Make Your Own: Dishwasher Detergent

One of my first blog posts was on how to make your own dishwasher detergent. I am super happy to announce that I just ran out of that batch of dishwasher detergent this week!! :)

That is almost 6 whole months of dishwasher detergent from a little batch that costs me around $5. Before I could make another batch today, I had to use some Cascade that I had left in the cabinet and I will tell ya, it didn't work as well as my handmade concoction did. That makes me doubly super happy! :))

Have any of you out there tried the detergent?

Here is the recipe again just in case you missed it.

You Will Need:

-2 cups of Borax
-2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
-1 can of Lemi Shine
-1 cup of Kosher Salt
-20 drops of essential oils (I didn't do this last time but for my second batch, I added 20 drops of Lemongrass essential oil into the mix and the smell is wonderful. This step is optional, though.)

All you do is mix all of your ingredients in a large bowl and then pour into an air tight container.

Remember you will only need 1, yes just 1, tablespoon for each load of dishes. If you have a set of really nasty dishes, you can add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into the dishwasher for a pre rinse.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoyed saving money, having sparkling clean dishes for 6 months, and the clout that I made something myself that is totally awesome!! Those three things make my triply (if that's not a word, it is now) happy!!! :)))

Enjoy!
Kaci

Make Your Own: Coasters

I like this project because I can customize them to whatever my little heart desires and its very inexpensive. You have less than 50 cents in one coaster.

I decided to print out on of my favorite pictures of Clint and Blaze. Blaze was 7 days old and it was his first trip to the barn. It was such a beautiful day. Clint is holding Blaze while they just went for a short walk horseback.

But you however can choose anything that you would like. I printed the picture out on a plain piece of paper, made sure the ink was dry and just cut it out. Or you can choose a decorative piece of paper. Your options are endless.

You Will Need:
- Modge Podge
- Paint Brush
- A Tile- I chose a 4x4 square tile but you can choose any tile you want. Smooth, textured, small, rectangle...
-  Picture or decorative piece of paper

Cut out your picture or decorative paper

Put a good coat of Modge Podge on the entire surface of your tile.

Coat the back of your picture or paper with Modge Podge.

Position your picture or paper on the tile. I made my picture a little
 small so it would kind of looked like it was framed. You might
need to press on your with a credit card or your hands
on yourpicture to get all of the air pockets out.



Coat that puppy! Too much is never enough. The Modge
Podge is an adhesive and a sealant so you won't
have to worry about water damage.

I have recently added a piece of felt to the back of the tile so it doesn't scratch furniture.

There you go! Have at it!

-Kaci

Make Your Own: Vanilla Extract

I didn't know where to post this. Should I post it under the DIY Gifts? Should I post it in make your own? The reason I was thinking about posting it in the DIY Gifts is because I have a plan to order very cute bottles and put very cute labels on those bottles and give them as gifts. Since this project takes 6-8 weeks to age, I have missed the deadline as giving them as Christmas gifts. I decided to post them under Make Your Own so you can make the decision.

I will update you when I do get those cute bottles and make those cute labels and set them aside for gifts but I really wanted to do this project so I couldn't wait. This is a great gift because it is homemade and who doesn't love a homemade gift? And it is also a great gift because vanilla extract can get expensive. This is perfect to give to your kitchen friendly friends.

You Will Need:

- 1 5"-7" vanilla bean- HEB has vanilla beans but make sure they are moist and flexible because my first try at this, the bean was hard and it was a failure. Vanilla beans can be expensive. I got on eBay and found 25 beans from France for $10.50 and I think that is a very good deal seeing that 1 bean at HEB was $6.

-1 cup of Vodka- I used Monopolowa Vodka because it is of good quality and it's my personal favorite. Another brand of vodka that works well with making your own vanilla extract is Svedka.

- Small air tight jar- I went with an olive oil bottle at Wal-Mart because I am impatient and I really wanted to do this project and didn't want to wait for my cute bottles to ship.

Step 1:
Take your vanilla bean and cut it half

Step 2:
Take each halves and cut them down the middle lengthwise. The good stuff in the middle is called the "caviar". This caviar is what makes the extract.

Step 3:
Put all the vanilla bean pieces in your bottle.

Step 4:
Add 1 cup of vodka

Step 5:
Put your creation up on a window sill for about 6-8 weeks for it to age.

Step 6:
This is a gift that keeps on giving so when your bottle is half full, fill the bottle back up with vodka. You will want to change out your vanilla beans about every 3rd time.


I hope you like this post. I can't wait for mine to age so I can use my handmade vanilla extract in cookies or a cake!

