Budget Friendly Kitchen Cleaners

Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar. Clean your house with vinegar. The folks over at The Dollar Stretcher have been giving this advice out this nugget of advice for years as a cheap alternative to buying an array of expensive house cleaners. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced that vinegar cleaned and disinfected my house as well as any number of commercial cleaners that I could buy at a closeout or dollar store.

Then the environmentally friendly folks started touting the benefits of using vinegar. Again, I was skeptical (yes, I’m a skeptic. However, gentle readers you do benefit from my skepticism because I actually test stuff out before blinding blogging good thoughts about anything. If I like it, I tell you why I like it. If I don’t’ like it I’ll tell you why it didn’t work for me.) Because, again, there are a whole host of environmentally friendly (but not so cheap) commerical cleaners I could use to clean my house.

Then Blitzkrieg entered my life and that all changed. My vet told me that many commercial floor cleaners contain chemicals that are toxic to pets! In the United States, unlike food and health and beauty products, manufacturers aren’t required to list the ingredients on the labels of household cleaners. That makes it very difficult while standing in the store to determine whether a cleaner (environmentally friendly or no) is going harm my dog if he licks it off of his paws. As a last resort I tried cleaning my kitchen floor with vinegar and a squirt of dish soap in my automatic floor cleaner. It worked.

“Hello, my name is Lisa and I’m a reformed cleaning with baking soda and vinegar skeptic.”

“Hi, Lisa!” you say.

As part of Retro Housewife goes green What under your sink challenge I give you the Condo Blues Kitchen Cleaning Arsenal.




OK. I admit that the fire extinguisher isn’t a cleaner. However, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared in the case of an emergency, does it? If you don’t have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, I suggest you buy one. Or put it on your Christmas list. You never know when you might need it. Hopefully never!

Natural Kitchen Cleaners and How I Use Them


Dishwashing
1. Powdered phosphate free store brand dishwashing detergent mixed with a box of baking soda (in the milk jug.) Mixing baking soda into powdered dishwashing detergent gives it an extra oomph when cleaning the dishes in your dishwasher. It’s also an excellent way to reuse that expired box of baking soda you put in the freezer/refrigerator as a deodorizer.
2. Vinegar in the Jet Dry container of the dishwasher. Vinegar works to keep spots off the glasses just like Jet Dry, Cascade, or a store brand-sheeting agent. Actually, I think vinegar has better sheeting action and keeps water spots from forming on my glasses. Who knew?
3.Store brand phosphate free dish detergent. For those rare times I hand wash dishes. I also use a mixture of dish detergent, vinegar, and water as a floor cleaner.

Counter Cleaners
1. Store brand cleaning wipes. Husband is The Man Who Makes My Dinner. Husband doesn’t like the smell of most spray surface cleaners because most of them are heavily perfumed. And honestly, I don't want The Condo to smell like a fake flower factory after I clean it. We compromise and clean the counters with wipes. This isn't the most environmentally friendly cleaner because we can't compost the spent wipes.
2. Cellulose sponges. We use sponges to clean up quick spills instead of paper towels. To extend the life and reduce the grungy funk factor of the sponges, I run them through dishwasher. There are some sponges are made with recycled materials, however these aren’t those. I'd love to try the cellulose sponges made with recycled materials but I can't find them locally so I use what I have. When it’s time to replace the sponges, I use the dead sponges to make self-watering potting soil by cutting them up and burying them in the dirt of my potted plants.
3. Baking soda with a spot of vinegar. To clean baked on crud off of my stove I sprinkle vinegar on the crud and add a spot of vinegar. The mixture bubbles up, loosens the baked on gunk, and allows me to easily wipe up the mess better than any commercial cleaner I’ve tried.

Floor Cleaners
1.A solution of half vinegar, half water, and healthy squirt of dish washing soap for a little extra cleaning oomph. I use this in my automatic floor cleaner. I also used it in the Swiffer that preceded the automatic floor cleaner with excellent results.


