So... or, rather Sew...

I have been hankering for a proper Easter dress this year. That turned into a thought that the family should have matching or at least, coordinated, Easter clothes too. Then I had to sell Hubby on the idea. Then, I had to find THE dress. It proved impossible within the budget I had set. Naturally, all the shopping was done via the internet. Who has time to run to all the stores anyway? So, I harkened back to my childhood, when Mom would sew an Easter dress for my sister and I each year. Ah yes, I can sew! At least, I can quilt. If I can cut apart fabric, reassemble it into various shapes and sew it into a quilt, I can certainly sew a dress, right?

I spent hours the past few nites browsing thru the pattern web sites and finally came across a spectacular dress at McCalls. What do you think? (it's here) Then, I had to find just-the-right-fabric. Ya. I know. Hard! However, I grabbed my friend Melis, and we hit the quilt stores. They have high quality cottons and cotton blends with fabulous new spring lines that are hitting the stores now! I couldn't decide between two of the fabrics that we found though...so I got BOTH! Yes, I am planning on making 2 dresses! Both fabrics are quite different. I will be using the narrow band of fabric as the spaghetti straps and for a top edging around the dress. The red, white and blue fabric is from a 1930's reproduction line. It reminded me of my Grandma Johnson, Americana, patriotism...I love it! The brown with pink flowers is just plain fun! I plan on topping off each dress with a cute, lightweight coordinated cardigan sweater.

The hard part is going to be deciding which dress to wear for Easter! I think the red, white and blue...then I can put Hubby and G-Man in blue shirts and we will all "go." Of course, that fabric may require that I have a hat too! I am excited!!! Wish me luck! I'll model them here once they are finished.

Obscure Ingredients

So, I have posted several recipies, here and here. Some of the ingredients are not very main stream so here are some places to find what you'll need:

• Citric acid for the dishwasher soap can be found at places that sell canning ingredients. It's commonly used as a canning preservative. Or you can find it at a brewery store, where you would get home beer making or wine making kits.
• Borax can be had at Walmart. If it's not on the shelves of your local Walmart in the detergent aisle, you can order it from Walmart online and shipping to your local Walmart store is FREE! I purchased mine at the local grocery store. It was on the bottom shelf in the laundry detergent section.
• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda can also be had at some of your local stores. Once again, I got mine at the local grocery store in the laundry section, again on the bottom shelf. If you can't find it, you can always get it online from Amazon.com.

If there is anything else you need, just let me know! Happy mixing!

More Homemade $$ Saving Recipes

Do you remember my homemade laundry soap blog? We are still using that batch that I made way back then. It cost about $6 to make 5 gallons. And it works~! It's all we've been using on our laundry - daily wear, delicates, DIRTY DIAPERS, K's greasy garage and workshop clothes. It has been a great recipe. I was tired of spending so much on dishwasher detergent so I googled a recipe for that recently. I made up the first batch this afternoon and after 2 loads thru the dishwasher I am pretty sure we have another homemade winner! It's super simple, and costs about 3 cents (yes, you read that right!) per load! Cascade by comparison costs about 12 cents per ounce . To make this powder recipe you'll need an empty 40 ounce container (I used the old one that I had just emptied of commercial dishwasher powder).

• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup food grade citric acid

Mix it all together, stir or shake well. Done. Yup, that's it! Add 1tablespoon per dishwasher load. Oh, and as for the expensive JetDry and other no spot products, just use plain white vinegar instead. Super duper cheap and spotless! This dishwasher powder will tend to clump, but that doesn't affect performance. Also, it's phosphate free, another bonus for your glasswear and crystal.

The next recipe I am going to try is for REAL vanilla extract. You do realize that you are paying a ton for a tiny bottle that is mostly alcohol and water when you buy vanilla, right? So, why not make your own? The recipe is easy and you can use either rum or vodka for the alcohol part.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

• 3 medium vanilla beans, or 1 1/2 fat ones
• 1 cup rum or vodka
• Have ready a 1-cup glass jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid; I used an empty (and clean, obviously) jar of jam. Pour boiling water into it, let rest for 10 minutes to sterilize, and pour out the water.

