All Things Hold Together

Today, I decided to do something that I have been wanting to do for a long time - organize the junk drawer in our kitchen.

I saw the post on Organizing Junkie about organizing a junk drawer back in August and figured that some day I would pick up some containers and do it.

Then, I got the book Organic Housecleaning, by Ellen Sandbeck and she talked about cutting empty boxes to use for drawer organizing, so I started saving my empty Twining’s Darjeeling tea boxes with the hopes that some day I would get my junk drawer organized.

Today was that day!

Here is my junk drawer before.

And here is my junk drawer now!

I kept a screwdriver, a pair of scissors, and a couple of working pens in the front. On the side are knit trivets. And there are a few things in the way back - a small screwdriver kit, two more large screwdrivers, a paintbrush(?), and a calculator that never gets used, but everything else is in the tea boxes - and sorted.

I am going to love having all of my binder clips in one place. I clip every opened bag, especially in the summer when we are prone to ant infestations, and I hate fishing around in the drawer for one.

This is one project I highly recommend.

(Linking to Laura’s junk drawer post, I now see that she also suggests at the end of the post to use small boxes, including tea, if you do not have containers.)

I often talk about using natural products. One thing that I always have a tough time cleaning naturally is the toilet. It is such a nasty, germy place and it never seems clean enough. (And when it is, one of my little boys comes along and makes sure that it doesn’t stay that way for long. How hard can it possibly be to aim it in the bowl?)

Unfortunately for me, or perhaps fortunately, I cannot go back to my strong chemical cleaners because they will trigger a migraine. I am stuck using natural methods.

Recently, I started using baking soda and vinegar. The problem is that the toilet never seems clean enough.

Then I figured out a trick.

When I go to clean the toilet, I turn off the incoming water and flush. This way the bowl is pretty much empty. Then, I sprinkle about a half cup of baking soda all around inside. Next, I pour over the baking soda some white vinegar (1/4 -1/2 cup). (The kids love to watch this part because it gets all fizzy.) I scrub it all over with my toilet brush, turn the water back on, and flush (after the tank fills).

I have found that without the water in there to dilute the baking soda and vinegar mixture, the bowl comes out sparkling clean!

Bonus tip: I buy a 12 lb. bag of baking soda at Costco and keep it under the bathroom sink for all of my cleaning needs. Straight up baking soda works great for cleaning the tub.

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Shannon’s place - Rocks in My Dryer.

Last month, I did a Frugal Friday post about molding your own glycerin soap. In a comment, someone encouraged me to try making cold-process soap again because melt-and-pour soap has added detergents.

I e-mailed the company I use, and sure enough, they do add detergent.

After much searching I found these two sites for purchasing non-detergent glycerin soap. Depending on the quantity ordered, it is an even better deal than what I currently buy.

I think I found new soap suppliers.

TKB Trading
Bramble Berry

Yes, a third post and it’s not even noon!

For a long time, I have wanted to share some of the ways we make our budget stretch further, but the one time I did it, was the only time I did it.

I decided to give it another try by participating in Frugal Fridays, hosted here.

My tip on my maiden Frugal Fridays voyage is for glycerin soap on the cheap.

Sometime around a year-and-a-half ago, Bob and I decided to get rid of some of the bigger pollutants in our lives. One thing we changed was our soap. We started using unscented, glycerin soap.

(I tried making homemade soap, but it was a disaster. There was still enough free lye in it to irritate my sensitive skin.)

Glycerin soap in the store is very, very expensive. The least expensive I could find was still well over a dollar a bar.

So, I started buying Life of the Party’s Naturals melt and pour soap base at Michaels, the arts & crafts store. They usually have a 40% off coupon every week, which brings the cost of a 32 oz. block of soap from $8.99 to $5.39.

For eight 4oz. bars of soap, that brings the price down to 67-cents per bar.

The soap can also be bought in larger quantities for even more savings.

This is not as low price as some of the 3/$1.00 soaps out there, but if you are looking for a natural, pure vegetable glycerin soap, you can save a lot of money this way.

You can also add in colors or botanicals to coordinate with your bathroom or make gifts. (An added advantage: you always have an easy to make gift on hand.)

And if you are not in the mood, or don’t have the time, to melt it and pour it, you can just cut it into blocks right from the package.

Update: Non-detergent melt-and-pour resources here.