Things I Love: Easy DIY "Wax" Melts

I don't know about you but, between Google and Pinterest, I just don't know who/what to trust as a viable source of information for application in my life.  I mean, I've learned that I'm one pretty photo away from believing toothpicks make for a durable and ideal flooring solution (joking... but you get what I mean).  Remember the Things I Love posts about makeup dupes and Easter?  Well, I'm back and sharing some information about a topic that applies to everyone.

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Few things are as nice as the smell of a clean home.  What's your 'clean home' scent?  I wish I could walk in and it smelled like laundry. I actually thought I wanted the scent of Gain in my home everyday all day.  I bought the air fresheners and the warmers and the detergent and... Islanders, for some reason Gain-scented air fresheners make me nauseous.   Like, gag.  It's too much.

Then, I met Gain's scent Moonlight Breeze.  It is an awesome scent that isn't too floral-y or too fruity or too detergent-y.  It's great and I needed it in my home.  While I could've purchased some store-bought air fresheners, I wanted the exact scent I fell in love with so, I found a way to incorporate the original product into my home!

I purchased Gain Fireworks for my laundry and quickly realized that I loved how the house smelled whenever I had a load in the wash... uh, hello!  Did you catch that?  I had a load in the wash!  I mean, anything that motivates me to do laundry must be pretty amazing.  Can I get an amen?

Maybe it was my subconscious' ability to self-sabotage my every attempt to become a laundry lovin' diva OR maybe it was my inner frugalista's ability to hack expenses without compromising on quality BUT, whatever the case, I dumped some of that smell good in that wax burner and it was amazing!

Here's what you need:

- Decorative Wax Warmer (they're sold in the candle section of most stores with cords or votive candles required).
- Laundry Scent Boosting Beads (of your choice)
- Tablespoon for measuring

Here's what you do:

1.  Use table spoon to lace 1-3 scoops of the beads onto the warming plate of the warmer.  Be careful to place the beads as close to the center as possible.

2.  Turn on your warmer (or light your votive)

3.  Enjoy the yummy scent!

** remember to turn your warmer off or blow out candles when you are not home**

It doesn't take a lot and it has an amazing impact on the fresh scent in your home!  OMG! Be sure to let me know if you try the easiest DIY wax melts!

Frugal Friday - Laundry Room Updates

I mentioned my 2015 journey to a better me.  While we're on the topic of improvements, I thought I'd share some of my personal victories over the holidays.  The first starts with conquering my greatest chore challenge and enemy, the laundry.

Once upon a time, there was a fabulous queen... she had many talents and wonderful traits.  She also, however, had an evil, stankin', nemesis named Laundry.  It seemed that no matter what the queen did or how hard the queen tried, dirty undies and mis-matched socks would still pile up.  The queen realized that after they were washed, even the CLEAN laundry would pile up.  It quickly became apparent the queen could only perform two of the laundry tasks at a time - sort and wash, wash and dry, dry and fold or fold and put away.  Many a towel was left to mildew as a result.  Many pairs of jeans seem permanently wrinkled due to their stint in the dryer.  For the queen, there seemed to be NO HOPE.

Then, during one winter vacation, something happened.

Laundry Room Baskets

Yesterday's post started with baskets... Remember?  I wanted to purchase baskets for the stairs but decided against it because I got amazing prices on great baskets at my local thrift shops before?  Well, those fab basket finds came from The Village Thrift Store.

The batteries in our remote died and I went to our laundry room to find them... As I reached for the jar of batteries, I was annoyed by the messy state of our laundry room shelf:

It was a mess!

I don't know why there are so many lunch bags (shown in the photo above) but the pile wound up all over the floor constantly.  Talk about annoying!

Thrifty Organtization

On multiple occasions I've mentioned my adoration for thrifty finds.  Sure, I splurge on items I'm certain will never be on sale... or be given to me... or be found in a thrift store.  Seriously, I do.

I don't, however, like to spend my money for items priced at the retail rate... especially when I don't have to.  So, you know I'm all in for this whole commitment to organize and stuff, right?

Right.

I saw this picture on pinterest and totally think my family can benefit from baskets along the steps for the little things I pick-up everyday.

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I went looking for baskets with a similar structure and OMG!  Would you believe they're close to $20/each?! Did you hear me? For my little ol' family that means I would need no less than $60... on baskets alone?!  To think, I was considering a general basket for the 'everybody' stuff... well, that's not going to happen at that price.