Using a sharp knife, slice the beans open lengthwise to expose the seeds. Tuck the beans in the jar and fill with liquor. Close the jar, shake it a few times, and place it in a cool, dark cabinet; you may have to whisper a few words of reassurance if the jar is, understandably, a little frightened.
Let the jar rest in there for 8 weeks, shaking it again once or twice a week, or whenever you remember to. The mixture will get darker and darker over time.

You can start using your extract by the end of the eighth week. Use however much you need, and when you notice that you're running a little low -- that you've used, say, 20% of the extract -- top it off with more liquor (preferably of the same type) and shake again. And every once in a while, when you're using a fresh bean in a recipe, you can add the empty pod (rinsed off and dried if it's been steeped in milk or cream) to the jar. If you continue to "feed" it this way, the extract will keep forever; just remove some of the older beans if the jar becomes too crowded.

Homemade Laundry Soap that works & is easy to make!

Yep, it's all true, easy to make, it works (even on diapers!), and best of all CHEAP! I challenge you to find a gallon of laundry soap for $4.41 that is free of pthalates, fragrances, phosphates, animal by products, petroleum by products and coal tar. To make your own healthy, chemical free laundry soap you will need:

• a 5 gallon bucket


• a 1 gallon bucket


• empty containers for new laundry soap


• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda


• 20 Mule Team Borax powder


• Castille soap (liquid)


• water

In 5 gallon bucket pour 4 gallons HOT tap water, add 1 cup each Arm & Hammer, Borax and Castille soap. Gently stir to mix and dissolve powers. Portion out into empty containers. Use 1/4 cup soap for each load of laundry. Be sure to shake up the container a little before each use as the stuff does settle out to the bottom. If you are interested in a particular scent you can add essential oils available at your local whole food or co-op store. Use 2-4 drops per gallon to start with. Some oils, like Tea Tree oil are natural anti fungals, perfect for washing sporting clothes and stinky stuff! Or, if you like a little relaxation, add some natural lavender oil. Peppermint for a bit of energy...ohhh the list of essential oils is endless. Just be sure that if you are using this for cloth diapers that you do not use any essential oils. It's not recommended by any of the manufacturers.

What's castille soap you ask? It's soap that is all vegetable based, there are not any animal products (common) or lye in this soap. It tends to be quite concentrated too. I prefer Dr. Bronners brand, check it out here. (This is also the soap I use on my skin.)

Growing in Love

I am learning that there is more to loving someone than words and gestures. It is so important to show and tell those you love how much they mean to you, but it's even more vital to show them how you love them in the ways they define as being loved. For example, I cherish it when K text messages me just to say "love u" or when he mails me a sweet card. It fulfills me when he takes care of my emotional side and holds me in a tight hug. For me the simple little things speak to my soul and make me feel loved. Some women *hate* funny, comical, cartooney cards. They want their hubby to give them romantic, touchy-feely cards. But the guys like the funny cards...there is that kind of disconnect in showing someone you love them in the ways that they want and need to be loved.

I thought that by remodeling a bathroom in our home that K would feel the love I have for him. It would be one less project for him to do, one less project for us do to and we could spend that time together - outside mountain biking or camping for a weekend. Instead he felt hurt and did not feel that love I have for him. See, we work really, really, amazingly well together. It is fun to work on projects together and we excel at it! He likes that. My remodeling the bathroom also made him feel like it was more Mellissa's house and not OUR house. It took some of the pride and ownership away from him.

So, as we move toward our third wedding anniversary I am learning the importance of showing K how much I love him in ways that make him feel cherished. Not in ways that I think I would like. They really are quite different...

Done enough for now

I am not as done as I wanted to be at this point in time with the bathroom remodel, but I am done enough. I am just tired, tired of missing my hubby, tired of staying up late working on the bathroom, tired of running to the home improvement store, tired of the regular problems that pop up in a remodel, tired! It does look better than when I started so I guess I should be happy with it. I have also told my friends Melis and Chad to *slap* me if I decide to do a blitz-remodel ever again! It just so much more stressful when there is a 4 day window in which to accomplish everything. I hope K likes it...

I still have to finish: the wood frame around the mirror, get one more connector for the drain, some trim for the vanity, install a dimmer switch for the lights...I think that's it. But for now, ice cream, water and veggin' out!

