Spruce Your Nest: cleaning

For me stats are not about looking to get an ego boost, or more commonly in my experience, to be humbled ;-) they are about much more than that...

Without looking at my stat page I would have no idea what posts you all are enjoying or where my projects may have been featured.

Without my stats I would have never known that my post popular post on Pinterest has been my tea light wall art, or that it was featured on The Styleist Section of the Huffinton Post!!

Or that my hutch was featured on the HGTV Blog!!

There have been times where I almost didn't hit the post button because I thought no one would care about the silly review or project I did and it turns out it is one of my biggest hits?!

Who would have thought my Air Freshener Review would have been even read by one person, let alone be one of the top 3 posts I have done!?

Of course stats can be disheartening when I hear the crickets chirp when I post something that turns out to be my favorite piece in our house, like my Wall Decor from a Hutch...

But that's okay...my stats don't rule my posts or what my home decor will look like. I only post when I feel that I have something worthwhile to look at or to say, which you all know is not everyday ;-)

I do however think it is a fabulous thing to have the opportunity to feel like I can get into a my reader's minds a bit by seeing what they like.

Thank you to all of you who read my posts and surprise me by Pinning my projects! I am amazed every single day of the kindness and loyalty you all have. I never imagined in a million years that I would have even one follower, besides my mom ;-)

If you have a little of this...

or this...

or a couple of these...

in your home, like I do, then this post is for you!

Ok, so I am a little obsessed with a clean smelling home, but I also have 2 dogs, a kids still in diapers and I LOVE to cook...which doesn't always go hand in hand.

For instance ~ I make yummy Tastes Like Lasagna Soup {which by the way is the best soup ever!!} for the family, clean dishes, go to bed, head to church the next day and when we return (with guests) I walk in the door and want to die with embarrassment! All I can think about is that they are probably looking for any excuse to run out of our house because they can't possibly hold their breath any longer! Why is it that some smells just take over the house!!

The only thing that is worse to me than left over food smell is a bad air freshener. I will spend an hour in the candle isle with my daughter smelling all the candles and walk away with the perfect candle only to light it at home and have my dear husband walk in and say, "what is that smell?!!"

I have recently Pinned a couple interesting alternatives to making a house smell fresh.

First I thought I would try out this tea light in coffee idea. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck with this method. I was super bummed because I LOVE the smell of coffee. But only by the time my tea light was almost burnt out, could I finally get a little whiff of coffee. I would go through a million tea lights this way.

So I thought I would give this DIY plug in a try.

I am happy to report that it worked like a charm! I bought some Peppermint oil and put it in there with a little water and plugged it in and whalah! Our house now smells fresh and inviting! Also, a little side fact, peppermint is hated by these little guys...