It Took 18 months...

It took 18 months but I finally finished the curtains in little one's room!

My downfall was I had gotten tired of looking at the blank, white shades and hung them, without finishing them.

Whew, all shortened and functioning. It's nice not to think about having to fix them every time I walk in the room!

My Brother's Craigslist Score

Another pre-Christmas story. My mom told me my brother got something off of Craigslist but he didn't want to tell me what because he was afraid I would break into his house and steal it in the middle of the night. He didn't even tell her what it was as he wanted it to be a surprise. We were both intrigued but had made a good guess since he was lacking a stove in his kitchen.

He doesn't have to worry about me stealing it because there is no freakin' way it would fit in my kitchen!

(I think my camera phone decided to tint everything green to match the tiles)

$100, including delivery, so you can't really beat that! I think he said it was working except for one of the burners??? Sorry Frankie, I can't remember what you said! Especially since I think I was out of the room for part of the story... It is very clean and pretty looking though!

Something New for the New Year

Blogging on a regular basis? Nah, I can't promise that one! I know myself too well. Resolution-wise I would definitely be the person going to the gym for about 2 weeks in January.
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For the New Year I thought I would try making my own laundry detergent because I hate spending money on boring things. I also have a high efficiency machine which means the detergent is even more pricey (though supposedly you use less? My husband seems to be liberal in his detergent usage.)
Someone had posted this recipe on facebook and I thought it sounded doable as it didn't involve 5 gallon buckets and finding giant bottles and space to store all of this homemade detergent. I then lost the recipe but googled it and found about 50 other bloggers with the same recipe sooo I don't think I need to post detailed photos/directions. Google "homemade concentrated laundry detergent" and you will see what I mean.

All of the ingredients were right next to each other in the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart so that was easy. It took me longer to talk myself into venturing to Wal-Mart. The mason jars I had hoarded in my basement. I don't know where they came from. One maybe had apple butter given to me in it so my best guess is that one multiplied. It happens often at my house. Things multiplying.

Of course after melting the ingredients together one is instructed to divide the concoction evenly between jars. They post cute photos of perfectly divvied up jars.

umm, I think mine are even??

Anyways, after letting them soak and blending them the detergent came out the consistency of mayonnaise as it should. One of the sites said to clearly label these so no one mistakes it as food. I asked my husband if I needed to and he said "umm, what would I think it was??"
Me: "mayonnaise?" Wait, who would keep mayonnaise in a mason jar?"
Husband: "The same type of person who would make their own detergent!"

I didn't print out a cute label for these. I can hopefully assume no one will try eating this because I normally don't store food by the washing machine...

 I have used it on sheets, my clothing and a load of diapers and it seems to be working. My kitchen smelled fresh after making this and it also did a nice job of cleaning up the pot I used to melt it. Now if I can get the husband to try it out I will be in good shape as he is the biggest offender of using too much detergent.

I'll include the recipe I used. As mentioned earlier, I have no clue where it originated. The 50 other bloggers have detailed directions and photos if you need some!

-bring 4 cups of water to a boil

-grate and stir in the Fels-Naptha (apparently other bars of soap work too?) and bring temp down to medium high/medium

-when this has melted (15 minutes-ish) stir in 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda and stir for another 15 minutes-ish

-pour (scoop) them evenly into the quart sized jars and fill the remaining space, up to where the jar starts to curve, with water and turn upside down for 4-5 hours-ish.

-put the jar right onto the blade of your blender and let it rip for a minute until it looks like mayonnaise.

-One tablespoon at a time is all you supposedly need to use and it does seem to do the trick.

Recovering From the Holidays

Yikes, it appears I have accidentally taken a month hiatus. I wish I could say I was up to many exciting things but nope! Just recovering from the holidays, I guess? I also guess my parents didn't know what to get me for Christmas because:

Though my mom said the most she paid for any of it was $6 for the individual casserole because she thought it was so cute. Oh, and my brother got me the huuge snowflake dish. I amazingly have found a spot for all of it except the Friendship casserole. Everything stacks nicely but I want to see the pretty lid on that one!

My mom also found me a lovely, near mint Enid Collins owl Purse.

The original tag is taped inside.

And along with some new trolls, I received a "new" shack for them to hang out in.

I'll hopefully get a chance to catch up on my blog posts I have in my head and on the camera memory chip! We shall see! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and are getting back to the "normal" routine!