Big City Living, Easier Than Small City Living

With my move to Milwaukee in the last few months, I’ve discovered that living in a bigger city is easier than living in a smaller city. Easier, with all of the conveniences of transport, shopping, and things to do. I will never say “I’m bored. There’s nothing going on here…” again. I’m selling my car to fund my college career, seeing as how I work 5 blocks away from home and I walk to campus, just 2 blocks away. Oh, the gas money I’ll save! The grocery stores are everywhere, but the one we love most is Trader Joe’s, and it’s only a few miles. They have a wide selection of organic foods, whole foods, and natural selections, which was hard to find in a small town.

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Big city perks I’ve noticed:

• Last week some girlfriends and I wanted food from a specific restaurant, and there is a bicycle delivery service called FlavorCycle that will pick up your food and deliver it to you (limited restaurants.)
• I walked to class today (as I do every day) and wanted to check out a bike shop to see about a new bike. It was only 3 blocks away, and I was able to walk there too.
• There’s a grocery store, specialty beer and wine store, pizza place, breakfast place, movie theater, coffee shop, etc, all just 5 blocks or less away.
• I moved here just three months ago and found out a dozen or so friends had done the same. I already have friends here. My boyfriend wanted to move here too, and he has friends from his very small hometown that have already moved here as well. People like moving to big cities, so we both already knew a ton of people here.
• I went for a bike ride the other day and realized the beach was less than a mile up the road, within walking distance, and if I ride my bike, NO parking! And NO parking tickets!
• There is an endless supply of restaurants, all with different price ranges to fit my budget. I have a picky diet, and there are restaurants here that suit what I need with many (not just a few) selections. There are tons of bars to meet friends at, and you can literally try something different every time you go out. Awesome bands tour in bigger cities, thus, more shows for music lovers.

Hello Milwaukee beach and Lake Michigan! Photo courtesy of a friend and MKE local, Kaitlyn. (Follow her on Twitter @KaitlynMKE )Yes, this is the view from the rooftop solarium of her apartment… I know, I’m jealous too.

Rent is a little more, but I will save like $400 a month when I sell the car. No gas, no car payment, no insurance, and I can always take the bus that’s included in my tuition if I need to travel farther away. Public transportation is much easier in a larger city than in a smaller one, there are more busses, more stops, and more times the bus runs. I have a bike for exercise and travel as well! Well, I did have a bike. I recently hit the pedal with my car while it was in the garage, bending it, and it fell off while I was riding it. Minus a few scrapes and a bum arm, I’m lucky I wasn’t hurt any further. Now, I’m in the market for a new one.

If money was no object… How about this one?

We’ve also started to grow a garden! I know you can do this in a small city too, but it’s not impossible to grow an urban garden. We’ve started tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, beans, peppers, herbs, and many other foods. The plan is to grow half of what we eat, and once we have a juicer, many meals can be provided through juicing the right veggies and fruits to get all of the nutrition you need.

What may be mildly impressive to some may be very impressive to others. Knowing that I helped these little seedlings grow and will help them grow more outside gives me great satisfaction. I love knowing what’s in my food, and knowing I helped grow it ensures I know exactly what’s in my food. So far, loving the bigger city life. I am learning which neighborhoods to stay out of, and where to shop for what I need for less money and high quality very quickly.

Do you live in a large or small city? Which do you prefer?

Coconut Oil to Renew Wood

I got this chair from my father as a hand me down. Well, the true story is he had it in storage and I begged and bothered him for this chair until he dug it out. It’s something I remember from my childhood, and it’s broken and missing cushions, but knowing me, it wasn’t going to stop me from wanting it. The wood on this old teak chair was dry and looked just sad. There were 2 choices I had, I could polyurethane it or find something to renew the wood itself. I came across a blog post about rubbing coconut oil on old dry wood to renew the luster. I thought it was worth a shot. After testing it on the underside and liking what I saw, I went ahead and did the rest of the chair.

This is what the chair looked like before, dry and aged.

Here’s another shot. Cats love to help. They also love coconut oil.

Here’s what it started to look like once I rubbed the oil on the chair. It looks amazing! The downside was that I had to rub and rub and rub to get the oily feeling out of the chair. I wanted that refreshed look without the feel, and went through quite a few paper towels.

Here’s the arm of the chair after I finished it.

The finished chair! With no cushions, I just draped a blanket over it and added a folded blanket to the seat.

This is the arm in the sunlight. The chair looks great next to the table by it (that WILL get refinished this summer.)

I think the chair looks great. NOTE: Don’t start using coconut oil on chairs and furniture around your house to freshen them up if you plan on refinishing them. You’ll get the oil into the grain making the color weird or keeping a water based poly from sticking to the furniture. I would only recommend this for pieces like this, natural wood that’s been dried out that you just want to bring back to life. Happy re-finishing!

