Category Archives: DIY

Valentines Day is Coming

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 30 January, 2014 None comments

Valentines Day is coming. Place your order today!

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Mommy and Me Time

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 12 January, 2014 None comments

I had a girlfriend ask me this morning for new activities to do with her 18 month old. She said she feels as though she gets stuck in a rut and the same routine can become challenging for her active little girl.

I decided to compile a list of structured activities that I do with my 18 month old. Here are a few:

Coloring: Cooper enjoys scribbling and most of all putting the cap on and off. I try and draw a picture and explain what I’ve drawn; sun, water, birds, grass, trees etc.

Sorting “puff” balls by colors. You can get them at the dollar store.

Kitchen bowls filled with different items i.e. different beans and pasta.
Letting them stir these items and transfer to different size bowls helps them feel as if they are involved while you cook. You can also use three or four different Tupperware containers that they can match the lids to as well.
Allowing your child to help bake with you.
Yes it becomes messy but is very enjoyable for them. I was rolling out pizza crust and Cooper sat on the counter playing with the flour. Mind you the kitchen looked as if a snow storm hit. It was actually really fun to watch him “measure” the flour.
Playing with my button jar. I have a jar full of buttons for decoration but Cooper has turned it into a toy. :)
This allows him to see different sizes and learn colors. Also teaches him how to sort and place them back in the jar

Playing with his farm
Learning which sound goes with which animal.

Water sensory activities
Fill a shallow tub with water and let your child play with different objects while not being immersed in the water.
Letting your little one help “fold” clothes or put them into the washing machine or dryer. Cooper enjoys handing me the clothes that I am folding and he enjoys me handing him socks or shirts to stuff into the dryer or washer.
Shapes and sizes. If you have a toy that is for matching shapes or wooden puzzles this helps them feel like they accomplished the task.

Just a few ideas! I used to teach at a Montessori school and engaging the children as young as 9 months made me realize how young children can be in order to comprehend activities that seem beyond their age. Every child is different and every child will learn at their own pace, but engaging them in activities helps you learn what they are soaking in.

The little children at the Montessori school were able to sit at a table and chair for meal time. They knew if they got up their food would be taken from them which reinforced them to stay sitting if they were hungry. We also taught sign language for basic concepts such as: please, thank you, all done, more and eat. I’ve taught this to Cooper and it has been entirely helpful.

The whole concept of Montessori thinking is to engage our children at a young age to do it on their own, ask for help and be creative with their toys and imagination. I agree with parts of the Montessori thinking and think some of the ideas are very productive while others can be, well- shall we say simply not my style. Every parent has to learn what is best for them and their child.

All in all I have noticed that routine can be challenging for our little toddlers when it comes to toys. They want to be played with, learn how to “do what we do,” and have different activities on different days.

As Seen In:

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 January, 2014 None comments

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Scentsy Wax to Homemade Candles

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 2 January, 2014 None comments

My Motivation Began Here…

So, I made candles one Christmas with my girlfriend but after buying all the stuff I realized it was not worth the effort and money put into it. We went to Michaels Craft store and spent roughly $40 each and I believe we only had two candles come out of this project. This project required so much wax for one candle and the price simply wasn’t worth it. The best part was spending time with my girlfriend who I love dearly.

The glass bowl we used to melt the wax was literally impossible to clean. It dries on and leaves a terrible film. Every time I tried to wash the bowl the water would separate from the wax similar to oil and water but almost worse. Halfway through the process of making our own scented candles that were supposed to be AMAZING, I wanted to quit and actually did. The frustration set in and it became more frustrating to me than enjoyable that I gave up quite quickly and we proceeded to watch our Christmas movie and started in on our second craft for the evening. This one was way more enjoyable.

This experience itself should have been a fun joyful holiday moment but turned out to be the biggest pain in the neck. I just wanted my glass bowl clean darn-it-all. :)

I absolutely love Yankee Candles I am a huge fan of them and have them scattered throughout my house. They smell amazing and actually stay true to the smell while burning; they are the one candle that I’ve found that will actually smell the entire room of the sweet aroma.

I buy Yankee Candles for $10 for a large candle and $6 for a small one. I will not pay full price for them as $24.99-29.99 is outrageous in my eyes. Honestly $10 for a large is quite the steal in my book.

