Making Homemade Laundry Detergent

I am so cheap when it comes to some things. And apparently laundry detergent has been added to the list of things I hate spending money on. So I found this recipe (can you call it a recipe??) on pinterest and went back to the original blog to find out more. Here is the post that I used.

Her recipe is amazingly simple and that's pretty much why I chose it. I had seen a lot of recipes for homemade laundry detergent that are powder form and I just wasn't so sure that I wanted to use a powdered laundry detergent so I kept searching for a liquid version that wasn't ridiculous to make.

Here's what she says to do:

3 Tablespoons Borax
3 Tablespoons Washing Soda
2 Tablespoons Dawn Dish soap

Put these ingredients in a one gallon jug. Pour 4 cups boiling water into the jug. Swirl until ingredients are dissolved in the liquid. Let liquid cool. Then fill almost to the top with cold water. The bubbles will overflow out of the bottle.

Couldn't be an easier, right?

So I snagged up the ingredients I needed. I got them all at WalMart and spent less than $7 on all of it. I used a left over milk jug because I wasn't sure if i was going to continue making this recipe.

Add in the borax, washing soda and dawn....

Then the hot water...

Swirl it around to get it nice and mixed up, then let it cool.

After it has cooled, you just fill it up the rest of the way with cool water. Since my soap is light pink, it really looks almost clear in the jug, but I promise that there is soap in there and it works.

So far I am really happy with it. Plus it's so incredibly cheap! Our clothes get clean and they still smell nice too! 

What homemade cleaners and products do you make??

Laundry Labels

One of the things I am working on with my kids is sorting their dirty clothes. They are 3, 6, and 8. They can handle it. However, they often confused which sorter held which kind of clothes. So I had Shannon whip up some beautiful laundry labels for me, with words for the big kids and pictures for the baby.

I printed them out at my momma's house. She has nicer paper then me. :)

I just used my scissors to cut them out. I NEED a paper cutter. It's on the list.

Then I ran them through the laminator.

After that I had to decide how to attach them to the wall and then the washer. I wanted to magnet them to the washer.

Our washer and dryer in the bathroom. We just throw our dirty laundry in the washer as soon they take them off. But sometimes they just throw all of their dirty clothes in so then I have to sort them out of the washer. #firstworldproblems

I'll be honest here. I have not found a way to attach these above my clothes sorter. So, for now, I have one stuck to the washer (obviously we are currently accepting towels), and the rest are stuck to the top of the dryer hanging out next to my argyle pig. I thought about putting them all artsy-fartsy for you guys, but this is how they will be in real life. So I'm just keeping it real for you. You are welcome.

So, here is one thing crossed off my April To-Do list. How are you doing on your list? Share with us!

And because we love you, here is a freebie of my laundry labels! It will only be here for a limited time, so grab it now!

Fifteen minutes of {organization}

This month Jen at I heart organizing is tackling the linen closet and the loo. And you know how we feel about Jen. We are pretty much soul mates.
Now, in my house, the laundry room is in the bathroom. It is super handy, most of the time. However, when you have guests over, and only one bathroom, its not as much fun. I decided to start my bathroom challenge by tidying up the laundry area.
This is what we started with:

So.. there is a lot going on in there. Let me break it down for you:

• Clean laundry
• Dirty laundry
• Scale
• Empty laundry baskets
• Dryer sheets
• General bathroom business
• Thirty-one tote drying from after swimming

Really all this needed was a 15 minute tidy. I'm not sure it even took that long (not including folding the laundry).

Here is what I ended up with:

This is what I did:

• Took the clean laundry out to the living room to fold
• Stacked the baskets up neatly
• Put the dryer sheets in the cupboard above the washer
• Wiped off the washer, dryer and piggy bank
• Put away my big thirty-one tote
• Picked up and distributed all the misc. things

So, not a huge difference, but it makes me smile when I walk in the bathroom. I love that my argyle pig is one of the first things I see, not a giant pile of clean laundry. I have big plans for this room, hopefully I will get most of them accomplished for you this month! We have long term plans for this room, but for now I just want to make it a little prettier and a lot more functional.

Are you joining Jen in her organization challenge? Share your plans with us.

