Some Homemade Cleaners Recipes

Lately I’ve been scouring the web for homemade cleaners, and I thought I’d share my findings.  My reasons have been more for financial benefits than ‘going green,’ but most of these will definitely help keep some of the toxins out of the home!  You’ll notice there are only a handful of ingredients…I purposefully chose first the ones that would be the cheapest for me to make, and I figured if I didn’t like the results, I would then try some of the more involved recipes.  I can happily report that I’m very pleased so far!

All-Purpose Cleaner

equal parts white vinegar and water

a few drops of your fave essential oil for a pretty smell (completely optional)

This works really well for just about everything, even the bathtub.  Of course, if your tub is really grimy (ahem…), you can sprinkle on some baking soda to help scrub it all off.  If you skip the oil, you can also use this as a window cleaner.  I found out the hard way about the oil…

Laundry Detergent

1 bar of laundry soap (Fels-Naptha, Zote, Ivory), finely grated

1 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)

1 cup borax

Mix ‘em all together, and use 1-2 tablespoons per load.  I use Fels-Naptha because it’s what my grocery store carries, and I’ve never had any residue left behind.

Fabric Softener

white vinegar

Just fill your washing machine’s fabric softener dispenser or a downy ball, and walk away.  Otherwise add about a cup during the rinse cycle (who has time for that?).  *Note* Sometimes you can smell the vinegar when your load is done, but as soon as it goes through the dryer, you’re good to go!

Drain Refresher

mix 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup salt and pour it down the drain

then pour 1 cup of heated vinegar down the drain (it will fizz and bubble)

let it go for about 15 minutes, then run hot water for a minute

I did this one today after noticing an unpleasant odor coming from the sink (I didn’t have any lemons or oranges around to use in the disposal).  Smell be gone!

Homemade Febreze

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup liquid fabric softener

1 tsp baking soda

Just mix them up in a spray bottle and voila!  Obviously, if you’re looking for a green product, the fabric softener is not going to fit the bill.  I suppose there are green fabric softeners out there, though.  Also, there are a lot of recipes that use vinegar again, but since that smell is around until it dries, I knew it wasn’t what I was looking for.  I often only remember to use Febreze when someone is coming over to hide the stale diaper smell that likes to hang around here!

These recipes are all over and there are tons of variations, but these are some that are working for me.  If you have any of your own to share, please do!

Digital Scrapbooking

There was a time that I loved to scrapbook.  Actually, I still love to scrapbook, however, it has become a difficult hobby for me to maintain.  Supplies get expensive and space to spread out around here comes at a premium! 

Enter Digital Scrapbooking!  I learned of this from my husband’s cousin (thank you, Facebook), and when I saw her work, I knew it would be a much better fit for me.  You don’t need much, and once I got my layout software, I haven’t paid a penny for this hobby.  All of my ‘papers,’ elements, alphabets, etc. have been downloaded for free off of various sites on the internet.

Here are some of the pages I’ve been working on this week:

 

Some of these were quick pages (Kicky Boots and Whoo Loves You)- pages that someone else designed, and I just stuck in my photos.  Some were designed using a template, and some I came up with myself.

I love it!  Obviously, there’s no mess, no extra space needed (well, you need space on your hard drive!), and I love that it still looks cute!  And it suits me because I can pick it up at any time or leave it alone for months!

There’s no substitute for real paper, of course, and although I love digital scrapbooking, I can’t bring myself to get rid of my paper supplies.  I still plan on doing special projects from time to time, and maybe someday I’ll have some space to really get back into paper scrapbooking.  For now, however, I’m totally into the digital world!  One of these days, I’ll get these all printed out and place them into an adorable book!

 

Oil Cleansing

I don’t consider myself an ‘all-natural’ type of girl at all- I believe the term is “crunchy.”  It’s just not me.  I shop at a regular supermarket, I use disposable diapers, and I’ve never made my own butter!

