Makeover Monday – Homemade Laundry Detergent

So as you now know, I got a new washer and dryer.  This prompted me to beautify my ugly laundry room, and by beautify I mean de-clutter the shelves.

See that green tub up there?  That’s one of my new favorite things.  It’s from the Dollar Tree (because I’m cheap frugal like that) and it makes me happy every time I see it.

Let me start by saying that I am not a ‘green’ person by any means, and I am not a crazy couponer.  I’m pretty middle of the road, but trying to do much better these days to stretch our pennies.  And in that vein, this idea was born.  I’m trying very hard to makeover everyday money-suckers that I don’t usually even stop to consider, and laundry detergent definitely fits that bill.

I’ve been using my homemade detergent for about 3 months now and I love it!  It smells great and it works just as well as the store-bought kind.

If you’d like to try to make your own laundry detergent, here’s my recipe.

Washing Soda and Borax can both be found in the laundry detergent aisle, usually with the stain treatments, and they are very inexpensive.  I also use a bar of Ivory soap, some oxygen cleaner, baking soda, a grater, a container, and a tablespoon.

Grate the bar of soap into your container:

Because I’m me, I bought a grater (also at Dollar Tree) that I use only for this purpose.  I know in my head that a dishwasher could clean it, but honestly I could never again grate cheese on a grater that was used for soap.  I’m weird like that.

For every one bar of soap, add 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Baking Soda, and 1/4 cup Oxygen cleaner (if desired).  Then I just stir until well combined.  I’ve read that others mix in their blender, but again, I’m me.  I just can’t do that.  Besides, the girls love to make this themselves, so who am I to deny them that pleasure?

The end result:

So easy peasy, it’s cheap, and it works.  In fact, it works really, really well.  And it only takes 2 Tablespoons per load, so it’s very economical.  And yes, I can now attest to it being just fine for front-loaders.  I actually researched this and I found several people online saying they’d been using it for a long time (1+ years) in their front-loaders and all was well, so I felt comfortable in proceeding.

Previously I was buying Arm & Hammer powdered detergent because it was the cheapest brand that I felt still did a good cleaning job.  Comparing the cost, the Arm & Hammer is about 26 cents per load, whereas my homemade batch costs just a penny per load.  I know those pennies don’t sound like much, but to live out my own little version of a Wal-Mart commercial, if your family switched to my detergent that would save you $250 (or more) per year.  I saw someone on my Facebook feed stating that it was great to make a 5-month supply of laundry detergent for $2, and I’d have to agree.

So you’re doing something green, saving some money, and giving your kids a fun project all at the same time.  Now kick back with a cup of coffee and put those little ones to work!

Oh, and the vinegar in that top picture?  My new fabric softener.  It works, no it does not make you smell like vinegar, and it also repels lice - a serious plus for any mom of school-age children who lives in fear of that dreaded note from the school nurse.

Happy laundering!

As it turns out, doing laundry does not suck

You just have to have the right stuff.  Who knew?

As a few of you have already heard, I got a new washer and dryer last week. It was unexpected and quite thrilling, as these are lovely, swanky, drop-dead-gorgeous front loaders that I’ve drooled over for quite some time.  (When you use a word like ‘thrilling’ to describe a new washing machine, that’s how you know you’re old)  They’re Samsung, in case you’re wondering.  And they’re HUGE.  Reportedly the washer can handle 25 bath towels or a king-sized down comforter, though I’ve not tested that assertion.

Sadly, our laundry room is hideous, so I won’t be posting cute pictures.

Our house is barely 3 years old so we should have much better, but sadly, no. The builder designed this laundry room as a total afterthought and it has 2 walls that are unfinished, pipes from the sump pump running several feet out into the room, and is just generally unsightly. Quite a disappointment for a brand new house, actually, and the only thing I truly dislike about this place. But alas, 4 bedroom homes were hard to come by when we needed to move, so I deal with the inconvenient and unattractive laundry. And it’s never even been important – until now.

Now my pretty appliances deserve better. They deserve a room as pretty as they are…but that ain’t happening anytime soon.

So here ya go – a little peek:

I know, I know, I’m not showing you the good stuff.  (Steam dryer is priceless, by the way)  But what I’m showing you is pretty darn good too.  I wanted them to be elevated but really didn’t want to pay the $400 for 2 pedestals.  We also needed a different height to accommodate my husband’s bad back, so these are 18 inch platforms instead of the 14 inchers you can buy.  And the best part was that they were made easily in one afternoon, for around $40 for the set.  Score!

