Kid art turned wall art

My kids LOVE to paint. anyting artistic and they are all about it. So when My 18 month old minion painted some masterpieces i figured we should put them to good use. He has a ABC animal room now that hes in a toddler bed and so i thought some new art would be good. So despite the mess (made minimal my putting the paper in a cookie sheet and using washable paint on a floor that can be easily wiped down - and of course an immediate bath ) we made some art. I used his pictures and then cut them into shapes to make flash card look alikes. he loves them, especially the kitty. i figure you can expand on this and make all sorts of things! Would love to hear what you come up with!!!!

Laundry Part Deux - dryer "sheets", detergent, and oxiclean

 

Ok I know its been awhile. Holidays and health issues and a crazy house thats my excuse. So first up I finally figured out a way to keep my laundry smelling great even with homemade laundry detergent. I dont typically have essential oils on hand so my laundry smells of wonderful nothingness. This is not a problem per se...but i sometimes miss the fresh smells. So I also don't ever really buy dryer sheets. Dryer sheets AND fabric softeners are both toxic and can have huge impacts on not only the environment but on the health of your family as well. Im not saying that I always buy the good stuff. Sometimes I am too broke and have to go cheap - however, if possible I would recommend a natural fabric softener like 7th generation or a similar type. Anyway back to the way Ive found to get fresh laundry! I took fabric softener and water (1:2 ratio) and put them in a container and added cut up sponges to it. When Im ready to do a load in the dryer I simply grab a small sponge and wring it out and toss it in with the clothes! Simple and cost effective!

The second part of this posting deals with detergent. AGAIN. Last time I made a liquid It was a mess and a disaster. Someone recently made me want to try it again and also I was given the advice to add a bottle of store bought for scent. It turned out great and the bottle of store bought that i added (I just bought whatever was cheapest for this experiment) actually improved the consistency a great deal as well. no complaint and its doing a good job. I don't think its really any different than using the powder but definitely a matter of personal choice....also this should be ok in HE washers as well since it is low suds.

Here is my recipe pretty much the same as my powder: Grate 2 bars of ivory soap and add it to 3 cups water. Boil stirring constantly until dissolved completely. Have a 5 gal bucket filled with 3 gallons of warm/hot water and add to that 1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda. while mixing add soap mixture to bucket and continue mixing until thoroughly combined. Cover and let sit for 20-24 hours.

Waiting.....

 It will get a very gel-like once you uncover it. Use a long spoon (or in my case a broom handle) and mix it around breaking up the pieces some. 

At this point I added a bottle of store bought detergent and mixed it in. 

 use a funnel (I wouldn't recommend using an old cut up peroxide bottle haha!! It made another pretty big mess....sigh) to transfer the soap to different containers. I used cleaned out milk jugs and then also reused the detergent bottle also. Don't fill the bottles all the way as you will need to shake before each use.

It made about 5 gallons and It worked out perfectly because you use about 2/3cup for each load and the measuring cap on the Purex is almost right on so ill just use that to measure for each load.

OXYCLEAN...is way to expensive for me. so here you go. I got this from over at creatively domestic In a jar mix 1 cup water  1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide  1/2 cup baking soda. I doubled this in a large mason jar. Shake and then pour on stain and let sit for like 20 min. Worked well. enjoy!