Hats

I have a thing for hats.  Partly because I have baby fine hair that when I turned 16 started it's journey on the path of female pattern baldness.  Crummy genetics anyhoo.  The other part of me just loves hats, because let's admit it, they are so stinkin cute!

In high school I started wearing bandanas (with overalls, classy eh?).  It was supposedly against the student handbook, but I never got in trouble for it even though one of my friends who wore them rolled as a headband did.  They have been a staple of my wardrobe for over ten years now.  I went through a phase where I didn't wear them much because I thought maybe I was too old and should dress more sophisticated.  But um, hello!  I am a mom who doesn't always get the chance to brush my teeth in the morning, so bandanas are awesome when I don't have time to fix my hair.  Or when I'm just grumpy and tired of looking at my sparse strands.  My bestie brought me back bandanas from the Philippines years upon years ago.  I'm just sad that they wore out.  Most comfy fabric ever to touch my head.

my most outrageous bandana, I usually keep it toned down to a plain hot pink :)

I like the outrageous sunhats too.  And this year I broke down and bought one not caring how much Phil would laugh or shake his head at my craziness.

it looks so much better with my bathing suit

I love cute caps too, but don't buy them at stores.  Ten dollars seems a bit steep, but a dollar at goodwill got me this beauty.

One of my first projects on my machine was this little ditty.  It is super comfy thanks to the t-shirt, those rosettes just about did me in though!

Now that I am knitting (just started two weeks ago and am loving it!), I can make even more hats.  This was my first project that was worthy of sharing.  My actual 'first' started as a scarf that ended up as a quasi lap blanket that Wesley loves to play with.  I found that knitting these hats was a quick and rewarding project.  There are so many more that I want to try, so I have a feeling that the head hugger's website will log some frequent flyer miles on my browser in the next few months.

first hat knitted!

The one I made for Abi, one of the 'benefits' of not having a whole lot of hair is that I can wear it too.

Laundry Soap

I have been stalling on posting anything here almost as long as I have been dragging my feet on making my own laundry soap.  For as much as I do homemade it was surprising to people to find out that I don't make my own soap.  When asked why I didn't have a good reason.  Just being a rebel I suppose.

Earlier this fall, I was taking a shortcut through the Hyvee cleaning isle when I saw Fels Naptha, Borax, and Washing Soda, side by side, and all on sale.  Even though I was still channeling my inner rebel, I quickly snatched up a box of each and two bars of soap.  Sadly it was long enough ago, that I don't have a receipt to tell you how much it costed me.  But I cannot imagine that it would have costed over $10, because I wouldn't have bought it.

My friend Cheryl had asked me after I bought the supplies if I made my own soap.  She had seen a show (maybe the Duggars?) where they made enough laundry soap for six months and was very inspired to do it together with her family.  She was hoping that I would have a recipe for her.  I didn't, but it was that phone call where I decided that I needed to get over myself and make some soap.  If nothing else, for Cheryl!

So Cheryl, thank you and here you go.  I made laundry soap yesterday with Lizzi.  It took longer to bring up the 'ingredients' from the laundry room than it did to make it!

courtesy of http://www.diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/

2 bars Fels Naptha soap
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda

Grate soap, add borax and washing soda, place in container ( I used an old sherbet container).

I grated my soap in my food processor and then switched blades to the chopping one, added the borax and washing soda and wizzed it for a minute.  It will take a bit longer if you have to grate it by hand.


So there you have it, a simple quick easy laundry soap recipe.  Oh, and Cheryl, the Fels Naptha has a very strong fragrance, so you might want to try the ivory like the website mentions.  I don't know if it will have any difference on the cleaning power or not.  So try it and let me know!

PS--in case you are wondering like I was, you won't use the whole box of borax and washing soda.  I would guess that there are probably 10 cups left, so it was a good buy!