However, several months ago, I came across this thing called the “Oil Cleansing Method.”  We’re talking about cleaning your face with oil!  When I first read about it, I thought, “Well, how nice for you, weirdo, but there ain’t no way.”

I have a love/hate relationship with my skin- I hate it because I’ve been plagued with some sort of malady since I was a teen.  I had some serious acne back then, and I still get breakouts today.  However, my ‘grown-up’ skin is incredibly dry, tight, and flaky, until about 3 in the afternoon when the oil kicks in. 

On the other hand, I love my skin because it keeps my insides in where they belong :)

I’ve tried many different products, some better than others, nothing overly expensive because, well, I have a family of eight, and they like to eat.  In the end, none of these solved the problem, but some helped a bit to mask it.

Well, I kept coming across this oil cleansing stuff, and I began to consider it.  I finally bought the stuff a couple weeks ago, but it sat on my counter for those couple weeks because I was too nervous to actually put oil on my face!

Here’s the basic idea:  despite what we’ve been told, oil is not the enemy.  Oil dissolves oil.  There are really only two products to use.

Castor Oil:  This is your ‘cleansing oil.’  It draws away the dirt and oil from your pores.

EVOO:  This is your ‘moisturizing oil.’  In fact, there are many oils you could use for this purpose- Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sunflower Seed Oil seem to be the most common.  Since I don’t have any health food stores near me (where you would be able to find these other oils), I stuck with EVOO.

BTW (Mom, that means By The Way), this method supposedly works great for all types of skin and is a miracle worker for acne-prone skin.  But, don’t hold me to that claim!

Here are some sites with more info (because I don’t feel like typing it all out!):

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/OIL-CLEANSING-METHOD-Hi-t141871.html

http://simplemom.net/oil-cleansing-method/

I finally did it last night!  The results?

My skin still felt a little dry- but not nearly as much as usual, and it wasn’t flaky.  I did not use any moisturizer afterward, although you could use a bit of your oil mixture as a moisturizer (I’m still too paranoid to actually leave oil on my face).  I also think I overdid my efforts to wipe my face clean- again, the paranoia!

Despite the slight dryness (which I think I caused), my skin felt soo smooth.  But the real test for me came this morning.  When I took my shower, I just wiped my face with a washcloth.  Normally when I get out of the shower, my face would be a dry, flaky mess, and I would slather on moisturizer in an effort to hide it- but today…nothing.  I don’t feel dry, I don’t feel oily.  Just smooth.

I like it.

Maybe I’m becoming slightly crunchy.  If these results continue (I’ll keep you all updated), I may even try skipping my shampoo! 

Maybe.

Christmas Gifts- Episode Five

Whew!  It’s almost midnight, but I just finished Twinkle’s gift so I’m just going to post real quickly!

Deciding what to do for her took forever!  The only easy thing I could come up with was a blanket, but I happen to know that a friend is giving her a blanket so she hardly needs another!

I almost just gave up and went to the store to buy her a toy, but instead…

Click here for this tutorial.  The dress is made from a thrifted pillowcase, and I used ribbon instead of the bias tape.  I recommend using the bias tape!!  The ribbon was a pain.

And click here for this one.  I’ve made a few hair bows before, and I’ve been anxious to try this one out.  So cute!  This site has a couple more that I want to try out later.

Now…what to do for her birthday one week after Christmas…

Alright, one more Christmas gift to go…that one depends a bit on the hubby and he’s been incredibly busy, so I have a feeling it’ll end up being pretty last minute ;)

Christmas Gifts- Episode Four

Here’s one of the twins’ presents.  It’s a bean bag toss game!  One spray-painted cardboard box, some felt for the eyes and teeth, and some cloth and filling (I ended up using rice) for the ‘bean’bags equals a lot of fun…I hope :)

I’m still deciding if I should address this to either Minion 1 or Minion 2, or if I should address both gifts to both boys.  They are definitely entering a possessive stage so single ownership could lead to fights…but is it totally wrong to NOT give them individual gifts yet?  They’re only two…

…But my main dilemma with this gift is…

How do I wrap this?????

