Savvy Brown » Home Archive

Green Clutter Busting

Savvy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:27:16 +0000

Every year I try to downsize and re-organize a bit so that we have less clutter to deal with. I have dreams of coming home to a perfectly calm, serene space where not only is everything neat and clean…but I actually remember where I put everything.

I’m still working on it.

The following is a list of a few things that have really helped make the task easier, that also happen to be earth-friendly and pretty cheap!

Receipts

Wrangle Receipts and Business Cards – I have only one solution to this problem. Shoeboxed.com They send you a few large envelopes in the mail, you stuff the envelopes with all of your receipts and then drop them back in the mail (postage is free). They scan, organize and post the receipts online for you in a password protected account, then destroy/recycle the originals. I can easily see what receipts I can use for deductions as well as what we’re actually spending our money on. They also have a nifty and free iPhone app that lets you take pictures of business cards and automatically imports them into your address book! The service we use is $9.95 a month, and since we’re independent contractors is a tax write off. (Money well spent, trust me).

Recycle

Kitchen Recycling – We made recycling simple in our house and now I keep two wastepaper baskets, one blue and one grey under my kitchen sink. I got them both from an office supply store for less than $10. Paper and plastic packaging goes in one, and bottles/aluminum goes in the other. Another cheap idea is to use reusable shopping bags or even plastic storage crates under your sink to collect items. IF you’re really handy you cna DIY your own bins like this guy did here

Junk Mail

Less Junk Mail – The best way I’ve found to get our names off of those annoying junk mail lists is to do a few things.

Credit Offers – Contact the major credit reporting agencies at 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day. Give them your address, former address within two years, and social security number. One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Online visit optoutprescreen.com.
Catalogs – Call the company’s customer service # 1-800 number and have the address label handy from the front of the catalog. Give them the code on the label and tell them you no loner want their catalogs. Sign up at Catalaog Choice to get your name off of most catalog lists.
Local business and Flyers – To get rid of those ValPak coupons click this link and fill out from to get off their list. You can also sign up with 41 Pounds to get your name off of any remaining lists you may have missed.

Mail Center

DIY Mail Holders – I grabbed two cardboard magazine holders from my office and I printed up pretty labels for them and placed them right by the backdoor (where the mail comes in). They’re big enough to hold magazines and oversized envelopes, and at the end of the week, I just pick the whole thing up and go through the bills and recycle the junk mail! Here’s a link to the monogram border I used.

Home Staging Area

Staging Area – This is so important I can’t even tell you. We have baskets where stuff gets tossed when we walk in, a place to hang the keys, hang bags, put chargers and of course shoes. (I’ll post how we did it for cheap in an upcoming post!) Folks, you need a staging area if you’re going to get in and out of your house everyday on-time, organized and without killing each other, or any small pets. Need some inspiration? Check out these neat entryway ideas.

How do you keep the clutter down in your home?

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Composting for Dummies Pt. 4: DIY Countertop Compost Caddy

Savvy — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:16:49 +0000

There are a few ways in which you can collect your food scraps in your kitchen so that you won’t be constantly running outside to dump them in your compost bin. There are a bunch of countertop containers on the market and I even have some available for you along with compost liners in the Savvy Shop.

But here, I’m gonna show you how to make your own! (It’s really easy).

DIY Countertop Compost Caddy

What you’ll need:

An empty container that’s at least a 3lb capacity (I recycled an old oxygen cleaner container for this, because it has a nifty handle.)
Power drill with small drill bit to make hole in top (No drill? You can use a hammer and drywall nail instead)
Charcoal filter (You can find these here and at pet stores )
Hot glue gun or Crazy Glue
Velcro (you’re only going to use the side with the “teeth”)

Directions:

1. Rinse and thoroughly dry container.

2. Drill 10-15 holes into the top of the lid wider than the width of your velcro

3. If you bought a filter that is larger than your lid, cut it to fit on the underside of lid

4. Cut strips of Velcro

5. Spread hot glue (or crazy glue) all over the underside of velcro strips and glue in between the holes (hold firmly for a few seconds while the glue does its thing).

6. Press filter onto Velcro

7. Place food scraps in container as needed.

Done!

I was really excited to find all of the elements to make this around the house, so it cost me nothing to make! We are BIG fans of free here at the House of Brown.

