Bedroom Bliss

Sundays are usually our day to clean around our house, but I just was not in the mood for cleaning.  So instead I decided to work on our bedroom.  When I was pregnant with Leighton we got on the ball with making our upstairs livable, but that was about the extent of it.  We had our dressers but no headboard, and a bed.  There was not even really anything hanging on the walls.  We still had not even put closet doors on, which was really starting to drive me nuts.  After stripping all the bedding off of the bed, I remembered that I needed to take before pictures, so don't judge my room is really not that messy.  :)

we recently downgraded from a king to a queen bed.  We had a door mounted on the wall for a headboard but it was just plain, and not what I was wanting, it needed dressed up!  We removed the door from the wall and brought it downstairs.  I drew my lines on where I wanted it cut and took it outside (which let me tell you, it wasn't the warmest outside on Sunday).  We then took a little trip to a house that they are going to be tearing down to get some doors, no worries we had permission to take them!  I wanted french doors in the closet, but they are pretty pricey so I decided to just make them.  

                       

These doors were great because they matched a lot of the doors that are in the upstairs of our house!  I washed them up, and got out the level and a measuring tape.  The opening in the closet was 48" and the doors were 30" each.  I measured marked and trimmed the sides off the doors and kept the panels in the middle.  

After getting them cut we brought them back inside and put the original hinges back on, then mounted them on the closet. 

 After looking at my door that I used as a headboard it was still plain Jane and not what I was wanting.  After looking outside at the pieces that we had shaved off of the closet doors I had an idea.  I went out measured and cut, I was able to use the pieces that I shaved off the other doors to add trim to the headboard!  

It is not finished yet, but neither is my bedroom, but it is a step closer.  I mounted it back on the wall for now and I will finish it when it gets a little warmer outside. 

          

But for now I am one giant step closer to bedroom bliss!

No Cost Headboard

We finally got around to getting Leighton's toddler bed down and getting a twin bed in his room which he LOVES.  But I was wanting a headboard for his bed.  Our budget is so small with me being at home I think calling it a budget is giving it to much credit.  So it challenges me to have to be more creative......which I LOVE.  No honestly I love being frugal and thrifty, I find it kind of exciting.  So we have had this door and I have been wanting to use it to make a headboard for Leightons bed.  Today was the day!  I had Darin bring it downstairs and take the hardware off of it.  After we got it off, we hauled it outside and marked the line where it was going to be cut.  I personally have no fear of power tools I enjoy using them and creating, but Darin offered to cut the door so I let him. Thanks Babe!

As most of you know we can not have a project around our house with out our "Bob the Builder" helping out. So he ran upstairs changed his clothes, grabbed his jacket and his safety glasses and headed out the door to help his Dad. Seems fitting considering this was going to be for his room. Yes there is snow on the ground and he is in shorts, but he was so proud of his clothes he picked out I couldn't seem to get him convinced to change!

                         

After cutting it down I also saved the top that we removed, I am sure that I can find a project for it why waste. The width of the door is not wide enough for a headboard, so we added a 2x4 on each side.  We cut them at the right length then brought them inside.  Darin then drilled 3 pilot holes in each 2x4, thanks again babe!

                                   

We then turned the door on its side and mounted it with 4" screws through the pilot holes that were drilled, and sank the screws below the surface so they would not show. 

After both sides were done I needed to get the trim on it, now for the trim I went down into the basement and found scraps from remodeling our house that would work for this.  I cut them at a 45* angle then put another piece of scrap wood across the top to finish it off.

Now all it needed was a little paint and primer!

Here is the finished product, I am so happy with how it turned out!  So now my big boy has a headboard for his big boy bed, and we were able to use things that we already had! I will post more pictures after it gets put in his room.  

Mission Restoration Hardware

While working on making Leighton a headboard for his room today we removed some hardware from the door we were working on. After getting it off we both really liked the look of the back of it, but the front and sides of it was covered in paint.  We both remembered an episode of This Old House where they talked about getting paint off of hardware by boiling water and putting baking soda in it. Thought that this would be the perfect time to give it a try!  

