Remember me being a smurf?

I never said what I did with the Easter Egg Dyed yarn. Well, I stared at that skein for a while. And the more I stared at it the more I hated the pink color because it was so bright. Hello 80's! I have no desire to revisit you...ever. So, I let it sit. And then I finally decided to do something with it because it was taking up space in my drawer. I turned it into two dryer balls because I needed more anyway. And then I crocheted a cover over the dryer balls for two reasons...1) I didn't felt them because when I felt them they fall apart and then it's a waste of good wool and 2) the cover prevents unravelling at a later date even with successful  felting. I think that they actually turned out really cute. And I can't mistake them in the clothing pile when I'm folding laundry. My other two are brown and they kind of get lost in the crowd. These have been used already for a little over a month and I love them! I have enough of that dyed wool left to make probably one more small dryer ball. Or that's my hope anyway. ;-)

Moving time

I can't believe that I'm packing up my stuff that I won't be using in the next couple of weeks. I have to put my etsy shop on vacation as well. But we move in less than a month to start the next chapter of our lives, one that has been long overdue. I've been trying to do this as economically as possible and as green as possible. I think I'm lacking on the green though. We've reused boxes though that we were able to get from the liquor stores and from businesses near where Hubs used to work since they literally threw their boxes away in a large dumpster. Amazing! You could go watch them throw the boxes and their garbage away everyday at the same time before they end their shifts for the day. We also grabbed packing peanuts and bubble wrap from similar sources to protect our breakables.
We're using a freight company for the move. When we arrive to our destination I'm hoping we can drop off the emptied boxes to our local recycling center. The peanuts and bubble wrap I'll have to repackage and post on a local site for reuse. One of the nice things about where we live currently is that one of the shipping stores actually will take your packing peanuts back for recycling. So it's cool that they keep getting used over and over. After all, it's styrofoam and where's it gonna go, right?
So, with that said this is most likely my last post for a couple weeks until we get situated and get the internet turned on. Once we get up and running I expect to have some new projects to share as well as some new recipes. For now, I'm going to enjoy the cuteness that is Baby and Tot. See you in the fall!

There are some changes coming in the months ahead

We're slowly purging through our belongings in order to lighten the load for a move across country.  I'm trying to figure out a way that I can get a little bit of time to do the things I need to do while keeping two children and a husband happy.  We've donated a lot of things that could use more loving to our local Goodwill.  It actually felt like relief to be letting go of things that I'll either never fit into ever again with my post baby body or is so out of style that it probably never will come back. 

The tandem nursing has been interesting lately with Tot lack of desire to cover his teeth while nursing.  I've been limiting the amount of time he's nursing at bedtime because I just can't handle the pain from it.  I think this is fair to be honest.  Even with the headphones on I can't get past the teeth.  So he gets a couple minutes and then he's done.  I stay with him and offer him plenty of hugs and snuggles until he falls asleep and then I get up and nurse Baby until she falls asleep and I can put her down for her first shift of sleep. 

There are definitely some changes to come in the coming months once I figure out how to manage my time with everything.  I'm hoping to have a new look for the blog here and hopefully everyone will enjoy it.  I'm also hoping to be able to add to my etsy shop once I finish getting the majority of our stuff packed for the move.  I just have our area here at the house to pack up and about 30 more boxes/bins to purge through and get over to storage.  Plus, I'm still slowly working on my handmade Christmas projects so that everyone gets a little something since this year is going to be sparse to say the least with the move so close to the holidays.  Anyway, off to feed a baby.  Happy Friday!

It's Earth Week

I won't be doing as much to celebrate this year because of living situations.  But, I am planning on doing a giveaway to at least celebrate.  I will decide in the next day of what the giveaway will be.  It will be a slightly selfish way to do things because I am also planning a move at the end of the year across the country and I need to lighten the load here.  I am still holding stock of some hemp inserts and fabric even and I'd like to draw more business in thed long run.  I'd also very much like earn more readers to my little slice of the blogging world as I continue to write more.  I'd love to see more comments and what others are interested in for both the blog and my shop.  I have a lot of ideas but often forget to keep writing instruments nearby so I can actually act upon them when I sit down for a few minutes.

