I was folding laundry, which all mothers know is a never-ending chore, and decided that the only way to cut down on the folding was to cut down on the clothes...literally.
I taught myself how to sew back in high school. Not too many shops carried ripped up fishnets and safety pinned shirts back in my day so my crowd became pros at pinning and duct taping tee shirts, jeans, stockings, even shoes. My mother purchased a little sewing machine for next to nothing at a fabric store when I was fourteen and so began my passion for the rhythmic bobbing of the needle.
Immediately after my revelation, my creativity kicked into high gear. I lugged hand-me-down sweaters, three sizes too big, and the sewing machine out of the closet, and went to work.
Two hours later, after several 'darn its' and 'oh craps', and with the cat tangled in a pile of unraveled yarn at my feet, my oldest son peeped in the kitchen door and asked if it was safe to come in.
Sweaters are very difficult to reconstruct so I passed on that idea. But, I am sticking to the 2008 challenge of wearing only recycled clothing and reconstructed garments.
Here I will post pics of my reconstructed garments as they come along.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Homemade Cleansers
When I first became interested in green living and homemade cleansing products, I searched the web for ideas that would help my family on our journey. I ran across several blogs that encouraged a green lifestyle but it seemed so many ideas cost more money than most families have to spare. Although in the long run the benefit outweighs the cost, most American families cannot wait that long to see the benefit.
Below are things you can do now that will show a small decrease in the amount of money you shell out every month. Most take under thirty minutes, some drastically less.
Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/2c. washing soda (I use Arm&Hammer)
1/2c. borax
1/2 bar grated Fels Naptha - you can buy it online but I found it at our big grocery store chain
Melt grated soap in 6 cups water. Add washing soda and borax. Pour 4 cups hot water into a large bucket (I use ten gallon and it fills it a little over halfway). Add soap mixture. Add one gallon plus 6 cups water and stir. Let sit 24 hours and it will start to gel.
I generally stir the soap several times over the twenty four hours when I think about it. It sets better that way and doesn't separate later. The first time I made it, I didn't stir throughout the twenty four hours. It separated in my jugs and had to be shaken before each use. When I began stirring throughout, that problem ceased.
It looks similar to eggdrop soup when finished. You'll have swirls of gel in a thin liquid. I only use a half cup at a time. I also stopped using the borax and use one cup of washing soda instead. If you can't find the Fels Naptha, you can also use Dove bar soap. I only need to use 1/2 cup of soap per large load unless I'm washing my husband's work clothes. Then I use 1 cup of soap.
As for drying clothes. I generally hang, but if I do dry in the dryer, I dry natural fabrics separate from synthetics that way I don't get static cling and have to use a fabric softener.
No More Shampoo:
Last June, the people in my family who have hair (poor hubby excluded) stopped using shampoo and conditioner. My mother-in-law wasn't too thrilled when I told her I would be sniffing my children's heads for fruit salad scent after they spent the night, but she has finally gotten used to the idea of gathering products from the kitchen to clean the babies' heads.
1 Tablespoon baking soda in three cups of water
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar in three cups of water
I scrub our scalps and about the first two to three inches of hair with the baking soda mix. I let it sit a couple of minutes while we wash off. After rinsing with water, I pour the ACV mix on our scalps and throughout our hair.
The baking soda works as an exfoliator and the vinegar cleanses the scalp and conditions the hair. I also use tea tree oil on the ends of mine and the baby's hair because we tend to knot up the most. You can also include the TTO in the baking soda or vinegar mix. Use sparingly. Too much and you'll be shaping pompadours with those natural locks.
Some people have no trouble adjusting to this change. I went through about a week where my hair felt like waxy cat hair when wet, but was fine after it dried. My hair and scalp have never felt better. The nap in my hair, especially around the nape of my neck, has diminished. My bank account is fuller. I'm not dumping chemicals on our heads or down the drain. My children are learning to watch what they put on their bodies and into the earth.
Household Cleaners:
How stuffed is your cabinet of household cleaning items? I first became interested in gentle cleaners after my oldest son was born. I remembered an after school special where a boy accidentally splashed a cleanser in his eye and his illiterate friend was unable to read the label to know how to help the boy. I guess more stuck with me from those specials than I ever imagined.
Washing Soda
Baking soda
vinegar
Those are the only cleaners I use in my house. If you don't like the scent of vinegar, you can add a couple of drops of any essential oil but honestly, the scent of vinegar dissipates quickly and the idea is for your house to smell clean...like nothing...not fragrances that can pollute your nose!
I am a firm believer that we create more problems on our bodies by constantly applying one product to reverse the damage done by another. If we take some time to stop and think, follow the chain, we will see that by using higher quality, natural products, we will need to consume much less. Not only our bodies but bank accounts will thank us.
If you have a recipe for homemade eco-friendly dish soap, please let me know and I'll post it. I've been searching for months and still haven't found anything that works besides baking soda on a rag.
Happy scrubbing! Crys
Below are things you can do now that will show a small decrease in the amount of money you shell out every month. Most take under thirty minutes, some drastically less.
Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/2c. washing soda (I use Arm&Hammer)
1/2c. borax
1/2 bar grated Fels Naptha - you can buy it online but I found it at our big grocery store chain
Melt grated soap in 6 cups water. Add washing soda and borax. Pour 4 cups hot water into a large bucket (I use ten gallon and it fills it a little over halfway). Add soap mixture. Add one gallon plus 6 cups water and stir. Let sit 24 hours and it will start to gel.
I generally stir the soap several times over the twenty four hours when I think about it. It sets better that way and doesn't separate later. The first time I made it, I didn't stir throughout the twenty four hours. It separated in my jugs and had to be shaken before each use. When I began stirring throughout, that problem ceased.
