So frugally awesome - DIY Laundry Detergent

10/13 Update:  Thanks to everyone from Pinterest who are stopping by!  I've been using this as my detergent for the past year and still love it:)  I've experimented with other soaps and each time has worked out well, so feel free to change up the soap of your preference to get different results.  I'd love it if you would follow the blog and leave comments about your experience with home made detergent - it would be fun hearing how it works for other people:)  Also, if you have any other tips, mention them in the comments.  I know some others have been adding downy and/or laundry enhancers to theirs and I've enjoy hearing how that works!  See you around!


Back in October I experimented with making laundry detergent.  I wasn't sure about this whole thing.  But the thought that I could make a 3 or 4 gallon batch of detergent for less than $5 was baffling to me?  How much money would I save?!  A lot!  Considering that even on sale, 1 HALF gallon may cost $5.  Every once in a while it may be less.  But not all the time! Right now a little over a GALLON (150 ounces) of Tide at Shoprite is $16.99? 

So my BFF, Heather, & I made our first batches of the detergent.  Here is what you need, except I put the wrong box in this picture - the Arm & Hammer should be WASHING SODA - which looks a lot like baking soda...I grabbed the wrong box for this pic.  You need the washing soda, Borax, and Fels-Naptha.  Fels-Naptha is bar soap, a laundry bar soap and it smells lemony and lovely!  All these items can be found in the laundry aisle in any major store - I happen to get mine in Wal-mart (gasp!  I cheated on Target?!?!) and spend $3.89 on the three items.  Score!

 I bought a cheese grater just for this detergent.  I can't imagine sharing my regular one with soap.  That would not taste very good!  So you grate your soap down to ribbons...

Like so...

Then, you boil 4 cups of water on the stove top...once its rolling drop in your soap!

Boil and stir and boil and stir until all the soap is dissolved, it'll look all frothy:



Oh and don't walk away from it.  My BFF may or may not have done that the 2nd time around.  And it may or may not have been a disaster in her kitchen!  Heather, I hope you don't mind me sharing that, I feel it's important enough to warn;)  It totally could've happened to me because that is something I would do.

This will make your house smell so wonderful and clean, even if it isn't!!

Unfortunately this is where my photo's end.  I'll have to add more the next time I make it.

Next, you take a 5 gallon paint bucket (buy it at Home D or Lowes, buy the lid too - its only about $5 or less for the set) and I fill it a little over halfway with warm water, about 3 gallons.  I have to fill it in my bathtub because my sink isn't that deep.  Or I could fill it in the basement in my utility sink.  

Then dump in your dissolved soap mixture!  Stir it up nicely.  Then add 1 cup of washing soda and a 1/2 cup of the Borax.  Stir it well and then stick the top on and keep it in your laundry room.  Let it set for about 24 hours.  Stir it again.  Don't be alarmed by its....goopiness.  That is the official word!  It looks gross but it smells delightful.  It works awesome!  I get compliments on the way my clothes smell, and they are CLEAN!  This is crazy?!?! 

I feel so domestic.  I feel like I belong in Little Women or some movie like that!?  I am making my own laundry detergent!!  How did we get so dependant on main stream products to stop making things ourselves?  I have over 3 gallons of laundry soap that cost me hardly anything!  You spend less each time you make it, because really you only have to buy the soap every batch because the boxes of Washing Soda and Borax last that at least 4-5 batches!  It is really amazing, and feels great to be doing something so close to being natural, and frugal! 

One batch lasted us 2.5 months.  I made mine in early October and I had to make my next right before Christmas.  We do at LEAST 6 loads a week (seriously I am being modest when I say 6, it may be more like 8 or 9 a week) so that is 60+ loads.

We aren't so strapped for money that we can't afford laundry soap or anything, but it's the principal of the matter!  Why pay $10+ a MONTH for this stuff if I can make it myself!?  As a up and coming couponer and frugal lady - this is one of the things that makes me proud and happy!  I love saving money on everyday things!!

By the way, I have front loading machines, HE and all and this works great.  No worries, no spills, nothing.  It's awesome.  Use about 1 cup for a regular load.  You'll be hooked, I swear!

The whole Kitchen caboodle

As I am staring into the face of a major kitchen overhaul, I am feeling overwhelmed!  I know, I know...that is normal.  I am just surprised at how MUCH I don't know.  As we start this project I know I'll be spending a lot of time in the home improvement stores asking a lot of annoying questions!  Of course, I have my mom too.  Thank you Jesus for a mother who is all about the DIY and does a lot of stuff all on her own.  She'll be my rock during this project!

The step I am on now is picking out paint.  It is SO hard for me!!  I want the kitchen to be yellow - but it needs to be the perfect yellow!  Our walls on our first floor are a tannish-camel color with some red accent walls.  Bright red.  We love the colors, they were here when we moved in.  Actually we painted the red accent walls a little brighter to match our big red couch, but it's basically the some color scheme.  Anyways, the yellow that I pick has to be the RIGHT yellow so that it goes with those colors - not clashes.  I hate all the yellows I've brought home so far.  Seriously, you should see our kitchen.  I have this one wall where I keep testing the colors, there are probably 7 shades of yellow there and I hate them all.  I know that I know that I KNOW I want yellow though.  Our theme in there is, or will be, Tuscan Italian Kitchen.  So it just has to be yellow!  I looked at other colors and I don't like them...or I do but they definitely wouldn't match!