I Heart the Mail Carrier!

Don’t you just love getting packages?!  The FedEx guy just rang our doorbell, delivering the gift I bought for Daddy-man.  I LOVE it!!!

On the off-chance he’s reading this (he’s under orders not to), I won’t say what it is, but it’s one of the few times in our almost 10-year marriage that I saw something and knew right away that I wanted to get it for him!  Usually, Christmas, birthday, and anniversary times roll around, and I have no clue!!

While passing time on my flight to Hawaii, I browsed the Sky Mall magazine and found it!  I was able to get a little extra money, shopped on amazon, used two $5 amazon e-gift certificates (thank you Swagbucks), and got it at a steal!

If you’re really that curious, here’s the link to see it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001FVRUFQ/ref=sr_1_6_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1291787067&sr=8-6&condition=new

If you know my husband, you know he’ll like it!  I think it’ll be great in his office!  Because I don’t want it in my house :)

About an hour ago, our mail carrier rang the doorbell, delivering some way cute Croc shoes I got at a steal for Sweetheart Girl.  Two pairs (I bought a bigger size for later) plus a jibbitz (a charm for the shoes) for $9.48 shipped!  Here’s what they look like: http://www.crocs.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-crocs_us-Site/default/Search-Show?q=gabby

If you know Sweetheart Girl, you know she’ll LOVE getting new shoes…it really must be born into some girls- she’s loved shoes since she could make her opinion known!

I still have a few homemade gifts to post about, and I promise they’re coming!  I finished one more but still have two to go.

Christmas Gifts- Episode Three

Alright, here it is!  Sweetheart Girl’s Christmas gift (well, half of it).  Click here for Episode One and here for Episode Two .

Eggs sunnyside-up, bacon, and silver-dollar pancakes

How about a sandwich and chips for lunch?

Mmmm…ham, turkey, and cheese with lettuce and tomato

And, of course, PB & J- a staple around here

All that and a bag of chips?

Ruffle Chips!

Drumsticks and broccoli for dinner

I’m loving it!  I freehanded pretty much everything, but got all the ideas from various websites:

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-felt-food.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/03/09/felt-brown-bag-lunch-tutorial/

There are a ton of ideas out there- I could have made more, but Sweetheart Girl’s birthday comes up quickly after Christmas.  If these foods are hit, I’ll work on more for her birthday.  Maybe some of these…

http://www.onecraftyplace.com/2009/02/27/felt-food-tutorial-round-up/

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/build-a-cake-play-set-923565/

I stayed pretty two-dimensional, so maybe I’ll branch out next time around. 

Along with the foods, Daddy-Man and I are working on a little stove for her.  That will be another post…

Christmas Gifts- Episode Two

Wow!  I can’t believe I posted Episode One way back in September!  I wish I could say that I’ve been working on projects and just haven’t had time to post, but…

Well, I have worked a little bit, but I‘ve mostly been procrastinating!  However, Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and I’d better get my rear in gear!

Next up…Superhero Masks!  These will, of course, be going along with the capes that I’ve made for Hero and McAwesome.  I decided to make double-layered masks, so that meant that I’d need differing, yet proportionately similar sizes.  They were not hard at all, but I did figure that I’d better take my time and actually work out a pattern for this project!  I admit that I’m a freehander with very little artistic talent- you’ll see what I mean in my next post…

After much drawing, erasing, drawing, erasing, and drawing again, I ended up with these.  The trickiest part was knowing where to put the eye holes!  I thought I’d have to measure the boys in their sleep, but I was able to do it today.  Surprisingly, when I told them it was just something I was working on, they didn’t ask any more questions! 

Step One:  Pin the pattern to the felt on the fold and cut out the outside.

Step Two:  Trace the eyehole, unpin the pattern and cut out.  I found that re-pinning the felt together after removing the pattern made going around the corners smoothly a lot easier.

