Gift Tags

Wouldn't a homemade gift tag look great on that special gift?  This is a fun project to do.  You can even use your scrap paper to make all kinds of tags, for all occasions.

I bet your thinking, who has time for that???  Well, you do!  It doesn't take too long and it's even better if you would like to make a lot you can assembly line the steps.

I made this as an example for some make and takes, so I cut lots of paper and got a lot of stuff coordinated for everyone to make this and it might have taken an hour.

Start out with your largest piece of paper 2 1/4" x 4".

Your next piece of paper will be 2" x 3" and you will want to round off all 4 of your corners.

And your last piece of paper is 1 3/4" x 2 3/4", round those corners as well.

My tag is intended for Christmas so I punched out a snowflake to jazz it up.

With your first piece of paper you want to pick one end to trim the corners off.  I kept the piece I cut off and flipped it over to use as a guide on the opposite side so my corners are the same size.  Hole punch the middle.

This is the paper you will stamp on as well.

Pick a coordinating ink to rub on the edges of your smaller two papers.  I like to add a little extra ink to the top too.

I used my glue runner to stick the smaller paper to the larger and I also gave it a squirt of Glimmer Mist before I added my last piece of paper.

Wrap your ribbon around the tag 3 or 4 times and use tape on the back to hold it in place.

Cut a ribbon about 5" long and insert through the hole.  

Stamp your tag.  You can use anything, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Congratulations, etc....

Be sure to let the ink dry well before you do too much more with it.

Use a glue dot to adhere your decoration.

I also had a self stick gem I added to the middle of my snowflake to give a little extra sparkle.

Better Mopping

The Rubbermaid Reveal

Who likes to mop? I don't think I know anyone that would say yes to that.  Do you mop?  Of course.  

The process of getting your mop out and the bucket, getting the cleaner and hot water, etc.... can be such a pain.  Sometimes you just want, or need, a quick easy mop in between the times you go through the long process with the mop and bucket, or even hands and knees.

I have a Swifter Wet Jet.  I hated paying for the convience of the cleaner for it.  Also said cleaner would leave streaks all over my laminate wood floor.  What?!  I would buy wood floor cleaner, wood floor pads.  Still streaks, or cloudy, can't stand it.

On occasion I do try to do things in a little bit earth, home and budget friendlier of a way.  So I started to take my spray bottle of vinegar-water cleaner and spray the floor and use the Swifter Wet Jet and the pad and mop like that.

It was great for in between the big deep cleaning.  Awesome for when the pets come in muddy (I was talking about the kids.....;p).  Or spills.  Best of all, no streaks, no clouds, just beautiful shiny floor.

  Great I think to myself.  In the back of my mind I would try to figure out if there was a way I could refill those Wet Jet bottles.  One day I walked into Sams Club and there was the Rubbermaid Reveal.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Pages/ProductSearchResults.aspx?k=reveal

Empty bottle, and not one, not two, but three, removeable, big, washable, reuseable floor pads.  For about $30.  Wahoo!  

I'm a sucker, yep there was a beautiful neon sign flashing my name and pointing arrows right at the display.  I ran over there and had one in my cart so fast my husband did a double take.  $30 for that?  I told him it was worth it if it works and walked away.  He doesn't clean the house.

I took it home and gave it a workout.  Ahhh, no streaks, no batteries, clean floor.

Over time my bottle started to look like this.  Lucky for me I found and extra bottle marked down somewhere (can't remember) and I bought it and stashed it, little did I know how soon I would need it.

TIP:  After you mop, pull the bottle off and open the lid to let air back in to the bottle.  Tighten back up and snap back into place.  This will prevent the above from happening.

Rubbermaid has made this product easy to use.  There are great directions on the bottle.  You can use any of your favorite cleaners in this bottle.  It tells you a ratio to use.  It also recommends having a few different bottles of cleaner ready and available for your different types of flooring.  My discounted replacement bottle was quite reasonable in price and the regular price isn't a whole lot more.

Happier mopping.