Tackle It on Tuesday: Laundry Soap

May 6, 2014

Last week, I happened to read a post in my Bloglovin' blog feed from Mary at Owlhaven where she shared her recipe for homemade laundry detergent. Her post was very timely for me because it was almost time for me to make another batch of laundry detergent. I had been using a recipe from a friend that makes 5 gallons of liquid detergent. One thing nice about Mary's recipe is that it uses all the same ingredients that I already have on hand.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that you can make a smaller quantity and it can be ready right away.

In a matter of minutes, I had enough laundry soap to run quite a few batches of laundry.

I only had enough Borax to made half of the recipe, but it made more than enough for me to have laundry soap for quite a few weeks to come! Since yesterday was Monday (which equals 'laundry day' at my house), I used this new-to-me laundry soap and was quite pleased with the results. The hardest part about making the recipe was grating the Fels Naphta soap, but I love that this recipe comes together so quickly. It just might be my go-to laundry soap from here on out!

So what I am going to tackle this week?

Yep, this is the contents of my freezer right now. A little disorganized, and really, I am not even really sure what all is in here. Yikes!

What project are you working on this week?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Books

April 30, 2014

I know, I know...today is Wednesday, not Tuesday. But sometimes, you just have busy days and don't have a chance to type out a blog post. So this one is a day late...anyway...last week, I started to tackle just one book case in our home.

Now you have to know, it is very hard for me to part with books. I am not your typical girl. I really hate to shop for clothes, make-up, shoes, jewelry, etc. But let me spend hours in a bookstore, and I am in heaven!! I love the look of books, the feel of books, the stories you can learn from books. I have been known to read well-loved stories over and over again.

Because we have book cases in almost every room in our home, I thought it was about time to start selling at least some of the reference books we have referred to over the years when my children were younger in our homeschool journey. Not only that, by selling some of these, I can add some cash to my Compassion Colombia fund!

I am so happy that I made some good progress on clearing out this one book case. Now to try to sell what I have! If you are interested, I would be happy to send you a list if you are searching for some great reference books for your home library.

So in addition to finding homes for quite a few books, my new task for this week is to try a new laundry soap recipe.

For a couple of years now, I have been making a homemade liquid laundry detergent recipe, but you know what? There are times when I really don't feel like making 5 gallons of laundry detergent!! So I was excited to see this recipe for a powder laundry detergent and uses all the same ingredients! I will be putting this together and giving it a try over the next week.

Do you use homemade laundry detergent? What project are you tackling this week?

Capture Your 365

September 18, 2013

Time for another week of Capture Your 365 photos!

ISO 100, 18mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec

Day 250 – Black and White: If you know me and/or have been following my blog for some time, you know that I love to go on day trips to Yosemite. Having this amazing gem of a place within driving distance is such a blessing. There is so much beauty there, and each season has something special to offer its visitors. On this particular trip, my husband and I spent the day bike riding around the valley, something neither one of us had done before. We both enjoyed it so much!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/20 sec

Day 251 – Simple: My husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary this month. Anniversaries come and go, but it is the simple (and sometimes not so simple), day to day stuff that we each work on together that keeps a marriage together.

ISO 800, 34mm, f/5.0, 1/8 sec

Day 252 – Routine: Welcome to Monday! Monday around here usually means laundry day. Not the most beautiful photo I have ever taken, but just a small part of my routine.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 253 – Around the House: Most week day mornings, you will find my daughter in her room, up on her new loft bed, diligently working on her school work.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec

Day 254 – On The Schedule: I know there are so many gadgets and apps to help you stay on task with your to-do list these days, but I seem to always fall back to a simple, written out, to-do list on a post it note. This helps me keep my to-do list somewhat reasonable for the day, and I don’t know about you, but there is satisfaction in actually checking items off of a list.

ISO 800, 48mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec

Day 255 – Details of the Day: We like to have breakfast for dinner around here every now and then. I had purchased some strawberries at the local farmer’s market the night before, so waffles with strawberries sounded like the perfect dinner for this night. And a little whipped cream just makes it all a little bit more special!

ISO 800, 52mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 256 – On The Table: It is not my intent to have food related photos in almost every Capture Your 365 blog post, but when the prompt fits, you just have to go with it! Anyway, I do enjoy using our cloth napkins at dinner. It has been a simple way to make our dinner table just a little more special, and we don’t go through near as many paper napkins any more. There are plenty of tutorials out there to follow to make your own set or two.

So there you have it! A full week of Capture Your 365 photos! What photos are you capturing during your week? I would love to see them!