Pinterest Weekly: DIY Laundry Detergent

     I have never had an overwhelming urge to make my own cleaning products. I'm just not one of those people. I think it's cool when others do it and have bought my fair share of homemade bath products at craft fairs and market days. Mostly, I think that it's more effort than it's worth. I don't mind paying for the convenience.

     But, when I saw a recipe for DIY Laundry Detergent on SlapDashMom, I just had to try it. It's only 3 ingredients and it just seemed super simple.

     So, I headed to the store to get my ingredients. Before we left, I told my sister, that I wanted Zest, Lever 2000 or something similar. When we got there, a 3 pack of Zest was $1.98 with a $1 off in-store coupon. So, that's what we got. We got home, and I decided that I would increase the recipe to use all three bars of soap. We don't use bar soap so it was easier to add it to the recipe and get it out of the way.

     It was as easy as SlapDashMom's directions made it seem and it took us less than 30 minutes to make. One thing I didn't count on was how much space the soap would take up once it was grated. With increasing the recipe to account for a third bar, my finished laundry detergent was about 8.25 cups.

My laundry detergent

     Total, it cost me about $3.15 to make the laundry detergent. Since you only use 1 tablespoons per load, it'll wash 132 loads. That means that it's only $0.03 per load! When we were buy laundry detergent at the store, we pay $0.13 per load. I know that $0.10 per load doesn't seem like a lot of savings. But, when you think about the fact that, according to the EPA, the average American family does 400 loads of laundry per year. That's saving $40 per year on something that you're going to need, no matter what.

     Be sure to check out SlapDashMom's recipe for complete instructions!

Pinterest Weekly: Shoe Poms

     Usually, my Pinterest projects come from seeing something cool on Pinterest and wanting to try it out. This week, I went in search of something that I needed to make: shoe poms (which are simply little poms that go on a cheerleader's shoes). I also needed to make matching ponytail holders. I had considered making Pony-Os, but wanted something that matched the poms more. After searching Pinterest, I found several. One can be found here, another here. They're all pretty much the same, but they overestimate the dexterity of these sisters. Somewhere between step one and two, something went amok.

     So, my sister and I sat down and figured out a different way. Our league has the kids wear a lot of pink in October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So, we started with two different pinks and white yarn.

     After much trial and error, we discovered that using forty (40) four inch (4") pieces of yarn would work best for each our our poms. Each cheerleader was going to need four poms. One for each shoe and then two for the ponytail holder (to make it a little bigger). We used tiny ponytail holders (not the plastic disposable ones) and six inches of yarn to make the shoe poms and regular black ponytail holders and 8 inches of yarn to make the pony poms.

All of the materials needed to complete one set
of shoe and pony poms

     Next, we simply tied the 6" pieces of yarn around the small pony tail holders.

     Then, we stacked the 40 pieces of yarn for each pom. We stacked and tied them one at a time. I'd also recommend doing this in a place with no ceiling fan (or turning the fan off). We randomly stacked them so that none of the colors would be clumped together.

Stacking yarm

     The last step to completing the shoe poms is tying the yarn/pony combo around the center. After it's tied, give it a little shake and it should fluff right up. We didn't even need to trim the ends of the center yarn. Repeat for the second shoe pom.

Tied in the center

     The only thing left to do is put them on your shoes. We unlaced the entire shoe and put it on the shoes lace that goes through the very last eyelet. However, you could tie them into the bow if you didn't want to unlace the shoes. 

Poms on the shoes

     Now for the pony pom. It's the same basic principle. However, we aren't going to start by tying the extra yarn to the ponytail holder. First stack your yarn. Then, take the 8" piece of yarn and tie it around the center.

Pony pom tied in the center

     Complete both poms. Once both are complete, use a knot to tie the first one to the ponytail holder. Half knot the second to the ponytail holder. Slide it as close to the first as possible and then complete the knot. You may have to trim the ends of your 8" yarn pieces. After you do that, give the pony pom a shake.