Step Three:  Repeat with all pattern pieces.  Adjust individual pieces as needed.  My top layer needed bigger eyeholes.

Step Four:  Measure elastic and sew to the back layer ONLY.  I cut a small rectangle of felt to cover the elastic so it would not be too rough on the boys’ skin, but you could certainly skip that little step.

Step Five:  Pin both layers together.  I highly recommend using plenty of pins!!

Step Six:  Sew it up!  Sewing stitches around the eyeholes adds a little extra dimension!

Ta-da!  I can’t wait for the boys to try them on.  I think they’re going to love them!

Jumping in a Pile of Leaves

A few artificial leaves, some pillows, and a blanket make for a great leaf pile!

  

Our fun ended as most things do around here…with a wrestling match!

Happy Autumn!

Fall Activities in Arizona

I have pretty much only lived in Hawaii and Arizona my entire life, so in my mind, I’ve trumped up fall to be the most beautiful time of the year, knowing full well that if I had to rake a yard full of leaves every other day, I might not be so enthused!

So this week, we are adding a bit of artificial fall to our home.  To start, we needed at least one piece of fall decor.  I’m pretty cheap, so I went to Dollar Tree last week to see what I could find.

A fake pumpkin and two pathetic little flower arrangements are about to become $3 well-spent.

First, carve out the top of the pumpkin.  Remove the flowers from the ugly plastic pots, and use the styrofoam to stuff the pumpkin.

Arrange the flowers and…voila!

A pretty new accent piece for my piano!

 

Tomorrow, we’re going to jump in our own little pile of leaves!  Stay tuned…

Christmas Gifts- Episode One

Yes, I’m thinking about Christmas already.  In fact, I went into Lowe’s two weeks ago and saw fake Christmas trees!  This year, I am endeavoring to go as homemade as possible.  Remember how a handmade shirt or scarf used to be a wonderful gift to receive?!  I don’t, but I’ve read about those days!  I confess that I’m a child of the Y2K generation, and I find it quite easy to overlook the simplicity of a homespun treasure.  However, with 8 people in the family now and limited funds (due to a refusal to use credit cards!), the handmade Christmas gift is making a comeback in this house!

Besides, I want my children to grow up treasuring those gifts into which someone put so much thought and effort.  I don’t want them to give any thought to a price tag, but to appreciate the uniqueness of their new playthings. 

Now, don’t get me wrong- if I open up a pair of diamond earrings Christmas morning, I’m not going to tell the hubby to take them back and make me a mixed tape!  I’m not that into homemade!!  Hee hee…  We will probably still buy things from the store for each other- just not much, not this year.

Tuesday night I worked on the first of the older boys’ Christmas presents.  I made super hero capes.  They love to dress up and put on ‘shows,’ and my fingers get tired from tying their blankets into knots!  So I thought they would love these:

Please ignore the wrinkles!

I only used what I had on hand: material I’ve had for years, ribbon I was given a while back, standard white thread, and scraps of fusible webbing I used for a craft 6 years ago!

A simple hem around the sides and bottom (I used a zig-zag stitch on everything for detail) and a wide hem at the top to string through some ribbon is all it took.  I added a strip of ribbon near the bottom for ‘decoration’ (I’m sure boys don’t like to use that word):

 

Finally, I added their initials so no one can mistake their ownership and/or super-identities.

 

Things to think about:

• I just used what I had, but this fabric is going to be a wrinkled mess all the time!  Next time, I’ll consider buying a knit fabric that will look nicer.
• I’m not sold on the zig-zag stitch, but it’s better than straight, and I’m just not a very skilled seamstress yet.
• There are plenty of areas that just don’t look too great (see above disclaimer), but thankfully, the boys will never notice these, and I can pretend they’re not there…
• I did sew the ribbon tie to the cape so it would not slide out, but I think a wider ribbon would have been better.  I’m also considering putting some velcro on the ends so they don’t have to bother tying them.