Taking Advantage of Cancelled Plans

If you have been following our happy little blog (okay Bob Ross- throw in some happy little trees too) for a while now you know that the bf and I work basically opposite shifts. I'm a "teacher" and work 7:45 to 3:00 and he works 4:00 (in the afternoon) until 2:30am. This girl is clearly not staying up until 2:30am. Which means we have a phone relationship for the most part, except for Tuesdays and every other Saturday. Super cool right?  Tuesday is the day we have darts. Except this time, someone called in at Drew's work, so he ended up having to work a 14 hour shift! (mega eww!) However his super long work day meant I had a free night. I took completed advantage and cleaned the apartment, ADHD style. That's sort of how we roll around here, spastic.

I have been trying to follow my cleaning schedule, but I was home over the weekend for the wedding and things got a little out of control when I brought all my stuff home and went to bed super early Sunday night. Which left a bit of a mess to deal with. But not to fear, a night of ADHD style cleaning gets it right back into shape.

I started my cleaning spree by starting the things that could run on their own. Laundry and Dishes. I started laundry first, then popped into the kitchen. I put away the clean dishes and filled the dishwasher with the sink full of dirty ones. Yep, a full new load. Then before I left the kitchen I sprayed the counters with my favorite Method Anti-bac and headed for the bedroom.

 And then I got mad that I forgot my coffee cup from that morning….messing up my clean kitchen. Plus that milk jug goes with the trash, but if it moves to the floor it will never make it out the door.


 I put away the basket of laundry that I had gotten out of the dryer. That took just a few minutes, so I picked out outfits for the rest of the week for school. I really need to get in the habit of doing this every week.

Then back to the kitchen to wipe down counters and then sweep. I always sweep after wiping down the counters. That way its not big deal when the crumbs make their way down to the floor. Good thinkin right? I didn't mop the floors since that is on my cleaning schedule and they weren't looking too bad.

Next I popped into the bathroom for a quick laundry pick up and counter wipe down. I could have spent more time in the bathroom, but that's also on my cleaning schedule so I let it go with just a quick clean.

I took a quick dinner break for some pizza rolls and chocolate milk. Supper of champions?? By this time my laundry was ready to pop into the dyer. And I started another load. And then I went a bit crazy OCD and decided that the washer was dirty and needed to be cleaned also. It's basically still brand new but was getting like a build up of detergent and fabric softener. We just can't be having a dirty washer, it seems counteractive. I realize that I'm a crazy person and I've accepted it. But I know there are other people out there who clean their washer. Don't pretend like you don't.

ewwww

I finished up with a little tidying in the living room and "entry" (which is mostly a hallway). Keeping our shoes out is probably visual clutter, but I like to be able to just pop my boots on and run out the door. So they stay where they are. I do try to keep Drew's tennis shoe collection to a minimum tho. They are big shoes and he has sooo many! Is that normal for a guy?

So much nicer to walk in the door and see this instead.

I think the spastic approach to cleaning works for me. I get things done in a pretty short amount of time and make progress in so many areas of the apartment (that's the ADHD part). I tried to get the things done that I knew would bother me. The things people would see if they just popped in, or the insane things like under the washer lid.

Does the random room cleaning approach work for you? Are you a one room at a time kind of gal? A strict schedule follower??

Laundry Area Update

The laundry room. Some people love theirs, some people hate theirs. Some wish they had their own, some wish they never had to go in there again. However you feel about it, its necessary. Maybe a necessary evil in some cases. I too have sort of a love-hate relationship with my laundry "room". I love that I have my own, since we live in an apartment, but hate that it doesn't have doors and we aren't using the space to its full potential.
My laundry area, well its really more of a closet, has some really nice storage shelves and I love that. Any extra storage that you can get in an apartment is a big deal. But it's not actually all that pretty to have just out in the open. Okay, so its not "out in the open" like its in my living room or anything dramatic like that. It's just an open closet at the back of the apartment across from the bathroom and in front of the bedrooms. I feel like I should draw a picture to explain the layout.
Anyway, here's what it looks like: (I apologize for the bad lighting in all of these photos)

So, there's nothing too exciting going on here. The shelves are relatively organized, not beautiful, but not too bad either.