On the left is the before (UGLY) sink and faucet, on the right is the after (PRETTY) sink and faucet.

Bath Remodel...is it done yet?

Sunday night and I am still not done. I'm tired, but not done. I would have been a lot closer to done but I hit one *major* problem; the sink that I picked up at the wholesaler is too messed up to use. I thought I had the deal of the century, but it turns out the sink hole is not square to the front edge so it's all kitty-wampus and not usable. I sooooo wish I could have installed the sink today. So tomorrow (sigh- when will that end!?!?!?) tomorrow I have to find a new sink, install it, buy and install one more towel rod (I changed the layout of those and need one more), caulk along the tub, make the frame for the mirror and of course, CLEAN!!!! Oh the cleaning...when I cook, I keep the kitchen clean as I go, but when I do home projects it looks like a tornado swept tools and parts all over the house.

Today I am most proud of the fact that I disconnected, removed and reinstalled the toilet in the bath all by myself, AND it isn't leaking!!! They are heavy things and unwieldy too.

While there are some parts that I really like, there are other parts that are just mediocre. I think the one thing that I didn't mention is that all my house projects are done on a 'challenging' budget. It's too easy to blow a few thousand and make a bathroom spectacular, it's a whole new game when your entire budget is $250.00 and a weekend and yourself only!

Bath Remodel Day 3

Oh wow am I tired! I worked pretty steadily all day and now it's after midnight and I am in sight of the finish line. I decided to install a new floor today so that took some time. I love the way it turned out! I installed it on the diagonal which is something I have never done before so it was a new challenge. I only ruined 4 or 5 tiles though. Tomorrow I have to install the mirror, build the picture frame for the mirror, install the baseboard, reinstall the toilet, install the sink and faucet, caulk along the tub, hang the towel holders. I think that's it...Below is a pretty and pain in the butt light fixture. That story is a whole blog in itself!!!

Bath Remodel Night 2

Have wine, will do house projects!

Hey, I got a second coat of stain on the cabinet and the first coat on the doors and drawers. I also decided to make a picture frame style frame to go around the plain-ol *huge* bathroom mirror and I got that wood stained too. I didn't do much with power tools tonight because neighbors, Chad & Melis brought over a bottle of red wine. Staining and painting I can do with wine, power tools and electrical not a chance!

I have also decided to replace the light fixture because I *hate* the way this one looks. I dropped some change at the big box home improvement stores today, but I did get some deals! I got a light fixture, drawer pulls, the wood for the frame I will build and some hardware to hang that frame. Tomorrow will be a busy day because I want to get 90% done before bed tomorrow (Saturday) night. I have to steel wool and stain the doors and drawers and frame, build the frame, remove the light fixture, mud, prime and paint the areas that need patching, install the new light fixture, buy and install new towel rods and a toilet paper holder, install faucet onto sink. Ya, I might *not* be getting to bed tomorrow night! If I can get all that done, then all I have to do on Sunday is install the new floor and put the sink top in place and connect the water supply lines. Easy stuff! Below is the ugly light fixture that *has* to come down!

Bath Remodel

Before...the last ugly bathroom in our home.
So, the first night Hubby is gone I make a HUGE mess of the main bathroom in our house. This is the last bathroom to get a face lift; I did the face lifts/remodels in the two other bathrooms in the house so it will feel good to get the last one done!

Last night I got the sink top off (thanks neighbor Steve for the muscle!), the water shut-off valves installed, the doors and hardware off the vanity and the vanity sanded and one coat of stain on it! All of that and a trip to Home Depot before 9pm. Not too bad! I am not thrilled with the stain color though. I want darker and less red. I will have to figure out if I will live with it or try to fix it. On the agenda for tonight, a light sanding of the vanity using 000 steel wool and then another coat of stain. Then some drywall repair where I removed a sidesplash and sanding and staining the doors and drawers. Then all I have to do Saturday is any more drywall repair and paint on the wall, apply polyurethane to the vanity and install the new wood floor, apply 2nd coat of stain to the doors and drawers...hmm, that all seems to do-able. I must be forgetting something... Wish me luck!

Below, the new shut-off valves as seen from the top. Plumbing work is sooooo much easier when the sink is outta the way!