Pinterest Tested: Microwave Cleaner

Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? The Craft Patch is the place to find out! I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It's like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!

Today I am testing THIS PIN.

THE TEST: The Pin says you can easily clean out your microwave by microwaving a bowl of equal parts water and vinegar until it boils (about two minutes). Then you can just wipe out the gunk.

I am embarrased to admit that I let my microwave get so incredibly disgusting. I could make a long list of excuses, but is there really one that would make that nasty funk okay? I don't think so!

But for the sake of the test, let's proceed. If you have small children, you may want to cover their eyes:

Ahhhh!!!! The after is so much better! Boiling the vinegar water made everything wipe right off... except those dang back corners. I think I'll have to attack those with a Q-tip.

THE RESULT: Ding, ding! Winner! The steam loosened up all the crud and made it much easier to wipe off. The only downside I can think of is that it made my kitchen smell like vinegar. Not the best smell, but there are worse.

Embroidered Temple Pillow

My best is being sealed in the beautiful Las Vegas LDS temple this weekend. To celebrate the event, I made her a throw pillow with the temple embroidered on it.

I found this gorgeous cream fabric at one of my favorite stores, Home Fabrics, and used a shade lighter embroidery thread to outline the temple. The coordinating piping adds a finishing touch.

I started by printing out a line drawing of the temple and taping it to the back side of the fabric with masking tape. My fabric was pretty see-through, so it was easy to see the black lines on the front side.

Then I started embroidering. It took forever. Good thing I had a bunch of stuff saved on the DVR to keep me company. I went straight through the fabric and the paper. I used about three packs of thread.

When I was completely done stitching, I tore all the paper off the back. Because it was already perforated from all the needle holes, it came off pretty easily.

 A close-up of the embroidery:

The last step was to sew it into a pillow.

Because I used such luxurious fabric and piping, I think the end result is elegant. It would have a completely different look if I had used burlap, linen or cotton…more of a homey, country look, which would be really cute too. Depends on what you think the bride or groom would like!

Pinterest Tested: Homemade Cooking Spray

Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? This is the place to find out! Each Monday I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It's like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!

Today I am testing THIS PIN from Nature's Nurture:

THE TEST: Can I stop buying overpriced cooking spray and make it at home?

To make my own cooking spray, I bought a little spray bottle from the dollar store and filled it with half water, half vegetable oil.

Then I gave it a good test...I made scrambled eggs. This is what they looked like:

The same as any other time I have made eggs.

The second test was with a batch of cookies. I sprayed half the pan with store-bought cooking spray and the other half with my homemade cooking spray. When I took the cookies off, this is what the pan looked like:

Pretty much the same on both sides.

THE RESULTS: It seemed to work just as well as store-bought cooking spray. Making my own will be significantly cheaper than buying the stuff from the store. Plus it's just oil and water---no added chemicals or fillers. I think this Pin-test is a winner!

Update: This does not work as well for food that is really prone to stick. My homemade bread will  not come out of the pan with just this spray. But it does work for most everything else, so I'm still calling it a win.