Bubble "Snakes" and Elephant Toothpaste

I am watching my friends kids today.  I decided to pull a couple of projects off of Pinterest to entertain the kidlets.  The first experiment I tried was elephant toothpaste.  I saw this on a local news show a couple of weeks ago and also had it pinned.  I pulled today's recipe Elephant Toothpaste from a blog called Preschool Powol Packets.

Image from Preschool Powol Packets blog

Image from Preschool Powol Packets blog

 The first time we tried it, it didn't seem to work very well.  I soon discovered that I didn't mix the warm water and yeast well enough and left the majority of the yeast at the bottom of the cup.  I decided to try it a second time and ta-da!  It worked and the kids loved it.  I did this outside which allowed the kids to play in it and get it all over.  I will definitely try this again.

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The next activity we tried was Bubble "Snakes".  I found the Bubble "Snakes" idea from Somewhat Simple.

 

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

 I'm really enjoying the DIY world.  Again, I have Pinterest to thank for my new adventures.  This time, I'm making homemade liquid hand soap.  I hate bar soap - ewww!  Liquid soap, especially the good stuff, is expensive.  Why not make it myself?

I like to view multiple recipes and experiences to see if I can get a good perspective on my options and pull out the best from each and combine if I need to.  The original Pin that caught my eye was from The Farmer's Nest. 

Today, before I started, I read up on the different bar soap that people have tried.  It appears that the majority of the recipes I found tend to follow the same measurements (give or take a little).  I decided to try Yardley brand soap after reading about it on Savvy Housekeeping.  I chose not to use Dove (which is my favorite and only one I have used for years), because I want something different than the regular liquid soap I usually buy as Sam's Club.  However, I am just realizing that I could have stuck with my favorite Dove bar and just added essential oil.

I ended up using the recipe from The Farmer's Nest

I purchased Yardley Scrub & Smooth Bath Bar in the Sea Minerals scent from Walgreens.  I bought 2 bars (4.5 oz each). 

I also went to a local nutrition shop and purchased essential oil.  I created 2 batches and I am going to put essential oil in one of the batches and see if I like it. 

• I bought a gallon of distilled water and divided it equally into two different pans (8 cups in each pan).
• grated each bar of soap separately and added to the pans
• added 1 tablespoon of glycerin to each pan.
• heated water, soap and glycerin on medium high heat until the soap was melted and then removed from heat.

I am letting the soap cool for 10-12 hours.  I'll be back to post how it turns out.  I am curious to know what happens when extra glycerin is added.  The reason I mention this is because I re-read the recipe using the Yardley soap and read that you don't need to use glycerin when using this soap.  I just looked at the ingredients on the box of soap and it says that it has "Vegetable Glycerin" in it.  The other thing I read was that you can find Yardley soap at some Dollar Stores.  I ended up paying $2.49 per bar at Walgreens.
Here is a break down of cost to make this soap:
Glycerin 6oz bottle (purchased at Wal-Mart): about $3.00 (I can't find the receipt).  Amount used in recipe is 2 tbsp - less than $.50 worth.
Yardley Soap (Walgreens): $4.98 (2 bars)
Distilled Water: no more than a $1.00
For a gallon of homemade hand soap  ~$6.50-$7.00
Essential Oil .5 fl oz bottle - $4.99.  Recipe says to use about 10 drops.

 I just checked the soap after letting it sit for 2 hours.  It is already really thick.  I took out my hand mixer and blended up both batches because initially I thought it was going to harden.  I'm guessing I'll need to add a little more distilled water.  I'm going to watch it over the next couple of hours and see what happens.

***Update***
Life got away from me and I didn't finish my blog post regarding the handmade soap.  It turned out really slimy and chunky.  I ended up added about 2 oz more water into each batch.  Then I pulled out the hand mixer and tried to blend it all.  Unfortunately, there were still clumps so I strained the soap.  This left the chunks in the strainer and I dumped it into a bowl and mixed it up.  This worked wonders and I was able to get a smoother consistency to the soap. 
I added orange oil to the one batch, which didn't make a strong scent, but still smelled nice.  I then put one batch into the used Distilled Water jug and the other batch into a used soap container. 
I'm not sure if this really is cost efficient.  That will have to be something I research.  One blogger said she uses all the bars of soap that she receives as gifts, and turns them into liquid soap. 
Over all it was an easy project.

