The wonderus mysteries of Vinegar!

Yummy. Vinegar on French fries. One of my favorite things! Not only do I love vinegar for my food, but it is a great natural ingredient that helps eliminate all kinds of scary toxic cleaners, and does other amazing things too! Here are some of my favorite tips.

Cleaning

1) I think everyone knows by now, that vinegar is a great glass cleaner. It rarely leaves streaks, and does an amazing job! This method is cheaper, more effective, and better for the environment than using any generic glass cleaner.

2) Vinegar is great to run through your coffee machine. It gets rid of all that gross mineral buildup and you don’t have to worry about chemicals getting into your coffee system!

3) Vinegar is also a great disinfectant. It is a great replacement for bleach or any harsh cleaning products.

4) Have pets? They have accidents too, just like children! Spraying Vinegar on pee spots (especially on carpets) and rubbing it in with a rag eliminates the yucky odor and helps get rid of the stain. Helps eliminate harsh carpet cleaners.

5) Have a stinky smell in your house/apartment/room? Fill up a bowl or glass with vinegar. Put it in a safe place (where it won’t spill) and watch it suck in the odor (the color will eventually turn from clear to yellow or brown) while giving off fresh scents of vinegar!

6) Want to avoid using wasteful SOS pads? For stubborn baked on foods/grease, soak dishes in 1/4 cup of vinegar, and hot hot water. Soak for an hour. Come back and see the grime almost lift off the dish.

7) For cleaning interiors of stoves and stove racks, use 1 cup to 1 ½ cups of vinegar mixed with hot water. This eliminates using harmful aerosols.

8) Putting a bit of vinegar in the bottom of your garbage bin can help keep pests and insects away.

9) Did you get annoying glue stuck to your hands? Wash them in a bit of vinegar. It will help the glue soften before you use soap and water.

Natural Medicines

1) Suffering from a migraine or a headache? Put some vinegar on a wash cloth and place it on your forehead. It will make you feel a lot better.

2) Feel like you have an ear infection? Swimmers Ear perhaps? Swimmers Ear is a fungal infection, and almost every type of fungus is quickly and effectively cured with vinegar. Try making a solution of 50% water and 50% vinegar. Drop it into your ear and wiggle it around. Make sure it gets all the way in. Results happen fast.

3) Do you get clogged sinuses? Boil some vinegar and place in a cup or a small bowl. The vapors will help un-block the infection due to it’s aroma.

Feel free to comment on any of these tips! Let me know if you have tried any of these techniques and how they worked for you! Also, feel free to add some more!

Are Fireworks Good for the Environment?

So I went to see fireworks last night in celebration of Canada’s 142nd birthday.
They were so beautiful. I remember sitting there in a daze of complete awe. Just watching the many different colors light up the sky makes the world seem so wondrous. I think it was the best Fireworks display I have ever seen. It was a great show, it lasted about thirty glorious minutes, and when it was over the crowd was cheering, obviously in the same frame of mind that I was.
When the fireworks ended, and hundreds of kids were screaming with excitement running back to their family car, while everyone else was rushing and honking at each other to get out of the parking lot, I patiently waited to avoid any of the thrilling conflict that surrounded me. It was then I looked up into the sky, where to my disgust, I saw firework residue floating around in the air, almost like we were standing under a war zone.
That got me to thinking. As beautiful as the display was, and how it made almost every person watching it feel ‘at one’ with the environment, how harmful was it, really?

Fireworks get their ostentation from various chemicals; chemicals which are toxic to man kind. Fireworks contain metallic compounds which is what makes them colorful. Gunpowder is what makes them explode into what looks like glorious confetti. They often contain radioactive, carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting substances. These things creep into our natural environment, such as soil and water. The residues from our fireworks turn into toxic rain and smog, which get into our lakes, rivers and bays. A lot of these chemicals are relentless to the environment, as they do not break down.
Statistics show that about .03% of the planets toxins come from fireworks, every year. That seems very little, but if you add up all the years fireworks have been available, plus all the years to come, it seems … well… wrong.
Although this bothers me, it probably will not prevent me from going to see them again. Even if I decided to boycott these types of events, I would still see them if I were to stand out on my balcony. So, I doubt I will ever stop going to see them. There is just something too magical about a black sky lighting up at night, plus, it makes me smile.
Happy Birthday Canada. Hope you enjoyed the pollution we decided to get you. I know we did.

AND THE WINNER IS....Drum role.....

Thank you to for everyone who participated in my June Giveaway! All names were placed in a hat and one was chosen at random....the winner for June's Free giveaway is...Trenda Plunkett! Trenda won a Planet Playground dress valued at 9.75. She picked 'Cotton Candy' as shown in the picture above!

Congrats Trenda!!

Inside the Playground.......

Planet Playground is my on-line store through etsy.com. I sell infant and children's wear made out of recycled fabrics, and organic fabrics.
I love making infant and children's wear. I think it's because in a way, I never want to 'grow up'. I have so much fun mixing and matching fabrics. I try to make all my designs unique, fun, spunky, and sometimes even breath taking.
I am very much into recycling almost anything I can. I think it is great, it is an easy way to reduce unnecessary waste. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I am the perfect environmentalist, I try my best to do what I can, and I feel like the tiniest things can help. We are all human, and sometimes it is hard to 'be green' 24 hours a day.
This is why I choose to make garments out of recycled fabrics. It is one step closer to living a greener lifestyle. I take beautiful old fabrics like vintage chenille, vintage laces, vintage hankies, sheeting etc and make them new again. All of these items are pretreated and cleaned of coarse. I also love to tear apart old clothes and make them new again. It is so much fun.
I am also getting into organic cotton. For those of you who didn't know, organic cotton is grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. Approx 25% of the worlds pesticides come from traditionally grown cotton. It is very hard to find resources to buy organic fabrics, and it is very expensive for a small store like me, which is why I am currently focusing on recycling fabrics at this time.
The Planet Playground Team
I am the designer, seamstress, merchandiser etc etc. My parents (who live 4 hours away) are a big help with this business. My wonderful mother is the one who finds me most of my unique fabrics. She also gives me suggestions when I have room for improvement in my store (and she is my mother so of coarse I listen to her...most of the time lol) My father is my business adviser who gives me tips and advice and the most interesting stories of when he first started up his successful business many years ago. And then there is my wonderful boyfriend who drives me to see my fabric buyer and business adviser and escorts me to shows where we sell our product.
It is a great team. And it shows through our product.
Please see our store at
www.planetplayground.etsy.com