Homemade Laundry Detergent and Dryer Sheets

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

For about a year now, I've been using Honest Laundry detergent.  It is gentle on my girls' skin, but it is also fragrance free.  When I do laundry I really like some sort of scent (as long as it's natural).   My good friend has been making her own laundry detergent for a while now and loves it so I thought I'd give it a try.  See original recipe here.  I just finished making our second batch today!  My mom and I put our ingredients and supplies together and now we have a pot, spoon, funnel, grater, and measuring cup all dedicated to making laundry detergent.  It makes so much we've been sharing each batch.

Ingredients:

a bar of soap (your favorite kind.  I stuck with my Honest brand because I love the scents that they make                           and I didn't want to "test" my girls skin with other soaps)
1 Cup of Borax
1Cup of Washing Soda (also used in my homemade dishwasher detergent)
a big pot (2+ Gallon)
a grater
a funnel
a long spoon
2 empty gallon jugs/containers

I kind got into the process of making it and forget to take pictures of each step, but it's pretty simple so here it goes!

Peanut Butter Ball Cookies

Today I am sharing a super easy, healthy recipe that my whole family loves!  The given name is No Bake Energy Bites found at Gimme Some Oven, but my girls call them Peanut Butter Ball Cookies.  These are great because you can throw in whatever you have on-hand or whatever you think will taste good.  Today I will share with you how we usually make them.


I actually doubled my recipe this past time, because everyone loves them so much.

Ingredients (single batch- makes 20-25 one inch balls):

For the Starbucks Lovers

A quick recipe for the Starbucks tea lovers.  I'm not sure where I originally saw this recipe, but chances are it was Pinterest.  What recipe isn't from Pinterest anymore?

Here we go:  Passion Iced Tea Lemonade.

Tazo Passion Tea. . . I have used the "iced" passion teabags and the regular passion tea bags--
seems to work the same!

Family Files #2

 Just a little bit of what we've been up to lately:  Heavy on pictures, light on words.


Our 4th of July:

The Princess went to her violin lesson on the 4th so we made her teacher a little 4th S'mores plate.

We tried to theme the whole day out, including meals and snacks.  Here are our "fruit rockets".

 Whipping Cream

 Whipping Cream:  Whipped.  You can add powdered sugar to sweeten it, but I think it's fine when it's mixed with already sweet fruit.  

 Ended up being a pretty cute snack!

Honest Diaper Results Are In. . .

Since our oldest, The Princess, was born we've been a "Huggies Family".  Huggies diapers rarely leaked and their wipes were always the thickest.  Right before Hammie was born I tried cloth diapering with The Princess to see if it was something I wanted to do with Hammie.

I wish I could tell you I am a Eco-friendly, healthy eating mom and that's why I wanted to cloth diaper, but really it was to save money.  I chose the brand G diapers which were really cute and looked comfortable.  I tried them for one day with The Princess.  That's how long I lasted. ONE DAY.  I decided on that day, when I had a giant baby belly and I was hovering over the toilet scrubbing out a diaper liner (with a toddler running around unsupervised while I scrubbed the liner), that this was NOT for me.  On top of it, the snaps on the cloth diapers left marks on The Princess and by the time I calculated all different size sets I would have to buy throughout the years that it was not really a money saver for us.  (since I am not that mom to use the cloth diapers I buy for burp rags and pin them on- Bless you if you are that mom!)  Not to mention the laundry!  I can't keep up with our normal laundry!  So back to Huggies it was!

Yes, Huggies rarely leaked and their wipes were thick, but they also left nasty gel (supposedly safe) on my kids' skin when it got to wet.  If you look at the Huggies box their is no list of ingredients.  If you check the Huggies website they list their choice of ingredients and write "among others".   This does not sit well with me.

How I Cured My Sinus Infection

Last Thursday I started feeling a little congested.  Thought for a day that it might be allergies.  Then Friday came.  I was miserable.  Over the counter medicine was doing nothing and I thought for sure by Monday I would be in the Doctor's office demanding a Zpack because I'm a mother and mothers know best asking if I could get a prescription.  While I was online researching pressure points I could use to try to relieve the awful congestion I found that Eucalyptus oil is suppose to be some sort of miracle for Sinus related problems.  I have never been a big believer in "the power" of Essential Oils, though I have been curious.

I decided I would try to track some down for a few reasons. 1. I was getting desperate.  2. I wanted Eucalyptus oil anyway because I read in, The Honest Life, that I could mix it with the Honest Healing Balm and make my own Vick's Vapor Rub!  3. I wanted some sort of Essential oil because I could make my own Air Freshener! (We all know by now that I enjoy making my own. . . everything)