Product of the Week: Spray-n-Wash Stain Stick

I have to share with you all an old favorite of mine. This little guy has been a "friend" for many years. My mom used it when i still lived at home, and i've relied on it ever since i started doing my own laundry. I've had many friends thank me for turning them on to this product. Including one friend who once considered all of her kid's stained clothes as play clothes--and the pile for play clothes was beginning to seriously outweigh the clothes they could wear out of the house!


The Spray & Wash Stain Stick. (*cue Angelic music*)



This thing is truly a miracle in a little package. I have to say that in the nearly 20 yrs that i've used it, i have yet to find a stain that it cannot get out. And i have 2 boys, mind you ;) I recently turned my MIL onto the product. She had a huge grease stain from pizza on a fave pair of jeans and guess what? Stain Stick won another person over when she removed the jeans from her washer, and the grease was completely gone!

All you have to do is rub this onto a stain, throw it in the wash, and voila--it's like a magnet that erases the stain, so you never know it existed. Their claim to fame once was that you could pre-treat and leave it on for up to 7 days before washing. I typically do not do this, but i have let it sit for a couple days in the past and it still removed the stain, without discoloring the clothing either.

The product has been reformulated through the years, and now boasts "Resolve Power". I haven't noticed much of a difference; it still works great and is pretty affordable--usually around $2.50, and a little goes a long way. They also have a spray product that is nice for collars, but i've found the stick to be the most effective overall.

Recently, my beloved Target has stopped carrying this product, and that makes me sad. They have the Shout Gel, but it just pales in comparison to the Stain Stick. I hope they bring it back. I have one grocery store nearby who put it on sale the one week, and i went and bought NINE of them!

So if you haven't tried this product, and are looking for something to get stains out of clothing, give it a try! You won't be disappointed! And then come back and tell me what crazy stains you removed ;)

She's finished!!!

Whew.... the cabinet is done! For those of you who have not experimented w/black, let me warn you--it can be quite the process! Black paint gets just about everywhere! And i know some have used paints that have required quite a few coats. I was lucky to stumble across a blog that gave me a heads-up on Benjamin Moore Iron Clad Black Paint. So let me give a shout out to Just a Girl for the fabulous paint recommendation. Check out the post that inspired my paint-it-black fest: http://j-a-girl.blogspot.com/2009/07/black-door.html

It has a self-primer, so you can easily get away w/just one coat on most things. I'd like to go over the cabinet and do one more thin, even coat. But it's good enough for now!

Before. Ok, but it was one of the first things we painted when we moved in (11 yrs ago). You would die if i had the original before photo. I will find that someday and post it. These cabinets were lovingly resurfaced/painted by my FIL. They were previously brown and yellow--GROSS!

Getting there!

Ahh...that's better! Isn't she purrrty?! I also stained the butcher block top. A close-up of some details:

I would have needed 11 new drawer pulls, and we know how expensive those can get. No way! I'll pick up a $4 can of spray paint thankyouverymuch! However, i didn't anticipate what a task this would be. I'd get them all set up, they'd blow over in the wind, roll around, etc. The worst were these below. But i'll share my trick--my handy husband came up w/the idea to stick them in floral foam--genius!
Hmmm..guess i should have worn gloves! I tend to get anxious and dive right into projects without thinking sometimes. The paint can said "soap and water cleanup".. sha-right!

I had to rely on my trusty pumice cleaner. You can get this at auto stores. It smells sooooo good!

And my paint-it-black fest continues! I have a table i'm working on, and some other ideas coming up. Thanks for looking and Happy Decorating!!

Wall Transformation

So we have these two long, narrow windows in the room that is off of our living room. It's always created a bit of a challenge decorating-wise. I had a large frame there for a bit, but relocated that and have been on the search ever since for the right piece to replace it. Any artwork i found wouldn't be the right size, colors, etc. So i found this small wood tree pic at Marshalls the one day and thought it'd look nice, but knew it wasn't enough to fill up the space. I wanted to stay away from shelves, cause i have one on another wall in that room, and have enough little decor stuff that i didn't want to get into "merchandising" yet another shelf in this house. I've always loved those sayings you can put on your walls.. my one friend had an Uppercase Living party and i thought it was such a neat idea. Well now they sell a similar product by DCWV Home. I've seen it in the craft stores, but was a little surprised to see it at Kohls today! Price tag said $29.99, on sale for $18.99, and i had 20% off. Not bad.

I got home and went right to work. I have scrapbooking supplies that remind me of this concept, and new it would be a cinch to do. You just need a level and some masking tape, and then you rub the plastic card thingy they give you over it, pull the backing off carefully, and voila! Easy peasy! And turns out it was the perfect size for my space. I think it compliments both the new tree pic and the room itself nicely (i'll have to share pics of the space soon).

