DIY / Homemade Fingerpaint and Review

My little Boo Bear,  is an artist. My walls are proof of it. When she was 1 we would put her in the highchair with watercolors , or crayons and sheets of coloring paper and she would find herself occupied for quite sometime. Her newest thing is painting with big kid paints. We had some crayola  washable paints stashed away from like 5 years ago. I pulled them out  some were dried out and some not.But as of this week she has used most of them up.  I was "surfing" Pinterest and found a easy recipe for finger paint.
http://easiepeasie.blogspot.com/2010/07/homemade-finger-paints.html

This was simple to make took about fifteen minutes. I added about a cup more of water once it was thickened and off the stove to thin it out to the consistency I like.(it is the consistency of thick shampoo) I poured it into a  4 cup glass  measuring cup. I also used my old rinsed out Crayola washable paint jars and reused those. I tried to use a funnel to get the paint into the little jars. That took way to long, I finally just poured the mix into the bottles. I added about 10 drops or so of food coloring to get the shade I wanted. Shook them well to mix color and I had 2 extra bottles of finger paint. I made blue and yellow and had some green  crayola left over so I added the leftover  plain "finger paint" to that jar with some more green food coloring.Shook and now have a full bottle of green. You can tell by the picture that the yellow and blue are a bit thicker than the green and red.

Review
Took a short amount of time, very cost effective.  (The 5 year old bottles of paint, had a price tag of 1.99 on them still) . I used what I had in my cupboard. So if she puts some in her mouth I feel ok since it was made with items I bake with.  They wash off fine and do the job of painting. They are not as dark as the Crayola brand. But they do the job. If they get left on hands for a while It may stain them lightly. So be careful on clothes. Also the mix will thicken up, so I only filled the bottles halfway with the finger paint, just in case I needed to add water later to water it down.I like them a lot. I would make it  again instead of buying them.
*** after the paints rested for most  of the day, they thickened up ( like Noxema facial cream texture), just add a little water to the bottle and shake, or put the paint on a tray and add additional water to get the consistency you want.

DIY laundry detergent and dryer sheets

 This week I realzied I was really close to running out of laundry detergent and dryer sheets. I started searching for a way to cut costs in the laundry room. As we have a front loading washer. When we purchased the washer Sears told us that we could only use "he" type soap or it voids the warranty.  That type of soap is so expensive.
I wanted to find out more info on the "soapyness" of laundry detergents. Right before we bought our washer, we also purchased a huge box of soap. So this soap has been sitting in my laundry room collecting dust for a few years. So I took a tsp of each soap, 8oz of water and compared them by shaking the jar of soapy water. Sure enough the non "he" detergent had a bunch of bubbles that stayed put. The "he" detergent had soapy bubbles at first but they quickly popped.
After some research, I found that the ingredient that helps with non-soapyness is found in Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. It is called sodium carbonate. There are many tutorials from Pinterest to You Tube  that show how to make homemade detergent.
I thought I will go with a website where people knew laundry. So I turned to the Duggar family..ya know the patient parents of 19 kids..going on 20 now. I thought well I have seen their laundry room on tv and if there is someone who knows something about doing laundry, the Duggar family is the one.
I did this recipe but cut it down to a 1/4 because I did not have a 5 gallon bucket.
Here are the instructions:
http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

Review :
Since I  only have 5 bears that need  clothes washed, I cut the recipe in 1/4. I had read on many websites during my research that any  bar soap will do, I used pure Ivory soap.. what I had on hand. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a "T".( cutting the recipe in 1/4) . It was simple to make. Took about 30 minutes total of my time. I suggest if you make it to not use a food processor. The shavings are bigger and take longer to melt and clump together. I used the smaller shredder side of my cheese grater. It made it into fine shreds. I added them slowly to the boiling water. I stirred constantly scraping sides of  pot until it was dissolved.
Then added it to my bucket of hot water and used my hand blender to blend it together.( the blending is a great idea to get it mixed well) Since all I had was a 16qt bucket I put foil over it and let it sit overnight up away from kids and pets. When its all done it resembles a watery slime thing..like the crud Slimer would leave from Ghostbusters.  I stirred well to break up the gelliness, I then took a small cup and a funnel, and used a recycled plastic gallon jug ( minute maid oj bottle) and filled it up with the slimy concoction. this concentrated and you must add one part water to one part detergent to get the finished product. I store the concentrated version in the cabinet and have explained to my hubby how to measure it out.

