When it comes to working with hardwood floors, your sanding technique is everything. If you use the wrong grit or the wrong type of abrasive for the job, you could expose yourself to adhesion […]
The post The Benefits of Norton Sand Dollars appeared first on City Floor Supply Blog.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:54 PM
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When it comes to working with hardwood floors, your sanding technique is everything. If you use the wrong grit or the wrong type of abrasive for the job, you could expose yourself to adhesion […]
The post The Benefits of Norton Sand Dollars appeared first on City Floor Supply Blog.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:53 PM
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This post is sponsored by Stowaway, a right-sized cosmetics company.
The magnolias are going gangbusters. The daffodils have unfurled. It's not warm out exactly, but I've sped up the arrival of spring in my apartment by forcing these tiny dogwoods. Old Mother Nature is ready to show off after her long winter's beauty rest and you might be too.
It's the time of year for throwing open the windows, plunking flowers in a vase, and in between checking to see if the lilac is in bloom, tackling your spring cleaning.
Where to start? 
In Simple Matters, I advise readers to take a good long look at their medicine cabinet when beginning the process of decluttering a space. A medicine cabinet-or whatever space that you have to stash your lotions and potions-can often act as a kind of litmus test for the state of the rest of your home (sorry if that's bad news). But the good news is that it's an easy place to start because the answers to the questions of what to toss and what to keep are clear and-hopefully-devoid of too much sentimentality. Either you use that lotion or you don't. Either you like that mascara or you don't. Either that lipstick is expired or it isn't.
The advice is this: Be ruthless. Purge what you're not using, toss what you don't like, throw away what's past its prime.
And then-and most importantly-think carefully about what you allow to come back in. This part, I call gatekeeping. Stand your ground. Let in only what you love. Make careful choices and by next spring, when it's time for clearing out the cabinet again, you won't have nearly so much to sift through. 
If you're in the market for something new to replace your expired lipstick or your unloved cheek color, Stowaway might be the answer. As I've written before, I love Stowaway because it offers right-sized solutions for your makeup bag. Instead of selling makeup in sizes that are large and heavy and virtually impossible to finish before their expiration date, they've sized their cosmetics to correspond with the needs of the people who use them, and they're always paraben-, phlalate
-, and cruelty-free.
A customizable Stowaway Kit includes six basic products: BB cream, concealer, pot rouge, lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. It's all the makeup you need for $75. The idea is that instead of lugging around a dopp kit the size of Rhode Island and keeping two more at home, you'll have everything you need in a collection of products that fit-quite literally-into the palm of your hands.
And if you do want a little something extra? An extra lipstick for a zippy touch of color? A different cheek tint for a different mood? Those few additions won't weigh you down either. (And even if all of your cosmetics fit in the palms of two hands? I'd say you're still coming out way ahead.)
What about you guys? Where do you begin your spring cleaning? Closets? Cars? Medicine Cabinets?
Stowaway is offering RMTL readers a chance to restock their makeup bag with something to love. When you purchase a Stowaway Kit, use the code RMTLCLEAN to receive an additional free lipstick, mascara, and cheek pot of your choice. All of the details right this way. Apologies to international readers: Stowaway is currently only shipping within the US.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:15 PM
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This post is sponsored by Stowaway, a right-sized cosmetics company.
The magnolias are going gangbusters. The daffodils have unfurled. It's not warm out exactly, but I've sped up the arrival of spring in my apartment by forcing these tiny dogwoods. Old Mother Nature is ready to show off after her long winter's beauty rest and you might be too.
It's the time of year for throwing open the windows, plunking flowers in a vase, and in between checking to see if the lilac is in bloom, tackling your spring cleaning.
Where to start?
In Simple Matters, I advise readers to take a good long look at their medicine cabinet when beginning the process of decluttering a space. A medicine cabinet-or whatever space that you have to stash your lotions and potions-can often act as a kind of litmus test for the state of the rest of your home (sorry if that's bad news). But the good news is that it's an easy place to start because the answers to the questions of what to toss and what to keep are clear and-hopefully-devoid of too much sentimentality. Either you use that lotion or you don't. Either you like that mascara or you don't. Either that lipstick is expired or it isn't.
The advice is this: Be ruthless. Purge what you're not using, toss what you don't like, throw away what's past its prime.
And then-and most importantly-think carefully about what you allow to come back in. This part, I call gatekeeping. Stand your ground. Let in only what you love. Make careful choices and by next spring, when it's time for clearing out the cabinet again, you won't have nearly so much to sift through.
If you're in the market for something new to replace your expired lipstick or your unloved cheek color, Stowaway might be the answer. As I've written before, I love Stowaway because it offers right-sized solutions for your makeup bag. Instead of selling makeup in sizes that are large and heavy and virtually impossible to finish before their expiration date, they've sized their cosmetics to correspond with the needs of the people who use them, and they're always paraben-, phlalate-, and cruelty-free.
A customizable Stowaway Kit includes six basic products: BB cream, concealer, pot rouge, lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. It's all the makeup you need for $75. The idea is that instead of lugging around a dopp kit the size of Rhode Island and keeping two more at home, you'll have everything you need in a collection of products that fit-quite literally-into the palm of your hands.