There you have it. The Condo Blues kitchen cleaners. Some of these cleaners are considered green, some are not. Some are homemade cleaners, and some are not. Nevertheless, all of these cleaners are budget-friendly and will easily help you keep your house FlyLady clean.

Chico Bag Giveaway

Do you forget to bring your big reusable shopping bag to the store with you? Yeah, sometimes I do too. That’s what so cool about the Chico bag, it’s a reusable shopping bag that folds up into a nice little bag that easily fits into your purse, tote bag, or macho man bag. In addition, Notes of Jubilee gives you the chance to try out the Chico bag for free. That’s right - she’s giving you the chance to win three free Chico bags in a contest on her blog. Chico bags are convenient. They are durable. And they rock. Visit her blog. Enter the contest. You won’t be sorry.
Seriously, these bags are the forgetful environmentalist’s best friend.

Four Ways to Repair a Beeping Smoke Detector

It is night. All of The Condo residents are nestled all snug in their beds, except for Blitzkrieg, the one-eyed wonder dog who is snoring like a buzz saw in my ear because he is sleepign under my side of the bed. Out of the darkness it comes.

“Eeeep!”

“Eeeep!”

"Bow-rowr- -rowr- -rowr- -rowr- -rowr- -rowr!”

Eeeep!

Groggily Husband and I investigate the noise. There is no smoke. There is no fire. However, one of the hardwired smoke detectors is beeping and it will not stop.

The first time this happened, I called 911 just as I learned to do in case of an emergency in Safety Town. The firefighters came. Fortunately, they confirmed that The Condo was not on fire. Nor did we have an electrical fire in the walls. The firefighters said that I’d know if an internal electrical fire was the culprit in the The Case of the Beeping Smoke Detector because the walls of The Condo would be hot to the touch (good to know.) That was a relief! They said that my smoke detector is chirping intermittently because either it needs a new battery or it needs repair.

Four Ways to Fix a Falsely Beeping Hard Wired Smoke Detector or Fire Alarm

1.Replace the old battery with a fresh new battery.Do not just remove the battery and think the smoke detector will stop the beeping as a quick fix. For most hardwired smoke detectors, completely removing the battery makes the false chirping situation worse. With my fire alarms, removing and not replacing the battery makes all of the detectors in The Condo chirp louder and more frequently (and sends the dog into longer and louder barking fits) as a reminder that you need to reinstall the backup battery. Rechargeable batteries do not work well in smoke detectors. Use a traditional battery. It is a good habit to change the backup batteries in your smoke detectors twice a year at each time change. That way you ensure that, you will always have a fresh battery in your smoke detector in case of emergency.

2. Clean it. Even in the cleanest of homes (or Condos) dust or little indoor pests such as spiders may gather in the housing of the smoke detector and make it falsely beep. You can easily clean a smoke detector by either blowing the dust out of the detector using a can of compressed air (typically used to clean computer keyboards) or by sucking the dust out of the detector using a vacuum cleaner hose attachment. Don’t’ even think about using a Roomba to clean a ceiling mounted smoke detector. Trust me, it won’t work.

3.Check its temperature. If the smoke detector decides that the interior of the house is too hot or too cold, the temperature may make your fire alarm beep, especially if you use a programmable thermostat. If that’s the case, try raising or lowering the temperature on your thermostat a few degrees to stop the fire alarm from intermittently chirping.

4. Replace it. If you have tried the above solutions and your smoke alarm still gives you beeping fits every month or so then the best solution is to replace the smoke detector with a new unit.

I’ve used all of the above solutions to stop my fire alarm from falsely beeping with success. Unfortunately, an intermittent beeping fire alarm has become an almost monthly occurrence here at The Condo. Last night was the final straw. I will be replacing the faulty smoke detector in my bedroom with a new unit to insure a full night sleep for all. And to put a stop to the cause of the dog’s late night barking fits.

