DIY Laundry Soap

Hows that for a creative title?? I know...I'm just awesome like that.

So my smarty-pants sister called me up the other day and told me about this fantastic laundry soap she made. It smells soooo good and works like a charm for less than 5 cents a load i was told. Um...hello?! I need this in my life!! And then, like awesome things usually do, DIY laundry soap started popping up all over pinterest, in girl chats, in my dreams, on TV, ...ok not really on TV but just about everywhere else. I decided to give it a try. And surprisingly I didn't feel at all like a pioneer or one of the characters on Little House On the Prairie like I thought I would...instead I felt sexy, modern, and incredibly smart. Ha. Try this stuff...its super easy, fast, and cheap. Oh, and it smells just as awesome as it works. WIN.

Here's how this amazingness is done. You need these 3 things- all of which can be found right next to each other in your regular ol grocery store. I bought mine at Winco. Total it equaled out to be about 6 bucks and you only use a little of the Borax and baking soda...so this will make like a lifetime worth of laundry soap. For around 6 bucks. Pinch yourself...this is real.

I hate fuzzy pictures too...here's to crappy cameras. I am open to camera fund donations...

 Freeze the bar of Fels-Naptha for a few hours so its nice and hard...this will make it much easier to work with. 

PS. This is so not my freezer...I borrowed it from a friend so ya'll wouldn't be jealous that your freezer isn't nice and organized and clean like mine...or something like that...

 Smash your frozen bar of Fels-naptha so it blends easier. If you have a super blender this step is unnecessary.

Turn the fels-naptha into powder. This stuff smells like a cotton field on a sunny day and who doesn't want to smell like that??

Measure 1 cup of Borax {notice the awesome things its going to do to your clothes!}

Measure 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda! ;)

 Mix the 3 ingredients together and, that's right, your done. And its been like 3 minutes since you started making soap and you didn't break a sweat. Amazing right?!

And not to be shallow or anything, but doesn't my new little soap holder look so much better than that monster tub of laundry detergent?? Love space savers!

And the best part (besides it being easy, cheap, and affordable)? it only takes 1 tablespoon per load. 2 tablespoons if your kids pooped through 3 layers of clothes or your husband slid into home base to impress you. This stuff goes a long ways.

 So go put these 3 ingredients on your shopping list and make some!! You'll never go back to Tide. Or maybe you will...but I am seriously satisfied with mine. 

K. Peace out girl scouts.

Faves of the day

Today's Faves

1. Joannes finally got in my fabric and it was on sale!
2. Finished my living room curtains
3. Applejacks
4. Decorated a cake for a Birthday Party tonight
5. No dirty dishes
6. A cute text from my sweetheart7. Black poka dot scarf
8. Little baby giggles
9. Anticipated package in the mail
10. Marshmellows

3 ingredient pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

These pumpkin cookies are the easiest ever. And the most delicious ever. So moist and rich...Mmm! I'm suddenly wishing I hadn't eaten them all yesterday...then I could eat one right now instead of just salivating at the memory.

K here's how ya make em.

Gather your 3 ingredients: 16 oz can of pumpkin, spice cake mix, 2 cups of chocolate chips

 Pour cake mix and pumpkin into a bowl

 Blend.

 Reward the helper with egg-less cookie batter. WIN.

                                 Stir   in chocolate chips

 Plop on greased cookie sheet. These babes tend to stay fluffy so if you want them more flat squash them.

 Cook at 350 for about 14 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes (like 3ish) then transfer them to a cooling rack. Taste one and then do a happy dance for your success

 If you want a real wowzer- dress em up in a tasty cream cheese frosting.

 Cream cheese frosting is the simplest thing ever. Blend 1/4 cup of butter and 8 oz package of cream cheese (both at room temp) until creamy. Add 1 cup of powder sugar. Finally, add 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Baddabang! 

I guarantee you a whole new level of popularity...as long as you can muster up enough self control to share some of these before you eat them all!

Acorn treats

I started a book group and for our meeting yesterday I wanted to make something fun and fall-ish so I found a picture of these super cute acorn treats and decided to make them. They are so easy, cheap, and fun to make! Seriously took me 13 minutes from start to finish. Perfect right?! 

Wanna make em for your book club? or fall party or a fun after school snack or for you to devour in your closet or...so many delicious possibilities!

Gather your ingredients:

Pour chocolate chips in a little glass bowl {a quarter of bag makes about a dozen acorns}

 Nuke em for 15 seconds, stir, another 15 seconds, stir...until the chips are melted.

 Dip half a donut hole {I used plain and cinnamon} in the chocolate...

 ...immediately roll the chocolate half in sprinkles...

 ...break a pretzel stick in half and stick in the top of the acorn...

 ...place a sheet of wax paper on a cookies sheet and plop your acorn next to your 27 other acorns...

