Update on Laundry Detergent

It WORKS!
I tried using the d-terg in both dry & in liquid form,,,, when I use it as a powder I can toss it in to the drum with the clothes or I can pull out the soap holding/dispenser tray thingy and put it in...but I think my favorite way is to dilute the d-terg with a 1/2 cup of water & pour it in.
The laundry comes out clean (no odors or froofroo scents) and my whites look really clean...which means I'll be using a whole lot less bleach! wahooo!
Now if only I could find an easier way to clean the toilet bowl! lol!

Laundry Soap

What do you get when you combine Washing Soda, Baking Soda, Borax & Kirks Castle Soap?

Why home made laundry soap at a fraction of the cost of store bought laundry soap. :>)

I spent just shy of $16 to make 12lbs of homemade laundry soap.

I found the recipe at Maryjane Lee's blog: http://thebeehivecottage.blogspot.com/

She uses her laundry soap in her Front Load washer...which is what I have.
So I made a batch in a large tub then split it up into two containers, one for me and one for my daughter... Now I can hardly wait for tomorrow to try out the soap.

Here is the recipe for the laundry soap.

1 - 4lbs of Washing Soda

1 - 4lbs Baking Soda

1 - 4lbs Borax

3 bars of either Zote/FelsNapfa or Kirks Castle Soap.

Combine the first 3 items into a large container to mix together.

Then grate the 3 bars of soap and mix into the mix. (I use an old counter mount, cheese grater to grate the soap).

To use, add 1/4 cup of mix into your washer with the laundry or you can pull out the dispenser tray and put the soap into the opening.

I never use fabric softener,,,but I do use 1/4 of white vinegar in the rinse cycle...and no, there is no vinegar smell!

I'll post after I see how well it works, but I have friends who make & use their own laundry soap and are very happy with how well it works and is very economical to make.

Blinged-up

Here is the whiskey decanter, all blinged out....
Hmm, wouldn't this make a lovely decanter for flavored vinegars, to be given as a gift.?.
Hmm, thinking this might be a good idea for next Christmas... just might have to start collecting decanters this summer.
Now you know what I do with bits-n-pieces of ribbons, lace & costum jewelery!

Escape!!!!!

So for the past 2 weeks, our house has been a hospital Ward!... sort of,,, I was sick the week before and then Gary had to join in the fun and he was sick this past week,,,, sort of a 'Tag Team" for colds!
Long story short...we were both stir crazy by Sunday and decided to make a break for the Boarder,,, or at least for town... which we did.
We hit a few of our favorite haunts and just getting out and perusing our local Vintage shops made us feel so much better that we ended up going to "Frank's Diner" for an omelet dinner.
I scored so many great things including this little 'quilt seam' iron, that I have been wanting for some time.

Then I found these red leather boots at one of our most favorite Vintage stores......, called "Area 58" which is located on Monroe street in Spokane. (You can find them on face book).

We have found so many wonderful goodies there over the years and they even keep a "Wish List", things to be on the look out for, for their customers.

Then I came across this vintage kitchen towel... wouldn't this look adorable in a vintage trailer?

My 'gal~pals' or should I say, 'partners in junktiquing crime' found a lovely whiskey decanter for me while out on a road trip.... and I found this one...so now 2 of my 3 trailers will have decanters. I have this one downstairs,,,drying,,,as I glued 'bling' on the front, neck & top of the decanter!

Then I found this yellow aluminum pitcher as well as the 2 speckled Melamie w/metal trim plates (not vintage...but cute none the less)... both are now at home in Trailer #3.

I also scored 2 more Lipstick Holders! Awesome! As you know I will spray paint most anything, lol! so the metal lipstick holder will get spray painted and the pink plastic one will get new rhinestones. I am so excited about the holders.. I now have a yellow one and a pink one... now for the Quest,,, to fine a turquoise one!

I also snagged these cheesy metal trays which will get spray painted and I luv the vintage hairbrush but the metal has seen better days so I am thinking I might paint it as well.

There were more find, like a vintage table cloth which will be the (new-old) fabric for curtains in My Scotty trailer. Another vintage mixer, a metal wall~ vertical letter holder, a metal lap tray to decopauge and some other goodies... I just didn't want to bore you to tears...Maybe next time! lol!

Happy Trails!

Country Living Ideas

I received my March issue of Country Living magazine yesterday and went straight to the 'crafting' section and lo & behold,,,look!
Now why didn't I think of that!?!...
I love vintage kitsch & I love decoupaging and when you combine the two I am giddy with crafting glee! These are cute,,, and my brain is in over ride as I think about the cool trailer themes I can decoupage on to these old metal trays that I spy for a $1 at our local thrifts...
In fact I think the next time I spot a metal 'lap tray' ..I will need to buy it (or several more for gifts) to decoupage for my little Trailer #3.

(oops! forgot to rotate this photo!)

