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Monday, December 5, 2011

CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP Laundry Soap!!!

I am SO excited to share my latest homemade money saving find!  It is a recipe for laundry soap that my sis-n-law shared with me (it originally came from the Duggar family blog).

I made my first batch about a month ago and we are really happy with the results!  My husband works in construction and on any given day he can be covered in dirt or mud or concrete dust and this detergent has worked wonderfully to clean his messes!

I had to buy a 5 gallon bucket with a lid (you can often find them for free but I did not have time to ask around so I bought one) for about $4.00 at Lowe's, the washing soap, Borax, and Fels-Naptha all came from Wal-Mart (though I did have to visit two locations to find the A&H, not because they didn't carry it but because it was out of stock) and were less than $8.00 for all three.  

So the recipe is...

1/2 Cup Borax
1    Cup Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" 
                (Must be Sodium Carbonate)
1    Bar Fels-Naptha Bar
4    Cups Hot Water

Grate the Fels-Naptha and slowly melt in the water over medium heat on the stove top.  Fill the bucket half full of warm water and add the melted soap, Borax, and Washing Soda.  Stir until all powder is dissolved, fill the bucket to the top with water, stir, cover, and let sit over night to thicken.

The mixture is very thick and chunky and kind of gelatinous.  Stir well and fill a clean container half full of the soap mixture and the rest of the way with water.  Shake well before each use.

You can add a drop or two of essential oil to the container but I like the smell of the mixture so I do not add fragrance to mine.

For top-load washers use 5/8 Cup per load (I use the cup that is on my container)
For front-load washers use 1/4 Cup per load
 
I called everyone in my family and asked them to save an empty laundry soap container and I am going to share with them.  The next time I make a bucket, I will only have to purchase the $1.00 bar of Fels-Naptha because the recipe only uses a small amount of the powders.  I don't know for sure how many buckets they will make, but it is several.  Also they are both really good to dilute in water and clean with. 

Here are pictures of each item!




Enjoy!!!




Sunday, November 27, 2011

thirty-one December customer special!!!

You won't want to miss out on this special!!!  
Call or email me for a catalog!
Order online at www.mythirtyone.com/wduncan
Order by December 12th to guarantee delivery by Christmas!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Thanks Card

This is a card that I made for our coaches from my son's football team.  I used Sports Mania for the football and George and Basic Shapes for the sentiment, and CM card stock in Cactus, Gold, and Brown.  I cut the football at 5.5 and the sentiment at 2 (I think!)
I made 5 cards and I think they turned out pretty good.  I put a team pic on the inside and was so excited that I forgot to have the boys sign the cards before I handed them out :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Been A While

It's been a while since I have posted, life has been so busy!  I have a few crafty things that I am working on and will hopefully have some pictures soon!  Got three baby girls that I am making things for, one is already here and two more are on the way (one of them is my brother's first baby!!!).  There is a trip to Joanne's in my near future, went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and got some sweet stuff in pink!

Feel free to share what you have been working on!

See ya soon,

Whitney

Thursday, June 30, 2011

New Creative Memories Items

CM is releasing a new Cricut (full size) Traveler Cartridge tomorrow, along with some super cute paper!!!  I am going to be offering $25.00 in free product for anyone who orders $50.00 or more!!!  The catch is that I have to have 10 participants order to give away the free product. After I get all 10 orders with payment, I will place the order and it will be shipped right to your front door! (Free product and all) Pass this along to your friends so we can make the 10 orders!!! My CM website is
www.mycmsite.com/sites/whitneyduncan
Happy shopping :)

Picture

I'm not sure how well you can see the details but here is the outside of my first card for St. Jude's kids.  I will give details later.  I have to do something for my hubby right now :)  Hope you like it!!!

My Very First Blog Hop

I went on my very first blog hop today and each of the projects were fabulous.  I got lots of great ideas :)  It is a birthday celebration and the theme was black, pink, and white.  If you have some time...go check it out and wish Brynn a happy 30th birthday :)

http://networkedblogs.com/jQb3J

Have a blessed day,

Whitney

Cards for St. Jude's

I tried to post this at midnight last night but couldn't get it to post...probably because I should have been in bed and not on-line :).  

I started making cards for kiddos at St. Jude's Hospital yesterday.  One of the blogs I follow put out a challenge to get 5,000 cards made for sick kids, to help bring a little sunshine into their life this summer!  But I was new to the blog and never really thought about joining in the challenge until yesterday when I saw a St. Jude's commercial on t.v.  There was  a beautiful little girl with only strands of her hair left due to chemo, and my heart ached for her.  I thought if I could bring a smile to her face (or other children like her) it would be the least I could do!  So I am in!  I started the first four cards and they are almost complete...I just have to figure out how to finish in the inside!  I will post pics later today!

If you have some extra time, please join in to bring some happiness into the day of a sick child! 

You can find the details at this link :)

  http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/
Have a blessed day,

Whitney :-D