my computer is on the fritz...

...if you don't hear from me in a few days, you'll know why! J is traveling (and, thus, takes his computer with him).

So, should my computer finally commit to ending its good fight (we've had a few battles where it has forfeited its honor and shut down), it will just be me, C, and my trusty iPhone (that has outlasted a teething C--twice! and foiled my coffee's attempts to kill it).

I'll be Internetless but thinking of you! Of course, my computer could have some pride left in it and rise to the challenge I am placing on it today. We'll see!

I❤Faces: Week 24

This week is all about the men! Turns out I have a lot of adult men in my life but no pictures of them and not too many boys in my life but lots and lots of pictures of them. Ironic, I think yes.

Adult Entry

Since I don't have too many adult pictures, I'm using one that I just die laughing at everytime I look at it. This picture holds a place of honor in our living room. I took it the very first time I went to visit J's hometown island--Martha's Vineyard. He invited a lot of us to his house for Fall Break and we stayed at a Christian camp that wasn't being used (summer was over!). Us girls had a bunk house and the boys...well, they had a bunk house but I'm not sure if they used it.

One night we decided to head to the Singing Sands beach and the boys were being crazy. I snapped a picture (obviously using flash!) with my ghetto NON DIGITAL camera--this was old-school 2001, people! Like, when you have to wait to pick up your film roll and you eagerly open the contents to see if you got at least 2 decent pics out of the 27 on the roll. Needless to say, I think we got one:

Kids Entry

Ugh. I took TONS of pictures of boys over the past several weekends. Okay, that last sentence sounded...uhh...a little stalkeresque. Really, I just tried to get some candids at parties and festivals that we frequented. After spending time editing several of my favorite shots, I showed them to J. Now, mind you, I usually show my options to J for his final approval and advice. He is the son of a professional photographer, afterall! Despite his opinions, I usually forego his choices in favor of mine.

Today, however, in honor of Father's Day, I'm honoring my husband, the Father of Baby C, by using his #1 choice. This was taken at a festival in Decatur--there is this huge statue in the square and there were lots of little boys climbing all over it.

Please consider visiting I Heart Faces for more fun entries with a Father's Day twist! You're sure to find lots of endearing and sentimental photos!

Winner! Noodles&Milk

Wowee! See what happens when an incredible giveaway is coupled with an extended deadline? LOTS of entries! Huge props to the people who repeatedly twittered and left daily bonus comments--what dedication. I'm slightly tired of entering giveaways so your stamina impressed me!

Okay, now I'm off to Random.Org to get our winning number...

#6! Now to go see who that is...

ANNE!!!

Congratulations, Anne! I'll be contacting you shortly!

Don't forget, the creative talent behind Noodles & Milk, Sabrina, is generously offering any Monkeys on the Bed reader a 15% discount off your entire purchase (pre-shipping) valid 6/12-6/30. Please leave code "monkeys" in the notes to seller.

And, of course, there is a Peaches&Palm Trees Giveaway going on until June 30th--two custom onesies of your choice up for grabs! You pick the summer design--who can beat that?

Super Saturday Savings: June 20

Lots of cloth diaper giveaways--the generous freebie madness continues!

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is giving away 3 Haute Pockets. Check them out! I've never tried them but the name is super cute! There are SO many ways to enter so get going and have fun!

A Mom's Balancing Act is giving away another awesome Apple Cheeks Diaper! You guys need to get in on this action, too!

Speaking of Apple Cheeks, the owners themselves are giving away their first MiniTest package--one envelope diaper plus three inserts--a value of $47! Click on the cute package below to email them for more info!

The Cloth Diaper Blog is giving away an awesome looking set of Thirsties Diapers...check out what you can win:

One of my blogging buddies, UpstateMomof3, is giving away TWO different kinds of diapers on her blog!

