Liquid Laundry Soap

Don't you just love being Self Reliant?

Anywho, the other night at Enrichment we had a laundry soap making class. I've never tried to make laundry soap. (I tend to be pretty picky about my laundry soap.) But, this soap is amazing. And it's WAY cheap! I haven't actually bought the ingredients yet for myself. But I did catch a glimpse at someone else's receipt and they did great for how much laundry soap they got! $10 (with tax) for 6 gallons of laundry soap! I mean hello! Amazing! hehe

Plus, it doesn't "sudz" so you can use it in a front loading washer and know it won't hurt it.

Okay, onto the recipe!


1/3 Bar Fels Naptha Soap (5.5 oz bar)
1/2 Cup Washing Soda (not baking)
1/2 Cup Borax Powder
1 TBSP Essential Oil (You can find them at Michael's)
(2) 1 Gal Plastic jugs with lids

Step One-
Grate soap (we used cheese graters) and put into large saucepan with 6 cups of water over medium heat. Heat until water and soap melt.
Step Two-
Add washing soda, borax and oil. Stir until oil is dissolved. Set timer for 5 minutes over heat and stir occasionally. Remove from heat and let sit another 5 minutes.
Step Three-
Using a funnel put 1/2 of the mixture in each 1 gal jug. Fill each jug 1/2 way with hot water and shake. Finish filling the jug to the top with hot water, and shake again.
Step Four-
Set aside for 24 hours. And when soap is gelled and looks like egg whites your soap is finished!


Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup per load. (Depending on size)
Optional- Use 1/2 cup Vinegar to act as a softener for your clothes

Some of the lady's chose to buy a 5 gallon bucket and mix everything together and others (like me) chose to just use a 2 quart juice container. Personally, I'm glad I used the smaller containers so it's easier to pour into my mixing cup and re-shake since sometimes the soap and water separate...

Have Fun!! :D

She's One Busy Bee

We've been nice and busy this past week! We got to go down to the Tri-Cities area and spend some time with Tim's family. Tim spent the majority of his time out on the boat fishing with his uncle and I got to do card making with Regan while Allie hung out with Michaela and Jordan. Then the next day Tim did more fishing and Allie and I snuck off with Melissa. She even treated me to a pedicure while she took Allie out for lunch. Did I mention it was Tim and I's birthday's? And that we got to see Eclipse? Best movie out of all 3 of them. The acting was WAY better, the special effects were awesome and they actually looked "pretty" instead of really washed out "fake" vampires. I'm excited for Breaking Dawn. :-)

Anywho, even though we were only there for 2 1/2 days Allie was one Busy Bee! Here are some pictures from her adventures this week...

She Swam just about every chance she could...

She drove around like Big Girls do...

We had to say hello to the Moo Cows!!

Of course we picked flowers!! ;-)

We spent a morning picking Raspberries with Melissa and Oh man did she LOVE it! :-)

So yummy!

We soaked up some summer sun...

The kitty was missing it's twin girls who were off visiting there Dad. So Allie got to step in and let the kitty snuggle and play with her...she didn't mind! hehe ;-)

She could not stay away from the horses!

Thanks for looking! Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Courtney

Toddler Blocks

This is WAY late. But the beginning of June I came across this shop on Etsy. Really cute shabby chic toys and decor for your little one. And I'd been wanting blocks for Allie to play with so she could stack them and of course throw them around a little...ya, NOT! LOL That's probably the only bad thing about them. Giving her the ability to throw in 2" blocks everywhere. And then of course trip over them when you've got a arm full of laundry! ;-)

Unfortunetly, I wasn't really happy with the seller. It took me alomst a month to get my order. :( I wrote her about 2 weeks after i put my order in and she hadn't even shipped them yet but didn't let me or any of the other buyers she had she was very overwhelmed and couldn't pay attention to her shop. So another 2 weeks later I finally got my order. BUT, I really like the blocks and the fact that it came in a cute little kit so I'm not really complaining to much. The wait just stunk. ;-)

Anywho, I thought I would do a little tutorial on how I did them. Because they were SO easy! And you can probably get everything you would need at Micheals or a local craft store.

Here's what you need:

- 2" Raw wooden blocks. (I got 12)

- 72 images to make your set.

(You can use anything from family pictures, to the letters of the alphabet)

- Glaze and Varnish

- A sponge brush to apply the Glaze and the varnish

- A file to sand the edges

Now, before you get stared lay out all of your images. And put together what you want on each block. I messed up and just started putting what I wanted on the blocks and so i have like 3 blocks that just have numbers on them instead of a mix of numbers, letters and pictures.


