Suds

Two weeks ago I ended up doing a load of laundry at the laundromat instead of at home.  I of course forgot the laundry detergent (the homemade kind here) and bought some Tide from their soap dispensers.  And I LOVED it.  It worked and smelled SO much better than the stuff I had been using at home.  I didn't want to just start buying pre-made laundry detergent because it is so inexpensive to make your own, so I have found a new recipe to share with you all.  I have been using it for about a week now, and it works MUCH better than my old recipe.  My clothes come out a lot cleaner, and they smell good, too!

For this recipe, you will need:

1 (4lb 12 oz) box of Borax

1 (3lb 7 oz) box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 lb of oxyclean (I just use the least expensive brand of oxygen cleaner, in this case, Sun Oxygen.  A 6 lb container is still cheaper than a 3 lb container of brand name oxyclean, and it is pretty much the same thing.)

2 5.5 oz bars of Fels-Naptha Laundry soap bars

4 lb box of Arm & Hammer baking soda

1 28oz (Or 55oz if you want more scent) container of Purex Crystals fabric softener

All of these ingredients can be found in the detergent aisle of Wal-Mart, and a lot of other grocery stores as well.  It cost me just under 25$ for all the materials, and this filled a 5 gallon bucket halfway.  You only need 1-2 Tablespoons per load, so that is a LOT of laundry detergent for 25$.  In the end it works out to be 6-7 cents per load of laundry, which is still a pretty good deal.

It is super easy to make, just grate your bars of soap, (that is the hardest part) using the smallest sized grater possible.  I have a grater specifically for this, so I don't mix my soap with my food.

Then just add all the remaining ingredients, which doesn't involve a lot of measuring because you are generally adding whole boxes of things.  You can either weigh your oxyclean, or if you bought a 6lb container than just dump half of it in.

Then mix it all up!  I find it easier to layer my ingredients, i.e. half the borax, grated soap, purex crystals, baking soda, washing soda, and repeat the layers so that it is easier to mix together.  I think it looks kinda pretty....

One of the best parts is, if you used the Purex Crystals brand of softener, then the container is a perfect dispenser for your new laundry detergent!  The purple cap has lines on the inside of it, and the center line is roughly two tablespoons!  Genius!  :D

*Regardless of the title of this post, this is a low-sudsing detergent and perfectly good to use in HE washers.

Mason Jar Mystery

A fantastic idea that I found online the other day~

Using a mason jar with the blender!  Turns out, the mouth of regular Mason jars is the same exact size as the one on the bottom of your blender.  Who would have thunk it?

Shortly after realizing this, Andrew and I made an emergency trip to Wal-mart to get some supplies. ;)

First, you put 1/3 cup strawberries, 1/3 cup blueberries, and an orange wedge in the mason jar.

Next, you fill the far with some sort of dark juice, any mixture of cranberry or grape juice.  Here I'm using cranberry, but I think it tastes best with cranberry-pomegranate juice.  Put the lid of the blender on...

And just blend it in your blender as usual.  This is so easy, and super cool!

Not to mention yummy.  I adapted this recipe from a larger one I had so that it would fit inside a mason jar.  The recipe for a full sized blender is below. :)

Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie

8 ounces of pomegranate juice (can substitute any dark juice)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 of an orange

1 cup ice

Place all ingredients in blender.  Process until smooth.  If it is too tart, add a little drizzle of honey.  This recipe makes a little more than 16 ounces.  Not only tastes good, but it is good for you!

Enjoy!

Ice in the brakes?

We have been having some car issues lately, and we have a shop that we can use for the next week.  So for this next week we will be doing several repairs to both of our vehicles.

Andrew getting the brake booster our of the car

 I (Cristina) lost my brakes last week when it was really cold, so Andrew took my brake booster and and master cylinder out to check things out...

  

This is a picture of the inside of my brake booster.  That brown lump in there is actually ice..... No wonder I couldn't stop!

Projects on Andrews truck include taking off the side steps, (In the wintertime they hold snow and ice against the doors of the truck resulting in a lot of rust) fixing the windshield wipers, (one is slightly bent) taking off the plow frame, and grinding away rust and welding sheet metal back on over the holes.

Here is a picture of our research/Cristina's blogging station:

Add caption

Here we look up parts on Napa or Auto Zone to price them out.  They are both closed today because it's a federal holiday, but tomorrow we will hopefully be ordering parts.

 

Here is our tool station.. Andrew is breaking in his new tools that he got from his parents yesterday.  I think he has wayyyy too much fun with them!

We are now in the midst of dropping down the oil pan on my car.  (It has a leak in the bottom, and the side..) We are going to try to fix it, and if we can't, we will have to order a new one of those as well.

 

Thanks for reading!

Little People

The other day I was babysitting the kids (Patricia, Moriah, Noah, and Jonah) and so we made gingerbread cookies!

Patricia cutting gingerbread cookies

I think it's safe to say that all had a great time making the batter, rolling and cutting out cookies, and then decorating them.

Noah cutting Christmas cookies

Our Christmas tree... taken from the woods out behind the house

Later that week we experimented with making Christmas wreaths.  They came out pretty good, and they weren't very hard to make at all.

Cristina making a wreath

We used two wire coat hangers as a frame, then wrapped them up with floral tape to make them non-slip.