I’ve been on a hunt to find a comparable but for a Warmer…

The hunt…

This past summer, my sister had a Scentsy warmer in her bathroom that smelled so fresh, it was amazing. I had heard of Scentsy before but wasn’t sure they would compare to Yankee. With that said, they did measure up and I was utterly surprised. While I had tried other warmers and Bed Bath & Beyond’s scents they truly did not work. They made no effort to smell a room let alone my house. So at that point I was convinced to try Scentsy. I figured something out there had to compete with Yankee candles.

While in Seattle with my Aunt and Uncle two summers ago, they had a cute little fair going on with a lot of booths set up. Our little man was only a matter of weeks old. We took him in the stroller and walked around aimlessly enjoying the summers heat. While exploring we found a vendor selling Scentsy and decided I would take the plunge. Now, my warmer is from Bed Bath & Beyond, but it was more the scents I was worried about. So I bought several different scents and off we went. Here we are just over a year later and I still have one box left. I actually love them so much I haven’t bought a Yankee candle since.

Months Later…

A few months before our move I ran into quite the problem. Now I didn’t realize this at the time, but as of today I finally realized something was wrong. I have been using this warmer from Bed Bath & Beyond and the last two months every time I shut it off my light burnt out. I have gone to Home Depot three times and had a run for my money; they are not cheap ($6.49 for 1 bulb). I was really frustrated when I got the correct light but the watts were definitely way to strong (50Watts). We had a showing and came home and my husband mentioned it smelt of wax. I walked into the house and immediately smelt the wax and walked to the warmer and it reeked. (The goal was to smell the house of beauty not wax) My frustration with this warmer at that point began to grow immensely. I went back and returned the bulbs and bought the correct one, while I had bought this probably a week ago, I went to change the scent today and here we are again, the light doesn’t work. I am finally convinced that something is wrong with my warmer. Three lights in a row should not burn out within a couple weeks. I make a point to turn the light off so I don’t waste the scent at night, but having doing that, my light burns out.

Okay so the saga continues… I purchased a warmer from the store soon after (6 months ago to be exact) and it was Better Homes and Garden. It works, light has never been changed and we are 6 months with this warmer. I decided I would save the wax as I was previously dumping it in the garbage can. Having doing this there still is some scent left but I also realized what an easy way to reuse wax and for super cheap make my own candles.

The Simple Way…

I simply save the containers of the square wax and pour the wax back in. When I am ready to make my candles, I place the wax in the burner and let it melt (saving the mess of using a glass bowl in the microwave) and dump the melted wax into the mason jar after placing the wick in the bottom of the jar first. NOTE: if you want to keep the wick centered in the jar, tape it to an old pencil and lay the pencil over the jar till it hardens again and leaves you with a nice centered wick.

By doing this, you are only paying for a wick if you have the mason jars already. If you don’t have any mason jars you can always make a trip to the dollar store and many times they have cute little jars with or without lids that would work perfect for candle making.

Turning the Negative into Positives…

In the midst of my frustration with my warmer, it was nice to actually be able to make something positive out of this disastrous wax warmer.

Thanks to quitthewick for the pic

Clean Microwaves

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 31 December, 2013 None comments

To all of you “old” folk who don’t go out anymore on New Years Eve let alone stay up till midnight, we have now become dear friends. I am on the same page as you and enjoy my sleep and a happy baby in the morning for going to bed on time. :) So happy new years eve and I hope you all have a safe holiday!

Now with that said:

We were welcomed home last night to our clean, cold house after being gone for 10 days. There is always a sweet comfort returning home even when you have had the best of times away. Your own bed, pillow, shower, and kitchen can be a place of sweet release.

Upon entering home, our house was a chilly 62 degrees. While the heat was rapidly rising to a balmy 71 degrees we began to settle in and find some snacks within our empty fridge. Cooper raced around the house in glorious bliss as he found all of his little toys scattered around yet left in the same spot he had placed them prior to leaving.

It was a bitter sweet moment coming home while we had enjoyed our 10 days at my parents house in Central Washington. It is always an escape from reality yet a busy time as well. I must say this Christmas was by far the best Christmas I believe we’ve had. Something about coming back to the meaning of what Christmas is all about, serving the homeless and poverty stricken Christmas dinner and spending time with family was exactly what made our Christmas in 2013 the best yet. This was the first year we took time our of our Christmas day to serve dinner at my parents church to those in need. It was the most humbling experience. The 135 plus families we served dinner to and donated gift, clothing and blankets to was exactly what created the best Christmas to date.

