A while back, I started keeping Bentley’s dog treats in a mason jar (check out that post here). Since then, I ended up buying him a new treat tin (this one from Harry Barker). Now that the dog treats have new digs, I wanted to use the mason jar for something else because, well, there are about a bazillion and a half different things you can do with a mason jar.

The only problem is after storing dog treats for 8 months, the mason jar now reeks of dog treats – even after washing it several times. So I did what any red-blooded American would do: I turned to Google. During my search, I came across an article entitled, “How to Remove the Skunk Smell From the Inside of a Car”. Thankfully, that’s not what I needed, but for some reason I found it funny and it piqued my curiosity… how do you remove skunk smell from a car? According to the article, The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (that’s a mouthful) recommends thoroughly washing the area under your car with a dry mustard and water mixture. If it works for skunk smell, it must work for dog treat smell… right? Greg is leaning over my shoulder saying this is actually my “hypothesis”. Geek. Even though I’m not looking to use the mason jar for anything food-related, I liked the idea of a natural solution as opposed to using harsh chemicals, so I decided to give it a try.

I filled the mason jar with warm water, then added about a teaspoon of ground mustard (same thing as dry mustard). I shook the mason jar for a minute and let it sit overnight. The next morning, I dumped the nasty yellow liquid and ran the jar (and the lid) through the dishwasher. Lo and behold, the dog treat smell was gone! Better yet, there wasn’t even a hint of mustard smell. I imagine this method would also work with the Rubbermaid containers that had the leftover garlic and herb pasta in it for one day too long. Oh, and of course, skunks ; )

My mom gave me this set of vintage Pyrex mixing bowls a while back, and I’ve been wanting to display them in our glass cabinets. The only problem is, being up on a high shelf, you can’t see all three bowls or the aqua blue retro-looking detailing very well. And ya’ll know how I love a good “Martha blue” accent. I needed to find a solution.

So, I went to Michaels and picked up two blocks of green Styrofoam - the kind you use for floral arrangements. Two micro-seconds later… Bada bing bada boom! I didn’t even bother unwrapping the Styrofoam because otherwise, it would eventually flake off and make a mess.

By adding the Styrofoam blocks, not only do you get to see the retro detailing, but it also adds height and more visual weight to this section of the cabinet. It’s an easy fix, and it solves two problems at once! Holla.

Last week, I made some yummy taco soup for dinner (recipe courtesy of Kevin + Layla). Along with the soup, I chopped up some raw onion to go on top. And yes, it was delish! The only thing was, after the taco soup was gone, the the onion smell stayed around – even though I double-bagged the onion and wiped down the fridge twice! We all know the put-a-box-of-baking-soda-in-the-fridge-trick, right? Rather than just stashing the open box in the fridge, I put the baking soda in a glass shaker jar…

Putting it in a container like this exposes more baking soda to the air inside the fridge. The reason baking soda works as a deodorant is the sodium bicarbonate neutralizes acidic particles in the air (aka: the source of a lot of bad smells). Greg told me that, can’t you tell? On the flip side, a shaker jar is just prettier than a cardboard box – and you know how I get when pretty and practical meet. It’s awesome. The end result: Goodbye onion smell!