I love Mason Jars...

My latest projects...

Mason jar soap dispenser...

The original post can be found here. The original authors is GORGEOUS! But, I like mine. Not bad for a first edition. I'm thinking next year's Christmas, with some knitted dish scrubbers...















A latte cozy...

Imagine with me that my lemon water is actually a Grande Caramel Macchiato...oh the bliss....now, with that coffee perfection called to mind, notice the knitted cozy that surrounds the chalice, I mean cup, that holds such sweet caffeinated perfection, keeping it just the right degree of warmth yet protecting your hands from being uncomfortable. 

It was super easy, and only took me one and a half Doctor Who episodes to create from start to finish.

This is another first edition, but I'm also thinking gifts...Christmas...birthdays....we'll see...

Here is the original for the coffee cozy.

I've also made a this. I made a t-shirt braided headband. Pictures to come later. It's pretty much just like the picture, only mine is white. 

Craftiness is next to Godliness! 

=)

I want to go shopping...

for chalkboard paint, fabric, yarn, sewing shears and a rotary cutter/board, thread, goodwill clothes to upcycle, a bleach pen, and a flat iron.

So many projects, so little money....at least with the exception of maybe the yarn, fabric, and paint most of this stuff will last through multiple projects.

I want to slather chalkboard paint on just about everything from cups to flower pots.

I want fabric, sewing shears/rotary cutter/board, and thread to create a purse I'm totally in love with and is VERY similar to one my sister purchased at a fancy-schmancy boutique on Portobello Road in London a few years back. Are you singing the Portobello Road song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, yet? 

I want goodwill clothes to take apart and do crazy things with...some of which haven't exactly been found but I know they're out there.

I want a bleach pen and plain t-shirts to make my own trendy, "screen-printed" t's. For me, my girls, and maybe gifts...

I want a flat iron because I HATE the way my hair flips out at the ends. This has nothing at all whatsoever to do with Pinterest.

I also want mason jars. To turn into spice jars, gift jars, candle holders, and soap dispensers.

I want to create!! But, at this point to create one must have at least the bare minimum of supplies.

So I wish and dream about shopping. And dream about getting a paycheck...hopefully in March. =)

More crafty goodness

A while ago I made a present for my sister, who is also a knitter.

I upcycled a Liz Clairborne reverseable skirt into a knitting needle case.

The lack of flash on the first picture does not do the colors justice. I'm much happier with how this one turned out then the first one I made for myself.

Today, I made t-shirt headbands with a rosette detail. The fabric rosettes are all over pinterest, so I gave it a try.

These were fun to make. I think I'll put the larger one, the one on the right, on the lapel of a denim blazer I have, attached with a safety pin.

And the headbands. The glue is tricky,so the first one will be an around-the-house thing. But, they are comfy.

The original can be found here.






















I also grabbed a great chicken recipe off Pinterest today. Blackened chicken with cajun spices. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but did do a dry rub, sear it in a cast-iron skillet and baked in the oven. It was great. Even Mal liked it. Although she dipped hers in ranch. But anyway, it's totally worth trying. We'll be sure to have it again.

Update on the laundry soap

After enough laundry to make me wonder what in the world I ever did with my Saturdays before kids, I've come to the conclusion that this home-made laundry soap is the BEST stuff ever.

The clothes are soft, like fabric softener soft and I haven't used fabric softener since before M was born. I forgot what bliss truly soft fleece was.

The colors are vibrant, the whites are white...not sure if they're actually more vibrant/white then before, but they sure seem to be.

Ok, this soap thing is totally worth it.

Now, back to the massive amounts of folding I have yet to do...or I could just put it off till tomorrow and watch Glee on Hulu...

Home-made laundry soap

Here I found a recipe for dry home-made laundry soap. It's toward the end. I modified it slightly, by using two cups of borax and two cups of baking soda and one small cup (the cup it came with) of Sun Oxygen cleaner. The Fels-Naptha bar grated up into two cups. I did a larger grate, as my grater is very old and the finer side just doesn't work anymore. Mix and store.


The ingredients...

  

 The Fels-Naptha bar grated up. One bar, on larger grate, created two cups.

 The final mixture. I used the scoop from the oxy-cleaner. In the first load, I added two scoops to the wash, but realized that might be too much (not that it'll hurt anything) when the washer started the cycle, so I think one scoop will be plenty. This first load is mostly kid clothes, so if they come out clean and smelling fresh, we have a winner! All total, this cost me under 10, and aside from needed to buy another bar of soap when I run out, I still have most ALL of the ingredients left. So, this is a very effective way to save money.

Other thoughts...
Here is a helpful discussion of baking soda versus washing soda. I chose the baking soda because its what I had on hand. I will try the washing soda next time, I think, or do them both.

This website also has a dry recipe and it was the original one I was after, but Wal-Mart was out of the washing soda the day I was in town. So, I modified the two together, made a smaller batch from first listed websited but adding the Oxy-cleaner from the second website.

One thing I'll need to keep in mind, and both websites mentioned it, are the lack of suds. But, the first website goes into some detail as to how the suds are actually a cosmetic feature and really don't do anything to clean the clothes.

Home-made make-up remover wipes

Here is the website from Pinterest for the home-made make-up remover wipes. I found it to be incredibly easy, although a little elbow-grease is needed for cutting the paper towels in half (or maybe just a sharper knife??).  In my product review, you'll find my tweaks and thoughts. Here is the process, though, if you're wanting to try it.

First I cut the roll...

Then, I made the liquid mixture... 4 cups warm water, and 3 squirts of the wash of your choosing. The original calls for coconut oil, which I don't have at this time, so I skipped it.

For my mixture, I used the baby wash and 3 drops of Young Living Essential Oils Lavender.
Then, I forgot to take pictures, so I'll just explain. Splitting the liquid mixture into two parts (2 cups each) into 2 seal-able containers.

Taking the cut rolls, fuzzy side down, submerge them into the water. Squish them down and put the lid on. Turn them upside down to soak up. The original website called for waiting 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes are up, or you feel like they're soaked up, remove the middle cardboard part. It's really easy when its wet.

Yes, it was effective. However, I will be making some slight modifications. 1. I will cut the "recipe" in half. I don't need two containers of wipes. That being said, the wipes are smaller then the store-bought ones, and weaker, so you do use more at one time. 2. If I'm using the cheap paper towels, I'll use less water. They just didn't absorb all the liquid. In order to keep this "cheap", I'll keep using the cheap off brand paper-towels and less water. Overall, I think this is going to be something that can always be tweaked but will be a nice way to save some money on disposable niceties.

This recipe can also be modified for home-made cleaning wipes, substituting the baby wash for a concentrated cleaner of your choosing. I think I'm going to try home-made clorox-type wipes next month with maybe a little bleach.

Home-made shower cleaner

I tried the home-made shower cleaner, found here and really liked it. I am not brave enough to post pictures, but it worked. And I feel really good about the lack of chemicals, for the most part. The dish soap is a chemical, but I'm ok with it. I made my own container out of an old febreeze knock-of and printed off a label.

My next goal for today, besides more cleaning and laundry, is to make the home-made make-up remover wipes.  Wish me luck!