Traditional Scrapbooking Tuesday

Welcome to Traditional Tuesdays with The Cherry On Top.

I'm in the middle of so many huge projects, both digital, traditional and personal.  I'll start mixing things up again, once the kids are back in school.  Not that this album isn't full of inspiration and fun.

Take a look at the newest page from my Trier, Germany mini album.  See the other pages we've done so far as well as a different scrap from a previous blog.

Last week, I was feeling guilty for having such a simple page.  You definitely shouldn't beat yourself up for not spending hours on one page or using dozens of embellishments.  Do what feels right to you.

This week my page is again, super simple, but I truly love it.  This chipboard font is so awesome.  If you have problems keeping your letters straight, stagger them.  It also helps save space.  My photo was light, so I backed it on dark paper.  I added my letters, then a simple flower with a coordinating button.  In my Pizza Box, was an elaborate design with these various beads you see in my layout.  Although, it was all connected, I clipped out the parts that worked for my page.

My final steps were adding a smaller, similar flower, smaller, similar button and another piece of the beaded design.  Can you imagine how fast I got this done? time wasn't even an issue.

If time is the reason you are not scrapping, then perhaps you should reconsider your scrapbooking methodology?  Peruse Pinterest and search out layouts and sketches that are clean and simple and only include a few steps.  Pin those to an inspiration board.  When you do finally make time to scrap, hit up your board for the basic design, grab your coordinated scrapbooking collections of paper and embellishments because those are truly time savers and get to work!

Here are a few other pages from the mini.  These veneer frames are great.  Ink or paint them if you like.

Repeating elements is a super way to keep your pages looking similar and connected.

Scrapbooking doesn't have to cost a fortune.  Clip out images from papers and use them as embellishments, that can often be very costly.

Repeat patterns and elements on pages throughout your album to keep up the cohesion.

Here's a 12x12 page I recently made.  I've had to hang it in the hall for now because the boys loved it so much.  I'll soon blow off the dust and put it in a sleeve and they will forget until we bring the book out, again.  They can go through our books a million times, noticing something different and feeling different emotions each time.

What does scrapbooking mean to you?  The memories you want to continue to cherish?  Those young, smiling faces you want always in your heart?  The feel of that paper under your fingers or the therapeutic aspect of making time for yourself doing what you love to do?

Make the time to scrapbook.  Make the time to do what you love because you deserve it.

Thanks so much for letting  The Cherry be a part of your day.  We invite you to scroll through our blog and join our Facebook Group for fun chats, inspiration, games and exclusive freebies.
  
Happy scrapping!

Let It All Hang Out

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.  We are back with yet another instalment in the Dirty Laundry Series.  This time were airing it out.  It's my goal to have you leaving here with your mind made up that you are going to start hanging out your laundry or giving yourself a pat on the back for doing it all ready.

There are so many advantages to hanging out your laundry.  We'll touch on those and come up with alternatives for some of the not so advantageous reasons, too.  Make sure you read all the way through in case you haven't thought of some of these wonderful ideas.

As you may have read in a past edition, drying in the machine is more costly to your pocket and to your clothes.  If you love your clothes, you'll hang them to dry.  Any appliance that must generate heat is going to cost ya.  In my research I found that dryers are the cause for 4% of house fires.  I had no idea! If you have good weather, like now it's boiling in Belgium and my wash is drying before I can get it all hung! Line drying is totally environmentally friendly.  Every little step we can do to help, should be done.

Did you also know that the sun is awesome for your whites and can even remove stains?  How awesome is that?!  If you have a touch of wind or a breeze, you'll eliminate some serious ironing, too.  How many times have you forgotten your dryer and the clothes were just a wrinkled mess?  If you forget your clothes on the line, they'll be fine.  

Check out this image, above.  I hang my clothes according to whom they belong.  Each member has their own line.  This makes it so easy when it comes to putting your laundry away.  All of the like clothes are already together.  I love that time saver.  I can have 4 or 5 loads of wash put away in under 10 minutes, easy.  When it's organised, the kids don't mind putting it away either.

-Consider where you put your pins when hanging your wash out.  You don't want them to make marks.
-Roll up your paired up socks before you take them down.  They'll never get lost that way.
-Put hangers in the tops that don't need ironing or anything that you can just put right in the closet.
-Keep a rolling rack handy and go directly from the line to the rack.  If you hang your items efficiently, getting them to the drawers or the closet will go so much faster.

You can also use a rolling rack to dry your clothes, if you haven't got a line.  One need not a lot of space to hang clothes.  My yard is tiny.  I have one wooden poll and we brought the lines over and attached them to the wall of the house, like you see pictured above.

Another huge plus to hanging out your clothes is the perfectly folded fitted sheet!  Look how crisp that baby is!  Hehehe...Make sure your corners are positioned nicely on the inside. Your sheet will dry faster this way if yu keep it all going the same way.  Fold your sheet in half, then in half again and once more if you like.  Take it off the line and fold in have two more times and your sheet is perfect.

