JANE KOOPMAN ART AND JEWELRY

Messy Rest

ideas and observations about everyday wonders
from a girl who has never been able to keep her room clean
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2/27/2013

Naturally Clean Vinegar . . . for the Bathroom

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One of my household jobs when I got old enough to scrub was to clean the bathroom. My Mom always asked me to clean the mirrors with vinegar because it was better for the glass, apparently. Literally and figuratively turning up my nose, I persisted in using the bright blue window cleaner, digging it out of the back of the cupboard where it was consistently relegated by my Mom. I don't know why I rebelled against vinegar: maybe I was a sucker for window cleaner advertising, maybe I figured something bright blue would work better than something perfectly clear.
vinegar for cleaning
photo from www.fillyourown.ca
For years now in my own home, I've been trying to replace conventional cleaning products with less harmful products. The phosphates and surfectants commonly used in conventional cleaners are terrible for our water system, and I doubt they're good for me. Thankfully, increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly cleaning products has made safer alternatives more available. What I've noticed, though, is that, as more products become available, it gets harder to determine which products are legitimately environmentally friendly. There's lots of pretty blue-and-green-with-fluffy-clouds packaging out there, but to be really sure you're getting a safe product, you have to read the ingredients carefully and know what you're looking for (or not looking for).

In my experience, legit environmentally friendly cleaning products are a little more expensive than their conventional counterparts. In many cases, I'm willing to pay. I've also begun to realize, however, that I can take some matters into my own hands with natural ingredients I have in my kitchen cupboards. And my latest favourite discovery is the one I rebelled against as a kid each time my Mom asked me to clean the bathroom.
Vinegar is now one of the only things I use when I clean my bathroom, and here's how:
  • I spray it directly on the mirror (that's right, Mom!) and it gets everything off.
  • I spray it directly on all chrome surfaces, like faucets, and it makes them perfectly shiny.
  • I combine it with a little phosphate-free dish detergent to wipe down the counters, sink, toilet and floor.
  • I spray it directly onto the tub and surrounding tiles and let it sit while I clean the rest of the bathroom. Later, I scrub it all down with a natural-bristled brush dipped in some (phosphate-free) soapy water. The soap scum comes off without a smidge of elbow grease - I kid you not.
vinegar for cleaning
photo from www.allyou.com
I got most of these ideas from an early incarnation of the Reader's Digest book Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things, which I picked up at a used bookstore years ago. It's a very handy book and lists a zillion other uses for vinegar.

Now, I'll admit: cleaning with vinegar doesn't smell awesome, and I definitely crack a window while I'm cleaning. But I so much prefer it to the cough-inducing scents and mysterious nasty air particles left by commercial cleaning products.

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2/25/2013

Orange Crate Organizing: Turn These Wooden Boxes into Handy Storage Pieces

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It's not unusual for citrus fruit - especially the little, easy-to-peel kind - to be packed in small wooden crates. The fruit is delicious and nutritious, but what do you do with the crates when they're empty?

When dismantled, they make great kindling. But that means nothing if you don't have a fireplace, woodstove, backyard bonfire pit or back alley steel drum. Well, with a little dressing up, they also make great storage baskets. But every household only needs so many baskets.

I've always had a stockpile of these little crates, knowing that there must be some other good uses for them. A couple years ago, I made myself some earring displays/jewelry boxes out them. You can see a video about how to make these orange create jewelry displays by visiting my YouTube channel. In recent months, I came up with another use for them: bead organization in my studio. With their compact size, they're great shelves for small things, like beads.

You could easily mount a crate sideways as-is on your wall and use it as a shelf for lightweight items (they usually have holes on the bottom, which make them easy to hang). In my case, I modified a few to suit my purposes. I took some apart, and used the pieces to reinforce the crates I wanted to hang on the wall.
Picture
(I saved the thick wire staples for another project.) I also used the dismantled crate pieces to add extra shelving to some of the crates. Hopefully the photo gives you an idea of some of the things I did. As you can see, my little orange crate shelving system has allowed me to store a lot of beads! And I get a kick out of the fact that my studio has some upcycled storage.

I have used orange crates in other ways for studio organization, but I'll save that for another day. I don't want you to get over-excited!

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2/20/2013

Your Disposable Tape Dispenser Doesn't Have to Be

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double-sided tape dispenser
sad, empty dispenser
double-sided tape
new occupant of empty dispenser
Okay, so I might be the only person on earth who doesn't know this, but just in case I'm not, let me tell you: you can reuse disposable tape dispensers. This is not an earth-shattering discovery, but it helps reduce waste a wee bit.

