Life moves so fast. It’s like once you start to get a handle on the new normal, life throws you a curve ball (or like, 17), and you’re just trying to figure out which direction is up. Um. I could really use a compass. Needless to say, I will be taking a break from this space until March 1, trying to find balance within chaos, and carving out time for a little rest and relaxation whenever humanly possible.
Until then!
About a year ago I discovered this homemade laundry powder recipe from Soule Mama, and I’ve been using it ever since…mostly. When I first started making it, I grated the soap by hand, which I loathed. I began dreading the process whenever my batch ran out, and eventually went back to my favorite laundry soap, only occasionally making the powder. For Christmas this year, I gave away several dryer balls along with a jar of laundry powder to friends and family, and during the hand-grating process, I wised up and streamlined the process.
I only purchase Dr. Bronner’s soap when it’s on super sale, which is quite rare, so my preferred castile soap is Kirk’s, which I get for 99 cents a bar. I have also used Fels Naptha, but stopped after reading it contains icky petroleum.
First I cut each bar into more manageable chunks using the blade on our cheese board.
Then using the grating attachment on my food processor, I run each chunk through the machine. It easily fits 10 bars at a time.
Finally, I transfer the gratings to a large bowl, change to the standard “S” blade, and run the gratings through the machine again. In my experience, this is a must to ensure the soap fully dissolves in the wash.
Following the recipe, I mix the other ingredients in a large bowl (my sinuses prefer this done outside), and transfer to large jars, adding up to 50 drops of essential oil to each batch. So far, these are my favorite combinations:
I use anywhere from 1/16 to a 1/4 cup per load, depending on load size, stains, etc.
Again, a quart jar of the laundry powder along with several wool dryer balls makes a fantastic gift.
Happy Laundering!
Participating in {this moment} today, led by Amanda Soule. More of our moments are mixed about here.
Shortly after Halloween my son’s dollar store fire hat that went along with his Pickles costume bit the dust. This made him quite sad, and made me quite sad because he would occasionally wander about the house calling out for it, thinking it might materialize out of thin air.
One afternoon when he had had a mini meltdown over it, I decided we would make him a new hat, together. A quick Google search brought up this tutorial, which was super easy to follow. We simply molded a brown paper bag over his head, as I quickly ran painter’s tape around his noggin. Then we folded the hat up and he painted it to his liking.
As you can see by his face in this last picture, he loved the painting part. He got so excited that those nice green curtains in the background now have beautiful paint splatters across them. But he’s so darn cute in the hat, I don’t mind the mess.
This is the best picture that I was able to snap of him wearing it because he quickly swapped it out for another.
That said, he wears the fire hat all the time (honest to God he is wearing it as.I.type.this) and it has held up for two months now without any repairs needed. Not bad for a quick diy.
Happy Playing!
One of the items that I sold at the craft fair this year was wool dryer balls. They were a huge hit, and for good reason.
I’ve been using six balls in my dryer lately I’ve noticed that it has cut down drying time significantly, kept the clothes wrinkle and static-free, and imparts a very light scent thanks to adding a few drops of essential oil to each ball. My favorite is a combo of rose, grapefruit and tea tree. To make these balls, I used this tutorial from The Sleepytime Gal which uses 100% wool yarn, which I made sure to get with 40-50% off coupons. Wool yarn is spendy.
For Christmas presents I gave away what dryer balls I had leftover from the craft fair along with homemade laundry powder, which was very well received. After Christmas I started working on wool dryer balls using an old wool cardigan and vest (a gift from Kendra), and one of my husbands old hats that I accidentally put in the dryer. I used this tutorial from Eco-Friendly Homemaking, but used the felting methods from the previous tutorial by first creating a “core,” felting it, wrapping strips of wool fabric around the ball and hand-stitching it as I went, until it reached the desired size. Then I felted the balls twice in a pair of old pantyhose.
I won’t lie. It required a lot of hand-stitching. I used 100% cotton thread because I wanted something that would shrink up with the wool, but I switched to regular thread when my spool ran out. I’ve had no issues so far.
I made eleven balls using this method, and it took me about three weeks of working on it in little bits here and there. It was actually really nice having an ongoing project, something to keep my hands busy, mostly during nap times. I allowed myself to watch movies while I stitched (something I never do during the day), and really enjoyed watching New York in the 50’s and Magic Trip on Netflix. Totally interesting watching those two films back-to-back. I can’t really recommend using one method over the other, but I will say that re-purposing old woolen items is not only eco-friendly, but free.
Happy Stitching!
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