They’re not perfect, but I think Ana would be proud of my gumption – even if they can’t hold a candle to her bed.

Makeover Monday – The ‘I did nothing’ edition

I actually have several projects lined up to show you in the future, but I did nothing to make today’s post possible.  Well, no actual work that is.  I did use my fingers whilst sitting on the sofa, for whatever that’s worth.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and started hopping from there, eventually landing on one of the most fabulous blogs I have ever seen.

Seriously.

I’m going to give you the link now because I know you’re dying of curiosity, but please don’t leave me just yet, ok?

Knock Off Wood

Now I am a DIY girl, but I’ve got nothing on Ana.  She’s a self-taught carpenter extraordinaire and she is amazing y’all.  Totally amazing.

She started like many of us, with champagne taste and a beer budget, and she decided to do it herself and save a bundle.  This bed was her first project:

photo and design by Knock Off Wood-all praise & credit to Ana

Yes.  She made that. 

Impressive, right?  And you can make it too, with a few tools, $120, and her easy-to-follow plans.

Does it look familiar?  It might, because it’s actually a knock-off of this bed from Pottery Barn.  Except it’s $1230 cheaper.

$1230.  Or as I like to think of it, 5 round-trip airplane tickets to Disney.  Not bad, right?

She has plans for knock-off furniture of all sorts, inspired by upscale stores like Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, and Restoration Hardware.  She even has a dining room table inspired by a $2750 Restoration Hardware piece – her cost? $9.98.

Nine-ninety-eight.

A dining room table.  For less than ten dollars.  And it’s gorgeous.

You’re totally sold, aren’t you? 

So was I.  Which is exactly why I fully intend to make these (complete with wall clips)

Again, all credit to Knock Off Wood (my new hero)

appear in our playroom.  How awesome is that setup?  Totally needed.

Ana’s blog has inspired me to take my garage full of tools and my DIY spirit to the next level.  Now in my case I wasn’t exactly planning on buying new furniture so she might be costing me money rather than saving it.  But we won’t be focusing on that little detail.  Instead, I’m getting excited about how beautiful my house will be when I crank out a few of Ana’s projects.

Now if she only offered a professional organizing service, I’d really be in business.

*Full disclosure – I’m getting nada for writing this.  I wasn’t asked to write it, I’m not being paid for writing it, and I have no vested interest in anything here.  I’m just all about the sharing.

Oh, and PS) I forgot one of the very best parts – her plans are free. FREE!  This girl rocks, y’all.  Check her out!

Makeover Monday: the kids bathroom

We left off upstairs, with the only room left (that got a makeover, at least) being the kids’ bathroom.  Of course this would be more interesting had I remembered to take before pictures, but I’m just not that kind of girl.  What I do have is a picture of the junk I took out of the room, all piled up and ready to go to Craigslist.  That’s almost as good right?

So yeah, it was a fish theme.  The builder had painted the room sage green.  A lovely color, but oddly formal in a kids bathroom and it didn’t at all match the fish stuff.  And the fish stuff was really on my nerves.  I bought it all years ago and saved it in a Rubbermaid tub forever, because I just knew that I would decorate my children’s bathroom in fish one day.  I know you’re not surprised that when they came along, I was already over the fish.  But of course I couldn’t admit that, so I had to use them for a little while first.  You know, just to be polite and all.

So I knew I wanted their bathroom to be something else, I just didn’t know what that else was exactly.  And how it came to be is rather odd, really.

In doing all of these makeovers I cleaned out a lot of junk, and I just can’t bear to throw anything away.  I know someone could use this stuff, right?!?!  Enter Freecycle, a truly beautiful concept.  I listed tons of the kids clothes, toys, baby gear, furniture, and even our old treadmill, and then people came to my house and took it away!  I know, I know, we could get a tax deduction for donating it to charity, and often I do just that, but sometimes (and especially with the big stuff) it’s nice to just have someone come and take it all away so I don’t have to deal.  That is not without value of its own, my friends.  So one day as I listed Lilly’s baby gear someone else posted that they had tried 3 times to get the perfect shade of aqua/teal/turquoise paint and the shade was never quite right, so they were giving away the ‘imperfect’ gallons.  ‘What the heck?’ I figured – I didn’t have a vision in mind anyway, so I picked up a gallon of surprise! paint and a vision started to take shape.

The end result?

(Waiting for the return of beautiful black-and-white pictures of the girls to go in the frames.)