Election 2008 is Going to the Dogs, Part 2

This isn't a political blog and I usually don't blog about politics. It's not that I don't have political opinions oh, trust me, I do. Political discussions and debates are typical dinner table fodder here at The Condo because all of its residents are free to express their own personal political opinions. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don’t.

“Hang on, wait a minute. All of the residents of The Condo are free to express their political opinions?! “ you ask incredulously, “Including Blitzkrieg?”

Yes, gentle reader, including my dog Blitzkrieg. Take a look closely at timestamp 1:50 in the election 2008 Jib Jab video I posted yesterday and you will see that Blitzkrieg is exercising his right to vote – just as every good Pekingese American should.

Blitzkrieg tells me that he is still undecided on whether he is going to vote for Obama or McCain for President in upcoming November election. However, judging by the way he likes to pee on trees, I think that Blitzkrieg is leaning towards the Green Party candidate. Makes sense, after all, he is a dog.

Is the Election Going to the Dogs?

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

40 Flower, Plants, and Trees That Attract Japanese Beetles

The natural predictors that keep Japanese Beetles from ruining plants in their native Japan do not exist here in the United States. That’s what makes Japanese Beetles so difficult to control and kill. One of the best and most organic and natural ways to keep Japanese Beetles from eating and killing the plants in your yard is to simply remove the plants that attract Japanese beetles from your home and landscaping. If you have a Japanese beetle problem in your garden, you might want to thing twice about keeping or planting the following flowers, shrubs, vines, plants, and trees in your yard.


Eighteen Flowers, Shrubs, and Vines That Attract Japanese Beetles

1. Gladiolus - bulb/flower - Annual
2. Coneflower - flower - Perennial
3. Dailah - flower - Annual
4. Daylilies - flower - Perennial
5. Shasta Daisies - flower - Annual
6. Hollyhock - flower - short lived Perennial/Biennial
7. Hibiscus - flower - Annual & Perennial
8. Evening Primrose - flower - Biennial
9. Clemantis - flower - Perennial
10. Sunflower - flower - Annual
11. Cardinal Flower - flower -Perennial
12. Peony - flower - Perennial
13. Zinnia - flower - Annual & Perennial
14. Pennsylvania Smartweed/Heart's Ease - flower/herb - Perennial
15. Rose - flowering shrub/vine - Perennial
16. Viburnums - flowering shrub - Perennial
17. Climbing Hydrangeas - flowering vine - Perennial
18. Morning-Glory - flowering vine - Perennial


Six Food and Fruit Plants That Attract Japanese Beetles

1. Soybean - food - Annual
2. Sweet Corn - food - Annual
3. Asparagus - food - Annual
4. Rhubarb - food - Annual
5. Grapes - fruit - Perennial
6. Red Raspberry - fruit -Perennial


Sixteen Plant, Tree, and Vines That Attract Japanese Beetles

1. Common Mallow - plant - Annual or Biennial
2. Birch - tree - Perennial
3. Cherry - tree - Perennial
4. Elms - tree - Perennial
5. Fruit (some types) - tree - Perennial
6. Horse Chestnut - tree - Perennial
7. Japanese and Norway Maple - tree - Perennial
8. Lindens - tree - Perennial
9. Mountain Ash - tree - Perennial
10. Ornamental Apple - tree - Perennial
11. Pin Oak - tree - Perennial
12. Plum - tree - Perennial
13. Sycamore - tree - Perennial
14. Willow - tree - Perennial
15. Porcelain Vine - vine - Perennial
16. Virginia Creeper - vine - Perennial

Green It Blog Carnival

Welcome to the July 18th Edition of the Green It! Carnival! I want to thank Alison of GreenMe for allowing me to guest host this edition of the carnival. This week our theme is Recycling. I poured through the submissions and picked only the very best posts that will provide Green It! readers with some great information about going green.

