DIY Hand Soap {Love me some Mrs. Meyer's!}

I've been wanting to try this soap tutorial from The Farmer's Nest for a while now. I bought my bar of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Soap several months ago when I spotted it at the natural market. I had tried to do this with some plain Dove soap before and I didn't have a lot of luck, so I was nervous about wasting my $5 soap this time. But I was pleasantly surprised! I love the smell of Mrs. Meyers, so I'm pretty stoked about having it in such a large quantity. It was nice and easy to make, too.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. bar of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day soap
1 gallon of distilled water
2 tbs. glycerin

All you do is grate up the soap, and melt in a pot with the distilled water, along with the glycerin. Stir until all of the soap is dissolved. Then, just set aside the pot for about 12 hours to let it set. Mine actually only took about 5 hours to be ready, lucky me! It has a nice thick gel consistency when it is ready. If it is too hard after it sets (mine was around the edges), you can add a little water and use beaters to "fluff" it to the consistency that you like for your soap pumps. I just scooped mine into my Ninja, since I don't have a hand mixer. Then I poured into mason jars and I was done! I have a feeling I might need to do the "add water and blend" step again when I am ready to put it in soap pumps. We'll see. The smell is really wonderful! I was wondering if doing this would "water down" the scent, but it is still nice and strong!

My next goal is to duplicate Mrs. Meyer's powder scrub. I love it, but it is sold in a pretty small container and is about $5. I really wanted it so that I didn't have to use the cheap but way full of chemicals Ajax. Plus, I really didn't want to mess with the bleach. It took about half a container of the Mrs. Meyer's to get my shower floor sparkling (it was pretty grimy, I'm ashamed to say), so I definitely need a cheap, yet safe alternative!


I'm linking up at:
Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative , Mad in Crafts, That DIY Party, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Redhead Can Decorate, Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, twelveOeight, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creating My Way to Success, Craft-O-Maniac, Sew Can Do,  Lines Across, C.R.A.F.T., Uncommon Designs, That's What Che Said, Creatively Living, Blue Roof Cabin

31 Days to Balancing Work and Home {day twenty-three}: take a wife-cation.

So, a lot of "tips" that I read online or in magazines about balancing work and home are focused on how different things are in our culture nowadays. How women basically are juggling both things; how women don't necessarily have to make their home their first priority. We are in a society that doesn't require women to be the keepers of the home any more. We are in a society, although it still has a ways to go, of equality.

Contrary to what is popular or typical in my generation, I begin each of these posts with the understanding that women are called, even commanded by the Bible, to be the keeper of their home. Now, most people in our culture would choke if they read that. It is not considered acceptable. But before I hear a chorus of "amens!," I want to say that I don't hold to the standard of many Christian subcultures, either, in believing that a woman's job is to stay in the home caring for her husband and children. I think that God does lay it on many women's hearts to stay at home. But I also believe He gifts calls many women for the workplace. And that is something to be celebrated as well! I would love to see both of those roles and choices lifted up and admired, instead of judged and put down by those who are staunch in their position.

So rather than hold to any adamant belief about WHERE a woman should be, I would rather focus on WHAT a woman is to be. The Bible is clear that a "wise woman builds her home, but a foolish one tears it down." To me, that is a clear instruction, and a clear choice. Build your home. Whatever your home looks like for you. Whatever building it looks like for you.

And so, with the presupposition that a woman is indeed told to build her home, regardless of her occupation, I would offer you this tip-

Take a wife-cation.

I have this terrible database at work that I always seem to be behind in. Everyone in the state thinks this system is a beast, it's not just me. But it's something that, if I don't put aside time to work on, will never get done. So I do this thing where I tell everyone I am on a SACWIS vacation. (That's the database!) Everyone knows that on my "vacation," I am available for emergencies only, and otherwise I am focusing on this one thing for the purpose of plowing through some serious amounts of work.

