Project Preview

I decided to take on a small turned into a big project, and thought I would give a preview. I started it on January 24 thinking it would take a day or two... yeah... about that...
Anyway, a sneak peak at what I hope to be my favorite go to organizational tool:

If you know me, you know I love color!

Writing goals down is an important step in achieving them.

 

Maybe I'll be better at meal planning when it's staring me in the face everyday! It's also great to plan dinners when you know what's going on that day too.

 

In case you haven't figure it out, it's a planner!

I Can't wait to finish this thing up and start using it!
Have you ever diy-ed a planner?

Snowman Fridge.

I saw it all over Pinterest, so I copied.

Everything is made from construction paper I had on hand, and a roll of magnet tape from Hobby Lobby with a coupon. Less than $1.90 spent. HUGE impact.  You can't help but notice a giant snowman (possibly snowwoman) in the kitchen. I love him! Or her.

Do you have any simple, but big statement Winter/Christmas/Holiday decorations?

DIY Laundry Soap

I made another batch of laundry soap today.  Two actually.  This way a family member can try it for free.  I can be nice sometimes :)

I use this recipe, however there's a 1000 more online, so you can find the one that fits your own needs. I do use Ivory bar soap instead of Fels-Naptha.  Making the liquid version is probably even cheaper than powder, but it's not my style.  I may try it later on.

It only takes 20 minutes, and that includes everything from getting the materials on the table, grating the soap, mixing the ingredients, and washing the dishes.  The dishes come out the the cleanest you have ever seen them :).

I also add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.  It makes the clothes so soft, and I do not mind that it takes away any fragrance that the soap has.  Laundry comes out smelling clean without any soapy fake smell.  Just clean (which smells like nothing, but I like it now). And no need for fabric softener in the dryer.

Making my own laundry soap:

• Saves money.  Here's my run down:
• The ingredients cost $10.89 before tax. According to my calculations, it's $1.26 per batch. It looks like to be about 3 to 4 cups in a batch, so anywhere between 24- 32 loads of laundry per batch.
• I tallied how many loads of laundry I washed with this last jar, and I only got around 21 loads of laundry. However, I believe I over scooped a few, and I am forgetful, so my tally maybe off.  I will keep tally this batch as well, may be it will be more.  21 is not bad though.

• Helps the environment.
• This is debatable.  Borax is controversial in the "green" world, as it can be toxic.  Regular laundry soap is not that good for the environment either!
• Less plastic- everything except the soap comes in cardboard- recyclable.  I will probably try a different type of soap with less fragrance and better packaging.  The soap I bought was a 10 pack.
• Not using fabric softener.  Google it.  Terrible for you and environment. 
• Every product is just cleaning products, no extra dyes or unneeded ingredients.  Not 100% true for the soap, but you can easily use castille soap.

• Using all products that are versatile.  Somehow it makes me feel better knowing all the ingredients can be used for something else it case I need it.  I am almost out of soap, so if I forget to buy some, I can just use the Ivory.  You can clean the house with the other two ingredients.
• Having fun and staying motivated.  I do not know what it is about making the soap myself, but it makes me want to do laundry more!  Seriously. I am such a nerd, I know.

If you are not into making your own soap, you can still save money by:

• USING LESS DETERGENT! The measuring cup and back of the laundry detergent will tell you to fill to level three for full loads. BOO! For a couple of years before making my own soap, I filled the cup to level one, sometimes less, and the only difference I noticed was less smell on the clothes.  Huge money saver. Remember, the detergent is more concentrated now so even the tiniest amount over "the line" has more soap than needed when measuring.
• Mixing powder detergent with baking soda or washing soda. I have not tried this, but it was listed a lot when researching the topic.

I'll Never Buy Microwave Popcorn Again!

I am so excited over my tiny accomplishment of popcorn making.  (It's the little things in life.)
I have been eyeballing popcorn makers for quite some time now.  I heard long ago that microwave popcorn bags are bad for you, but I have an addiction.  I love popcorn!  With a birthday last week, I started to think, "Hey, that's a great gift from the husband."

As I read The Zero Waste Home blog this week, I am determined to minimize the clutter in my house, and minimize the clutter that will come in contact with my house.  Plus, popcorn machines are typically made of plastic, which I am learning is the arch enemy of eco-conscious humans.  So I Googled (my answer to everything as you will see) "making popcorn on the stovetop," and would like to give a big THANK YOU! to Elise (that's my middle name!) who posted this recipe onto Simplyrecipes.com   Here's the delicious result of my experiment:

It's so easy and cheap, I'm wondering why poisonous microwave popcorn was even invented?
For those who still feel the need to make popcorn in the microwave, you can also put popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag.  I feel that this is still wasting a bag and tape, but it's much healthier and cheaper than buying the microwave popcorn from the store.

