Pinterest projects report and ugly sweater day

Perhaps I'll start with it was ugly sweater day at the high school today. Hannah and Glen wore sweaters and Ryan chose to go with his Christmas vest.

I've been busy getting ready for Christmas, but I've also been busy trying out some things that I found on Pinterest.com. Pinterest is an online database where you can "pin" things you like from the internet onto different "bulletin boards" (files) you make so you can find them again when you want to. You can pin anything...beautiful photographs, recipes, crafts, quotes.... Better than bookmarking because you can see a picture that goes with the item. You can "follow" what your friends and others pin and repin them to your boards if you like them.

So in case you were wondering about how some of the items I've pinned actually work (yea, I know, no one was really wondering):

Magic shell:
As reported on last time, the magic shell ice cream topping got a mixed review. It tasted too much of coconut (ingredients are 1 1/4 c chocolate chips and 1/2 c coconut oil) for me, but others in my family like it. The site did say you could use butter instead of coconut oil. If I try it again, I might try that version. You can find it at:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/07/08/diy-magic-shell/


Cleaning microfiber couches:
My couch doesn't look as clean as hers did after the rubbing alcohol treatment, but it is certainly better than it was. You put straight rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and spray and scrub your couch with a sponge. Simple as that. The link to the pin's site:
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/11/how-to-clean-microfiber-sofa.html

Homemade tub and shower cleaner:
The dawn and white vinegar solution for cleaning tubs, showers, and sinks was excellent. You heat up 1 cup of white vinegar and then add 1 cup dawn dishwashing soap and put it in a spray bottle. Spray in the tub, shower, or sink, wait a few minutes (even over night if you want) then scrub and rinse.You still have to scrub just a little and put up with the vinegar smell, but it works great and beats the chemical smells that hurt my lungs. I think the vinegar helps keep the sudsing down, though it is tough to rinse the soap out the sponge afterwards.
http://www.food.com/recipe/tub-and-shower-magic-434275


Weekly to-do list:
You take a picture frame that has 8 individual frames attached together. You put pretty paper in the frames and use it to write your daily things to do. I bought the frame at Walmart for $10. Here is my version:

I will change the paper out after Christmas, of course. But I love the idea. This idea came from:
http://fey-next2heaven.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-launch-pad-new-weekly-calendar.html

There are a few projects I plan on trying soon...like the yellow underarm stain treatment found here:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/11/goodbye-to-yellow-armpit-stains.html (why is dawn in so many homemade recipes???)