Bath Time, Fun Time

Bath time is a big deal at my house, the kids are definitely in love with water. When Tobers was still little I found some little tablets that changed the water different colors without staining our tub at walmart. I also bought them some bath crayons. Those didn't work out too well because of their age at the time. They spent more time eating the crayons than coloring on the wall. However, to make them even more comfortable with the move, I've decided to go back to that type of thing and I've begun looking up recipes for the same type of stuff I used back then. I'm thinking that the more fun they have the more comfortable they'll be and we actually have space to move around now. So here are some of the recipes I'm going to try if you'd like to try them with me!

Homemade Bubble Bath:

• 750ml/3 cups of liquid Castille soap
• 15g/2 tbsp fine sugar ( confectioners or caster)
• 20g/ 4 tbsp glycerin (vegetable)
• optional: 1 level tsp of beet powder to make it pink, turmeric to make it yellow, or woad to make it purple
• essential oils for sent (optional)
• glass, ceramic or metal mixing bowl
• large bottle
• a funnel

Stir together all the ingredients above (except the essential oils) and add the optional coloring if you want it to have a color. Once the sugar has completely dissolved,  place the bowl in a cool, dry place for approximately 24 to 30 hours. Once the mixture has been allowed to cure, add the essential oil fragrance combo of your choice. You'll only need a few drops. You may either add them now, or you can add the essential oils separately to each bath- it’s up to you.

Jelly Bubble Bath -NOT EDIBLE:

• Packet unflavored Gelatin
• 3/4 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup clear liquid soap or bubble bath
• Fragrance oils (optional)
• Food Coloring of your choice
• Plastic jar with lid (you can use a cleaned out empty peanut butter jar)
• Mixing Bowl

Empty the packet of gelatin into a mixing bowl. Set aside.
Warm water until it begins to boil. Immediately remove water from heat source. Carefully pour the hot water into mixing bowl and gently mix with gelatin powder. Allow gelatin to completely dissolve. Be patient! This may take a few minutes.
Very SLOWLY and gently stir in the liquid soap to the gelatin mixture. Add a drop of food coloring and 5-8 drops of fragrance oil. (Be careful not to beat mixture, bath jelly will become foamy if you do.)
Pour your bath jelly into a clean, clear container.
Refrigerate Bubble Jelly until set (about 4 hours).
To use, scoop a small amount of jelly into your hand and hold under warm running water for a bubbly bath-time treat!

Body Glitter:

Tobi loves this stuff. Just mix aloe vera gel and glitter, rub on with fingers.

Bathtub Crayons:

• Clear glycerin soap base cut into cubes
• 3 or more soap color dyes (or food color dyes)
• Essential oils in your favorite smells (optional)
• Glass measuring cup for melting soap
• Spoons for mixing colors and fragrances
• Ice cube trays or round crayon molds

Separate the soap base cubes; one pile for each soap color dye.
Have the children place the soap cube for the first color in a glass measuring cup and melt in microwave in short bursts.
Once melted, have the children add soap color a drop at a time, mixing well after each drop until you get the color right.
Then, add a couple of drops of essential oils and mix well.
Next, have the children carefully pour the color soap into ice cube trays.
If you see any air bubbles on the surface of the soap, spray it with rubbing alcohol.
Have the children repeat the same soap crayon making process with the rest of the colors.
After that, allow the soap to set until it is firm. This could take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.  When the soap is close to firm, feel free to place the soap in the freezer to speed up the hardening process.
When ready, have the children pop the soap crayons out of the trays.

Bathtub Paints:

• 1/3 cup mild clear Joy dishwashing soap or baby shampoo
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• food coloring

Mix cornstarch and liquid soap in bowl.

Pour into ice cube tray, filling about 1/2 full.

Put 4-8 drops of different food coloring colors into each section and mix till blended.

I usually use toothpicks to mix when in the ice cube tray.

Give to the kids and let them at it!

This washes your child, and will wash off the walls too!

I picked these recipes specifically because of the science behind them. I've found that the bubble bath recipes without glycerin don't really bubble up as well. They're usually just shampoo mixed with water. I was also particular about hunting down recipes that had no indication of staining as I just got that bathtub perfect, I don't know what I'd do if it was suddenly rainbow colored. Be sure to comment and let me know how you liked the recipes, I know my kids are going to love them.