I think it’s sort of girly-chic.  I like that it’s feminine in a more sophisticated way, and I feel that it will last them for years since it doesn’t have a ‘little girl’ look.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this room turned out.  I think it’s actually my favorite makeover so far!  Which is a good thing, since it was also one of the most expensive.  I bought all new towels, carpets, etc. I bought all of the fabric to embellish said towels, and I made the shower curtain and the valance myself.  I painted it all and replaced the light fixtures myself, and I spent hours on the embroidery and embellishments.  I love the way it came together, but it really does not reflect the amount of time spent on it.  I’d sort of like to hang little tags on everything so it’s fully appreciated.  ’30 minute handtowel’ or ’4 and a 1/2 hour shower curtain’  But I digress.

So there you have it, the grand tour of my kids’ living space.  I’m not making any promises about what you’ll see next week, because I’m really not sure just yet.  It will be a surprise for all of us.

Play along?

Makeover Monday – built-in desk

I’m deviating from the original plan.  I had intended to show you Lilly’s new room, but I got three several requests for more info on the built-in desk, so I’m going to stick with Annie & Catie’s room for another go-round.

As I said before, the dormer there was small and not terribly useful.  We used to have a small child’s table in it, but that didn’t seem like the best use of space, nor was it the most ideal location for the table.  Even before we purchased this house I thought that area would make the perfect student desk.  Two years ago my parents bought the girls a computer for Christmas, so the desk was really needed.  Lucky for me I have a dad that can do anything, so a project was born and his help was enlisted.

This is actually a pretty simple, straightforward DIY so we didn’t even strain his brain cells.  The work would be much easier with 2 sets of hands, but you honestly don’t have to have a lot of skills for this one – a great beginner project.

This is the only picture of the ‘before’ space I could find:

And here is the ‘after’:

The desk was made simply, in one day.  We used part of a 2×4 (leftover from another project), a piece of MDF (or plywood/pressboard, but you’d need to sand it very smooth), liquid nails, screws, a level, measuring tape, drill, and some decorative molding and paint to finish. 

Measurements are key, so make sure you measure at least twice.  Once you determine the size of the desk you’ll need to cut the MDF or whatever you are using for the work surface.  After that is cut to size, try it in the space to make sure it fits.  Then you’ll want to cut the 2×4.  We ripped ours in half lengthwise so there wasn’t as much bulk, but you could also buy a 1×2 if you aren’t using leftover scraps like we were.  Cut 3 sections of this 2×4, slightly shorter than the MDF, so it won’t show from the room.  You are cutting the 3 sections that will go up against the wall – there won’t be a brace in the front of the desk.

Next you’ll need to determine where your wall studs are.  This definitely MUST be attached to studs – wall anchors won’t do.  You can use a hammer to tap until you find a solid spot, or use a stud finder (relatively inexpensive at any hardware store – around $10).  Studs are typically on a 16 inch center so you should be able to space them out accordingly, but always check to make sure that’s right before drilling.  Now you’ll need to mark the exact location for the desk in heighth and make sure that mark is level all the way around.  You don’t want pencils rolling!  When you mark the wall, mark where you want the desk top to be, and measure down from there.  This will ensure that you don’t have the finished desk higher than you really wanted.

Once the studs are marked you’ll know where your screws need to go.  Measure and mark, then pre-drill holes in your 2x4s, slightly smaller than the size of your screws.  This will prevent the wood from splitting but still allow the screws to get a good grip.  After the holes are drilled in the 2x4s, I like to apply a line of liquid nails for added grip.  Put that on the back of the wood, butting up against the wall, and screw the boards to the wall tightly.  At this point you can stop and allow the liquid nails to set up overnight, if desired.  We did not.

Your next step is attaching the MDF to the 2x4s.  You should be able to lay it down on top and from there it’s a 1 person job to screw it down.  Make sure your screws are very near the edge of the MDF so they can be covered by molding.  Alternatively, if you do not want molding you would counter sink the screws and putty over them, sanding for a clean finish. 

When you’re done with this step, you should have a functional desk, if not yet beautiful.  Here is a picture of the underside of the desk, to better illustrate the bones of the project:

At this point we chose to cut a hole in the top of the desk for all of the cords.  We did this using a drill bit, as it would be nearly impossible to cut a perfectly round, clean hole with a saber saw/ jigsaw.

From there the work is only cosmetic.  I chose 2 decorative moldings; a narrower strip to edge the top of the desk and cover the screw heads, and a wider strip to face the front of the desk.  I think the moldings give the desk a nice finished, custom look.

top molding

front face molding

The angled corners of the molding are the trickiest part of the project, for which you’ll need a miter box or a miter saw to cut the corners…or you could use decorative blocks in the corner of the top molding, so no mitered corners are necessary.  Cutting mitered corners is not hard, but it does take some calculating and practice, so be patient if you choose to go that route.