Home Made Sweat Shirt Re-Do

Some of you may remember the last post I did about a sweat shirt re-do I did about a year ago. I didn’t post a tutorial about it because I just saw an inspiration picture that I wanted to make, and went ahead and did it. Most people that left comments wanted a tutorial, and I went ahead and made another, trying my best to take pictures along the way.

The finished product! I will show you how we got here. You need: One sweatshirt that’s too big for you. And a half yard of accent fabric. You can use any light weight cotton fabric. You also need 5 of the buttons you cover with fabric, you can get them at your local craft store.

This is an unflattering photo of the sweater before, when I got it.

Here’s a side shot of the sweater before. It’s a jansport and came from an outlet mall for about $15. It’s REALLY soft on the inside, so I knew I wanted to use it for this project.

It took me about 45 minutes to take the pocket off carefully. There were a LOT of seams, and the entire bottom band had to be separated from the rest of the shirt. That’s ok, you’ll need it to be done for later. And save the pocket, I put mine back on later.

This is Bogey. He loves to help.

Yes this shirt is covered in cat hair. Yes I have a cat and he loves crafts, as shown above. So, the next step was to put the shirt on to figure out where to take the sides and the front in. The bottom band fit perfectly, but it was very flying squirrel like around the mid waist and armpits. I took some of the fabric from the front of the shirt, and separated it visually into thirds. I took it and folded it over onto itself to create a little seam, to later sew fabric into, and pinned it over. You can see that in the picture above. You also see where I took the excess side fabric and pinned it to know where to sew the sweat shirt to fit.

You want to do the same to the sleeves. DO NOT pin right up to your arm. You will have a hard time getting into a sweatshirt that’s too tight. Leave yourself a little room You can always make it smaller, but not bigger. Carefully take the shirt off without poking yourself with the pins.

Next I cut about a half inch over from where I pinned on the side. Do the same for the other side. You can omit from having to pin both sides by taking the piece of fabric you cut from one side and laying it over the opposite side, and cutting around it.

I then looked at where I had pinned up the shirt in the front. I cut at the fold, (shown above) then once I had cut along the fold, I cut the sweater where the fold touched the other side, because I knew I was sewing it together anyways. When you’re done cutting those two slits up the sweat shirt, it looks like you have a really tall thin football shaped piece of fabric left over. You can keep the sliver of fabric that comes out after you had cut it and save it. I will tell you what for later.

Go ahead and turn the sweatshirt inside out and sew the sleeves together.

Cut a piece of your fabric you will use for the inside trimmings and cut a 1″ wide piece by the length of the sweatshirt. Lay it right side facing right side on the opening of the front of the shirt. You will end up tucking it in when you sew it together. I will show you.

Starting at the top, sew the patterned fabric to the slit in the shirt.

After you’ve sewn it all the way down, fold it inward, so you see just a little bit of the fabric. pin it to the other side of the front of the shirt. You can just overlap onto the raw edge of the other side. It doesn’t have to be neat from the inside, mine isn’t.

Go ahead and sew the front shut again.

I sewed mine from the bottom to the top, it was easier that way.

Once I had sewn the accent fabric in, I went ahead and sewed the bottom band back together.

This is the point where I put the pocket back on. I made the pocket a little smaller, and then put it on upside down, because the openings were bigger at that side once I narrowed the pocket down a little bit.

Next I had to look at the hood. I wanted to line it with my accent fabric so I took that fabric, and laid it on top of the hood, and traced it. I traced two side pieces and one middle piece.

This is what the top of the hood looks like from the outside.

I sewed the three hood lining pieces together then pinned them into the inside of the hood so I could sew it around the brim, and the back.

Sew it around the inside of the brim, being careful not to hit the drawstring, if your sweat shirt has one.

It should look something like this when you’ve sewed the hood in.

You’ll want to buy a 5 pack of buttons you cover in fabric. The set comes with a button cover, backing, and the mold and press to make the button. Follow the instructions on the package.

Set your buttons aside.

Remember that little sliver I told you to keep? Cut it into a little rectangle, about 2″ x 4″ and sew the edges under and stitch. You’ll be using this as a little top accent piece.

Once you’ve sewn the rectangle’s edges over, sew it onto the sweater under the center of the opening of the hood.

Next add your buttons and you’re done! I added one on the rectangle at the top, and then the other 4 along the side.

Closeup of the pocket and side.

Another close up of the pocket.

No more bat wing!

This is what the side of the sweat shirt looks like. Yes I’m not wearing make up, but hey, I had a craft day. Who am I looking fancy for.

This is a close up of the top of the shirt.

My hand fits in the pocket perfectly.

I’m very happy with my new super cozy sweatshirt! Because I started with a large shirt, it’s long enough and the sleeves fit great, but it is now slim and flattering. I hope you are able to re-purpose some of your old shirts too! Happy sewing!

