simple solutions: killing fruit flies

spring has sprung. the weather here in the south is already pretty hot and with the warm weather, the bugs have started to invade. i'm originally a california girl and i was always used to black flies all summer long. now that i'm in the south, bugs take on a whole new meaning. there are bugs from the first warm day until the first frost...a. lot. of. bugs.

i can't say that i'm a fan. with my kids running in and out of the house a thousand times a day, they are inevitably going to make it indoors. fruit flies or gnats (as we called them in cali) are literally everywhere. 

here is a simple solution to kill the fruit flies that make it into your house. these ingredients are natural so you don't have to worry about little hands getting into things they shouldn't.

first, make sure the fruit in your house is either kept in the refrigerator or is completely covered. covering your fruit may work to keep fruit flies out of the fruit but they are crafty little devils and will manage to find a way. we keep our bananas in the microwave and try to keep all other fruit in the fridge. that has helped to keep some of the fruit flies away. also, as tempting as it is, avoid leaving the doors or windows open with just a screen in place. fruit flies can go right through a screen and will invade your whole house.

once there are fruit flies in your house, here is the way to attract them and kill them.

pour about 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into a bowl. add about one teaspoon of dish soap (i love mrs. meyer's dish soap and method dish soap because they use natural ingredients. they work perfectly for this). avoid using too much dish soap as the bugs will not be as attracted to the smell and it won't work as well. here is the result...only three flies dead in about an hour. 

with just the right amount of dish soap, you will have scores of flies dead in less than an hour. it is amazing. dump out your dirty, bug filled vinegar every day and keep repeating until you are bug free. it works like magic. enjoy a bug free summer!

simple solutions: easy baby proofing

simple solutions: easy baby proofing

when i was pregnant with each of my kids, i couldn't live without my goody rubber bands. i not only used them to pull my hair back everyday, but they were used to hold my non-maternity pants together for months after they no longer fit. i might not have been very glamorous but i was functional...and during pregnancy, that's about as good as i get. they are perfect little bands of magic.

once i had my babies, a new problem arose. i had to somehow keep my sanity in my kitchen where my kids constantly wanted to pull things from the cabinets. i tried several options. 

all the options served their purpose but i hated opening the different contraptions to get to my cooking items. i hated it. really. hated it. i have pinched my fingers, broken plastic, smashed my hands, and shaken my fists at all the crazy things i have purchased. 

then one day i grabbed one of the rubber bands that i had lying around and wrapped it around those pesky cabinet knobs. it was so simple it was stupid. and it worked perfectly. it slips on and off in one second (literally) and it still manages to keep little hands away from places they shouldn't be. an added bonus? the hair bands also come in the colors of most cabinets so blend right in. so simple and so easy!

for knobs that are really close together, you may have to twist the band or wrap it around the knob a couple of times. it continues to work well.

we even use the bands to hold drawers of dvds closed. it keeps the drawers closed just enough that little hands can't get the dvds to throw all over the family room. 

the best part of this simple solution? you can baby proof your whole kitchen for less than $5.00. that's something i can get really excited about.