Ant Warfare July 15, 2009

Okay, I’m battling sugar ants in my kitchen and they are winning.  I’m trying to be more organic and safe, so I thought I’d try and make my own deterrents or pesticides.  I found this website that listed a whole bunch of ways to turn them off…and a few to kill them.  Seeing that I can’t find where they are coming in, I’m trying to kill them.  I’ll bring you along for my research journey of what will get rid of sugar ants……

Try #1:  Use white vinegar and spray it on the counter.  The ants won’t like it and will go away.  Wrong.  Tried that and it didn’t work.

Try #2:  Mix borax with peanut butter, put it on a cracker, then in a box punched with little wholes.  The ants will crawl in, eat the stuff and die.  Wrong.  Had to go to two places to find the borax.  The I loaded that cracker up with the lethal mixture.  Didn’t work.  I think they had a little happy hour on the cracker and invited all their friends. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try #3:  Mix borax with sugar water and leave in little dishes.  The sugar will draw the ants to the water, they will drink it and die.  

 

Just did this at lunch today…..can’t wait to get home and see if there are little dead dudes all over.  I even sprinkled the water over the counter to really suck them in.  I hope Dennis doesn’t lick the counters.  I’ll update everyone t0morrow.  Keep your little ant fingers crossed!  Say your prayers little insects!

Why do I suddenly feel bad for these little guys?  Maybe I could set up a mini buffet outside with some of their favorite treats?  Close down the kitchen bar permanently, though.

Natural Beauty July 2, 2009

I am trying to get a little more natural in my beauty products.  It’s scary the things that they’re putting in makeup these days.  The whole “you ingest most of the lipstick you put on” thing really grosses me out.  Haven’t found a new lipstick yet, but I found a new “natural” foundation that I’ve been using.  It’s pretty good and the coverage is nice.   It’s called Almay pure blends make-up.  I’ve been using the Clear Complexion stuff, but discovered it has the salicyclic acid (which helps clear blemishes, duh)  Sometimes I have blonde moments.  I tried the Nearly Naked first, but boy, it is naked. Not like you’re really using anything there.

I was also searching for natural, make-it-yourself acne treatments.  (thinking cheap here as well).  I was using Pro-Active, but man, that stuff is expensive and I had to go to the mall to buy it when I ran out.  It was super strong too and Dennis did not like the smell.   I found the following options:

Oatmeal Scrub

1. Create an oatmeal scrub by combining 1/2 cup of stone-ground oatmeal with 1/2 cup of warm water. Massage into the skin after washing your face and rinse. Oatmeal nourishes the skin and eases irritation.
   

   Baking Soda Exfoliant

2. Mix 2 tbsp. of baking soda with a drizzle of water, creating the consistency of soft toothpaste. Massage onto the skin to loosen blackheads and dead skin.
   

   Tea Tree Oil Spot Treatment

3. Soak a cotton swab with tea tree oil, and apply it directly to the acne blemishes. Tea tree oil is a natural anti-fungal that kills off acne-causing bacteria.
   

   Calamine Lotion Overnight Treatment

4. Calamine lotion can dry up cystic acne lesions naturally, and it can be applied to the skin using a cotton swab. Leave the calamine lotion on overnight

I haven’t tried any of these yet, but I’m definitely doing the oatmeal and baking soda scrubs.  Here’s a few other links:

http://skincare.about.com/od/skin101/tp/AtHomeAcneTreatments.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_5073978_make-quick-homemade-acne-treatments.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

This one has a recipe with tomatoes…..um…interesting

http://www.acneclinicsonline.com/homemade_acne_treatments.php

But here’s my all time favorite:

Or, you could always try that Windex… Gus Portokalos’ ultimate homemade acne treatment solution.

The results of my first post….the craft June 20, 2009

So, while visiting the fabulous blog of my friend and co-worker, Elizabeth, somehow I got to one of her friends pages and saw these little dolls that were made.  Immediately I thought how cool it would be to make some of me and Dennis for our little nephew, Ethan, who lives in Michigan.  We only get to see him about twice a year, and I’ve been worried that he’s growing up not really knowing who his aunt and uncle are.  So, I stole the idea (I hope Elizabeth’s friend doesn’t mind).  They were just way too cute.  They’re a little bit homemade looking, but I’ve heard he likes them.  We’re now using Skype which is a free webcam program to talk to Ethan and his mom and dad once a week.  It’s awesome!  But, I still think the dolls are way too cute!

Arts and Crafts June 3, 2009

I wanted to show a photo of the first arts and crafts project I’ve attempted.  Our sweet friends, Pete and Lisa, have a new baby girl, Georgia.  She had a baptism and brunch last weekend, so I decided to make a little barrette holder for her.  I saw this at another baby shower I attended several months ago.  So I headed down to my local Michael’s store to hunt for a wooden letter, ribbon and paint.  Low and behold they had it all!  Though it did take me about 20 minutes to decide which type and pattern of ribbon and then which color of pink would match.  I hope they like it.