Then take just a little drop of some of your glaze and brush it onto your block. Then place the image you want onto the surface. Rub until all of the bubbles are gone. And repeat on all 6 sides. Let the blocks sit for a good 30 minutes before you continue.



Once you're done with that set your blocks should look like this:

Now from here you can just leave the paper the way it is and add the varnish onto it a couple of times. Wait a good 15 mintues in between each layer of it and then you would be done. Or you can follow these next directions:

Take a regular nail file and file the edges of the paper away. I liked mine file off a lot but you can do it just a little bit too. File each 6 sides and repeat on the other blocks.

Once you're done this is how your block should look. I even filed a little on top of the picture to "age" it even more. Wipe excess dust off with a dry rag and clean your work area a little.

Okay, ya with me so far? ;-)

So the last big step! You'll take the Varnish and add just a little drop again, (I would wrinse the brush out you used with the glaze first) and apply to all sides. Let sit for a good 30 minutes between applications. I applied the varnish 3 times just to make sure the paper was good and covered...

And here's your final product!

Aren't they so adorable? Well, I love them. And we've used them a lot since I put them together. This was a really fast project. Once I had everything it just took me the day. And I mean "day" by: put the varnish on, wait 30 minutes, do a load of laundry, then come back and do it again "day".

Happy Craft Day!

Courtney

Common Kindness

For those of you who coupon you have to check out this site. For every coupon you print (and yes they're free to clip) CommonKindness.com will donate 5 cents to a charity of your choice. :-) It's very awesome. And you feel like you're doing a little bit of good by saving you money! Even better.

Have fun saving!

Courtney

Spoiling my Kitchen

So I mentioned in a couple of posts before that I would share part of my anniversary gifts my husband bought for me. So for the past couple of weeks I've been using them and Oh man were they worth every penny! They weren't really that cheap...which isn't something I would normally buy but hey, It was my anniversary without a little one so I felt completely okay with buying something tooo expensive that I normally would have never done and ended up spending my money on something for Allie instead! Sound Familiar? ;-)

Anywho, something that I hate when I'm cooking is getting food on the counters because you have no where to put your spatchula. Or you put it in a laydle and you still end up having another step for clean up (having to wash it out). So most of the time you end up having you counters that look like this:And especially if you're already limited on counter space. And in this apartment we are definetly short on counter space.

So when I came across this obvious space caver kitchen "tool" I couldn't resist!

Isn't it the coolest thing ever! Works amazing and now I don't have anymore kitchen counter mess to clean up after I'm done cooking. And I feel kinda horrible since I cannot remember what store we went into and I threw away the packaging so I have no idea what it's even called. LOL But, I'm so glad it's mine and I get to brag about it! ;-)

Now onto the next thing! ;-) I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake. I would bake something everyday if it wasn't so bad for you. hehe I love the way your house smells when you do! (including doing laundry) It's so inviting to smell something yummy being baked when you walk into someones house! So I picked up these silicone molds for cup-cakes.

I loved the summer colors of this set. They had a bunch of different ones you could choose from but I thought these were cute and fun for the summer season. So, I whipped up some yummy blueberry muffins and got baking.

It says on the back to make sure you spray with Pam first before filling them with your batter.


Filled them up and got them in the oven. YUM.

And then I pulled them out and...WHOOPS:

I filled them up to much!!! LOL They were still yummy tho.

So a few days later I made some healthy banana bread with wheat flour and wheat germ (SO GOOD BTW) And they were "healthy" so I didn't feel bad about eating almost all of the cup cakes I had made! hehe ;-)

SUCCESS! :-)

The yummy banana chunks melting over made them even more yummy. The best thing about the molds is they are so easy! The bread just slipped right out. No more flipping over the pan and watching as all the cup cakes go flying everywhere, no more forks trying to pry them out of the pan. Just easiness...lol is that even a word?

To cute. Way worth getting. And it's been lots of fun in our kitchen.

Hmm...what's next for dessert?

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous day! :-)

Courtney

Finger Puppet Fun

So I've been a little bored since we've been in Spokane. You'd think I'd be used to all the waiting! ;-) And since Allie now is VERY busy in church these days I've been trying to find an activity for her that would keep her entertained for a good portion of sacrament.
Well, I came across these finger puppet patterns on: http://www.theidearoom.net/ I love love love her blog. Always something new to do and it's never really that hard. Anywho. I bought her patterns and I've been one busy bee since then.