I love this idea too! and yes I am already ahead of the game... 2 years ago, while Glamping with my gal~pal, Mig, she showed me a wine stop that she made from a trophy top & cork...so I no sooner got home,,, hit my favorite Thrift, found a Horse Trophy, bought it and well as they say, the rest is 'Herstory'...lol!

I thought this was a cute idea for labeling jars as well as my canned goods (pickles & beets) that I give out as gifts. I have a 'Cricut' machine and lots of the 'contact sheets' made just for the Cricut machine... I see lots of fun in my future and cuter decorated jars of pickles that I give out.

OMG! Brain over load! I could make those "cookie mix'' in a jar.... then using my Cricut machine, cut out cute little cookie/cake or even better, apron images to decorate the gift jars!

So check out your March issue of Country Living, page 56-58 and have fun.

Another 'Lipstick Holder'....

This little red lipstick holder was brassy until I grabbed my handy dandy can of spray paint!
I have another one stashed away in my Scotty trailer that I painted in a light blue to match the blue on my trailer. Doesn't everyone color coordinate their lipstick holders to their trailers?

Vintage Lipstick Holder...

I luv vintage lipstick holders... I have several of them...made of brassy metal, filigree motif, and for those of you who know me,,,know I luv to spray paint that cheesy brassy metal! heeheehee!...
This however is my only plastic one. It was missing half of the rhinestones and the few still attached rhinestones were dingy. So I popped them off and glued on all new rhinestones plus I decided to add colored stones in the flowers and I added pearls in the 2 big flowers... Now to find lipstick tubes slender enough to fit in here....it's funny, this one has smaller openings then the metal ones... I do use one of my brass ones in my bathroom, so maybe I will put this one in one of my Trailers or???

More Vintage Aprons

The other night I was at our monthly Sisters on the Fly meet~up Dinner when Thea surprised me with these lovely vintage aprons and a vintage Chenille bedspread. OMG!
As I always do, I hand wash & iron my aprons.... so that "they may talk to me'' .... tell me their story.... and a little about the lady who made them.

This one after close inspection,,, I discovered was in it's former life, a pillow case... how resourceful was the maker of this apron.

This sweet Gingham apron has hand stitched smocking.... Gingham fabric was popular for both smocking & 'chicken scratch' (a type of cross stitch) projects.

I remember buying my daughter a "Polly Flinders" smocked dress back in the mid 1970's.... I paid $26.00 back then,,, quit a stretch financially back then. But oh so sweet...

Smocking was popular in the 1940's through the 1960's but buy the time the 1970's came along, it's popularity waned except for some of us who held on to the wonderful memories of wearing a smocked dress.

This is actually an interesting apron, easy in construction and done with 'X' stitching to create pleats at the waist. It is made from 36" wide fabric. The waist was just folded over and the 'X' stitching holds the waist band in place.

This apron intrigues me,,, I am not sure if it was made from a 'feed sack' or just inexpensive cotton sold at a Dry Goods store..... The fabric, based on the print falls between the late 1930's up to the early 1960's.... (based on the type of print and the 'mint green' leaves). Bright festive colors were also popular in that time frame.... I wish this apron could talk and tell me more about itself.

I love the sweet fruit motif ,, this apron is just a simple pattern but oh so sweet.

This red apron is a "Half Circle" apron...but with a spin, as the top is rounded and it has added cut-away pockets. The black bias tape that edges the apron is worn and fraying which makes this apron very precious to me...in fact I took it one step further and appliqued a remnant stitchery from an old stained, torn hand stitched dish towel. I am a firm believer in never throwing away special scraps... you never know when it will come in handy to adorn an old vintage apron.

I am almost afraid to tally up how many aprons I have but as of last summer I broke 100...

It goes with out saying... I love vintage aprons!

So cute and so 're-purposed!

My New~Old Mixer....

It's funny how things happen,,, just a few days ago I cleaned off my kitchen counter..... then a couple of days later a dear friend, came and stayed the night...and guess what she brought me? Yep, this uber cute mixer... How Cool is that! I knew there was a reason why I needed to clean off my kitchen counter.
Gary cleaned & oiled it and it works like a charm! There is certainly something to be said about old technology....

oh and Thank you Juli, I LUV it!

Keeping Busy!

Here is my latest little project... an easy peasy mini 9-patch quilt.... It measures 12 x 12 inches and I had fun using up bits & pieces for the squares. I love quick and easy projects....
Yep,,, I am all (almost) about instant gratification!

6 More Weeks!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Phil, what are you thinking?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feb. 02.2012
"The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made their decree Thursday morning in central Pennsylvania: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and there will be six more weeks of winter. The announcement was met with boos from the enormous crowd gathered in Punxsutawney. "

Well I guess I had better not put away my Winter clothes just quit yet! uugghh!
They say he is 39% accurate,,, so there is still a chance that 'Phil' has a 61% chance of being wrong! Come on 61%! lol!