Natural Solutions For Ant Invasions

I am really trying to not use my can of Raid for Ants, because these black crazies are starting to give me the blues! I just want to run out and get a couple of cans of Fogger to blow up every ant in this house! But as is standard with green and conscious living, patience and a little inconvenience is a virtue, so I did some research on the subject of natural solutions for ant invasions and came up with the following info:

• Find the points of entry and the ant trails (keep notes on where you commonly see ants)
• Apply barriers to those points (vinegar and water, petroleum jelly, boric acid, crushed mint/lavender leaves, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cinnamin, cloves)
• Clean up all traces of the trail with dishwashing liquid and hot water
• Use vinegar and water in your spring cleaning
• Seal tightly or refrigerate all sweet items (honey, syrup, cereal, candy, marshmallows)
• Find the colony and deal with the queen using this solution

Okay, so I am going to try these ideas, but if they don't work......I won't break out the Raid just yet, I will try those little ant bait traps, but if that doesn't work.......

I would appreciate any tips from anyone that would prevent me from resorting to the old school (70's/80's/90's) approach to death by toxins.