Homemade Laundry Soap

I first made my own laundry soap last year (adapted by lizmarieblog) and fell in love with it. Not only do I save a ton of money, about $30 to make, but also I know exactly whats in it.

After doing some research regarding septic units I found that Fels Naptha, which I used in my first recipe, isn’t good to use. opps my bad. So this year I changed up the recipe just a little bit to make it septic friendly.

1 box borax (laundry aisle)

1 box Arm & Hammer Baking soda (laundry aisle)

1 box Arm & Hammer Super washing soda (laundry aisle)

4 lbs Oxi Clean (laundry aisle)

Purex Crystals (laundry aisle)

3 bars of Dr. Bonners Pure-Castile Bar of soap

**If you are pregnant please either wear a mask or have your husband mix the ingredients due to the fumes

In a large bucket pour in the Borax, Baking soda, Washing soda, Oxi Clean, Purex Crystals and then grate the bar of soaps with a cheese grater. Mix well and convert to a glass container (found at Walmart). This recipe will make 3 Gallons and lasted us a full year with 2 people!

Wedding Wednesday - Emergency Kit

I haven’t done a Wedding Wednesday post in a while so here we go…

(Photo Credit: Mallory Hall Photography)

One thing that was a life saver for the day of the wedding was our “Emergency Kit”. I prepared it a few weeks before hand and although we didn’t use some of the items it was so nice to have on hand for the just in case moments.

Here are the items that were included:

Aspirin

Band-Aids

Coconut Water

Water

Floss

Clear nail polish

Bobby pins

Needle and thread

Safety pins

Scissors

Nail File

Hair Comb and Brush

Tweezers

Tissues

Fresh Mints

Snacks

Visine

Straws

Hair Spray

Deodorant

Vitamin C packs

Lint Roller

Visine/ eye solution

Extra Contacts

Lotion

Stain Remover – Tide to go

Chalk

Static-cling spray

Q-Tips

Blotting Sheets

Disposable Wipes – Wet ones

Chap Stick

Makeup for touch ups

Mouth wash

Nail File

Sunscreen

Baby Powder

Tampons

Razors

Air Freshener

Valentine's Day - 2014

Valentine’s day last year was crazy busy with our wedding just around the corner. With all the craziness I did find a little project to surprise Chad with.

How cute are these? Chad loves minions and thought this was super cute.

Blue icing

Black icing

Candy eye’s (found at Target)

Pepperidge Farm cookies – Milano

Tree Skirt - DIY

Well I told you I would put together a tutorial on my tree skirt so I rushed to get it to you before Christmas. Just in case you have some free time between now and then to add an extra craft, hehe.

Materials:

5 x 5 ft painters drape canvas (I found my at Home Depot)
4 ft fabric of your choice, I used cotton
Glue gun
Glue sticks (a new pack, you’ll use them)
Scissors
Marker
Measuring tape

Instructions:

Lay the painters drape canvas out on the floor. Fold in quarters.

 

Then fold it in a triangle.

 

Measure your tree and how long you want your tree skirt to be. I wanted mine to be 22 inches so I took my measuring tape and put it at the top of the corner of the triangle and held it there while I made my marks on the bottom portion. I made my marks across the bottom on the painter’s canvas to make a circle. Cut the top corner of your triangle and along your dotted line.



 

Lay it out on a table, if you’re like me you might not of folded it in a quarter and now you have 2 pieces. Don’t worry just overlap one side and glue the 2 pieces together.



 

 

 

Get your cotton fabric and measure and mark at every 3 inches. You can either cut or tear the pieces off. Don’t worry if it’s not a straight line, you’ll never notice once it’s all put together.

Next you are going to take your fabric and glue a line on the painters canvas where the top of your piece of fabric is just covering the edge of the skirt. To make the ruffle look make a little fold on your glue line all the way around.

You will repeat all the way around the skirt overlapping each layer.

 

I hope you all enjoy!

 

Car Emergency Kits

Here in Oklahoma we get bad snow storms every few years. And since we haven't had a bad one in a while I just know we are bound to get one soon.

My husband and I commute to work so its important that we have a car emergency kit just an case we get stuck in a blizzard.

