Freezer Makeover!

Mike and I scored a freezer for $50 off craigslist recently, but it needed some work. It had some rust spots on the front and a paint chunk missing inside. Instead of sticking to white we decided to go all out and paint it turquoise! Because who doesn't need a bright blue freezer? I can't wait to get it set up in the basement. This was a super simple and fast project.

Here's before:

Here's some of the rust spots:

And AFTER:

The tape on the hinges and handle wasn't removed in the pictures, but you get the idea. We'll probably do a second coat after we move into our new house (we close May 15th!! YAY!). At that point I'll post some updated pictures that are hopefully better quality. I'm also toying with the idea of sealing it to give it more of a durable finish, but it's not going to be in a high traffic area so I'm not sure it that's necessary. 

How do you like it?!

-Kaitlin

Hello!

Well, that was quite the vacation from blogging! Life has gotten in the way since I wrote my last post. Lots of good stuff has happened and some not-so-good... We've found a house we love and are in the process of buying it, we close May 15th. With that comes a lot of stress and worry, but we know in the end it's what is best for our family and we will succeed! We've also had a trip to the ER, because little Aislyn had a mean allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Never again will she have a penicillin based  medicine. She had hives and her joints were all swollen, nothing life threatening, but man, that was scary! It's also the end of the school semester for me, which means professors don't think we have enough on our plate, and throw another paper or ten on top of the ones you already are falling behind on. YAY! [sarcasm.]

But overall, life is good. Life is especially good cause I went shopping yesterday and found my favorite pair of jeans ever are on clearance and marked down to $20. You can't buy half a tank of gas for that. So naturally I went back today and bought a couple more pairs. Hey, I needed them, right?

I'll post in the next few days a revamp of a freezer we recently bought off craigslist that desperately needs some love. But first, I gotta take that love and cover the freezer in it or you're going to have a horribly disappointing blog post.

Thanks for coming back & remembering me!

Kaitlin

Tasty Thursdays: Mud Hens

I pinned this recipe awhile back thinking that I'd make them when I had time & was in the mood for something gooey and chocolate. Today was that day. Here is the original source.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup shortening
• 4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 2 eggs, separated, plus 2 more egg whites only
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Chopped Nuts (optional. I used pecans)
  
• 1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
• 1/2 Cup (or a little more) Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar (dark or light)

Cream together butter, sugar and shortening. Add two egg yolks plus an additional egg, mix until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix thoroughly:

 Spread into a well greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

 Top with chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts

 Whip 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in brown sugar until fully incorporated. Spread over mixture, covering completely.

 Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 

Yummy Goodness!

Thrifty Tuesday: Castile Laundry Soap

I've mentioned a few times that we make our own laundry soap. I just ran out of our last batch and it was time for a new one, so I made some up this morning. I tried a new recipe because although the other one cleaned the clothes well, the soap & water separated and you had to shake it up before you used it. I wanted to make a more concentrated detergent without all the water. So I did some web research on Castile laundry detergent and this is the recipe I decided to go with: Homemade Castile Laundry Soap.

You will need:

1/4 cup liquid Castile soap (I used Dr. Bronner's)

1 cup baking soda

1 cup super washing soda

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup boiling water

 

 Add the soap, baking soda, and washing soda to a large mixing bowl. 

Slowly add the vinegar & prepare for a bubble explosion! 

Aislyn loved that part ("my turn mama, my turn!"). Then whisk until thoroughly

 combined. Pour in boiling water and whisk again.This is what you'll get:

It should be a loose paste. Store it in an air tight container and use about 2 tbsp per load. If you leave it uncovered, it will solidify so unless you want a huge rock hard block of unusable detergent, don't do it. :)

While I was finishing up the laundry soap, Aislyn was busy cleaning her table. She's such a good helper!  (It's the only picture I could get of her as she's going through a phase where she hates her picture taken... and yes, her hair is nuts :))

Happy Thrifty Tuesday,

Kaitlin

Money, Money, Monday: Save it by going 'poo-free

If you're like me, there's nothing like waking up, hopping in the shower and coming out feeling sparkling fresh and clean. Showering recharges you, wakes you up and starts you off on the right foot. But did you know that you can make most of the products you use in the shower? It costs a lot less than you pay for them at the store and they work just as well! Today we'll start by talking about shampoo & conditioner. Chances are you use a commercialized shampoo product that is loaded with different chemicals and a ton of fragrance. Right? Shampoo is a hair care product that is designed to remove dirt, oils, pollutants and other contaminants from hair. Unfortunately, when you remove the oil, your scalp reacts by creating more of it since it has been stripped. You especially notice it after a couple of days, or if you have oily skin by nature, possibly by mid-day. However, there is a way to clean your hair, get rid of the contaminants without using shampoo, and eventually De-grease your hair. It's called the "'poo-free method."