After looking in my cabinet I realized that I had used all the baking soda in my house cleaning.  So I thought that I would try it with baking powder.  

I started the pot to boil and dropped it in, after awhile I went to check on it to see if I had made any progress.  It was starting to fall off, but let me tell you the water smelled BAD!  It was like boiling dirt, and I am sure that years of dirt was coming off in the water with it.

I dumped my water and put fresh in the pan and started it all over again (I was hoping the fresh water would help with the dirty smell, and it did).  After it boiled a little longer, I scrubbed on it with an SOS pad and it worked.

This is the before and after of it, the SOS pad and the old paint kind of wore some of the finish off of that side, and though it looks good in the picture painted, it did NOT when you were looking at it.  Considering this is not the side that I am going to use, it did do the job in getting the paint off the sides of it.  

This is the backside that attracted us to the original finish and protected from being up against the wood of the door for all those years!  I have just the project in mind for this!  

Spring Fever

So after almost a foot of snow was dumped on us the other day, spring fever started hitting me.  I am just so ready to get out and garden, plant flowers and just hang out in the warmth.  So considering the kids (and Mom) were starting to get a little stir crazy we needed something to do.  So we decided to start our garden for this spring inside.

We got out some clear cups filled them with potting soil and planted some flowers, I was excited for the kids to do this. Not only did it keep them busy for awhile, they will also be able to watch them grow and watch their roots in the clear cups. I am really looking forward to them being able to help plant them in our yard this spring. This is a great activity for the kids and seed packets are about $.20 per pack.

DIY body wash

A few months ago I informed my husband that I was going to make our bath wash.  Let me just tell you he was more then a little leery of this idea. After reading about all the chemicals that are in body wash and even BABY soap (I mean really baby soap)!  I wanted to give it a shot. I am pretty sure Darin's exact words were "really I can handle the laundry soap but body wash?"  That set me on a mission to prove him wrong.  :)  After reading lots and LOTS of different ways to make it I found one that I thought I could handle. I set out on my mission to the health food store and got my supplies (which was 2 things...... for this anyway)  The one thing that I like about this is it is safe to use on my kids skin, and it makes even their skin softer! Unlike the soap that you purchase at the store this has no chemicals in it, the coconut oil puts almost a wax feeling of softness on your skin and soaks in all day long!  No more dry skin for our house!

You start by grating a bar of  Kirk's Castile soap, I did not grate it fine because you will be dumping it into boiling water.

Then you put a pan on the stove with 8 cups of water to boil.  After you water comes to a boil pull it off the burner and dump your grated soap into the boiling water and stir until dissolved.  This will smell your whole house up and gives it an extremely clean smell. Leave it on the stove and let it cool until it is luke warm.  

After it has cooled, you take 1 cup of the mixture and put it in a container and add 2 cups of water, this is where you add the coconut oil.  

I put my jar of coconut oil in the microwave for a few seconds to soften in up.  In your container you are mixing in, add 1 tbsp of the coconut oil into it and wisk it. Done! At this point you can also add a few drops of essential oil to give it a scent. Personally I did not put any essential oil in this batch, but I plan on getting some, just have to find the scent for me.  :)  I know that in Holton Sarah's Enchanted Cottage sells essential oils, I have yet to make it in there to look, but she would be able to give great tips on other items you can use them for.  

I use a container like this to mix it and store my already mixed body wash in. It works great because when it runs out I just dump it right into my container in the shower.  Now I tried cleaning out a empty shampoo bottle and just squirting it right on my loofa, I was not impressed with it at all.  This soap is a LOT more watery then the soap that you get at the store, and it takes some getting used to. Though I am not someone that "saves everything",  I decided to give a sour cream container a good wash. I added the soap into there, it fits on the shelf in the shower and my loofa fits right down in there and fills it will soap nicely!