Now for the finished product I had an empty fabric softener bottle. So the  old empty fabric softener bottle is now our detergent bottle to measure out for the laundry loads. Filled that half way with the new detergent I made and filled the rest of the bottle with water. (one part detergent to one part water) The instructions for front loaders call for 1/4 cup of detergent per load. So I filled the "softener bottle top" with 1/4 cup of water and marked with a permanent marker the line to fill to. I have to do this cause my kids do laundry as a chore.   I thought I would be cute and put our name on the bottle so it says "The 5 Bears Laundry Detergent"  (5 bears yes..Im Mama Bear, hubby is Papa Bear, and my kids are Gummy Bear, Teddy Bear and Boo Bear. Cute huh?)

Well anyway, It looks like liquid detergent and smells like clean smell, you can add essential oils for fragrance..but I do not have any yet..(ahemm..Santa do you hear me?) They also say that the lines on your front loading washer can get clogged, and so I suggest just to be cautious to use 1/4 cup or so of vinegar once a week in the fabric softener cup thing in your washer to keep your lines squeaky clean.
*side note, you can use vinegar as a fabric softener daily to replace dryer sheets or fabric softener. Very economical and eco-friendly. Scroll to the bottom and I have a cheap way to make fabric sheets.

I dried my load I washed with my new detergent, It smells great! Like fresh laundry. No perfumes.If you do the whole recipe the Duggars have, it will make you 640 loads worth of soap. WOW.. and the savings, lets just say you cannot compare. Washing soda is all I needed to buy and a box of that runs a little under 4 bucks for 6 cups or so of washing soda. I used a fraction of it. So  I pretty much paid estimated 4 bucks (including my on hand bar soap and borax) for 160 loads of laundry detergent. HELLO savings!!! I thought buying washing soda would be a good 4 dollar investment as I can use it for liquid dish soap and powered dishwasher detergent (those posts coming soon too) I don't think I will ever go back to store bought laundry detergent ever again.

My version of  DIY dryer sheets:

That bottle I mentioned earlier the little fabric softener bottle that is now my detergent bottle, What was in the bottle ( downy fabric softener) that was what I used to make dryer sheets. Again, I use what I have on had and try not to buy something if I can avoid it. I had an old recycled large plastic pickle jar ( thanks pregnancy cravings from 3 years ago) that had been sitting around waiting to be used. I poured the gloopy old fabric softener into this large pickle jar. I filled up the little bottle twice and a half and poured it into the pickle jar until it was full with water. I then shook the plastic pickle jar with my concoction  really well.

Again, after some research, some people like to dip sponges in and squeeze them out and put them in the dryer. I do not buy sponges cause they are gross and harbor bacteria. I thought why waste money, I took a sock from the load I just did, dipped it in the slimy fabric softener soultion, and squeezed the excess and placed it in the dryer with the rest of the wet laundry. Wiped my hands on something that was damp in the washer and turned it on..Voila instant dryer sheet. and no dryer sheets to linger and find around the house. (Although there are many uses for used dryer sheets but that is another post) This cost me $1.50 for a gallon of "fabric softener"( That is 768 loads of dryer sheets!!! ) I use about 1tsp of fabric softener each load. I am estimating. Dipping a kids sock and coating it then squeezing out the excess. I say 1.50 cause I used a coupon years back on a clearance bottle of softener. I never use softener anyway in my wash because it requires more water to wash. I like to save money not send it down the drain. I will never buy another dryer sheet again. This stuff will last me forever. I think you will have to shake it from time to time but it works just as well as a dryer sheet does.

DIY soaps review

Hello friends, it has been a few weeks since I posted.. but last couple of weeks I have tried to make homemade liquid soaps, shampoo and laundry detergent. I have had 2 successes and one epic fail. Here is one part of many today..enjoy.. next post is Laundry detergent.

DIY Shampoo
First off I will start with the Shampoo. Crunch Betty http://www.crunchybetty.com/ is the best website I have found for homemade beauty products..she is amazing. Well she has a recipe as I call them for diy shampoo..or in the "crunchy" term "sorta poo" This is the link http://www.crunchybetty.com/not-ready-for-no-poo-try-sorta-poo-with-coconut-milk-and-castille  Its castille soap, and coconut milk. I will tell you it worked AMAZING!!

For DIY shampoo I followed her recipe but tripled it.
I used 3 Tbs of Lavender Castille soap. (just a warning..if you use the lavender castille soap..the lavender will relax you and you will want to cuddle on your couch and snuggle)
3 Tsp of coconut milk

Review:
Easy to make, I bought a small bottle of lavender castille soap ( all natural plant based soap) I used canned coconut milk, instead of homemade coconut milk. The solution I made with canned milk seemed thicker, than the picture on Crunchy Bettys website. The lather is better than any shampoo I have ever tried. I use less of this shampoo than the store brand. Apparently  from what I read..the coconut milk has something in it that makes it lather well. It rinses clean and smells amazing.
I did some research and found some people said that the canned or store bought milk left a weird feeling in their hair. I did not find that when I used canned coconut milk. I did however rinse well with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water and my hair came out beautifully. ** please note, Crunchy Betty says to keep this stuff out of your eyes..it burns bad from what she says..

