Nursing Necklace

So, the Dragon has become quite grabby while nursing. Before I got my hair cut last weekend, I was wearing it up in a clip most of the time so I was spared the ridiculous strength of my 7.5 month old. Now that it's shorter though, I wear it down more and well...let's just say I need to keep all the hair that post-partum hair loss didn't already steal from me. The dragon also is a lot more distracted these days and these necklaces are supposed to help with that. I've seen some super cute ones for sale on the interwebs, but I wanted to try making one for less money. One of the ones I really liked on Esty was $14 plus shipping. I spent about $14 at Michaels today and I'll be able to make five necklaces with these materials (with extra cord to spare).

Here are the materials I bought:

 

I cut off pieces of the green, blue, and gray cords (Bamboo) and braided them together.

 

Next I looped the cord around a Cabone Ring that I found in the crochet section. I figured wood would be friendly for the Dragon to chew on if he so desires.

Then I threaded a blue bead on the cord and tied a knot above it.

 

Next, I threaded on a light blue bead, but left this one with the ability to slide up and down.

I tied the two sides together at the top. We'll see in the morning how the dragon likes it! Now I just have to choose the color combinations for the next one :)





Homemade washing soaps: part 3

Fabric Softener!

I also got this recipe from the blog Building It On Pennies: http://www.buildingitonpennies.com/2011/12/homemade-laundry-soap-even-he-safe.html

 

I spent some time in the hair aisle at Walmart choosing my conditioner scent :) I went with Everlasting Sunshine...descriptive isn't it? It smells lovely though.

 

This recipe is SUPER SIMPLE. Just mix together 2 cups of conditioner (pretty much the whole bottle), 3 cups of vinegar, and 10 cups of water. The blog says not to shake the mixture as it creates a lot of foam. I stirred it together in the big 5 gallon bucket and then poured it into another gallon pitcher.

 

Here are my 3 gallons of laundry detergent and fabric softener...all made for super cheap! I just recently ran out of Gain Fabric Softener, but so far I like my homemade one fine.



Homemade washing soaps: part 2

Laundry Detergent!

To give credit where credit is due, this is the site I got the laundry detergent recipe from: http://www.buildingitonpennies.com/2011/12/homemade-laundry-soap-even-he-safe.html

Ingredients:
1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (found in the laundry aisle)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda

To start, I grated the Fels-Naptha using a grater I bought specifically for this project (so, not for food consumption).

Next, I melted the Fels-Naptha in a large pot of a 1/2 gallon of water.

 

Once that melted, I added the Borax and washing soda. This boiled for five minutes for the soaps to combine while I stirred occasionally.

Then, in a large 5 gallon bucket, I added 1.5 gallons of cold water. To this I added the melted soap concoction. Using the immersion blender, I stirred the mixture, let it sit for 30 minutes, then stirred again.



Once gelled together, I poured the detergent into two gallon containers. Let the laundry-ing begin!

Review: While I do believe this detergent cleans well, it separated a lot which I don't love. I keep a spatula (the one pictured actually) in the laundry room to stir occasionally. When I run out of this stuff, I think I will try a powdered detergent recipe.

Homemade washing soaps: part 1

Many months ago my DIY cleaning product journey began in the kitchen via pinterest (of course). Homemade dishwasher detergent. I won't lie; what first drew my eye to this project was the cute jar. It seemed like such a neat way to make something super cheap but vital to the kitchen. I don't have step by step pics, but I do have the finished jar (which I got to use my Cricut for...yippee!).

 

 

I will admit, the results are not that professional looking ;) It was very hard to fit all the words on the jar with the limited Cricut fonts I own. However, that is not the most disappointing part of this project. While the website I got the recipe from ( http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html) claims it cleans very well, this was not the case in our dishwasher. I used the detergent faithfully for several months until I finally had to admit to myself that is just doesn't clean well enough. Absolutely no food could be left on the dishes, and even though I used vinegar as a rinse aid every time, there was always a streaky feeling left on the glassware. I have since gone back to my trusted Cascade pouches. Now, I will say that our dishwasher is not of the highest quality and I would replace it if the money tree in the backyard wasn't barren but alas, at this point in time, I'll have to rely on Cascade to do the job.