Book Bundles

I have had a few people ask me about cheap display items for shelves.  I LOVE to go thrifting for display items on the cheap.  One of the cheapest and chicest things I can think or are book bundles.  These are uber popular right now.

Pottery Barn sells these little bundles for like $25 a piece I think.

Restoration Hardware sells these for $49 a piece and they have been sold out!  Crazy, right!  I hope none of my readers actually bought these, because they are sooo easy to make yourself. 

I have some books that I am no longer reading anymore and my librarian mother in law would kill me for doing this for the sake of decor!  Yes, I tore off the spines of my old high school pleasure reading books! 

You can also go to a thrift store, antique mall, goodwill and get the cheapest books for like .25- 1.00  and recreate this same look.

I have a big roll of hemp that I like to tie them off with.  Some look cute with ribbon.  I am all about using what you have!  Happy Bundling!

All Natural All Purpose Kitchen Cleaner

I am all about being green while saving some green! hehe!  As I am running out of my kitchen cleaner, I decided it was the perfect time to make my own. 

Before we move on to the simple instructions with household products-can we talk about the junk that is in our cleaners!  ummm hello- I prepare food on that countertop!

These products contain harsh chemicals that harm the quality of the air in your homes, plus they are on your hands, and can even seep into your food, YUCK! 

Many of these have been connected to health problems, and as the cleaners and chemicals are eliminate from ones lives, so too are the health problems!
Take one bottle, read the ingredients and google them, I guarantee you will be freaked out!

So what do we do about it- make out own!

I decided it is wasteful to just get rid of the scary cleaning chemicals all at once and replace with natural homemade ones!  Wasteful on the wallet too! so I have been slowly adding them in as I begin to run out of items! 

For those of you that think this is crazy, it really isn't!  It is so simple and they all clean really well!  PLUS, it saves you money, and who doesn't want to save a little money.


All-Purpose Cleaner

Using funnel, put 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon dish soap, and 2 tablespoons vinegar into your spray bottle. Give it a stir/shake. Let it sit for a minute, now fill bottle with warm water and shake it up. Give it a few more minutes to calm down, and add a few drops of essential oil if you have them.  This really just makes it smeel nice like the Meyer and other natural products out there, but is totally not necessary to cleaning.  If you happen to have them, throw it in there, if not, save your money.

I use the clear spray cleaning bottles that you can get from any major store.  They seem to work well and I sharpie them on the outside.  One of these days I will make my own cute little labels, but for now, the sharpie does the job!

I borrowed the picture and recipe from apartmenttherapy.com
This is a great site for green cleaning recipes plus a lot more.