Guest Post: 5 Easy Ways to Clean Green

5 Easy Ways to Clean Green

Your home is a castle, and to keep it looking its best you must maintain cleanliness. Yet, too many cleaning products contain chemicals that are potentially harmful to the environment and to your health.  This is why many consumers are turning to more natural “green” cleaning options for keeping their homes clean and sparkly, without all the harmful residue and fumes left behind by store bought cleaning products.

Green cleaning is something that you can do to protect your family by reducing irritants in the air and surfaces that lead to allergies and discomfort. Plus, you’ll be able to save money on cleaning products. Many natural alternative cleaning solutions offer the same if not better results as compared to name brand cleaning products. You probably have some of these items around your home already.

 Get Ready to Clean Your Home the Green Way

So, if you are ready to take steps to a safer, and cleaner home, here are five easy ways to clean green:

1.  Green Cleaning in the Kitchen - Your kitchen is probably the dirtiest spot in the house because of all the traffic it gets in an ordinary week. From handprints and spills on surfaces to smelly sink drains, your kitchen can get a boost with some green cleaning methods. Start out by locating a clean spray bottle. Fill halfway with water and then add ¼ cup of vinegar and a half of lemon squeezed. Spritz surfaces with this natural disinfectant to remove dirt and germs. Use this for mopping floors and for wiping down tabletops and door frames. Put the lemon rind into the garbage disposal and grind to remove sink odors.
2. Get Your Bathrooms Clean Naturally - Next to the kitchen, a bathroom can be the harborer of tons of germs like e-coli and strep that cause illness. Get your bathroom in tip top shape with green cleaning methods. Grab your baking soda and use this as a paste to clean up hard water stains around the sink, tub, and toilet. Use a gentle scrubbing motion with a wet rag. Leave a nice shine on bathroom chrome and mirrors with a spritz of your vinegar and lemon green cleaning solution.
3. Laundry Woes Say Goodbye - The laundry room can be a source of dirt, smells and stains on piled up clothes and bedding. To bust this grime in very little time, use natural cleaning elements in with your regular routine. First, ditch the perfumed laundry soap and opt for unscented and dye free formulas. To add fragrance, simply add a few drops of lavender or tea tree oil. Use baking soda to get out stains. Re-use old toothbrushes for treating stains.
4. Windows and Appliances Shine - The hallmark of a clean home is one that has clean streak-free windows and sparking appliances. Use your vinegar and lemon cleaner on all these surfaces. For windows that are clean without the build-up, use old newspapers to wipe them down.
5.  Green Cleaning Outdoors - While the inside of your home is starting to shape up, the outside could use a little green cleaning as well. Try removing exterior stains, mildew and rust with a cleaning solution of water and lemon juice. For tough cleaning power on decks, patios, and lawn furniture, try sprinkling with a combination of sea salt and baking powder, scrubbing then rinsing clean. The sun will naturally do the rest.

Keeping your home clean the green way can be a benefit to your family’s health and home’s value. Try the above methods and see how good your home can look in just minutes.

About the Author: Karen Miller has been a leading expert on everything green for over 15 years. When she isn’t writing, you can find her spending time with her family at home or covering freelance stories for Terminix Pest Control Services.

Guest Post: A Green Home is Easier than you Think

 A Green Home is Easier than you Think- by Brianna Perkle

While I very much want to have a green home, I’ve sometimes been confused and a little flustered about the best ways to make it happen. I’m not super-organized, and I didn’t want the effort to take over my life. Luckily there are lots of ideas that are just a few clicks away.One of the simplest things to do is recycle. It was easy to set up bins to separate each type of recycling as I went along, and trash day has become a breeze. On the flip side, I also try to buy things with containers made of post-consumer recycled products.The inside of my house has been “re-energized” with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and tighter seals around windows and doors to prevent excess energy usage.

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When I remodel my kitchen in the coming months, the focus will definitely be on green alternatives. I’m replacing the lot—dishwasher, fridge, microwave, and stove—and the new versions will all have an energy star label. This means they’ll use less energy while still providing me with excellent results.

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Green cleaning products can now be found in almost every major grocery store. These new cleaners not only keep toxins out of the environment but out of my lungs as I use them. Those with asthma or other breathing issues find this especially helpful.

In my search to be live green, I found many other ideas that are simple and easy to accomplish.

• Buy USDA Certified Organic coffee. This means it has been grown with sustainability in mind.
• Put your computer in sleep mode if you’ll be away for more than 20 minutes, or set it up to automatically sleep after that much time.
• Bring your own bags when shopping. Some retailers will now pay you for not leaving with one of their plastic bags.
• Plug your electronics into an energy-efficient power strip, and shut the strip off at night to prevent a constant energy drain.
• Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You’ll reduce the amount of wasted water and lower your water bill.

It takes some thought and effort to have a green home, but it’s not difficult and the results will have an impact for generations to come. Start with a few small steps and let the good feelings push you to do more. If I can be green, anyone can!