Get one of these awesome baskets to make hanging your wash a breeze.  Mine is so broken, but I keep using it.  You don't have to keep bending over to get your wash.  The legs fold in when your finished so it's easy to manoeuvre it around the house.

I have got one heck of a tan already just from hanging out my wash.  It gets me outside with my girls (chicken) and all of that nature.  It's truly therapeutic and I make it a point to take my time and enjoy the process.  Of course hanging out the wash is time consuming, but when it's something you enjoy and there are so many advantages to doing it, that's just fine.

Items that are best for on the line are: sheets, towels, heavy items, linens, delicates, wool, leather, swim wear, robes, shoes expensive bras, hats, toys, comforters, curtains, pillows and cushions.  Seriously consider hanging all of these items all of the time.

It was mentioned that hanging your clothes is bad for allergies.  I've never heard that so I went digging and I did indeed find that hanging your clothes inside contributes to mould, mites, humidity and a few other less positive aspects.  The key is ventilation.  Hang your clothes in the most ventilated area you have.  Outside is always best.  Read more about that here.  Although I have specific days for washing, I keep the weather in mind and wash when it's the nicest.

Consider hybrid drying when the weather isn't great.  I often throw all of the little things in the dryer and hang the large, heavy items.  This way the dryer is done faster and just a couple of pieces are left hanging.

Space should never be an excuse for hanging your laundry.  There are so many ways to get around this.  Design a line that can be taken down if you think it's an eye sore or it gets in the way of some other activity.  Hooks and other systems are out there.

There are retractable lines that take up very little space and nearly hide inside themselves when not being used.  Here are a couple of examples.  The first one is my favourite.  It's totally concealed when not in use.  The others are also awesome, space saving ideas.

Seriously, all of these options show you how easy it can be no matter how small a space you have.

When asking friends, fans and family what they hated most about laundry, they unanimously answered, putting it away.  We'll be back to cover just that next time.

Other instalments from this series that you missed are:

Dirty Laundry Do's and Don'ts
The Ideal Laundry Area
Stain Removing And Pre Wash
The Machines
Cycles
The Dirty On Detergents
Seriously, You Need To Ditch The Softeners

You might also like some fun, free printables to spruce up your laundry area.

And today I'm adding another one.  I have all of the goodies I need to turn this lovely image into a canvas master piece with real clothes pins and a handy place to clip missing socks.  I'll hook you up to the tutorial for that whenever my hubby gets the printout I need.  Hehehe...

We are still not finished with our laundry series.  We'd like to cover a few more topics such as specialty washing, ironing, dry cleaning, fabrics and clothes in general, where to buy quality clothes and recycled clothes ideas, too.  We hope you join us for those and thanks for making The Cherry a part of your day.

Happy laundering!

The Dirty On Detergents

Welcome to another edition of Dirty Laundry.

I had no idea this would run so lengthy, but when you break down the entire process of laundry, it's incredibly long.  Don't remind you, right?! We're going in order.  Starting off with gathering your laundry, sorting, the laundry area, prepping it for the machine, the machines themselves, their settings and now we're on to detergents.

We'll give you the skinniest version we can so you can skim and get it straight.  Detergents are necessary for the cleaning process of our dirty duds.  Actually, soap is the necessary ingredient and soap is more natural, which is much better for our environment.  We are going to hook you up with some soaps for your wash as well as offer a few recipes so you can try making it yourself.  You'll save tons of cash and be a super green example.  Of course we have the conventional stuff covered, too.

When choosing a detergent or soap you should consider several things.  How dirty is the laundry, does it really matter if it's heavy in perfume and what settings should I consider for what product.  You might be like me and just grab whatever is on promotion.  Hehehe...

Take a look at the back of your packing and see what directions are indicated for use.  Also don't just pour in your detergent, but measure it. This will save you a lot more detergent.  Too much detergent can lead to residue, ruin your clothes and irritate the skin.  Speaking of packaging, homemade detergent saves on this, too.  You'll have a lot less garbage or recycling to do.  Another plus point!

I had a poll asking friends and fans about detergents and an overwhelming majority said they really like their clothes to smell strong in perfume.  It is these ingredients that are really bad for us and the environment.  Find out more about the dangers of perfumes and other, unnatural ingredients in detergents here.  Did you know that for some reason, detergent makers are not required to list ALL ingredients in their products?  When tested, most of these ingredients are really bad for us.  From skin irritation to hormonal defects and worse.  Ugh!

Detergents can stain and ruin clothes.  Read about dosing, temperature and fabrics like satin and wool that might not be suitable for detergents, especially unnatural ones.  We found this article to be a bit helpful.

Good House Keeping has a gallery of the best detergents that's just perfect.  Check it out out here.  Tide is the big one most people prefer.  I always thought it was way too, expensive and my father had allergic reactions to it as well.  It's another company that doesn't list all of it's ingredients and has some naughty ones in there.

