Shabby Chic

Life has been busy so this blog fell to the bottom of my list of "to do's". I have had request to post a few items lately, so with some mindless TV on I decided to post away. The title for the post is Shabby Chic because I did not want to call it Thrifty. My new favorite DIY home item, homemade laundry detergent, sounds "cheap" doesn't it? Laundry soap is not cheap (there is not mucht that is today) and have you ever read the back of the bottle, I am not a big fan of things that I can't pronouce. Once I decided that I wanted to make my own soap I searched Pinterest for a recipe. This took some research because I have an HE washer and you have to be careful not to make a detergent that is too sudsy. Here is the recipe that I use:

Fels-Naptha Soap Bar ($0.97)
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda ($3.24)
Borax ($2.98)
(You will also need one 5 gallon bucket with a lid
(You can also add 1-2 drops of essential oils per 2 gallons once it has cooled)
I used Lavendar essential oil for this round and I love the smell.

To make:
Boil 4 cups of tap water in a large saucepan, grate the Fels-Naptha bar soap into the water. I used by cheese grater and yes it came clean and did not taste like soap.
Stir until the soap is melted takes about 45 minutes...and makes the house smell super clean
Fill the 5 gallon bucket half way with water, add the melted soap mixture, 1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and 1/2 cup Borax stir well.
Add Tap water until the bucket is full, cover and allow to sit overnight. When you remove the lid it will look like gel....just stir it up. I used my husband's drill with a concrete paddle attached but beware low speed is what you need otherwise you will have a big mess.

This makes a 10 gallon recipe, I would reuse a laundry detergent container, fill it half full with soap mixture and half with water and shake! Ready to use...about 1/4 cup

This is how mine turned out and it makes 640 loads!






The other item to share is acutally my something that my husband makes...Granola. Thought it was fitting since making your own laundry detergent is a very "granola" thing to do!

Granola:
4 cups of rolled oats
1-1/2 cups of sliced almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Mix those all together in a large bowl
On the stove heat:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
Whisk in 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and spread over two 13X9 pans
Bake for 40 minutes and stir every 10 minutes or so.
Once cooled you can add raisins, craisins or any other dried fruit

Enjoy!