I want yellow walls, and creamy white cabinets with oil rubbed bronzed hardware, and beautiful butcher block counter tops.  Possibly a back splash too - and lots of red and bronze or wrought iron accents.  I can see it in my head and it's lovely.  Here are some inspirational pics, stolen from Pinterest...one of my greatest loves and obsessions;)

This one is beautiful but a little too country for me, I want my yellow to be less buttery, more bright and brownish in a burnt, Italian way;)   Its all about the accents too - our accent will be more Italian...



In this next one, I love the yellow of these tiles, it's close the the color I want if I can ever find it!!!  Our hardware (already purchased) is bronze though...



and this one with darker butcher block - I don't know if I want to go that dark because it wouldn't match our floors but it's still beautiful, I love the bronze hardware:



Tonight my friend Katie (HOLLA!) and I went to Lowes and I bought two more little sample cans of yellows...I have to have the samples to actually paint on my wall - because they are SO different on those little cards then they are in real life.  I agonized, yet again, over the perfect color.  It's out there somewhere!!  Hopefully one of these two will be it.

 I had a bad experience at Home Depot last week, so I am boycotting them this time around with buying paint.  I stood at the counter for about 20 minutes while the guy there was just helping EVERYONE else around me...totally ignoring me even though I had already asked him a question and he knew I needed samples.  What is worse, is that the people around me KNEW I had been there for a while, yet not one of them said, "Oh this lady was here first, you can help her..." which is totally something I would say if a clerk tried to help me first.  The world is a selfish place sometimes, isn't it?  I was not a happy customer...but I am not one to make a big stink to anyone, I'll just take my business else for now.  I'm sure I'll be back again for other things, but the paint section won't be seeing me for a while!

As I make the list of what needs to be done, I am struggling with what needs to be done first, second, etc.  Plus, I have to take $ into account.  We don't have a few extra grand laying around right now for the countertops or a back splash.  I don't know how much all that is going to cost, but I know it's going to be the most expensive part of the project.  Should we wait until we can afford it or go on with what we can afford and take care of the $$$ parts later.  Here is the list of to-dos:

1.  Rip up linoleum floor and replace with our extra Pergo flooring to match the rest of the 1st level
2.  Clean, sand, and paint the cabinets - we are refinishing them ourselves.  I've seen it done on Young House Love and I am convinced we can make them look like thousand dollar cabinets.
3.  Paint the walls
4.  Find and install a backsplash
5.  Install open shelves on our small empty wall for decor and use of space
6.  Add Italian accents (pops or red and wrought iron and rustic looking pieces)
7.  Paint the ceiling
8.  Replace the lighting - we have super awful fluorescent in there - GROSS.  I am envisioning a bronze type pendant(s) in there
9.  Add hardware to cabinets (already purchased from O.com)
10.  Add some sort of decor or interest to the soffits - I loathe all that empty wasted space (maybe old wine bottles on shelves?)
11.  add crown molding, possibly
12.  Eventually, down the road, replace all the appliances.  Right now they are all white and boring.  We want stainless steel

It's a long, expensive list.  It's overwhelming and exciting all at the same time.  I've never done this before, it's so huge that I scream a little in my head when I think about it!  But I am itching to get started on SOMETHING.  That's why I am obsessing over the paint a little bit.  I have picked out the paint for the trim and the cabinets - I happy with those colors.  Now I just need to find that elusive yellow...I'll keep you posted!!


Night!

Pinterest obsession, DIY ideas galore, and the beach!

I am fairly obsessed right now with Pinterest now!!!  It's a website with millions of pictures of STUFF - home decor, food, clothes, people, ideas, places, jewelry....EVERYTHING.  You need to be invited to join (I'll invite you if interested) and then you can start pinning away - you pin the things you love and make pinboards of different things, you can name categories yourself and pin things into them to make the boards.  It's addicting...believe me.  Don't join if you don't want to lose hours of your life!!  DO join if you want fun, inspiration and ideas about everything and anything!

I have found so many fun DIY projects I want to do.  Look at this dress....its made out of a tank top and a few yards of fabric...I'm totally going to make a dress like this next week!  It's called the Alice Dress.  Yes Please!



and what about this little project?



you buy a whole bunch of candle holders from good will - and spray paint them all different colors for such a fabulous effect!  Something else I am going to try next week!!

how about inspiration for our kitchen?!?!  dark butcher block countertops, creamy dreamy cabinets and oil rubbed bronzed fixtures?!?  HECK YES!!



OOOOO I love me some Pinterest!!

As for my outfit today, I'm putting together something that looks like this, for our drive to the beach:



Minus the $8,000 purse of course!  I wish I had a Berkin bag, but we just aren't that rich yet;)  But the white/gray/jeans and chunky silver jewelry I can do!!  My shoes with be red fake snake skin (from AE) instead of leopard print - since I dont have those (yet!!)

Ok, enough about my new found love obsessions! 

Dave & I are off to Atlantic City today!  We are taking a lover's getaway to the beach to relax, maybe play some slots, eat yummy food, walk the boardwalk, dance, swim in the big pool at Trump Plaza, and just have a good time together.  I hope we win 1000's of dollars!  But that won't happen!  I usually win a little bit, but we never win big.  Its ok, it is just nice to get away and have a good time.  We get free rooms all the time at Trump Plaza (seriously, its nice...they send us about 4 free rooms every quarter so we dont have to pay for the hotel - it's how they get you in there to gamble your savings away LOL) and we really like it there.  No it's not the Iberostar Grand, but we'll take it;)

What is everyone else up to this weekend?  I have big plans for my week after we get home.  I am excited to be a housewife again and get working on a whole bunch of DIY projects for our house!!! 

Happy Saturday!  Still working on the Honeymoon by James P...review to come!