Baking Soda Baby Love and a $25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway
This sweet baby belongs to one of my girls.
She is near and dear to our hearts. And doesn’t she look nice?
My girls’ Bitty Babies are very WELL loved…
So well loved, in fact, that last week Bitty looked like this.
Oh poor Bitty! You need a bath!
Have you ever tried to clean ink and paint scrapes from a baby doll face?
Well soap and water just aren’t going to cut it…
You already know what I’m going to say. I’m just that predictable. I know.
It’s baking soda to the rescue. Again.
All you need is a damp soft cloth. Dab the cloth into some baking soda and gently rub Bitty’s face clean. Rinse any residue with a damp clean cloth.
Oh now, that’s better. She’s not perfect… but much, MUCH better. Who needs perfect anyway? If she was perfect that would mean she’s not well loved. Now she looks well loved and CARED for.
Good night sweet Bitty. Sleep tight.
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And now for another $25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway Sponsored by Arm & Hammer’s Switch & Save Challenge.
To enter, leave a comment on this post answering: “Have you ever rescued something old and beloved?”
The Rules:
- Contest closes on Thursday, July 21th, 2011 10:00 MDT
- Only one comment per person please.
- Random winner will be announced on Friday, July 22th
Be sure to head over to the Arm and Hammer Switch and Save website and enter for a chance to win $25,000! How fun would it be to win $25,000?! I’m quite sure girls would want to buy a new outfit for their Bitty Baby dolls.
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This is a sponsored post for Church & Dwight Co., Inc, the maker of ARM & HAMMER branded products, who is compensating me to try different products. Save 50¢ off two 2lb or 4lb boxes of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. And be sure to visit The Switch & Save Challenge to tap into more resources and enter to win $25,000.
That doll is so sweet. Yes, I have rescued something old and beloved. I delicately washed the first dress I ever wore as a newborn (a dress my mother had sewn for me) and my daughter was able to wear it.
I clean almost everything with baking soda! Keeps everything sparkly and fresh!
I have patched up an old quilt with a hole in it. I am glad you were able to save the doll! :)
Does an old, leather horse halter count :) ?
When I was little, I had a favorite blanket that took everywhere. It became so ragged with so much use that my mom took it away so that I wouldn’t rip it to pieces. I recently found it while going through some old boxes and I am in the process of cutting it up into usable pieces to make a quilt out of it. Hopefully some day I can give it to one of my daughters!
My youngest daughter’s baby quilt. It was pieced together by my grandmother and is “falling apart with love”. I keep patching it and she keeps loving it.
The Bitty picture brings back such memories!!! American Girl played a HUGE part of our lives for many years. Enjoy every minute!! YES! A&H Baking Soda rescues my beautiful china teacups every day from the hard water we have…couldn’t enjoy my treasures without it!! V
I’m big on recycling, so I’m always ‘rescuing’ something that would go in the trash to be used for anther purpose whether a glass jar to hold items in my pantry or patching a hole in a pair of socks to get a few more months out of them.
I recently rescued a very old sugar and creamer set. I’ve been soaking the creamer in bleach water to try to revive it. It seems to be usable, but the stains are so deep and permanent, after three days of soaking, I’m not sure the stains will lift. I have used baking soda to clean out an old refrigerator, and it now sparkles.
Can’t remember rescuing anything, but this is a great idea to use on my girls dollies. Thanks for sharing!
I rescued some old mugs from long time ago. Baking soda is a life saver.
My daughter’s hand sewn bunny from the evil orange crayon that made it’s way into the wash.
I refinished a dresser that my parents got when they were newlyweds. It had been painted (sorry Mom!) a truly horrible green, and I stripped it down, and stained the wood a pretty cherry color.
Something old and beloved…Hmm…Aw! I know. My baby blanket. She had some makeup stains from when I was a teenager and a few little tears. I actually used baking soda (no joke) to help lift those decade old stains and learned to thread a needle to mend the tears. Now the blanket is abused daily by my daughter.
I haven’t yet, but I sure need to! I’ve got a beautiful knitted afghan that my grandma made for me when I was little, and it has some holes that need to be repaired.
I rescued an old tape that had writing and stickers all over it – sanded and repainted!
