Housewife Magic

I am now a housewife. More on that topic later, but today I wanted to share a few magic tricks I've learned thanks to Pinterest! And no, I don't sit on pinterest and play all day as a housewife, but I do when I'm nursing River or while taking a 5 minute mental break just like everyone else. ;)

Note: These are all phone pictures. Bradley would be ashamed they aren't perfectly captured and edited photographs. Hehe ;)

Mascara Magic

Mascara is every woman's best friend, right? Even on my no-shower life-is-crazy kind of days I ALWAYS wear mascara. However, I usually end up throwing a tube away before its actually all used because it gets dry. But no more! Simply adding a drop or two of contact solution boosts moisture and adds to the lifespan of your beloved tube!

Towel Revival

Part of being a housefwife is not having my own paycheck coming in, which consequently means I can't go drop some chump change at Target like I used to. After a while towels and wash cloths get a little funky, smelly, & feel icky. So instead of buying new fluffy plush towels every year, I have tried this pinterest magic trick: Wash towels with 1 cup of vinegar on hot, then wash again with 1/2 cup of baking soda on hot. Voila! Fresh & fluffy like new! Yes, you have to run them through the wash twice, but if that means not dropping $$$ on new ones I'm up for doing it every few months! I was a bit skeptical because you don't actually use detergent when performing the towel revival, but it really works! Even after one use my towel still smells fresh and feels fluffy instead of sticky and stale like it did before. Therefore, I'm washing less towels per week now because we can reuse them. And I used to NEVER reuse towels before throwing them in the laundry bin. This trick has changed my life a bit. Seriously.

Cooktop Bath

I'm lucky to have a fabulous kitchen after we remodeled our historic home. But with nice things comes the chore of cleaning them and keeping them in good shape. I am also lucky to have a husband who enjoys cooking and shares the responsibility with me. But with that also comes more messes. ;) Our shiny black cooktop was becoming streaky and dirty and driving me insane. Fortunately, I found this trick: Dunk a dish rag in a mixture of hot water and dish soap, sprinkle a heap of baking soda over your cooktop, and then squeeze the excess water out of that rag and lay it on top for about 15 minutes. Wipe it off, shine it with some windex, and then look at your clean shiny reflection!
I apologize for not having pictures of this tip. I recently cleaned my cooktop and don't feel like doing it again just to snap phone pictures. But here is a link to some if you need to see!

I hope these magical housewife tips excite someone out there and bring some thrifty cleanliness to your home!