Vinegar just saved me $439

My flash has been having issues lately.  It glitched on the very last picture that I took at a wedding this summer and since then, I haven't really trusted it.  Thankfully, what I have been shooting has been shot in natural light so it's been out of sight, out of mind.  Since I'm shooting a wedding in December, I really needed a flash to have on me at all times.  I was browsing Amazon to see how much it would cost to replace and the current price tag took my breath away a little.  My folks bought this flash for me for Christmas one year when my photo studio was brand new.  I am very, VERY loved apparently.

Hubs looked up a tutorial to see if we could fix it and all it called for was a microfiber towel and some vinegar.  It was definitely worth a shot and I was planning on having to find some way to replace it anyhow even if it ended poorly.  It didn't.

I poured a dot the size of a quarter and blotted the towel together before going to work on the battery unit.  The inside was easy enough to clean the (what I assume) dried powdery battery acid off and went to work on the contacts.  They took a little tough love with my fingernails but cleaned up just fine.  Once everything was dry, I held my breath and took a test shot.  And another.  And another.  I don't think the response time on this thing has been this good in years.  Years!

I am a mixture of relieved and thrilled right now.  I'm also a vinegar fan for life.

Photo Block Project

This project was so easy that we can't believe it's completely done.  It only took about two hours total.  Hubs cut the boards for me and we spray painted them last night.  We decided to go for a textured paint that would be pretty neutral with the photos.

The photos were 8"x8" and a smidge too wide for the boards.  We trimmed about 3/4 of an inch off and used spray adhesive to put the whole thing together.

We only glued one photo on before we figured out that we needed to drill a hole in the back to be able to hang them on the wall.  After that little duh moment, we were in business.  We let them dry for about 30 minutes.  

Every time we hang something, I swear that I'm going to buy my husband a level.  He gets so intense when it's thisclose to being level but he feels the need to fix it.  If it looks kind of right to me, we're good.  I guess we balance each other out that way.

I'm happy with the texture on the blocks.  You can still see a little bit of wood grain but I kind of like it.

Oh hey mom!  We saw you were getting ready to take a picture.

Finished!  I've decided that we're never moving because there are simply too many nail holes to fill in now.

What do you think?

Homemade Hand Soap

I saw this recipe for homemade hand soap on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot.  Even when on sale, I feel like hand soap is such a rip off.  Since we're already making our own laundry detergent for only a few dollars and love it, I felt pretty confident in this one too.  This recipe was simple enough:

Ingredients: 1 cup of finely grated soap, 10 cups water, and 1 tablespoon liquid glycerin

You'll need a: cheese grater, large pot, measuring cup and spoons, a container for the extras, a liquid measuring cup/something with a spout.  I find those are the easiest for me to use since we don't own a funnel.

Once you have your soap grated, you'll only use one cup of it so find something to store the rest in.  I used a zip lock bag.  Add 10 cups of water into your large pot on medium-low and stir until everything is melted.  Let it cool completely and you're done!  Easy enough, right?

Total cost?  $0.08 per bottle with a whole lot to spare.  That definitely helps keep us way below our budget for household items.

Major thanks to Savvy Housekeeping for putting up the post.  I think it's going to be one used a lot in our house!