Crunchy Betty  suggested using an apple cider diluted in water as a "conditioner". I took a small spray bottle and filled it using 1 part apple cider vinegar to 5 parts water. I found spraying it all over my hair and scalp was easier than pouring it on my head from a jar. I rinsed very well. I did not smell like a pickle at all. :)  * Because I have thick curly hair, I recommend washing your hair every other day to prevent drying it out.

Also for a quick clarifying way  to get rid of  build-up I used 1 tbs of baking soda to 8 oz of water..(Add 8oz water in shower or you will shiver from the water you added before hand)  pour on and rub in scalp , rinse well..This stuff got rid of build up no other clarifying shampoo could ever do.

I made 2 more batches of the shampoo . My husband LOVES it. He uses it as a body wash and shampoo. He likes it because it rinses clean quickly. He has found even Ivory soap takes a while to rinse off.  He also loves the smell.. Of course it is all natural so better for you and the environment. So I highly recommend Using Crunchy Betty's recipe for Homemade Shampoo. I works very well and you cannot beat the savings on it versus store shampoo.  I paid 6 bucks for a bottle of  Lavender Castille soap and I had cocount milk on hand.

Turkey week break and New review and recipe coming soon!

I am have been taking a small break this last week or so, My BFF  got married (congrats Mr.and Mrs. Coleman)I got to get all gussied up as I was a grooms woman.(yes a grooms woman) Tons of fun being on the grooms side I must say. Then of course  had to plan for Thanksgiving and with 10 guests including 4 kids running around. (I did not have another child since my last blog,   I just watch a kiddo when his mom is at work a few times a week before and after school.) So I have been cleaning, breaking up kid arguments, and bringing peace to 4 kids who were about to mutiny  multiple times over the holiday break..thus I have  not blogging. I also have been working on a few experiments. I do not mind being the"lab rat"so that you  may have a good review on something before trying it out. So in the next week or so expect a new post about homemade soaps.( Laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, hand soap, shampoo, homemade fabric softener.etc.. you get the picture.) In closing, keep an eye out for my next post which is coming very soon!!

The Best Homemade Play doh recipe

 


My whole family came down sick this week , except me so far. I This sickness means 2 of my 3 kids cannot go to school they cannot be around anyone it  because it is that contagious.
They are going on a 5 day weekend as of today. So they of course are bored out of their minds and about to mutiny with each other. I needed to come up with a new thing for them to do quick. As we go through play doh like nothing else. Mostly it ends up left out, dried  and smooshed into my carpet or I find dried chunks of it in other places around the house. ( I found my daughter putting chunks of it into the weight bench )
I have seen many play doh recipes, and  I have tried a few with  yucky results (usually crumbly and falls apart) the "real"play doh can get expensive and the Dollar Store stuff, crumbles and is rubbery and dries out when playing with it, but this recipe by far is the best. The kids helped me make it and the  are quite good about making sure it gets put away now.
I am actually thinking about making another batch and giving it to our guests this Thanksgiving. I think it would be a great conversation starter, a nice way to relax while waiting for food or other guests, and  it may bring out the kid in the adults.

Super soft  play doh recipe:
 2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 cups of water
2 tbs of vegtable oil
1 tsp of cream of tartar
food coloring

Grab a pot and place all the ingredients into the pan except food coloring. Cook on low heat stirring constantly until the mix turns into a ball and pulls from the side of the pan to the center, if it is sticky keep cooking on low. You can pull a small piece from the top and mush it in your fingers  for a few seconds and if it resembles play doh texture its time to take it off the stove.

Dump it out on a silicone mat or large cutting board/ clean surface. Knead the large batch of dough until smooth, or in my case I divided it  into 8 same size balls,  and let the kids knead each one until its smooth. 
Take each ball once kneaded and smooth and flatten a little bit. Make a small thumb size indentation in the middle (like you do when you want a pool of gravy in your mashed taters ) and place 5 drops of desired food coloring into the indentation, then fold over and fold over again and start to knead until all the color is even throughout the ball of dough. I made the colors of the rainbow, and found that 5 drops give it a very vibrant shade. You may want to wear gloves of some sort because your hands can get very colorful. But if you don't wear gloves the color comes off after a few hand washings.

