!  BTW, did you KNOW you could follow us on facebook?)  I was telling her of my adventures in vinegar, and she was sad to say that her shower head wouldn't screw off.  As we were talking, she remembered that Ketsup contained lots of vinegar and other acidic materials.  She also remembered that Ketsup would take crud off pennies and make them all shiny!  So, needless to say, she decided that she would do her own experiment, and send me pictures!

So here's some shots of her adventures!


before....



covered in ketchup... got fries??



after... note the shine

 Spunky Sassy Sister in Law said that she actually did 2 applications, waiting about 1/2 hour between each... She said she just wasn't patient enough to wait to see what happened!  Needless to say, first application wasn't enough!  I think would have had favorable results if she had waited 1-2 hours before rinsing/wiping off the ketchup! 

Happy Adventures!