• the first is an Essential Saltes Baby diaper--you have to check out how cute they are!!
• the second is the Smartipants Diaper--economical and "smart" because, like the applecheeks diaper, you don't have to remove the insert before washing! Smart fo'sho' :)

Wow! Did you guys see the comment from Thirfty Mama B? She is giving away FIVE Lollidoo Diapers! Generous! Click on the LolliDoo image below to find out how you can enter the contest:

{I'm sure there are lots more cloth diaper giveaways out there so let me know if you find any in the comments section! More people want to know!}

Don't forget that this week ALL National Parks are admitting people for free over Father's Day Weekend (June 20th and 21st). That is AWESOME--we love getting outdoors and enjoying God's Creation--why not do it with your dad when it is free? Check out the parks closest to you here.

Happy Father's Day Weekend!

Closed: Fabulous Friday Giveaway: Peaches & Palm Trees

{Confused why you didn't see a winner for Noodles&Milk? We are leaving contests up until Saturday! But, get excited! The following contest will stay open until June 30th!}

I am very excited to introduce you to my friend and her new new Esty shop, Peaches & Palm trees!

Kristin is a newlywed and lives in Orlando with her dashing husband and darling dog, Jax. Feel free to check out their fun life on her blog, The Newly Mrs. Morgan.

Kris and I go waaaay back--to the very day we moved to Atlanta, in fact, nearly 20 years ago (yikes!). She and her sweet sister, Kelly, came to visit us and play in our moving boxes. Fun times. Hey we were only 9! (Side note, her other sister, Alex, was a little young to play with us but now she is a college grad! how are we so old?)

ANYWAY.

I was always mad jealous of their family's creativity. Their aunt used to make us green pancakes in the shape of 3-leaf clovers on St. Patty's day, for pity's sake. Yes, we were impressed! I think Kristin got most of her talent from her lovely mom who has an incredible knack for wedding planning (she just started her own wedding business, too!)

ANYWAY. This is what happens when you know someone for so long you want to keep talking about them. Let's get to the good stuff!

After years of creating custom-made gifts for friends and their babies, Kris was finally persauded to open her own Etsy store, Peaches & Palm trees. C was a proud recipient of a 5-pack of onesies and she wore them to death--they were the only things that fit her when she was a newbie and the only things that were cute, too!

Example 1:

She is really good at making college-mascot inspired gear:

or even copying the pattern of your nursery theme onto a onesie and blanket:



or just being witty as seen on this onesie for a boy:

Are you convinced yet? She is pretty creative, right?!

• Want it right now? Buy it! Visit Peaches & Palm trees today!

• Want it but want to try your luck first? Win it!

One lucky winner will receive a set of two custom onesies inspired by the best of summer. Perfect for upcoming baby showers, or for your own little one to sport, her hand-painted onesies will be made to your requested size for a boy or a girl (or one for each!).

Isn't that...

(yet another example of her creative skills!)

Mandatory first entry (this one is fun!) Leave me a comment telling me what you love about summer. This will serve as Kristin's inspiration for the onesies so get creative!

Extra entries. Please leave a separate comment for EACH entry option!

• Blog about my giveaway and earn 3 extra entries (leave 3 separate comments, each with the link to your post).
• Tweet about this giveaway. 1 tweet/day, please! Please also include your hyperlink to the tweet (click on the time of your tweet and it will appear!)
  

Please tweet:

Enter to win 2 custom onesies from Peaches & Palm Trees @monkeysonthebed http://tinyurl.com/mfua2r

• Add the Peaches & Palm Trees Button to your blog (1 entry)
  

<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7186714" title="peaches and palm trees!"><img border="0" width="200" alt="peaches and palm trees!" src="http://picasion.com/pic10/9ba8d30b14c9c51b5d42188c3e972d91.gif" height="200" /><br/></a>

• Purchase something from Peaches & Palm trees and earn 5 extra entries (please leave 5 separate comments, telling me what you purchased).
• Make Peaches & Palm trees a favorite store in your Etsy account. (1 entry)
  
• Earn one additional entry by Following me OR Subscribing to my blog (sorry, only 1 entry)

***Don't forget--this giveaway ends on June 30th so get in those extra entries!***

The fine print:

The giveaway will end Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 10:00 p.m. EST. You must leave the mandatory comment before receiving extra entries. You must leave a way for me to contact you with each entry! I will draw a winner randomly and announce the winner on this blog and email the winner as well. If the winner does not reply to me within 48 hours, I will draw a second winner. I reserve the right to delete your entry if you do not follow the rules listed above.

