Tag: DIY

What I’ve learned from blogging

blogging
Today’s workspace

Blogging.

It’s fun, it’s creative and it helps me meet people across the country.

I’m still new at this whole blogging thing, well not really new new because I’ve been blogging on and off for about 4+ years now.  But I’m new to consistently blogging.

Here’s what I’ve learned from blogging and I’m sure I have much more to learn:

1) post often – the more you post the more your blog will be indexed with Google

2) comment on the blogs you read – I don’t get a lot of comments and that’s okay.  Someday though.  But I comment on the blogs I read and think it’s important to comment.  Commenting gets you involved and helps others to see your name and perhaps click on your link to your site.

3) pictures are key – I remember years ago reading about how you should never have a post without a picture and I try to follow that with every post.  If anything, pictures make your posts more appealing.

4)  learn the basics of social media.  I love social media, I’m kind of a social media junkie so I lucked out on this one.  I use HootSuite and schedule posts to my twitter and my facebook page once I write a post.  Now I don’t have to take time out of my day to send a tweet or a facebook status update.  It does it for me.

5) be true to yourself – my first blog was a lot about DIY projects.  I love DIY projects, but I don’t have time to do 3-4 projects a week to keep my blog updated.  Props to the people that can complete 4 DIY projects a week, I do not know how you do it!  I simply do not have it in me.  This blog is so much more me… I can talk about my real life, post some DIY projects, and share what inspires me.  I am influenced by so many different things and the idea of creating pigeon hole was not working.

Remember a blog is for you and only for you.  If you create something with this idea of making all this money or becoming an internet celebrity then it simply will not work.  I write for me.  I journal my thoughts and projects that work for me.  That is what is important to me and that is all that matters.

Happy blogging!

Cheers!

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Homemade Oatmeal Bath for dogs

homemade oatmeal bath

A homemade oatmeal bath for dogs can soothe itchy, dry skin from allergies.

homemade oatmeal bath

My poor pup, Maggie has been suffering from itchy skin for way too long.  I even resorted to covering her skin with an old Halloween t-shirt so that she couldn’t scratch.  How embarrassing for her!  I could just imagine her at the dog park with another dog giving her a funny look like, “girl, don’t you know it ain’t halloween?” and then Maggie sheepishly going, “ya, my mom hates me for some reason.”   Then all the other dogs would gather around her laughing.. I’m picturing Rudolph not being picked for any reindeer games here.  Ya, I don’t know why I’m on a holiday theme today.

Anyway… That wasn’t going to happen.  No dog was going to make fun of my Maggie!

I did research and found a homemade oatmeal bath that I could use the oats I bought for the Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipe.  So to me that was win-win.  I didn’t have to go buy anything.

homemade oatmeal bath

All you need is 1 cup of oats (quick or regular) blended in a food processor or blender.  Mix the oat powder in a luke warm bath.

homemade oatmeal bath

I took a plastic cup and poured the mixture over Maggie for about 10-12 minutes.

That’s it.  No rinsing.  A simple homemade oatmeal bath.

I noticed an immediate difference; however, she was amazed by her smell for awhile.  Maybe it was too close to food… I don’t know.  Overall it worked and that’s all that matters.

Oh and just a fair warning this homemade oatmeal bath is a pain to clean up out of the tub if you don’t process the oats to a fine enough powder.  Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!

Need another use for the large oatmeal that you bought?  I adapted a great, super easy recipe for an oatmeal breakfast bar.

Cheers!

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DIY Repellent Spray for Flies

How would you like a DIY repellent spray for your outdoor space?

J and I are determined to use our backyard to the fullest this summer.  We love that it is fenced in, the patio is covered, and we especially love our new patio set.  That’s the icing on the cake!

Last week I talked about repelling flies in our backyard here. J and I have worked on another home DIY treatment to rid our backyard of flies.  A repellent spray for our patio furniture was what we were looking for.

Ingredients:

1) Pine-sol
2) Water
3) White Vinegar

In a spray bottle you want to mix 1 part Vinegar with 2 parts Pine-sol and 2 parts Water.  Spray this mixture onto the patio furniture.  I could instantly see how this spray was working.  And I liked it!

DIY Repellent Spray for Flies
DIY Repellent Spray for Flies

Then I got a little carried away … I started spraying the siding of our house.  It worked!  One downfall of using this spray is the smell.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  Mainly smells like pine-sol, but that’s not a smell that I want lingering around for a long time.

But overall I love, love, love this repellent spray!  I’m thinking that I will keep a bottle mixed and ready to go.

What products do you use around your home to repel flies?

Cheers!

[hupso]

How to Naturally Repel Flies

Flies. I hate them.  Hate. Hate. Hate them.  With summer here and a nice patio that we are wanting to use, J and I have made it our mission to rid our backyard of flies.  We have a new grill and lovely patio set that are calling our names.

So, after some research we have come up with a few ways to repel flies and will document these how-tos.

The first, which is probably the simplest one to do is the Water Bag with Pennies.

You only need three things:

1) Baggie with zipped closure
2) Water
3) Pennies

pennybag pennybag2Fill the bag half-way with water, add the pennies and then seal.  We hung ours in an area where the sunlight would reach.  It is said that the light reflection from the water and pennies bother flies and they avoid the area.

We’ll keep you updated on whether this tactic makes a difference.  We are going to add a few more tactics under our belts too, so be on the look out for those.

Cheers!

How to Remove Pet Odor from Area Rugs

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Alright, I have two dogs and okay, my area rug in the family room started smelling a bit.

