DIY Sun Catcher

IT'S SPRING!

This is so simple and it's something you can do with your kids!

(Except the drill part)

Layer cheap plastic beads in cake pans (no lining required), melt at 400 for 20 minutes and let cool. Then just flip them out. Drill a hole in it to make it a sun catcher! 

Looks like glass but not breakable!

You can usually find plastic beads in thrift shops and yard sales.  If you prefer not use cake pans used for your baking try Goodwill as well as thrift shops and yards sales.

How to Make Lye Soap at Home!

Homemade Soap - How to Make Lye Soap at Home! WHY LYE? Lye soap is HIGHLY recommended for dry skin! Eases skin discomfort from Psoriasis, Eczema, Acne - YES ACNE! - and winter dry, itchy skin. Lye soap is used for poison ivy/oak, rash or hives, insect bites, and for hunters, hides human scent. Many commercial soaps do not list lye or sodium hydroxide as an ingredient. That's because the 'cleansing bar' you buy does not contain lye so is not soap - it's detergent! They may add lanolin or other softening agents including glycerin which is a by product of soap making. But without lye, it just isn't soap. When you make soap at home, glycerin is created as a by-product, making the soap wonderfully soothing for the skin. 

DON'T LET LYE SCARE YOU --  JUST BE SAFE --

ONCE YOU START USING LYE SOAP YOU WON'T WANT TO USE ANYTHING ELSE!

Remember, that when you make soap at home, you need to follow all the safety precautions. Pay close attention to the recipe, follow the steps in order, and conform to proportions as a change could result in product failure, dangerous chemical reaction, or burn.

If you decide making lye soap at home is not for you, there are stores that carry it and you can find it online as well.  I have ordered from this company before: MoSoap Brand - Old Fashioned Goodness!  

Lye in Homemade Soap - Safe Procedures

• Never use aluminum in the soap making process

• Do not touch lye - wear gloves and protect your eyes - wear safety glasses.

• Do not leave the lye solution unattended. Keep away from children and nosey pets

• Ventilate the area well. Open a door and window or activate an exhaust fan to avoid inhaling dangerous fumes. I do both.

• If you get lye on your skin, rinse immediately. Vinegar counteracts lye because it is an acid. If you don't have vinegar, you can use orange juice.

• If you spill lye solution on the counter-top, wash immediately with vinegar. It is best to cover counter-tops with plastic for safety and to avoid a big mess.

Always add the lye to the water. (Otherwise can create a dangerous reaction)

Homemade Soap - Here is the Stuff You Need

Equipment Needed to Make Soap

Use only stainless steel, enamel-ware, glass, Pyrex, or plastic in the soap making process. Never use aluminum

• Large enamel ware or stainless steel pot

• Large mixing bowl or container made of stainless steel, glass, enamel-ware, or Pyrex for lye solution

• Scale that weighs in ounces

• 2 Glass covered thermometers

• Several large, heavy duty plastic spoons

• Plastic containers for weighing water, fats, and lye

• Molds for soap - commercial molds or you can just use plastic food type containers

• Trash bags to cover counter

• Stick blender

• Stove

• Sink

• Apron, safety glasses, rags or paper towels

Source: photo by Dolores Monet

Ingredients for Soap

• Water

• Fats - white, hydrogenated vegetable oil, like Crisco - canola oil - caster oil - find at health food or ethnic stores - coconut oil - at health food or ethnic stores

• Lye ( found at plumbing supply stores or use Red Devil brand found in many supermarkets)

• Sugar

• Coloring agents (if desired) -  commercially available coloring agents, herbs
• Essential oils - do yourself a favor - don't use fragrance oils as the scent does not last

Herbs - parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

(photo by Dolores Monet)

Homemade Soap Recipe

• 42 ounces Crisco

• 5 ounces canola oil

• 5 ounces caster oil

• 5 ounces coconut oil

• 17 ounces water

• 6 1/2 ounces lye

• 1 Tablespoon sugar

• 1 1/2 ounces or more of essential oil

• coloring agents

• herbs (optional)

Weigh the fats

Source: photo by Dolores Monet

Add lye to water - you may have to stir

Add lye to water (photo by Dolores Monet)

Add rest of the fats to the Crisco in pot (photo by Dolores Monet)

Add lye solution to fat when both have reached 110 degrees F

(photo by Dolores Monet)

Homemade Soap at Trace

Mix with hand blender (photo by Dolores Monet)

Trace means that when you drag a spoon through the mixture, it leaves a path like in pudding (photo by Dolores Monet)

How to Make Soap

• Dissolve sugar in a small amount of hot water (set aside and use when you weigh the water)

• Weigh 42 ounces Crisco (or similar product) into container. Weigh the container first and adjust the scale to zero.