Thankful Thursday: Week 8

At the risk of sounding redundant every week, I have a lot to be thankful for! I'd love to hear what you are thankful for this week, too! You'll not only encourage us with your comments but, hopefully, encourage yourself when you think about all you have to be thankful...{PS Pictures coming soon!}

1. My Mom--it is her birthday tomorrow (happy birthday, Mom!). She is an incredible mom who generously gives of her time, talents, and gifts, manages to keep our family all together, and looks incredibly classy while doing it all. Our family would definitely not be the same without her (obviously!).
   
   
   



2. Dads--Yay for celebrating dads this weekend! My dad is the cornerstone of our family (well, Christ is, obviously, but my dad is the human representative of Him), encouraging us in the Faith, holding us accountable to the Word, and loving us unconditionally. And, what an amazing 10.5 months its been watching J be a dad to Baby C. He is also an incredible dad who dotes on C in the most unbelievably loving and kind way.
   
   
   



3. Word of God--As II Timothy 3:16-17 says,

   ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

   I have been incredibly challenged to be more like my Savior and even more so encouraged by His faithfulness and love for us just by reading His Word.
   



4. Praise Songs--As in #3, I've been so encouraged listening to some of my favorite hymns and worship songs, especially classic hymns and "new" songs by the likes of Aaron Shust (My Savior, My God) or Bebo Norman (I Will Lift My Eyes, Great Light of the World), Chris Rice (Come to Jesus), Third Day (Cry Out to Jesus)
   



5. Christian gal friends--I am SO grateful for the deep friendships I've formed in Bible studies and online. What encouragements they are to me!
   
   


6. Churchill--my first baby! He is the best cat ever and I'm thankful for him especially this week because he is a little sick and sad. I love that kitty!
   
   
   



7. Bulk Food at Publix--yes, I know, lame, but lately I've been LIVING off of the food I've found in their bulk bin (especially hemp plus granola)--so much cheaper than Whole Foods and just as good (read: organic!) for you, too! Yay!
   

W.o.G. Wednesday: Isaiah 41:10. 13

I'm in need of a little encouragement today, how about you? Instead of waxing philosophical like I've done before, I'm just going to let these Words of God speak to you on their own...(text at the bottom)

Isaiah 41:10, 13
¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

¹³ For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

Tutorial Tuesday: Scrolling Side Bar Marquee

First a few housekeeping points:

• If anyone wants to be a guest Tutorial Tuesday poster, please let me know and we'll feature you! Maybe a little break will get the creative juices flowing again!
• I've been LOVING using my "frosting scrub" and my wipe solution from last week's tutorial. Did anyone try it? Love it? Hate it?
• Unrelated to Tutorials BUT big fun news--Giveaways will now run for a full week, ending on Saturdays. That means you have extra time to enter the Noodles&Milk contest! So go enter now!

Now to the Tutorial!

So I know a lot of you like blogs because you can enter to win things! Sometimes, to get an extra entry, you can add someone's blog button. (Speaking of which, don't forget, I have a tutorial for an animated blog button!) Anyway, if you are like me, then you end up having gazillions of buttons cluttering up your blog and people can't figure out who YOU are in the midst of them!

So, to solve that, lets create a scrolling side bar (also known as a scrolling marquee). This may only work in Blogger...sorry Wordpress friends!

(To see what I'm talking about, quickly scroll down and glance over to the right column. You should notice that all my buttons are scrolling and that, if you place your mouse over one of them, the scrolling stops and you can click on the selected button. Pretty nifty.)

1. Choose "Customize" in your layouts
2. Click "Add a gadget"
3. Choose "Html/Javascript"
4. I didn't enter a title. You can, though, and have it say anything you like, such as "Some great giveaway blogs" or "Blogs I Love to read"...etc...


Now to the content!