So here it is--no before pic, as it was bare, so just imagine that wall w/nothing on it!

Thanks for looking! Happy Decorating!

Product of the Week: A Paper Towel Saver

I had a previous blog that covered product reviews. It became too much to try and maintain different blogs, so i think i may just start doing it all in one place instead--HERE! Who doesn't love a good suggestion on a great product? I do, so please share away if you have some too!

I'll readily admit that i'm not the most earth-conscious person. I try to do my basic part as a resident on this planet (recycling, cleaning up litter outdoors, etc), but still cannot live w/out aerosol hairspray (Big Sexy Hair, among others)! So my quest to eliminate (or more feasible: decrease it) paper towel usage brought me to this little dandy product: Libman WonderFiber Cloths. I actually happened upon these by accident--they were hanging in the checkout aisle, which i perused while waiting in a ridiculously long line (i always choose the wrong line! anyone else?!). Sneaky product placement! It worked--they got me.
I find these to be great after cleaning off my glass kitchen table. I'd always wipe it down w/my dishwand, and dry that off w/paper towels, using at least 3 to accomplish the project. Add that up over several times throughout the day, and you can run through a roll of paper towel pretty fast! While these will not answer my dreams and take away my need for paper towels, i've definitely found them to be a handy addition to my household cleaning regimine. And they're cheap--i want to say less than $3 for the 2 pk. I use them on the countertops too, and have ventured into mirror-cleaning w/them as well. So not a bad little product if you're looking to reduce paper towel usage....whether you're on a quest to help save the earth--or just a little thrifty, like me! ;)

Chair Re-Covery!

Since i did the kitchen post, i figured i'd share the before (left) & after (right) of the chair cushions. This has always been my favorite little pick-me-up in the kitchen. Such a simple way to update and give a fresh new look! Not to mention cheap. I usually get the fabric at JoAnns, using a 40% off coupon. This particular fabric was a little pricier, since it is upholstery fabric, but i figured it'd be good to have something more durable in the kitchen (those of you w/kids know exactly where i'm coming from!). I chose this because i thought the little "ribbons" of color complimented the new wall color nicely, and the background pulled on the stainless steel aspects of the kitchen.

I also wanted to point out something that is easily missed in the before/after kitchen pics below--my stove. Now, i've had that thing since my wedding shower. (1995 people!) It was a wondeful gift from my ILs and fit in just fine w/the apple theme. But as much as i would have liked to "trade up" when we re-did the kitchen, i thought we'd work w/appliance paint instead. Like most older appliances, it still works perfectly (they don't make 'em like they used to, huh?!), and i didn't want to test fate. I'd rather wait until the thing goes on it's own. And if i was going to willingly buy a new appliance, i'd rather add some sweet front-loaders to the laundry room ;)

So off to Home Depot we went, and we purchased the Rustoleum High Heat paint. It also comes in spray paint, but what a mess that would be! We just rolled this stuff on and surprisingly, it came out pretty good! It looks better than the almond color that it was, and doesn't stand out as much, since a lot of the accent colors in the kitchen are black. I'm quite happy with it! So go ahead--if you hate the color of your old appliace--just paint it!!

The Kitchen (Before & After)

I previously posted this on my other blog, but the after pics were coming up blurry. I fixed them and figured i'd re-post here--also in honor of Sarah over @ Thrifty Decor Chick...she's having a Before And After Party! Go check out some of the great ideas!

Oh boy..it's kinda weird to go back and see the "before" photos--hard to remember my kitchen looking like this! We bought our house in 1998, and i was all about the country look back then. While i still love some of the country decor, i definitely appreciate a more simplistic style now--i.e. a lot less cluttered! I loved all of my apple stuff, but boy did it overwhelm the place.

See what i mean?!


Look--there's stuff right up to the ceiling practically, since i also used the top of the cupboards for decorating space!

So the "after" has been done a little over a year now, and i'm much happier w/the look. These were taken right after we painted, so i've since added a little more decor, but not enough to take all new pics. The color is Behr Mulling Spice (satin). We moved our dining room table into the kitchen, and i'll tell ya--we eat there more than we ever did when it was in the dining room! The island was moved over to another corner, to serve as extra counter space.
Here's the island. We painted the base a different color--it's actually not the same as the wall, but a bit darker (hard to tell in the photo)
Ditched the bench and got this awesome cabinet at TJ Maxx. Marked down, of course! I only paid $40! (originally $80). Also got rid of the old-fashioned phone. How i loved that phone when we first got it! Just went w/something simple, as a backup for the cordless.

And just a closeup of an under-cabinet detail. Wine rack from Ikea.


Big improvement or what??!!

Thanks for looking :)