A Fresh Clean Start for a New Year!

by Mary Pereira

5 Tips to Organizing Your Home

1.  Be Forgot & Never Brought to Mind...

Happy New Year, my Sweet Friends!!!!

The New Year brings to mind all the regrets we have and realizing what we could have done with our friends and loved ones. Were there people you meant to send Christmas cards or Birthday cards to last year but just didn't have their addresses? Do you regret not having spent enough time with everyone because of such a busy schedule? Well? C'mon Beloved, it's time to pull out your address book, planner, calendar, smart phone and computer. Call everyone you know, look up their contact info and their birthdays on Facebook. Start making some plans with the ones you love this year. Think back to what you wished you had done with them. This is a time to reflect. A new start and a new beginning for the future, so set your pace. Don't forget...there are plenty of apps to remind you of birthdays. It won't take long and it will be well worth it to your relationships for this coming year.

2. Storage Resolutions 

Time to make real RESOLUTIONS for the clutter in your home that you can easily follow through on by these quick steps. First is the fool proof rule to follow....If you haven't used it in a year, loose it!! Now go through your closets, drawers, shelves, boxes, attics and basements. Let's not forget, the extensions of our home, our cars and offices. Next, the words to keep in mind are PURGE & CATEGORIZE....Throw away trash, figure out what you need, what you want, what gets donated and what gets stored away. Don't forget to include family, friends and neighbors when separating what is to be donated. They will love you for thinking of them. 

  

Now is the time to organize the clutter of magazines and books scattered all over the coffee table, to deal with the never-ending clothes piled on the floor and the overwhelming excess of items on your counter tops. Use beautiful baskets, decorative boxes and trays for your Bathroom, Bedroom, Kitchen and Living space. They really make a difference.  

3. Wallflowers

Do you have plenty of wall space, My Love but none on the floor? It's time to create what I call Wallflowers and beautify your wall space with creative utilizations. Hooks, floating shelves, shelving units, grids, magnetic strips, filing boxes, hanging shoe racks and even mason jars attached to a wooden plank can have great character.

For the Laundry Goddess inside you

Look at the possibilities 

Grids enable you to make constant changes and adjustments so you will never be bored

If your thumb is green....just think of the endless propagation and space saved

Magnetic wall strips are my favorite new Wallflower

 See what I mean about the Mason jars...lots of character!

4. Buy One...Donate Two

If your home looks like an over stuffed closet...you might want to step back and take a good look. You may be shopping on an emotional level. Just like some people over eat, others over shop. As therapeutic as it may be at the time sooner or later the bulge catches up to you. So here is the plan, when you purchase an item, before it goes into the home, two things have to go out to the donation center. This will help to minimize the over growth of your home and it also feels good to help out others at the same time. 

5. Be Diligent 

I am not here to preach but I am here to help. One of the best resources for advice is the Bible...don't you know?  Here is one to Bless you in this New Year and throughout your whole life.  

The hand of the diligent will rule,

But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

Proverbs 12:24

Written by the wisest man in the Bible...King Solomon. Looking back at all of my own personal failures, I reflected on how I got there. I would have these awesome ideas, much like the New Year's Resolutions, we all have attempted. I was always full of fire and desire, but somehow fell short and lost interest. Turns out I was missing one key ingredient. Diligence! I would become lazy and therefore not finish what I had started. I did not follow through with my original plans and I always ended up doing more work to fix things afterwards. This Scripture rings true for me and I bet that if you keep the words...BE DILIGENT on the frontlets of your mind you will have success this year in keeping your home organized. 

Until next time my Friends. I will be thinking about you as I start to make all the changes in my life for the New Year. Keep a smile on your face, it's important to stay positive, have faith and be thankful for what you already have. Happy New Year! Remember, Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

I LOVE BORAX

By Mary Pereira

Hello Beloved...I find Old Fashioned products used back in the day as being so romantic and so simplistic. How did we get so far away from the basics? Borax has become one of my favorite cleaning solutions. Borax is a powerful deodorizer, Bleach alternative for brightening and for disinfecting. I LOVE BORAX!!

THE BASICS

So let's start with the basics. Borax is composed of tiny crystals, that come in a variety of colors. Mostly Borax comes in white but also in yellow, green and brown. The Scientific names for Borax is Sodium Borate,  Disodium Tetraborate and Sodium Tetraborate. The Basic name for Borax is Borate Salts. Borax is a Boron compound, a mineral and a salt of Boric Acid. It is an all natural safe product to use BUT it can not be consumed. You heard it here, Folks....DON'T EAT BORAX Lol

Vintage Commercials

Death Valley and The 20 Mule Team

Death Valley is known for having volcanic eruptions, supposedly millions of years ago. However long ago it was, there was also flash flooding that covered the land.  Rains washed the volcanic eruptions into the lakes creating layers on the bottom floor. The ash deposits from the volcano contained Boron, which I mentioned previously. Boron is in the Borate Crystals which are one for four colors....QUICK QUIZ? Without looking...what were those colors?? Anyway...The lakes evaporated and created the salty mixture of Death Valley's Borate Crystals.