5. Since we are creating a marquee, type in (or paste)

<marquee direction="up" width="200" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="3" onmouseout="this.start()" height="200" align="center"><center>

The Marquee direction can be changed to "down" "left" or "right" If you want your buttons to scroll across the bottom of your blog, choosing "left" or "right" might make more sense!

I chose the width to be the width of my column. Sometimes people won't change the width and you'll see truncated blog buttons scrolling by you. Sad! Make the width as big as you can so as to accommodate all the blog button widths that you have on your site.

The scroll amount is the speed. You can make it move slower or faster, to your liking. My tip for this is make sure people who are viewing the side bar can view each individual button!

Since mine won't center unless I ask it to center again, I entered <center> one more time. Maybe it will work for you!

Now that we have it all set up, find those button codes that bloggers ask you to post and start entering them. For example, my tutorial button code looks like this (don't be alarmed by it!):


<a href="http://monkeys-on-the-bed.blogspot.com/" title="Tutorial Tuesday with monkeys on the bed!"><img border="0" width="200" alt="Tutorial Tuesday with monkeys on the bed!" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3609819998_5eae6540df_o.gif" height="200"/<

6. I like to add a <br><br> between each button that I add. That way, the buttons are not sitting on top of each other and you have a break (or in this case, two breaks) between each button, clearly distinguishing one from the next.
7. Continue adding (by copying and pasting) all the button codes that you want--I think i have close to 25 over there!
8. When you are finished with the copying and pasting, you need to close off your marquee. Type in </marquee>
9. Hit "Save"
10. Preview your blog! Sometimes I have to hit refresh to make sure it is working.
11. When you come across another cool blog that you want to feature, just go back into the layout settings and customize this marquee. Whenever I add another button, I just edit this Html/Javascript box by adding the new button DIRECTLY ABOVE the </marquee> Of course, if you want people to see it immediately, you can put it in the front...

As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me! Good luck and have fun!

I ❤ Faces: Week 23

This week at I ❤ Faces, Amy and Angie are back from their vacations (though, if you ask me, they had to work extra hard putting together the Blurb book! it looks great, ladies!). The theme is "Sepia".

I think every week I comment that the theme is "tough" but really, to me, it is--Once i find a few good photos that I want to use, I tweak them on Picnik and then I my incredibly indecisive-self cannot decide between them all! Here they all are (don't worry--just six) if you want to see them. I'm hoping to use the Tiffany Box picture soon! We just need a theme to go with it...

{side note: i'm currently seeking ways to raise a little moolah for a "real" SLR camera to replace my (nice but kind of pathetic) digital camera. Anyone want me to review a camera? ha! totally teasing!}

Adult Entry

My good friend got married last October on the beautiful Hilton Head Island. Her sisters helped her into her dress and it was such a special moment:

Kids Entry

I took this photo of Baby C when I was working on my blurb book entry. It didn't make the cut for my final submission but i think it looks fun in sepia.

As always, head on over to I ❤ Faces to see this week's Sepia entries!

We're on "Vacation"

Super Saturday Steals and Social-Cause Sunday will be back next week--J, C, and I are celebrating my cousin's graduation from high school this weekend!

Closed: Fab Friday Giveaway: Noodles and Milk!

Thanks again to everyone who entered my poll! The next few weeks will see wonderfully cute items for kids up for grabs and then we'll get to the jewelry giveaways because everyone was asking for it!

When Sabrina from Noodles & Milk (how cute is that name?!?!) contacted me I was blown away by her creativity. But, seriously how could you not be inspired by this cutieface every day (Sabrina's gorgeous daughter, Emerson):

Has everyone recovered from the cuteness? Good because its time to get to know Sabrina, who is every bit just as gorgeous on the outside but, more importantly on the inside, as her daughter.

Sabrina is a Christian Stay-at-home-/Work-at-home-Mom to her precious 19 month old daughter, Emerson. She always loved baby stuff but didn't start making baby items for friends until last summer. One thing led to another and Sabrina decided to try her hand at Etsy.

