I unzip and remove my couch cushion and pillow covers and run them through a wash cycle. They have to be put back on damp and dried in then sun or they are next to impossible to get back on. Most fabrics can be washed this way, even a lot that say they can’t!

I love bathing with natural soaps. My clean-up tip is to make your own laundry soap – liquid or dry – using Washing Soda, Borax, and grated bar soap. There are several “recipes” on the Internet like the one from wellnessmama.com.

I like to use baking soda to clean the sink, and it’s really good on a damp dishcloth as safe, slightly abrasive cleaner on the cook stove.

I clean everything with either baking soda or peroxide!

Here’s what I do when cleaning the house. I sweep everything that’s laying on the floor into a pile, and say “okay kids, if you don’t want it thrown in the trash, you need to put it away.” As for any other type of cleaning…who has time for that??

Before heading outdoors I stick my fingernails into a cake of soap (even if I will be wearing gardening gloves) and find that my nails are so much easier to clean when I am done. That gardening dirt doesn’t get so embedded under my nails and they clean up so nicely.

by the way I just love your magazine!

End cuts from your local newspaper office are usually available for free. The ends are ink-free. It cleans windows and glass without streaking, is great for packing paper, and can be used under craft projects to protect your table. I always keep a stack.

I, too, have become a fan of vinegar. I put some baking soda in sinks and pour some vinegar in. It really helps freshen drains.

I am truly simplifying my bath & body cupboards & drawers. Dr. Bronner’s castile soap can serve as both shampoo & body wash in the shower. Coconut oil is a great moisturizer from head to toes. Presently my favorite bar soaps are those made by a girlfriend – but she recently moved to a town over an hour away :(.

I use baking soda to clean potatoes before baking. It also will clean and kill bugs on greens fresh from the garden. I put baking soda in the water and soak greens and rinses afterwards.

I’ve stopped using cleanser on my face altogether. Last year I started mixing sweet almond oil and castor oil Ava using it at night to dissolve make up and grime. Amazing. Fewer breakouts, no dry spots. Just rinse with a warm, wet cloth. In the morning, just warm water.

2-4 oz of hydrogen peroxide in the dishwasher and washing machine along with the detergent to an extra boost in cleaning and keeping the machinery clean as well!!

I use vinegar instead of Rinse Aid in my dishwasher and instead of Fabric Softener in my washing machine. Leaves dishes cleaner and clothes softer.

I use a paste of Dawn and baking soda to clean cooked grease off of my muffin tins.

I purchased some balls of ewe yarn and use them instead of static/fabric softeners. almost two years later they still are effective.

Before putting on gloves and going out to garden lightly run your finger tips over a bar of soap. Getting a little soap under your nails prevents discolor get from dirt and weeds

I like to use newspaper to rub and put a shine on glass and mirrors. My Aunt Beverly showed me that trick.She had 12 children and lots of fingerprints to keep clean.

nail brush! have to use a nail brush. top and bottom and all around my fingers. always helps to have a sinkful of dishes to take care of. a little therapy and good smelling hands.

We have loved Filthy Farmgirl soaps since we discovered them in Hilo. My husband swears by the licorice and I love the Clementine. I save all the wrappers as they are a kick to read.

My clean up tip is when I am washing a new clothing item that is a dark color I add a cup of white vinegar to the wash water to help set the colors. I do this with the new quilts I make and wash be for giving a way.

My favorite cleaning idea is to soak the humidifier parts, water-stained jars & glasses in white vinegar overnight. It does a good job removing the white residue from our city water.

My favorite clean-up tip involves poison ivy. I am exposed to it frequently as I weed in other people’s yards! Wash as soon as possible with cold water and soap that is not anti-bacterial. Another option is to make a poultice with baking soda and let it dry on the infected skin. Lemon Joy dish soap is mild, and rubbing it directly on the skin until it froths and leaving it to dry works well, too. If you can’t get inside to wash right away, rub gritty sand on your exposed skin to neutralize the oil. With all these options to choose from (and others), I rarely get a rash any more. Making your own DIY laundry soap with Fels-Naptha, borax, and Washing Powder also takes the oils out of your clothes!

To clean my shower I just put some shampoo on a wet crunchy and scrub away while I’m in the shower.

I use baking soda and vinegar to clean my toilets. It doesn’t put chemicals into the septic system and ground water. Anything to save the earth and creatures.

I will have to try and catch a “Cash and Cari” show on HGTV. She reminds me of Flea Flip with Lara from ABC TV (I think?) It is amazing what great rehabs people can come up with. Totally useful and out of the ordinary! At this moment, a specific idea of what to repurpose is missing, but I keep thinking an old cabinet for the porch would be fun to act as storage for various things.

I have an old chair on my front porch that is minus a seat, so I have a plant in a blue enamelware pot sitting in it. The paint would really spruce up the chair.