Once you have all your pretty, bright colored play doh, separate them into plastic baggies. I would have posted a pic, but my good camera was not working, and the small camera is missing. That is the Beta part of my brain , forgetting where I put stuff.

To -Die -For Ghiradelli Triple layer Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

My DH came across this recipe in a Woman's Day Magazine a when we were dating.( He actually proposed to me that weekend after Thanksgiving)  He made this for Thanksgiving  right before our engagement and he has made it every year since. The recipe is a little long, but the credit of the Recipe goes to the Woman's Day Author who wrote it. Its from the Nov. 2004 issue. This cheesecake is to die for. Oh so good, and rich, a small sliver will suffice.I modified it to how we make it. The original recipe calls for Oreo crumb crust. We have made a few modifications in this recipe its mainly using different chocolate and regular fat sour cream and added an extra egg and block of sour cream.

Crust:
1 1/2 C crushed Gram cracker crumbs
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
4 bricks (8 oz pkgs) cream cheese
1 C  sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch
4  large eggs
1/2 C  sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract (we use the real deal)
1 C or  6 oz. of  Milk Chocolate chips melted and cooled.(We use Ghriadelli)
1 C of  "real" canned pumpkin
1 Tsp pumpkin pie spice

Chocolate Glaze:
3oz of Ghiradelli bittersweet baking chocolate.
2 Tbs unsalted stick butter
1 Tbs light corn syrup

Garnish:
a small amount of sliced almonds (optional)

According to "Food Lovers Tiptionary" ( I highly recommend this book to any cook)when making a cheesecake, take out the cream cheese and get it to room temperature to make easy to mix together, also taking your eggs and letting them get to room temp as well helps. We have done this and found it bakes better.

Instructions:
Pre-Heat oven to 350. grease bottom and sides of pan well.
  Crust: crush up Gram crackers and place crumbs in small bowl stir in butter till all crumbs are moist. Press into bottom of pan. Bake 8 to 10 min. Set aside and cool. (the original recipe calls to wrap the  cake pan in heavy duty foil so that the cheesecake sits in a water bath. We had issues doing this and cakes have been ruined so we use the large roasting pan and fill it with water and place the roasting pan of water on the bottom rack so that the water evaporates and gives the oven moisture)

Filling: Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and cornstarch together on medium speed until smooth scraping sides . (Careful to not over beat it, too much air will cause the cake to sink and crack when baking.) Beat in eggs 1 at a time, mix each egg in thoroughly before adding next egg mix until blended. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
Divide batter evenly between 3 bowls. stir in melted milk chocolate in first  bowl of cream cheese batter , add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to second bowl of batter and whisk. Carefully pour chocolate cream cheese batter into crust in a even layer and smooth out with a spreader.Carefully add pumpkin cream cheese batter as not to mix layers too much, then pour third batter bowl of cream cheese batter on the top layer.

At this point it's ready to bake, you can do a water bath with your pan if you know how, or just place the cake pan on the top rack of the oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours or until it doesn't jiggles when shaken gently. (the less you open the oven the better) Once it is set, turn off oven and let cool inside oven for 1 hour. Once it has cooled for and hour, pull it out and let cool on a rack, place in fridge to cool for 4 hours.  (if you cake is cracked, don't worry about it the glaze will cover the cracks)

Chocolate Glaze:
Place baking chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a saucepan, over low heat, until the glaze is melted and smooth remove from heat and let cool for just a minute or so. Grab your heavenly cheesecake out of the fridge and place on a platter or cake stand and gently pour the chocolate glaze on the top of the cheesecake and spread with a spreader. If the glaze goes over the edges that is ok. Garnish with a few sliced almonds on top once glaze has cooled a bit. Place cake in fridge, and let cool until the glaze hardens.

Voila! You are finished, make sure to save a slice for yourself  because it will go quick! Let me know if you try the recipe what you thought of it.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching

Fall is my favorite time of year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is the one time  I go "all out" for a holiday. I insist on hosting it every year if I can.  I think the reason why I love it so much is because for me,  the holiday is focused on giving thanks and being with family. Of course stuffing our tummies with turkey and all the yummy stuff that comes with the dinner is a big plus for me.

I tend to get crafty this time of year. Our normal tradition is that the kids make "placemats" from construction paper and paint them with their hand prints to make turkeys. Each guest has a custom placemat. We also have started to go around and say what one thing we were thankful for the past year. My husband makes this ooh so yummy to-die-for  Triple layer Ghirardellli  chocolate pumpkin cheesecake..I will post recipe very soon. So, I was wondering,  What kind of traditions does your family do for Thanksgiving?