Taking Control of Pesky Kitchen Gnats

I'm not sure if it is the weather or if I just cook things that smell too awesome, but even if my entire kitchen is spotless I have a couple of gnats buzzing around. I've cleaned everything I can imagine would attract them, kept little to no dirty dishes in the sink, and put all of my fruit in the fridge, but still they buzz. The only thing that seems to work is killing them, but I don't want to sit around with a fly swatter all day hunting for them. So I tried this simple trick and trust me IT WORKS! It doesn't get rid of the problem (I think we will need professional help for that) but it does kill them without taking up more than a minute of your time!

All you need is:
- A Cup/Mug/Glass/Container
- Some Apple Cider Vinegar
- A drop of Dish Washing Liquid

Just fill your cup about halfway with the Apple Cider Vinegar add a drop or two of Dish Washing Liquid and set it on your counter. After a few hours....

Those tiny dots you see are gnats!!

VOILA. You have killed at least some of your problem... the only down side is the smell of Apple Cider Vinegar BUT if you keep it at half a cup the smell isn't very strong and won't drive you nuts. Happy Gnat Hunting!!

Make a Record Wall

Make a Record Wall

I had some visitors coming and since we are moving in a couple of months after only a year renting, I hadn’t done anything with our spare bedroom. Between the blindingly white walls and the echo you get from an empty-ish room I knew I needed something simple and cheap to put on the wall.

Most thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army sell records for a Dollar each, however sometimes if you go off the beaten path a bit and either go to a smaller thrift store or even browse Craigslist, I have found records for as little as 10 cents apiece. The trick is figuring how many you want/need. Having bought a few record collections off of craigslist and the desire to have a record wall much larger than this for some time now, I have many more than I actually need. In this tutorial I only used 12, so at $1 each I would have only spent a right around $13 with tax if I had gone out and bought records specifically for this project.

Supplies:

-          Records (DUH)

-          Yardstick

-          Level

-          Hammer and Nails

-          3m strips (optional)

Step One:

Ok so this one is super easy. Figure out where you want to hang your ‘art’. I measured straight up from a wall outlet that was in the center of my wall so I didn’t have to get out a measuring tape. I made a mark right in the center of where I wanted the top row of records to go.

Step Two:

Each of the records have a 6 in radius so your nails are going to be 12” apart plus whatever spacing you want in between. I ended up at around 12 ¼ “. If you measure 6 and 1/8” (be sure to use the level and get it straight) from your center mark on each side then you will have your first two spots marked for your nails. Then just go the full 12 ¼ “  out from the two marks you made and your top row is done! Then just use your yardstick and level to fill in the rest of the marks.

I was super lazy at this point and only measured the top row and the left row, then I just places the records and measured the spacing  by eye and used the holes to find the nail spots.

Step Three:

Hang the Records! If you're OCD (or the preferred CDO) you can use 3m strips to prevent your records from turning and the keep the labels aligned, but I decided I didn’t mind that they weren’t all facing the same way.

Now you have a super fancy and cheap record wall, hmmm now what to do with those record covers....

D.I.Y. Dry Erase To Do List

D.I.Y. Dry Erase Cleaning or To Do List

I absolutely LOVE dry-erase boards and with an underwhelming cleaning check-list, I knew my ideal solution would be some sort of dry erase/cork board combination.

After about 20 minutes of staring at the selections of bulletin and dry erase boards in the store I decided that I really wanted a half and half board, so that I could create a list and not have to re-write them all the time because I smudge them with my hand. SO here is what I came up with.

Supplies:

-          Magnetic Dry Erase Board $4.50

-          Cork Board $3

-          Both with Dimensions of 5.5in x 14 in

-          Blank Computer Paper

-          Packing Tape

-          List of things to include on your To Do or Cleaning List

(MY underwhelming cleaning list, the suplies I intend to replace it with ad the finished product)

Step One:

Take a piece of Blank Computer Paper and figure out how wide it should be, to fit on your Cork Board. Make a crease and then cut off the extra. Keep the scrap to use later.

Step Two:

Write your checklist on the paper you trimmed to fit the cork board, minus the check boxes. I used the scrap paper to prevent the ink from my marker from bleeding through to the counter.

Step Three:

Take another piece of paper, or use your scrap paper and line it up with your checklist and make your boxes that you can put checkmarks into. Then fold and trim off the extra paper.

Step Four:

Take some packing tape and attach the boxes to the right edge of your dry erase board.

Step Five:

Now you are finished and can hang your new dry-erase checklist wherever you need it!

 

At Home Heroine Logo

Double H logo with a super hero inspired design. It also looks like a window pane, don't you think?

Welcome Readers!

If you have a love for cooking, crafting, DIY, greener living and saving money then you have come to the right blog! Having been just created, there isn't much content right now, but be sure to bookmark us and check back in a couple of weeks and we should be filling our pages with tons of useful tips and tricks to become an At Home Hero or Heroine yourself.