One (two?) down, how many more to go…?  I’ve got one idea for the Minions, and I’ve made a start on Sweetheart Girl’s, but I’ll wait to post until they’re done.  If you have favorite, easy project ideas, pass them along, please!!

I'm Grocery Gaming (Again)

I think most people have heard of The Grocery Game by now, but in case you haven't, it's a wonderful site that helps save you money on groceries. In a nutshell, the site tracks the stores sales (advertised and unadvertised), the Sunday coupons (as well as internet coupons), and tells you when and where to use those coupons to get the best deal. For example, this week Fry's had Danimals Smoothies (6 pack) on sale for $1.88. This Sunday's paper had a coupon for $1 off. Combine the coupon with the sale and I got a 6 pack of smoothie drinks, normally priced $3.29 for 88 cents. Wow! Even better, Daninos Yogurt was also on sale for $1.88, but my coupon was only for 55 cents off. Still an okay deal, but Fry's doubles all coupons up to $1 (so does Safeway), so my 55 cents savings just became $1. A 6 pack of Daninos Yogurt regularly priced $2.49, cost 88 cents again!

I did this several years ago, but ended up stopping, partially because we didn't have the money to stockpile (buy things you don't need now, but the price is great so you get them for later), and largely because I got lazy when we moved. But I just started again this week.

As weeks go by, I will have accumulated more coupons, but this week I could only shop with this Sunday's coupons. Too bad because I missed a lot of good deals!

The Grocery Game color codes items: Green is for items that are actually FREE! You'll find that you get a good supply of toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc. all for free. Blue is for STOCKPILING items. These are items that are such a good deal with coupons (think rock bottom prices) that you should purchase as much as you can. I did this this week with cereal (name brands were cheaper than generic), yogurt, and soup. Remember, I don't have a lot of coupons yet, and I missed a lot! Finally, black items are things that are on sale, but they're not at their best, so you should only buy them IF YOU NEED THEM.

Okay, now the cost...you have the cost of the Sunday paper. The Grocery Game uses the Arizona Republic (for AZ, of course) which costs $2. If you can afford it, buy more than one paper to get more coupons, remembering that stockpiling is the way to save. If you live in Tucson like me, you can get the Daily Star, but it will be missing coupons. I learned this the hard way when I did this a few years ago. I'd get all excited to find a free item, only to discover that I didn't get that coupon. Grrr...

The Grocery Game charges $10 every 8 weeks for one store list, and $5 extra for every store after that. That's $1.25 a week. I promise you will save more than $3.25 a week to offset these costs (plus there's a FREE four week trial offer)! For example, I went to Safeway and purchased items that totaled to $114.74 at regular store price. Using only my Safeway Club Card, the total was $71.28. I had $24 in coupon savings, so I paid only $48.60 after tax. I should state that I did buy quite a few things that were on sale because I needed them, but I did not have a coupon. At Fry's my total was $134.83, and using my Fry's VIP Card brought the total down to $87.67. After coupons, I paid $62.66. At Fry's I bought a LOT that was on sale without a coupon.

Now, here's the skinny. www.couponmom.com does this for free, however I found it to not be as thorough and a bit harder to follow. Still, it's free. www.couponsense.com costs $14 a month (ouch), but it is the mecca of coupon sites! It gives you every store, every coupon, tracks your savings, washes your dishes, and gasses up the car for you...almost. It also runs deals with the newspaper that gets you waaaay discounted prices. I believe for the Republic, after you pay for the first copy, each additional copy is only 50 cents.

So if you're interested in starting couponing, weigh your options first. Decide what's worth it to you. I prefer The Grocery Game as a happy, reasonable (for me) compromise.

Color My World?

I consider myself a fairly frugal person. I enjoy the dollar store, Goodwill, and my personal favorite, Savers. I'd like to think that over the years, I've learned how to shop wisely at the 'cheap stores,' and when to 'splurge' for the sake of quality. I pray that I don't waste the money for which my husband works so hard and the Lord so graciously supplies, and I'm always looking for tips and tricks to stretch a dollar.