Would it freak you out if I told you I haven't shampooed my hair since....Early November 2011? Please still be my friend even if it does and keep reading...

I haven't. And my hair hasn't looked this good in a long, long time. I don't use any hair product after showering either because my once crazy baby hair around my face has been tamed. And, my hair is super shiny without any tangles.

Here's the method:

My "shampoo" is a mixture of 1 tbsp. baking soda to 1 cup water.

I make this mixture fresh every time I clean my hair. (Some people that use this method make large batches of it and store it in containers in the shower, but for the amount that you go through you'd be mixing up a new container every few days.) I pour the entire solution onto the roots of my hair and really massage it in. Then I leave it in for a couple of minutes and then wash it out completely. This mixture does not lather and it will not feel at all like a traditional shampoo, but it does clean your hair. It does not strip the oil out of you hair though, so until your hair and scalp adjusts to it you may go through an oily period between 1-2 weeks. After that, your body will not over-produce oil and it will be much less greasy looking. 

My conditioner is just as easy. It's mixture of 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 1 cup water.

Like a traditional conditioner, it goes on the ends of your hair and not the scalp. Pour it on, let it sit, and rinse it out. Done. Like the shampoo, it will not feel like commercialized conditioner, but it works just as well. Once you rinse out the ACV and dry your hair it will not smell like vinegar. Your hair will smell like nothing (unless you add essential oils, then it can smell like whatever you want it to). You will have to use a wide toothed comb or a paddle brush to get the tangles out the first couple of times you use it, but after your hair adjusts to it it will brush out easily.

There's a lot more information on the web about this method of shampooing. Just google it and a whole lotta info will come up.

Here's the price breakdown:

Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (16 oz): ~$1

Apple Cider Vinegar (Store brand, 32 oz): $1.69

Note: I've been using the same container of ACV since November and I'm not anywhere near being done yet.

Questions? Please leave them in the comment box. Here's to our first Moolah Monday. Hope you enjoyed it and you consider trying this method!

-Kaitlin

Colored Rice

My little girl has been feeling under the weather for the past few days so I thought I would cheer her up by making some fun, brightly colored rice. It's a perfect sensory activity for toddlers and you can change it up daily to keep them interested.

You will need:

Uncooked White Rice

Rubbing Alcohol

Food Coloring -- I used the gel kind

Plastic baggies

Cookie Sheets

Sensory Bin

 Put 2 cups rice in a plastic Ziplock bag

 Add 2-3 large drops of gel food coloring & 1.5 tbsp. rubbing alcohol

 Shake bags until mixed well

  Pour onto a cookie sheet to dry. Laying it in the sun 

will make it dry faster but it isn't necessary.

  Put into a bin, mix together, add some fun toys

and go to town.

 Have fun!!

 This project was really quick & easy and held Aislyn's interest for an extended period of time. You can easily double or triple the recipe and do many more colors if you wanted a large quantity of rice. It could be a great preschool activity too!

Homemade Fabric Softener

I just made a batch of homemade fabric softener. It takes about 5 minutes to complete and it's so easy to put together. I used a combination of a couple of different hair conditioners because I didn't have enough of one to make up a whole cup, but stick with one if you want a consistent scent. The scent is not overwhelming, and the smell of vinegar completely disappears altogether.

Ingredients:

1 c. conditioner (I used Suave and VO5 because that's what I had on hand)

3 c. warm water

1 1/2 c. white vinegar

Put all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and whisk until incorporated. The warm water will help dissolve the conditioner into one homogenous mixture. Pour into a container to store it (I used a recycled Juice bottle) and use what you normally would in your washing machine's softener slot. If you want a stronger scent play around with adding essential oils. 

Happy Washing!

Kaitlin