If possible- if your job allows- take a day off every now and then to do all those things that you want to do but feel like you never have time to do. That may be something different for everyone. For me, it would be deep cleaning. I like things scrubbed out and organized and wiped down. I also like to do prep work type things in the kitchen- freezer cooking, baking, making snacks for the week, etc. When I feel like my house is clean and our food is well stocked, I feel ready to take on the large task of balancing work and home. It's better to take a day that your husband won't be home, or your kids will be at school, or you don't have other commitments. Take this one day to FOCUS on your home. Just imagine if your daily work for your career could only get done in small increments, at night, while you were tired and wanted to relax. You would be pretty overwhelmed, and probably behind on your tasks! The same applies to homemaking. You need to take time to immerse yourself in it, without distraction, from time to time. Think of it as a "catch up" time. Treat yourself to something relaxing at the end of your wife-cation day! Get a pedicure, or sit and read at a coffee shop. I don't know about you, but I feel much more relaxed and happy when I am on top of my tasks.

What do you do to help you stay on top of your homemaking?

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day eighteen} : push through.

So, unfortunately, I skipped days 15, 16, and 17. On Monday and Tuesday, my hubs and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! I decided to forgo any blogging and just relax. We both took off of work on Tuesday, and spent all day just relaxing and hanging out. We went to a nice dinner and watched the Presidential debate after that- so romantic, I know! Then Wednesday, I had another lovely allergy flare up and couldn't think straight....sleep was about all I could muster up. :(

So today, my energy is back a little bit, and in light of my house being neglected for a few days, along with the blog, my advice for the day is to push through. Do something, even when you don't feel like it. For example, I get up really early with the hubs to pack his lunch. Like 3 am early. After he leaves, I just really, really want to go back to bed. But before I do, I try to do a little something that I can be proud of- switch the laundry, load the dishwasher, straighten the living room- just one thing, just to make a little progress.

When you work, you probably won't have many days where you just clean your whole house top to bottom. You will probably have to do your homemaking in small increments. So be ok with that! Get used to doing a little here, and a little there. Make progress whenever you have the opportunity!

Even when you don't have time to do a lot, or you are really exhausted- push through and have a small accomplishment!

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day fourteen} : set a timer.

Do you have a problem area in your cleaning? I know I do- it's definitely our bedroom! I am pretty good at keeping our downstairs straightened up......by gathering everything and throwing it in the bedroom. :(

Here's an idea for managing a problem area: set a timer for 15 minutes every day and focus solely on that area. Don't feel that you have to clean the whole space. Fifteen minutes and stop.

If you consistently do this, your problem area will quickly become an area of discipline! Everyone can find fifteen minutes, even in a busy day. So devote a little bit of effort, and you can stop feeling guilty about that off limits zone!

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day seven} : declutter.

I recently read this post over at Looking for Love, Luck, and... about purging your home of unwanted things. And I heartily agree with her.

Day seven is all about the purging and decluttering. When I get swamped with cleaning at my house, it is because there is stuff all over. Junk mail, laundry, books, dishes- you name it. I can tend to get kind of messy, but when I buckle down and clean, I clean deep. I am all about "a place for everything and everything in it's place." If it doesn't have a place, or a purpose, it's gotta go!

Today I spent a lot of time cleaning our bedroom, which is honestly a catch all space for me. I know, that's bad. I'm trying to get better. It is just so easy to clean up downstairs where people will actually see it, and then toss the leftovers in the bedroom and shut the door. Like, for weeks at a time. Today, I made a huge pile of things to get rid of. Tomorrow, I just have to muster up the self-discipline to take it to Goodwill.

Having too much stuff is a great way to always have a messy house. The less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep it clean. Period. So get rid of things as you clean! Do you really need to keep folding up that ripped dish towel and putting it away? Do you really need all 45 pairs of shoes? Could you pare down the number of Tupperware containers filling the cabinet?

If someone else could reasonably use something, like a pair of jeans that's nice, but you haven't fit in for two years, donate. If it is not something you would give someone, like old underwear- throw it in the trash. But by all means. purge.

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day 6} : plan ahead.

Welcome to day 6! I am pretty proud of myself for blogging 6 days in a row already. Just goes to show that I can make time for what I want to do; it's not impossible. Like Grey's Anatomy. Somehow I always manage to keep up with what's goin' on at the hospital. :)

So, the name of the game for day six is plan ahead. Having a plan in place will make your life go a lot more smoothly. And isn't a smooth day like gold for the working woman? Of course, our weeks will have their surprises, and sometimes no amount of preparation can calm the storm that is our home. But some good prep work goes a long way when home isn't your full time job. Below are some things we can plan ahead to help us stay organized!

1. Meals
Having a meal plan not only helps you grocery shop wisely and save money, it keeps you from ordering pizza every night on the way home. It doesn't stop me every time, but it helps. There are definitely days where I scrap the plan and enlist the help of one Papa John.