I'm sure you've seen the emails that go around and the 'fluff' news reports claiming to have discovered new ways to survive the recession! I've seen them too, and to tell you the truth, I don't get anything from them anymore. Some tips are actually very wise and do make a difference, and we've been doing those for years. Only wash full loads of laundry on cold water, run the thermostat 2 degrees higher or lower (ours is at 79-80 in the summer and 67-68 in the winter), don't use other banks' ATMs, etc. Been there, done that. Other tips don't even apply! Give up one Starbucks (or _________) a week, negotiate a lower credit card payment, and on and on... Ummm...can't do those ones...

All in all, I think we do pretty well, although I'm sure there's always room for improvement. But I have a confession to make...I am wasteful in one area (Okay there are more, but it's my blog, and I don't have to expose all my faults!)...are you ready, people?...*deep breath*...

I love to throw away old crayons.

There I said it. I hate old crayons! You know, when they lose their pointy tip, and you have to start peeling the paper back, and the paper itself is all dirty and gross-looking, and heaven forbid a crayon breaks! Ugh! Just toss the broken ones, no big deal!

No, I don't have OCD, but I realize this doesn't help my case :)

Yes, I know they make crayon sharpeners. I even have one and use it rarely occasionally.

No, I don't tell the kids to throw away their crayons if they start to look dirty.

Yes, I do tell them to throw away broken ones if they're annoyed by them (when they're tiny, they're hard to use!).

Yes, I know you could do a cool craft and melt down the wax to make new 'multi-colored' crayons, but....no. Someday, maybe, but not today.

I justify it this way: I haven't bought a box of crayons in several years, and yet I'm still able to toss out old ones, so obviously, I'm not really wasting money (mine, anyway!). Between birthdays, Back-to-School Sunday, and random, couldn't tell you how it happens, events, we always have a steady supply of those wonderful, colorful, coloring instruments. I even have a box that I keep in my closet, just for me to use...shhhh.

So there it is...one of my little quirks put right out there for the world to see. I'm hoping that there is at least one person that shares my love for pristine crayons, but if not...well...I guess I can only say this:

My name is Heather, and I'm a new crayonaholic.

A Coaster Set for Dad

As promised, here are pictures of our Father's Day craft. The kids worked really hard on them and got somewhat frustrated as we were working with a new medium (Mod-Podge), but once we got the hang of it, they wanted to keep going!

Here are the supplies you need:

Tiles (I got them at Home Depot for 16 cents each!)

Mod-Podge (a small jar is fine)

Small Squares of Tissue Paper

Paintbrushes

First, paint on a layer of Mod-Podge.

Next, place tissue squares on the tile in any design you like.

Then, paint another layer of Mod-Podge over the tissue paper. (Hint: Be sure the tissue is as flat as possible and be very gentle going over the tissue at first- ours wanted to bunch.)

I actually did a couple layers over the top because I wasn't sure of the finish. Let it dry between layers (about 15 minutes).

Finally, add felt pads to the corners of the bottoms and...Voila!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the world! (He'd better use these!)

I Can Wear My Big Brother's Jeans!

Sort of. Hero had a pair of jeans that had holes in the knees, so after I turned them into shorts, I used the bottom of the legs to make Sweetheart Girl a cute little purse! See?

I had originally picked out a cute bold pink ribbon, but Sweetheart Girl chose the black with pink polka-dots. I guess she's got an eye for fashion!

Before I take too much credit, I followed a tutorial HERE (Did the link work? This is the first time I've added one!), and added a few embellishments. It was lots of fun!

*WARNING* If you have young daughters, and we are invited to a birthday party, this may be the gift that is coming! My boys can't seem to help themselves from putting holes into their pants, and I'm guessing I will have a steady supply of material!