Now you are probably wondering what in the world you are going to do with the plethora of soap left in your pot! Well I just got out some mason jars and filled them with the concentrated soap.  When my container runs out I just pull out a jar and dilute it down with the 2 cups of water add my coconut oil and refill!

I decided that when my husband who we will call "Skeptical Sam" told me last night that he had used some of the Dove soap that was in the shower, he no longer liked it!  YES, win for me! Not only does this make your skin fill wonderful and moisturized it also cost less then $.50 per container to make! Double Win!

DIY Pallet Ottoman

I decided to make an over sized ottoman to use for a picture shoot for Valentines Day.  I made it out of a pallet, and I kept the pallet full size so it would fit multiple kiddos with ease.

 I decided to use some memory foam that I had at my house.  It was a bed topper left over from our king size bed that we had no use for anymore.

 After putting the foam on top of the pallet I cut the foam with a electric knife to fit.

I then laid the material down then quilted batting (not pictured) memory foam, then the pallet.  I pulled it tight and stapled it down.  Because I was doing this on a very small budget, I used items that I had around my house, and for the material I purchased a shower curtain.  I wanted a chunkier leg for the ottoman but in order to accomplish the look that I wanted I would have to put 2 legs together for each leg (Which was going to cost me $70.00 just on legs).  So I decided to opt out for the $2.00 legs for now.  

After making the first one, there are some things that I am going to have to modify.  Though I needed it to be large for the purpose of Valentines Day pictures, it is hard to move, and very large for my house.  At the moment it is in the kids playroom for a large window seat/bed for them to lay on.  If I was doing this for a practical piece for my house I would cut some of the pallet down for a more manageable size. I would also spend the money for the chunky legs on it.  I am sure the way I change things as soon as it gets nicer out I will revamp it but cutting it down, making the batting and foam have a more tailored look with the shape.

This project cost me under $20.00 to complete, and for now my kids have a great place to lay to look at books!

No Cook DIY Laundry Soap

So in an attempt to save money, because lets face it who doesn't want to save money these days!  I decided that I would make my own laundry soap!  Well after reading one recipe right after another, NONE of them ever enticed me to want to make them.  I didn't want to cook all the stuff down and blah blah blah, so I continued to look.

Then I came across this blog {which I will post at the end}.  So I decided that this was the recipe for me!

Here is goes, you will need a few supplies because this makes A LOT.  I didn't have a 5 Gal bucket with a lid to store the stuff in, so I made a trip to Home Depot {well and Menards & Lowe's all in the same day, but more on that later}

Then you need to go to Wal-Mart.  In a failed attempt I tried to get all of my supplies at Target while I was there, but they only had a couple of the items that I needed so I just purchased what they had and made another stop.  Here is the recipe:

• 1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle
• 1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle
• 1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle
• 2 (14.1 oz) Fels Naptha  Found in the detergent aisle (she used pink zote in hers, but it is not available at our local Wal-Mart)
• 1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the detergent aisle
• 1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle- She stated that it was 100% optional, but I like my laundry soap to smell good, so it was not optional for me!

It feels like it takes forever to grate the soap, but that is the most time consuming thing!  Be careful not to grate your knuckles, or grate them twice in one spot like I did {I will save you the battle wound picture}  After you get both bars done, that is when you start to mix this in your bucket.  I added a little of each at a time and stirred, that way it was well mixed.  I don't just like the smell of this, I love the smell of the soap!  I took her advice and saved my Purex bottle and dumped it in, and put my huge bucket away until it needs to be refilled!  Every load takes 2 TBSP, or 1/2 a lid full.  I made enough laundry soap to last us a year or close to a year, in a little over a hour.  

After washing my clothes, blankets or anything else I could find to wash {because washing is fun when you know you are not going to run out of soap and you are addicted to the smell} I have noticed that my blankets and towels are even softer then when I was using Tide.  

I did a rough estimate on savings:

Homemade soap:  about $30.00

Tide- about $150/ year {give or take}

I already have a $120.00 savings for the year!  Go ahead try it, you will be very happy you did!

How Does She Blog:  http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/