Bath time themed books (we sometimes read while in the tub, I'm big on reading ask my mom :)):

1. What Floats? By Julie Aigner-Clark
2. Bath Time By Sandra Boynton
3. The Fish is Me: Bathtime Rhymes By Neil Phillip
4. Bathtime Peekaboo by DK Publishing
5. Splish Splash Fun-In-The-Tub: Bathtime Science Activities for Kids by Jordan and Diane Ohanesian
6. Clifford's Bathtime by Norman Bridwell
7. Bathtime for Biscuit by Alissa Satin Capucilli

Homemade Oxi Clean and Fabric Softener

The other day I posted my own recipe for the homemade laundry detergent. It's working great, by the way. That same night I got into a huge DIY phase where I had to make all kinds of stuff all at once. I made homemade fabric softener and homemade oxi clean. Both are working wonders. I based both the laundry detergent and fabric softener on other recipes I had seen. Most of the recipes vary from site to site, so I made my own based on the different reviews. The oxi clean I came up with all by myself. They've all worked so well.

Fabric Softener:
6 parts water
3 parts vinegar (I used rice)
2 parts conditioner (I used some VO5 I had on hand)

Mix (not shake) together and use a funnel to pour into a plastic/glass container. I used another left over laundry detergent bottle for this. Use a half a cup per load.


"Oxi-Clean":
2 c. washing powders
2 c. borax
1 1/2 TBS Dawn dishwashing liquid
2 tsp febreeze

I used a fork to mix with, whatever you use be sure to mix in every thing well. The dawn and febreeze will mix in very well. I use 1 TBS per load.

All Purpose Cleaner:
2 c. washing powders
2 c. borax
water

For this I just used a medium sauce pan and just filled it up with water. On medium heat stir until the borax and washing powders dissolve. Pour into container.

Bathroom Cleaner:
2 TBS Lysol Toilet bowl cleaner for hard water and rust/lime
water
empty spray bottle

Ok, so I totally cheated on this one. All I did was dillute this amazing toilet bowl cleaner. It's awesome. You guys have no idea, it works really well for the tub and kitchen sink. I also poured some of this stuff about an inch deep in a plastic cup and put our shower head in it. Then I poured some more (not much) in the inside of the shower head. Five minutes later, it was clean and had a beautiful stream- like brand new. I love this stuff. Try it. Go. Now.


That's all I've got for now. Please be aware that these cleaners I've made are not "sudsy" cleaners. When they start to work you're not going to see a whole bunch of soapy looking bubbles like you might be used to. That's ok. I'm not only making this to save money but to keep plastic out of the landfills. If you can, please reuse containers. Alot of containers only need to be washed out before they can be reused. WARNING: NEVER MIX BLEACH WITH AMMONIA IN ANY AMOUNT IT CREATES DEADLY FUMES
I save a lot of containers and reuse them, it's recycling. Repurpose things guys, it's not hard at all and it helps our enviroment, saves you money, and provides convenience. There's a lot  you can do with the empty laundry containers. A lot of things need to be put in air tight containers and sealed well, these are air tight and seal well. They would also be good for storing the benneficial "tea" from your compost, storing any thing, like let's say Miracle Grow, that comes in a box. There are a lot of art projects you can do with these at all. My two favorite would be making animal "heads" out of them for hanging on a kids wall and making little fairy houses out of them by cutting out a door and windows and then covering with rocks, marbles and moss. Here's a list of more stuff you can do with these bottles.

1. Handy scoops can be cut out of them, like small trowels
2. If you're diabetic this is a safe way to dispose of your used needles
3. Ice salt shaker (store your ice salt for your driveways in these to conveniently shake it out.
4. fill them with sand or water to make weights for weight training.
5. storing small things like nails, screws, buttons, etc.
6. sturdy templates for crafting.
7. store old rags
8. to store grocery bags for reuse
9. hand washing station in the garden
10. storage of any liquids

Always make sure you thoroughly wash these bottles out





Helpful Links:
15 Uses for Laundry Detergent Bottles

10 Uses for Laundry Detergent BottlesReusing Laundry Detergent Bottles
How to Re-use Laundry Detergent Bottles in the Garage
10 ways to Repurpose Laundry Detergent Bottles

Homemade laundry detergent

Tonight we ran out of laundry detergent and had to go get more. There's always laundry to be done in this house. However, there's always a need for money in this house too. So I decided to get the ingredients to make laundry detergent. It's definitely worth a try. Here's what I picked up. Just so you know, before you ask I picked up all of these things at Walmart in the laundry detergent aisle. Be aware though, I didn't get a picture of my washing powders but what is in the picture here is baking soda. You don't want baking soda you want washing powders. It's not the same thing. They're all next to each other.





