Laundry Detergent

About two years ago I began making my own laundry detergent for a few different reasons but the biggest reason was cost.  With five kids producing a ton of laundry every week I was really weary of paying all that money for detergents instead of putting it toward fresh fruits and vegetables or meat, since I was reaching a point of having to make a choice.  I tried stocking up on Arm & Hammer when it would go on sale but it seemed like every time I turned around I was nearly out of detergent AGAIN.  My children’s appetites were growing and our take home pay was on its way down in spite of a so-called “raise”.  For years I’d sat down each month with our budget and brainstormed ideas to save money and I’d set a goal.  Now it was time to look into laundry detergent alternatives and I was pretty excited actually.  Especially when I found out how easy it was and how much money I’d save.  I could have kicked myself for not trying it sooner when this actually worked out!
This recipe is totally safe for your “he” machine because it is naturally low suds and very concentrated.  Using an Olay Body Bar soap for this is safe for those with sensitive skin.  It cleans well and leaves your clothes smelling, well, like nothing!  I even used it on cloth diapers when I was still at that stage with my children.  Another plus, there is no cooking involved so that saves time compared to other detergent recipes.  Because it is a powdered concentrate, no water is added so it saves space as well.  And I use my heavy duty food processor to make soap flakes so this is quick.  I do find that in cold weather that my incoming water is so cold that it does not dissolve the soap well.  I simply add the soak cycle to my loads and no more trouble.
Now that I have given up expensive and chemical filled fabric softeners as well I find that I am now spending less per YEAR than I used to spend cleaning clothes in a month!!!  HUGE savings!  This detergent will cost you around 5 cents per load as opposed to about 25 cents load, depending on the brand you’ve been using.
I make a triple batch of this detergent since I am doing laundry for 7 and on average this lasts me for about three months.  It stores well in Mason jars or in reused plastic containers like the big ones from bulk purchases of corn starch or baking powder.  Make a single batch for starters to see how you like it.
Single Batch Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 bar Oil of Olay soap, grated.  (I purchase these in bulk packaging at Sam’s Club)
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda (found in the cleaning or laundry isle and looks like an oversized orange box of baking soda)
1/2 c. Oxi-Clean (try finding a web coupon for this at Target and combine it with one of their sales to reduce your cost)
Carefully mix these together in a large bowl and then store in a dry, sealed container.
*Use 1 Tbsp. for a regular load or 2 Tbsp. for a large or heavily soiled load
**Can use Fels Naptha laundry bar in place of Olay bar soap.

Rag Quilt

I discovered the joy of rag quilts several years ago and I am still seeing new versions of them today.  But I like the flannel version for babies because it is so soft and cuddly.  I was excited to get to make another rag quilt for my good friend who is having her 7th child and first girl!  Hooray!

I checked my stash and was reminded of the rag quilt I got too busy to make for my own daughter (sigh) along with some super cute flannel I had purchased extra of several years ago when one of my nephews was born.    After checking through my stash of large fabric pieces and playing around with color options I settled on just a double layer of two different fabric patterns.  Flannel is warm to begin with and though you wouldn’t know it from this winter, this is a fairly warm region for much of the year so I thought two layers would be enough.  I cut out 46 6x6 squares of white/strawberry flannel and 26 6x6 squares of green farmyard flannel.  In a perfect world it would have been 18 green farmyard squares 54 white strawberry squares but I patterned the back to make up for my lack of fabric.  If I’d used more green I could have done this BUT this IS for a baby girl, after all so I wanted more of the white and pink or at least as much as I could get!   I sewed each square in a double layer, backsides together, then sewed the double layer squares together with the seam facing up instead of hiding.  Then I sewed around the perimeter of the quilt and the raw edges on the quilt front got clipped every half inch or so.  After a washing, this gives the clips a frayed look that is pretty.  The clipping actually took longer than the sewing!

I then folded the blanket, used some odds and ends of pink baby ribbon tied together that I had in my ribbon box to tie around the folded quilt, made a pretty label for my creation and it was ready to go.  I looked at this blanket and loved it.  Unfortunately I was not able to attend my friend’s baby shower since it was postponed due to weather and moved over top of my daughter’s birthday party but  I hope my friend and her soon to be born baby will love it too.

I got to use that pretty snowflake paper again giving it a pretty and feminine look with a soft pink ribbon tied around it.  I have missed making quilts.  This was a fun and easy project that I spread over two days. 

Birthday Banners!

I loved the idea of having pretty banners up for bedroom decorations or various holidays that I have seen floating around over the past several years.  Our own cardboard birthday banner bit the dust several years ago and we have settled for paper streamers for a while.  But with all this snow around I was feeling the need to do something CREATIVE with all this indoor time. 

I found a blue scrap of bias binding that I had and dug into my small scraps stash of fabric in shades of blue.  I ironed the scraps, cut six inch squares and then used zig zag scissors when I folded the squares in half to form a triangle.  I left the edges raw and sewed the folded part of the triangle inside the folded bias binding.  Each triangle overlapped the last.  Blue went with our latest birthday party theme but I like this project so much I may do different color themes and sizes in the future.  This was quick and easy.

I got this idea from Handmade Home.  I repurposed the edge piece I had left of an ancient white sheet.  The rest of the worn sheet had become either a ghost costume about 10 years ago or else the backing of our Christmas Tree skirt I made 19 years ago… not sure which at this point but the sheet was OLD!  I had enough sheet to cut out 13 rectangles that were 6x13.  The rectangle with the heart is slightly smaller simply because that is all I had left.  I dug into my scrap stash and picked out scraps of fabric to cover the gamut of colors in the rainbow.  I printed out bubble letters on the computer, pinned the letters to the scraps and used them to cut out fabric letters through the paper.  I centered the letters at a far end of the white rectangle and straight stitched around each letter leaving the edges raw for a shabby look that will fray a little over time.  After that, I folded the rectangle with the stitched letter in half and did a zig zag stitch around the letter leaving a casing at the top and leaving edges raw for the same shabby chic look.  When the letters were all done I strung the letters onto a ribbon and used a large safety pin to hook each end onto my curtain rods.  The room was instantly festive and everyone agrees that this banner is far better than any streamers or cardboard banners we have put up before.  I’m thinking of doing more letters so we can arrange letters for various holidays or include names.  This was also an easy project.  The most time consuming thing was stitching letters but the time went quickly when I moved my work up to the table in the living room where it was warmer and there were people to visit with or a TV show to watch.
These were both finished in time to celebrate my 17 year olds birthday and my 7 year olds birthday party just a few days later.  My little guy is talking about when we get it out again for his birthday now.