Grout Cleaner

I, unfortunately, live in an apartment. But, this is LA so I know I'm not alone. Don't get me wrong I LOVE our place! We have turned it into our home and it feels like so cozy and inviting every time I walk through the door. A problem area for me when I am cleaning is all the tile and the grout that comes with it. Now most of you are picturing your beautiful floors, but mine is on my kitchen counters! Needless to say they begin to look dirty and I haven't found a cleaner I like, until now. With the holidays here I needed a deep clean in my kitchen before guests arrive. After searching the web I came across many people recommending a natural cleaner which I am all for! This may be old news to some of you, but I want to share my experience with using vinegar and baking soda! Please do not judge me but here are my counters:

 

Not pretty, I know. Here is what you will need:

• Small Glass Bowl
• Old Toothbrush
• Baking Soda
• Vinegar
• Clean Sponge or Rag

Begin by mixing baking soda and vinegar together until it forms a paste. Use the toothbrush to work the paste into the grout.

Allow this to sit for some time, I kept it on for at least 30 minutes while I tackled other rooms.

Now comes the work part. Use toothbrush to scrub the grout lines, rinsing the toothbrush often. Did I mention elbow grease in the supply list? I immediately saw a difference! Once you complete a section of counter (or floor) use a damp sponge or rag to clean of all excess paste. Now you are left with gleaming counters! (or floors!)

Not the best pictures, but wow! what a difference it made.

T shirt necklaces

T shirt necklaces seem to be popping up all over, and I love them! I have been making these for some time now and I have so much fun creating new styles. Here are a few samples of what I have done.

 These and other styles of mine can currently be purchased at:

Free Bird Boutique

3412 1/2 W. Magnolia Blvd. 

Burbank, CA 91505

and,

 Diana's Boutique

4334 Tujunga Avenue 

 Studio City, CA 91604

DIY Flower Tank

In this flower tank tutorial I will show you how to take a long sleeve shirt and turn it into a beautiful, fun tank top. Here is what you will need:

·         A long sleeve t shirt in your size, preferably a scoop neck

·         Scissors

·         Sewing needle and thread to match t shirt color

·         Paper, I prefer graph paper

·         Pen or fabric pencil

Here is what my shirt looked like “before”

Step 1.

Cut off the sleeves. If you like raw edges you can cut along the seam connecting the sleeves to the shirt. For a more finished look cut 1” down on the sleeve then turn the raw edges under two times and sew.

Step 2.

Take each sleeve and cut down the seam that runs along the underside of the sleeve to open it up.  Do this to both sleeves.

Step 3.

Cut each sleeve into vertical strips. The strips need to be varying widths, some should be 3 ½ “ wide, some 3” and some 2 ½ “. From these strips cut squares.

 

I ended up with a lot of squares, but didn’t use them all. For this shirt I only used 8 of each size.

Step 4.

Use paper, graph paper works best, to trace three flowers. One 3 ½”, 3”, and 2 ½”. Then cut each one out.

Step 5.

Trace the flowers onto the fabric squares and cut each one out. This step takes a little bit of time.

Step 6.

Now we are going to assemble the flowers! Take one large, medium and small flower and stack them with the largest on the bottom, do this for as many as you want to use. Again I used eight.

Step 7.

Time to get creative! Place the flowers on the shirt where you think you want them; move them around until you find a layout you like. Pin each flower down once you decide where you want it.

Step 8.

Sew each flower on like you would a button (am I assuming too much here?) and your shirt is done! The flowers will be a little floppy, if you want them to adhere more to the shirt you can always use Dritz’s Stich Witchery to hold them down more.

 

That’s it! Enjoy your new tank top!!!

What would you attempt to do

if you knew you could not fail?

Hi, I’m Amber. I love putting my mark on things and making them my own. I started this blog to post some of my DIY tutorials. I enjoy taking old things and making them new again. My hope is for this to be so much more than just DIY, we will just see where each day takes us! Thanks for following!