Alternative Uses for Cat Litter

Cat litter has so many more uses than just keeping your kitty’s litter box odors under control. Here are several more uses you may have never heard of:

1. Use cat litter in the bottom of your trash cans, especially outdoor ones to keep odor and moisture at bay. Just change it out about once a month.

2.Cat litter can be a saver for you in the winter if you keep some in your car trunk. It can help your tires grip if sprinkled near them when you are stuck in the snow.

3. If you have smelling ashtrays around, sprinkle some cat litter in them to help rid yourself of ash odor.

4. If your refrigerator has a terrible odor and you are at your Witt’s end, try emptying your fridge and placing a cookie sheet with Maxx Scoop cat litter in it. Wait a couple days and the odors should be gone.

5. If you have spills in your driveway or garage that are oil based (motor oil, paint etc.), cat litter can help soak up the mess. Just sprinkle some on and wait for it to work its magic, and then sweep it up.

6. Stinky work boots got you down? Fill old socks with litter and place them in your shoes overnight.

7. If you have plants that are moisture-sensitive, adding a small amount of cat litter to the potting soil that you plant them in can help keep the right amount of moisture in.

8. Do you have mole or prairie dog issues in your fields? Wet some cat litter and fill in the holes. Most animals that dig homes hate it and will evacuate.

9. Dried flowers are so beautiful, but can be a pain to dry out beautifully. Try place a small layer of cat litter in an airtight container and then placing your flowers on top of it. Seal it and wait a week.

10. Antique items are fun to own, but often come with a musty or moldy smell. To get rid of this odor, place a small amount of litter in a zipper style bag and place the items in it. (This works great for books!). The smell should be gone after about a week.

11. Instead of buying expensive fake flower steadying items like foam, arrange them in some litter in a pot. It will allow you to set an arrangement up beautifully, and allow you to change it out easier as well for cleaning or making a whole new arrangement.

12. BBQing is fun, but waiting for the fires and coals to go out can be annoying. Instead, use some cat litter. It is also good to use when starting up your bonfires by placing as a base to start your campfire on.

13. Aquariums are a pain to maintain, especially if you keep getting algae. A tablespoon per 10 gallons will help clear up the problem.

 

Tip of the Day: Cleaning your Stove Hood

As we cook everyday, buildup is bound to occur; especially in places that you may not take notice of. One of my biggest pet peeves is the grime that accumulates on top of our stove hood! Because for many of us, our hoods stand taller than us, we tend to not pay attention to it much. For me, I make it a habit of cleaning this area every few days by doing the following:

1. Pour either vegetable oil or mineral oil on a cloth and wipe the area vigorously. It is also good to wipe down the surrounding cupboards or walls as splatters frequent those places as well! and can be difficult to remove if left for too long!

2. Once all debris is removed, take another clean, damp cloth and wipe down the area again.

3. Finish by drying and buffing to shine.

Tip of the Day #332: Cleaning Window Blinds

Many of us swear when we got a home that we would never put up blinds because we all remember growing up having to help our mom clean them all the time--and it wasn't the easiest of jobs! Nonetheless, somehow they ended up everywhere in our house. Well, over the years, I have found some easy & unique ways to dust and clean blinds to keep me from going crazy.

1. Wrap a sock or cloth around a ruler to clean thin, narrow blinds easily. This is especially good for metal blinds that are fragile and easy to bend.


 2. To keep dust at a minimum, rub a fabric dryer sheet onto both sides of the blinds. This will not prevent dust but it will cut down on the amount of dust that clings to your blinds as well!


3. Slip socks onto both hands and rub between each blind - - this cleans both sides of the blinds quickly at the same time. You can also add cleaner to the mix to remove any debris--spray vinegar or a mild soap mix (can even be laundry detergent & water) onto the sock, then clean accordingly.


4. If blinds have been neglected and are very dirty, lay an old sheet or cloth under the blinds before cleaning. You do not want to transfer the dust and dirt from the blinds onto the floor - - then you have to clean the same dirt twice.


5. When you are vacuuming your floors, use the brush attachment to clean blinds. This is great for removing dust from hard to reach blinds in tall windows.


6. If your blinds are really dirty, use a paintbrush to clean them. You can dip the paintbrush into soapy water, oil soap or plain water for extra cleaning power. Make sure to use a dry cloth to remove excess cleaner and clean the brush often to prevent transferring dirt.

Hope that helps all of you as much as these tips have helped me! :)

Tired of scraping your car windows in the winter???

Fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water and spray on your car windows at night. In the morning, they should be clear of any icy mess! Hooray for clean windows and getting to work on time :)

Tip of the Day #331: Help Your Bows Keep Their Shape

VERY HELPFUL DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON!

Untying a bow or ironing out creases can damage some ribbon (especially those that have stuck around for quite some time). Avoid both by storing bows intact: to make sure the loops don't crimp while in storage, cut cardboard tubes and wrap them with paper towels so that they fit snugly inside each bow loop. Store flat in a shallow box.

Tip of the Day #330: Long-lasting fresh scent!

Here is a great tip for keeping your home smelling nice and fresh all winter long! Just sprinkle a few drops of VANILLA EXTRACT onto your furnace filter. Now everytime your furnace kicks on, you will get a blast of beautiful scent ;)

DIY BANNER *WITH FREE PRINTABLES*

Since many of you know, I love tackling DIY projects over the holiday season to save money! I recently came across the blog Shanty 2 Chic and I am in LOVE! As I searched her wonderful site, I came across a blog post about creating your own banners. Now being a photographer, I knew this would come in handy when making my own props! Yesterday I went out to the local fabric store and purchased 3 yards of burlap to get started on some christmas banners this weekend (note: burlap is VERY inexpensive if you choose to use it...I paid $1.59 a yard!) Below is a photo taken from Shanty 2 Chic's blog of a christmass tree banner she created:

Here is the link to print out your own letters: http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/11/printable-letters.html

And.......here is my creation for a Maternity Session this past weekend!

Let me know how you all made out and be sure to share your own photos on my page! :)