But, here's what it looked like after my closet clean out. A hanger EXPLOSION!!

Those all got kicked out of my closet, with the exception of the 10-15 that were already hanging here for hanging drying clothes. Clearly they could not stay here. But what to do with them? I didn't want to get rid of them just to have to buy more hangers when we moved and had a bigger closet . Because that will be at the top of my moving criteria list--kitchen, bathroom, nice view- eh who cares, as long as they  exist? I might exaggerate a little, but seriously no deal without a massive closet.
So I packaged them up with duct tape into nice little packages to be stored. Because who wants to sort through a massive bag of tangled hangers? My insane OCD brain really wanted to put them into pretty matching packs of 10 like the come from the store, but luckily I talked myself out of it and just grabbed a handful at a time. I just put a strip of tape on either side of the hook so they stayed together nicely. I sent them off to my parents, to live with my Christmas decorations.

After I got rid of my hangers, I was back to that nice empty rod. It was just begging for me to put a curtain on it.
I thought I was being like a super genius when I grabbed this little guy at WalMart....It had the curtain and the hooks all together. Fantastic right?  *buzzer sounds* Wrong! The hooks didn't fit on my closet rod, because apparently it is not the same size as a shower curtain rod. Maybe that's common knowledge?? I just figured they looked about the same, but nope.

 So when I was at Target, I hit up the curtain section. *buzzer sounds* wrong again! Those babies are expensive and still didn't really have a nice method of having off the rod. Then it hit me, use a shower curtain with bigger hooks you silly person! So I raced walked sedately as to not look like a crazy person, to the bath department.

I found this guy:

 LOOK AT THAT PRICE TAG PEOPLE! I couldn't pass up a bargain like that! My apartment literally has no color scheme besides in the bathroom, so it worked out fine.

     But I did go with the cheap-o shower hooks, we're on a budget here. And they were the biggest, I didn't want another disappointment when things not fitting.

I did make a few changes to some things since the last time I shared my dirty laundry (area) (ha, see what I did there?)

  That clear tote holds a few that were in need of a new home. Random office supplies, external hard drive... they needed to be stashed away, but still within easy reach so I didn't' want them all the way out in the garage.

  My laminator and cricut are still there (my cricut is hiding in the back you can just see a corner peaking out under the orange purse. Don't mind the purses just tossed up there, they need to get a pretty tote or basket to live in. But purse storage is not a priority in the budget, so until I find something on mega sale, they stay unpretty.

laundry and craft supplies should obviously be stored together??

  Nothing changed over here...oxi clean in the pretty jar and my sockies in the baskets.

 And this cute little piggy holds our change that comes out of the laundry. It's just so cute!

So after a little tidying I popped up my curtain and it works great! Sorry for the dark photo, it looked even worse with the laundry light on. I can still hang my non-dryables and it doesn't look too bad. I think the curtain even helps to muffle the sound a little. Our washer is pretty quiet, but the dryer is a little louder. I love that it makes the laundry closet into its own area and not a part of the hallway. A super simple project for $12, that I think made a big difference. Now I feel a little more love and a little less hate for my laundry closet :)

My new cleaning schedule

I have already posted some about my efforts to get my life in order, with some new printables, checklists, and a makeover of my home management binder. I updated my cleaning checklists as part of that home management binder makeover, and now they are getting another touch up as a part of my "organizing your new year" spree. We have been following along with a New Year Resolutions challenge on the clean mama blog. Recently she has posted her Clean and Organized 2013 schedule, and ya know, I think she might have something there. Her cleaning schedule makes sense, and I am going to try to merge my cleaning routine with hers.
Each day has different tasks assigned, and there are certain tasks that are performed everyday. Very easy to follow along with. If you are the calendar type, hop over to her blog and grab her clean and organized January calendar, if you are the checklist type, stop back Friday for my freebie.
This is what my new cleaning regime is going to look like:

I wish I had a fun and pretty cleaning caddy, but for now all my supplies live in a tub under my sink.