And if you do want a little something extra? An extra lipstick for a zippy touch of color? A different cheek tint for a different mood? Those few additions won't weigh you down either. (And even if all of your cosmetics fit in the palms of two hands? I'd say you're still coming out way ahead.)
What about you guys? Where do you begin your spring cleaning? Closets? Cars? Medicine Cabinets?
Stowaway is offering RMTL readers a chance to restock their makeup bag with something to love. When you purchase a Stowaway Kit, use the code RMTLCLEAN to receive an additional free lipstick, mascara, and cheek pot of your choice. All of the details right this way. Apologies to international readers: Stowaway is currently only shipping within the US.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:14 PM
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ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:33 PM
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ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:32 PM
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I’m not usually one to care much about what color Pantone decrees to be color of the year. But when they announced the double whammy favorites of rose quartz and a pale periwinkle blue they’ve dubbed serenity, well, they made my head turn.
To celebrate the season of eggs and make at least a cursory nod to the rest of the design world, I thought I’d make a dozen eggs in those favored Pantone shades using humble vegetables to create the shades: beets for the rose quartz and red cabbage for the serenity.
Happily, making natural Easter egg dye doesn’t take much more skill than being able to chop up some colorful veg and boil it in water. When opting toward subtle pastel colors like these ones, the process is especially quick.
Here are my basic notes, in case you’d like to make a dozen of your own.
+ To make one cup of dye, you’ll need approximately one cup of chopped vegetable and one cup of water.
+ I find two cups of dye works well for 6 or so eggs, so I made two batches—one for each color—each with two cups of water and two cups of vegetable. (I mostly eyeballed my vegetable measurements. For reference: 1/4 large red cabbage yielded me ~two cups of chopped cabbage. One whole beet plus the peelings and scraps from two beets I used for dinner earlier in the week yielded ~two cups of beets.)
+ In this ratio of two cups vegetable matter to two cups water, bring your vegetable-filled water to boil and then simmer, covered, for ~15 minutes. The water should be richly colored by the time you’re done simmering.
+ Strain the dye from the sodden vegetables and allow time for it to cool. (I strained mine into mason jars and popped the jars onto the window ledge to speed up the cooling process.)
+ Once cooled, stir in a tablespoon of white vinegar to help the dye set.
+ Submerge hard-boiled eggs into your dye mixture. I found that six eggs perfectly displace two cups of dye in a quart-sized mason jar.
+ You’ll note that I used white eggs here to achieve the light shades that I was after; brown eggs work too, but the pink will be more maroon and the blue a shade or two muddier.
+ To achieve the pasted-colored eggs you see here, I submerged my beet-colored eggs for only ten minutes. I allowed my cabbage-colored eggs to sit for ~three hours. Once they’d reached a color I like, I removed each egg from the dye and dried it off with a bit of cotton rag. (If you’d likely deeply colored eggs, you’ll need to leave your eggs submerged over night. But the wait is worth is: you’ll get a deep red and cobalt (see also!)!
+ I love the dusty natural look of eggs without a sheen, but if you want to shine ’em up, a little rub with vegetable oil will give your eggs a glossy shine!
Dyes, cooling on the ledge.
Hard-boiled eggs waiting to go into their dye baths.
My pink eggs were a dusty rose after just ten minutes in the beet dye.
To achieve the light blue that I wanted, I allowed my eggs to sit in the red cabbage dye for a long time after I’d taken out my pinks! The blues stayed in the fridge for approximately three hours. (Don’t be shy about checking on your eggs to get the color that you’re hoping for.)
Pale blue eggs, dried.
The end results were exactly the subtle shades I’d hoped for.
What about you guys? Onion skin-dyers out there? Turmeric? Other egg dying traditions I should know about?
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:28 PM
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Almost a year after the fire we suffered in May of 2015, we are resuming counter sales at our new location in King of Prussia on Monday, March 28th! Counter sales were a […]
The post Counter Sales Will Resume on Monday, March 28th appeared first on City Floor Supply Blog.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:56 PM
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In case you’re on the hunt for easy and clutter-free (or waste-free!) gift ideas for filling up an Easter basket this weekend, here are a few ideas.
Simple, sustainable, and, some of them: free!
+ Choose an Easter basket that can get some use post-Easter. Most Easter baskets get used for exactly one day a year, but no one will be the wiser if you dump the little basket you use to wrangle your napkins (or other things) and fill it up with treats for a day. If you’re thinking of buying something new, try to choose a fair-trade basket made by folks getting paid a fair wage. Better yet: use what you already have and think outside the…er…basket. A bowl, a box, a bag: all fair game. 
+ Buy unpackaged treats. If you want to indulge in some seasonal chocolate, go get ’em (I’ll be enjoying it, too), but if you can, opt out of the individually tin-foil wrapped eggs and shop the bulk section instead. Bulk candy shops are still relatively widespread and lots of bulk sections in grocery stores have at least a few treats. Bring your own bags and fill up on chocolates, jelly beans, and pastel-colored pastilles. Pack ’em up in a cloth bag, lay ’em end on end in a curvilinear bunny trail, or sprinkle ’em willy-nilly in your basket. (PS. If you’d rather avoid the candy aspect of the holiday altogether, that doesn’t mean you have to be bunny trail-less. Make a trail of tiny pebbles or feathers or seashells or birdseed instead!)