2. Freezer cooking
Having some back up food in the freezer can also save you time and money. And help sever your relationship with the Chinese food place. There are times we work late, or I haven't had time to grocery shop, and it is really helpful to have a casserole in the freezer. I also like to have things in the freezer like homemade pizza crust, freezer burritos, and baked goods. We try to stay away from processed foods, so I love gleaning wisdom and recipes from ladies like Crystal at Money Saving Mom when it comes to freezer cooking in a short amount of time.

3. Outfits
I can't tell you how much time I waste and how much mess I make digging through my clothes trying to find something to wear every morning. My morning routine is something that is seriously lacking. Laying out an outfit at night before I go to bed would be a great step toward a smoother AM.

4. Days of the week
Get old fashioned or channel Sheldon from Big Bang Theory (any other fans out there?) and label your days. Make Monday your laundry day or Tuesday your freezer cooking night, or Wednesday your comic book store night  bathroom cleaning morning. You get the idea. I'm not talking about being rigid or inflexible, I'm just saying that if I always make sure I take 20 minutes to clean my bathroom on Mondays, I will have a toilet that I can allow impromptu company to use. And then I don't have to have another meltdown about how gross my home is and how tired and busy I am. Not that that ever happens. :)

How do you stay organized during the work week? What things do you plan ahead?

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day five} : messy or dirty?

There is a difference between messy and dirty. When you don't have time to do much cleaning, focus on things that will smell if you leave them for too long: dishes, garbage cans, wet towels, toilets.

I know that is over simplified, but if you're like me, a messy house is overwhelming. Because I want my house to look like this-

-I get discouraged when it doesn't measure up. Then I stop trying to maintain. I let my kitchen get crazy, and put off the dishes until tomorrow. Or the next day. (That's actually what I need to do right after I finish this post!) It's hard for me to focus on one or two key areas on busy weeks. And when you don't have a plan for busy times, work piles up.

So today's tip for a busy week is to settle for messy and aim for clean. Try not to run out of clean cups or panties, and forgive yourself for the rest.

31 Days of Balancing Work and Home {day three} : maintain.

 

Word of the day: Maintain.

 

When you work, even part time, you will have to come to terms with the fact that your house is not going to be clean 100% of the time. Truthfully, no one has a clean house all of the time, but it can feel like you are the only one who doesn't have time to work on your house.

 

 

I don't know about you,but I tend to get tired and let things go. I clean like a madwoman, and then I don't for like a week. Or sometimes two. And then I am sick of it, and I get overwhelmed and upset that I have so much to do. And then I clean like a madwoman. And the cycle goes on....

 

Wouldn't it be better to do a little everyday? That's what I'm working toward. I'm trying to maintain my home, a little bit everyday. I am trying to let go of unnecessary stress and forgive myself for not having a sparkling kitchen at all times. :)

 



The Working Girl's Guide, Week # 2- Choose Your Priorities

Time for week #2 of the Working Girl's Guide! I hope last week's "Cut Yourself Some Slack" was helpful. I know I've been reminding myself to relax my expectations this week.

So, this week, I want to talk about choosing priorities. Here's the thing about working and homemaking: it's a balancing act. It's that way for everyone, no matter how much time they spend at home. As women, we often have to split our focus and priorities in many directions. That being said...

Choose your priorities!

While working and building your home, you will find that you have to choose which things are going to come first. When you are not totally immersed in home life, and are also focused on the daily stresses of your career, it is easy to become overwhelmed and not want to do any of it. I know at the end of a long work day or week, or even if I am just feeling tired, it is easy to put my home entirely on the back burner.  Rather than balancing the two, I can lose my focus on both. I can feel like I deserve to let it all go, because I am tired. Here's the truth:

#1- You can't have it all, do it all, and be it all.
If you try, you will burn out. You may be able to appear that you can have it all, do it all, and be it all for a while. But that's not very genuine. That actually separates you from others for the sake of your pride. You really don't have to have it all together and have it all figured out. We have to learn (me, especially!) to let go or our perfectionist standard- both the one we hold for ourselves, and the one we hold for others! So if the goal isn't to have it all, how do we improve balancing our work and home lives?