 Here is Patricia working on her wreath:

Needless to say, wreath making is messy business.. This is about half the greenery that was on the floor when we were finished.

The end product.  In the woods out behind the house we found evergreen with little pine cones.  So cute!

One morning Andrew and I went for a walk down the road to pick some winter berries.  We were going to add them to a wreath, but we decided that the wreaths looked better without them, so we used them to decorate a windowsill with. :)

Driftwood Scents

While we were away on our Honeymoon, we picked up some driftwood while walking on the beach.  Andrew had the idea of burning our name onto a piece of the driftwood, and putting it all together to make a ring holder, so he did!  I think it's pretty awesome.. We keep it above the kitchen sink so that I have a place to put my rings while I do dishes. :)

We also made what I thought was going to be our last little batch of applesauce and apple butter.. 

Little did I know, that when I went to go pick up my last paycheck for the season, I realized the trees were still loaded with apples, and I picked up another couple bushels of Empires to make more apple butter and applesauce with.  I was so excited I forgot to grab my paycheck on the way out... Oops.  I guess I'll have to go up again! ;)

Before we got married, Andrew and I found about 40 little glass jars at Savers, and thinking we could put tea lights in them for centerpieces at the wedding, we picked them up for just under $10.  After we bought them, we found out that we weren't allowed to light tea lights in the function hall.. bummer!  Instead, I had the idea to make candles with them.  However, the scents that we bought for this project were not made specifically for scenting candles, so they did not mix in with the wax, resulting in a very weak smelling candle.. We are going to try using herbs from my garden and see how that works out next.  We will post more about this when we have perfected the art of candle making! :)

~Cristina

The Abode

And we're back again with another post!  This time, we are going to show ya'll a few pictures of our new apartment.  It is small, but a perfect starter home for us.  :)

Our welcome mat. I was looking at all these nice, pretty ones, you know, with nice designs and flowers on them, when Andrew comes over and shows me this one.  Love it!

When you first walk in, there's the kitchen.  We've been doing a lot of cooking!  We're planning on making some more applesauce and apple butter next week sometime.  One thing I love about this place is the windowsills.  Because we're on the basement level, they are really wide- perfect for putting plants or flowers on!  One downside (for me anyways...) is the ceramic sink.  I have already dropped and chipped a couple dishes in it.

Our cute little pantry!  There are shelves on the other side as well.  Perfectly sized for spices and smaller jars and cans.  :)

'Behind every successful person is a substantial amount of coffee'
Andrew put that one up.... :D

Our coffee pot and toaster oven-  Andrew really enjoys being able to make a lot of coffee at once, and the toaster is a great energy saver when we use that instead of the oven, we don't have to heat up the whole oven for just enough food for two people.  We can fit a full sized pizza in this thing!

This hutch came from Andrews parents- his Grandfather built it.

Our music/computer room.  On Sunday afternoons, Andrew will play on the piano or guitar as Cristina crochets a blanket.

A hutch that came from my Aunt Faith.  In the lower shelves, there is all the china that came from my Great-Grandmother.

A wedding present from one of my friends from Camp, Beth.  :)

A wedding present from the Merritt Family.  Mrs. Merritt painted it for us. :)

A painting that my great-grandmother did, back in '98 I believe.  It hung at my parents house for as long as I could remember, and I loved it, and it got to come with me when I moved! :)

A clock that Mr. Schulte made for us

Apples and a candle on the kitchen table

And last but not least, the book/tv room!  We hang out a lot in here. 

Thats all for now!  We just got a CD of wedding photos, so we will be sorting through and posting some of those pictures soon. :)

~Cristina

By request... A pic of the bathroom and two of the bedroom:

what a slippery situation we have.

Today we made our own laundry detergent and glass cleaner!  It is way cheaper than buying it in the store, I made 2 gallons, and it cost me about 75 cents.  So it is costing us just over a penny for enough laundry soap for one load of laundry.  It doesn't take very long, either.  It took me about 20 minutes to do this first batch.  The recipe is posted below:

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above

½ cup washing soda

½ cup borax powder 

~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

To make it smell like something other than soap, you can add essential oils, 1/2 an ounce to 1 ounch per batch.

Today I used an Ivory soap bar rather than a Fels Naptha soap bar, which I usually use.  I don't think it melted as well as the Fels Naptha, but it still worked. :)  

If you want a recipe with a larger quantity, I will post my Mothers recipe down at the bottom of this post.  It makes 10 gallons rather than just 2.  Great for bigger families!

Next up is the glass cleaner!  Super quick and easy to mix up, and all the ingredients are stuff people usually already have around the house.  I used it in the bathroom earlier today, it works great!  Just be sure not to add too much dish soap, as that is what leaves streaks.

Glass Cleaner

1/2 cup ammonia

2 cups rubbing alcohol

1 teaspoon dish soap

1 gallon of water

Mix ammonia, rubbing alcohol, and dish soap into a gallon sized jug.  Add water to top.  You can then just keep refilling your Windex bottle with this.

Side note!  In this post I have been mixing different household cleaners together..  I got the recipes from people I know.  Please do not mix any household chemicals together without researching them first, it could cause a dangerous chemical reaction!




10 Gallon Laundry Soap Recipe




4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)


-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.