Anyway, after returning home last night, I think I forgot to mention that my husband had been sick all day with a nasty stomach bug. The unfortunate thing was we exposed the entire family to this nasty bug, had a 5 hour drive ahead of us with a sick man and a busy little baby with things to do and toys to play with. The rambunctious little man along with the sleepy giant in the passenger seat made the drive quiet long. Luckily we didn’t have to return by a particular time frame; we took our time and stopped now and again along the way.

This morning was our day of relaxation and hoping to gain as much sleep as possible to prevent any more sickies in the house. (IE my son and myself) I believe we helped accomplish this task when all three of us didn’t awake until 9:15 this morning…..New Years Eve. It was glorious. No alarm clock or baby waking us up. It was sweet bliss.

I headed to the kitchen feeling completely refreshed, coffee brewed and baby diaper changed. My husband allowed for my morning to be literally AMAZING! These little things blessed my day immensely; I was grateful. I scoured the fridge tossing out plenty of containers filled with food growing something unappetizing on it. There was quite the stench filling my kitchen sink disposal with this wretched aroma. I began deep cleaning my kitchen and fridge and was feeling so accomplished by this one room. I knew the remainder of the house needed a good wash down as well but it had to wait; one room at a time. I cleaned the cupboard faces, oven, stovetop and scrapped the edges to get any grim and grit away. I proceeded to clean cupboards and countertops until I felt completely satisfied. I ended my kitchen duties with cleaning the microwave. The microwave can be a daunting task as food debris cakes on allowing for deep finger scrubbing which no one enjoys. While I am always amazed at the task at hand, I always seem to put it off as long as possible. This one little tip I will share with you will change microwave cleaning for decades to come….. :)

Tip of the day: Spotless Microwave

In a shallow glass container add 1/2 cups water and 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar. Heat in the microwave for 1:30 allowing the container to completely cool before removing.

Wipe away the grim and gunk with a washcloth.

The vinegar loosens up the food entirely allowing for a swift wipe away. It is incredible how well it works and how immaculate this appliance becomes.

No more scrubbing and ruined nails and finger tips. :)

New years eve drink of choice: Lemon Ginger Yogi tea

Happy New Years Eve!!!

Jamberry Party!!!

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 December, 2013 None comments

visit www.delightfullydoable.jamberrynails.net to place your order.

Cooking Spray

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 21 December, 2013 None comments

Homemade Pam or cooking spray is easier than snapping your fingers. Although snapping for some people is impossible so with great hope, this is really easy and quick. :)

Honestly I haven’t bought Pam in almost two years. I actually began getting a napkin wet with canola oil, coconut oil, EVOO and so forth. But due to the inconvenience of having to take the extra minute to get the napkin wet, I decided I would purchase my own “cooking” spray bottle and label it as “cooking spray.” How unique is that?

All you do is take 1 part lemon juice to 1 part EVOO. It will separate just as oil and water separate, simply shake before using. :) Easy huh? Even though it’s so simple I still want to share with you as it has no chemicals and your fingers will not get all oily.

One more thing to check off your list that is chemical free.

Holiday Nails

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 November, 2013 None comments

Hurry! The holiday season is here. Place your holiday Jamberry orders and Christmas presents before it’s too late!

Go to:

www.delightfullydoable.jamberrynails.net

Nail Wraps or Are They??

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 6 November, 2013 None comments

Not everything is a good DIY experiment. I decided I would test department store nail wraps with the brand ‘Kiss’ to see if they work as well as Jamberry. By doing this experiment I painted a couple nails as well because the pattern was too strong for me to have on all 10 nails. Here is what I found:

Last night at 4:30pm

Just finished painting and stickin’ Looking good….

5:15pm

Nail polish smeared

Just got done making dinner and they are already annoying me…Everything I touch, they stick to.
6:30pm

Completely off the nail, all I did was make dinner and give my son a bath. Clearly they aren’t meant to get wet… yikes!
Following day at 3pm

Already the nail polish is worn off and I’m missing thumb and pointer finger. They were $5.99 but I received nothing from them but complete frustration.