Green Tips

Let’s get this carnival started with a handy tip on how to keep your household recyclables separate from your nonrecyclable trash. Phil presents Two Pairs of Trash Cans at Home posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "I’ve recently noticed that recyclable trash is thrown away with non-recyclable trash in most homes... even in my own house."

Cheap Like Me cleans up around the house by Re-using household items posted at Cheap Like Me.

Linda presents a slew of creative green cooking, cleaning, gardening, and pest control tips in Some Everyday Hints posted at Forced Green. Linda adds, "some every day things that we could all use!"

Keep this one nearby when it’s time to clean out the medicine cabinet. Suzanne presents Disposal Of Household Hazardous Waste & Medicine posted at Mommyfootprint.com, saying, "Some recycling disposal methods that are important to remember for the environment and our friends the fish!"

Recycling Projects

Going zero waste and recycling in general, is all about reducing waste! Alison, owner of the Green It! carnival presents Party In Style: Zero Waste! posted at Green Me. Alison says, "I'd call this a recycling project, as it involved planning, a little glue, and lots of work!

Ben uses recycling to eliminate his dependence on heating oil/gas. He presents Heating Your Home with Geothermal Energy Can Save You Big! posted at Trees Full of Money.

Moondancer Drake has a small army of helpers when it comes to composting. She presents Vermicomposting posted at Dreamtime. She says, "Vermicomposting is an easy and fun way to transform those food scraps into fertilizer."

Switching to corn-based plastics allows you to recycle even if you don’t have access to a city recycling program – all you need is a compost bin. Matthew presents Biodegradeable Corn Based Products: Corn Straws the can be composted posted at EnviroHumanImpact.

Courtney keeps her pantry neat and organized with a unique recycled glass container project. She presents A new use for the “Ball” posted at Courtney Clark, saying, "It works much better because now I can see exactly how much I have of everything. Its easy to do, and looks much cleaner than having half empty rolled up bags and boxes of all sizes disheveled in the pantry."

Creative Recycling

An old chair becomes a planter and an old radio becomes a stereo speaker case. Chris presents Join in the "Green it" Blog Carnival posted at Living well.

You can get more life out of those old, broken crayon bits. Sommer cautions Don’t throw that crayon away! posted at Green & Clean Mom.

A great way to keep those plastic grocery bags out of the landfill is to crochet them into Cindy's Large Plastic Market Bag posted at My Recycled Bags.com.

Knitting is very popular but it can be difficult to find environmentally friendly yarn. Lisa doesn’t have that problem because she turns old shirts into yarn! She presents Waste Not.. posted at Retro Housewife.

Tip Diva presents new uses for old plastic takeout food containers in Top Ten Tips - Reusing Chinese Takeout Containers posted at Tip Diva, saying, "When you receive Chinese, Japanese or other takeout food in plastic containers, do not throw them out after consuming your wonton soup. They are versatile and can be employed for many different uses."

Chris presents a unique garden water feature she made from recycled materials in water feature from recycled materials posted at Living well.

Cindy presents Sunshine Dishcloth with Scrubbie posted at My Recycled Bags.com, saying, "here is my latest “Sunshine” dishcloth I crocheted with a center scrubbie made from recycled plastic bags."

If you have old newspapers or magazines and don’t know what to do with them, don’t fret - there are plenty of ways to recycle your pile. Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips - Recycling Old Newspapers And Magazines posted at Tip Diva.

Chris presents new uses for golf club heads, candles, and other organizers in Join the "Green It" Carnival posted at Ramblings round the water cooler.

Recycling Programs

money, love, and change presents some ideas on how to responsibly dispose of old computers, cell phones, and other ewaste in Recycle your old technotrash posted at Money, Love, and Change.

Depending up where you live, properly disposing of compact fluorescent light bulbs can be tricky – until now. Lisa Spinelli presents Fluorescent Light Bulbs Can Now Be Recycled at Home Depot posted at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance.

