Homemade Laundry Detergent

 

Ok. So many of you are probably wondering if I have lost it. Well, technically speaking, NO! I was first introduced to the idea of making my own laundry detergent by a good friend who was sharing with me some of the ways she saves money. I was immediately interested and began researching the idea. I found several different recipes for both liquid and powder detergents and decided to try one out.

 

My costs for ingredients were as follows:

• Washing Soda - $2.85 (55 oz)
• Borax - $2.98 (76 oz)
• Ivory Bar Soap - $1.07 (three bars)

 

I made a small portion to begin with to see if I really liked the recipe. Here it is.

 

• 2 cups soap (finely grated) - (about 1 1/2 bars)
• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda

 

Mix all ingredients well and store in an air tight container. Use 2 Tbl. per load (that's it!)

 

Using this recipe it costs me a little less than 4 cents a load to wash my laundry. Can you say "WOW"!

Looking at laundry detergent online (Arm and Hammer) it costs 28-30 cents per load. So I can safely say that I save about a quarter for every load of laundry I do. Now that adds up! Especially, with as much laundry as we go through.

 

As for the quality of the wash, I actually like it alot. You don't get that overloaded laundry scent as with store-bought laundry soap, but I do kind of like it better knowing that laundry soap is not still in my clean clothes.

 

I have since decided to try a few different scented soaps that others have used in their recipes. I have bought the soaps (Dr. Bronners), but haven't made a new batch with these soaps yet. I am excited to try them. The cost went up a little, but it still doesn't come close to the cost for store-bought laundry soap.

 

Anyway, I am a believer so far and wanted to share with you all as well. Have fun!

Birthday Bash!

We celebrated J's birthday last week (sorry, I have been trying to get a bunch of post up since then) by going out to his favorite pizza place and then for some fun mini golfing on the town. Friends joined along and made the evening memorable with lots of laughs. Thanks for sweating buckets with us guys! We cooled down by enjoying ice cream at Andy's! Yum!

A Refreshing Visit!

These AMAZING girls are very dear friends of mine. We were all in a Bible study together before most of us had kids and one moved to Kansas! I also worked with two of them. This weekend we were blessed to all be able to get together and "catch up" (which is so easy to do with these girls). They are all "real" and not afraid to share their struggles, insecurities, strengths and weaknesses. We spent the evening at Olive Garden and then moved our conversation to IHOP (once we realized that it was 15 minutes after closing time). Like I said these are "real" chicas and I am so blessed to call them friends! Love you girls!

The C of A!

Some of you may know that I belong to a book club. Well not just any book club, but an AWESOME book club! Besides me, there are three other amazing girls in this group. Two were roommates during college and one has been adopted by us and has become a wonderful friend. We formed to club so that we could have an excuse to get together (especially during our busy lives right now) and because we all enjoy reading. During the summer, we try to get together a little more outside of our club! A few weeks ago, we all planned a trip to the lake and enjoyed the sun! One thing I love about us girls is that we are all sporadic and easy-going! Later that afternoon, we decided to head from the lake to Eureka Springs, AR. We have a favorite restaurant down there called Ermilio's. Absolutely wonderful Italian food and a great atmosphere! It was a Saturday evening and we arrived at 8pm. It was packed! We knew it would be a long wait (it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to be seated), but we were together and enjoyed talking and catching up. Finally at 10pm we got our food. Let's just say that there wasn't much talking during our meal - we were starved!!!! It was a late night, we had a great time and thanks to our wonderful husbands, we were able to enjoy the day without children.

White Water 2!

Here are a few pics a friend of mine was able to snap at White Water. Enjoy! Can you tell he loves the water?

White Water!

Today was the first day that Little Man and I have experienced White Water! Hard to believe that after living near this attraction for almost 10 years, that this was my first time visiting! We had a blast!!!! They have so many areas for little kids. There are plenty of places to relax while you keep an eye on your little one! My only complaint is that they don't want you to take ANY food in! Thankfully, the bag-checker allowed me to pass with the snacks that I had brought for Little J. We did splurge and get a corn dog for lunch, but had I not had snacks, it would have cost a lot more for our meal.

Sorry, being my first time, I didn't want to bring a camera or my phone with me because I didn't know if it would get wet. I will try to get some pics next time though!

Mmmm! The Yummy Goodness They Call Blueberries!

I look forward to this time of year! It is usually warm enough to go take a dip in the lake on those hot, humid days, most of our time is spent outdoors, and fresh fruit and veggies abound! My favorite by far are blueberries and they are just now in full swing of their picking season! A local farm grows these delicious drops of goodness in huge quantities and ever June we make our way down there to pick as many as our buckets will hold. Sometimes we make several trips!

Little Man's great-grandma was visiting, so I decided that a trip was in order to the blueberry fields! We went this morning, before the temps reached our breaking point. (Actually the reached Little Man's breaking point about 20 minutes after we arrived!) Although, most of the blueberries Little J picked ended up in his mouth, we succeeded in picking about 14 pounds of blueberries between the 2 1/2 of us! Many trips were made to and from the car, the picnic tables, or under the shade trees! This is the nature of going with a young child as I'm sure any parent can attest! We survived the heat, and tiredness by making a visit to the little building where they sell Thunder Muffins! Yes, I said Thunder Muffins! They are the best blueberry muffins you have ever tasted! Not Kidding! You can even get them in a bowl topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and blueberries sprinkled. It is called the Cumuloblubus - (my new preference!) Little Man and I loved sitting in the shade eating this delicious brunch! We had a blast making THESE memories!