Mondays are for cleaning the bathroom(s). This means cleaning the shower, toilet, counters, and mirrors. This also means removing any left over dirty laundry or towels and putting them in the proper location. The floors and counters would also be checked as part of the everyday tasks and mopped on Thursday.  This is also a good time for taking a quick peek into the medicine cabinet and closet, just to make sure they haven't gotten out of control. A once a week tidy should prevent any major meltdowns.
{See clean mama's Monday tips here}

Tuesdays are for dusting.  I am so not a fan of dusting, so I am hoping that by putting it on the schedule and making myself do it, it stays under control and becomes a maintenance task. Dusting for me also includes using my Pledge multi-surface spray to wipe down our  TV's. They gather just as much dust as wood products, if not more! We don't have a lot of wood furniture in the house- coffee table, dining table, a few end tables, and my headboard and bed frame are all wood (I like to give them a wipe down too, just so they stay nice and clean)
{see clean mama's Tuesday tips here}

Wednesdays  are for vacuuming.  We only have adults living in our apartment, but if there were small babies and small children this would obviously need to be done more than once a week. So if you have little pumpkins, adjust your cleaning schedule accordingly. I also try to make sure that the floors get swept completely today, in preparation for floor washing on Thursday. That way I can just quick touch anything up if I need to before mopping. Cleaning the living room and writing the grocery lists are also Wednesday tasks for me. The newspaper will all the grocery ads comes on Wednesdays, so I like to tackle that as soon as I get it, that way it is done and ready so that I can do my grocery shopping Thursday, Friday, or Saturday-whichever works best with my work schedule. Cleaning the living room isn't a huge task since there's really not that much in there. My desk does reside in there though, so getting a handle on that situation is a big part of it.
{see clean mama's Wednesday tips here}

Thursdays are for washing floors. Wednesday prepared them so Thursday is a quick task.  We only have two spaces that need to be mopped in our apartment, the kitchen and the bathroom. Neither is very  big so this is super quick and easy for me. I like to try to do my grocery shopping on Thursday if I don't have to work at my part time after school job (that makes me sound like a high school kid doesn't it??). If I have to work Thursday night, then I usually do the shopping on Friday ( I rarely work both nights).
I also like to give the bathroom a quick clean again on Thursday's. I'm kind of a freak, and I live with messies. (defined=people (mainly men) who leave a trail of mess behind them) So a quick wipe of the shower, sink and toilet with an antibacterial wipe keep me feeling sane and clean.
{see clean mama's Thursday tips here}

Fridays  are catch all days. This means anything that for any reason didn't get finished, or a space that needs a little extra attention. On Fridays I also clean the kitchen. For me this is giving the counters, stove, and sink a good scrub. I also put away or maintain the small appliances too. This could be wiping down the coffee pot and toaster or putting the pizza pizzazz away for the 4th time. I swear we cook everything on the pizazz. (pizza, pizza rolls, mozzarella sticks, fries, quesadillas, garlic bread..) If we could only have one appliance, that would probably be it. I also give our bedroom a quick tidy on Friday too. This usually isn't too much work. Make the bed pretty again--adjusting sheets and blankets that got out of place during the week. Pick up and throw away any random water bottles left in there. Put away any clean laundry or wardrobe choices that got changed at the last minute and tossed aside.
{see clean mama's Friday tips here}

Saturdays are for washing sheets/bedding and towels. Depending on my work schedule (one of my part time jobs I work 11am to 11pm) this may or may not get done completely. If I work out of town, then I try to get a load of towels done before I leave and put one in on my way out for the bf to finish. He can also help out with sheets. When I was sheets I don't put the same set back on. I have two sets of flannel sheets for winter and two sets of jersey sheets for summer. When I put one set in the washer I put the other set on to the bed immediately. That way it's done and taken care of right away and I'm not left with putting sheets on my bed when I get home at 11pm, because that is not a fun time.  My sheets are stashed in a big zip lock tote that lives on the shelf above our washer and dryer. I think having them in the tote is actually easier than just on the shelf. The tote is much easier to pull down- no falling piles of sheets. I'm only ever taking a set of the top and later putting the clean set on the top. When I switch from winter to summer sheets I simply switch the other around in the tote so that our current sheets are on top.
{see clean mama's Saturday tips here}

Sundays are for relaxing and family time. I try not to do any really serious cleaning projects on Sundays-(unless its a blog project).  If I missed any tasks during the week that need to be done, I will do those quick on Sunday. I like to try to do some blog and life planning on Sunday evenings. I like to plan out my wardrobe for the week and hang them up with my weekly closet dividers so that I am not scrambling to find something in the mornings. Sunday is also the fun day when the refrigerator gets a clean out. Give the whole thing a wipe down and check the status of the leftovers, toss anything that's questionable.

