Homemade jewelry cleaner

A while back I was looking for a sterling silver cleaner for a few pieces of my jewelry. The store stuff reeks and is just nasty in general. Silver paste was just too much work for my tiny jewelry and for big pieces as well. So I searched the internet and found baking soda, aluminum foil and boiling water. It seemed too simple. I was doubtful but it was cheap, I had the ingredients and well, why not.

WOW!! It takes like 30 seconds, although you can leave it in for longer. My silver charms were so bright and silvery again.

So here I am months later and my gold jewelry cleaner is a bit watered down and not cleaning my wedding ring as well as it used to. I have gone to the store to price the cleaners and I just don't want to pay $5 or more. I wanted to make my own, less toxic cleaner.

Many recipes I saw had ammonia in it and dish detergent. I do not have ammonia on hand. I do remember it smelling awfully strong and "toxic".  Dish detergent worked ok but it still had some tarnish in the stone settings.

Other recipes I saw had a few extra ingredients to the homemade silver cleaner I found a few months back. In addition to the foil and baking soda and boiling water, they also called for salt and dish detergent. Well being lazy, I thought, why not just try the same recipe I used on my silver minus the salt and dish soap.

It works really well. My ring is so bright and sparkly and that tarnish in the setting is gone. Apparently it's silver but don't tell my hubby, he thinks silver is cheap. *eyeroll*

So from now on I will be using baking soda, foil and hot water to clean my jewelry. Everything I have read says it is safe on all metals and most jewelry. Obviously anything glued may come undone due to the boiled water. It says it is safe on pearls although I would think it would dry them out. So I would just continue to clean those with a barely damp cloth and buff them dry.

I love cheap and natural and I know some of my friends do as well. I just had to share my experience with this in case you have heard of it but doubted it. All you have to do is :

place a piece of aluminum foil in a bowl
place your jewelry on it
cover the jewelry with baking soda (enough to cover it, but I had shaky hands and dumped alot, oops)
pour boiling water over all that (enough to cover all of the jewelry)
wait 2 to 3 minutes
rinse and dry with a soft dry cloth

Try it..it's cheap and easy.

Here is a link for pearl care:  http://www.pearloasis.com/care.html

Grace by Max Lucado

Grace : More Than We Deserve  Greater Than We Imagine by Max Lucado


I don't think we really understand the word grace. I know I didn't. I thought of it as something you say before you eat, a pretty girl's name, an adjective describing someone's personality or ability to do something. What is grace? What can it do for us? Max goes into great detail in his book with typical Max style.

Grace happens in big and small ways everyday. Max's book is full of examples. He describes biblical examples such as Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, and the ungrateful servant who went and threw a man into debtor's prison for a small debt owed right after the king forgave his enormous one. He also gives examples of modern day people. People like you and me going through things that we may be going through too. People like Victoria Ruvolo, the Amish in Pennsylvania whose daughters were killed by gunman Charles Carl Roberts, and Max Lucado himself who describes times when he was given grace by those around him and God.

On the back cover of this book several questions are asked: Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace? and my favorite: Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace? Grace is God given and it never ends. It is abundant and overflowing according to several versions of 1 Timothy 1:14. It is sufficient for us, for in our weakness He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I really enjoyed this book and as an added bonus it has a discussion guide in back so that you can use it as a personal devotional or a group study. I always enjoy Max Lucado's books because he brings a unique God-given perspective to godly subjects. But the point in all of his books is this: God wants us. He is so desperate to have us in his family, to be with Him and fellowship with Him. He went to the extreme to give us a way to overcome the sin that separates us. To cleanse us from that sin, He sacrificed His son. Because of this cleansing, He floods us with love and grace. We only have to accept Him and He will fill us to overflowing until we are drenched in His love and mercy and grace.

One more point to make and it is this: If God is so very gracious to us, should we not be gracious to those around us? Whether they are deserving or not, because we certainly are not.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Breakthrough by Jerry B. Jenkins

When I got this book I expected a good story and I got one. I had only intended to read a page or three a day so that I wouldn't finish it too early since I was instructed to wait to post my review until September 19th. Well, that didn't work. Once I started reading it I devoured it in 2 days. I could not put it down and was constantly on the edge of my seat.

So here I sit 3 weeks after finishing the book, finally posting my review.  It was good. It is part of a series and I felt a tad lost when it would reference his past stories but, that did not detract from the story.

Boone Drake is the main character and a newly appointed bureau chief.  After a series of unfortunate accidents (may have to read the first books to get the background and for more reading enjoyment) he is finally getting his life back on track. He is newly married to Haeley, adopted her son and most importantly rediscovered his faith.

But as in all good stories the poor hero must go through more trials. A kidnapping brings Boone to Beijing and into the world of human trafficking at a time when Haeley needs him the most. Boone relies on his skills and those of his fellow officers to remedy this situation before it's too late for the child.

Jerry B. Jenkins is a good story teller. He keeps you rivited from page to page. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action stories. 

