DIY Laundry Detergent

This DIY is a huge money saver and it's easy to make! It is a very simple recipe and is great for those with allergies or skin irritations because it's made with all natural ingredients. You can make a powder or liquid. I always make the powder because it's easier to make and store.

Here is everything you will need:

I wrote my recipe on the old yogurt container that I keep the laundry detergent in so that I know exactly what to do for the next batch.... but believe me, this stuff lasts a loooong time.

You will need to shred 2 bars of soap. Many recipes call for Fels-Naptha soap, found in the laundry detergent aisle, but really any old soap will do. My cheap ass got a great deal on a huge box of Ivory soap, so that's what I use.

*Tip- Buy a separate grater for your crafty projects. The cheap $1 variety works fine. You don't want your shredded cheese to have a slightly soapy taste :)

This is what the grated soap looks like. I like to separate my recipe into two yogurt containers during the prepping/mixing time to avoid a mess, but this recipe will fit into one yogurt container.

Borax is key in this recipe, aka sodium borate. It can be found in the laundry detergent aisle of most grocery stores. The brand I found is called 20 Mule Team.

Next up is Washing Soda, aka sodium carbonate. Common baking soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, cannot be substituted in this recipe. Like the other ingredients, it's easy to find in the laundry detergent aisle.

And here is the finished product. You could add a couple drops of essential oils to make it smell nice, but you really don't need it. Using homemade laundry detergent makes your clothes naturally clean, you'll forget about that artificial smelling laundry stuff that you used to use.

DIY Laundry Detergent
2 bars of soap (such as Ivory), grated
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda

Use 1-2 tbs per load of laundry

But what about DIY stuff for the dryer, you ask? I'll show you how to do that next time!

-Amber

DIY All-Purpose Cleaner

I love homemade cleaning supplies! They're fun to make, they're cheap, and they smell alot better than the chemical stuff. First up, I'll show you how I made my own all-purpose cleaner.

This is everything you'll need. I used an empty all-purpose bottle that I had just finished up, but you can use any empty bottle you've got. Measure out the hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, castile soap, and essential oils, then funnel them into the empty bottle. Shake it up, and you're ready to start cleaning!

I recommend using tea tree oil for this particular mixture because it's a natural disinfectant. The two oils, peppermint and lavender, are purely for good-smelling purposes only. use whatever oils you would like!

This is castile soap. It can be used for many, many, many DIY purposes. Dr. Bronner's unscented castile soap is the best. As long as you don't mind the crazy (and I mean crazy!) religious talk on the label, it's the way to go. You can find it online or in specialty health food stores. I've heard that dishwashing soap can be substituted for the castile soap, but I haven't tried that yet.

DIY All-Purpose Cleaner

2T vinegar

2t baking soda

~10 drops tea tree oil

~10 drops other essential oils (such as lavender or peppermint)

~14 oz hot water (enough to fill your spray bottle)

2T castile soap

First add vinegar, baking soda, and the oils (you will hear the baking soda fizz a little). Then add the hot water to the spray bottle and shake well. Add the castile soap and shake again. Then.... clean something! :)

Later!

Craft Night!

My best friends in Indy are all old friends from Purdue, and they're all guys. At the moment, all of my guy friends are in relationships with some great girls. I love this because:

1. The farting and dick jokes are kept at a minimum.
2. I can indulge in my ridiculous crafting/projects without ridicule because I now have some partners in crime!

Me and the girls just had our first Craft Night, which we plan to do once a month. Chelsea was the host, and we made yarn balls.

Laurette had made yarn balls before, and this is the example that she brought for the group.

Cute, right? Throw a couple of these in a basket, string several together to make unique garland, or make a large yarn ball and use it as a lantern. Here is how you make them.

Mix school glue or Mod Podge with water in a small bowl, make it fairly watery. Then soak a long piece of yarn in the glue mixture. Blow up a balloon (the bigger the balloon, the bigger the yarn ball, duh). Wrap the gluey yarn all around the balloon, like the girls are doing in this picture.