Want to recycle those nasty little Styrofoam packing peanuts? money, love, and change presents Need to recycle those packing peanuts? posted at Money, Love, and Change.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of green it using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

green it, blog carnival.

How to Make a Wine Glass Chandelier

I’m on the hunt for a pendent fixture for my dining room. There are so many designs (and subsequent price tags) to choose from to get the Mid-century-Bauhaus -Contemporary-Found-And-Funkified-Retro- DaDa-Danish style (bonus points to you if you know that DaDa is a design movement and not just what babies call their fathers) that I’m going for in The Condo. I found a fun overhead pendant light in the Chandelini. I love that it’s a ball of martini glasses – a fun addition to any room in the house.

However as much as I love the Chandelini right now I’m not sure if this is a piece that I’d love forever. At $6000.00, I know that Husband would insist that I love it forever.

Well, shoot. If I can't have an expensive wine glass chandelier for my dining room, I figured that I could make one a less expensive inspired by design out of orphan wine glasses for my craft room.

Directions for Making a Hanging Lamp from Wine Glasses

Materials
1 sturdy curtain ring
15 stemmed glasses (I used a combination of wine, water, sherry, and old style champagne glasses)
Fishing line
Scissors
Jeweler’s crimp beads
Needle nose pliers (for crimping the beads shut)
A hanging lamp kit
Small lamp shade
Heavy cord or zip tie
A chair or door knob

1. Use the heavy cord or zip tie to attach the sturdy curtain ring to a chair or doorknob. This will keep the hanging wineglasses from tangling as you work.
2. Cut the fishing line into 15 various lengths with the scissors.
3. Tie a length of fishing line to the heavy curtain ring.
4. Slip a crimp bead onto the open end of the fishing line. Use the pliers to crimp the bead around the knot to hold the knot into place.
5. Slide a crimp bead onto the open end of the fishing line.
6. Tie the open end of the fishing line (with the crimp bead still threaded on it) to the stem of a wineglass.
7. Use the pillars to crimp the bead around the knot and hold it into place at the base of the wineglass.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 7 until you have all of the wineglasses attached to the curtain ring.
8. Remove the paper cover from the small lampshade to reveal the wire lampshade frame.
9. Install the hanging light according to the directions that are in the hanging lamp kit.
10. Untie or cut the curtain ring and hanging glasses from the chair or doorknob.
11. Hang the curtain ring on the ceiling hook that you installed as part of the hanging lamp kit and arrange the wineglasses around the hanging light fixture.
12. Screw a low voltage light bulb into the lamp. A compact fluorescent light bulb is an excellent choice because CFLs are low voltage as well as energy efficient.
13. Clip the lampshade frame to the underside of the hanging light bulb. This will keep the light bulb in the center of the wineglass cluster.
14. Turn on the light and admire the view!

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Fabulous Flamingo Front Porch

bare unfriendly porch
needs temporary decor
let’s try flamingos

During the first summer in our Condo, I wanted to sit on our front porch and watch the world go by. (That is, until the temperature hit 90+ degrees, then I’d watch the world go by looking out of the window from the comfort of my air-conditioned Condo.) For that, I needed chairs. I didn’t know what I wanted other than:

1. Something pretty
2. Sturdy enough not blow off the porch during high winds
3. I wanted them now
   

At the time, I was working on painting and decorating our bedroom. I didn’t have time to search for The Perfect Set of Porch Chairs. As a cheap and easy stopgap, I repainted Husband’s ugly bachelor dining room chairs (once upon a time these heavy monsters may have lived in a doctor’s waiting room) green to coordinate with the green shutters on the house. I also did a little staple gun upholstery to upgrade the fabric on the seat and chair back. The revamped chairs looked better. I didn’t hate them with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns anymore.