I did it! Homemade Laundry Detergent

Oh boy, am I proud of myself.  
I am a list maker.  I have lists of my lists.  I'm trying to find ways to not put my life into a list, and still function.  Part of this list making habit, is that when I find a project that I want to work on, I don't let myself begin until I feel like I know everything there is to know about it (a great big list).  Well, this doesn't work out so well because the research could go on FOREVER.  I love Pinterest and it has given me so many fabulous project ideas.  I've got a list of things I want to do, but I've finally decided it's time to act and not worry about knowing everything before I allow myself to discover, explore and have some fun.  

This leads me into my first executed project and a very successful one at that!  I've been thinking about it for months - that I want to make my own laundry detergent.  I've found some awesome Pins with recipes and even had to create my own Board just for homemade soaps and cleaners because I am trying to find all the best recipes before I start.  WELL NO MORE! :)  I was discussing my desire to make laundry soap with some girlfriends, and low and behold, I have a friend that wanted to join me in my new adventure.

I found two recipes and tweaked them a little bit (combined, etc), purchased all the needed ingredients, and made the soap.  I've been using it for a week now and absolutely LOVE it.  My clothes smell great and are so soft.  The directions say to only use 1-2 tbsp per load, but old habits die hard and over the years I've trained myself to use more than what is suggested.  With this soap I do limit it to 2 tbsp, but I catch myself wanting to add more, however, after washing about 10-12 loads I am confident that 2 tbsp is all I need.  The best part is that I spent about $23 and this will last 9 months (according to Being Creative blog).  I'm not sure if 9 months is using 1 tbsp or 2 tbsp.  Either way, it is an awesome money saver.

I'm definitely going to give credit where credit is due.  I found the main recipe on this blog:Being Creative To Keep My Sanity).

I honestly don't know where this next one was originally found, but I will include the link (which was found through a Pin on Pinterest): Pin for Homemade Dry Laundry Detergent.  

These ingredients are pulled from the Being Creative (to keep my sanity) Blogspot.  Please go there for more details and directions for making the laundry soap.

• 1 - 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) - found in the detergent isle
  
• 1  - 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) - found in the cooking isle
• 1 - 55oz (3 lb 7 oz) box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda - found in the detergent isle
• 3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (if you use Zote bars use 2 bars instead, Zote can be found at Home Depot)
• 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle

She also states the following:

• It does not have a strong scent, you can add laundry crystals to the batch to add fragrance.

I used all the ingredients listed above.  I purchased Oxyclean and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda at Sam's club, because the price was much cheaper (per oz) than at Wal-Mart.  I also worked well buying it in bulk because I had enough for both me and my friend (also, I have some left over for future creations). The laundry crystals can also be purchased at Sam's or Wal-Mart (they were about the same price per oz).

From the 2nd Pin I added Epsom Salt to the batch.  I ended up using 3 cups for the entire batch. In the research that I've done, Epsom salt is great for hard water (which yellows your white clothes) and acts as a fabric softener.  I've read that table salt is also great in preserving color in clothes and acts as a stain remover.  Now, I'm not saying that Epsom Salt and Table (or Sea, etc) Salt have the same benefits...because I haven't researched it.  Maybe it would be beneficial to use both types in the laundry.  I'll do more research for my next batch.

Here is a breakdown of the cost:

From Wal-Mart:
Crystals - 28oz: $4.76 ($.17 per oz)
Epsom Salt - Net wt 4lb: $2.86  (used 2lbs in batch $.71 per lb x 2 = $1.42)
Borax - 4lb box: $3.38
Super Soda Wash - 4lb box: $3.24
Fels Naptha - 3 bars: $0.97 each ($2.91 total)

From Sam's Club:
Baking Soda - 13.5lb bag: $6.68 ($0.49 per lb x 4lb = $1.96)
Oxiclean - 11lb box: $14.98 ($1.36 per lb x 3.5lb = $4.76) 
Total (for about 2 gallons of laundry detergent) = $22.43