This is what I envision that I look like.

Everyday tasks are just that, tasks to be completed everyday. These are simple things that help to maintain cleanliness and order in your house. Everyday I pick up clutter, do a load of laundry, check floors, and wipe counters. None of these tasks take very long but go a long way in saving sanity. Pick up clutter is simple, if something does not belong in the location you found it in-put it away, where it belongs. Do that for each room in your house. A basket or tub could be helpful for this if you have a big house, toss the lost things in as you go from room to room and put away things from your tub as you come to the correct room. I don't really need a tub since our apartment isn't that big. Laundry is another simple task that pays off. Complete a full load, that means washer, dryer, fold and put away, each day and it will do so much to keep the laundry monster under control and you from pulling your hair out! This is something that I need to do better with. I don't have a problem getting the laundry done, its the getting it put away part that I hate. So I just keep putting it off until I convince myself that I will do it tomorrow. This is going to be a goal for me. Anyone else in the same boat? The next everyday task is check your floors. This is just a quick once-over. Pick up any big (visible) dirt things (you know what I mean right??) for carpeted rooms and make sure hard floors are clear, give a quick sweep if you need to. And the last everyday task is to wipe your counters. This is every counter top in your house- kitchen, bathroom, laundry, mudroom, whatever rooms you have. For me this is just the kitchen and the bathroom. The kitchen counter gets wiped down every night after I've finished and put away supper, then I quick pop into the bathroom and wipe down my 6 inches of counter space in there.
All of these tasks keep your home tidy and prevent huge cleaning disasters from happening. If you are maintaining your "cleanness" everyday, that's all you need to do-maintain.


I also redid my cleaning checklists and popped the new one into my home management binder in the home maintenance section.
They now look like this:

Next up in my cleaning department is spring cleaning. Which probably means a fun new spring cleaning and maybe deep cleaning printable? What are the vital cleaning tasks that would need to go on a deep cleaning or spring cleaning list for you?

Check back with us Friday for your own cleaning checklist FREEBIE!

A few good reads...

We have had such a mild winter here in Northwest Iowa, but now its actually starting to look and feel like winter; which leaves me wanting to do nothing more than cozy up with my blanket and a good book or magazine in the evenings. So that's exactly what I have been doing. I made a big step and bought my first storage/organizing magazines at the store. I have subscribed to Real Simple for a year or two but have never bought magazines at the store. And since one of my favorite bloggers, Jen at Iheart organizing was featured in this BH&G Storage issue, I figured now was as good as time as any to take the plunge. I also snagged up an HGTV magazine. I also had an All You magazine that I receive as a subscription, it came along with my Real Simple magazine that I ordered as part of a school fundraiser. I'm going to combine all three by category, my brain just works better that way. Instead of oh look at this nice kitchen space, then four pictures later, oh hey, another kitchen.
(I apologize in advance for this insanely long post.)

Even the covers are glorious! If I could just like have these catalogs move into my house, that would be perfect! Of course I would need a house first, but if we're just dreaming here, game on!

So first up, my most favorite subject, organization.

Greeting card storage- Get a cute little box with dividers and pop your cards in, in the appropriate section. Super Simple and functional.

A suggestion list of organization projects you can complete in 15 minutes or less. That is my kind of project. With three jobs, I don't have much for big projects. So everything that I do is broken down into small sections if it can't be completed in a very short period of time.

Stash those everyday items in a cute bin or tub in your entry!

Corral supplies in a cute, functional and portable caddy. Who doesn't love a good caddy?

These adorable bins make me want to do better at recycling! 