A couple of tips:

• Before you put the gluey yarn on the balloon, wipe the yarn off a little with your fingers. The yarn soaks up alot of liquid, and it's easier to handle on the balloon if some of the liquid is removed.
• The smaller balloons are much easier to handle than the bigger balloons. I had my heart set on making a big lantern, but after a couple of attempts, I just couldn't get the yarn to stay in place. I settled on a set of little yarn balls. But next time, I'll be ready to tackle the lantern project!

 This balloon was only covered halfway with yarn, to make a small basket.

 Here are all of our creations, waiting to dry.

 We used glasses to keep some of the balloons upright while they dried. Once we ran out of glasses, we started using these plastic mini-cups. Either way works great.

 Look at these loopy circles that Chelsea made, so cute! Try experimenting with different types of ribbons, or even lace.

We then let the gluey, yarn-y balloons dry for about two days. You might need to rotate the balloons once to make sure that they are drying evenly. After that, pop the balloon inside, and then pull the balloon out.

 Here is my finished product!

I haven't quite figured out what to do with them yet, but for now, they are on top of my TV stand.

First Craft Night- success! Except for the whole lantern thing, but oh well :)

Happy New Year!

Hello, blogging world!


It's a new year, which means it's time for new years resolutions. My big one for this year is to start a blog. I've never tried it, so we'll just see how it goes. And if you're reading this, let me know if you love it, hate it, have any advice for me. I'm new at this so I'm open to suggestions.


I decided to make this blog all about the many projects I like to work on. I often get asked to write down recipes or instructions, so this is my way of spreading the project love. Posting status updates on facebook just wasn't cutting it anymore. And if I know that I have to track my progress on projects, it'll make me more accountable to finish them :)


Let's start out with Christmas gifts. My favorite gift that I gave my family and friends this year was homemade lavender and vanilla extract. It is super simple to make.... are you ready for the recipe?


Vanilla Extract

• 1 bottle vodka
• ~10 vanilla beans (I used Madagascar beans, but Tahitian beans also work. You can find these at Whole Foods-type grocery stores, but for price and quality, I recommend amazon.com)
• optional: fresh lavender, orange peels, anything you want to add to make your extract unique.

1. Split the vanilla beans in half, lengthwise.
2. Add ingredients to vodka bottle or separate into smaller glass bottles with lids (I used empty Starbucks Frappuccino bottles).
3. Let the bottles sit in a dark area for 3 months, shaking the mixture every couple of days.

BAM! That's it! Add some stuff to vodka, let it sit, and then you've got extract. Super simple. The vanilla beans will continue adding flavor to the vodka for up to a year, so just keep refilling your bottle with vodka as you use up the extract. Or you can do what I did, put the 3 month old extract in small bottles, slap a label on it, and give it out as gifts.

My favorite present that I got this year was this bracelet from my Aunt Pam.

My grandmother passed away in 2011. She was definitely the matriarch of the family, and the holidays just won't be the same without her. The beads on this bracelet were made from the flowers at my grandma's funeral. The flowers were dried and processed into a powder, then made into bracelets for the women in the family, and tie clips for the guys. My grandma was always a stylish lady, it's very fitting that I have a piece of jewelry to remember her by. I love it, what an interesting way to make a new object out of something meaningful.


My second favorite gift is my Silhouette Cameo!!

It's a digital cutting machine, similar to the popular Cricuit machine. The major difference is that the Cricuit uses cartridges, the Silhouette hooks up to your computer like a printer so you can design whatever you want. And you can cut cardstock, vinyl, fabric, whatever. I probably haven't sold you yet on how amazing this thing is, but believe me, it's AMAZING! So many cutting projects to come....


But for now, my New Year is being spent with my sick dog.

Somebody decided to get into the garbage during the holidays, and is now paying severely for whatever she ate. Now I have to play doggy nurse to make sure she stays hydrated and out of the vet office. I hope she learned her lesson!


Later!