Homemade Shipping Envelopes

The holidays are upon us. Relational gifts are waiting to be sent but it seems strange to put such a thoughtful gift in an ugly commercial mailer. This tutorial will show you how to make your own shipping envelope from a paper grocery bag. You could then decorate it with markers, stamp images, modge podge, stickers or even let your kids have a go at it. For sewers, or people with large fabric stashes, it seems like you could do the same thing with scrap fabric. Let me know if you try it and how it turned out.

Food Gifts for the Holidays

I've always wanted to give food gifts during the holidays but the jars never seemed pretty enough to hand out regardless of the tastiness inside. I stumbled across a canning label template that has finally changed my mind. Merriment Design tells you everything you need and walks you the process step by step.

Why stop with food goods? Glam up your craft closet with decoratively labeled jars, spice up homemade bath salts, tuck in knit goods like gloves and a lacy scarf. There are so many things that can creatively be given inside a glass jar (they come in many different shapes, sizes, and styles) and the labels give it such a personalized touch.

How to Make your own Hand Sanitizer

I stumbled across this awesome recipe for natural hand sanitizer. I have yet to try it since it is a little heavy on the natural oils and my budget seems spoken for until March! My husband prefers to use hand sanitizer throughout the day instead of trying to squeeze in true hand washing while helping chase our three boys. I never realized making my own sanitizer was even an option!

The recipe looks very simple and straightforward. I will be trying it probably in the spring. If you decide to try it before then, please let me know how it works!

Extra Produce, Anyone?

Have you ever hear of Veggie Trader? It is billed as the "craigslist for veggies and fruit". You sign up (its free!) and then post what you have and what you want in return. It is fairly new so there aren't too many people in my zip code posting yet but that's why I want all of you to sign up. Just think of all the fun veggie and fruit trading that could happen next summer if we spread the word. Do a blog post, send some emails or even put it on facebook: Veggie Trader is a great idea!

Kombucha Craze

Blame Wendy for this one...I want to make my own Kombucha tea. For those of you who have never tried it (but who really should!!!), Kombucha is a super potent, fermented tea which has been made in China and Eastern European countries for centuries. There are huge health benefits but the best part is the taste (almost like hard apple cider).

The process for making the tea almost seems like a bad science experiment gone wrong. It involves a "mother mushroom" (which is no mushroom at all but a pancake like glob of bacteria and yeast), mason jars, tea, sugar, and a whole lot of good timing.

You can find commercial kombucha in most health food stores. It comes in original and a variety of other flavors. Once I convince Andy to invest in my own mother mushroom, you can just come over to my house. Until then, you'll have to support the economy.

Favorite Laundry Soap Recipe

I just finished making my second batch of laundry soap and I thought I would post my favorite recipe. I prefer the powder version (I think it is easier to make/store). I previously posted it in the comment section but I thought I would bring it to light in case anyone missed it.

Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag.

For light loads use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.

I use anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons. I find that I don't need any more than that, even for the dirtiest loads. For my next batch I want to try some Dr. Bronner's soap. Let me know if you come across a sale.

Nifty Knitting Needles

I made the top scarf using five different yarns and a new stitch I learned: the drop stitch.
The bottom scarf was made with two yarns and it is soooo soft! It is an adapted version of the top scarf to make a longer, more narrow scarf. These were both made for a friend of mine.

I love gloves!!! This was the bulk of my Christmas knitting (which is now done!!!). The following gloves were made using yarn I got at Goodwill. I gave them as "thank you" gifts this year. I made more but these were the only ones where the pictures turned out well.

Homemade laundry soap results

I have now done several loads using my homemade laundry soap....and I love it!!! I decided to go with the dry mix (didn't have to worry about a two gallon bucket) and made a double batch. Grating the soap was the hardest part but when all was said and done, it only took five minutes to throw together (that counts the grating of the soap).

My clothes come out as clean as when I used commercial soap but they are much softer (and we don't even use dryer sheets...more on that later). Isaiah tends to have sensitive skin but he has been fine (we even did some of his blankets and sheets). I'm still going to buy commercial soap for the cloth diapers but I am doing some research on diaper friendly homemade soap. I would love to hear if you made any laundry soap and any tips/tricks/comments you might have.

Make your own laundry soap

I had a friend over for breakfast the other morning and we got to talking. She told me that she makes her own laundry soap for about seventy-one cents and it lasts for sixty-four loads. That works out to a little over a penny a load! I am going to try the recipe this week...I'll update you on how it works but until then, here's the recipe:

1/3 bar of Ivory, Zote, or Fels Naptha soap, grated

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax powder

1/2 to 1 ounce of essential oils for fragrance (optional)

water

~ small bucket, about 2 gallon size ~

Place grated soap in a saucepan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it dissolves. 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 (not a solid gel, more of a watery gel). You use 1/2 cup per load.

**I am not planning on using my homemade laundry soap on my cloth diapers. I'm afraid that the borax might ruin the covers. Anyone have thoughts about this?


The Math:

Fels Naptha: $1.12 for a 5.5 oz bar. The recipes says use a 1/3 of a bar. I calculated 2 oz. just to make the math a little easier. The cost of the Fels Naptha per batch is: .40 cents

Washing Soda: $2.23 for a 55 oz. box. This came to .17 cents per batch. I calculated how much per oz (2.23 divided by 55) and then weighed a half cup of washing soda (4.2oz.) and multiplied my per oz. price by 4.2

Borax: $3.27 for a 76 oz. box. This came to .14 cents per batch. Did the same calculations as above, however a 1/2 cup of borax weighs 3.5 oz.

For the final numbers I have .40 + .17 + .14 = .71 for 2 gallons of laundry detergent.

How to Make a Chalkboard Book

When my mother visits, it is always with a bag of goodies in hand. Her latest visit included miscellaneous toys, a few hair clips....and some Chalkboard Wallies (they also come in lots of other colors and shapes). I have always wanted some Wallies but I've never gotten around to ordering them or remembering to look for them at the store but now I had two packages to use...YES!!!

We cut out the shape of a man and a thought bubble to put on the side of a bookcase...and then added some ocean waves to the end of his crib...but I had several sheets left over. I sat for awhile...thinking of what I should do and then my eye fell on Isaiah's collection of board books!

He has one particular board book I can't stand: it has animals wearing clothes and talking to each other. Ugh! It pained me whenever he grabbed that book for me to read. But I now had a way to make it cool in spite of itself.

I traced the outline of the book on the back of the Wallie sheet (I was able to make four pages from one sheet), cut them out and stuck them on the pages of the board book. It was so easy! The best part is that when he gets tired of his awesome chalkboard book, I can simply peel off the Wallies and stick them somewhere else. We know have a portable art station that will never run out of paper (and Scrap is a great place to pick up chalk for super cheap). Isaiah loves it! We take it in the car, to doctor appointments and to visit relatives.

It seems like you would be able to do the same thing with Chalkboard paint if you lightly sanded the board book pages before applying the paint. Let me know if you try it...I would love to hear how it turned out!