Last week, I ran out of my Scotch brand double-sided tape, one of several double-sided tape species I use in my work. I loosened the empty plastic tape roll thingy for a later upcycling project, and set aside the dispenser, hoping I could find a way to upcycle that. Then I trotted off to Staples to buy some new tape. As I looked at the shelves full of tape, something caught my eye on the bottom shelf. It was a stack of small yellow boxes, each containing one roll of tape, sans dispenser. I may have done a fist pump at that moment. I bought the roll of tape (which was 20 cents cheaper and 3.5 times longer than a pack of tape with dispenser) and put it in the empty dispenser I had still waiting for me at home.

Many tape dispensers are designed to be refillable. Others are not, but with a little tweaking, you can reuse them. From a brief search I've done online about tape, it seems most manufacturers provide the option of buying their tape products without a dispenser. I feel a bit un-smart for not cluing in to this sooner, but hey, at least I know now.

Sometimes, it's these easy simple things that - all combined - make a big impact.

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2/7/2013

Economical and Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap

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Valentine's Day is next week, and people who are much nicer and more romantic than I am will give gifts to their significant others. So this is as good a time as any to talk gift wrap.

I'm ambivalent about wrapping paper, gift bags and other gift wrapping stuff. It's so nice and spirit-lifting to get a package beautifully and thoughtfully wrapped. The moment ends, however, as soon as you tear apart the wrapping paper or yank the tufts of tissue paper out of the gift bag. All too often, the lovely packaging ends up in the garbage. Some conscientious gift-receivers carefully unwrap their presents, being extra careful to pull the tape off without tearing the paper, and then neatly fold it for another use. But let's face it: lots of people don't.

I have a few gift wrap ideas that are cost-effective and perhaps more eco-friendly.
eco friendly gift wrap
  • The newsprint used by stores and online merchants to protect fragile items can make nice wrapping paper if you give it a little imagination. You can go the old school Sound of Music "paper packages tied up with string" route by wrapping your gift in this rustic paper, and tying some jute, twine, or kitchen string around it. If you're extra industrious, you could stamp some patterns onto the paper. Most of this paper is compostable (though it shouldn't be composted if you've stamped it), and all of it is recyclable.

reusable gift wrap
  • My Mom used to do this when I was a kid: wrap gifts in tea towels, dish cloths, hand towels, wash cloths, pillow cases, cloth napkins or receiving blankets, depending on the occasion and size of the gift. This works great for baby and wedding showers especially. It's pretty and useful!

reusable gift wrap
  • You can also use any sort of container as a gift receptacle: flower pots, baskets, cookie or tea tins, orange crates, vases, mason jars . . . the list is as long as your imagination can take you. Your giftee can enjoy your present and make good use of the container it came in.

If none of the above mentioned ideas strike your fancy, you could try any of these: reusable shopping bags, tote bags, newspaper or comics pages (recyclable), teacups, mugs or photo boxes. There are lots of ways to make your presents look pretty without spending much money or creating much waste.

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2/4/2013

Good-Bye, Penny!

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2012 Canada penny
Today in Canada, we say good-bye to the humble penny. I think a lot of people are probably happy to say farewell to this piece of copper (or copper-plated zinc or steel since 1997) that clutters up our wallets, gets stuck in the washing machine and gets swept up with the crumbs and fur balls from the floor.

Alex Colville 1967 penny
I feel a little conflicted today. I am one of those people who never had much use for the penny: as a unit of currency it has never made much sense (cents - ha!) to me. It has made the ridiculous .99 prices possible, after all. But the history buff in me - the person who's sad we don't send letters anymore, who loves old stamps and typewriters - is a little sad. It's similar to the sinking feeling I had when the Royal Canadian Mint phased out the one and two dollar bills, but this time it goes deeper. The penny, the one cent, which has been around since before Confederation, will no longer be part of Canadian life.

Think about how the penny has been part of our cultural fabric: "a penny for your thoughts", penny loafers, "a penny saved is a penny earned", a lucky penny, throw a penny in a fountain and make a wish, penny sales and penny drives. These will now be things we used to say or do. I think what I'll miss the most, though, is the sense of history you get when you study a penny or run your thumb across its surface. When was it minted? Which maple leaf design does it have? Or is it a 1967 penny with Alex Colville's rock dove design? Is it round or 12-sided? Each one has its own shade of brown patina and history of pocket-dwelling and changing hands.

Canada 1935 penny
Maybe I'm being over-sentimental about a little round piece of metal. But, as much as I'll be glad to carry a lighter wallet, there's a part of me that feels sad to lose a piece of history today.

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    Jane Hogeterp Koopman

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