it's a little crunchy around here.....

not sure what it is

being without work/stable income for almost a year?

realizing how much junk we put in and on our bodies?

reading '7, a mutiny against excess', by Jen Hatmaker?

not sure what it is, but i am more and more interested in making my own...whatever can be made at home...ok, not veggies. i have a purple thumb. but if i can make it from something that is ALREADY made, i am trying it.

here is a laundry soap i have made for a while now and really like it. it ends up costing .40 a gallon!!!! you just can't beat that! i always pick the most natural, cheap brand i can and i end up paying more than 15.00 for maybe a gallon.

laundry soap

it only takes 3 ingredients--4 if you want an essential oil for scent

• a soap of some sort,
• washing soda
• borax

the soap: i have used fels naptha. it is found in the laundry aisle. the other options for soap are ivory or another brand called, zote. any of these will work. if you use ivory or zote, you will need to use the whole bar. washing soda is sodium carbonate or soda ash (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate). it is a white powder. its purpose is to help remove dirt and orders. the brand to look for is arm & hammer washing soda. i find it in the laundry section of my grocery store. many people have a hard time finding this locally.

borax: borax is a naturally occurring mineral: sodium borate. It’s purpose is as a laundry whitener and deodorizer. The brand to look for is 20 Mule Team.

i have found all items at my local wal-mart

NOW: to make it :) 1/3 bar fels naptha, or soap of choice ½ cup washing soda ½ cup borax powder ~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~(this makes it easier to mix, but I have used 2-1 gallon pitchers)

grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. remove from heat. pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. next, add your soap mixture and stir. now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. use ½ cup per load.

~the finished soap will not be a solid gel. it will be more of a watery/jelly type mixture~the soap is a low sudsing soap. so if you don’t see suds, that is ok. suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap.

if you DO want your soap to have some sort of scent you can scent this with ½ to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. my favorite scent is called 'creative blend' that i get at sprouts

organized? ME?

i have many people say to me that i must be very organized to run a home with 9 children, manage 2 businesses (ok...they manage me) and have the ministry opportunities that i do in my home.

let me just say....i am not.

i may have order to my life.  i may have  a routine in our home, but i am not organized.  ok. well, maybe a little. because i wouldn't be able to do some of these things if i didn't have some of the tools in place that i do.  i will try to share about them as time goes on, but this is one that i have found to be really good!

i saw this in some magazine.  i thought it might be worth a shot.  it has worked pretty well.

this is what i do:  every person has their own stickie color.  i have a master calendar i have put on the inside of  my back door.  the back door is great, because it is metal...it holds magnet things (that my refrigerator doesn't) like lunch menus, permission slips, birthday invites, etc.

on the stickies, it put the event and time and who (for those who don't do color coding at my house)....there are some days--as you can see--that we have several stickies all in a row.  that is what i love about it.  each person has their own space to write out what they need for that day and event.  if it needs to be changed--say like a dr appointment  that moved--then i just move the sticky to that day. since school has started there are many days with looooonnnnngggg rows of stickies.  (this picture was taken in June when things were trying to wind down)

you do have to have a large space to get all the days on and room for all the stickies, but i love this...it works!  i have also bolted a white board onto my back door.  this was an earlier attempt to organize that didn't last...but it works for messages and doodles (as you can tell)..i have since cleaned it and now it is just plain ole white.

if you try it or have another great organizing tip, let me know!  i am always looking for new and improved ways of managing my ever changing household.