Boiled Orange Peel & Cloves

So first of all, my goal on this blog is to experiment with all those pins that are out there on Pinterest and see if they ACTUALLY work, how good they are, my personal opinion on them (for what it's worth). Obviously, this won't work for ALL pins on the Site, as some of them are just cute pictures of puppies and the rad things that people who are much cooler than I have done. So this blog would be for all those DIY, Crafty McCrafterson, YES! You can! pins that exist in the Pinterest world. It is for all you do-it-yourself-ers who don't have the time or want to experiment yourself with the gazillion pins that are out there.

So for my very first, maiden post on this blog, I decided to do something easy, because I, myself, don't have endless time on my hands (although this probably makes it really look like I do when in reality as I write this my three kids are destroying my house.. but I digress...). So here it goes...

THE PIN: Boil orange peel and cloves to get rid of unpleasant smells in the kitchen.

From the page http://www.glamumous.co.uk/2013/03/101-household-tips-for-every-room-in.html

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Saucepan

Water

Orange Peels

Whole Cloves

Easy enough... A saucepan... CHECK. Water... of course CHECK. Orange peels, CHECK (I used peesl from "Cuties"). Cloves... crap. Where are cloves when you need them? Since it is currently colder than the dickens where I live and I am a warm-weather soul at heart, I was not inclined run out to the store. Note to self... get supplies before you try out the Pin next time! Okay, but I DO have ground cloves... close enough! Ground cloves it is! Below is my picture which, as you can see, is not as pretty as the Pinned picture since my kids peeled the oranges and pretty much destroyed the peels, threw them in the trash, got coffee grounds on them, dug them out and THEN put them in the saucepan. Even better... add coffee smell to the goodness! So here is my attempt:

So now is for the part where I tell you what I thought about it. Take it or leave it - you won't hurt my feelings. I am a middle school teacher, after all!

COST: $ Extremely cheap. We already had the oranges, plus my kids got a healthy snack. BONUS: If you use the little oranges (and your kids are like mine), they are more willing to eat them because they are "kid-sized" (except my son... he'll eat almost ANYTHING!)

DO-ABILITY: + Extremely easy. Throw in some orange peels, water, cloves. The hardest part is peeling the oranges, and I made my kids do that.

THE SKINNY: Despite my skepticism, the oranges and cloves smell filled up nearly the whole house (at least the kitchen and front room) and it covered up any of the other questionable smells I had going on. It did only last an hour or two but it was very strong during that time.

THE GOOD: Easy, cheap, some supplies already on hand (saucepan, water)

THE BAD: You can keep adding water, but the smell really only lasted for about an hour (two tops).

PIN OR BUST?: This one is worth a try! Go ahead and pin it. Next time your garbage or wet dog is filling your kitchen with not-so-desirable smells (if you're like me you often have this problem), give this a try! It costs next to nothing and you could even mix it up a bit. I am thinking... fresh rosemary or basil, apples, grapefruit.., the possibilities could be interesting. Stay tuned for that!

THE LAST WORD: I would suggest using real cloves, if you have them. Even though I did not for this experiment, it seems like it would add a stronger aroma. Maybe I'll have real cloves next time but probably not. Happy pinning!