July Puttery Treats
July 1st
It is Half-Way Through the Year Day which in my book means that is time for a review of our Domestic Goals.
Remember at the very beginning of our puttery treats when I asked you to choose one word that defines your domestic goal?
Well it is time to re-visit that word and work out exactly how it has helped you so far and indeed where it can take you throughout the rest of the year. Today sit for a moment with your Housekeepers Journal and make a list of all that you want to achieve in the next six months, using your chosen word as your guiding light to domestic bliss. Sometimes it’s good to just STOP.
So drink tea. Plan, dwell and dream. That’s all for today.
July 2nd
When shopping for essential oils it is essential to only buy those that come in amber or blue bottles as those bought in clear glass will quickly deteriorate and their properties will be compromised. Once you have discovered a quality brand you like, stick with it and build your collection over time, remembering always that most oils have a shelf life of just two years once opened and should be discarded thereafter, so it is worth dotting a little sticker on to the base of each bottle with the date opened so you don’t forget.
Today I thought it would be nice to establish a box in which to store your oils. A wooden box is the best choice, with a lid that shuts firmly. So scour the house for a wooden jewellery box or take yourself on a creative excursion to a craft shop or junk shop in search of something suitable. When you have found a box that thrills your heart, line it with vintage wallpaper and gather your oils together for storage.
Then you need to choose a place for your oils to live: while the bathroom or kitchen may seem the most obvious choices, neither are really suitable as fluctuations in temperature can cause problems so a wardrobe, cupboard or closet in a bedroom or hallway is the better option. Stored like this, you will enjoy your oils at their fragrant best and opening the box will seem like quite the most scrumptious of puttery pleasures. Enjoy!
July 3rd
If you are a fabric hoarder then finding solutions to store your stash can be a huge problem, if you are to be able to see what you have without turning neatly stacked piles of material upside down in the search for that much coveted length of 1930’s bark-cloth you fought tooth and nail to win on Ebay!
Taking inspiration from the fabric store is the answer and creating boards on which to wrap your fabric means that they can be stacked on narrow shelves and retrieved easily. This is simply a matter of cutting lengths of thick cardboard/foam board as wide and deep as your shelves themselves, then wrapping your fabric around it, securing it to itself with a pin. The cardboard bolts can be prettified by covering them in vintage paper or sticky backed shelf lining paper too.
While this is a fabulous solution for storing fabric lengths it is also a useful method for keeping large tablecloths and not oft used sheets stacked neatly in the linen cupboard, so even those of us hopeless with a needle can use this puttery treat at home.
Happiness really is a stash of vintage linen isn’t it?
July 4th
If your pans are looking a little worse for wear then today might I suggest showing them a little love? While one could go battle with all manner of shop bought stain shifting remedies, recently I discovered a desperately old fashioned method that did the trick and left me with a row of shiny pans swinging from the hooks in my kitchen. And all it takes is a bag of onions and a little bit of time.
Start by lining your saucepans up and giving them a gentle polish inside and out with a metal scourer to further loosen anything truly dried on, then pour boiling water into each pan and leave to stand for ten minutes before draining. Then grab an onion and cut it into eight pieces.
Fill the pan with more boiling water, add the onion, and a tablespoon full of salt and boil for ten minutes. Now drain and wipe with a dishcloth and you should find that much of the ground in grime has gone. If not repeat again, boil for a few minutes longer, or leave the onion juice to sit in the pan overnight, then drain, rinse and polish to a shine with a dry dishcloth and store until ready to use.
It might not be the most fragrant of tasks but it works!