Next I needed a table to sit my frosty ice-cold beer glass of lemonade upon. When I was living in our rental, I bought this mosaic from The Lost Viking’s Hoard thinking it was a table instead of a wall hanging. Well, a new house and a couple of plant stands later – it’s now a free table!

Where are the Flamingos? You Promised Us Flamingos!

I like the kitsch factor of flamingos. I’m sure it's a hold out from my college days when I was going though my Art Deco design phase. The interesting thing about decorating with pink flamingos is that there’s a fine, fine line between tacky/kitchy=good and tacky/crappy= what the hell where you THINKING?!!!. For example, if you put a tacky plastic pink flamingo inside of your house (in say, an inherited pink 80’s style bathroom in a rental that you can’t change and your gay friends name it The John Waters Memorial Bathroom after his movie Pink Flamingos) it’s considered kitsch. However, if you put that same tacky plastic pink flamingo outside of your house in your yard, it’s most likely considered crap - unless you’re holding a luau.

However, Mom didn’t get the memo on my No Flamingos Outside design policy and gave me this metal flamingo as a gift. It’s welcoming (because it says “Welcome.”) The blue in the sign coordinates with the blue in the table mosaic. It’s a metal flamingo, not plastic (note to self: ask gay friends for second option on its kitsch or crap factor because I'm not sure of it myself.) It stays. (For now.)

In the summer, many of the neighbors fly flags from their front porches. Once upon a time, Husband had a custom flag made for me for my birthday. Apparently, Mother Nature doesn't like my taste in porch flags because shortly after flying the flag, Gaia the Earth Mother sent a gust of wind that ripped the flagpole and its holder from the porch and broke it .

But I still wanted to fly the LisaLand flag. Husband gave it to me as part of a weird in-joke gone horribly a rye that resulted in the “creation” of my own city-state named LisaLand where I rule as the Benevolent Dictator (please note the intended irony of the adjective Benevolent being applied to the term Dictator) and is the roughly the area of our sofa (which I wisely claimed for LisaLand enough though it was Husband’s sofa.) I used my, “let’s see if I can reuse something I already have because I don’t want to go to the store right now” powers of creativity to install a new withstands high winds flag pole. I hung the flag from a long tension curtain rod between the porch roof and the house. I screwed two large teacup hooks on either side of the curtain rod flagpole to keep the rod in place during gale force winds. Once again, my neighbors could gap at the LisaLand flag flying from our porch in all its kitschy splendor and wonder,"who are these people and how long will they be living here?

Lastly, my front door has a wreath on it even though it’s long past Christmas. I don’t generally like most nonholiday door wreaths. I’m not quite sure why I have one. Maybe it’s some sort of internal Midwestern Parental Front Door Decorating Ordinance. Because it couldn’t be there to cover up the fact that the front door now needs repainting. Oh, no.

Long ago, I decorated this grapevine wreath with flowers from a bridesmaid’s bouquet I carried in a wedding and hung it on the front door. This summer, the flowers were faded and past their prime. I liked the grapevine wreath itself and wanted to reuse it. However, I didn’t want to just slap a bow on it and call it done. Nevertheless, my sad little wreath needed a temporary makeover while I worked on a more permanent decorating solution.

Courtesy of a few tacky kitschy flamingo patio lights (a housewarming gift from the men who named the rental's former John Waters Memorial Bathroom – even though we all know that John Waters is very much alive and is very much turning the movies he made that set Hollywood on its ear into award-winning Broadway musicals), greenery from the original wreath, and some fishing line, I have a temporary white trash flamingo wreath revamp.

So there you have it. My temporary tacky fabulous flamingo front porch. It was a cheap because I had everything I used to deocrate the porch with the exception of the paint and fabric I used on the chairs (I'm sure it shows.) It’s not the outdoor room of my dreams but it works. The question is should I keep the theme and eventually build upon it or should I ditch the current decorations and go in another direction? Like up?

