Gorgeous DIY Handwash!

   So I'm that person, cruising the internet all morning until my back can't take it anymore.  I'm surrounded by these fantastic people posting recipes for body scrubs (blech,) all kinds of things.  I found onegoodthingbyjillee and have been using her recipe for laundry soap for months, with a couple of tweaks, of course.  My husband is an aircraft mechanic so he gets pretty greasy, the original recipe wasn't cutting it so I increased all ingredients to 4 Tbsp. each and it's awesome!  Saves us tons of money.  I'll share my recipe then tell you why I'm all excited:

4 Tablespoons each Blue Dawn, (must be the blue, don't sweat it, it's a terrific investment,) Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT Baking soda, srsly.  It's in the same aisle as the laundry products) and Borax.  Funnel all of those things into some container, I use milk jugs since I had already thrown my laundry soap jugs out.  Pour in 4 cups boiling water, carefully please.  Last time I made it I just used super hot tap water, stuff still dissolved so whatever floats your boat.  Swish GENTLY so you don't end up with a jug full of bubbles.  When everything is dissolved, help it along with the end of a wooden or plastic spoon if you want, fill the container to the top with cold water, again, slowly.  Use between 1 and 1/2 cup in each load of laundry.  Seriously, check out her site, she has tons and tons of helpful household recipes and tricks, it's one of my favorite websites and I'm by far NOT a Domestic Goddess :)

   Now on to why I'm so excited.  I found that after I rinsed my hands off after adding the washing soda they were super soft and lovely.  So today I put my recipe skills to work.  This can be altered a thousand ways so do yo thang, baby.

   2 Tbsp. each Blue Dawn, Baking Soda and Washing soda.  I added a butt load of rose essential oil that I found at the dollar store in a gift packet (!!!!) but it didn't improve the smell like I wanted it to, I'm obsessed with roses at the mo.  I think when I make a new batch I won't use the Dawn, it's kind of harsh against the washing soda.  I did add a couple of teaspoons of a rose water and glycerin combo I got at the dollar store a while back and that did the trick!  Now I have fantastic hand washing soap that I came up with all by myself and makes my hands smell like roses!  If you are one of those people that carry hand sanitizer everywhere you go add a smidge of regular dish soap, the antibacterial on skin kind.  I've seen the Pink Dawn with Olay used for that purpose.  Nice on the hands I hear.  I just had to go put on a little lotion, definitely a little harsh. But a terrific start!  I'm going to go wash my hands again and pat myself on the back, LOL.  Stay frosty!

FaveCrafts Giveaway

   I just stumbled upon this giveaway on FaveCrafts and HAD to blog about it to get an extra entry, lol.  I adore Mod Podge's products, today I'm going to attempt a pendant with Dimensional Mod Podge and give my coasters and wall tiles their second coat.  Good luck, head over and enter.
http://www.favecraftsblog.com/mod-podge-giveaway/

Things I have to share!

   All this time I should have been blogging this stuff, but I've been trying everything pinned at pinterest.com for months!  I wanted to come here to share some things I've found.

1)  Homemade Laundry Soap, NO GRATING INVOLVED!  I tried the recipe at onegoodthingbyjillee.com first, but it wasn't getting the grease out of the clothes so I increased the amount of all of the ingredients and it works like a charm.  For pennies a load!  I use 4 Tablespoons each of Borax, Washing soda (NOT baking soda,) and Blue Dawn.  I pour those in a clean, empty milk jug, pour in 4 cups of very hot water to get them to dissolve but don't shake it too much or you'll just have a bubbly mess.  Lastly, fill the jug with cold water very slowly, like above, you don't want to lose all of your soap by bubbling up.  I use about 2/3 cup per load.  Then I throw them in the drier using my own version of fabric softener:  6 cups water, 3 cups White Vinegar and 2 cups of hair conditioner, I used some that was from the dollar store but it was good stuff!  I used half that so it would fit in my spray bottle. I cut up some old kitchen towels that you could see through, and spray twice each side before throwing in with wash.  Genius I tell you.  I use a lot of her recipes and tricks, you should definitely check her out.

2)  Last week I had a little booboo on the carpet with hot pink nail polish...I knew my hubby would come unglued so to google I went looking for something that would help and someone mentioned engine degreaser!  I use that stuff in the kitchen to cut through grease all the time.  I got some on a bit of old towel, rubbed furiously and by damn it came out!  We just moved into this house in May and there are several questionable stains on the carpet, rubbery even.  I tried the Super Clean, found in the automotive section, put some in a little coffee cup and grabbed my old cleaning toothbrush and wiped their asses out!  One problem: It makes the rest of the carpet look absolutely filthy by comparison!  So I'm going to try it, just a little, in our steam cleaner.

   That's it for now, the boy is nagging me to go somewhere.  Lots of love!

