1. got glue

    April 26, 2013 by Lauren

    got glue?

    uni nar

    this is the latest chalkboard sign in the window at the Burlap Bag.

    (if you’re a little slow on the understanding…. horse + horn = unicorn, whale + horn = narwhal. And it’s a ven diagram. CMON PEOPLE)


  2. diy goo gone

    April 24, 2013 by Lauren

    Here at the shop, we give people $1 off their next candle purchase if they bring us their previous candle jar once they're done with it. And we've had TONS of people return them - which is awesome! What's not awesome: having to take off all the label stickers and clean 'em out so we can reuse them for más candles.

    Well, luckily, there's an awesome way to make your own goo gone (or sticky-stuff-be-gone-mixture). Or whatever you wanna call it. AND IT'S SO SIMPLE!

    DIY goo gone:

     

    diy goo gone

    Are ya ready: (you better be. it’s soooo complicated)

    Mix together equal-ish parts baking soda and oil

    You can choose whatever type of oil you want. Vegetable, canola, olive, sesame, coconut if you’re feeling tropical…. 

    We tried it with both canola and sesame because that’s what we had lying around.

    Form it into a paste – obviously add more baking soda if you think it’s too liquidy, more oil if it’s too thick.

    Then, spread it onto whatever has that icky sticky residue and leave it for a few minutes. Then come back and wipe it with a sponge/cloth. You might hafta work for like 15 seconds at it if it’s a super sticky thing, but it’ll come off so much easier than if you had no homemade goo gone and tried to use your fingernail (and breaking it in the process!).

    I accidentally left it on one jar for an hour and then came back to AMAZENESS to clean up. I literally just wiped it with a sponge and goodbye sticky stuffffff.

    What’s awesome about this:

    -It’s completely made of foods you can eat. (I mean, don’t. It would taste sick nasty. But what is even IN real goo gone?) sidenote: I saw another post online for homemade goo gone and it included GASOLINE as an ingredient. Umm… what??! Does it get more gross/smelly/toxic than gasoline? 

    -It’s sooooo easy and cheap to make yourself! Baking soda is 48 cents online. 48 CENTS! Plus it’s completely customizable with whatever oil you want.

    DSC_7036

    and if you’re missing that “goo gone-y” smell with this homemade goo gone… never fear. Grab some orange essential oil and it’ll be smelling just like normal! Or you could add peppermint… or lemon…. or or or…..

    do be careful about what materials you use this on, please! try it on a small area first. it worked great on glass. but don’t come crying to me because your blah blah blah got ruined - i warned ya!


  3. free clothing swap!

    April 18, 2013 by Lauren

    We're hosting our THIRD free clothing swap! The first and second one were a blast... and we figured it was time to host another one! (also, we were cleaning out our closets and I had so many awesome things that I want to give to others!)

    free clothing swap I made this awesome kitty cat graphic for the event… because I can.

    Ok. So if you’re here in Austin and a lady, come hang out with us on April 28th from 4 to 5:30! (and RSVP and invite friends HERE!)


  4. Keep sponges on soap dishes

    April 13, 2013 by Lauren

    Ok. I've seen a tip floating around on the interwebzz. And personally, we like the way we do it more than this tip. So we thought we'd share. But. If you like that other way, then AWESOME. You can still read our blog and we can be interweb friendz.

    Here's our way:

    Keep sponges on soap dishes to let them dry out.

    Keep  sponges on soap dishes to let them dry out - The Burlap Bag

    We just use a wooden soap dish – and it lifts our sponge up off the side of the sink so that it can dry out! (our exact soap dish here) They are so cheap and great at not letting our sponge mildew. And I’ve noticed they don’t smell as bad as when you just leave them on the counter!

    Why a soap dish is awesome: You just place the sponge on it and WALK AWAY! It might not dry it out AS much as the binder clip would, but our sponges dry it super fast.

    Ok – now the other one is still a super cool idea of using a binder clip to lift up the sponge.

    sponge

    My problems with it: I don’t wanna hafta attempt to open up a binder clip when I have slippery wet hands. I can barely open those suckers sometimes! (boohoo, my hard life, i know :) )Also, I don’t like that it leaves a huge indention (and even tears) at the sponge. I’m cheap, yo! Also, it looks kinda silly being upright like that. Just bein’ honest.

    (also, I just noticed that tear and tear are spelled the same way but sound different. It must be impossible to learn english! If you tear up my sponge, my eyes will tear.)

     

    Ok. Well. That’s all. Two tips for the price of one. Except you know which one is obviously the better one (ours). :)