Needless to say, Sabrina will never be bored again--her store took off on Etsy, blessing and shocking her at the same time. Despite being so busy, she keeps everything in perspective, valuing her time with Emerson first (what an awesome WAHM!). Sabrina manages to run Noodles & Milk from home during nap time and on the weekends. Of course, Emerson is her gorgeous model and guinea pig for all her new designs--one of which is clothing! Stay tuned to Noodles & Milk so that you can be one of the first to see her new clothing line for kids!

As you all know, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few of Sabrina's gorgeous creations:

can you believe this detailing?

how about this adorable matching monogram + pant set?


and, all you moms of boys...GET EXCITED! She creates boy goodies, too!


how creative is this lounge pant + applique shirt duo? CUTE!


Are you excited yet? Because I am!
Buy It!
Sabrina is generously offering any Monkeys on the Bed reader a 15% discount off your entire purchase (pre-shipping) valid 6/12-6/30. Please leave code "monkeys" in the notes to seller.

Win It!

Perhaps even more generously, Sabrina is giving away a $30 gift certificate for anything in the shop plus free shipping.

How?
For the mandatory first entry: Visit Noodles & Milk and leave me a comment telling me your favorite item.

Once you've left the first mandatory entry you can leave separate comments for doing any of the above:

1 extra entry for making Noodles & Milk a favorite Etsy store (you need to have an account to do this) OR visiting Sabrina's blog and encouraging her with a kind word (just one entry)

1 extra entry/DAY for tweeting this giveaway. Leave a comment with your permalink (just click on the time and you'll get a new url) Please tweet:

Win a $30 Gift Certificate to the Fabulous Etsy store Noodles & Milk @monkeysonthebed http://bit.ly/OjX0n

5 extra entries for purchasing something from Sabrina's store (please leave five separate comments). Don't forget--you can get 15% off until June 30th!

1 extra entry for either following my blog OR subscribing to it

Daily Bonus Entry -- one extra entry for coming back each day and commenting on a different item that you love from Noodles & Milk Please preface this entry with "Daily bonus entry" or even a simple "DBT" will do! I just need to know it is a different comment for a different day

The fine print:

This giveaway is open to the residents of the USA and Canada, aged 18 and older. The giveaway will end on Thursday, June 18th at 11:00 PM EST. You must leave the mandatory comment before receiving extra entries. You must leave a way for me to contact you with each entry! I will draw a winner via a Random Integer Generator and announce the winner on this blog and email the winner as well. If the winner does not reply to me within 48 hours, I will draw a second winner. I reserve the right to delete your entry if you do not follow the rules listed above.

Winner! Papercuts by Melissa!

Thanks to everyone who entered this week's giveaway
for your choice of a Papercut by Melissa!

Now for the winner...



That is Mom of 3 Dolls!

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you soon!

Thankful Thursday: Week 7

Phew! My posts are getting later and later in the day. Gone are the days that i used to schedule the post the day before! But, it is never too late to be thankful!

This week, i'm very thankful for...

1. New blog friends like Joye from the Joyeful Journey--I love getting to know all of you! Thanks for following our little lives--I hope to be the encouragement to you all like you are to me.
   
   
   
   
2. C's joyful attitude and hilarious, yet calm spirit. She can make us laugh hysterically (and maybe you'll laugh, too) and make our hearts melt with her sweet spirit.
   
   
   
   
3. Cousins--the Twin and Baby R are getting double doses of cousin-ville when her husband's side of the family moves to town! The twin and I are also very blessed to have a lot of first cousins ourselves. In fact, this weekend, we'll be celebrating on of our cousin's high school graduation!
   



4. Coffee--on Saturday, I'll be giving it up for three weeks! Sadness. But hopefully my abstinence from caffeine will lead to a better performance in my next upcoming Road Race! For right now, I am very thankful for my morning cup (and will probably be even more so once Saturday rolls around)!
   



5. Freezer remnants--somehow, I don't have any food for myself in the house. I was scrounging around my freezer and was never happier to find a bag a 1/4 full of frozen mango! I promptly made a healthy protein smoothie. Delish!
   



