{365} 9.5.11

This was supposed to be yesterday's post, but my camera's battery pack died and needed to be recharged for me to upload my pic's.

Yesterday Ashley and my friend Cindy came over to make our own laundry soap (we are so domesticated!!).  I came across this recipe on THIS blog.  I was a little leery about it, because I LOVE the smell of Tide~but $20 to make the batch and it lasted 9 months (family of 4), I was all over that savings!!!

I used it this morning and I was delightfully surprised with the light clean scent, and it did a WONDERFUL job on my laundry too!  I am thinking this may last me an entire year!!

It is really very simple to make and took about 10 min.
You can find all the ingredients at Walmart for just under $20~I bought my 5 gal bucket at Home Depot for $4 (to mix and store the soap in).


Ingredients
1 4 lb box Borax
1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 4lb box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-naptha soap

2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (I bought the big tub)

Start out by grating the Fels-naptha soap (I used my 25 year old food processor {that I origianally purchased when the cutie below was born to make my own baby food} and it worked GREAT).  It looks like grated cheddar cheese.

Then mix everything in the 5 gal bucket~VIOLA!  That is it!!

This is how I store mine in my laundry room, (you use 1 Tablespoon per load).

and since my battery died at the last step~it is a good thing Cindy brought her camera~you can see us with the finished product~HERE.

Let me know if you try it, and if you like it!

365 {7.9.11}

Party's are a big deal at the Clark house!! I always make the "birthday peep" whatever they want for dinner and of course I always have to do some sort of theme or party idea to make them feel celebrated!! And it is fun for me, LOL!!

We celebrated Ashley's birthday this afternoon with Lasagna, salad, and french bread (she chooses that every year, LOL!). I had a little "pink" cupcake type theme going on.

I have been wanting to make these cupcake jars for a while, and Ashley's birthday party seemed like the perfect time!! These were the "favors" for everyone to take home, since we had ice cream cake and cupcakes for the birthday girl!! I was really happy with the end result and they are super easy to make!!



And here is the Birthday Girl, with Hershey, getting ready to open her presents. Two cuties if I do say so myself!!


Ok I am off to bed~I am partied out!!

365 {6.5.2011}

Today is day 5 of the Photography Challenge

"from a high angle"

I thought I would photograph my Project Life album (which I had hoped to work on this weekend) waiting for me on the dining room table. I LOVE PL soooo much!! It has really helped me to get my photos scrapped fast. I am half way thru 2010 *woot woot*





If you want to know more about Project Life~you can go to Becky's blog HERE (they are re-vamping PL so it won't be available for purchase for a couple months, but I am excited to find out about the changes!!!).

*and on a side note~check out my orchid which is still alive from my birthday~maybe I am getting a green thumb after all, LOL!!!

365 {6.4.11}

Today's theme for the 30 Day Photography Challenge is "Green" I have to be honest, I almost forgot about today's post, but luckily my friend Cindy put hers up on Facebook ;) which reminded me ~ thanks my friend!!!

Since I spend a lot of time in my craft room~I had to photograph my Cuttlebug (which is one of my favorite tools, btw!!).

365 {4.11.11}

trying to get crafty, with my new goodies~but just not feelin in tonight :(



Taken with my iPhone (Hipstamatic App)

365 {3.16.11}

We don't change our clocks in Arizona (which I LOVE), but for some reason I have been so tired and feeling like I used to when I lived in a state where we did observe daylight savings time. That explains the zero posts for the past 2 days.

I think I am back in business!!
As an avid paper crafter, I have quite a stash of homemade cards!! But I don't just keep them boxed up~I send them out.



Today I had a few people on my mind that I wanted to send a card to; so I grabed a few and loaded them, along with my address book, into my Thirty One tote (isn't that bag the cutest??? If you want one, my friend Tiffany can hook you up!!).

365~2.12.11

Today I am getting a little crafty :)