Make it Monday

We are having a delightful rainy Monday here. The sun still hasn't come up and the sky is deliciously dark. I've been feeling a little busy lately which is always frustrating. I think I feel most like myself when I'm on top of things. I have the day off which makes this rainy day feel even more special. I'm thinking this morning I'm going to cozy up with some tea and watch the morning news.


In the mean time here are some delightfully cozy things I want to make,

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Recipe Girl

Can someone make these for me? Please. Mmmm.

Here are some soaping projects I want to start for Christmas Gifts,

Pumpkin Puree Soap from Soap Queen

 

Christmas Cold Process Soap from Soap Queen

Have a wonderful cozy fall day. Enjoy the falling leaves and changing weather. 

Loves!

A Quilt For My Nest.

The quilt is done. If you are curious about the process I've had making the quilt and the cost/material breakdown click here (a side note, I did end up adding 12 more quilt blocks to the original design, thus increasing the cost a bit).

Here are two different views. I love how the quilt always looks a bit different depending on which pattern block you focus on.



I used a few different tutorials but the most useful I found was on the blog Diary of a Quilter. In particular I used this tutorial for piecing all of my layers of the quilt together. There are thorough directions on this lovely blog to help you complete a quilt from start to finish.

I used a lovely vintage sheet for the inside lining of the quilt. The price was right and I adore the print.


The vintage sheet came with matching pillow cases so I have matching pillowcases for the quilt. I think it's a unique addition to the set.


There is something so satisfying about making something for yourself start to finish. I also adore indulging in activities that were done over a hundred years ago. I think I did underestimate how much work this project would be - but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Loves!

Little Bit Of Laundry Love

I snapped this picture on my phone earlier today. I had just hung up this load of laundry and the air was filled with the scent of freshness. I make my own laundry soap and it is unscented, but somehow it always produces the sweetest simple scent. My heart sinks at the thought of fall coming as I will be once again forced to use my dryer. This whole summer I've used my dryer twice, and instead dried dozens of loads of laundry outside. I find during the fall months laundry is much more of a chore.

There is something so lovely about gently hanging laundry on the line. Usually the pug and kitty suntan watching me hang it up.

I started with a recipe making my own laundry soap a long time ago, so long I can't remember the source. I've adapted the recipe over the years and the result is this,

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/4 c oxy clean (totally optional, but I do love the addition)
1 cup grated bar soap

I use the oxy clean scoop to measure it out. Just one scoop per load is all you need. I think it works out to roughly 1/8 c or 2 rounded tablespoons.

Mix everything together well. I store this in a container by my washing machine. The borax and washing soda is in the laundry soap isle and you can buy specialty soap bars used for laundry soap. I use my own handmade cold process soap. Buying a box of borax, washing soda and tub of oxy clean will last you months and months. I think I buy a box of each twice a year. It works out to be a very inexpensive way to do laundry, and works out wonderful for sensitive skin.

Happy Thursday!

Baked Eggs and Tomato Sauce

The Tasty Kitchen Blog featured a delicious looking recipe for Baked Eggs and Tomato Sauce. I made it this morning and my goodness was it delicious!

What are your plans for the day? I'm going to work on some sewing and take a trip to the gym with a girlfriend. I haven't been in sometime so I'm expecting to be exhausted after.

Homemade Dish Soap

I thought I would share a recipe I've been using for the last few months for homemade dish soap. This recipe is a great way to use up cold process soap that may be ugly or imperfect in some way. You can buy "ugly" handmade soap heavily discounted online (go to Etsy and search for ugly soap, you'll have lots of results at your fingertips!). You could also use pretty much any type of bar soap in this recipe provided that it is naturally based. I used a handmade bar of soap from a batch I made awhile back that traced too quickly and didn't turn out as I had planned. You want this recipe to be cost effective, as well as natural - I don't suggest you use a fancy 7$ bar of handmade soap, save that baby for a long bath!

What you'll need,
1 4 ounce bar of soap - I went with an unscented homemade bar.
1 3/4 cups Hot boiling water.
1-2 tsp Liquid Glycerin - this is completely optional but it will give your soap a silkier feel. It's kind of an indescribable difference to the soap, but I really love it.

Onto some good DIY!

Start with your bar of soap,

And grate that baby up!

Plunk it into a pot,

Pour the boiling water over top,

Wait 5 minutes or so for the water to start melting the soap.

Mash like crazy with a fork.

Your soap might start lumping together, this is normal.

Now grab your immersion blender, and blend! You can also pour all of this goodness into a blender and blend. Your mixture will froth a bit.

Blend until all the bits are combined. Near the end of blending add in your glycerin.


Let the mixture now sit for awhile then pour into your favorite dispensing container. I used an old plastic soap pump I already had. Depending on the soap you used you might need to dilute the mixture a bit. You also want all the froth to come down, do not fear it will! I find this soap is great for scrubbing dishes under a running tap or scrubbing dishes first then rinsing in your sink. Because this soap doesn't have oodles of chemical degreasers (it does still cut grease very well) it isn't really effective when pumped into a water filled sink of dirty dishes. My process for using this dish soap is: rinse the sink of dishes, let the water drain, scrub my dishes with a pump of soap here and there and rinse off again. A little bit of this soap really does go a long way!

P.S.,
I'm linking up here, one project at a time!