Saturday, January 28, 2012

DIY Sofa Table

I have wanted a new sofa table for a while. When I saw this one over at Country Girl Home I knew I had to make it! I cut out all the wood and put as much of it together by myself as I could. I did have to ask the husband to help screw in the 4 1/2" screws! Those suckers are big! We did make a few little adjustments to the original plans to better suite us. I sanded down the pretty little table and then painted her a beautiful shade of Behr Refreshing Pool and then distressed her.  

AHHH, she is just so pretty. I picked up some knobs from Hobby Lobby and I need to put them on. They will complete the look. I decorated her up with a few valentine's decorations. I think she is adorable. I recently painted my house as well and it is so fun to walk in the front door and see this bright cheery table!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

DIY Laundry and All-Purpose Spray

With all the laundry detergent and all-purpose cleaner recipes floating around pinterest, we knew we wanted to give it a try.  It takes about 10 minutes to make both and you'll be saving yourself some money in the process.

Some of the ingredients

There are a lot of different ways/recipes that you can make laundry detergent.  All the supplies can be bought at Walmart or your local grocery store. You may want to pick a up a few of the Fels bars, but the other ingredients will last awhile.  

This is the recipe that we use.

Laundry Detergent
1 bar Fels Naptha
1 C. Washing Soda 
1 C. Borax
1 C. Baking Soda
1 C. OxyClean (optional)
Unstoppables (see below)

I used my food processor to grate the Fels Naptha bar.  Combine all ingredients and wa-la, you're done.  I used the scoop that came in my OxyClean to scoop it.  It equals about 2 Tbs.  

Now I was a bit bothered that it had very little smell so I  bought some of the Downy Unstoppables.  I think they cost about $7, but I use about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle per batch of detergent.  It does to add a little bit more cost, but it was worth it me.


Next up...
All Purpose Cleaner.  I'm loving this stuff!!  I found this on Dr. Oz's website.  It has pretty much eliminated my use for another cleaner, but this.

All Purpose Cleaners
2 C. Water
1 TBS. Borax
3 TBS. Vinegar
1 TBS. Dish soap
a few drops of essential oils (I prefer peppermint)

I might make a few minor changes to this as I found another recipe that I want to try also.  Most likely I'll be combining the two somehow.  I'll let you know what I decide.

And there you have it, the finished product.