Learning to make popcorn (I know, it's the simplest thing, but I said before I'm a terrible unmotivated cook, so I have to start small!) I am:

• Saving money.  The 32oz bag of popcorn (and you only use 1/3 cup at a time) is about $1.60, where as a 6 bag box of my favorite microwave popcorn is around $3.50 (of course buying canola oil, butter and salt cost money, but I always have that in the house anyway)
• Also saving money from buying a popcorn maker.
• Eating healthier.  This popcorn had minimal butter and salt, yet still tastes delicious (as I am not a dietitian, I cannot calculate the actual fat and calorie savings, but I do know it's less).
• Don't forget about all those chemicals I'm not putting in my and the baby's body!
• Not adding unnessessary appliances and clutter to the kitchen.
• Not creating more eventual waste from the plastic and other parts of buying the popcorn maker.  Plus the plastic wrapping and and probabaly styrofoam cushion and cardboard box.
• I should however look into buying canola oil and butter not in plastic containers.  One step at a time.  The bag of popcorn I bough is also wrapped in plastic, as I could not get myself to buy the 3x more expensive brand just for the glass jar.  Maybe in the future.
• Having fun.  It's fun to see popcorn shoot out of the top when you take the lid off, and I think my future child will have fun with the process too.  I had fun making it when I was a kid.

In other awesome baby step accomplishments of yesterday, I reached my other two goals for the day:

• Remember to bring my cloth bags to work (I work in a retail store where I usually buy lunch and shop after work).
• Do not buy a drink at work (I have an aweful addiciton to vending machines, not bringing my cup, and soft drinks).

Added bonus: I refused the plastic bag Subway puts sandwiches in, and resisted the urge to use a disposable cup for water when I left my cup in car earlier that day.  Hooray!

 Now I must work on another goal: cleaning!  Nothing like the possibility of your husband's grandparents (who I am sure June Cleaver learned a lot from- his grandmother is amazing at everything!) to motivate you to get your house in order!  Wish me luck!

I am Finally Doing This

There is something about being pregnant that has finally motivated me to start doing the things I have always wanted, and changing for the better.  I am becoming a mom! I do not want Addy (my future daughter  due June 7) to grow up the way I did (not that it was all bad), nor end up learning/changing things at 27 like me.  I want her to grow up with good habits in place.

I understand that this is probably hormones :), and may not last past month 6 (I am 22 weeks this Thursday).  I am still thankful that it's happening at all. :)

This blog started due to my homemade laundry detergent (another post about this in the future), and the amount of feedback from Facebook friends and a co-worker who suggest the blog.  After posting
the link to The Zero Waste Home on Facebook, a discussion among friends led to me telling them I am in the process of making my own reusable flannel wipes (again, another post on this in the future) for my baby. Which led to this comment: "Jenny--keep me updated as to things you are making to keep me motivated!"  This made my day.  Sealing the deal that a blog is appropriate for the journey I'm embarking on.


I have so many things I want to try to save money and/or become more environmentally friendly such as:

• quit using the dryer so much (if at all) (This will be difficult as I recently learned a clothesline is agianst the HOA here)
• becoming a better cook
• de-cluttering the house
• getting rid of my car
• cloth diapering
• no more paper towels
• greener cleaning (DIY cleaners I imagine) 
• start a garden (next year, not this year as I can't see myself raising a newborn and newborn carrots and tomatoes)
• living with less (modeling most of what Bea and her family from the Zero Waste Home does)
• etc. etc. etc. 

I also need to learn the "basics" of being a stay at home mom:

• cleaning (I'm terrible at this, simply terrible.)
• cooking (not motivated in the kitchen at all, but hopefully this will change)
• taking care of a baby
• less procrastination (the reason all the above as never been done)
• sticking to a schedule
• sticking to a budget (I am determined to do what I have to do to stay at home with the baby at the least the first couple of years, and am willing to sacrifice a lot to do this)
• juggling a husband, baby, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 tanks (one with three turtles, one with the only fish the turtles didn't eat), and my dad whom we live with
• becoming more patient
• etc etc etc.

This list will get longer, and I intend on writing about each of these goals, what works, what doesn't, my personal adventures in these matters, etc. I hope others read this to help encourage and inform me, and possibly be inspired too.