Share the love!
-Kaci

Make Your Own: All-Purpose Cleaner

I have had the ingredients to make this for a while now but never fit in the time to get it done. I was cleaning the other day and ran out of cleaner and figured there was no better time than now to pause for a blog break.

I love this all purpose cleaner because it doesn't smell like harsh chemicals and you can make it for a few cents. When I use this, my house smells wonderful. You can customize the smell of yours to your favorite essential oil smells.

Ready????

Cast of Characters:

• Castile Soap: This is an olive oil based soap so no harsh chemicals. It's organic, pure and natural. It's lovely. I found this at my local health food store. I believe HEB sells this also in their organic isle. I use the Dr. Bronner's brand. It comes in several different scents but I chose Tea Tree Oil because I like the clean smell. I have started keeping a bottle of this around too because I have found all the different things I can make with it. More tutorials on that stuff later.
• White Vinegar
• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda- I keep a box of this on hand at all times because I use this in my own washing detergent and dishwasher detergent.
• Water- I like water from a distilled jug or a water machine. I have a weird thing about not liking tap water, but you can use tap water if you don't have a weird phobia about it.
• Essential Oils- Personally I like clean smells like eucalyptus, tea tree, lemongrass, lavendar and things of that nature. This is your all-purpose cleaner so you can tailor the smells to your liking. I also bought these essential oils at my local health food store. They usually run about $8 a small bottle but remember they are pure oils and they only take a couple drops to make a big difference so a bottle goes an extremely long way. At a place that sells essential oils, they usually have testers so you can try out which is your favorite smell before you buy. I suggest you do a little research then look for ways to buy it cheaper online or through a catalog that specializes in essential oils.
• Spray Bottle- I used my empty bottle of cleaner. I just ran it through the dishwasher to make sure it was clean of the chemicals that were in it before. If you go buy a spray bottle, pay attention to the ounces. Most are 16 ounces. If that's the case, just cut all the ingredients in half.  

Ok ready! This is so simple and it smells great.

You will need:
-4 tablespoons of vinegar
-2 teaspoons of Arm & Hammer washing soda
-1/2 cup of Castile soap
-32 ounces of hot water
-5-10 drops of essential oils


Step 1:
I used a tea pitcher to mix all my ingredients in. I put my 4 tablespoons of vinegar in and then put my 2 teaspoons of Arm & Hammer washing soda and mixed them together until the washing soda was dissolved.

Adding the washing soda

In goes the vinegar

It fizzles when both are mixed together

Step 2:
To make my water hot, I ran it through my iced tea maker. Or you can use your coffee pot, boil your water on the stove or if your water from the faucet gets really hot you can use that. Just make sure there are no tea bags or coffee in your makers! That would be bad!

Step 3:
Measure out 32 ounces of your hot water.

Step 4:
Pour in the hot water.

Step 5:
Pour in your 1/2 cup of Castile Soap

Step 6:
Mix in your 5-10 drops of essential oils. Experiment with the mixture. Essential oils are a wonderful thing.

Step 7:
Give everything a good stir.

Step 8:
Pour the ingredients into your spray bottle.
(I must have deleted the picture for this step but I'm sure you know how to pour liquid into a bottle. :) )

So there you have it! Are you ready for your cleaning world to be turned upside down??? Are you excited??? Are you doing a dance? No? Is it just me? Yes? Dang!

Enjoy!
-Kaci

Do It Yourself Gift Series

I've been thinking about doing a series of blogs about gifts for the holidays you can make yourself. I asked a couple of you on Facebook and I got some "likes" and a couple of comments so I decided to go with it.


There are several reasons why I'm choosing to do this.


1. I have completely run out of ideas what to get people. Pajamas and a basket of Bath & Body Works is getting old.


2. Who doesn't want to get a gift that is unique and handmade? I would enjoy a unique and handmade gift.


3. I would like to not break the bank.


4. This new spark of do it yourself inside myself is running rampant!


5. It's something to blog about. I might run out of things to say one of these days but it's not looking like it's gonna be anytime soon.

I've been researching some DIY gifts and I have found some REALLY fun ideas. Eventhough I might be stealing these ideas, I will in fact be doing it myself and taking you through the tutorial because I want to be true to myself and also to you guys.

Each tutorial will have:

-Easy Factor: scale 1-10. 1 being the easiest, 10 being hard

-Cost of Total Project


Ok, now I'm off to the store to stock up on supplies!

