How to Revive a Fuzzy Sofa

Back in August we bought a new sofa. "Sofa" may be an understatement, as it's a 9-piece sectional that runs the length of two entire walls of our living room. We struggled to decide whether to get leather or fabric. We've got young kids and dogs. We had a durable leather sofa that lasted us many years, but we've also has a leather love seat ruined within the first month thanks to dog toenails. In the end, we decided on this huge fabric sectional, with the understanding that it probably won't last forever. We get it. But within the first month or so of enjoying our new couch, we noticed a few of the cushions were getting a little fuzzy, for lack of a better word. It didn't take long to figure out the cause:

It was our dogs, of course. Specifically, it was the little spinning ritual they do before they lie down. Here's what the cushion looked like before the damage (it's actually the vertical cushion for comparison).

And here's what the cushion looks like with the damage from the dogs. Not something you want to see a month after you shell out a fair amount of cash for new furniture.

Since noticing the damage, we attempt to keep the sofa cushions covered with blankets during the day. It's not a perfect solution, as the girls will often use the blankets to keep warm or build a fort. And the blankets inevitably end up on the floor, making the room look even more cluttered than it already is. And, of course, the damage had already been done. Once I noticed the cushions were beginning to resemble a worn sweater, I knew I had to give my Sweater Stone a try. I bought my Sweater Stone several years ago at Faribault Woolen Mill*. It has worked wonders to spruce up my tired fuzzy, pilly sweaters over the years. I put the stone to work on the cushion (it literally took less than a minute) and saw great results. 

Here's the after photo. Drum roll please..................

It's not back to it's original condition, but it's much, much better. The damage is no longer the first thing you notice when you look at the sofa. Even knowing it's history. 

And here's the floor after using the Sweater Stone. 

The Sweater Stone. I can't imagine a cheaper, easier, and better way to revive my fuzzy sofa (and sweaters)!

*I have no idea if they still sell the Sweater Stone.

**This is not a paid advertisement--just a great solution I wanted to share with you!

I Was Told There'd Be Cake*

So last week I made this little robot cake for my daughter. I have a 2-year-old now!

The girl likes robots. 

It's not the greatest cake in the world, but I can't for the life of me remember her first birthday. What kind of mother doesn't remember her child's first birthday? I don't remember where we were, what we did, or what kind of cake we ate. I know I didn't make a special cake, if I made one at all.  Here are the cakes I have made for my oldest daughter over the years:

This cake was pretty, and it was perfect for a spring 1st birthday. I'm not sure, but I think it may be upside down. Big wings go on top? Those marshmallow flower cupcake toppers were impressive and so easy to make!

My daughter was really into fish for her 2nd birthday (and still is!).  I had the fish sugar cookies made but did the cake myself.

For her 3rd birthday, my daughter requested a strawberry cake. What can I say, she has good taste. I do remember I was actually out of town on her birthday, so we celebrated a couple days early.

So I guess what I'm getting at, is that I've tried to make birthdays special, with the exception of that missing first birthday. It's probably out of fear of guilt more than anything, as at this young age they won't remember. We haven't done any big parties yet, aside from family dinners, but if nothing else, a picture of a homemade birthday cake is proof that the day was celebrated, and it was more than just an afterthought. I was the youngest of three, and while we have lots of pictures of my sister's and brother's birthday cakes over the years, I don't think there are many of mine (at all). I guess I'll have to continue to step up my game for the youngest. So at least we'll have the photographic evidence.

*A reference to this lovely little book. It's funny. Especially if you were born 1978 and 1982, I think.

Keeping a Neat Garden

OK, if someone had told me last year I'd be blogging about how to keep a tidy garden, I would have literally rolled on the floor laughing.  It's always been a struggle for us to keep the weeds at bay, but last year after an untimely vacation (is there such a thing, really?), we came home to the biggest weed patch I've ever seen.  Surprisingly there were still some thriving veggies in there, so what's a girl to do?  We put our neighbor girls to work.  It took two teen girls almost four hours to get the job done.  And they were working hard, trust me, I was watching them from the air-conditioned comfort of my kitchen window.  It got a little embarrassing when one of their mothers came over to offer them support and an extra pair of hands for a little bit.  I was even shamed into coming out to help.  We paid the girls well, and it was worth every penny for us; I'm not sure the girls felt the same way.