I will update most likely tomorrow to see what I'd like to do to celebrate.  I consider cloth diapering as part of being green.  I'm not filling a landfill.  I know that the washing of the diapers opens up the debate to some on that not being as green either.  But, I'm already doing laundry.  CD's (Cloth Diapers) are my only load of hot aside from towels.  The diapers are now in rotation with two children and when I am done using them they will go onto someone else for more loving.  Anyway, stay tuned to see what the giveaway is.  Have a great night!

Here it is!

I am getting finished up inserts to post in my etsy shop, due next week. So, in honor of that I am giving away 1 super soaker Hemp Insert! When folded into your pocket diaper (this is how we use ours) or however else you stuff your night time diapers it's 8 layers thick.
















So, enter and I will randomly pick a winner on Friday, October 30th at noon! If the person does not respond withing 24 hours another winner will be picked.

Rules to enter:

Post a comment telling me why you love or want to try hemp. AND... what are you doing that's green for the holiday season?

Cleaning Recipes Part 2

My child is asleep so I can finsh up my post.


Tile Cleaner
2 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
3 cups water
10 drops of essential oil
Mix these together in a spray bottle and spray on your tile and wipe off.
SL: Use what you need discard the rest

Scrub solution
1/4 cup baking soda
Castile Soap
5-10 drops essential oil
Mix ingredients to a paste like consistency and use a rag to apply and wipe off. Rinse off well with water.
SL: Use what you need and discard the rest

Window cleaner
2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
4 cups (1qt) warm water
Mix together in spray bottle. Spray on windows and use a natural fiber cloth to wipe clean. I use a squeegee as well and it works fine for me. This stuff is tried and true. People can’t really go wrong with this.
SL: Indefinite

Cleaning Recipes Part 1

I've been meaning to do this for a long time, so I'm posting some of my favorite recipes for DIY household products and cleaners. With these I cannot stress enough, please label your containers! I use glass to store my powders. Generally recycled fruit and pasta sauce jars and sometimes if I'm desperate pickle jars. But, please label, label, label!

All purpose cleaner 1
2 Tbsp Borax
1 qt. Hot water
Mix well together and pour into spray bottle. It will need to be shaken together as it separates if not used all in one day of cleaning.
Shelf Life (SL): Indefinite

All Purpose Cleaner 2
1 tsp Super Washing Soda
2 tsp Borax
½ cup Castile Soap (I really like Dr. Bronners)
10-15 drops of whatever essential oil you like
Mix all of these ingredients in a 16 oz spray bottle or double and put in a qt. bottle.
SL: Indefinite

Carpet deodorizer
2 cups of baking soda
20-30 drops of essential oil
Blend together very well and pour into a shaker bottle. I use the cheap glass ones at my local big box store (even the parmesan glass containers would work but won’t hold two cups of baking soda so adjust accordingly). Shake onto carpet and sweep in with a broom or brush. Let sit for a half hour or for heavy odors overnight. Vaccuum up.
SL: Indefinite

Dishwasher soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup Baking soda
Mix together and pour into a glass container for storage.
SL: Indefinite

Air Freshener
1 cup warm water
5-10 drops of favorite essential oil or blend
Mix together in a small spray bottle and use as needed.
SL: Indefinite

My laundry soap recipe

Ok, I've jumped on the bandwagon and have now made my own laundry powder. I have to be honest it wasn't too much work and I really like it. It works just as well as any powder I'd buy in the store.