6. a study with really neat women on the book of Esther I am very blessed to meet with such mature women in Christ every Tuesday for 10 weeks. And what an interesting study it is! For example, the subtitle is "It's tough being a woman"! Ha! So true...we had to list three reasons why WE thought it was tough being a woman...if you want to chime in, go for it, but, don't forget--this is thankful Thursdays :)
   



7. J's job--while being pseudo-staffed for the last month was slightly frustrating for him it was awesome for me and C to get to see him every night. Now we are very thankful that he has a new project lined up, even if it is in Sunny Cali (yay frequent flier miles!)

Alright! What are YOU thankful for this week?

PS Oh my! two posts in a row without a picture! make sure you check out the personal blog if you want to see what C has been up to lately.

Word of God Wednesday: Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:2

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Agh. These are SUCH a convicting passages for me. In fact, I've recently been highlighting lots of passages that convict me in hopes that it will allow me to air my dirty laundry, hold me accountable, and also encourage me to "stay the course" (“God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course.” Psalm 119:33 MSG)

But these, well, I really didn't want to use them...because, when I write them out for all to see, I am really also asking to be held responsible to make sure I'm adhering to the Word.

I love to get caught up in TV shows, blogs, and even magazines that are full of drama. As a ho-hum-SAHM, my life is pretty tame which is why, I think, I find it fun to watch or read things that portray a glamorous, maybe even "spicy", over-the-top-dramatic, lifestyle.

Pathetic, maybe. A guilty pleasure, perhaps. Something I (see note below)* should be watching or reading...uhh, according to Philippians 4:8, definitely not.

Busted.

But oh how much I want to watch it and read about it! Drama is so fun and adds excitement to my life! It is also really addicting. I've found that, if I don't start watching a certain show, I never miss it and i'll look back and think, wow, why was I wasting my time on that!? So inconsequential (not to mention, unwholesome)!

And because, even now, my mind is rationalizing a way to be able to continue watching my favorite shows (everyone is doing it! it can't hurt! then I can stay up on the latest "news"! etc.), I am reminded of Romans 12:2:

Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

So, to recap, instead of filling my mind with pure crud, I need to renew my mind by thinking about and studying what is pure and excellent in God's eyes, not the world's.

*(note below:) I think it is important to tell you why I think I should not be watching/reading this stuff. 1) As a Christian, I am held to a moral standard written in God's Word (ie keep your heart and mind pure) 2) i fall into the trap of "seeing is believing" while most others, including Christians do not. Most people are probably not as affected by worldly affairs as I am so if these things are not a stumbling block for you, awesome! If neither 1 nor 2 apply to you, don't worry!

Well, there you have it. Thanks for listening to me counsel myself.

Tutorial Tuesday: Natural Cleaners

Well, friends, a long time ago, the twin started doing Tutorial Tuesday. She inspired me to join her and I haven't looked back. Unfortunately, due to first-trimester fatigue and nausea, the twin had to take a small hiatus on posting tutorials. I'm hoping the second-semester is nicer to her--I'm eagerly awaiting the day she returns to enlighten us with her crafty project how-tos.

In the twin's absence, Kelly, from Our Lincoln Log has joined me in weekly tutorials. She comes up with awesome recipes and natural home products so I hope you'll always check out her tutorials, too. Since Kelly has been so consistent and excited about Tutorial Tuesday every week, I wanted her to share in the fun...by joining my tutorial button:

In my recent poll, there was a three-way tie on what you wanted to see in tutorials: how to make things for babies/kids, how to make natural products for the home, and how to spruce up your blog. This week we'll start with natural home products and then get into some more blog tips next week...

Today we are making:

• "Frosting Scrub" (reminiscent of the popular "not-hard" scrub)
• All-purpose cleaner
• Cloth Wipe Cleanser Solution

Here are the main ingredients that you need for those three cleaners:

• Baking Soda
• Castile Soap (I used Lavender Dr. Bronner's)
• White Distilled Vinegar
  
• Distilled Water
• Tea Tree Oil (TTO)
  
• Peppermint Essential Oil (or another essential oil like lavender or lemon)
• Oil (I used Lavender body oil)--sorry! not in the picture!
  