Crochet Saved My Life

I am writing this post to share with others the benefits of crocheting while ill.  I've been sick since1999, and have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, in my spine I have arthritis, degenerative disc disease and spasms so bad they're causing my spine to twist and curve.  I honestly do not know how I would have survived this long if I didn't crochet.  Words are failing me.  I hope to read this new book on the subject by this author:  www.crochetconcupiscence.com .  There are websites related to the subject as well, one is http://www.crochetsavedmylife.com .  On top of the problems above I have several mental disorders as well.  On those days where I just can't take it anymore, if I'm able to pick up that hook I know everything will be all right :)  I'm hoping to win a copy of this book by writing this post, I know I've been slacking in the post department lately but I have grand plans!  Thanks for reading, I hope you can garner a little help with your pain as well.

Almost Summer

There are a lot of things I'd like to write about, surgery, diagnoses and drugs.  I'm just trying to feel better.  My neck hurts more now than in the first 6 weeks, I'm guessing it's trying to fuse now.  I'm sooooo freaking tired, luckily the family gets it.  I got nails back on!!!  So I'm messing with those now.  I bought my first bottle of OPI, it was a pretty red pink in the bottle but blood red on the nail :(  I've got a nice dark red on my fingers now, CG of course.  I organized my nail stash and I've got 5 photo shoe boxes full of polish and another with the rest of the crap that goes with it...I am on a polish diet, unless they come out with more colors in that Wet n' Wild wide brush stuff.  Easily my favorite polish right now, but the rest of the colors are so LAME.  What shall I do for another hour until my meds start to work?  No clue but I wish they worked faster.

One Good Thing and Catching Up With Life

All taken from:  http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html

''Among women over 18 looking at themselves in the mirror, research indicates that at least 80% are unhappy with what they see."

"Standards of beauty have in fact become harder and harder to attain, particularly for women. The current media ideal of thinness for women is achievable by less than 5% of the female population."

"All research to date on body image shows that women are much more critical of their appearance than men – much less likely to admire what they see in the mirror. Up to 8 out of 10 women will be dissatisfied with their reflection, and more than half may see a distorted image."


"In 1917, the physically perfect woman was about 5ft 4in tall and weighed nearly 10 stone. Even 25 years ago, top models and beauty queens weighed only 8% less than the average woman, now they weigh 23% less. The current media ideal for women is achievable by less than 5% of the female population – and that's just in terms of weight and size. If you want the ideal shape, face etc., it's probably more like 1%."


"By 13, at least 50% of girls are significantly unhappy about their appearance. By 14, focused, specific dissatisfaction have intensified, particularly concerning hips and thighs. By 17, only 3 out of 10 girls have not been on a diet – up to 8 out of 10 will be unhappy with what they see in the mirror.'


"Childhood

Teasing factor: If you were teased about flaws in your appearance (particularly your size or weight) as a child or teenager, your body image may have become permanently disturbed.

Touch-deprivation factor: People suffering from extreme body-image disturbance report a lack of holding and hugging as children."

    I intended to write a bit about what I find disturbing about pinterest, the constant barrage of images of perfectly fit women, exercise guides, MORE images of perfect women, then a buttload of fattening recipes.  I wanted to find out how many women actually have some form of body view disorder but what I found was worse than I thought.  I am 6' tall and am up to 280, mainly because I am not able to exercise, or walk more than 50 feet due to slipped disks and other problems in my back.  I've always been "big" but I really don't give a shit.  I am Amazon, hear me roar.  My daughter gained a bunch of weight when she started taking anti-depressants and it's killing me.  She's so hard on herself but not NEARLY as much as any of my former friends were.  She's ok with it and knows we will change it.

    What scares me are the images going around the above mentioned website.  The constant barrage of pictures of perfect women.  They're all over the popular boards as well, so this is not a singular thing.  I dug up the information above and am appalled.  Can't write much more, arms and back giving out.  

    Take a look at yourself.  Do you want to change something?  Is it reasonable to change that and who are you changing it for?  How would your life change if you changed that?  Just thoughts pouring out of my gob :)

White People Problems

  I'm yet again disgusted, perturbed and saddened by the things considered problems by people with privileges.  Privledges like running water, proper bathrooms, cars, electricity, clothes not handed down from 30 people.  It sickens me sometimes to just be cruising websites and hear people bitch that their cake didn't turn out right, even though they spent $80 on ingredients.  I spend plenty of money on bullshit too.  I have more nail polish that is right by human standards and my yarn stash is still pretty large, even though I have bought very much the latter half of last year.  I get mad at my family for acting like electronics are more important than our relationships are.  If we just took an eighth of the time we spend on websites obsessing over food, clothes, celebrities and gossip and directed it in a positive fashion I would be so proud.  If you can't volunteer somewhere just turn off the tv and spend time with your family, draw pictures and send them to a shelter somewhere.  Send your children's outgrown clothes to battered women's shelters or similar, they alllll need clothes.  Help your neighbor, just in case you need help some time.