No I haven’t. I seem to just love things until they aren’t savable anymore. Like my grandmothers quilt, many of the fabrics are destroyed and there is no way of saving it, so I just love it the way it is. :)
My future mother-in-law gave me some french crystal that needed to be cleaned up :D
I rescued some of my Great-Grandmother’s kitchen utensils from the yard sale! I still use her sifter!
One of the ranches I grew up on had an old school house on it. When I was back in Wyoming in March, I found a VERY old bench that was not looking so good in the school. I took it back to Nevada with me, and with some good ol elbow grease, paint, and love, it is now a beautiful addition to our home.
YES! I was able to rescue an old set of sea shell covered ducks my great grandmother had made – baking soda to the rescue because of the age of the items. It was so easy to clean them – once they were all clean everyone wanted them in my family.
I just rescued a teddy bear from my son – he just moved out on his own and was ready to toss the little bear but I just couldn’t let it go.
When I was pregnant with our first child, I cleaned up my husband’s old dresser, painted it and put new hardware on it for the nursery. Looks great!
Baking soda is great for making old fixtures look new again!
Sewing buttons on a favorite sweater or shirt is my speciality!
I love to recycle/repurpose – you end up getting twice the life out of something!
I turned a worn out shoe into a decoration for my mom.
She still had it and was actually using it as decor the last time I was there. She said she likes it.
Yes, I’m a big fan of rescuing well loved items. I’ve recently been restitching one of my daughter’s blankets that she loves!
I rescued and old quilt that needed some tender loving care along with some patching and sewing. It was so worth the effort.
i rescued my dad’s baby quilt that my grandma made and it needs some cleaning- i will have to try this
tcogbill at live dot com
I have rescued several old quilts from the family ranch. They are precious!
I patched up a teddy bear I’ve had since I was 5 for memory’s sake.
I rescued an old toaster. With a little baking soda and a wet soft rag, it looked brand new. You know the old toasters make the best toast ever.
Dana
I decided to preserve the western outfits my Grandmother made me 50 years ago. She would make tiny shirts and pants with yokes and pearl snaps and then to top it off she made horse blankets that matched my outfits. I framed the outfit in a large shadow box style frame and put a picture of me on that mean Apoloosa in the corner of the frame. She was an amazing woman and I aim to live up to her sewing skills, she instilled the love of sewing and creating for your family in my Mother and me.
I have finally decided what to do with some of my husband’s favorite old t-shirts (not so much the shirts but the actual memories they hold). They will hopefully be making their way into a Memory quilt that will clear out at least one if not two bins and highlight his beloved years as a sports camp counselor at BYU. (Personally I will be more excited about the extra bins – but he will love the quilt I think!)
Yes – I rescued my great grandmother’s doll – had some help from the local doll “hospital” – they said the head was from before the civil war!
It turns out the secret to keeping those old porcelian dolls legs from smashing together and breaking is to tie an old wooden spool between them.
I rescued a quilt that belong to my great grandma. She made it herself and it was falling apart but a little patchwork here and little washing there by hand and it turned out great! :)
When I was a little girl, I rescued an amish still doll from the dumpster. Even dirty and a little ragged, I saw her beauty. And I wanted her bad. So we took her away from that old dirty place, and took her to the ‘doll hospital’ (aka my mom’s sewing basket). We patched and mended, then washed and dried that little doll till she was like ‘new.’ And I had that doll for many many years.
yes, I rescued a baby quilt in a garage sale. It was worn out and faded, but definately not ready to be given away. I haven’t washed it yet, but i know it will turn out okay! Thanks for the baking soda hints. I use it all the time to clean things. I think it works good on jewelry too.
I can’t say that I rescued anything that I can recall but would need to anyway to extend the life of the item and save some money.
I’ve rescued a few old quilt tops. I love it when they’ve been patched, washed and are ready for many more years use.
I cleaned up some old dishes – the baking soda worked wonders!
Old forks! I use them in my garden for plant markers.
PS You need to get the book-The Best Loved Doll. It is one of my all time favorites.
I used a baking soda scrub to get stink out of my dog.