• Clean, preferably sterile, spray bottles

Starting with easiest first:

"Frosting Scrub"

• Pour 1/2 cup baking soda into a bowl.
• Gradually add Castile Soap until you have a frosting-like paste.

• While attempting to photograph this last step, I added too much soap (duh) and had to add more baking soda.
  
• I added 5 drops of TTO at the same time, and mixed it all in.

• Perfect! I scraped most of it into a plastic container with sealable lid and left some in the bowl to use for later.

All-Purpose Cleaner

• Pour 1/2 litre (~2 cups or 16 oz) distilled water into a tea kettle or a pot. Warm the water but don't boil it!
• While the water is getting hot, measure 1/2 litre (~2 cups or 16 oz) distilled white vinegar into a large container

• Add 1/2 Tablespoon Castile Soap to the vinegar, stir;
• Add 10 drops TTO, stir

• Add 10 drops essential oil (i used peppermint), stir;
• Slowly pour the warmed water into the mixture (it can foam so pouring slowly is better!)

• Mix well. Let cool. Warning: it will smell like vinegar but don't worry! It should NOT, however, smell like ammonia!
• When the mixture is cool, pour into a clean and sterile spray bottle.
• UPDATE! I added just a bit of baking soda to the all-purpose cleaner to give it a little more umph in cleaning. Of course, because it reacts with vinegar, you have to add it slowly but it seems to make it a little better in cleaning the tough spots! Don't add too much or else there will be baking soda residue left on the countertops. And, with the added baking soda, make sure you very gently shake the bottle before each use.
  

Baby Cloth Wipe Solution

• Pour 1 Tablespoon of Castile Soap into a mixing bowl
• Combine 1 Tablespoon Oil--I used lavender BODY oil but feel free to experiment with almond or apricot oil! Stir
  

• Add 4 to 5 drops TTO
• and, finally, add 1 cup distilled water into the mixing bowl

• stir to combine--I got too vigorous with mine and it created LOTS of bubbles.
• once the bubbles calm down, pour the solution into a spray bottle
  

• To use, lightly spray a cloth wipe with the solution and then do your business!

Does it work?

Frosting Scrub--9 out of 10--I couldn't believe how little i needed to use (I used WAY more than I needed). I let it sit on the stains for about 2 or 3 minutes and then i wiped everything dry--no residue! That was unbelievable to me! Very nice. In fact, this morning, I couldn't help myself and kept "stroking" the stovetop because it felt so glossy and smooth! The only thing I didn't like was that my hands felt a little gritty from the baking soda afterwards.

Wipe Solution--10 out of 10--I have been using this solution since January and it works great!

All-Purpose Cleaner--9 out of 10--worked really well! Didn't leave a streak on the countertops and the vinegar smell dissipated almost immediately. I was really pleased. I only gave it 9 because next time I think I'll add a little more soap or TTO to give it a bit more "umph". It was great for my counter tops but the KitchenAid chrome didn't look that awesome afterwards. Maybe I should just use the Frosting Scrub for that, though? Also, I got a little carried away with test driving my new cleaning products and attempted to clean the windows--a little streaky but not bad! You should have seen the dirt. Sick.

A few caveats

• Please use caution while mixing these ingredients. While they are not as harsh as other cleaners, it can still cause skin and eye irritations.
  
• I did not use gloves when mixing the ingredients or using the "frosting scrub" but I think I will from now on.
  
• The baby wipes solution needs to be tailored to your baby--when I first made this recipe, I added too much TTO and it actually burned her skin leaving an irritation. I diluted the solution and it never gave us a problem--just make sure you watch for things like that!
• Of course, don't eat it, and keep out of children's reach!
• AND, if you have cats, a special thanks to Amy D. for letting me know that TTO is highly toxic to cats! The TTO functions as a disinfectant and it is not necessary in the recipe--the vinegar will help deodorize and clean on its own.
  

I'd love to hear if you made these and what you thought of them or if you have your own natural cleaner recipes that you want to share!