Both poms tied to the ponytail holder

     Now, your pony poms are ready to be worn!

Pinterest Weekly - Soda Cake

     This weeks Pinterest Weekly inspiration comes from SkinnyTaste.com. My kids have been wanting to make cupcakes for a while and I have wanted to try this since my sister went touring colleges and a guide mentioned it to her. It seems in the last 3 years, the idea has become very widespread (even Weight Watchers!).

     On SkinnyTaste.com, they used a chocolate cake mix and a diet soda. Of course, I couldn't just follow directions. While we were at the store, Thing 2 asked for "purple Sprite" (better know as grape soda). I don't know why, but in that moment, I thought that the grape soda would be cool for a soda cake. So, we headed home with a white cake mix and grape soda.

The only ingredients we used.

     I was surprised at how easily the soda and cake mix mixed together. I didn't think that the batter would be that light and fluffy. I did not add any egg whites and the batter was still about normal cake batter consistency.

Doesn't that look yummy?

     We cooked the cupcakes according to the chart on the box. I usually set them for the middle of the time given and they come out perfect. For these, they needed to go the entire time. When they were done, we topped them with cream cheese frosting.

Purple Cupcakes

     They weren't as purple as I would have liked. But, that problem could be easily fixed with a small amount of food coloring. The kids didn't care that they weren't incredibly purple and they loved the taste. All in all, it was a pretty easy, kid friendly way to make cupcakes.

Pinterest Weekly - DIY Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

     This weeks Pinterest Weekly was inspired by Money Saving Mommas and Poppas.

     Sunday, Thing 2 broke my liquid soap dispenser. It was the second one that had been broken in less than 2 months (the first was broken by my 20 year old sister...not entirely her fault). I wasn't thrilled at the idea of buying yet another liquid soap dispenser. Then, I remembered I had pinned a DIY Mason Jar Soap Dispenser.

     Her instructions were very good and I didn't need to alter them at all. I left my ring and lid silver instead of painting them and I didn't have any ribbon that matched my bathroom decor. So for now, it's pretty plain. But, it's doing its job (and it's still in one piece!). All in all, it took less than 10 minutes to complete this project.

     If I were to do it again, the only thing that I would change would be the screwdriver that I used to poke the hole. I didn't think that the hole would need to be too large, so I started with a medium width screw driver. If I had started with a larger screwdriver, I could have been finished in 5 minutes.

Pinterest Weekly - Button Letter

     My friend Marisa has started trying one project from Pinterest each week. You can see her crafts at The Scholarly Homemaker. Since I spend quite a bit of time exploring Pinterest, I have decided to do the same. Thank you for your inspiration, Marisa!

     This week, I was looking for a way to get rid of a bunch of miscellaneous buttons that I had. This craft was inspired by American Crafts Studio. They have a wonderfully detailed tutorial.

     Below are 2 pictures. Because I put it in a shadowbox, it was difficult to get a picture where you could see the entire letter and the actual color of the buttons. The first picture is the letter. The second picture is a more accurate portrayal of the colors.

     Because I'm slightly OCD and I picked a letter that is 95% curves, I found it to be a little harder than the tutorial seemed. I used only green and cream colored buttons. I had several different greens, so that gave it a little variety. When I first started, I thought that my edges looked too planned because I was trying to fill in all the space. As I put more on, it started to look more random. You know the saying, "less is more"? Yeah, that doesn't apply here. Less is not more, more is more!

     I did use craft glue, (NOT suggested in the tutorial). It worked really well, however because it doesn't dry very quickly, I found that it was easiest to do it in stages. I would put on about 15 buttons and then take a 30 - 60 minute break to give those time to dry. When I wasn't taking breaks, I was accidentally knocking buttons around and getting frustrated. Due to the breaks, it took almost an entire day to finish, but I love the end result!