#2- Pick one or two things to do excellently.
What is THE most important thing? Maybe you'd love to stay home, but you are unable to and need to bring in an income. Examine why you'd like to be home during the day. Is it to spend more time with your kids? Cook from scratch? Clean and organize? Take more time to relax and pamper yourself? Further your education? Whatever it is that you want to do- that you wish you could balance- make that your priority for home life. For me, it's cooking decent food. I don't get it right every day, but it's important to me that I use ingredients in my meals, and that they do not come out of a box. Now, there are 100 things I would love to do in my home. I am discouraged that there is an enormous pile of laundry in my room and my "storage"spare bedroom is terrifying. I want to get to those things. But, if I only have time for one "home priority" on a workday- it's cooking a good meal. If I work at it, I can start to incorporate more things that I want to prioritize. I could even choose one thing each day to focus on so that it all gets some attention. Now, the goal here is still not to have it all, do it all, and be it all. It's to achieve some balance. Whether you work or not, balance is still key. You will never be Superwoman! (sorry!) I can begin by defining what is most important to me, and work from that base. For some women, this may not be acceptable. Many choose to stay home because that IS their priority. For me- at least at this stage in my life, but maybe always- having a job I love is a priority. I don't see myself being a stay at home mom in the future. Maybe I will change my mind, who knows? But wherever you are, you will have to choose to prioritize what it most important, and learn how to maintain the rest.

#3- Let the rest go, and be kind to yourself.
By "let the rest go," I don't mean stop cleaning your house if spending time with your children is your top priority. No, unfortunately, there are many dreary things in life that need to be done, even if we do not deem them top priority. However, what I do mean is this: stop stressing out over it. I want a clean house, a home cooked meal, a happy husband, a job well done during my workday, and a gorgeous yard. All the time. Every day. But that's not so realistic. What can I do about it? Manage my time to do a little of everything, which we will talk about later. Make my priorities, and become skilled at those things. Enjoy and feel proud of what I do manage well. And then be kind to myself about the fact that the bathroom didn't get cleaned thoroughly this week.

I'm not talking about procrastination, or having a dirty house. I'm talking about skipping the guilt reel full of self loathing every night as you lay in bed. You know what I mean- reflecting on how bad the house looks, how bad the kids were, how unsexy you looked today, how quick the meal was, how unproductive you felt at work. Why not change our attitudes and focus? Why not choose one or two priorities, and then reflect on the accomplishments, no matter how small, each day? Stand back and admire the clean kitchen, even if the living room is a mess. You'll be a lot happier!

make it. {don't buy it}

If you get on Pinterest for any length of time, you are likely to go down the DIY road. In fact, I just announced to my husband that everything someone could ever want was on Pinterest and it is the greatest place on earth. (I might need help!)

I am attempting to see which products are worth forgoing the coupon scene, and switching to the homemade version. I am not one to make everything from scratch, if I like the store bought version better. For example, I tried several DIY ideas for wet Swiffer pads- the washcloth version, the cut up fabric, etc. At the end of the day, I just really love buying them in the box. I don't like the trouble of making my own, or the results that I get. I know some people like them, I just think it's too much work. I like the convenience of Swiffer.

However, I discovered that I do love homemade fabric softener. Some folks think it smells to much like the vinegar that's in it, but I actually like that. The vinegar has been good for my towels. I've made it before, and so this attempt was a refill for me. I don't think I'll be going back to the store bought version. I really like the more natural, mild smell of this DIY. I used this recipe from One Good Thing by Jillee.

All it took was 3 cups of vinegar (I got a huge container at Buehler's for $2.50), 3 cups of water, and 2 cups of hair conditioner (about $1.00 or less for V05).

Mix it up, and you're done. So simple.

This made 6 jars (a great use for upcycling spaghetti sauce jars!), that held 2 cups each. That lasts in our house for a month or two. If you have kids, I might double the recipe. :) 

I also tried this recipe for homemade Febreeze. I've never made this before, so I'll have to let you know how I like it. I'll admit, I am skeptical. It was very easy and very inexpensive, so I hope I'm blown away. :)

This called for 1/8 cup of fabric softener ($4.99 at Geyer's), 2 tbsp. of baking soda (.59 at Aldi), and water to fill a spray bottle (I used a 16 oz. bottle, $1.00 at ACE Hardware).  I do not recommend using the homemade softener for this, as vinegar and baking soda don't mix. :) At these amounts for the ingredients, I could probably make countless batches of this. Bringing my grand total to $6.58 for dozens of bottles of Febreeze.