I have a garden bench that really needs a new paint job!

I have an old steamer trunk that stores fabric in my sewing room. It sure could use a facelift. Maybe a little red and turquoise paint would give it a little sparkle.

Oh! If i win the paints,i will re purpose my mothers 1960 kenmore sewing machine cabinet! It would be perfect…

If i win we plan to paint our kitchen table an chairs love restoring old things to make them new again. Something my husband an I like doing together 🙂

I have a number of projects in mind! A simple little dresser purchased at a garage sale as well as an old-fashioned folding chair: both are now just tired varnish – they need some pizzazz!

I have refinished items in the past but had to leave my supplies in Florida when we moved to TN. It would be nice to have some new paints for the next project.

My re-purpose plan is to paint the dinning room chairs that were in my parents house for years. I think the colors will make them come back to life yet still be able to have the great memories of the family dinners sitting around the table on the family farm.

Would live to use it on a dresser (re•purposed) for my daughter! The colors look very clean and vibrant!!

I can’t wait to use the paint for my kitchen table chairs- they are so loved and just need a little refreshing:) I love repurposing furniture – love the funds and deals at the habitat humanity restore – great deals and the money goes towards the good works at habitat for humanity- bonus:)

I use cardboard dulcimers for teaching my kindergarten students. Most were painted, but a couple weren’t. Since the dulcimers live on my classroom wall, it would be fun to paint one red and one turquoise to make them really stand out (the others are sort of a barn red.)

I inherited an old chest that I want to keep blankets in in my living room. It’s been used through the years and has a lot of scratches and a few chips out of it. I think this paint would be a great color combination to spruce up the old chest!

I would redo my end tables and coffee table I been wanting to tackle for sure,

I have an old dresser, nice and solid but soooo ugly with many peeling layers of old nasty paint. I would love to use this to make it lovely again!

I would love to win the paints for 2 kitchen chairs that I have. We are building a house, and I am working on the furniture for the dining room, using an antique square table from my husband’s uncle, along with a corner bench that I found at a resale shop, and a splash of color on the 2 chairs would be perfect!

We have a tiny pop up camper that we pull with our motorcycle. We are getting new canvas, putting in a new table, and I will make new cushions. The turquoise paint would freshen up the ceiling, and the red would go on the wooden box that holds camping supplies.

I plan to repurpose a small closet. Thank you for the giveaway. 🙂

I support organics whenever I can. I now have a share in a goat herd, just to receive fresh, unpasteurized milk each week, buy at the farmers’ market for the things we don’t grow. I also buy fair trade coffees & teas. I love it all!

I just subscribed to your magazine and I am anxious to get my first issue. Hmmm…how do I support organic agriculture? Well, I support in theory and deed, but I am not sure if that is what you mean. Last spring I became really ill and couldn’t shake it off…even after a round of antibiotic and steroids, which I HATE taking any kind of pharmaceutical. So I took a class on Essential Oils, tossed out all chemicals from my house and started making many of my own products. I try to buy organic whenever possible, but I live on eighty acres outside of a small town in Texas and I don’t have many resources. I wish there was a farmers market closer than sixty miles. I am trying to eat more whole foods. I will confess that I am still working full time and cooking after my work day is difficult to do. I do manage to throw something together quickly most nights and my husband is okay with that, although he would rather have chicken fried steak and fries. He is not into vegetables at all. I will say that one of my “retirement bucket list” items is to garden and have chickens. My daughter had chickens for a couple of years, but last spring, just before the drought ended by the glorious rain, coyotes came in and within two weeks killed them all. She is a full time college student, but hopefully, we can fortify her coop and get more. All of her neighbors lost theirs to coyotes also. I have ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs and would like to learn more about herbs.

I own my own seed company and grow all my own plants organically and save the seeds and sell them on my website : http://www.amishlandseeds.com
I guess since I farm organically year round, that is my biggest way to support organic agriculture.

I buy organic seed for my gardens and buy organic foods, clothes, towels, and bedding, etc.

We grow a lot of our own produce and use organic practices! We also have ducks and use their droppings as natural fertilizer!

My family and I support organic agriculture by shopping at the local farmer’s market instead of the retail chain stores whenever possible. The produce is amazing and often times significantly cheaper too! We also use our egg shells, banana peels, and other bit and pieces to make our own compost at home.

I grow and quite successfully my own organic vegetables all summer long.

I grow my own vegetables and raise backyard chickens!

I buy regularly from local farmers markets in addition to organic vegetable gardening. I don’t use pesticides in my garden and replaced the landscaping shrubs with bee and butterfly loving plants.

I support organic agriculture by maintaining relationships with farmers at my local farmers markets. I particularly love being able to go up to my “Tomato Man” and asking if he’s got a box of mushies for me to sauce and can each week!

