Saturday, September 28, 2013

dear pinterest gods

dear pinterest gods,

i hate burlap. it's rustic-looking, and i like rustic, but it's scratchy and i prefer not to touch it, especially for long periods of time while cutting and gathering and sewing and gluing it into a stupid freaking wreath. so please make it not popular anymore. #annoying

next, please inform the human race that it is not safe to use pallets for indoor projects. people are going to start dying and it will be your fault. #lawsuit

please ALSO inform the human race that it is not necessary to have 10 different "natural" cleaner recipes. one spray bottle of water, vinegar, and dish soap will clean and sanitize almost anything. if you have a specific task (like polishing wood or removing mineral deposits), refer to pin. but if you make all of those formulas, i can guarantee you that at least 80% of them are just going to rot in your fridge before you can use them and make you feel like a housekeeping failure. #wordtothewise

finally, i am not a bored housewife with gobs of time and money on my hands, so knock it off with all the ridiculous projects that scream that. #aintnobodygottimefodat

if you could give these issues some attention, it would be greatly appreciated. feel free to impress me with your phenomenal prayer-answering skillz. #greatexpectations

thanks,
me

#firstworldproblems
#shamelesshashtagabuse
#youknowyoulikeit

Monday, September 23, 2013

My Dollar Tree Shopping List

...because i see this all over pinterest and i thought it would be cool to publicly document mine, since it already exists in my phone's notepad app!  :D  you should know that i have 5 children under the age of 12, and they are VERY curious and VERY hard on things...so a lot of this list is stuff we go through like water because of their mischief and/or play.  :/



good deals:

:: timers.  i love timers and use them for everything.  you can never have enough timers!  my kids break things so this is the most affordable way to keep me in good supply.

:: baby board books

:: ziploc baggies

:: tiny trash can liners -- those super thin, scented ones on a roll that are the perfect size for a bathroom trash can.

:: emergency candles -- 6 pack!  these sell out quickly.  great when you use candles a lot, like at the dinner table or during story time.

:: kids watches.  no special features (e.g. alarm), but they tell time!  they also sell out quickly

:: seasonal decor (fake flowers, entry table decorations, etc.)

:: hair ties & clips -- since they get lost or broken so easily, i'm not paying 2-3x the price for the name brand ones!

:: funky nail polish and basic makeup -- i rarely wear makeup and the nail polish is just for kids' fun, so quality doesn't really matter.  they get the job done.  and they have a shade of lipstick that i LOVE, so it is affordable since kids tend to get into that and ruin it (and their easter dress...ahem) as well.

:: natural chap stick -- they have an all-natural beeswax chap stick that comes in 3-packs!

:: purse- or travel-size medications (ibuprofen, tylenol, gas-x, etc.)

:: pregnancy tests!  same quality as in your doctor's office.  (BUT, you can get a 20-pack for $5 on amazon, so that's definitely more worth it if you are TTC.)

:: liquid soap.  this can be hit or miss as i once bought 3 bottles of the stuff that didn't even suds in our hard water.

:: bar soap.  they carry the oatmeal/honey and the lavender bars i like so much.  i recently started buying the 3-packs of dial natural (or something like that), and i cut them in half and use them as hand soaps -- my kids are huge soap-wasters so this cuts the cost down to about $0.17/"bar".  this way, i only end up spending around $1/month on hand soap.

:: placemats

:: pot holders

:: butter dishes (flimsy, yes, but cheaply replaced when they break -- they always get broken no matter how much i pay for them!)

:: kitchen sponges & scouring sponges

:: bandaids & other basic first aid items

:: shoe laces (multipack of different lengths and colors)

:: some school/office supplies (pens, pencils, sharpeners, folders, dividers, sharpies, dry erase markers, scotch tape, workbooks for homeschooling)

:: mailing supplies (for mailing letters and shipping small things that i sell online)

:: magnetic dry erase boards (we have gone through a bunch of these since they are flimsy, but i use them to write my husband's to-do list on.)

:: wooden clothes pins -- i use them for all kinds of things, but most often as chip clips...the kids love to play with them so they get lost/broken a lot, so have to buy more every now and then.

:: kids clothes hangers.  they are an affordable way to supply myself with plenty of hangers for the big semi-annual community consignment sale.

:: tiny bottles of goo gone.  my kids tend to dump things out, so this is no big loss and i can keep them all around the house.  my one complaint is that they don't have the squirty top.

:: duct tape -- small rolls, but since my kids are also tape-wasters, having a smaller roll around means less to waste!  especially since a full roll is around $5.

:: spray bottles for DIY household cleaners (i keep them all over the house).  another hit-or-miss item; some of them are just fine, others leak right off the bat, argh!

:: playing cards -- 2-packs!  these are pretty much one-time-use items for my kids; they cannot keep a deck whole to save their lives!

:: sunglasses -- i have even found fashionable ones that fit over my eyeglasses!  and no big loss when they get scratched or broken.  i'm done buying $20 sunglasses!

:: twine.  i use it to repair woven/wicker baskets that i use for decorative storage all around the house.  also good for kids play/projects when i don't feel like having them waste a $5 skein of my yarn!

:: paring knives.  i have mostly had success with these.  once i had one that fell apart after a few uses, but the new line of brightly colored ones with matching sheath have held up just fine so far.

:: some of the storage containers -- leftover food containers seem decent, the plastic, handled tubs and baskets are too. 

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things that are NOT worth buying at dollar tree:

:: scrub brushes -- they break easily and the bristles just suck.


:: can openers -- they just straight up don't work.  better off with a $1.97 one from walmart!

:: kitchen towels (unless you like the tea towel size -- i don't; they are just glorified wash rags!)

:: microfiber cleaning cloths -- they fall apart after one wash!  i'll stick to my walmart ones, 8/$5.  much higher quality.

:: some of the storage containers -- the plastic baskets and woven/chipwood baskets are super flimsy -- they do not hold up to frequent use AT ALL.  the sterilite knock-offs are pretty thin and break easily, plus the tops tend to not fit very well and you are liable to crack it trying to get it off!

thanks for reading -- this was fun!  :)