Homemade Laundry Soap

I've had a lot of questions from friends and family members about the laundry soap I make from scratch. I got tired of spending so much money on even the cheaper detergents and decided to try making my own. There are a lot of different "recipes" online for laundry soap but this is by far my very favorite. It gets my clothes super clean, it lasts forever, and it's super easy and inexpensive to make!

What you'll need:

- Borax
- Washing Soda or Baking Soda
- Two Fels-Naptha Laundry Bars

All of these ingredients can be found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. They're very inexpensive and the Borax and Washing Soda will last you a long time. 

Other materials you'll need:

- Cheese grater
- Measuring Cup
- Medium bowl or tupperware container

Directions:

1. Measure out two cups of Borax and two cups of Washing Soda and pour into container of your choice (I found a cute glass container with a metal lid at Walmart for pretty cheap).

2. Using cheese grater, grate both Fels-Naptha bars into a medium bowl or tupperware container. Make sure you use a pretty fine grater so the pieces are small.

Side note: I think these Fels-Naptha bars are pretty. Random bunny trail, I know.

3. Pour grated laundry bars into the container with the Borax and Washing Soda.

4. Mix well.

That's it! You're done! It doesn't seem like a ton of laundry soap, but considering the fact that you only need one TABLESPOON per load, this batch should last quite a while!

We've got four people in our house so I do at least 5-6 loads of laundry per week, and the last batch I made lasted me almost five months! Can't beat that, especially considering the total cost for one batch is less than $5.

A few more tips to save money on laundry costs:

- Instead of expensive liquid fabric softener, use distilled white vinegar. Your clothes will be just as soft and the vinegar won't leave a heavy residue and scent like many fabric softeners do.

- If you still have a problem with static cling, throw a piece of aluminum foil in the dryer instead of a dryer sheet. It'll remove the static and can be used again and again!

Running a household can get expensive, and it's nice to find little tricks to save money where we can!

Project: Daily Chores Organizer

Since moving into our new house I've had a really hard time keeping up on housework, partly because I felt really overwhelmed with everything and partly because I kept letting myself get distracted with other (way more fun) things. The problem now is I'm starting to hear things from the hubby that I hate hearing, such as:

"Hey hon, do I have some clean underwear somewhere?"

or..

"Are all the spoons dirty?"

or the very worst..

"The living room floor is so sticky!"

Anyone else gone through this? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Well I finally decided yesterday that I need to get organized and make myself a list of things to clean every day before I can do anything fun. So basically I'm attempting to discipline my inner 13-year-old.

The first thing I did was sit down and make a list of things that need to be done daily, every other day, bi-weekly, or weekly. Then I divided those tasks among each day of the week. I think the key here is to be realistic and take into account what your schedule is like and how dirty certain things get in your house. For example, I've got to sweep my kitchen floor daily and mop at least every other day. Reason: I have two small children who throw (or "accidentally drop") so much food on the floor on a daily basis that we'd be host to an entire ant colony if I didn't clean up regularly.

So once I had my list made I started thinking about a way to display my list in such a way that 1) I could see it on a daily basis, 2) it wasn't an eyesore, and 3) I could see my progress through the week and easily keep track of what I had done and had left to do. The solution: A framed "chore chart" hung on my kitchen wall:

Here's how I made it.

I dug through my craft supplies and found this 16x16" frame I bought a few months ago when a local craft store chain went out of business. It only set me back five bones! Can't beat that.

I took the pretty (ugly) butterfly artwork out of the frame and decided to use the cardboard insert for my chart since it was already cut down to the right size. I found some cute vintage fabric in my stash and used spray glue to adhere the fabric to the cardboard, smoothing out any wrinkles and creases.

Then I flipped the cardboard over and used some hot glue to adhere the fabric to the back. Easy peasy.

I cut eight pieces of white cardstock into rectangles that would fit well on the board and then transferred my daily checklists to each piece of cardstock. It probably would have looked nicer if I'd printed the lists off, but it was just easier for me to write them out.

Using duct tape (I know, super fancy) I adhered the lists to the fabric board. The eighth piece of cardstock is a blank list for other miscellaneous things I need to get done during the week, such as deep-cleaning specific areas of the house, washing windows, or running errands.

Then I just popped the board back in the frame and voila!

Now I can use a simple dry erase marker to check off tasks as I do them, erase the board at the end of the week, and start all over again! I think it looks so great on my kitchen wall, and I know it will help me stay a lot more organized and will keep my husband fully-stocked with clean underwear and spoons.

Five!

As much as it hurts my poor mommy heart to say it, my baby turned FIVE YEARS OLD on Monday. I seriously can't believe how big he is, and I spent most of the day yesterday bawling and thinking about things like Taylor learning to drive and going away to college and getting married and having his own kids and forgetting to call his mother on her birthday. Y'know, logical things one thinks about when their child is about to start Kindergarten.

Anyhoo, Tay decided this year he wanted an Angry Birds birthday party. We had a big potluck with our family and friends on Saturday, and then on Monday we went to Kangaroo Zoo with his best friend Chanel (and Chanel's mommy and little brother). Here are some pictures from his party.

The two cakes made by yours truly:

Opening presents. He got tons of loot!

 Tay's new bike from Mommy and Daddy (Sean put it together himself! So happy to be married to a guy who can put together and fix just about anything.):

 The after-math. He had to open every single package and lay everything out all over the living room, including all his new clothes. Such a crack-up!

 Tay Bug had an awesome birthday. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole five-year-old thing, but I also love watching him grow and learn and develop his own little personality. Love you Taylor! Happy birthday!

What we've been up to...

I apologize that it's been so long since I updated the 'ole bloggy blog. The Nichols family has been super busy doing all sorts of important things (as well as many unimportant and silly things), so I thought I'd catch you all up in one quick post. Here goes.

In the last month and a half we've been...

Playing at the park:

Getting messy (and learning to do super cute cheesy smiles):

Running errands:

  Spending lots of time in the hammock:

 Learning to go cross-eyed (well, almost...):

Going to see Eve 6 in concert (and meeting them in person! Eek!):

Had an amazing Easter (even though Mommy was a little grumpy about how early the boys woke up):

Taking naps:

 Being all lovey and gross:

Getting lip piercings (well Sean did anyway):

Running through the sprinklers:

 Dying my hair crazy colors:

 Playing lots of Angry Birds:

And just being generally super silly:

I promise I'll try to stay caught up on this here blog-a-rooney, although I know I've said that several times in the last little while. I promise I'll try to keep my word this time!

Spring has sprung!

I've been very impatiently waiting the past few weeks for my giant cherry tree in the backyard to bloom. My mom kept telling me it would open on April 1st. She was absolutely positive about it. Well, sure enough on Sunday morning I peeked out the window and saw tons of little white blossoms. They're so pretty I can't even stand it!

I'm so happy Spring is finally here, and I'm so excited to get out in the yard every day and do some yard work and enjoy this fantastic weather!