July 19, 2012

DIY Laundry Detergent

So as I stated my family is trying to become a little greener, not sure what shade of green we plan on getting. I mean somethings are just a little to green for me like homemade pads, or toilet paper. Sorry but that is just to green for my taste. However, I am very interested in homemade cleaners and using less chemicals near my family. I decided since we ran out of our usual detergent (All Clear) we were going to try a DIY Laundry Detergent. Which I must say is way cheaper then my All Clear. I was skeptic at first and maybe even second load. However it really truly works just as great as my regular detergent.

My children have sensitive skin and a lot of things make their little skin freak out. This however, did not have any effect on their skin. I got my recipe from pintrest (which is a God sent for crafters I swear). This particular recipe came from Yellow Brick Home which is a powder detergent.

The Recipe

 You’ll need Borax, Fels Naptha soap, and washing soda:

 1) Grate an entire bar of Fels Naptha with a cheese grater into a bowl
 2) add 1 cup of Borax
3) 1 cup of the washing soda
4) mix.

SO easy and Cost me about $10.00 and I have enough borax and washing soda to make about 3 more batches so add on 3 more bars at .98 I am spending less then $13.00. Each batch gets me between 40-50 loads of laundry because you only need 1 Tbsp per load. (warning do not get nervous because it will not suds up but it is working).

Since this was my first time I wasn't trying to cook the detergent to make it liquid. However, I found some great recipes for liquid detergent at one good thing by jillee who is amazing as for as I am concerned. As I get used to it I may try making it into a liquid detergent next time.


My next great experiment will be liquid fabric softener and homemade shout out spray. Wish me luck....

July 12, 2012

A new driving force for my posts

I haven't been on my blog in so long I wasn't sure it was even still here. There are many reason for my severe absence and many are dealing with family obligations. As I have said before I have two cuddle bunnies a son who is now 6 and a daughter who has now turned 4. They keep me very busy with karate, tball, swim lessons, dance lessons, recitals, church choir, basketball camps, and soon football. I enjoy them being busy but it does not leave much time for momma bunny to be creative or at least blog about it. We also completed a move last summer that has taken us from Southern GA to Southern Maine which is a huge difference (even for this Northeastern girl). I have not lived in a Northeastern state in over 9 years ( that is crazy to even contemplate by the way). We were muddling through our first winter, which the locals say was mild but it took some time to re-acclimate or for my kids to acclimate at all.


Our winter kicked off early with snow for Halloween, which  I was not prepared for since I never had to worry about putting jackets on with their costumes or layers for that matter. I did get a chance to be creative for Halloween and make some pretty awesome costumes. My daughter was Minnie Mouse, My Son was Batman ( I reused parts of a costume I found at good will and made if fit along with a homemade cape), I made costumes for a friends family the scarecrow, the cowardly lion, oz, and the tin man (which was my favorite).

However then the holidays came and I got bogged down with that. Then I got into a rut of not sewing or being creative which is pretty odd for me. I love making decorations, and Christmas gifts. This year did not happen. The most creative thing I did was rack up my pins on pintrest (which doesn't make me creative through osmosis, it should though).

Lately though I have missed being creative and have found some new interests I am pursuing and will be including in my blog. Along with showing off my creative side I have decided to make my family greener and take all of you on the journey with us. I should warn you my husband is quite hesitant but has decided he will go along for the ride at least inside the home. I have been doing a lot of reading and research on ways to be green. The more I read the more I realized 2 things were happening 1) I was totally freaking myself out with all of it and 2) I was becoming overwhelmed by the amount of information. So I decided to slow it down and start small with things such as homemade cleaners (which work pretty well and we will talk about in upcoming posts), unpaper towels which I love (future posts), educating myself, and learning to shop for better foods. The last will come from educating myself, and along the way maybe passing along some great information to you as well.

What does this mean for my blog? Well I will still be showing some great DIY projects and sewing things. My blog isn't going to be all about going green, and Eco-friendliness. I will be sticking to my roots which is my calling to DIY and my family (which is where the going green part really comes in).

So I hope you will stay with us and follow our journey to going green and healthy. Along with some great crafty projects I have lined up. I promise consistency with my post.s
See Pumpkins and snow to crazy for me
Making Snow angels on October 30th
That was a really big costume
Tin man is awesome



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