12 Ways to Clean a Teeny, Tiny Troublesome Vase

I was on the hunt for a teeny tiny vase and recently thrifted one (that's made in England)!  Hubby hates thrift stores but he was with me when I found it, reinforcing my belief that he is my lucky charm and must accompany me on all thrifting adventures.  Hear that?  That's Hubby sobbing quietly in the background.



The vase was a little bit dirty inside and when I brought it home I realized my bottle brush didn't fit.  I really need a set of these Lee Valley brushes.  I tried soaking the vase in soapy water but no dice.  No worries, I had a plan.

I poured in a few drops of undiluted dish soap and let it sit overnight.  Then I taped a Q-tip to a wood skewer and scrubbed gently.  (You can also buy extra long cotton swabs).  All the gunk and dirt came off with just a little coaxing.  I rinsed out the vase and, voila, a new home for my . . . drumroll please . . . first ever real billy button.

You know how much I loved my felted wool version, but now I have the real deal.  In Budapest we got into the habit of buying fresh flowers from older women selling them at subway stations.  This was the only billy button of all the bunches, so I saved it and smuggled it home.

Here are eleven other tricks for cleaning narrow, uncooperative vases:

Most tricks I read about depend on either using some kind of acidic solution or something abrasive, sometimes a combination of both. 

1. Pour in baking soda, salt and vinegar, swish gently and then rinse thoroughly
2. Use crushed eggshells and dish soap and shake gently
3. Pour in fine sand and shake gently, rinsing with vinegar or hot water
4. Add uncooked rice and fill with soapy water, shake gently
5. Use a combination of popcorn kernels and vinegar, swirl around and rinse
6. Chop up ice cubes and add, along with salt, shake mixture and rinse (you can also add some lemon juice)
7. Toss in broken up pieces of a denture cleaning tablet, allow to sit overnight and rinse
8. Use toilet cleaning solution (it's tough on grime I hear)
9. Squeeze in some salt, cotton balls and rubbing alcohol and shake vigorously - the cotton balls will help wipe up what the salt loosens and will slide out easily when wet
10. Use the end of a chop stick, with piece of paper towel or a cloth secured with a rubber band, to gently scrub the the stains
11. Make a bottle brush with a few pipe cleaners twisted together

Here's a tip to keep a vase from building sediment: pour in some vegetable oil, swish it around and then pour it out.  That residue, I'm told, will keep your next bunch of flowers from staining the vase. 

Do you do any of these tricks or have one of your own?

Felted Billy Button Success Story

I love when folks try a tutorial of mine and then tell me (like here and here).  Especially when they tell me it worked!!  Surely you know Emily, from Go Haus Go?  She is one of my favorite bloggers and I wish we lived in the same city (even the same country would work) so we could be pals.  Is that weirdly creepy of me?  Oh, the adventures we'd have.  Like making felted wool billy buttons together.

She used my tutorial and check out her version:

Her billy buttons turned out perfectly, right?  And of course I'm loving her white walls + white bedding + colourful art. 

As a refresher, here are my billy buttons:

So many of you have left comments or emailed me, telling me you've tried an art project or craft tutorial of mine and I am dying of curiosity!  Even if you think it's a flop and refuse to let me blog about it, could I please see?  Pretty please? Please please please?!?  Remember, I don't have crafty friends outside of blogland.  Doesn't that make you feel sad for me?  Sad enough to show me your projects?  I promise your project is awesome and I guarantee it will warrant nothing short of gushing compliments.  Now show me . . . dans.le.townhouse@gmail.com

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DIY Felting Flops & Feats

Don't forget to enter my first-ever giveaway!  I'll draw a winner Sunday, so check back Monday.

I mentioned in my blogiversary post that I really, really enjoy connecting with readers and fellow bloggers.  What especially tickles me is when I get to see people put one of my DIY tutorials into action.  You remember Tamsyn's awesome DIY felted wool billy buttons?  Well, fellow Canadian Krista, of the blog Don't Forget to Breathe, also took a stab at making her own billy buttons and they turned out so well!  Here are some photos:

Check out my tutorial (and troubleshooting) posts if you want to make some of your own (and send me photos).  But take my advice with a grain of salt.  I'm still trying to make my own felted flower brooch and these are the floopy messes I've made instead.  I'll keep at it because in the DIY game you win some, you lose some . . .

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