Ingredients:

1. a box of Arm and Hammer washing powders
2. a bar of Fels-Naptha soap
3. a box of 20 mule team borax

Directions/Recipe:

1. grate up half of your bar of soap into a medium sized sauce pan
2. add six cups of water and, on medium heat stir until melted.
3. add two cups of washing powders
4. add two cups of borax
5. stir until dissolved
6. In a large enough bucket (2 gallons or more) place 4 cups of hot water and stir in your soap mixture
7. add another gallon plus six cups of hot water and stir
8. allow to cool, will gel over night
9. add to your empty containers

 NOTE: I added the mix into my containers while still warm. When mix starts to gel it will have little beads of solid in it. This will not be as thick of a gel as what you buy, it'll still be a little soupy and will need to be shaken before each use. I use about a 1/2 a cup per load.

WARNING: Brandon has some pretty nasty work pants, that are really really soiled every night he works. Anything that's exceedingly gross should be washed by itself or in a small load, and if you'd like use some of my laundry booster (homemade oxi-clean, recipe to come later)

Fabric softener recipe to come later, along with kitchen and bath cleaner and an all purpose cleaner

This picture really shows what the mixture looks like after it's melted and all the powders are dissolved.

I have found that my laundry detergent recipe works pretty darn well if I do say so myself, but here are some links to other recipes where other people have made their own, you'll see that they don't vary very much! Some will be dry and one is unscented!
Homemade Laundry Detergent @ Simply Designing
Homemade Laundry Detergent @ Great Oak Circle
Hypoallergenic Laundry Detergent @ Ehow
Homemade Laundry Detergent @ Happy Hooligans
Homemade Dry and Liquid Laundry Detergent @ Life at Cobble Hill Farm
Stain Removal 101 discussion about scent free laundry detergent



Storage Inspiration!

Homemade Cleaner Recipes

I love to save money, doesn't everybody? Making your own cleaning solutions can save you a ton of money, I have a lot of recipes for different types of cleaners- as I'm sure any readers for this particular post do. However, I'm writing this to create a place where they're all gathered together!

Homemade Tub Scrub

Add one teaspoon of liquid soap and several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint) to one cup of baking soda. Add just enough water to form a paste, and use it with a sponge or brush to scour bathtub surfaces.

Furniture Dusting Spray

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon essential oil
1/4 cup  white vinegar
1-3/4 cups water
Spray bottle (16 oz size or larger)

Mix the ingredients in the order listed into your clean spray bottle.  Shake well each time you use to mix oil and water. Spray onto wooden furniture and wipe off with a soft cloth to dust and clean the surface.

Spot Remover

one part dawn dishwashing liquid, two parts hydrogen peroxide

Mattress Freshener

Fill a mason jar with holes poken in the lid with baking soda and a TBS of your favorite fabric softener, let sit for an hour and vaccum off. Would be a great carpet freshener as well-

Carpet Freshener

Same mix as above OR mix in different jar with just a few drops of your favorite smelling essential oils. It's like homemade carpet fresh! These can both be put into empty grated parmesan cheese bottles too! Oh and those sprinkler lids from the parmesan bottles? They fit mason jars.

Dishwasher Soap

2 c borax
2 c Arm & Hammer washing soda
2 c lemi shine
1 c kosher salt

thats 1 TBS per load

Homemade Fabric Softener

6 cups HOT water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups Suave Refreshing Waterfall Conditioner {or other favorite scent}

Mix conditioner & hot water well, until conditioner is dissolved completely.
Add the vinegar, and mix well.
Store in a large container {empty fabric softener container, empty large vinegar bottle, etc}
Pour into a downy ball… or use approx. 2 tbsp. in the fabric softener spot in your laundry machine… then wash!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 bar of soap (any kind you want)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
a big pot ( that holds more than 2 gallons)
a grater
a funnel
a long spoon
2 empty gallon jugs/containers
Grate your bar of soap into your pot. Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Cook until the grated soap dissolves. Add the Borax and washing soda.Bring to a boil. It will coagulate. Turn off the heat. Add 1 gallon of cold water. Stir well. Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container. A funnel helps tremendously. Now you have 2 gallons of homemade laundry detergent.Use 1/2 cup per load.

Mock Windex

1 Empty Spray Bottle

1/8 Cup (1oz) White Ammonia

1/4 Cup (4oz) Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol

1 Drop Laundry Detergent

Water - To Fill The Bottle

                                                ::::::::::WARNING::::::::::

                               

   !!!!ALWAYS LABEL YOUR BOTTLES AND KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN!! AND NEVER EVER EVER EVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA- IT WILL CREATE VERY TOXIC FUMES!!!!!!

Other Tips:

• put a few drops of essential oil inside the cardboard tube of your toilet paper, each time it's spun it will give off that scent!
• Nailpolish remover will remove marker from laminate and other hard surfaces (always spot test!)
• Use wadded up aluminum foil to scrub caked on nasty pans (I love doing this)
• Use old newspaper to clean windows- the difference in that and paper towels is amazing! Crystal clear!

***********All recipe titles include links to the original website, where I got them. Several sites are repeated.