I bought the patterns for $3.00 that included 18 puppets and a little over $3.00 on the felt. Way cheap! And I had to run out and buy a hot glue gun, glue, a marker, eyes and sissors since mine are all still in storage. :( But I think I spent about $10.00ish dollars for just aboput everything. And if I had waited until I had all of my stuff I probably would have only spent about $8.00 So, I'm finally all done with all 18 of them and i even came up with a Bee. He's really cute. Until you look at his mouth! LOL

The Elephant's my favorite. To cute!

And my top 5 Favorites are the Cow, Horse, Lion, Elephant, and the Frog.

And most importantly, Allie LOVES them! And man am I glad! Cutting all of those little tiny peices out sure was time consuming!! I was originally planning on making a couple of sets for some other toddlers that I know but after sitting down and making a set I've realized it's just tooo crazy to think I could make even another set! LOL

But it sure was a lot of fun. And I'm really happy with them! can't wait for my DIY Block Kit comes that I ordered from Etsy! :-)

Courtney

Happy 3rd Anniversary

So this is a little late. I've been trying to put more effort into my blog. And actually sitting down and keeping all of my thought's Out-Side of my head instead of inside! LOL Tim and i were able to sneek off for our 3rd anniversary last week. And man it was SO worth it. Tim and I missed celebrating together this past year since he's been deployed and he'll probably be deployed for our next anniversary (tear) so we went all out this year! And, I'm so glad we did. It was such a great way for us to re-"connect" with eachother and get back on the same page. We checked into the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane and enjoyed the valet parking!! ;-) Let me tell you, such a beautiful hotel. I loved all of the character and sadly the only picture I got was a picture of the the old mail shoot. Very cool. I wanted to get a picture of the original box they sent the mail to...but, i forgot!


Then, we made it to our room. And my oh my was it nice! King size bed, with granite counter tops and marble floors in the bathroom with a HUGE shower and a nice deep bath tub that Yes, I enjoyed all to myself! The crazy thing is you can go down to the "gift shop" and buy the bed, bedding and the mattress.






I SO wish this was my counter top in my bathroom. So pretty. The brown granite was to die for..well not really but, you know what I mean! lol

After we checked out the room and hung out for a little we headed down to the spa for a couple's massage. The most wonderful spa experience I've ever had. It makes me want to take my resume in and go back to work. Ah, so nice when I worked at the spa. The best job I've ever had. No drama, so relaxing all the time, and I just had a blast helping people relax and pamper themselves. Hmmm? who knows. Maybe one day...anywho, had a fabulous massage and then relaxed next to a fire place together with some cider until we finally peeled ourselfs off the couch and got dressed. I think we were ready for lunch so that's how we got away from the spa. If not we seriously would have spent all day there...

So we headed off to PF Changs down the road for lunch (so delicious!) and did some shopping. I got these amazing silicone cup cake forms. I can not wait to try them. (I have to let you all know how it goes!) And these awesome laydle holders. I hate when you get food all over the counters and then it dries and you have to soak it with cleaner before it comes off. It makes me want to make dinner right know so I can try them out! hehe JK I started to not feel really good so we went and took a load off for a few hours before dinner and enjoyed relaxing in our room. When all of the sudden I realized I didn't know where Tim was. Then all of the sudden a knock came from the door and it was Tim with a dozen Roses and the most delicious Godiva chocolates.

I forgot to take pictures of them in the hotel so I snapped a quick pic here at the apartment...
So Pretty! I love the purple mixed in with the roses.

SO, after our very filling lunch and choclates we had reservations at the Clinkerdagger restraunt right next to the river. I have no idea how I ate so much food! It kinda was an overload but at least it was good right? hehe ;-) Tim ate all of his 20 OUNCE stake! LOL

I didn't think he was going to be able to do it after all the food we'd eaten all day but he did. Darn, lost the bet! :( We had such a great view too.

So far I love everything about Spokane! There is so much to do here. We've done so much already and it seems like everyone I talk to they end up telling me of something I haven't heard of yet. :-) Such a happy camper!

We ended dinner with a complitmentry dessert. Whew, SO MUCH FOOD! LOL And headed to the IMAX theater and saw Iron Man 2. Wow, a movie right! That's been a while. And even though it was just Iron man it was really nice to see a movie. Hopefully, I'll get to sneek away and see Twilight saga:Eclipse! Anyone want to come?

Happy Anniversary babe! I love you!


Thanks Melissa for watching Allie for us! We really appreciate it. You're an amazing woman! Love ya! :-)