Thursday, April 8, 2010

A Few Things

The second week of April snuck up on me. I've got lots of updates and news to share today.

Our last "small change" is to put baking soda and vinegar to better use. They serve me well for cookies and salad dressing, but those two ingredients have so many other usesall purpose cleaner, shampoo substitute (via Angry Chicken), tub and toilet scrub, volcano...
I'm going to realize the full potential of these two chemical-free, all-natural pantry items.

In other news, Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes is hosting a different kind of challenge. This month is Children and Nature Awareness Month, and to celebrate, Lisa is hosting The Great Outdoor Challenge. For the remainder of April, participants will be posting pictures of their kids doing whatever it is they do outside. It's perfect timing, and mother nature is making it really easy for us this week.

Yesterday, my kids did some good ol' fashioned graffiti. Yes, the girls have found a good use for the charred sticks left over from the brush we recently burned. (It's fun, and it washes off with a hose!)

Also! Kristina from Growing a Better Me has passed on a Beautiful Blogger Award to me. Blushing. Don't you just love the name of her blog? It says so much about her and what she writes about. With that honor comes the pleasure of passing it on to someone else. So, with no further ado...I'm giving it to Dana, at Create Share Inspire. I love seeing the behind-the-scenes of her paintings, drawings, studio, and what sparks her creativity.

Lastly, Alison at L is for Latte wrote about me and my work last week. She is a writer/editor/knitter who keeps a blog that is funny, witty, and so well written, it puts people like me to shame. Alison and I had the opportunity to chat on the phone recently, and she asked me lots of interesting questions. You can read her article on AG Ambroult here.

10 comments:

  1. April was sneaky this year wasn't it? I am kind of still not believing it's April already. Have fun with your baking soda and vinegar recipes; I am such a big fan of both. Although, I did try the bs shampoo thing for a few months and it just did not work for me, I love it for so many other things. Excited to go read that interview, xoxo

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  2. Woo hoo baking soda and vinegar, wonderful cleaners. I'm a big aromatherapy fan so I always love to put a drop of essential oils in my homemade cleaners (lemon, grapefruit, cinnamon, and peppermint are favorites of mine).

    Love the graffiti! Thanks for participating!
    lisa

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  3. Baking soda and vinegar are great! I did the shampoo thing for awhile too, it worked really well but made my hair waaay too dry for winter in Colorado. I have short hair and it was so static-y that it stood on end. I'm thinking of trying it again for the summer.

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  4. can't wait to hear what uses you discover for baking soda and vinegar. my kids love to make volcanoes, and i've been thinking for several months now that i should put a jar of each in our bathroom so they can make volcanoes in our toilet. you've inspired me to go and do it now!

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  5. Yes, baking soda and vinegar are wonderful! Vinegar and water are what my kids "clean" with. Congrats on the Beautiful Blogger Award! You really are one! And now I am blushing... thanks so much for the kind words. It means so much to me! I am off to read your interview!
    xoxo

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  6. Congratulations on all your wonderful news. From the award to the interview as well as making so many new friends and connections over the internet! What fun times!

    Also, congratulations to Dana, what an excellent choice! I always find her blog so inspiring too, the way she writes about her process and creativity and offers fun links!

    Finally, congratulations on your efforts to be more ecological and leave a greener footprint!

    Lots to celebrate! :)

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  7. Oh, you just linked to several blogs I don't know about. Thanks! And yay on the baking soda and vinegar. I have been using it for years and occasionally you need something a little more, but generally, it works great for all sorts of stuff!
    Nicola

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  8. I love the graffiti idea...too bad we can't fire up any burn piles around here...

    I am now a big fan of the baking-soda-as-shampoo...the first time I tried it, I was unimpressed, but then I read Angry Chicken's post and once I added the cider vinegar rinse, it worked amazingly well. I will never go back to shampoo...I got my hair cut at an actual salon for the first time in forever, and the stylist made a nice comment about the health of my hair. Yay baking soda!

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  9. Oh my gosh! My kids are forever taking charred bits of wood out of our firepit and drawing with them. Then they proceed to wipe the hair out of their face with charred fingers and end up looking like army fatigues!

    :)Lisa

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  10. in addition to the dandelions, we also did some charred wood drawing! thanks for the inspiration!

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