Gardening, cooking, and buying locally and organically was instilled in me by my parents. It grew up on a dairy farm in upstate NY, and although I have just a small garden myself right now, I have plans in the works for bees, chickens, and a better garden.

Relationships are just as important as the produce. It feels great to know that your farmer has got a box put aside just for you with both “the usual” and sometimes the unusual!

love your magazine and books. I bought my 1957 Aljo because of you. Then bought your Glamping book

I love going to my local farmer’s market and supporting organic farms in my area and choosing organic when I can at the grocery store.

I love Mountain Rose Herbs. I have been turning to an all organic lifestyle over the past several years myself. I do have a ways to go yet but we feel healthier and happier thus far. I to try making my own herbal remedies but am much newer to that.

I support organic agriculture by growing everything in my garden organically and buying organic pooducts.

Thankfully it is getting easier to find online shops and services that pledge to be organic. We have tried for years to garden organically and now, more and more, local stores are carrying organic items and food. We like to support our small town neighborhood shops committed to healthy living.

I am blessed that I am in an area with many, many, organic farms and stores. I do not eat processed foods and always try to eat locally. I am a new gardener for vegetables and fruits and love getting close to the soil and know I can pick my own fresh vegetables.

I support organic agriculture by having my own garden and living on a farm.

I support all of our local mini farms at the Farmers Market that rotates to a different farm each week-end. Always buy produce in be tween at local fruit stand. grow my own garden with no chemicals and no gmo seeds. very carefully read labels so I know where food products come from before I buy.

We eat homegrown or wild meat, buy heirloom seeds and try to avoid as many chemicals as possible! Still learning and trying to compost. 😄

MaryJane…
Using the wisdom that has come from my dear sisters in this educated organic-savey generation, and from my elder sisters of the vintage generation….I now make intentional choices each day about what I buy and bring into our home to eat or products to use…or, …whatever I plant in my garden soil. It needs to be as pure as nature will allow it to be without any additives, hormones, or harmful substances. We now eat berries, honey, and teas from the forest. We have learned there is new world of food in the forests. Even medicinal cures. I choose organic local dairy, grassfed meat, free range chickens with organic feed. Our earth has offered the purest food and water for our good health so rich and pure, we need to receive this age-old…organic bounty with intentional, determined and grateful hearts, and return the care back to earth. We need to live simple and pure. Organic thinking and organic living on our earth. **** Intentionally Organic ****

I support organic agriculture in many ways. First, my best friend and business partner, Raphael, and I have turned our adjoining urban backyards into raised beds where we grow our own organic veggies. I only purchase organic veggies at the grocery and farmer’s markets in our wonderful city, Kansas City, MO. Additionally, I am a vegan and teach whole nutrition classes, write articles, and post supportive information on social media. And, I support our local CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) in our area. Thank you so much for everything, Mary Jane.

In Peace,
Kat Bowie

My husband and I always buy organic when available. We have to buy most of our organic food out of town and usually travel every other week to shop for groceries and other items but are starting to find more locally. My journey to buying organic started when I discovered your magazine. I have every copy except the first one. I keep a subscription for my mom and myself.

I support organic by buying my vegetables at the local farmer’s market and promoting the farmers I’ve befriended there.

Hello,
I just received my very first subscribed issue, I love it!!
I support organic by buying every chance I get and going to our local farmers markets…
Thank you!!

I love Mountain Rose Herbs. I recently ordered a ridiculous amount of essential oils. I had been given some by a rep for an MLM, but balked at the price for tiny bottles. I have been a customer for years with Mountain Rose, so I went back to them when needing oils. I’m glad I did. I love their tea, as well. I drank a pregnancy blend the entire pregnancy with my youngest. I wish I had known about it with my oldest of the two.

The pillow in the photo is so pretty..so colorful….color can make one happy, or relaxed…depending on the color…there are so many colors to pick from but my favorite is…”purrrr-ple”….it used to be red…and then there’s yellow…hmm…did you say one color or two or three? ha ha…my youngest daughter puts a lot of color in her home decorating.. this book would be perfect gift for her.

My favorite color is green, too. And, also the same as shawna, I like all shades as well.

I love greens because they remind me of summertime during our hard winters. Last year, I painted some walls in my living room with green, another wall in my dining room with orange sherbet (think Push Pop ice cream) and another wall in my kitchen mustard yellow. Standing in one particular spot in my living room, you can see all colors. My daughter stated “Hey mom, you’ve got peas, carrots, and mac-n-cheese on the walls. Looks like dinner time!”

Greens and yellows, the colors of daisies and sunflowers with a bit of blues and brown dirt thrown in!

Green, burgundy, purple and gold are my favorite colors. I love decorating in any combination of these colors. Green and/or gold accented with burgundy and purple. Love it!!!

