helpful hints | window cleaner + post-it trick

Well, hello!

Yes, it's been awhile. The last few weeks have been crazy busy.

• We took our annual trip to Northern California to visit the grands. It was a perfect trip.
• Ella started first grade--woo hoo! I'm missing the simplicity of summer, but starting to enjoy the routine.
• We sent Kate (daughter) and Madi (granddaughter) off to their new home in Idaho (sniff, sniff), so of course we spent every last minute with them before their departure. (Kate just sent me a photo of her new house and it's darling!) 
• Super Saturday is coming up quickly, so I've been working on all sorts of fun project plans with the girls. Can't wait to show you!

And this weekend, we actually crossed two items off our projects list. Oh yah.

PROJECT 1: WINDOWS
I seriously LOVE clean windows. I called two different companies to come clean the outside of our windows and one cancelled on me three times and the other never called me back. We tried a "formula" from Pinterest, because it said we could spray, wipe, spray and it wouldn't leave any streaks, etc. (and we wouldn't have to get the ladder out). Didn't work for us--grrr.

Went back to our tried and true recipe, good old stinky vinegar and water. It's the BEST window cleaner ever. The smell doesn't bother me, but Ella goes nuts. :)

One part water + one part vinegar = perfectly clean windows, mirrors, glass doors and tabletops with no streaks. 

So simple. My friend, Sarah, said her grandmother always used the formula and had an article written in the newspaper about her "celestial" windows.

PROJECT 2: LABEL HOLDERS
I have some small drawers above the "sewing area" in my craft studio that needed handles. (I'll share the rest of the room when I'm done re-organizing.)

I found these label holders on-line at Pottery Barn. Love them! We are not DIY-ers, but decided attaching them couldn't be too difficult.

I made a template by tracing the front of a drawer, placed a label holder where I wanted it (just slightly higher than centered) and marked the holes. Then I poked holes in the template and marked my drawers.

Lynn drilled the top holes, then we measured to make sure the label was level before tightening the screws. (We tried a level, but the top of the label holders aren't straight.) I love this little trick he used. It's a folded post-it that captured the little shavings from the drill.

Nice--and tidy.

It took us hours to complete the project. Partially because we wanted to make sure everything was lined up really well, and partially because the drill wasn't totally charged and we had to keep waiting for it to work again--lesson learned. 

Have a great week.
Kim