Category Archives: Make or Buy

Jul 6

Quick Crochet: Round Cushions

I was browsing home goods, and looking for throw pillows for the Summer daybed. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, and I really wasn’t too happy with the price for throw pillows either. I had a bit of extra fabric on hand, and I decided to make some of my own.

I didn’t have a pattern for a round cushion, so I just kept crocheting around, and around until I liked size and the look of it.

I made two rounds, and crocheted the rounds together. I left a bit of space to slip in fabric to stuff.

I also made one in Red.

I made a simple round pillow form out of re-purposed  fabric. I slipped the form into the crocheted cover, and stuffed it. Then a simple whip stitch to close the form, and a little bit more crochet around the edge to finish off the pillow.

I think my second try turned out a little bit neater than the first attempt.

They turned out adorable, and fit the bed perfectly!

I started a yellow one last night for Agnes, and Dylan has requested a green one as well. I think I’ll make a few more for our bedroom too. Luckily they are quick to crochet. Each round took me about an evening to make. I’m starting to love quick and easy projects. This one saved some money on the decorating budget too.

Apr 16

Bread Baking Days

This week I’m trying not to grocery shop until Friday. Wouldn’t you know it, I ran out of bread… I’ve always loved baking bread, but I haven’t done it in a long time. The weather was perfect for baking yesterday, so I spent the day in the kitchen.

I had enough bananas on hand to make a batch of muffins. The family had also requested another Cinnamon cake. I decided to make a few loaves of White Bread, and then I decided to try my hand at baking French Bread.

The French bread was going to take the longest, so I started it first. I also started my White Bread dough, so it had plenty of time to rest.

I baked the muffins, and the cake. The oven was preheated for the breads, and there was plenty of warm spots to rise bread dough.

 

The mini muffins are for the boy’s snacks for school. I also had enough left to make big muffins for breakfast.

The White Bread turned out just right. That will make plenty of lunches for the boys. The homemade bread is also so tasty too. I really need to make this once a week.

Lastly was the French Bread. I was making Spaghetti for dinner, and I thought it would be a perfect side. It took quite awhile to make the bread, but the savings were well worth it.

It was a big hit too. Thade absolutely loved it, and so did my hubby.

I will be making this again! The French Bread was delicious.

The kitchen was a mess, but it was nice spending a day baking for my family. I really need to make this a habit. It would help out a bit with the savings, and the house smelled amazing.

Dec 16

Handmade Ornaments

This is the last week of school for the boys, and I’ve been getting the Christmas party treats together for Dylan’s class. I really enjoy being room mom, and getting to catch up with everyone during the year. While we don’t have to be there for the party, we do need little gifts for the stockings. Oh yeah, Thade’s class needs them too.

So I started thinking, Dylan’s class has about twenty-two kids, and I think Thade’s has twenty-three. I really didn’t feel like running to the store to pick-up stocking stuffers, so I decided to go the d.i.y. route, and see what I could come up with.

I started with my crochet books (that my brother gave me) and looked for some inspiration. I found a different way to make hexagons, that started with rounds, and I thought that would make cute ornaments.

I also had everything on hand to get started, so no extra trip to the store for me.

I got to work, and made a few rounds.

I thought they looked pretty cute, and Dylan approved.

The little ornaments were quick to crochet too.

I think they are pretty cute too.

Once Dylan’s were all finished, I started working on the ornaments for Thade’s class.

I added on an extra row too.

I hope the kiddos like them.

It was a fun afternoon crochet project, and I saved a little bit too.

Jul 22

Homemade Laundry Powder: Second Batch

Well the first batch of homemade laundry powder lasted us just about two weeks. Like I said, I do a lot of laundry in this house. Yesterday we were just about out, so I decided it was time to make one more batch. This time I changed the recipe a bit, and tried a friend’s suggestion too.

I started off by microwaving the laundry soap. I placed the soap on a paper plate, and started it off for a minute. Then I let it go a minute more. I let the soap rest before I started grating it.

The microwaved soap grated well, but holy moly my kitchen was fragrant. I aired out the microwave during the night, and it is still soap scented this morning. The microwaved soap is a bit warm too, so be careful. Also if you have a few bits that didn’t microwave well the first time, just pop them back in the microwave for a few more seconds.

This batch I used one bar of grated laundry soap, one cup of baking soda, one cup of borax, and one cup of super washing powder. I mixed it all together, and stored it in a plastic container.

The consistency was just right. I washed two loads of laundry in the new scent, and I really liked it. The savings are great too. I’m making laundry detergent for around $2.00 a month instead of spending $10.00. Not too bad in the savings department.

Jul 9

Homemade Laundry Powder

When we were going through the budget, I was running through my mind on just what we could cut from the weekly grocery bill. I couldn’t think of where to start, but then I looked at the giant pile of laundry waiting for me. It made me think that laundry detergent would be a start. I’ve seen lots of recipes to make it at home, so let’s give it a try.

I do a lot of laundry. Most days three loads at least. If I wait a day or two I have ten loads of laundry waiting for me. I seem to buy laundry detergent at least once or twice a month. If I can find the brand that I like, it is usually on sale for $5.00. So that is at least $10.00 a month that is just going to laundry.

I looked up a few different recipes for homemade laundry powder on Pinterest. I then headed to amazon to shop prices. They were a bit much, but then I read through all of the comments. They all seemed to say the same thing,  check your local store first, you should be able to pick up everything for around $10.00. We were heading to the grocery store on Monday, so I added the supplies to my list, and scratched off the ready-made laundry detergent.

I found everything on my list to make the detergent, and I picked up a grater to be used for soap only, and a set of measuring spoons and cups to use for detergent only too. The grand total was just $12.68, just a few bucks more than I usually spend in a month for detergent.

I set up everything in the utility room, and I got to grating. I decided to make a batch using the Pink Zote soap first. It did take a while to grate the soap, and my flakes were not as teeny-tiny as I had seen in the pictures on Pinterest. A friend of mine suggested to microwave the soap for one to two minutes, let it rest, and then it should flake nicely. I’m going to try that on the next batch.

The recipe that I used called for one cup of Borax, one cup of Arm & Hammer washing powder, and one bar of laundry soap, grated. I combined all of the of the ingredients in an old plastic ice cream container, and gave it a good shake. You use one to two tablespoons of the laundry powder per load.

I washed three loads of laundry with the new laundry powder, and it worked very well. The scent was pleasant after going through the dryer, and the clothes were soft too. Here’s hoping that none of us are allergic to it…  I missed one very ice cream stained shirt of Agnes’, so that one didn’t get cleaned too well, but a little pre-treater should do the trick.

The cost and the time spent were well worth it too. I’ll be making the detergent again, and enjoying a bit of grocery savings too. The only downside was when I grated my finger. I’m a bit accident prone when it comes to graters, and veggie peelers, but that won’t keep me from grating laundry soap.

I have no idea how long the first batch will last our family. If I keep up with making laundry detergent at home it should save us around $100 off of our yearly grocery budget. I think I’m off to a good start.

What about you? Do you make laundry detergent at home? How do you save when it comes to this daily chore?