I received a complimentary copy through the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for a review. I was not required to provide a positive review and all opinions are my own.

Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

Girls have many challenges facing them these days. They are facing them at younger ages than generations before them. As parents how are we guiding them, equipping them to make wise choices. This is the ultimate guide to raising our daughters - written by a trusted family counselor, Dr. James Dobson.

I picked this book because I wanted to see what specific things  he would say about girls. I have read Dare to Discipline and The Strong Willed Child. I read those two books at a time when I felt that my 3 older children were handfuls. Let me just say now that years later my fourth makes her three older siblings look like easy and laid back children.

I was definitely impressed with the way he wrote this book and has current information which is relevant to the issues I am and will be dealing with. I should say "we", as I read many passages to my husband, who is not a reader, so that we could both implement Dr. Dobson's suggestions into our teachings.

I probably underlined half of the book. I needed to have places I could go back to, so that I could remember what was suggested for each situation I encounter with my youngest daughter. I would strongly suggest to anyone with a daughter to get this book and take his advice to heart. I know that with prayer and Dr. Dobson, I may just survive raising this last daughter and she may actually survive childhood and become an admirable and beautiful young lady.

Miracle for Jen by Linda Barrick

Miracle for Jen is an amazing true story about a family whose lives are changed when they are hit head on by a drunk driver. It is a story about their road to recovery and a deeper faith in God. Especially for 15 year old Jennifer who has a severe brain injury and the family is told she may not live through the night.

Her mother wants her daughter to be healed and whole again and begs God to make her normal. But God has another plan, one that involves answering Jen's journal prayers in a way that no one would ever imagine or ask for. When Jen finally wakes she can not remember anything or anyone but knows the words to many worship songs and scriptures. She can hardly form words except when she sings worship songs and prays to God.

This story is inspiring. It made me long for a deeper relationship with God. I was jealous for what Jen had even though I would never wish for the way it happened. Jen desired to be a bold witness for God before the accident but she was terribly shy. She often wrote in prayer journals asking God to give her a boldness and the words to say. She asked Him to change her life, to give her a testimony. God answered.

Sometimes we may not like the way things happen in life but God's ways are so much higher than ours. We don't see the future and what influence our struggles may have on someone else. We have the choice to gripe and complain or to praise and worship. We go through seemingly impossible and unfair things because He sees the greater purpose for us down the road. He loves the weak because His glory will be all the greater for that weakness.

God was able to use Jen to spread the gospel even if by our standards He didn't heal her completely. Jen often said in this story that God heals her everyday. He never stops healing. I want to say so much more about this story but that would give the whole book away. It is a must read.  It is a life changer if you allow it to be.

I received a complimentary copy through the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for a review. I was not required to provide a positive review and all opinions are my own.

A really cute book.

A young polar bear asks her grandpa why we must love others, even the unlovable, when some otters disturb their quiet fishing trip. Grandpa tells her; "Anytime we show love, Little Cub, we're sharing a bit of His love."

This little book was cute. My daughter really liked it. It tells a story and demonstrates how we are a treasured gift from God. It also lets us know that we are to share the love that God gave us with others even if we don't think they deserve it.

There is not much else to say about this book without writing down the whole story for you.  The story was written so that the young can understand it. the illustrations are colorful and attractive.

One part I found hit home for me was when little cub tells her grandpa; "I love the otters. I just don't like them right now." There are many times we all feel that same way with the people in our lives.

We are to love everyone all the time. Even when it is difficult for us to do so. God gave us all kinds of love, such as the love between friends, spouses and siblings. But the greatest love He gave was from Himself. He gave us the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, so that we will never be separated from His love once we chose His gift to us.

I received this book for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers and was not required to write a positive review.

Healing Is a Choice: 10 Decisions That Will Transform Your Life and 10 Lies That Can Prevent You From Making Them by Stephen Arterburn

"The power to heal-physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually-is in God's hands. But the choice to be healed is ours. Everyone, at some level, needs healing. In this book, Stephen Arterburn outlines ten choices crucial to receiving healing and ten lies that can prevent us from making them. Readers will find the wholeness God desires for them in a practical and prayerful way through this book."

I struggled to get through this book. Not that it wasn't good or relevant for so many people. I just didn't feel it was relevant for me.  He made many good points in this book through pointing out the truths and lies of healing. It did make me rethink many things, for example: the ninth big lie.. Until I am completely healed and strong, there is no place for me to serve God. We have a choice to serve regardless of what we are going through. We can let our "illness" work for God's glory or bring us down into misery.

Many of us go through life struggling with emotional and physical pain thinking God and I will work it out and when we really need to connect with someone to help us through it. We can connect with professional counselors, pastors, others who have gone through the same problems and have overcome them or a trusted friend or spouse. We need to avoid disconnecting ourselves and from relying solely on prayer and our own faith.

Galatians 6:2 " Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (NIV) There are many out there gifted by God to help each individual with his or her problem. We need to connect with these people. God does not want us to struggle alone.


I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.