• Place Crisco in large stainless steel or enamel-ware pot on low heat

• Weigh 17 ounces of water (including the sugar water). Weigh empty container first and adjust the scale to zero

• Weigh lye, weighing container first, and pour the lye slowly into the water. Ensure adequate ventilation by opening 2 windows. Cover your nose and mouth. Stand slightly away from the mixture as fumes will rise. Gently stir until crystals have dissolved

• Measure canola, caster, and coconut oils separately (again, wight the empty container first) Add to the fats in the pot

• Use a separate container for the lye, the water, and the fats

• Allow fats and lye solutions to come to the same temperature - about 110 degrees F. this can be tricky. The lye solution takes some time to cool. If one of the mixtures is still warm and the other is near 110 degrees, place the container of the warmer ingredients in a cool water bath in the sink until the mixture cools.

• When both mixtures have reached 110 F, slowly pour the lye solution int the fats

• Mix with stick blender until the mixture reaches the trace stage. That is when you drag a spoon through the mixture and it leaves a path. It's kind of like pudding.

• Add coloring agents and herbs

• Add essential oils

• Stir

• Pour the thickened mixture into a mold that has been greased with olive oil. You can use a large, rectangular Tupperware type container, a long wooden mold, or individual molds.

• Lay plastic wrap over the top

• Cover with a towel

• Set aside for 3 days

• Remove soap from the container. Slice into bars

• Store the bars of soap on a rack where they can get good air ventilation. Soap must be cured for 30 days before use. Do not use soap before it is cured.

If You Don't Want to Wait a Month for the Soap to Cure, Try This Quick Cure (3 - 5 Days) Method, Called Hot Process Soap Making Using the Same Recipe

• How to Make Soap - Make Quick Cure Hot Process Soap
  The best home made soap needs to cure for a month before you can use it. But, there is a method called Hot Process Soap Making that speeds up the cure time. Heating the soap cures it quickly, making it safe...

Coloring Agents

Do not use food color. Uncolored bars are white. Here is a list of some coloring agents

• turmeric - golden, more makes it orange

• French clay - green (an astringent)

• sage - dull green

• cocoa - brown to very dark brown

• coffee- brown (good for a super-cleaning bar) add as part of the lye solution

• powdered commercial or liquid pigments for soap making - the color of your choice, available at some craft stores or online

• ground calendula petals - yellow

• paprika - orange - don't use hot paprika

• cinnamon - reddish brown

• oxides - inorganic colors, make sure you buy cosmetic grade (they dry darker than when first added)

• Herbs - produce nice flecks, very pretty - sage, thyme, chamomile flowers, sea kelp granules, dried orange rind, mint leaves, herbal teas (steep 3 tea bags in water, cool, and use as part of the water/lye solution), oatmeal (an exfoliate that soothes dry skin, use about 1/2 cup)

How to Blend Essential Oils

• http://hubpages.com/hub/BlendingEssentialOilsinHomemadeSoapsforAromaticorTheraputicPurposes?done

Pour soap in mold - isn't it pretty?

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme soap with herbs, rosemary oil, ground sage and commercial coloring agent (photo by Dolores Monet)

You can stack the molds

Actually, this is covered with an old tablecloth (photo by Dolores Monet)

Soap - Homemade Soap

(photo by Dolores Monet)

The soap above that featured colored spots was made by cutting up glycerine soap into rod shapes and added to the soap mixture just before pouring into the mold.

How to combine lye and water

Aromatherapy - What Different Scents Can Do For You

• Aromatherapy Benefits - The Aromatherapy Benefits of Various Scents
  Aromatherapy brings many stress relief benefits, and various individual scents carry aromatherapy benefits of their own. Learn more about the aromatherapy benefits of some of the most popular scents, and how you can use them for stress relief.

A huge THANK YOU to Dolores Monet for the great HubPage!

Room Freshener

Room Freshener

At the risk of sounding like I am beating a dead horse I have found yet another use for my home made laundry soap.  From time to time I will buy those little air fresheners that have the scented beads in them from the dollar store.  I always hated throwing the containers away when they didn't smell anymore and the beads dried up.

So today ... I did this ...

DIY Room Freshener

It smells so good!

Angel Food and Pineapple Cake

Angel Food and Pineapple Cake

1 box of Angel Food Cake mix

(just the contents of the box, no need to follow the directions on the box)

Combine it with a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice.
(No need to use a mixer, just stir it by hand) 

When you do this, something magical happens.
The mixture starts to froth & it turns into an amazingly airy, fluffy bowl of deliciousness right before your eyes.

Once it's all mixed up, simply pour it into a 9 x 13 cake pan & bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Thanks to my wonderful sister for this recipe.  She inherited my mother's knack for cooking.  I, on the other hand, REALLY have to work at it.  EVERY recipe she passes along to me is wonderfully delicious!  She knows me well -- the simpler -- the better!