Happy crafting!
-Kaci

Making Your Own: Dishwasher Detergent and Dryer Sheet

OK, if you haven't noticed from this post and the last, I'm kind of obsessed with making my own household products. Both of these ideas I found on other blogs and I would like to share. Until I started cruising around in Blog World, I had absolutely no idea all the things I have found were even available! Call me naive and maybe a little spoiled to think that laundry detergent, household cleaners other items had to be bought at the store for them to be effective. Boy was I wrong. I also wasted alot of money buying products that I could easily make myself and spend pennies instead of dollars. This is definitely a lifestyle change for me. I've realized not only is making my own products earth friendly because it cuts down on harsh chemicals and plastic waste but it actually works BETTER than store bought products! DOUBLE SWEET!

Here are 2 little recipes for you to enjoy!

Home Made Dishwasher Detergent
Shopping List:

• Borax (Found with the powder laundry detergents) 
• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (Found in laundry detergent section) 
• Lemi Shine (Found in the dishwasher detergent section) 
• Kosher Salt (Found with the baking ingredients) 
• White Vinegar (Found on the condiment aisle) 
• Canister of your choice (Found in the Tupperware section)
• Tablespoon or Scoop

*Remember, you will make a couple batches out of items you bought. You will however have to use the whole can of Limi Shine each batch  you make.

Directions:

Step 1: Pour 2 cups of Borax into your canister.

Step 2: Pour 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda into your canister.

Step 3: Pour 2 cups of Lemi Shine into your canister.

Step 4: Pour 1 cup of Kosher Salt into your canister.

Step 5: Mix together ingredients.

Usage: You only need to put 1 tablespoon into your wash cycle of the dishwasher. You can put one capful of the white vinegar into the pre wash for added cleaning power.

And done! How easy was that??

The next little tip is so easy it's ridiculous!

Homemade Dryer Sheets
Shopping List:

• Your favorite type and scent of liquid fabric softener
• An old hand towel or rag

Directions:

Step 1: Pour a couple of ounces of liquid fabric softener into a bowl.

Step 2: Soak your hand towel or rag into the bowl.

Step 3: Lightly wring out the hand towel or rag.

Step 4: Lay hand towel or rag onto a the counter or in a dry bowl and let dry.

Usage: Toss your hand towel or rag into your dryer with your clothes. Your rag can usually get up to 40 usages.


There you have it folks! What I love the most about these 2 things is that they are SUPER easy to make, I'm cutting down on enviromental waste, and the money I save is totally awesome! You can't get much better than that.

I guess y'all have noticed that the last couple of post have been DIY projects. I don't intend for this blog to be solely a DIY blog but these past couple things I just couldn't resist. Do y'all have any DIY tips that you use around the house or use often? Let me know and I will share my faves on the blog! Comments on this blog or welcome or you can email me at kacijohnson@live.com.

Until Next Time!
-Kaci
"The Little Pioneer Girl"

Make Your Own: Laundry Soap

I've recently gotten into this money saving kick. I like the fact that a little effort can save some serious cash over time. Whether it's cashing in my coupons, price matching, recycling, or even making something of my own that we use. If it saves money, I'm all about it. With gas prices being ridiculously high and other economic factors, it's forced a lot of us to re-evaluate our spending and adjust our budgets to the economy because the economy sure as heck doesn't adjust to us! I found this idea on Pinterest . And if you haven't discovered Pinterest.com yet, it's a must. I can't even describe how awesome this website is. I feel the need to share this idea because if it is as good as everyone says it is, then I have no idea why I haven't discovered this way before now. So today, I'm going to make my own laundry soap. This mixture of ingredients is supposed to last several months! And you only have to use 1 Tablespoon per wash load! If those last 2 sentences are not music to your ears then stop reading and wait until the next post because I just heard Slash rockin a bad A guitar riff in the background!

Ok, here are the ingredients you will need and how much I paid for them at Wal-Mart:

1- 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda                      $2.16
1- 3lb 7oz box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda           $3.24
1- 1.87lb tub of OxiClean (generic store brand will work fine)   $1.96
1- 4lb bag of any laundry soap (generic is the way to go)           $3.42
3- Fels-Naptha Bars                                                                 $0.97 each

That's $13.69 to make what I am hoping to be several months worth of laundry soap! SWEET!!!

You will also need a 5 gallon bucket. I reused an empty laundry soap bucket that I had gotten from Sam's. You will also need a cheese grater.

Step 1: Pour all of your powder ingredients into the bucket.

Step 2: Taking your cheese grater, you will grate the Fel-Naptha bars into the bucket. I just grated the bars right in the bucket so I didn't have to dirty another bowl.

Step 3: Mix up all your ingredients!

And, Viola!!!!!!

You only need to use 1 tablespoon per wash load because all the ingredients that you use make it SUPER potent! As an added bonus, while you are making your home-made laundry soap, your house smells AMAZING!

Hope you like this little tip! I know I will!

Until Next Time!
-Kaci
The Little Pioneer Girl