The 20 Mule Team Wagons were the largest pulled by animals. They carried 10 short ton boxes of Borax Ore at a time. The Wagon beds made of solid oak, were 16ft. long and 6ft. deep. When they were empty, they weighed 7,800 pounds. Loaded with Ore, they actually weighed 73,200 pounds equal to 36.6 short tons. I find that facinating. During the 6 years of hauling Borax out of Death Valley, the 20 Mule Team hauled more than 20 million pounds (9,000 metric tons). Trains took over shipping in 1896. Just a brief History for you. I wouldn't want to kill you with boredom. Truly is romantic, at least to me it is...I love American History.

What Good Is It?

Besides being excellent in your laundry, Borax has a number of fantastic uses around your home. What's that? You're not sure what it does for your laundry? It is so good, that I will never do another load of my laundry without it. My clothes and family are so happy to hear it. A half a cup of Borax added to your regular laundry detergent gives a boost that blasts all the nasty sweat and body gunk. Borax deodorizes rank smells caught in the fibers because it sanitizes everything. Borax has anti-septic, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. That's not all Sweetheart...Borax brightens your whites, your colors, removes stains, softens the water and in turn, softens your clothes!

Borax is excellent on metals, so get ready to make your pots and pans shine. Borax also has the ability to remove rust when combined with lemon juice. When you clean your refrigerator use the all-purpose cleaner recipe below for maximum odor removal and disinfecting.  Borax is the best cleaner for your toilet because it removes odors, germs and stains. I LOVE BORAX!!

All - Purpose Cleaner

Mix together the following: 

1 tablespoon Borax
3 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
1/2 tablespoon washing soda
2 cups hot water
1 tablespoon castille soap

put this into a spray bottle, shake it up and go!

Dishwasher Detergent

Mix together and store in a dry, air tight container:

2 cups Borax
2 cups washing soda

*Ladies, this is better than anything you can buy & much cheaper

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

mix together to make a thick paste:

1/2 cup Borax
1 to 2 tablespoons castille soap

Scrub with a toilet bowl brush

Pot and Pan Cleaner

1 teaspoon Borax
1/2 cup warm water

use a scrubbing sponge and gloves...don't forget a little elbow grease always helps

Floor and Wall Cleaner

1/3 cup Borax
1 tablespoon castille soap
1 gallon very hot water

make sure the borax completely dissolves and wear gloves. This is excellent for not stripping paint from walls. But I would always test a small area, just in case someone used water soluble paint. You never know!

Mold Remover

1/4 cup Borax
2 cups hot water

*for really stubborn mold, use a higher concentration of Borax until you get the results you're looking for or make a paste, let it dry then come back and vacuum or brush away the excess.

Borax is helpful to remove rust stains from the toilet by combining Borax with lemon juice to make a paste. Smear the paste onto the rust stain and leave it over night. In the morning scrub the stain right off and flush. This tip is also very good for getting rid of that nasty ring around the tub, but you won't have to let it sit overnight, just scrub.

To clean china, even hand painted china, fill a dish pan or sink with warm water and add half a cup of Borax, swish it around. Soak your china for a least an hour, then rinse really well. Your china will look marvelous for the upcoming Holidays.

Clean your comb or brush by filling your bathroom sink with hot water, a quarter cup of Borax and one tablespoon of castille soap. Soak it until it's clean. 

Garbage disposals need to be deodorized often, so put three tablespoons of Borax into the disposal and leave it there for a half an hour. Then run very hot water and turn it on for freshness.

Dishwashers need periodic cleanings as well. Place a quarter cup of Borax at the bottom of the dishwasher (be sure to remove any food or trash at the strainer on the bottom) and run the dishwasher on an empty cycle. This will remove detergent residue and hard water stains.

If you have pets, no matter how well trained, sometimes they have accidents. To remove pet urine out of carpets, dampen the spot with warm water. Be sure not to saturate your carpet too much. Rub in a half a cup of Borax or more if need be. Allow this to completely dry, then vacuum. This can also be used for sour milk stains or any foul odorous stain in your carpet. 

Do you remember that commercial...Ancient Chinese Secret, huh??? It was for Calgon water softener but Borax is soooo much better. Borax works as hard as the 20 Mule Team used to do to transport the stuff. Borax to me is a wonderful solution to Bleach and a secret I think everyone should know about. I Love Borax!!! Fare thee well my friends and please stop by again next time. 

Remember, Cleanliness is next to Godliness.