It happens when you have a puppy that is learning how to be house-broken.  Not to mention this said puppy is absolutely terrified of people and has a problem holding it in when she gets scared.  It’s hard to be upset about being scared, but I can be upset that my brand new, gorgeous rug was starting to smell.

Finally, after buying carpet cleaner after carpet cleaner I learned of this neat little trick that worked perfectly.  So, I thought that I would pass it on to you.

What you’ll need:

1) The rug you want to clean
2) An area outside to layout the rug in the sunlight
3) Spray bottle
4) White Vinegar
5) Water
6) Hose
rug
First, you want to soak your rug with the hose.  I like to use a good amount of water pressure to make sure to break up any dirt.
ingredients
Second, spray down the rug with your vinegar solution (1 part vinegar and 3 parts water)

Third, let dry in the sun.  I think the heat from the sun really helped get rid of the smell.

Voila!  Easy, simple and completely doable.  The rug is as good as knew and our house smells wonderful.

Cheers!

Will you be my bridesmaid?

bridesmaidgift

I saw a pin on Pinterest awhile back and it linked to lauren.david.style’s blog here.  I fell in love with the idea of packaging all the details and knick-knacks about the wedding into a nice box to give to my bridesmaids.

I had already asked the fabulous ladies to be my bridesmaids and now it was time to get them some info about J and I’s big day.

bridesmaidgift-open

I decided early on that it was not worth the stress to find a dress that fit in with the style of the wedding that made each girl feel beautiful.  Each of my bridesmaids are their own woman and knows what fits them the best.  I have given them some guidelines and details of what our style is so that they can find a dress that fits them and their budget.

bridesmaidgift-box

I included information about:

the big day – when, where, what time, and paint chips to see the colors.

my bridesmaids – a little introduction about each of my girls and how they came to be such a large, important part of my life.

their dress and accessories – navy blue, knee-length dress with eggplant (plum) heels or wedges.

their role – to feel beautiful, to have fun, and know that I am truly grateful for them standing with me on my day.

Cheers!

M.I.A.

I feel as if I’ve been M.I.A. for the past few days. I haven’t felt like doing anything. My poor house is a mess, the dogs need baths, and my little ole blog has been neglected.

Where have I spending my time?

Well for starters I’ve been attempting to do Crossfit 3x a week… it’s slowly getting there. At least I can wake up the day after and not fall out of bed because my legs aren’t there to catch me.

#perfectevening #springfieldcardinals #springfieldmo

Next, we went to a Springfield Cardinals game last week.  J had won a contest at work and got free tickets to the Budweiser suite.  Of course we could not pass up a night of Cardinals baseball, beer, and stadium hot dogs.

Then I’ve been adding prints to the MereLynne Etsy shop. If you haven’t seen the new listings, please check it out.  Plus, learning the ins and outs of Etsy has been a bit challenging for me.  Promoting my pieces, my site, and my Facebook page are a bit time consuming.

il_570xN.468287328_tn15

Not your average pillow #dog #doglove #sleepypup #goodmorning

King of the mountain. #dog #doglove #cardinals

Finally, I’ve been spending some quality time with J and the pups.  I’m sure they appreciate that the quality time does not involve water and soap, but they can’t escape that for long.  Honestly, I should have cleaned around the house this past weekend.   I really, really should have.  But the couch looked some comfortable and there was a really good movie on all day… so alas I did not clean.

I’m pretty excited because my parents are coming for a visit this weekend.  My Dad hasn’t seen our new place yet.  Which means two things: 1) our house has to spotless before 8pm on Thursday night 2) we need to go grocery shopping so that it appears we have food and are doing just fine.

You know, the basics before any parent comes to visit.  Don’t look like a slob and pretend that you have enough food to feed yourselves.

It’s going to be a pretty busy week and I’m glad that I took the weekend to prepare for it.  See, I’m still trying to convince myself that it was a good thing I was lazy this weekend.

Cheers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

smoothie So this morning I concocted a yummy, healthy smoothie. It was super easy, super quick and did the trick.

Ingredients:
1/2 frozen banana (I already had it sliced and in the freezer)
1 c. fat-free milk
1 t. PB2 (powdered peanut butter is my favorite right now)
1 packet of Weight Watchers chocolate smoothie mix

Combine the ingredients in a blender until smooth. The frozen banana will give it a thicker texture and won’t water it down like ice will.
smoothie2
The best part of this smoothie? It’s only 4 PointsPlus values! The banana and PB2 are both 0 PP+ values.

If you haven’t tried PB2 yet then I recommend it. 2 Tablespoons are only 1PP+. It can be combined with water or your daily oil, which is my favorite because it makes it a bit creamier.

The only sad part about my smoothie was when I finished it! HA!

Cheers!

Wee Bit Excited

So, I might be just a little too giddy about my new adventure that I told you about the other day (here).  If you are in need of some new paper goods, then check out my shop over on Etsy.

I was so excited that I took a screenshot of my listing in the search results for my undated planner/organizer.

Screen shot 2013-05-23 at 12.58.21 PM

Thanks for all the support!

Cheers!

New Adventure

Alright, it’s time for a new adventure.  I have to keep moving.

You may have noticed that the name of the blog has changed.  That’s because ….

I would like to introduce you to my new Etsy shop – MereLynneConcepts.  I will continue to add items over the next few days (hopefully) for a long time.
calendarcoverdraft

calendardraft

I would love it if you would take a look at my shop and I am open to any suggestions that you might have.