Green It! Carnival Reminder

I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article by July 16th for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

My iPhone is Bigger Than Yours

Wordless Wednesday

Summer is parade season. This year some podcasting friends asked Husband and I to get our craft on and help them recycle the giant iPod float they made for last year’s parade into a giant iPhone float for this year’s parade.

Green It! Carnival Reminder

I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article by July 16th for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

The Green It! Blog Carnival is Moving to July 18th!

Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays Alison of Green Me and I are recheduling the July 11th edition of the Green It! blog carnival to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!

The theme of this blog carnival is Recycling. Please use the carnival submission form to submit your blog articles featuring your recycling tips, tricks, or ways you reuse items. The deadline for submissions is now July 16, 2008. If you have a green blog article that does not fit with the Recycling theme please do not submit your blog article this edition of Green It! blog carnival . Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page.

A Contest So Cool It’ll Make You Wet the Bed (and Keep It Dry Too)

To increase traffic to your blog, the all-knowing all-seeing marketing and PR folks suggest that you hold a contest. Well, I’m sure Metroplitanmama is raking in the traffic because she’s holding a contest sponsored by Protect-A-Bed mattress protectors and is giving away a cruise!

Yes, that’s right. The grand prize is four-day Caribbean cruise.

“Grand prize?" did you say, "Does that mean there are more prizes I could win?"

Yes indeedy-do.

Everyone who enters the contest is automatically entered in a weekly drawing for two Protect-A-Bed pillow protectors. They are also entered into a monthly drawing for a $200 gift card to Outback Steakhouse during the contest period of June 1 – September 1, 2008.

It’s easy to enter. Either:

• Buy a Protect-A-Bed cover and fill out the on-line contest form with your order number information.
• Blog about the contest and include links to link to the Protect-A-Bed website and Metropolitanmama’s contest post.
• Neither buy a Protect-A-Bed cover nor blog about the contest and just fill out the “Sail Away to a Good Night’s Sleep” entry form on Metropolitanmama’s blog.

No matter how you enter, you will need to enter your Referring Blogger in the contest form. By Referring Blogger, they mean me and my blog, Condo Blues - AKA the person who told you about this kick butt contest. For more details about the contest and how to enter, follow the link to Metropolitanmama’s contest page.

Good luck to all those readers who enter the contest and don’t forget to tell them that Condo Blues sent you!

Green It! Carnival Reminder

I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article by July 16th for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

July 7, 2008 Post Update: Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays we've moved the Green It! blog carnival from July 11, 2008 to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!

Thanks for Dropping By in June

I want to say a big Thank You to all of you who've found my blog through dropping Entrecards. I want to say an even bigger Thank You to the following top Entrecard droppers on my site for the month of June.

Ez DIY Electricity - Residential Electrical Wiring Projects Made Easy
Sales Productivity Secrets
Blue Turtle
laketrees
New York Renovator
And...That's the Truth
Mariuca's Perfume Gallery
THE PAPER VISION
Skoyu
New York Nitty-Gritty

And I'd also like to thank the following sites who ran my Entrecard ad during the month of June.

It's the Planet, Didiot!
Aeirin's Collections
Happy Thoughts Candle Co.
Housewife Hiccups
Off Grid Living
Telecommuting Journal
Maternal Spark
The World of Silly Willy and Fluffy
Pastel Corner
Zork Planet

Check out any and all of these great Websites when you get the chance!

Green It! Carnival Reminder
I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

July 7, 2008 Post Update: Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays we've moved the Green It! blog carnival from July 11, 2008 to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!

Haiku Friday: Celebrate Independence Day

fireworks on the fourth
celebrate independence
so does space chicken

Today is America’s Independence Day. Traditionally we celebrate with fireworks, like the photo I took during last year’s Fourth of July celebration.

What will the Fourth of July be like in the future? If we believe Star Trek, we’ll be celebrating with songs about space chicken.

No matter how you choose to celebrate America’ Independence Day, be thankful that we have the freedom not to wear velour!