+ Go useful and practical. Think about everyday items in your house that need replacing or an upgrade and keep them in mind when filling your basket. Slip a few new pairs of underwear in a cloth bag. Replace yucky hand towels with a bright new set. Fold a new potholder into your basket. (And then just remember to pass along or dispose of whatever it is you’re replacing.)
+ Consider affordable or free alternatives to cheap, plastic toys. Affordability dictates a lot of Easter treats, but there are affordable alternatives to throwaway gifts that often fill up baskets (and later, rooms). Usable (and use-up-able gifts) like flower seeds, a few new colored pencils, modeling clay or beeswax, homemade playdough, a jar of collected “treasures” like seashells and stones, and other homespun treats are all inexpensive (or totally free!) gifts for kiddos.
+ Choose one special treat instead of a basketful. Especially for older children or loved ones, maybe forgo the tradition of offering a basket full of tiny treats altogether and opt for one something special instead? Bonus if the gift encourages an eco-friendly habit shift: A new bento bag to bring to the bakery? A set of beeswrap to replace plastic wrap? A bar shampoo to replace your plastic bottle? A new water bottle?
+ Give something green. Spring is the perfect time to get things growing and Easter is all about new life. A potted plant in an Easter basket (for kids of just about any age) is a nice (and easily budget-friendly) idea.
+ Use the real deal over the fake version. I know a lot of folks use the argument that plastic Easter eggs can be reused in season after season. But if you don’t have them yet and you’d rather not store them or buy new plastic, opt out! Hard boil a dozen eggs, dye ’em if you’re up to it, and have kids hunt for those instead. On the Easter grass front, I never get around to posting about this early enough, but you might still have time to grow a little wheatgrass in a sunny windowsill. I worked on this post a few years ago…same basic instructions, in whatever vessel you choose. No time for real grass? Skip it altogether!
For the curious, a few specifics:
The basket. (Found locally at Collyer’s Mansion.)
The seeds. (Found locally at GRDN.)
The colored pencils. (Found locally at Collyer’s Mansion.)
The brush.
The hand towel.
The playdough recipe.
The bright blue easter egg recipe.
The pot. (Found locally at GRDN.)
The muslin bags.
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 8:56 PM
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We’ve had a decidedly indoor series of days and so, I thought, it’d be nice to live vicariously through photos of a few decidedly outdoor days that we passed earlier in the month. We headed out to Joshua Tree for the last two days of our trip to California, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier about a travel decision. I haven’t spent much time in the desert. By which I mean, I’ve never spent any time in the desert. I couldn’t anticipate the way that the air would smell. Or the way the sun would hit the mountains in the distance. I couldn’t quite conjure the images of the jackrabbits or the scrubby cacti—even though I knew they’d be there. Even now, there’s no way to adequately describe the way the sun rose over a straight horizon and lit the sky up in shades of lavender and pink.
To Stay:
We stayed at the beautiful desert home of friends whose #flattopprojects is the dreamiest little homesteader cabin I’ve ever seen. (I haven’t seen that many homesteader cottages, but still! Trust me at least with the fact that Lily and Peter’s place is a dreamland! Just, A+++.) (If you’re interested, here’s a characteristically lovely post from Lily about their decision to buy their desert home.)
To Eat:
We visited at the beginning of a week when a lot of the local joints are closed for business. We made meals at home and jotted down notes for what to do when we come back.
Joshua Tree Coffee Company: Lily and Peter had a bag of this stuff on their kitchen counter and I got pulled in by the pretty design on the label, so we did a little search and found a bag of our own (plus one to bring home).
Joshua Tree Health Foods: A quirky, incense-filled spot to get a dozen fresh eggs and ceremonial sunflower seeds (which, of course, we did).
La Copine: Recommended to us by every single person that we met. Alas, alack this spot it open only Thursday-Sunday so we missed out this go-round, but I couldn’t resist sharing such a sweet spot. If I ever return, I’m high-tailing it thataway for the Grits & Greens.
To See:
For sightseeing, we probably would have been content to stay in Lily and Peter’s house and watch the sun move across the sky, but there was a National Park to visit and so we did. The Joshua Trees were blooming during our visit and we caught a few other flowering specimens on our ambles around. My best description of the park is that it’s a place on Earth that doesn’t feel a bit like it. Otherworldly and then some.
And now, back to facing Monday.
For the curious:
I’m wearing this favorite fleece;
my favorite overalls;
these canvas sneaks;
and my Alma.
Faye’s in our favorite linen pants
and sweater;
and sneaks.
(Same lightweight carrier that we used in Venice.)
(Favorite black Junes bag for stashing shed jackets and hats.)
ipinaskil ni Madilynn Xzavier @ 9:12 PM
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I was born and raised in Hillsville. At first I created this as a means for me to express my ideas, my feelings, my thoughts and my experiences as well.
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