And look at this amazing resource! Just cross check what you are looking for and they suggest awesome sites for your project. woo-hoo!

Many of you have already read  my whining about not having a nice office space,but if you haven't, I have been searching for a brilliant solution to my need for a work/desk/office space in my apartment since I moved in, back in August! Obviously since there has been no post shouting, jumping up and down, and singing about how I found something amazing, one can assume that I am still stuck with my random weirdo corner desk in the living room.
 Please enjoy the following photos that I was drooling over   admiring in my magazines.
(yep, I put post it flags on the things I really liked and thought I could maybe actually pull things from to put to use, don't judge)

 A great way to turn a teeny tiny space into a work and storage area.

 Those cute little friends double as seating and storage, a win win situation.

 These little cuties could easily find a home in the classroom or my home office space!

This beauty could just move right into my house.

 Another super adorable desk that could just make its way over to my apartment. I would love to have a fun chair!

 Making use of your vertical space is always important in a small space. I am using some of my wall space, but I know that I could do much better.

Another cute and functional desk.

 This is a dreamy craft area. This would be great for the room at my mom's that we affectionately call the "scrapbook room". Except that if we did that, the closet couldn't be full of all my stuff...

 I am actually in the process of getting a little beauty like this! Mine won't be near as high tech as this guy, but I'm still excited that I am putting an idea from a magazine into practical use! hooray!

Bringing extra color into a space is always fun! And these were decorated with duct tape!

This could be a practical solution for my desk? or building a command center?? only $15.

There are always so many great ideas for storage solutions in the kitchen...like plates in a drawer, sideways (rather than vertical) silver wear drawers, and utensils stored in divided and labeled drawers.

 I would love to have a pretty storage rack that sits out like this.  Pretty and practical. Double win.

A cute little coffee cupboard would be wonderful. 

Or a cute little coffee nook

 Use a cute side table with a door to stash away board games. We sort of have this going on in our "entertainment center" (its really not an entertainment center at all- its itso cubes from Target put together to form something similar to furniture)

When I get to have my own big girl house with a guest room and bathroom, it would be so nice to have a handy little tote with extra items that could be forgotten.

I love pretty closets and clothes storage. I think my dream closet would have a pretty hidden hamper like one of these two.

And pretty drawer organizers like these. Dividers make things so much easier.

A pretty boot hanger like this would be delightful! I only have two pairs right now, but I can get more!!

I love this double function space. It would be perfect in a room that doubles as a office space and guest room! 

Simple labeled bins in the laundry area.

A space efficient kitchen cupboard. I love the matching jars and that you can quickly see what you are running low on.

I love this scarf organizer. Mine are currently on shower rings, strung on a hanger. I think I could transform my system into something like this. Just connect the shower curtain rings together- maybe a pretty ribbon?

A cute coat hanger to keep your everyday coats and jackets within easy reach.

A pretty crisp white built in to house the television.

Use duct tape to brighten up so many things in your home!! Its a super simple way to spice up any room in your home!

I love that this island is pretty and functional, but not permanent. A great solution of apartments or rentals.

Crisp white kitchens are so pretty :)

I think these lovely little bowls should come live in my kitchen.

And these should live in my kitchen too.

I love this pretty entry solution. Its something that I could *in theory* duplicate in an apartment or rental house. Nothing permanent would need to be attached, so no troubles there. And its so pretty and personal!!

A great guide to holiday returns--good to keep on hand for next year.

It will be getting warmer soon, so motivation to workout side is a good thing.

A quick fix to common hair mishaps.

More workout encouragement!! I need all the help I can get.

A guide to what is normal and when to visit the doctor- a great resource to keep handy.

 The ultimate couponing guide- I need to read this. I am trying to do better at using coupons and shopping sales for our groceries.

 This article has great tips on food storage. Also a good thing for stocking up when I have coupons and good sales.

I think I could use some of these tips in our apartment. Its not a teeny tiny apartment, but making it seem bigger cannot be a bad thing.

I seriously spent hours staring into the glorious pages of these magazines. hours, glorious hours. I'm hoping that I can actually put some of these wonderful ideas into practice. But don't worry, if I do, I will share all about it.