What are you doing to celebrate Independence Day?

Green It! Carnival Reminder

I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article by July 16th for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

July 7, 2008 Post Update: Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays we've moved the Green It! blog carnival from July 11, 2008 to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!

Hippies, Festivals, and Dogs, Oh My!

The last weekend I went to Comfest, a huge three-day local music, art, and food blowout. A lot of people refer to Comfest as a big hippie festival because for three days Goodale Park looks a little like Height Ashbury in the 60’s with lots of people hanging out and listening to the bands, getting carpel tunnel from signing political petitions, and smelling patchouli in the air. At least I hope that was patchouli I smelled…

Oh and there’s tie-dye. Lots of people wear tie dye. And dogs. People like to bring dogs to Comfest. Sometimes the dogs wear tie dye too.

Not my dog. Blitzkrieg wisely opted to stay home and wear the air conditioner during warm Comfest weekend.

Most people go to Comfest for the music. I like to go to Comfest for the shopping. It’s a great place to do some early Christmas shopping and you get the added bonus of being able to meet the artists and Etsey crafters in person! For example, last year I bought these cute hair bows in red for a niece from Lucky Kat

I also bought my 2-year-old nephew an Ugly Doll from Rivet.

Since I rode my bike to Comfest (6 miles one way thankyouverymuch.) I couldn’t do a lot in the way of shopping this year. Instead, since I am extremely out of shape, I did much in the way of stumbling around the festival because my legs and tush hurt so much from my bike ride. I’m pretty sure my wobbly leg walking made everyone think that I spent too much time in the beer tent, which wasn’t the case (no booze for me, I was a healthy granola girl and drank water all day.)

I perked up from my tired wobbly legged walking when I saw the Art Cars on display. I can’t help but smile when I look at an Art Car.

Art Cars inspire me to reuse all of those old Happy Meal toys I have that didn’t make it into the Evil Laundry Room. I don’t think Husband feels the same way. Oddly, the glue bottles in my craft room go into hiding during Comfest weekend. Coincidence? I wonder…

Green It! Carnival Reminder

I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle those items you don't want to chuck in the landfill. Use the carnival submission form to submit your blog article by July 16th for the July 18th edition of Green It! Carnval. Past hosts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page. I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

July 7, 2008 Post Update: Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays we've moved the Green It! blog carnival from July 11, 2008 to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!

I’m Hosting a Carnival and You’re Invited!

Recently I went to Husband’s high school class reunion in small town ruralish America. So rural that instead of getting a car from their parents as a graduation gift, some kids get a tractor and they are so darned proud of it that they get their Senior High School pictures taken on it. (The city girl in me goes, “huh?” but to each their own, I suppose.) However, back my poignant story…

At the reunion, after finishing my drink, out of habit I asked where the recycling bin was. The event people immediately started feeling and acting guilty. They apologized profusely because their tiny town discontinued their recycling program because it lost money and couldn’t pay for itself.

Then I felt bad because I never intended to make anyone feel guilty. I just wanted to put my bottle in the proper bin.

I understood that they are a small two traffic light town (oops. Excuse me. Husband has just informed me that his hometown has three traffic lights now - go urban sprawl go!) The residents don’t have as many options as some of us do to buy or use paper/plastic/metal free objects. Therefore, in my own little way I decided to help. I’m teaming up with Alison of Green Me to host the July 18th edition of her Green It! blog carnival and the theme is creative recycling. Let’s help those folks who may not have access to recycling programs or those folks who want to find a way to reuse their hard to recycle items. Send us your recycling tips, tricks, and creative ways you reuse and recycle items. Submit your blog article to the next edition of green it using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page.

I’m looking forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas!

July 7, 2008 Post Update: Due to the July 1st Canada Day and July 4th Indepedence Day holidays we've moved the Green It! blog carnival from July 11, 2008 to July 18, 2008. There's still time to submit your ideas to the carnival before the July 16th deadline!