I’ve used ‘barkeeper’s friend’ (and some elbow grease) to get out all that baked on gunk from my pots and pans. SO satisfying and they look just like new afterward!
I fixed up an old table. My husband and I were moving into our new house, and the table was just all wrong. It was a burnt orange shade, the paint was chipping away and it just really need updated. When my husband was gone on a month deployment, I sanded the table down, put a bright white paint on it and then tiled the top of it (bordering the top tiles with a mosaic tyle pattern). It has a very beachy vibe to it – which was exactly what we wanted our living area to be (my husband is huge on sailing and has a large painting above the couch with a man sailing). Definitely won him over when he came home!
Not that I can recall.
I cleaned up two rusty Griswold cast iron pans that were from my father’s family. They hadn’t been used in decades!
I have probably saved many a thing from the trash heap. I’m a hoarder! But in the best sense of the word though! :)
The most recent is an old mailbox that I spray-painted and turned upright and used for a flower pot on my front steps.
I love using old things to bring new life! A badly painted and forgotten small dresser that I stripped and repainted. It’s drying in my garage until I can bring it in to its new home!
I rescued a beautiful old cabinet that was being used to store oil and chemicals. Cleaned and repainted it and it is a beautiful part of our decor!
We found an old dress that had been made for my husband’s grandmother by her grandmother. Her parents had come across the plains as pioneers– and had some harrowing experiences. We washed and starched it and my daughter wore it to her pioneer day celebration (carefully supervised by me). :-) It was such a treat. My husband’s grandmother died recently, and we have a side-by-side frame of grandma and my daughter in the same dress. I tear up every time I see it.
Yes. My mom saved so many things from my childhood that I regularly come across “old and beloved” items in my mom’s garage that my own daughters could get some use from. The latest example was a 35 yr old Playschool boat with accessories for the bathtub.
I’ve saved lots of things over the years, but one of my favorites was the dresser I used as a baby; my mom, dad, and hubby helped me repaint it–no more bright yellow with orange and green flowers; we painted it white and stenciled racecars on it for my little boy. It was a hit!
My nearly 5-year old daughter has a lovie that she’s LOVED for her entire life. It’s a bear and his ears are lined with satin. She rubs the ears as she’s going to sleep and has worn them out. I’ve had to patch both ears to satisfy her.
I have saved most of the wooden toys from my four children. I have a sweet little rocker in my attic that was mine as a child, and then my own children used it. I am going to paint it again soon for my granddaughter to use.
I’ve patched and saved a lot of things in my day but the one I’m most proud of was an antique Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt that belonged to my neighbor. It was hand stitched from start to finish and was lovely. One of the “flowers” was worn through. She asked if I would fix it. I was honored and terrified. To work with a quilt that was old and completely hand made was a fabulous experience. I was able to make a new flower to patch the old and when it was finished you really couldn’t tell.
I have not rescued anything, but I am starting to use baking soda for lots of stuff. I didn’t realize how much it could do!
I rescued my mom’s old souvenir tourist plates from trips we took when we were little. No one else wanted them, so I cleaned them up and grouped them in a little vignette in my family room.
In college I took a favorite pair of jeans that had become too worn out to wear modestly and I turned it into a skirt with lots of fun scrap fabrics from my mom’s closet. I wore it for many years and have decided to store it away just in case the ‘hippee’ stage comes through when my future daughters are big enough to fit into it.
I am definitely not the crafty type but once we got a blanket at a garage sale, what was in the style of an native american blanket (I honestly don’t think it’s real). One corner was faded and the threads came loose so I used needle and thread to patch that beauty
Thank you for hosting this giveaway
Louis
pumuckler {at} gmail {dot} com
No, I am not very crafty.
I have! I saved some really antique linens that my great-grandmother handmade – they were in horrible shape destined to be thrown out. I had to boil them on the stove with borax, soak them in Oxiclean, and finally the worst of the yellow/brown stains were gone! Yay!
Thank you for this tip. Our Bitty Baby looks just like yours before the Baking Soda clean-up. I’m off to clean her up and surprise my girls a clean baby in the morning. Hmm, I wonder if Baking Soda will take some ink drawings off the leather seats in my Tahoe? Keeping fingers crossed!