Foolproof Peanut Butter Fudge

Foolproof Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

• 1 tub (1 lb) Vanilla Frosting (I used Pillsbury frosting)
• 1 jar (16.3 oz) Creamy Peanut Butter (I used Jif, a jar is 1¾ cups peanut butter)

Instructions

1. Line a 9 x 9 inch dish with foil and set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, add Vanilla Frosting and Peanut Butter, do not stir. Microwave 1 minute. Stir until until combined and smooth. Pour into pan and spread until even. Refrigerate until firm.
3. Remove fudge from the pan using foil and cut into squares.

RECIPE FROM:  http://realmomkitchen.com/9290/foolproof-peanut-butter-fudge/

EASY PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

EASY PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

Super Easy PB Fudge 

Spray a 8x8 brownie pan with no-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

• 2 cups sugar 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1 tsp. vanilla 
• 3/4 cup peanut butter 
• Bring sugar and milk to a boil 
• Boil two and a half minutes
• Remove from heat
• Stir in PB and vanilla

When completely mixed, transfer to brownie pan evenly.

Cool in refrigerator for approximately one hour.  This depends on how cold your fridge is but when the bottom of the pan is cool it is ready.

I used crunchy peanut butter. For a smoother fudge use smooth peanut butter.

That's it!
ENJOY!

Cool Whip Cookies

DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

v  1 package (18.25 Oz. Box) Cake Mix

v  1 cup Cool Whip

v  1 whole Large Egg

v  1 cup Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients, except powdered sugar.

Roll a spoonful of dough in powdered sugar.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.

I haven’t tried these in pumpkin spice but am thinking I’ll try that next time.  Lemon and Chocolate are great!

Received  this recipe through a cookie recipe exchange.  I have seen it before and would love to give credit where credit is due but I honestly don’t know who or where this recipe came from.  If anyone out there knows who’s recipe this is please let me know and I’ll be glad to include the info.

Home Made Laundry Soap

EASY to make and works great! 

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store. 

This detergent is clean smelling, not over powering. 

INGREDIENTS:
1- 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle 

1- 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking or detergent isle 

1 - box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle 

3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle 
   (you can also use pink Zote soap instead of Fels-naptha) 

2 containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean - try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg) found in the detergent isle -- this is optional but the cleaner the better! 

1 container Purex crystals -- this is optional also. I added these because I LOVE the fragrance.

MIXING DIRECTIONS:
Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap just like cheese. 
You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, what ever you have. 

**The Fels-naptha will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water** 

Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. 

This part makes your whole house smell great!

Once everything is mixed store soap however you like. 

Finished Product

DIRECTIONS FOR USE:
USE 1 TBLSP. PER LOAD -- YES, REALLY! 
Okay, maybe two for the REALLY dirty stuff.

NOTES:
I use Sun Oxygen. A 6 lb. container was $3.00 cheaper than a 3 lb. container of Oxyclean.
I use Purex Complete, Fresh Spring Water laundry enhancer crystals. They come in 3 scents.
I didn't have much luck with the 5 gallon bucket so I used two large containers and transferred the ingredients back and forth several times.  For me this was easier.  Maybe I wasn't using a heavy enough bag.  Below is a picture of my storage container. I use two of these to mix in.

I want to thank http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/ 
for this WONDERFUL homemade laundry soap recipe!   
This batch will last me 6-8 months!

DIY Sachet

DIY Sachet

QUICK ~N~ EASY!

Thought of this while making homemade laundry soap.  Threw one of the JUMBO ones in my sons closet … seems like his room always smells like boy sweat. :/ (Teen athlete) Closed the door and less than 30 minutes later his entire room smelled fresh!

There are so many things you could do with this.  Use your imagination!  Directions are below but the pictures are self explanatory.

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the sewn edges off a wash cloth

Cut wash cloth into 4 squares

Add 1 - 2 teaspoons of Purex laundry crystals

Gather corners

Tie closed with one of the cut off sewn edges

Place in drawers, tie on hangers, place in travel or sports bags. Put these anywhere you want for a fresh, clean smell!

I used Purex because it is the most economical in my area but you can use any brand you like.  We all have our favorite smells!

I bought the wash clothes at the dollar store, 4 for $1.00.  

Here's the one I used in my sons room using the entire was cloth and an elastic hair tie.

I have so many ideas for these.  Next time I make them I think I may use a flour sack towel I bought at the dollar store.  This towel is much bigger and would allow me to make more at a time.  At Christmas and holidays I may use some acrylic fabric paint on the flour sack and add some snow flakes or holly, tie them with pretty ribbon and wrap them with gifts.

Store extras in plastic baggies to keep them fresh!

This is probably an idea thousands of people have had and made before but thought I'd share.  After making my laundry soap this only took about 5 minutes.

~~  SIMPLE AS Pi   ~~