Pink will always be my favorite color… but lately I’ve been loving teal and poppy!

I love fushias, hot pink and all shades of purple. But I decorate more serenely, usually in shabby chic rose and sage. But I am also into changing my house by decorating for the seasons. This is my autumn changeover and I have out all my golds ( like my 1850 gold and off white appliqued quilt that I use to cover my couch) umber, yellows and oranges. I collect vintage tablecloths and have several out in fall colors .

I love olive green!

My favorite color? Maybe my email address gives you a hint! Love purple and the softer shades of pink. I love trying different color combinations and step out sometimes with what others would probably say is just “a bit too much.” When I think back to the home I grew up in and to my grandparents’ homes, I really don not remember color. Guess there was color there, but it was so basic and plain! Not an issue in my own home.

When anyone asks me my favorite color I say ‘Fall’!!

I am wanting to change my house up. Want more and brighter colors. I love turquoise, red, lime green and a dark yellow. I am starting to repaint some furniture and maybe some walls. I do change seasons with flower arrangements and foliage.

DIY projects are my new love – that and canning!!! My 1939 home is fun to decorate with color. It “came with” three colorful bathrooms (all tiles original 1939): a bright yellow & black, a pink & gray, a pale yellow, rose, & burgundy! I love to see guests’ reactions :).

Yellow is my favorite its brightness and light just make me feel good. But I also love red and white together in my bedroom. And pops of all colors around me I every room.

I love a country red and yellow color combination and am considering decorating my smallish entry in these tones. Thanks for a great magazine full of advice and ideas!!

Since finding my long awaited red brick bungalow, and painting the exterior doors turquoise, my new favorite combo is red and turquoise! Even used these colors on my chicken coop. 💙❤

I’ve already ordered mine but would love a copy for my creative sister in law who. Is moving back to the lower 48 from.
Alaska!

I lean towards the greens and blues, the colors of the sky, the water, new leaves in the spring or moss in the forest, it’s where I find my relaxation. But throw in a pop of yellow or orange and it’s a whole different feel!

My favorite color is Red. I have a bit of red in every room of my home. But that said I enjoy most of the fall colors.

I like bright dark colors such as red,orange, brown, green, and purple.
I look forward to your magazine. Everything is so happy!!!

Teal & red :)….tourquoise & red…..green & orange. I seem to stay in the same realm, even though Kristin’s house reminds me of mine :).

Purple….sometimes with yellow, sometimes orange, sometimes white… purple really goes good with just about everything!!!

Would be so inspiring whilst trying to finish out my 1880’s farmhouse.

I’m always in search of “colorful” in my life. Sometimes I do feel torn between colorful, and soothing neutrals, but somehow colorful wins out every time. I use a lot of reds, oranges, and yellows throughout my open plan living space, which includes my living room, dining space, sitting area and kitchen, but each of my bedrooms and both the bathrooms have different color schemes of their own inspired by far away places: My Master Bath is bright white with Colbalt Blue Grecian accents; the guest bath is the lovely shade reflecting the inside of a seashell- rather a soothing peachy tone that reminds me of Nantucket… My Tuscany inspired guest bedroom is complete with classic Terra Cotta walls, offset by a shade of a pale bluish green known as Apple Grove (it’s a beautiful combination!) A Mediterranean inspired Master Bedroom with Blue Agave walls (it changes shade throughout the lighting of the day!) complimented with bright white trim… My current “office/library” project is in process. The walls are silvery grey… and who knows what the color scheme will be beyond that- I make things up as I go along, according to the inspirations of the time. ‘Crafting a Colorful Home’ is exactly my cup of tea- or coffee- depending on the day…

I like to put together minty green and cream with a pop of old barn red. I like a neutral background to let the color accents show off.

My favorite color is green and my favorite shade has been given many names over the years…..celadon, celery, oriental, soft green, faded avocado…..

I keep forgetting about Lehmans as a go to source for all things practical! In today’s Sister Issue, I saw the corn broom and flour sack towels. Both of these items are hard to find where I live so I wrote myself a note to go and look more carefully through the store for more basics I have been needing. A $20 gift card would be a nice plus to have when shopping!

I am familiar with Lehman’s and have shopped from their catalog and, I have been pleased with all my purchases. My favorite non-electric kitchen gadget would be my grandfathers nut chopper…though, a food processor would be quicker..this glass jar with measurements on he side and a small wood block in the bottom with a screw on lid that has the chopper blades attached is my favorite..it has a red wooden handle on top and I collect red wooden handle kitchen gadgets…there are so many! This nut chopper has sentimental value because it was my grandfather’s…he was a landscaper that taught me gardening..but, also a wonderful cook/baker and always made our favorite foods when we visited…