Do you make or buy your household cleaning products? What do you think is more cost effective?





{Linking up at:}

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Crystal & Co., Ginger Snap Crafts,Trendy Treehouse, It's Overflowing
Women Living Well, Raising Homemakers,We Are THAT Family,Fireflies and Jellybeans,
Handy Man, Crafty Woman,Someday Crafts,Southern Lovely
52 Mantels, Delightful Order , Frugally Sustainable, Live Renewed,

Ten Minute Tuesday: Perfectionism Sets In

So here is how the Ten Minute Project is going...

Ten minutes allows me enough time to feel like I've barely made a dent in what I want to do. So I get frustrated, and either feel like a "little bit at a time" is stupid, or go crazy deep cleaning. And then I spend a lot more than ten minutes.

I'm finding that it's hard to spend ten minutes improving something. I realized that I don't like improvement, I like drastic results. I would prefer that in ten minutes, my home looks like this:

Extreme Home Makeover, and all.

So....here is my self-discovery through Ten Minute Tuesday:

I think I want slow and steady progress, but I don't. I want quick perfection. Not good. It helps me to do a major project, then use my ten minute increments to keep up on my work. I can hardly stand trying to do a large project a little bit at a time. So, all in all...I believe the Ten Minute project will have to be about learning to expect less, but slowly and steadily, get more.

Ten Minute Tuesday: The Egg Timer

When I was a kid, my sisters and I hated cleaning our room. (Nothing has changed!) My mother would finally lay down the law and set her kitchen timer on our dresser with an allotted amount of time. At the end of that time, she would "mom clean" whatever we had neglected to do. She cleaned with a black trash bag. (I never really knew if this stuff went in the actual trash, or just in the attic...)

This introduced me to the world of working under pressure. Throughout school, time limits were a motivational tool to me. More like a brain trick, really. I would tell myself, "Try to get three more math problems done before 8:53," or "If I can get all of this done by 9:00, I can reward myself with a movie/show/snack/etc." I still have that same programming at my job even now, years later. "I'll do 3 more minutes, then get up and stretch my legs/get a cup of coffee/pee/etc."

Up against a time limit is how I work best. I am really not a very productive person when something could, or couldn't get done, and it's not really that important. I could clean my room this weekend. I could finish up the filing on Friday when it's slow. I could cut up that fruit some other time. I could deep clean the bathroom when it really needs it! :)

According to this article we work best when we have boundaries around our time. I like that phrase. I tend to have very tight boundaries around my time when it involves others, as most Type A personalities do. YOU are making me late. YOU should have had that done yesterday so that I could finish my work. I wanted to clean the garage and YOU agreed to help me today. YOU should have found a babysitter for this night a long time ago. (Sound familiar to anyone else? Please say yes....)

Something as simple as limiting our time on something that doesn't matter, or allotting a small amount of time to something that does can make a world of difference in how we do things, and in how much we get done. I tend to spend long chunks of time on projects. I really throw myself into it, and make it perfect. And then I don't want anyone to touch it. I don't want a "lived in" house, I want a magazine house. And if I can't have that, I guess I'll just have a messy house. That perfectionist, "all or nothing" attitude toward work is what exhausts us.

And it is because I have exactly that perfectionist, "all or nothing" attitude toward my house that I am beginning Ten Minute Tuesday. Today I downloaded a free Kitchen Timer App onto my smart phone. I didn't even have to go to the store, or spend a dime! (Or, put off beginning this challenge until I bought a timer!) I'm starting of small, with only one Ten Minute Project on my list. On Tuesdays, I'll check in and let you know how the Ten Minute Project is going. I'd like to work my way up to spending about an hour each day maintaining my home, or on some looming projects that I need to do...but not all in one chunk. My goal is to spend smaller increments of time on big projects- whether that means limiting the time I spend on things I like (like coupon clipping and matchups) or increasing the time I spend on things I hate (like cleaning the bathroom).

Ten Minute Project #1: 10 minutes daily on my bedroom. (You do not even want to know what it looks like. Here's a visual: The jewelry and hair extensions I took off right after the wedding are still strewn across my dresser. That was almost 2 months ago. That's all I'll tell you!)

How do you motivate yourself to use your time efficiently? Will you take the Ten Minute Tuesday Challenge with me?