Each year since we moved into our first house, over six years ago, our gardening efforts have gotten more and more involved.  The first year the garden was an afterthought.  I planted, but I didn't really expect anything to really grow.  That was the year I learned that radishes thrive in my soil, I ate some unidentified weeds thinking they were early spinach, and I handled all of the weeding (not that I did much).  I grew a very, ahem, "natural" garden.  It's a strategy that has persisted until this year.  Let me tell you, veggies grow just fine when they are surrounded by weeds.  And I have a theory that all of the weeds throw the rabbits and deer off track.  They seem to have stayed away from our plants when they were the weediest. 

Since that first year, our garden has grown.  The variety of plants has expanded.  This is my first year for potatoes, peas, and cabbage!  Last year it was okra and broccoli.  Over the years I've learned a few things.  I've learned I can actually grow watermelon large enough to eat (IN MINNESOTA!), only to have them all crushed by baseball-size hail days before harvest.  By the way, that was the only year I've been able to grow them.  I try again every year and fail--usually because I can't find the young plants in the tangle of weeds.  I'm trying again this year, and so far they look great!  I've  also learned two people really can't consume a 10'-row worth of radishes even if the radishes do grow really really well.  The same goes for cucumbers.  You can only eat so many.  We've added a fence after rabbits and deer ate the leaves off of two big rows worth of green beans and to keep our dogs out after they ran all over our freshly planted seeds scattering them everywhere.  Last year we got fancy (ha!) and used string to mark our rows to supposedly help me know where my pants and not the weeds were coming up (did I mention I ate weeds?!?!). We've learned a few things.  But clearly we had some room for improvement in the weeding department.

Last year, my husband asked someone at the nursery what they do to control weeds in their garden.  She said they use Weed Barrier.  Now we've talked about it before.  Weed Barrier is an investment.  It's not cheap, but after Weedgate 2010 I was willing to give it a shot.  Once the initial tilling was done and the weed barrier was down, I was responsible for doing the actual planting.  I will say it was hard work this year!  Cutting strips out of the weed barrier to plant the beans, peas, radishes, and carrots took extra time and energy.  But just LOOK! 

It's June and everything we planted is thriving.  I weeded the garden the other night and it took me minutes!!!  Not to mention I can do it in flip-flops and come out with toes still relatively flesh colored.  Totally worth it.  My husband tells me we can use the weed barrier for several years, so I think we have a winner. 

Saving Money and the Environment One Load at a Time

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenprofeta/ / CC BY 2.0

It seems like everywhere these days I'm hearing that Americans are using too much soap.  Seriously, I think I've read at least three articles in as many months.  Alina Tugend's New York Times article is full of tips for prolonging the life of your appliances.  The number one rule?  Use less detergent.  Apparently most of us assume using more soap will make our dishes and clothes cleaner, but excess soap actually prevents our clothes from rinsing clean and can cause build-up that damages our appliances. In fact Tide is now marketing a product that is designed to be used monthly to clean your washing machine and remove the residue often cause by using too much detergent.  I am aware of the irony.  Tide is making money off of a product designed to fix a problem caused by people using too much of their product--I'm trying it tonight.

Incidentally, we can take it easy on the dryer sheets too.  My plan (thanks to a rash my daughter has developed since she's been out of diapers) is to forgo the dryer sheets altogether.  I've learned that vinegar is a great inexpensive and natural alternative to fabric softener when added to you washing machine's rinse cycle.  And no, your clothes will not smell like pickles.

Of course for the truly budget-conscious, you can always make your own laundry detergent or skip detergent altogether.  Those options aren't for me.  I'm not ambitious enough to make mix my own, and I'm a little too skeptical to leave it out altogether.  I have, however, recently started using half the recommended amount.  It's a small change that requires zero additional effort, and I've noticed no difference in the cleanliness of the clothes.  I'm pretty happy to be saving money and producing less waste.  And some day my washer and dryer will thank me!

What about you?  Any great laundry tips?  I'm still waiting for that answer to grease stains!