I've been researching car emergency kits and put a list together that works best for us. So this past weekend I went out and put our kits together. Thank goodness I did because we got our first round of snow on Sunday. Starting early this year and looking like its going to be a long winter.

 

Here is what is in our kits(a few of them are not shown in the picture above):

Flashlight - batteries

Water

Blanket

Hot ones

First Aid Kit

Jumper cables

Peanuts - Food

Chapstick

Advil

Gloves

Kleenex

Kitty Litter

Small Shovel

Windshield scraper

Phone numbers

Phone Charger

Whistle

If you have children, here are some ideas to include:

 

Formula

Baby food

Diapers

Baby wipes

Baby blanket

Extra clothes

Wedding Wednesday- Wedding Shoes

I found some bedazzled shoes on etsy that I fell in love with as soon as I saw them but wowza were they expensive. And I’ll be the first to admit that me and my frugal self couldn’t stand the thought of paying over $300 for a pair of shoes. But I was bound and determined to have some for my wedding day, so I went out to find a pair of wedges (since we were going to have an outdoor wedding). I ended up finding every other shoe in America besides a nude patent leather wedge. The next weekend I made my usual week stop at TJ Maxx and just happened to pop into the shoe section. What do you know I found a pair of nude patent leather BCBG shoes in my size, oh TJ how I love you. My next stop was the craft store; I picked up some E600 glue and some rhinestones and pearls to put on the shoes and took my supplies and went home! Side note: craft stores always have sales going on so make sure you only purchase these items if they are on sale or you have a coupon because more than likely they will be on sale the following week.

Supplies:

Shoes – patent leather is the best since it’s a clean surface

Rhinestones/pearls, fabric, whatever you want to put on your masterpiece

E6000 glue
Toothpick, flat stick, tweezers
Ribbon
Neck massager – optional

I started by sticking the bigger rhinestones where I wanted them, I ended up picking up an “N” to put on one side of the shoe to make it personal so I put that on first. Then I planned out my other designs for the shoes, I used the flat stick to spread the glue on the shoe in small portions. I put my designs where I wanted them and then filled the other places with smaller rhinestones(this is where the tweezers and toothpick come into play if you need them).  I continued this all the way around the shoe.

Warning: This is a long project and your neck will start to hurt. You may also make several trips to the craft store.

After you are completed and trotted in front of the mirror a few times to look at just how much better your legs look with bedazzled shoes on, you are ready to add the finishing touches.

I got some ribbon out of my craft closet and tied a bow; I then glued it to the back of the shoe and glued a bigger rhinestone on top of the bow.

Everyone (the girls) loved my shoes when they finally came out for their grand entrance. I mean who wouldn’t love these shoes.

I am so in love with these shoes that they are currently on my dresser because well I mean, they are a piece of art J

Coffee Table

I found a barn door wall décor at our local craft store and fell in love, not for a wall décor but to turn it into a coffee table. I took it home and immediately starting taking the metal pieces off. Then I ran to Lowes and got wood stain and paint (I’m so indecisive that I think I stood in the aisle for a good hour just trying to decide on color). I then went to the lumber store and got the legs since Lowes can’t cut a 4x4 on their machine. I started staining the legs and the wall décor and then painted the metal pieces to set to dry. The next day we glued the legs to the wall décor I used gorilla glue, which I got a little carried away and used a tad too much. Covered the glue coming out of the cracks with left over stain and called it good. Finally we put the metal pieces back on and moved it inside the house. I absolutely love it and always get a ton of compliments on it. What do you think?

Wedding Wednesday

How I asked my Bridesmaids

I found this idea on Pinterest and was dying to do it. Seriously, I got engaged on the 22^nd and went shopping to make these on the 23^rd, no joke!

Supplies:

Box (Found at our local craft store in the cake decorating aisle)
Scrapbook paper
Double-sided tape
Ring pops
Tissue filler
Stickers (Get the ones with the templates you can use on your computer, found mine at Office Depot)

Print your labels off the computer. Measure the scrapbook paper and cut accordingly, then tape the paper to the top lid of the box. Put the sticker where you want it and fill box with tissue filler, then put the ring pop in the middle.

Aren’t they cute!?!