Product testing: Soap Nuts

I tried soap nuts as an alternative to laundry detergent.

There were about 25 soap nuts per box. According to the box, each load needs about 5 nuts (to be placed in the bag provided) and you can get about 4-5 loads from each batch of nuts.

One slightly blurry soap nut. The nuts have this resin on them that isn't sticky but looks like it might be. They don't have any smell to them.

The bag provided for the nuts.

The soap nuts in action.

End result: They worked but I don't think I would get them again. I could get about 3 loads from each batch of soap nuts before they started falling apart and I would have to pick out bits of soap nut from the bottom of the washing machine or dryer. And this is a silly thing but my laundry didn't smell fresh. Yes, I know the "smell" is mostly chemicals but I missed it when I used the soap nuts. For me, they weren't my favorite. Now we're trying a different environmentally friendly laundry detergent.

Kitties and reusable bags

Gus likes reusable bags.

Who needs a fancy cat-carrier when you can just use a reuseable bag!

Note to self: wash reusable bags....

Organizing the sock drawer

Hello, my name is Merrilee and I have a messy sock drawer. Very messy sometimes. I am pretty good at matching socks together but my dress socks and hose go everywhere in my drawer.

Solution: toilet paper rolls and an empty tissue box. I put my matched dress socks in a toilet paper roll, one for each pair and my hose in the tissue box. As soon as we empty another tissue box, I'll have more than one box for different hose colors but for right now, I have just one box.

However, the empty toilet paper rolls and tissue box were kinda boring so I decorated them with scraps of fabric and some mod-podge.

Much better!

P.S. Digging through my scrap bag is always fun, remembering what the various fabrics were used for originally. For example, the tissue box is covered in some scrap from an apron I made and one of the toilet paper rolls is from our curtains at our previous house. The scrap bag itself is actually an old skirt that I took off from a dress, sewed up the bottom, and put a draw string through the waistband. Ahh, memories!

Pot Scrubber, updated

I've been meaning to add more to this blog but life has been getting in the way! But that also has given me time to be reusing-crafty. I've made several of these pot scrubbers and LOVE them! They're soft enough to use on my non-stick pans but stiff enough to scrub off stuck-on items. I would be careful in using them on yournon-stick pans for the first time but they work fine on mine.

I love clementines! They're great to toss in my lunch bag and they're the one thing I allow myself to enjoy that isn't local or in-season. AND they come in this great nylon bag that makes lovely scrubbers.

The bag with the labels cut off.

Folded roughly in fourths with the raw edges tucked in.

I used some of Matt's fishing line to sew the edges together. These work really well and don't take long to make. I've also tossed mine in the dishwasher several times to sanitize it and it's worked well after that. I haven't tried anything either than my clemmy bags but it is a great way to reuse nylon netted bags AND get a great scrubber out of the bargain.

Enjoy!!!

New blog title

After some thought, I decided to change the direction of my blog. In reality, my life isn't interesting enough to blog about! I don't feel comfortable blogging about school life, and with it just being Hubby and I, there's not enough going on around here to be interesting. But, a personal goal I have is to be as green & Earth friendly as possible. I've been working at it but I think a blog might be a good place to share ideas and tips (either from me or from other sources)



So, without further ado, my new blog: Working to be Green, is created!



First tip: Reusing netted plastic bags (from onions or potatoes). Remove labels, fold into fourths, and tie into a loop using fishing line. And now you have a pot scrubber!
Courtesy of MaryJane's Farm

Things I have learned living in Wisconsin

1. California cows are not happy. Wisconsin cows are.

2. Cheese is a food group. So is beer and sausage/brats.

3. Apparently there's a football team in Wisconsin that is good or something like that. And the Bears are evil/bad.

4. A snowstorm must measure 4+ inches to be serious trouble. 1-3" is just annoying.

5. Snowboots go with EVERYTHING!!! Dress pants, dresses, jeans, sweats, everything.

6. There is nothing wrong with wearing said snowboots all day long or anywhere you go.

7. Winter is just here and there's nothing we can do about it.

8. There's no reason to not be nice to other people; you can be crabby but that's not going to help.

9. There's something wrong with Illinois. No one's certain what it is but the state is just screwy.

10. Shoveling snow in shorts or a t-shirt is perfectly acceptable.

11. No testing, prior experience, or skill is needed to obtain a driver's license.

12. Enjoy the world around you no matter the season! Be outside having fun in winter just as much as you would enjoy summer!!

Christmas thoughts

Has anyone else noticed that most Christmas stress is created by ourselves? Each year I HAVE to: send cards, make cookie plates, deliver plates, decorate, purchase gifts (includes Matt's help), wrap said presents, figure out our travel plans, and so on and so on. Matt helps with much of this, which is great but I still think, "This stress I'm feeling is being produced by me." What's the drive to do all of this? Why is this important? Why do I rush myself, purchase so much, and try to get all of this completed?

Then, revelation. Singing songs that you only get to sing once a year (Silent Night isn't the same in July nor is Jingle Bells), writing cards to family far away hoping all is well with them, and wishing people a Merry Christmas (and meaning it!). This evening we delivered cookies plates to our neighbors in our little apartment complex. Of the 7 plates we delivered: 2 went to families of four or more living in a two-bedroom apartment in which just Matt and I are cramped, one went to a dad with his two sons and another to a dad and his son that he sees only on the weekend (the son answered the door, saw me and said "Yes, ma'am?" Tough kid...), another went to a lady who has devoted her entire life to God and helping the helpless, a lady who just lost her job, and a shut-in lady. On any other Sunday evening, we wouldn't have seen them. We go inside our apartments, complain about the noise of our neighbors (!), and forget that we all sometimes need a friendly smile. Life can be hard, it can wear you down, but sometimes all we need to make life better is a plate of Christmas cookies!