Homemade Laundry Detergent

Okay so I have been wanting to make my own laundry detergent for a while now. I bought the supplies months ago, but never seemed to have the time. So after seeing two good friends, Holly and Jessica, write about their experiences with homemade laundry detergent I had to get on the ball.

Not only do you save money by making your own laundry detergent, but your clothes last longer and dry softer. So far the detergent has been great and I have calculated the cost per load is about 2 cents (which is awesome compared to the 46 cents a load from store bought)!

There are recipes out there for powder or liquid detergent. Holly and Jessica both made wonderful powder detergents. I happen to prefer liquid detergent, so that's what I made. Whatever style you like, the basic ingredients are the same. Here is what I did if anyone else out there is interested in making your own laundry detergent too! Have fun!

Step 1 -collect all your supplies (found at Wal-Mart). You will need 1 five gallon bucket, 2 cups of washing soda, 2 cups of borax, 2 and 1/4 gallons of water and  about 1 and a half bars of ivory soap.

Step 2 - finely grate bars of soap.

Step 3 - add finely grated soap to 1 quart of boiling water. 

Step 4 - keep on low heat and stir until all soap is melted.

Step 5 - pour the soap water into five gallon bucket and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved. 

Step 6 - add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

Step 7 - fill old container with new homemade detergent and no one will ever know!

I may try a defferent soap next time, but other than that I have been very satisfied with my new detergent. It didn't take long and it made enough to probably last through the summer! My next idea is a homemade washing machine....ha! You'll have to stay tuned to see that one! ;)

Garden update.....

Time for another garden update. It's really been too long since the last update, but oh well...we've been just a tad bit busy! Everything seems to be growing nicely and I can't wait to start eating some of it!!

Our first squash of the season....yummy! Fried squash here we come!

Little Bit was a big help Saturday morning watering the garden. She watered everything!

The corn is looking quite nice.

Little Bit watering the tomatoes.

The cucumbers.

The squash the girls planted.

Mommy's favorite....the green beans! Oh and the cabbage down at the end.

First little tomatoes coming out.

The tomato cages.

One of the muscadines.

The blueberries.

The rose bush at the end of the muscadines.

Mrs. Rose helping Little Bit not trample anything while she was watering the garden.

After a long day of cutting grass and taking care of the garden, Little Bit took some time out to help me test out a new idea for our next photo shoot. I had to post the images simply because I am amazed at how old Little Bit looks here. That's no longer a baby face! :( She's really looking like a little girl. Big ***SIGH***

Special thanks to Mark and Rose for coming out to help Saturday. We certainly couldn't have managed everything without you! We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends!!

One proud Momma!

Friday was one grand day for me as a mother. I got to see my baby graduate from K-4 and recite her bible verse flawlessly in the morning! Then the same evening I got see to Miss Priss perform in her very first piano recital. She played beautifully! We were all in awe of her gracefulness and fearlessness. She didn't show the first sign of any nerves. Yep, this was one momma just beaming with joy!

Posing for Mom before the actual recital.

 

 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow (Doxology) was her first recital piece. Thought it was pretty cool that I played this in a recital once too!

Miss Priss and her wonderful first piano teacher, Mrs. Ann. We have loved seeing Mrs. Ann every week over the past 2 and 1/2 months. She has really helped Miss Priss get a grasp on her basic piano skills! Unfortunately we had to tell Mrs. Ann that we will not be coming back next semester. :(

But on the bright side we finally found a teacher here in town! No more driving all the way to Oneonta!!!

I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful, talented little young ladies! Way to go Miss Priss and Little Bit! You make your momma so proud!

They just grow up way too fast....sigh**

This past Friday was Little Bit's K-4 graduation. I can't believe she is now old enough to go to big school....sigh**..... my baby will be in Kindergarten next year. Seems like yesterday we were just going to her sister's K-3 graduation. They need to just slow down!!!

Little Bit's class minus one that was out sick.

Lining up to go to the performance!

Walking down the aisle to the stage, acting as though she is shy!

Waiting to sing.

All of the God's Kids K-3 and K-4.

Too cute singing her little heart out!

Reciting her verse: "Depart from evil and do good." Psalms 34:14 She did sooooo good! So proud!

Walking across the stage with her diploma....officially ready for Kindergarten!

Little Bit and Ms. Beth!

Ms. Beth telling Little Bit that she will miss her, but that she will do great next year in Kindergarten.

Little Bit and the only other girl in her class! They had to put up with all those boys all year together!

Miss Priss's ballet recital

Miss Priss and Little Bit started taking ballet lessons at the beginning of the school year. It was a great schedule for all of us because they were both in class and it gave me the oppurtunity to take fiddle lessons for myself! We had our Christmas recital that poor Miss Priss did not get to participate in (click here to read why), but we were excited because after Christmas break we were going to add piano lessons for Miss Priss into the mix.

Things were going well for a few weeks. Then everything was turned upside down when the gymnastics teacher just up and quit! The ballet teacher was now going to do both classes and that meant some schedule changes. The schedule changes made it impossible to get Little Bit into a class, therefore impossible for me to continue fiddle lessons as well. I was so disappointed for us both, but I couldn't just stop taking Miss Priss to her classes. So the wonderful Mrs. Kym let Little Bit became the assistant to the big kid's class. It was precious!

Miss Priss was able to continue her lessons in both ballet and piano. The ballet recital was this past Sunday afternoon and her first piano recital is the coming Friday night. I just love it! Miss Priss is so excited about all the recitals and sharing her talents with friends and family. Thanks to everyone who came out to support her!

Miss Priss's class is made up of 2 divisions, the teenagers (as Miss Priss calls them) and the younger girls. These are the 4 younger girls in the class.

Little Bit sitting with Mrs. Kym wating for the recital to begin.

Little Bit assisting Mrs. Kym during the show.

The girls waiting to go on stage.

The performance:

****I could just cry over the next pictures that you are about to see! I was using a new lens on my camera I was not very familiar with. During the best part of the recital, I was sitting in the perfect spot to take the pictures and I totally messed them up!!! It makes me sick! I wanted to stop the whole program, change my lens and make them start over. I still can't believe I messed them up so bad. Guess I better stick to what I know next time huh!*******

After the recital, I took the opportunity to snap a couple of shots of the girls all dressed up! They both did a wonderful job performing and assisting! 

So long to ballet....next year we will start our Irish Dancing! Whoo hooo!