Home made laundry soap saves you a lot of money, in most cases doesn't irritate the skin and it's better for the environment and your clothes and other laundry.  Here's Liz's one year experience with home made laundry detergent.

Check out our Clean, Clean, Clean board over on Pinterest for many more recipes for laundry soap and other really handy tips and tricks for cleaning your laundry and more.

I saw on Pinterest, how someone made home made laundry soap and gave it to their friends for them to try, too.  I thought it was a fantastic idea.  I've not tried home made laundry soap yet, but it's on my list.  I can't find Borax here and it's in every recipe I've seen so far. Not sure what the Belgian alternative is yet.

Here's a list of awesome, safe detergents that you can purchase.  Ecover seems to be a good one and I know I can buy that here in Belgium, too.  I use other Ecover products as well.

Over on the Wellness Mama, a site I often go to, she also has a super basic recipe for both powder AND liquid detergent with ingredients that are right there at the grocers or perhaps already in your home.  I may go with this one.

Borax is apparently a bit controversial on it's safety.  It can irritate the eyes just like cayenne pepper or vinegar could, so take caution when preparing this detergent.  If you see other information about the dangers of Borax it's most probably correlated to consumption.  Way back in the Industrial Revolution, they put Borax in food.  That's right!  So, I'm sure you already know this, but don't eat your detergent.  Hehehe...

I'll be back with the scoop on softeners next.  Are they really necessary and what alternatives there are.

Happy laundering! 

Dirty Laundry Do's and Dont's

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

We're starting a series on laundry.  There are just so many aspects of laundry and we want to cover them all.  Laundry is a huge part of our lives and we're here to see that it's not the most difficult or dreadful part of it.

We will cover the basics and go in the order of the entire washing process. From storing, to washing, detergents, alternative soaps, folding, ironing, putting it away and even more.

We will start where the laundry starts, as soon as it leaves the body.  Where does it go?  On the floor? In a basket or hamper?  The very best place for the dirty washing is a well ventilated, easy to carry basket or hamper.  Damp laundry, if left in a non ventilated contraption will not only smell, take forever to dry, but may also draw mildew.

Be sure it's everyone's habit to get all of the dirty wash in its proper place.  This might be the one and only thing I can actually get everyone in the house in to do.  I have hampers in everyone's bedroom and the bathroom, too.  So, there are no excuses.  No one goes to bed at night if there is laundry on the floor.

Here are some awesome ways to store dirty clothes and we'll start with the kids.
These are mostly from Pinterest and you can find the links to them on our Clean  Clean, Clean board.

This is super cute, bright fun and certainly has incentive.  (Just not super for ventilation or larger clothes items.)

Here's another fun, upcycle idea.  This one isn't great for ventilation either, but if the clothes are relatively dry, it's no biggie and it's REALLY fun!

This is what I use for the boys.  I bought them at Ikea for under $5.  They are super for ventilation, flexible, light and can be used as...as... something really cool to play in.  Only negative point is if you put something wet or damp in the basket and it touches the floor, you may have a problem. Keep that in mind with any kind of system similar to this one.

This is a pretty sweet system, too.  Sort white, lights and darks, handles, ventilation just be careful for dampness and your floor.

This one looks super awesome, but once again, if you can't get to your wash daily it will discolour from sweat, damp and wet clothes and linens and of course, you'll have to be able to wash the bags, too.  I had something like this and had to throw it out.  I got holes in it from the washing and the mildew was really bad, too.

I also had a basket just like this one and it too succumbed to mildew.  That's some tough stuff and I even wash twice a week.

This my friends, is THE best way to store your dirty laundry.  I've been through several systems and this one is by far the best.  There's a solid bottom so my floors are never ruined.  Plenty of ventilation is available through all of the holes, it's very light and the handles are great, too.  With a conventional laundry basket like this, you can also use it for toting clean laundry, it cleans easy and you can use it to carry other things besides laundry.  Tip:  I actually use my laundry baskets instead of luggage!  Pack the clean clothes in the baskets, put them in the trunk, empty the clean clothes in to draws and cabinets then fill the basket with our dirty laundry and when we get home, it goes right into the garage.

Our bathroom furniture does not set on the ground and I put my matching, plastic laundry basket right underneath the sink.  It's somewhat camouflaged and really easily accessed. 

Keep in mind how much laundry you need to store before you get around to washing it as well.  Some systems are so small, you can't even get a sheet or a couple of towels in there.  Consider how far and what obstacles are in the way.  If you have to go up and down stairs, then a basket with wheels isn't going to get you very far.  I bought this huge, cylindrical, metal hamper and I could hardly pick it up once it was full, let alone carry it all the way to the garage.  Hehehe...Duh!

There's our a start to the series of Dirty Laundry Do's and Don'ts.  You've got some links, ideas and inspiration to get this laundry thing right. 

How many of you wish for this?  Hehehe...I'm framing this one up and adding it to my laundry area once it's finished.  That's a story for another edition of the Dirty Laundry Series.

Designed mostly with Harper Finch's Squeaky Clean kit.

Thanks for checking us out!