Summer Decor and Fun!

It may have taken me awhile, but the kids and I finally finished a simple little summer display for the shelf in the family room. I wanted bright and cheerful décor to celebrate the fun season and we actually picked up all the supplies at a.c.moore long before the baby came-- yes, it took me that long to find some time to do it, but the end result was well worth it. It adds a lot of summer cheer to the room. Its hard to believe that as schools across the nation have just finished their year up, we are about to begin ours in a little over 3 weeks! Im excited! The kids are excited-- it's been nice having this time off and adjusting to life with our new little love, but I think we will all be ready when we begin again come July 8th! http://kojo-designs.com/2011/09/49-fabulous-fabric-flower-tutorials/ Want to make some of your own fabric flowers? Don't be scared-- they're really simple and heres a great site with lots of ideas!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

We have been asked a few times how we make our own laundry detergent and so since we made a big batch this past week, I thought I'd share. Its incredibly easy and only requires 3 ingredients.

1. Borax 2. Arm and Hammer Washing Baking Soda 3. 3-5 Bars of Fels Nappa Soap.

Pour the first two ingredients into your container. Then grate the fels Nappa soap in just like you would cheese. Stir it all up. This is the part my kids like to help with.

Then proceed to wash clothes. I find it takes about a 1/4 cup a load and things come out nice and clean. To avoid having the fels nappa not break up, dont do too big of a load and I think it works better with warm water if your load of wash is bigger. I also have previously shared that we don't use a dryer. At all. Here is the link where I shared about our amazing drying rack-- between the two you will have lower energy usage, less money spent, and more natural clothes cleaning happening in your home. I'll leave you with my favorite laundry quote: "Laundry is like God's love-- never ending!" http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5690151281930472906#editor/target=post;postID=3655682755814600033

Re-doing an old hutch for the bathroom

I searched high and low for good, roomy storage for the bathroom. Originally, we were just going to buy cabinets from Lowe's but for the price, we still weren't getting that much more storage and they looked a little cookie cutter.

Then I tried the internet and thought I had found a few, but none really encompassed what I wanted-- something unique, with glass doors somewhere, and not too mass produced. I finally decided to go in the local Christian thrift store and happy day-- it was half off all their furniture. So, I was determined to look and find something. After a few aisles, I found this 50 or 60's or even really bad 80's hutch with hideous handles and an ugly burnt orangey finish. Barf! But-- the potential was there and I talked my husband into the vision!





We had to lug this bad boy in two trips with the van and then get it up on the porch. Once it was on the porch, it stayed there for a bit as it needed some work, and um, it stunk!




My sweet husband did a lot of the sanding with a great electric sander I scored on craiglist for 15 bucks! Yes-- still way under budget and the vision was coming closer to being finished!


I am happy to say that is now completely sanded, primed, painted, and with new hardware sitting in our bathroom storing our thousands of towels. But, I want to do something more with the back of the top to brighten the interior up-- stay tuned!!