36 hours later, they are all off… :(

Bar Keepers Friend

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 15 October, 2013 None comments

The bar keepers friend is a very fascinating, well adverse, successful friend. If you know much about me and my history, I do not drink alcohol, so this may pose many questions; where and how would I have met this friend? This friend I am talking about is not your typical friend. This friend is rarely talked about; almost a secret even. Now who I want to introduce you to is actually not a “who” but a “what.” If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen you will be utterly grateful for this friend. This friend is actually a powder that will brighten, tighten, and shine anything you can think of.

My mom was in town this weekend and was asking me if I knew the bar keeper. I had no idea what she was talking about; she proceeded to explain to me that the bar keeper is her best friend. Meanwhile I was trying to clean my dutch oven with an SOS pad and was very unsuccessful. I was scrubbing and nothing was happening. I had “Pam” spray basically glued on to my pot (I make my own “Pam.”) I was so irritated because I have felt lately that almost all of my pots and pans were looking grungy, even though they are for the most part, less than a year old. My mom proceeds to tell me about this miracle called “The Bar Keepers Friend.” She was raving about this product and says she uses it on anything and everything. You don’t have to scrub, it comes right off. She continued to tell me about this product as she graciously ignored my irritation while I had no success scrubbing. As we got talking she was making me really question her authenticity about this so-called miracle that I gave up cleaning my dutch oven.

Meanwhile, my dad overheard us talking and decided to sneak off to the store. He comes back with this miracle powder and my mom starts scrubbing away at my pots, dutch oven, coffee pot, sink, and stove top. Might I add this was at 9 o’clock at night right after we started the movie “Night of the Museum.” All four of us (my husband, dad, mom and I) were hovering over the dutch oven as we watched the grime wash away. She moved on to the stainless steel pan that hangs from our hanging pot rack displaying our dirty, grungy looking pots that are not dirty but extremely burnt on the bottom and coated with a film. Kitchen aid told me to soak my pans in lemon juice and boiling water, needless to say that absolutely did nothing for me. I was so upset about this because I had spent so much money on my pots; Kitchen Aid is a great tusted brand but was giving me serious doubts. I literally had them less than 24 hours at that point and after my first use they looked 5 years old. So here we are nine months later and my mom is providing my kitchen with a makeover. Wah-lah, this magical moment began my belief for my new friend the “bar keeper.”

I cannot begin to explain the amazement behind this. Our coffee pot literally looked as if there had coffee brewing 100% of the time. (Might I add, we have only had the Coffee pot for ten months). Again, I have scrubbed this pot with an SOS pad, ran lemon juice and vinegar through and nothing would lessen this stain until now. It looks absolutely brand new; I was so shocked, but still had little faith. My mom moves on to the stove top; we have the four coiled burner with the trays below she pulls out one of the dirtiest trays and bam, same thing. I must say this almost solidified my belief but my husband had to go a step farther. There is a water stain in our bathroom sink; NOTHING has worked on this water stain…until now. I swear, by the time my husband showed me this I was literally amazed and a true believer. Nothing would shake this faith now, the bar keeper was a true, honest friend now. What’s even more incredible is that it all happened within minutes. No hard scrubbing or wearing your hands out.

I must explain that this product is not only a life changing product, but it is unbelievably cheap. It runs less than $2 at Walmart and comes in a container like Comet. I am really surprised that I haven’t heard of this before let alone seen an advertisement. There’s no scrubbing involved, you wet the product slightly, lather up a paste and watch the grime wash away; the trick is you barely add water. Now we have shiny pots and pans hanging in the kitchen, you can almost see your reflection perfectly in them.

We also had the pleasure of brewing coffee this morning in a “brand new” coffee pot.

Bathroom sink before

After

I must say, it’s the little things like that that put a smile on my face. Easy, convenient and successful tips and products will help make me happy as I spend a lot of time cooking and cleaning. My husband is always reminded that it’s “the little things” that always put a smile on my face. He continually tells me this because it continually rings true.

Now, go and purchase this lovely product and have a drink with your girlfriends about the “bar keeper.”

This product can be used on anything. It is not a disinfectant but does take away stains and make your house look like new. Bathroom sinks, tubs, stove tops, kitchen sinks, pots, pans, coffee pot, pyrex and much more. Incredible!