For a list of what foods can and cannot be composted please refer to Composting for Dummies Pt 1 the start of this series. You can also use extra large compost liners if you wish inside of this container. (I don’t shrugs) I kept mine under the sink for awhile until it became insanely hot this summer, and then I began keeping it in the fridge. No matter what compost collector you use, you should empty the little guy about every two or three days. I would replace the filter every six months or so.

For a full list of composting supplies, check out the Composting Section of the Savvy Shop!

What do you use to collect food scraps in your kitchen for composting?

Composting For Dummies (Pt 1) Since I just got very first composter about a week...
Composting for Dummies pt.3 : Indoor Composting Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively,...
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DIY Hanging Hoop Laundry Bag

Savvy — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:45:09 +0000

I saw this over on Pinterest, (my new favorite hangout), and I couldn’t resist!

It’s originally from Martha Stewart

This laundry bag has 3 components:

12” embroidery hoop (she used a 14” one, but I felt it was too big.)
Standard pillow case (you can use larger if you wish)
OR regular sized laundry bag with drawstring
Twine, string or ribbon to hang the whole thing up with

I made the pillowcase version, cuz, well, we’ve got a bunch of orphaned pillowcases laying around…

For those of you not familiar with embroidery hoops, they consist of two interlocking rings that are held together by tension from the outer ring in the form of a thumb screw.

Directions:

DIY Hanging Hoop Pillowcase Laundry Bag

Slip pillow case around the inner ring
Secure with outer ring, and tighten thumbscrew
Slip ribbon, string or rope around or through the thumbscrew
Hang it up!

DIY Hanging Hanging Drawstring Laundry Bag (Martha’s version)

Slip a drawstring laundry bag around the inner ring, letting the drawstring hang to the outside
Secure with outer ring, and tighten thumbscrew
Shorten drawstring if necessary by cutting it and retying it.
Hang it up!

12" embroidery hoop

thumbscrew

pull 1/4"-1/2" edge of the fabric through hoop

tighten thumbscrew

attach cord, tie or ribbon

Finished Product:

DONE!

Neat huh? It stays open without holding it, so you can easily toss things into it with one hand. (I keep my mine on the inside of the closet door myself.You could get fancy with this and paint the embroidery hoop, or use pretty pink ribbon for a girl’s room. Blue rope for a boy maybe? When I made one of these for Sexy, he hung it withan errant shoelace that had been driving crazy. Every couple of weeks, I pull off the pillowcase and wash it. This has helped us stay organized in our small bedroom. No more mounds of clothes spilling out of that stupid little rattan hamper that never went with the furniture anyway.

What are your DIY laundry wrangling ideas?

You can find the items needed for this project in the Savvy Shop

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Composting for Dummies pt.3 : Indoor Composting

Savvy — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:29:21 +0000

Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively, and no it will not smell up your house or apartment. Here are two types of indoor composters to chose from:

Automatic Indoor Composter – This little baby works like magic. It can take all kinds of food, including meat, fish and dairy that other composters can’t take. It’s compact, can fit under a sink or in a cabinet and consumes and aerates large amounts of food rather quickly. You can have a full harvest of ready-to-use compost in as little as 2 weeks with this thing. It eliminates having to collect your scraps to take outside, plus, there’s no odor at all. PROS: Incredibly easy to use and low-maintenance. Takes all kinds of foods, doesn’t take up much space. No need to keep collecting food and dragging it outside. CONS: Expensive. One of these babies is gonna run you about $400. It does use electricity, and needs to stay plugged in all the time, so it’s not helping lower your carbon footprint by much.

Bokashi Indoor Composter -This composter was developed in Japan, and Bokashi literally translates as “fermented matter”. How it works is all kinds of foods are added to an airtight container, (including meat, fish, dairy and bones), then Bokashi pellets which contain microbes are added to the mix. This type of composting breaks down food waste without aeration through a process called fermentation (kinda like wine), as opposed to putrefication, which is how traditional compost bins work. In as little as 10 days you can bury the contents of the bucket in your garden or add it to an existing compost pile, as a catalyst. PROS: Easy to use, uses no electricity, no odor at all, makes compost quickly. There are several local organizations that will pick your compost up for you. Good way to compost during the winter. Affordable. The bin itself only costs around $50. CONS: You have to keep buying the microbes to add to the pile. Must chop up all food into smaller sizes. The food doesn’t completely break down into soil in this bucket, it will do that only when it’s buried in a garden or added to a traditional compost pile. (Critters may be an issue here).

Next time: Collecting/Prepping Food to Compost

Do you indoor compost? What system do you use?

Composting For Dummies (Pt 1) Since I just got very first composter about a week...
Composting for Dummies pt.2 – Outdoor Composting Types of Outdoor Composting So in Composting For Dummies Part...
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DIY Upcycled Litter Box Herb Garden

Savvy — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:26:34 +0000

I was all excited the other day when I picked up basil, parsley, rosemary, sage and a few other herbs from the farmer’s market. But not so happy a week later, when a week later, in my kitchen, they all seemed very wilty and unhappy.So I decided to brave the neighborhood cats in favor of more light and plant them in the backyard on the deck alongside my other veggies. One problem though.

No planter.

Lately, I’ve been making sure to “shop my house” before I run out for something new. This is from experience: Sexy found 5 bottles of mustard I’d gotten one year from BJs for a BBQ hidden in a cupboard years ago (This is why I’m not allowed to shop in big box stores alone) and he still makes fun of me. Well after poking around in the basement, I couldn’t find any pots big enough to plant all the herbs in together, but I did find an old kitty litter box that I used to use when my first cat was small(er).

Hmmm.

Now before you freak out on me, I cleaned it out thoroughly with water, Borax and peroxide before doing the following:

DIY Upcycled Litterbox Herb Garden

What you’ll need:

1 clean litter box
Drill with 1/8” drill bit
Potting Soil (I like Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix)
Herb plants (small)

Directions:
Drill at least 10 holes in the bottom of the tub with the drill. Fill with potting soil , then plant your plants. That’s it.

The herbs seem to be very happy now, and I can’t wait to use some fresh basil for dinner tonight!

•What containers have you upcycled into a garden? How did you do it?

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Composting For Dummies (Pt 1)

Savvy — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:35:55 +0000

Since I just got very first composter about a week and a half ago, I thought I’d share some of my research and chronicle my composting journey here on the blog. I’m going to start with some of the basic wuestion that I asked when I was looking to join the composting corps. So here goes:

What is composting?

The most basic definition is decayed organic material used as plant fertilizer

What is the Purpose of Compost?

The organic matter in compost helps plants root systems grow stronger and produce a bigger yield. (Bigger flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs or whatever you’re growing). It does this because decayed organic matter has all of the same essential nutrients as what you’re trying to grow out of it. In turn the healthy plants that are grown help clean the air and keep the soil healthy, which makes air quality better, which makes what we breathe and eat from the garden better. (you see where I’m going with this right?) Also, you’ll save water and money, because compost retains water longer so you have to water less often, and you’ll need to use less garden soil once you really get going.

What Can I Compost?

Yard waste, vegetables, fruit, grass clippings, remains of garden plants, coffee grounds and teabags. All of these items must not be heavily seasoned or covered in oil. (That leftover salad? Not so much). YOU CANNOT COMPOST meat, bones, blood, milk or dairy products, household trash, rice, animal feces, diseased plants, oil of any kind and walnuts.(They apparently are made up of a compound that is toxic to some plants.)

How Does the Compost Breakdown?

The compost pile is a mini bacterial farm. (Don’t worry, it’s the good kind). Everything organic has a carbon to nitrogen ratio or C:N ratio. Scientists believe that a C:N ratio of 30:1 is ideal for activating good bacteria into breaking down the pile. If there too much carbon, then decomp slows down, and if nitrogen is too high, you’ll just have a stinky pile. (Yuck!) The closer your mix is to that 30:1 ratio, the quicker it will breakdown, the less it will smell, and the more rich the compost soil will be. Don’t worry, there’s no math involved, all you have to do is make sure your pile is pretty much balanced with “brown” waste (i.e.- ashes, wood, corn stalks, leaves, fruit waste, sawdust) and “green” waste. (i.e. – weeds, grass clippings, seaweed, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds). Moisture and aeration play a part in the breakdown process as well. Later, insects, microscopic organisms and worms take over the breakdown process by eating and secreting their way through the pile (I know, I know, it’s gross but it’s worth it I swear).

When Can I Compost?

Year round. No really. Even in the winter. We’re dealing with nature here folks, and what happens in winter in nature? Animals hibernate, some insects bury themselves, plants drop their leaves as insulation, and go undergound to sleep until spring. But they’re still alive, just operating at 30% capacity. Well, when the temperature drops, the composting process slows down considerably, but it still works basically the same way nature does and apparently there’s pretty simple ways of making your compost last the winter.

In the next part of this series I’ll go into the various containers that you can use to compost and how to use ‘em. Please comment with any questions you have. I’m a novice at this, but I might be able to help, or at least point you in the direction of someone who can.

*********************

Sources:

Mother Nature Network

Composting 101

Ehow

Cornell Univerisity Compost Brochure

Earth911

Composting for Dummies pt.3 : Indoor Composting Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively,...
Composting for Dummies pt.2 – Outdoor Composting Types of Outdoor Composting So in Composting For Dummies Part...
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7 Savvy Summer Party Ideas

Savvy — Sun, 29 May 2011 17:38:30 +0000

I, for one, am really excited about Memorial Day weekend this year. For once, me and Sexy will both be in town at the same time, and we won’t be traveling. We also have redone the backyard a bit, and I’m determined to grill and go back there more than just when company’s coming. One of the things I’ve learned about summer BBQs and parties, the more you make yourself, the more money you’ll save. Here’s some of the things I look forward to doing/making this summer.

Green/Frugal BBQ – check out this post I did last year about how to save money and stay green for your BBQ.

Homemade Lemonade and Iced Tea – What’s summer without lemonade and iced tea? Ever since I figured out how to make them on my own, I’ve stopped buying the store bought stuff, especially those godawful cans of iced tea mix. It’s too simple and too cheap to do myself!

Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Easy Iced Tea Recipe

DIY Chips and Dip – What’s a BBQ without chips and salsa? These are easy to make and once again, cheap! I like making these to bring to someone else’s BBQ. I think organic ingredients make it all taste better too!

Baked Tortilla Chips Recipe

Easy Tomato-Pineapple Salsa

Easy Flavorful Hummus

Sail vs. Umbrella- Living in a brownstone in Brooklyn, NY does not provide a lot of space, and if you don’t already know, brownstones are attached on both sides, which means everything going in the back yard, has to come through the front. (You should have seen us trying to get the grill down the hallway). One of the best things we ever did was to toss the unwieldy umbrella, (along with the table with the hole in the center for it) and replace it with a sun sail. It can roll up small and fit in the closet when not in use, but provides tons of cover from the sun. You can buy them here.

All Natural Sunscreen – You need to protect yourself from the sun’s harmful rays, but you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to do it. Check out (this post)[http://savvybrown.com/health/all-natural-sunscreen-alternatives/] on natural sunscreens and DIY options to stay protected this summer.

DIY Bug Repellant – Most of the sprays on the market contain DEET, which is potentially harmful. Check out this natural bug spray recipe And keep the mosquitos away.

Mix and Match Outdoor furniture – instead of dropping $500 on a patio set that you’ll use like, once a year, a better idea, (especially if you have limited space like us) is to mix and match your furniture. For some great ideas, check out my “Budget Backyards” Page on pinterest.

So hopefully those ideas will help you out a bit. Have a wonderful holiday to all my US readers!

How are you spending the holiday weekend?

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DIY Wall Jewelry Organizer

Savvy — Mon, 16 May 2011 21:10:56 +0000

Since spring has hit, I’ve been bitten by the DIY bug. My goal this year is organization and simplification. That’s how this jewelry organizer came about. I was perusing the “Jewelry Organizer” boards on pinterest and found a few people who had created some for themselves. This one seemed really simple, so I patterned mine in a similiar way. Here’s what I did…

DIY Wall Jewelry Organizer

What you’ll need

Cork bulletin board with wooden frame (mine’s about 15.5” x 23.5”)
About a yard of medium weight fabric* (or at least enough to cover the board with)
Heavy duty stapler or staple gun
Push pins
Picture hanging kit (including eye screws)
pencil

Directions

Place the fabric over the front of the board on a flat surface, and adjust the pattern, (if there is one), to your liking.
Holding the fabric in place, flip the board over and pin it in place to the back of the board, stretching the fabric so that it’s tight across the frame.
Then using the staple gun, staple the fabric to the frame or as close to the frame as possible. Staples 2 opposite sides before stapling the top and the bottom, that way when you tuck the corners, it will look even. (Be sure to use staples that are less in width than the width of the board).

Trim the excess fabric away
Use the pencil to make little marks on the back of the fabric 6 inches down from the top of the frame on either side.
Screw in the metal eyes on either side and make sure they are both parallel to each other.
Thread the string or picture hanging wire through the eyes and then tie off, leaving only a bit of slack in the length.

Press pushpins into the front of the board at an angle, widths apart, and hang your jewelry!

Hang on wall wherever you want, or lean it up against the wall on top of your dresser.

I found it easier to hang my necklaces at the top and my earrings at the bottom. I also used a curved upholstery needle to hold my extra pendants that don’t have chains. I also pulled out a cotton ball holder and a toothbrush holder from the back of the linen closet that I wasn’t using, and used them to hold some charm bracelets, makeup brushes, and cuff bracelets. The ring holder you see here, was a gift from a family friend.

Where to find everything

Bulletin board
Fabric – you could use anything really. Shirts, old drapes, a table cloth, even fabric napkins or burlap or even denim. I used a fabric remnant from IKEA I had.
Pushpins – I used the kind from a picture hanging kit, pushpins and sewing pins with the balls on top, but I just found these pushpin hangers and I think I might swap them out, they’re so adorable!
Eye and picture hanging wire or string – I got from the same picture hanging kit

As usual everything here is available at the Savvy Shop!

Have you made your own jewelry organizer? What did you do?

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Vegetarian Caribbean Chicken Curry Recipe

Savvy — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:46:22 +0000

My father-in-law brought back soya chunks* from his home of Jamaica a couple of years ago, and I remember staring at the package trying to figure out how to cook the things. I’ve come along way since then and recently after I bought a bag of Imitation Chicken Chunks, I found this recipe on VegWeb and adapted it a bit. It came out so well, that I thought I would post it in honor of Meatless Monday. This takes a while to prepare, but the results are definitely worth it. And the best part? All of the ingredients cost me less than $15!

Vegetarian Caribbean Chicken Curry Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken flavored soy protein chunks
2 carrots
1 stalk celery
1 medium-large onion
4 cloves garlic,chopped
1/2 medium red pepper
1/2 medium green pepper
2 medium tomatoes
1 medium white potato
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 sprig of fresh thyme (you can also use dried, but you’ll need to use a lot more to taste it)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1/3 cup Jamaican curry powder (If you only have regular curry powder, that’s fine)
1 can coconut milk (try using a light version to save on calories)
1/8 cup olive oil

Directions:

Soak protein chunks in a bowl with enough water to cover it for at least 20 minutes but no more than 45. Drain well.Coarsely chop all vegetables. Saute onion and garlic in oil in a dutch oven on a medium-low flame until the onion turns clear. Then add all vegetables (except 1 tomato, the potato, and thyme) and saute until the carrots begin to soften. Add the curry powder, salt and pepper, and allspice and stir until vegetables are well coated. Add the drained soy chunks and saute until chunks are well coated with curry. Add the can of coconut milk and thyme, and enough water to cover everything in the pot. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes on a low flame stirring frequently. (The key is to keep the pot just under boiling, adding water if necessary – but keeping the sauce thick.) When sauce begins to thicken, add the tomato and the potato, coarsely chopped. Cover and cook until the tomato and potato are cooked. Serve over a bed of brown rice with a side dish of your favorite vegetable.

Serves: 8
Preparation time: 1 hour

Original recipe submitted by Kimberly Clovis kclovis@yahoo.com to vegweb.com

*Soy chunks are made from texturized vegetable protein, and can me made to taste like a variety of meats.

How do you make your veggie curry?

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DIY Bathroom Scrub Recipe

Savvy — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:24:15 +0000

I adapted this recipe from Crunchy Betty and I love it! It cleans everything in my bathroom and in other parts of he house as well, and is so cheap to make.

DIY Bathroom Scrub Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 c. baking soda
1/4 c. washing soda
1/4 c. liquid castile soap
1 capful of hydrogen peroxide
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
25 drops lemon balm*
10 drops peppermint essential oil*
1/4 c. Water

Directions:

Pour all dry ingredients into a wide-mouth glass jar. (I find that a salsa jar usually works best for this). Next add the essential oils and mix until well blended. (The mixture will be a bit crumbly at this point). Then add the vinegar and water and mix the ingredients until creamy. The vinegar will react with the baking soda and fizz a bit, but it’s completely harmless.

How to Use:

Scoop out a tablespoon of the cream and scrub on tile with a wet a Skoy cloth or microfiber cloth. Rinse with another wet cloth, and wipe dry. I use this on my shower tile, in the fiberglass tub, the porcelain sink and the marble countertop. I only need a scoop for the sink 2 for the shower and three for the tub. It works great o the soap scum on my glass shower door along with my Glass Cleaner . I also use it to clean the toilet bowl. A little goes a long way.

Try it out, and let me know how you like it!

Thank you to Crunchy Betty for the original recipe.

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