Making Home Link Up #17: Home Uses for WD40

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about home; moving house, decorating, DIY, handmade for home, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more.

Don't forget to join in this week and add your own posts if you are a blogger. You can find out how at the end of this post. 

First up, a little bit of an update from me.

Over the last couple of days, I have had a bad, BAD situation going on with my lovely boots. The zip keeps undoing from the bottom up when it is fastened. I realised that an extra zip tooth has made its way through the pully and I have no idea how to fix this. Help please! In trying to get the zip back down, I had a bit of trouble so I rubbed a little bit of my trusty friend, WD40 onto the teeth to help it along. Then I remembered this post and another situation recently where WD40 caused me to be very smug.

The Making Home Link Up #15: How to Clean Your Oven

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about home; moving house, decorating, DIY, handmade for home, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more.

Don't forget to join in this week and add your own posts if you are a blogger. You can find out how at the end of this post. 

First up, a little bit of an update from me.

The new year has given me a bit of a boost. 2015 was a bit glum on my part and I lacked motivation to achieve in all aspects of life. It is totally cliche but 2016 has brought with it a new determination to drive my business forward (Hello My PA), spend more quality time with my lovely family and to make our home beautiful. I don't really make 'resolutions' as such but I am determined to get my mojo back and find the old me! 

So last week I launched #CraftyBs online and now I have no excuse not to make time for myself to indulge in a hobby. Our routine at #CraftyBs HQ has changed up a little bit, allowing me to get focused and Hubby B and I have started a little bit of home organisation and spring cleaning. Not bad for only 15 days into the year right? 

There are things in the house that have been a bit neglected since we moved in, one of them being the oven. It is very well used and the build up of roast dinners, weekly teas, baking and of course Christmas cooking was making me cringe a little. I had a little dig around in our cleaning box (I totally have one of those) and I found something that meant I could literally (I kid you not) wipe this stuff of with a damp cotton cloth! 

Scenting Your Home: Forbidden Fruits GloLite, Warm Hearts Tealight Holder and Iced Snowberries Tealights; A PartyLite Review

I recently conducted an online poll in which over 45% of the participants said that fragrant candles were their favourite way of scenting their home. I only ever use fragrant candles but alongside scent, the warm glow of a candle adds something extra to a cosy evening in. Being a fan of lighting candles in the home for various occasions I was excited to be asked to review some products by PartyLite. 

Making The Weekly Shopping Quicker and Easier with the New Capitan List App

Over the summer holidays, the weekly shopping routine got to be a bit hectic. We were making more than one trip over a few days, going for random things, doubling up by accident and forgetting various items. Now the new term has started and I am working regularly, I don't have time to not be organised. So imagine my excitement when I was asked to try out a brand new list app, Capitan. We all know I love a good list! 

The new Capitan List App

Handmade 3D Butterfly Wall Art With Ikea

Very recently my niece became the proud owner of her very own bedroom! Adamant that she wanted it to be pink and yellow, I decided to make her something special to put on her wall. At first I thought I would make a box frame or some bunting; but then I spotted a pack of gift tags in my local IKEA store and became inspired to make this! 

Getting Thrifty With Lemons and Limes

Let’s set the scene. You are doing your weekly shop, trying to be careful about your spending and you head to the reduced ailse to see what bargains you can grab. Once you have filtered though all of the stuff you would never eat, you notice a tray of reduced lemons and limes. You may use the odd slice but you will just be paying for the honour of throwing these away at home right? 

How to Paint Your House

The time has come in our #MakingHome adventure to seriously think about our painting choices. Having bought a new build property, we were advised to wait for 12-18 months before painting and although we've had the odd chat about colours, picked up colour charts etc, 12 months will be approaching in October and I cannot wait to get started! I want to make sure we do a proper job from the get go so I'm starting to get to grips with what I need to think about.

WD40 to The Rescue

You know all those posts and pins about the 100,000 uses for WD40? Well I'm going to be specific because I just had a lightbulb moment.

Maintaining a Wooden Chopping Board With Oil

It has become apparent to me in my quest to create an efficient home, that there are a lot of house keeping things I did not know. Like, a lot of things. Simple things that you all probably know.

Just in case this wasn't common knowledge, did you know that it's advisable to treat your new wooden chopping board with oil?! I mean, I don't know if this is true or if it makes a difference AT ALL but in the last few years, Hubby B and I have gone through numerous wooden chopping boards. We are keen in the kitchen and love cooking and heavy wooden blocks are our preference but they always seem to go black in areas and split, even if they are not inexpensive.

The tip I've (apparently) been missing is to treat the board with oil before the first use. This increases the wood's natural resistance to moisture meaning it is less likely to split and I guess, go black with gross stuff. (YUKYUKYUK)