Wedding Bouquet

Here is a better photo of my wedding bouquet: Peony, Sweetpea (purple), Tuberose, and Ranunculus. Again, all of these flowers were "in season" for July.  

Backyard Bridal Shower

Believe it or not, the Black Hills of South Dakota are lovely during the summer. Google it. I helped host a birdal shower at my house this past June. Ninety percent of my ideas came from Pinterest. The pictures really don't do some of the decorations justice..especially the flowers. But, you can get an idea of what we did.

Flowers at my wedding. I believe mine (the bride) consisted of peony, ranunculus, hyacinth, and sweetpea.

Cleaning the Sink

Research tells us the kitchen is the most germ infested room in our home. If I were to venture a guess, I'd say the sink is the most germ infested item in our kitchen. Simply think about what we put in our sink- juice from the raw chicken we just defrosted in the microwave, raw eggs we are dumping down the disposal, milk that has gone bad. The list could go on an on. When we go to wash our dishes in the sink, think of all the germs, bacteria, mold in which we are "washing" them! I have yet to do any tests, but I highly doubt I would want to know what is swimming around in my sink.

I realize I could dilute some bleach or use a disinfecting cleaning product and truly disinfect my sink. However, I don't feel bleach or most store bought cleaning products are safe options. Especially when I am washing baby bottles. Therefore, I came up with this sink cleaner:

2-3 cups of water

1 cup vinegar

1 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Obviously all of these ingredients are safe to consume, yet they are all powerful cleaning agents. The vinegar and lemon juice are effective for killing most mold, bacterial, and germs. Note I only said "most". Vinegar and lemon are not disinfectants. However, I recall my freshman science teacher saying not to use antibacterial hand soap because not all bacteria is bad bacteria. If you want to disinfect your sink without having to use bleach or other harmful products, boil some water in your teapot and poor it in your sink.

Finally, the salt is an extraordinary cleaning and deodorizing agent. Salt is an abrasive if it is not dissolved in the water. So, make sure you stir or shake the mixture if you are nervous about scratching the service you are cleaning.

Small; Day 1/1

My family has a small house. Incredibly small. Hence, organization is key. Although, it doesn't always happen.

Baby items take up a large amount of space ironically; for the person using the items is so tiny. Cupboard and drawer space has always been an issue in my seven cupboard and 1 drawer kitchen. Here is how I organized some of Elsa's baby items (i.e. bowls, plates, sippy cups, sippy cup lids and spoons). I purchased two white baskets ($2.50 for the set), one pencil cup holder ($1.00), and one pink basket ($1.00) from Target. I found these items in the $1.00+ section. As you can see from the picture, I placed the sippy cups in one of the white baskets (having to stack some of the them) and the lids in the pink basket. I labeled all the sippy cups with a permanent marker with the month they are to be used for. I stood up the plates and bowls on their sides, put the spoons in the pencil cup holder, and put all items in the other white basket. It works fairly slick.