We used liquid nails to attach the molding, and now you’ll have to allow this to dry overnight before moving on.  From there I did 2 coats of paint and the desk was done!  Be sure to use a roller when painting the surface of the desk, as a brush will leave unsightly streaks that detract from your project.

And since I’m back here, I’ll show you what’s on the walls as well.  On the left is a covered bulletin board I made to hold the girls’ Disney pin collection:

and on the right I have pictures of them on Cinderella’s Golden Carousel:

Annie

Catie

Lilly

Chris snapped these very casually last August, and I was so pleased with how cute they came out I wanted to showcase them a bit.  They are not award-winning photography by any means, but they’re very sweet – just like my girls.

And before anyone asks, yes, one day I will show you how to make the bulletin boards!

So that’s it, the kids built-in desk area.  Now next week I promise we’ll head into Lilly’s room.  And again, I’d love it if you’d join me in showing off a makeover!

Home Makeover: Flawed Edition

I’ve been intending to blog about my adventures with a paint can (or 10) for quite some time now, but I’ve never quite gotten the homestead neat enough to do it.  (If you’re a regular reader you know I’m a messie.  I make no excuse for this.) 

I finally decided I had to post, neat or not, because otherwise we’d move before I ever got the chance to show off my hard work.  But here’s the catch: I’m doing it one room at a time.  This makes it much easier for me, because I can shift all of the clutter from one room to the next while I take pictures.  That way everything looks  fake beautiful for blogland, and I don’t have to do any actual organizing and de-cluttering.  Genius, right?

Our house is about 2 1/2 years old.  Weird that I felt the need to re-do everything?  Well not if you know me.  First of all, I love to paint.  Love it.  And while the shades the builder selected are quite lovely, there are only two of them.  And that just doesn’t work for me.

It all started with the kids’ playroom, which was quite dull.  The color was builder’s choice, a golden camel-ish color that is attractive in our master bedroom, but looked dull and depressing in the kids’ areas.  We could have had him use different paint colors (we bought the house while it was being built so we chose all of our finishes) but what would be the fun in that?

Much to my husband’s chagrin, I announced I wanted to paint it lime green.  He was not on board with this decision.  And really, he is the only one with a decent paying job which pays for the paint. (Although it’s worth noting that the only reason my stay-at-home-mom gig pays so poorly is because he’s the one underpaying me.  Humph.)  However, unfortunately for him, I am the one who does the actual shopping and painting.  So guess what color we got?

No, I didn’t really buy it against his wishes.  That would be wrong.  I first helped him to understand that his wishes were misguided.  And then he of course realized that he would never win anyway I was right all along.  And when it was all said and done (entirely by me, I might add) he decided he likes it too.  And I didn’t even have to tell him he likes it, he realized that all on his own.

I The girls love VeggieTales so I used the same Veggie decor from the playroom in the old house, and made a new valance for this window.  (Pardon me if it’s picture overload.  I’m kind of a home voyeur and I love to look at pictures of other people’s houses, so I’m assuming you’re the same.  Right?)

And while the end result may not be worthy of posting on ‘Rate My Space’ or anything, I’m pretty happy:

In fact, I love the green even more now that it’s on the walls.  It made me happy the whole time I was painting.  And since our playroom is the bonus room above the garage with only one window, the amount of light is always an issue.  This color made that room 10 times brighter and more cheerful!  It’s a lot more fun to hang out there now.

And if any of you were looking at these pictures and thinking, “Does she seriously think that is a straightened up room?” the answer is yes.  Yes I do.  I have low standards, and it’s a playroom after all.  If the mess is contained within and I can walk through barefoot without injury, then all is well in my book.  So cringe away tidy ladies, I have made peace with my mess.

Next stop, kid’s bedrooms!   Tune in next week for more of my Makeover Mondays!

*Makeover Monday will be a weekly feature, and this is the first installment.  I hope you will consider joining me!  Feel free to snag the button above (Thanks, Nicole!) and link up with pictures of your own projects – painting, room decor, furniture, landscaping, your wardrobe… Shredheads feel free to post the all-new, shredded you!  Any kind of makeover works for me, and it can be an older post too.  Just link back here and sign Mr. Linky!

Oh, and I know there was no advance notice, but just in case you’d like to play along THIS week, here ya go: