Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fun Facts: 

There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds. You can learn more here. 

Halloween Blondies Recipe

We love easy desserts that can be made for parties, get-togethers, or meetings.  This Halloween treat is easy to make, and it will taste delicious.  Gather these ingredients and try this recipe for your Halloween party next week.  You can learn more here. 

Get Your Pillows Clean

When is the last time you washed your pillows?  Washing a pillow periodically is a great idea for health reasons.  Washing a pillow once a year will keep them free of dust and dirt.   You will also sleep better knowing that your pillows are clean and fresh.  You can learn more at Apartment Therapy.


What You Need

Materials
Mild, low-suds detergent
Tools
Washing machine or deep sink

Instructions

Remove the pillow protector (using a zippered protector plus a pillowcase helps to keep your pillows cleaner.)

Fill the sink or washing machine with very hot water. Hot water kills dust mites without the need for bleach or other harsh chemicals.

Add mild, low-suds detergent (I used Woolite).

Add the pillow and agitate.

Rinse several times.

Press excess water out of the pillow with a white terry cloth towel. If you have a feather pillow do not wring it out or twist it -you'll smash the feathers.

Place the pillow in the dryer and air dry, or hang to dry outside. Fluff manually, or toss a a few clean tennis balls in the dryer.

Tips on Cleaning Your Sink and Garbage Disposal

You may believe that running soap through your kitchen sink will get it clean.  However, this is not true.  You need to clean and sanitize  your sink and garbage disposal on a regular basis.   This helps prevent germs and bacteria from staying on your plates, silverware, and bakeware.  Keep reading and you can learn more at Apartment Therapy.

You would think your kitchen sink is relatively clean, considering the number of times per day you use it. But simply letting water run down the drain throughout the day just won't cut it with germs and bacteria—you need to sanitize! Check out our step-by-step process to get your sink clean and safe, without the use of harmful chemicals or cleaners.

What You Need

Materials

• Liquid dishwashing soap
• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking Soda
• Sea Salt
• Lemon (or lime)
• Ice

Tools

• Old toothbrush
• Soft sponge

Instructions

For daily cleaning, a mild soap and nylon sponge or soft rag can be used to wipe your sink down. All-purpose or glass cleaner can be used in a pinch, but it's important to avoid ammonia, bleach, or abrasive cleaners on stainless steel. Abrasive sponges should also be avoided; all of these can alter the sink's finish.

1. Thoroughly rinse out your sink. If you have a stainless sink, salt and acid in food can potentially damage the finish, so it's important to rinse food and liquids to prevent pitting.
2. Sprinkle baking soda onto the surface. Working it into a paste, rinse thoroughly.
3. Line the sink with paper towels soaked in white vinegar. Allow it to sit for 20 minutes and then dispose of the paper towels.
4. Rinse the sink with warm soapy water.
5. For the faucets and handles, wipe with a mild soapy solution. The toothbrush can be used to get in the hard-to-reach areas. If spots remain, a cloth soaked in white vinegar can be used. Once you're finished cleaning, thoroughly rinse once more time and dry with a soft rag. Your sink should now be fresh and clean!

To clean the garbage disposal:

1. Sprinkle a half cup of baking soda down the disposal then add one cup of white vinegar. The mixture will fizz and make a bit of noise, allow this to work for a few minutes while you boil a kettle of hot water. Pour boiling water down the drain.
2. Fill the drain with two cups of ice. Pour a cup of salt (rock salt is great if you have it, I improvised with coarse sea salt) over the ice cubes. Run the cold water and turn on the garbage disposal until the ice is gone. The ice/salt mixture will help loosen the grime and debris from the grinding elements
3. Cut a lemon or lime in half. With the water on and garbage disposal running, add the fruit halves, one at a time, to the disposal. The fruit will help clean and deodorize your drain.

DIY Halloween Candles

Are you a fan of DIY Crafts?  Here is a craft to make your apartment ready for Halloween.    Goblins, witches, and ghosts are just some of the images that can appear on candles around your home.  Keep reading and for more great DIY ideas check out Apartment Therapy.

Reader Krys shows you how to make these Halloween-themed DIY pillar candles for the holiday. You choose your image, and use a simple technique to make your own festive (and inexpensive) tabletop decorations.

What You Need

Materials

• Candles
• Wax Paper
• Tissue Paper

Tools

• Rubber Stamps or InkJet Printer
• Colored Pencils and Pens
• Heat/Embossing Tool or (very hot) Blowdryer

Instructions

1. Print or stamp image onto smooth, shiny side of tissue paper. Then, cut image out as close to edges as possible.

2. Place tissue paper image on candle. Secure with a bit of glue if you need to.

3. Place wax paper on top of tissue paper image (wax side down). Then, heat the area with your heat gun, embossing tool, or blow dryer until wax paper is melted and tissue paper is covered in wax. Take care not to overheat it and warp the candle itself.

4. Display and enjoy!

Head over to Krys' blog Melodrama for more photos and helpful tips for the project. And thanks for sharing Krys!

Have a really great DIY project or tutorial that you want to share with others? Let us know! We love checking out what you're making these days, and learning from our readers. When you're ready, click here to submit your project and photos.