Home Making a Livin'

Hello everyone,
Well I've had a few projects going on for a week or so. The first one I finished tonight. It was a continuation of the last diaper post. My goal was to make ten more. Now we are well stocked on diaper covers. I thought about making the inserts but it went as far as being just a thought. We've gone back to the disposable inserts from gdiapers at the moment. We appreciate the convience of flushing them away. We keep the flip inserts on hand though. So I finished the diaper covers up and I'm quite happy with them! To save a bit of money and time I used PJs that were out grown and a couple of blankets for the fabric. My favorites are the ones made from blankets. They are soft and preciously pretty. :).

Project #2 : 
Homemade deodorant! I was prompted to do this after watching The Talk (I DVR the show) when Nicole Richie was on talking about their natural choices for their household and children. I have to admit motherhood has done her well! Anyhow I found a couple of blogs and sites I'd like to share.
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com has the recipe that I used for the deodorant. I confess I was skeptical because I don't like to smell musty. So I googled more about this particular recipe that called for baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil. I'm a big fan of coconut oil so that got me to try it. Here is a video that shows you how to do make it: Homemake deodorant Video Now for the question, did it work for me?? In an excited voice Yes! It's a simple recipe and easy to make. I did put some essential oils in to take away the coconut smell from the coconut oil.

Project #3 :
The next project was homemade detergent. I was looking for something really simple to do a good job. Found it! http://diynatural.com/ this one is even good for our HE front loaders. It calls for ivory soap, washing soda, and borax. You grate the bar of soap and mix it in with the Borax and Washing soda and there you go! It works great!


Project #4 :
The last new one for today was to make homemade dishwashing detergent. Found a recipe using the things we already had here http://tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipes/ I used recipe #1. this worked well. Instead of the expensive JetDry, use vinegar. It works just as well and is probably better for you and the environment.
UPDATE: as of 1/11/11 I'm not fond of it. The first load which was full of coffee mugs and plates did well. The next loads of glasses not so great. They all had a dull film on them. I like for my glasses to shine. So eh it cleans but doesn't shine. I'm currently trying to seek out other recipes and tweak the one I've used

So those are my Susy Homemaker projects I've done. These all work as good as the store bought things except the Dishwashing powder. I'm not one to skimp on quality. I really like making those simple things that really cut our family grocery bill. The cost savings are great and these options are healthy. At least we know what is in the things we are using!

Ok I'm off to bed to do my S.O.A.P reading. It's really late and they are predicting a snow storm we keep watching for. Maybe we will get a good snow when we are sleeping.
Goodnight and...