Ingredients:

Borax 2.99
Super Washing Soda 2.99
Fels Naptha Bar 1.29
Baking Soda .99
Oxyclean 7.69 (after coupon and sale from Target)
Essential Oils (nominal because I already had them and use them for other applications)

In a large recycled pickle jar, like the one you buy at Wal-mart that has the whole pickles in them Vlassic brand and probably had 25-40 pickles in it. So the really big one. It was a couple years old and hadn't been used in a while so it didn't have the after smell anymore that sometimes sticks around. Anyway, in this large jar I poured 1 1/2 cups baking soda, 3 cups of Borax and Super Washing Soda each, and about 5 cups of Oxyclean. Close up the jar and shake really well to mix together. Then I used a cheap metal grater specifically for cleaning products and grated up the Fels Naptha bar. It took me about 45 minutes to grate because my hands got tired and I made the mistake of not watching once and grated my knuckles...Ouch. Once this was grated I added the bar to the previous mixture. I shook this up really well until I could see the yellow of the Fels Naptha bar throughout the container.

I then took about 3/4 cup of the mixture and poured it into another non food use cup and blended in about 20 drops each of peppermint and sweet orange essential oils. When they were blended really well I poured this into another recycled jar (I used a Orchard Select fruit jar that you get in the refrigerated case of the produce section since my child loves the fruit from them) and then added another 3/4 cup roughly of the unblended (in terms of EO's) to the blended mixture and shook very well to incorporate the two together and gave it a stir for good measure. When ready to do laundry I put 2 Tbsp in a measuring cup and quickly dissolved with warm water and poured it into the laundry tub for use. It works great. I got probably 15 or 20 loads out of this mixture. I'm not sure since our summer student used some as well while she was here and loved it too. But, I still have the big jar to use and can change up the essential oils as it pleases me since I take some out and do smaller batches to have the scent that I want. I will say that you don't have to use any fragrance. The Fels Naptha seems to have it's own scent which is pleasant enough especially when mixed with the rest of the ingredients, but I like being able to do what I want. And that big jar I will guestimate has over a 100 loads in it. Plus, this is my second batch of making my own soap. So, the $15.95 I spent to get probably close to 200 loads of laundry soap which equates to roughly $0.07975 per load is better than anything I can get in the store. However, for those that might be wondering, do not use this on your cloth diapers as I don't recommend it or consider it safe for them.

Shelf life without essential oils: Indefinite
Shelf life with essential oils: 3-6 months. Scent will slowly fade.

Some favorite green "recipes"....

Toilet scrubbing:
About 2 Tbsp Borax
A few drops of your favorite essential oil, I recommend eucalyptus because the scent goes nice with tto.
A few drops of tea tree oil (tto).

Put into toilet and scrub well with a brush. I let it sit for a few minutes after brushing so everything can settle and I can see if I need to swish the brush around once more.

I love baking soda as well. It really is a multi-tasker. Cooking, cleaning, personal care... The works. I buy the big bag from a bulk store like Costco and then break it down into smaller containers for various areas at home. I have one obviously in the kitchen because I do a lot of baking when the motivation hits, one in the laundry room, one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom or wherever the shoes happen to be.

For my laundry I do the following:
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Super Washing Soda (sold in some stores and can be hard to find, but you can call 1-800-524-1328 with the UPC of 33200-03020 to locate it at a store near you)
1/2 cup of Baking Soda
20-30 drops of mixed essential oils to make whatever scents I want. Right now I have eucalyptus and tea tree oil mix. I can't decide what my next batch will be.
To use in laundry I measure 1-2 Tbsp depending on load size. 3 Tbsp(which equals 1/4 cup) if it's heavily soiled. And this will last quite a while. However, I only use this on our clothes and some of DC's outerwear like jackets and blankets. DC has sensitive skin so for the clothes that touch skin we still use Purex Free and Clear. I also wouldn't use my homeade soap on DC's cloth diapers. For that I recommend sticking with Purex Free and Clear and I've also heard that Crunchy Clean works wonders on cloth diapers.

Come back for more recipes later. Right now, my nighttime nursling is calling to me.