Shine's Thyme

Daily ramblings of a ridiculously happy housewife and mother. Come in and see how sweet life can be!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Cleaning up

Hello sweet friends!! I know that most of you have made your own laundry detergent and other homemade cleaners of all sorts, but, for those of you that have not, I thought I'd share my laundry detergent recipe. I used to make this only occasionally, thinking I was too busy to take the time to make it, but lately, I make it all the time. My budget for cleaners, groceries and the like seems to have gone down, while prices just keep climbing. Tide is sooooooo expensive, while natural cleaners are even worse! This detergent takes about 15 minutes to make and turns out 2 gallons of detergent! It works out to cost about 1 cent per load!!!!! I can take 15 minutes every couple of months to save that much money! Hope you enjoy!
Here's what you'll need.

Actually....you will need other things...a long arm spoon, and essential oil if you want it to smell like lavender or lemon or whatever. But this is basically it!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

15 drops essential oil
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type soap
1/2 cup washing soda (not baking soda :) )
1/2 cup Borax

You will also need a small bucket or large pot that will hold 2 gallons of water. (That's what I used the enamel pot for)
Grate the soap into a 4 qt. saucepan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap flakes melt. Add the washing soda and Borax and stir until powders dissolve. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket or pot. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let sit for about 24 hrs. and it will gel.
If you want your detergent scented, add the essential oil when you add the gallon plus 6 cups of water.
Use 1/2 cup per load.

Here's mine. Sorry I didn't get any pictures during the process, but it really is as simple as heating and stirring together. Thinking I will probably post more recipes for other cleaners and soaps shortly. I love to be productive!!!
Have a great evening!!
Blessings~~~Shine

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

What I Love

I truly do love so very many things. First and foremost, God. I can't make it through a single moment without him. Next, my family. Oh my goodness. If I had nothing else at all, God and family would be enough. For my personal "gravy", all my handcrafts make me a happy girl. Something about creating things truly put me on a different happy level.


Look at these gorgeous handwoven dishtowels, paired with my hand knit waffle dish cloths. Makes me smile  girls.


And this lovely handspun yarn.......amazing I tell you!! So cool to be able to turn fluff into yarn :)

I feel very blessed to be able to do these simple crafts. They help to complete me somehow. Am I the only one, or do other people that love lost crafts get funny looks too? Most people think I'm off my rocker! Can't explain it though. My life is so busy I hardly have a moment to call my own. However......when I do have those moments......you can bet, I'll be doing something I love. Have a blessed evening sweet friends.
xoxo~~~Shine