Homemade General Purpose cleaner

As I have run out of my cleaners here at home I have started replacing them with homemade ones and this week I have made a batch of general purpose cleaning spray and am delighted with it's effectiveness. And it smells delicious to boot!

1 tsp borax

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 cups boiling water

15 drops lavender essential oil

15 drops lemon essential oil

Add borax to boiling water and stir until dissolved, add vinegar and when cool decant into your spray bottle and add the essential oils. You can add whatever essential oils you prefer but this is my favourite mix. I found the recipe here. As an added bonus I had all the ingredients on hand so it cost me zip!

Have a great day!

The end of something special

Today was the last day of my second favourite place to be (home is first). My local Borders store (and my workplace) closed it's doors for the final time.

The store has been open for 3 1/2 years and has been the place I have found my second family. I will miss everyone terribly, I already do, and will struggle to find a job anywhere near as special. Those who know me well know that I am a voracious reader so to work in a bookstore was a dream come true. But now the dream has ended and I am heartbroken.

PS When I hit publish for this post, the blogspot ad that came up was for booktopia. Irony anyone?

Kids Reward System

I don't know about you, but I have always had trouble motivating my kids to do their chores. Until now. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon an article in the paper about using a marble reward system, the author claiming it really worked. So I thought I would give it a go, I had nothing to lose, except a heap of odd jobs! The system itself is remarkably simple; each child is given a jar and each chore is given a marble value. For each chore done the child receives the valued amount of marbles and when their jar is full they are given their reward. For my kids it is $20 but you can 'pay' them whatever value you feel fair. How quickly they fill up their jar all depends on how reliably they do their chores, meaning I don't have to look like a big meanie when I don't feel they have earned their pocket money! My kids have taken to it like ducks to water. Fingers crossed it lasts!

I Heart Pinterest

Oh my gosh, it is my favourite site! Have you checked it out? Full of delicious inspiration, no matter what your interest. I could spend all day on it but I limit myself to one peek at a time.

Today's inspiration...

I think I would like to do this in Miss 8's room. She has white walls and very bright colours around, so these in bright fabrics would look great. Must get some embroidery hoops...

Dream holiday

18 months ago Mr Homespun and I took the girls on our dream family holiday. We spent one week on Queensland's Gold Coast, visiting Movieworld, Dreamworld and Seaworld (twice, we were staying the Seaworld Resort), and then a few days on Daydream Island. And it was. A daydream. That is seriously the loveliest place I have ever visited. And we all had a great time, so much so that we decided we would return. So far we haven't, but we definitely will.

Last year Mr Homespun had a big birthday and we had a lovely party to celebrate. But I am not the party holder type. I worry that no one will turn up and when they do I worry they aren't having a good time. I know, I know, any lack of a good time is entirely their problem not mine, but still I worry. And I don't like worrying. So this year it is my time for a big birthday (I'm not telling which birthday it is, but I will tell you it is not my 30th!!) we are not having a party, instead we are heading off for what is my dream holiday, or at least the version we can afford, ha ha ha.

Can you guess where??

                                  photo courtesy of Paris Apartments

It's been a little quiet on the blogging front here at Homespun Headquarters, but I'm still here! I have been plodding away at the housework and have made very little progress on any of my current projects but I shall post some finished ones shortly.

I have also been awfully distracted by Pinterest. Have you checked it out? It is definitely my new favourite site. I am not a member, I am wasting too much time just looking as it is! But such a lovely way to waste time...

Kitchen Challenge

I have been inspired by the April Challenge over at IHeart Organising (albeit a little late) and have zealously attacked my kitchen this week. With the exception of under the sink and the medicine cupboard, I have reorganised every cupboard in the kitchen. And they look amazing! I have also rearranged the layout of the cupboards, changing the contents of almost all of them instead of going along with what each cupboard has contained for the past 12 years or so.  One of the biggest changes has been the move of all the plasticware to the cupboard that formerly housed our glassware. The contents are now very neat, but more importantly, easier to see what I have and to get at it.

Before: the dark corner cupboard where my plasticware used to reside, now a very neat bakeware cupboard.

After: The plasticware's new home. I can see!

The feeling of satisfaction is great!