My husband and I hosted a backyard BBQ yesterday and all that was left at the end of the party after everyone had gone home and after all the clean up was done was a pair of pink goggles. Have we really reached that age when none of our friends leave their wallets or sunglasses behind, or better yet their left-over wine and beer? Are we really that responsible now that only our kids are the ones leaving various items behind? I guess so. I took a picture of said goggles because I found it amusing that our get-togethers have changed so much. I think there were more kids than adults at this one and everyone had made their way home by 7pm. That used to be considered an early start time. Granted it was a Sunday …
I made absolutely nothing from scratch for this shin-dig, which is not normal for me. Usually I try to home-make everything and end up wishing I hadn’t. I decided to grant that wish this time. My husband smoked 2 pork butts overnight on the Big Green Egg, which turned out fabulous as always. He credits the Big Green Egg. I credit him. The pulled chicken and mac & cheese came from Sam’s BBQ-1 in Marietta, GA – who I highly recommend. All of the other items came from gracious guests and the grocery store.
I spent the first part of my Sunday attempting to clean the house before our guests arrived. I say ‘attempting’ because my 18-month old finds it amusing to follow right behind me as I’m cleaning and ‘unclean’ whatever I’ve just finished. He also likes to try and stand on the vacuum cleaner – while I’m vacuuming. For the record, I have officially given in and accepted the small greasy hand prints on the stainless steel appliances as new additions to our home decor.
One thing I did manage to accomplish was refilling my homemade air fresheners, which I soon realized had been long overdue. With a dog who always seems to smell (even an hour after he gets groomed), two cats, a toddler who happens to be a boy, and a husband, our house needs some help in the scent department. Sometimes the Febreeze just doesn’t cut it. I used to buy the plug-ins back in the day, but then I read some article about the health effects (I’m not claiming them to be true but I didn’t like what I read) … not to mention the expense of replacing them monthly got to be a little much. I had a Pinterest fail trying to fill the plug-ins with my own mixture of water and oils – after breaking a total of 7 I decided to remove that DIY project from my Pinterest board, because I could not, indeed, do it myself.
I finally came across an article that gave instructions for making air fresheners out of … you guessed it … mason jars! I won’t claim them to be the best air fresheners ever, because they’re not. I find myself needing to add more oil on a pretty regular basis, but they’re cute and all-natural so I’ll put up with it.
materials
- baking soda
- essential oil (any fragrance)
- scrapbook paper
- mason jar (I chose the short & squat 1/2 pint jars)
- scissors
- pencil
- something worthy of poking small holes in scrapbook paper (I used a mini phillips head screwdriver)
step 1
trace lid of mason jar (without the ring) onto scrapbook paper (look at the awesome patterns!)
step 2
cut out paper circle and fit into ring of mason jar lid
step 3
add baking soda to mason jar (I added enough to fill the jars about 1/3)
step 4
add several drops of essential oil. the amount you add will depend on your preference – I typically add about 8 drops. lavender is my favorite every-day scent and peppermint is my go-to for Christmas time.
when I first started making these, I had to order the oils online or go to a specialty natural food store, but now my local Kroger carries a few scents.
step 5
put lid onto jar and shake well. poke holes in the scrapbook paper top to release the scent …
Couple things – the article I came across (which I can not currently find) used fabric instead of scrapbook paper, and a needle to make the holes instead of the mini screwdriver. I was not able to get the fabric to stay tight enough – over time it would sag, so I opted for scrapbook paper. I also didn’t think the needle holes let out enough of the scent so I opted for larger holes via the mini screwdriver.
Cheers to a fresh-smelling home 🙂
L Claire Designs 