 ...stick your pan of acorns into the fridge for just a few minutes and WHALLA! Finemos! Delicioso!

 This is the really hard part. Exercise some serious self control and transfer them to a serving tray {without eating each before it reaches its destination} covered in a festive fall tea towel. 

 And if you're shooting for a sensory overload, place them right next to the tray of warm bite sized cinnamon rolls you just made. And a basket of plums. In case everyone isn't as weak as I.

Acorn idea stolen from someone somewhere off the internet who stole it from someone else who stole it from someone else. If you are the original acorn creativist shoot me an email and I will be happy to give credit where credit is due. Because you deserve it. This is a super cute and easy foodie craft!

Why, hello Fall. So nice to see you again.

My husband and I stepped outside several days again and the cool crispness of the air took my breath away. We looked at each other and smiled. Time to break out the fall decor! I love this time of the year. So cozy. Every day is a perfect excuse to dress up in my skinny jeans, boots, and scarf and go out or {the more popular option around here} just stay home in my lounge-ies with a big ol fleece blanket wrapped around me while I watch Pride and Prejudice for the the umpteenth time. Yes I am watching it right now. Don't judge me. 

My boys and I went on a walk and collected gold leaves, vibrant berries, and pine cones of all sizes and placed them around our home. Forgive the picture overload, I just heart all the colors and shapes of fall! 

 

This fireplace just needs a warm glowing fire to complete the effect.

About/Contact

Hey there! Welcome to my little home-away-from-home, boredom-buster, and creativity archive!

Here's a little snippet about me: 

I'm a stay at home mom to two little boys that double as monkeys and I love it. Its seriously my dream job. They say all sorts of crazy things that amuse me followed up with something incredibly profound that leaves me wondering what in the world I did to deserve such brilliant little teachers. 

I am also a voice and piano teacher on the side. I have a passion for music and I love sharing it with my students. In case you were wondering, my favorite music genre is broadway but I like to sprinkle country, pop, opera, and my parents music in there to really mix things up. This is crucial information that you would not be complete without knowing.

As a SAHM with a very small allowance (Ok I've never had an allowance! Sheesh!) I end up cooking most of the meals around here. My husband will attest to the fact that I was a horrible cook when we first got married. Emphasis on horrible. I seriously put basil and oregano in everything. Like I didn't even know other spices existed. Good grief. But after about 9037 meals later (and some amazing chef friends and food blogs that have helped me along the way) I can finally say I've acquired the knack of cooking. Warn me before you drop by for a meal though...we just might be eating mac n' cheese and hot dogs.

I have always had an affinity toward artistic outlets; I paint, draw, and sew so maybe its just natural that I'm undeniably and irrevocably in love with obsessed with beautiful interiors. I love the inviting, comforting feeling of an organized, well put together space. My home is usually anything but that. HA! Maybe when my little mess makers learn to clean up after themselves and this mess maker stops crafting messes all over the place then my home will be what I've always imagined it to be. But I'm not in a rush to get to that point...I kinda like my mess makers and I love making messes!

I started this blog shortly after I received my degree in English Linguistics at BYU. This was the perfect setting for me to continue the writing that I love while documenting the life of my family (which grandparents really appreciate!). This is also an ideal way to gather all my recipes, projects, thoughts, and pictures. In a nutshell, this blog is my happy place. So come on in and enjoy your stay =)

I invite any questions, comments, discussions, epiphanies, complaints, funny stories, bribes, monetary donations and all the above can be sent straight to my inbox at thinktinkmusic(at)gmail(dot)com.

Elimeno...peas!!

This little Monkey is sooo grown up now. I know because he started school. Now he's a student just like his daddy. This makes the monkey very happy!

The Never Bored book {um, the most awesome activity book ever...in case you were wondering} came from costco and the other two books came from the dollar store. The foot is courtesy of Caleb.

The craft and learning supplies and all the containers came from the dollar store as well. Crayons, pompoms (awesome for so many things!! sort by color, number, or make crafts with them!), googly eyes, fabric paint, buttons, glitter glue.

All these learning tools fit right inside a plastic tote that I got at the dollar store.

With the start of school, I have had to get things a little more organized. Or rather, The Monkey is now more organized. Here is what his new schedule looks like:

Yeah. We like music. For music time we sing all the songs The Monkey knows. That's his favorite part. For dance time we blast up pandora Disney and dance like there's no tomorrow. That is my favorite. Join us anytime.

For "explore your world" we usually go outside- weather permitting- and look for bugs, or certain plants, or colors, or we count things. Ya know, whatever.

And every Wednesday we go to story time at the library and then get a bag of books to bring home.

Basically, it adds positive, educational structure to our days and we all love it! No I don't stick to it like glue. I'm way too lazy spontaneous for that but it gives us something to work at, especially when a day is getting particularly wild or boring. 

Is this teacher not the luckiest in the world?!