It looks similar to eggdrop soup when finished. You'll have swirls of gel in a thin liquid. I only use a half cup at a time. I also stopped using the borax and use one cup of washing soda instead. If you can't find the Fels Naptha, you can also use Dove bar soap. I only need to use 1/2 cup of soap per large load unless I'm washing my husband's work clothes. Then I use 1 cup of soap.
As for drying clothes. I generally hang, but if I do dry in the dryer, I dry natural fabrics separate from synthetics that way I don't get static cling and have to use a fabric softener.
No More Shampoo:
Last June, the people in my family who have hair (poor hubby excluded) stopped using shampoo and conditioner. My mother-in-law wasn't too thrilled when I told her I would be sniffing my children's heads for fruit salad scent after they spent the night, but she has finally gotten used to the idea of gathering products from the kitchen to clean the babies' heads.
1 Tablespoon baking soda in three cups of water
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar in three cups of water
I scrub our scalps and about the first two to three inches of hair with the baking soda mix. I let it sit a couple of minutes while we wash off. After rinsing with water, I pour the ACV mix on our scalps and throughout our hair.
The baking soda works as an exfoliator and the vinegar cleanses the scalp and conditions the hair. I also use tea tree oil on the ends of mine and the baby's hair because we tend to knot up the most. You can also include the TTO in the baking soda or vinegar mix. Use sparingly. Too much and you'll be shaping pompadours with those natural locks.
Some people have no trouble adjusting to this change. I went through about a week where my hair felt like waxy cat hair when wet, but was fine after it dried. My hair and scalp have never felt better. The nap in my hair, especially around the nape of my neck, has diminished. My bank account is fuller. I'm not dumping chemicals on our heads or down the drain. My children are learning to watch what they put on their bodies and into the earth.
Household Cleaners:
How stuffed is your cabinet of household cleaning items? I first became interested in gentle cleaners after my oldest son was born. I remembered an after school special where a boy accidentally splashed a cleanser in his eye and his illiterate friend was unable to read the label to know how to help the boy. I guess more stuck with me from those specials than I ever imagined.
Washing Soda
Baking soda
vinegar
Those are the only cleaners I use in my house. If you don't like the scent of vinegar, you can add a couple of drops of any essential oil but honestly, the scent of vinegar dissipates quickly and the idea is for your house to smell clean...like nothing...not fragrances that can pollute your nose!
I am a firm believer that we create more problems on our bodies by constantly applying one product to reverse the damage done by another. If we take some time to stop and think, follow the chain, we will see that by using higher quality, natural products, we will need to consume much less. Not only our bodies but bank accounts will thank us.
If you have a recipe for homemade eco-friendly dish soap, please let me know and I'll post it. I've been searching for months and still haven't found anything that works besides baking soda on a rag.
Happy scrubbing! Crys
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The Baby Bed
I spent my first few months sleeping in a new cradle. My younger brother followed along sixteen months later and rested his little head in the same bed. The cradle moved from house to house as my nieces and nephews were born until twenty-four years later, I rocked my own little boy in that bed.
For four years, the cradle was stored in my walk-in closet. I brought it out one day, leaned my swollen belly over the sides, scrubbed down the mattress and dressed it for the baby that was soon to come.
Since then, it has been stored in the closet, forgotten until I need to dig through the pile of clothes and CDs that drifted into the bed due to lack of storage.
My oldest son recently accompanied me to a battered women's shelter to drop of donations we had collected around the house. He rubbed the toes of a baby who was staying there with his mother. She told my son that she and the baby were getting ready to move into their own apartment.
Later that night, I tucked my son into his top bunk, turned off the lights, and went to the kitchen to finish folding a load of laundry. As I was folding my three-year-old's sweatpants, I thought about that mother; independent for the first time in years, alone with a baby to care for, and wondered if she had ever rocked her baby in a cradle.
My husband was sleeping when I turned on the light to our room. I folded the clothes in the cradle, stacked the CDs on the floor next to the dresser, and smashed my finger when I pulled the cradle out of the closet.
I leaned my flat belly over the railing, scrubbed down the mattress, and loaded the cradle into the back of my truck.
We have things that we hang onto that others could use. Odds are, that cradle would sit in my closet, be moved from house to house as I grow old, and one day, be hauled away after I die.
We create attachments to things in our life for many reasons, but one of the most damaging, I believe, is holding onto things because we cannot tell others how they make us feel. Our own private thoughts when looking at a baby bed, or Grandpa's favorite chair, are very difficult to share. When we allow ourselves the opportunity to share those feelings, the tension, the pull we feel towards those items, is loosened.
I crawled into bed with my son the other day. Cuddled together with my nose in his hair and my arm draped over his waist, I told him about how I used to rock him as a baby and how happy I was to have him in my life. He reached his hand up and brushed my hair off my cheek. A wooden cradle can't give me what I get from being close and open with my children.
Is there something you hang onto that you are ready to give to someone who is in need?
For four years, the cradle was stored in my walk-in closet. I brought it out one day, leaned my swollen belly over the sides, scrubbed down the mattress and dressed it for the baby that was soon to come.
Since then, it has been stored in the closet, forgotten until I need to dig through the pile of clothes and CDs that drifted into the bed due to lack of storage.
My oldest son recently accompanied me to a battered women's shelter to drop of donations we had collected around the house. He rubbed the toes of a baby who was staying there with his mother. She told my son that she and the baby were getting ready to move into their own apartment.
Later that night, I tucked my son into his top bunk, turned off the lights, and went to the kitchen to finish folding a load of laundry. As I was folding my three-year-old's sweatpants, I thought about that mother; independent for the first time in years, alone with a baby to care for, and wondered if she had ever rocked her baby in a cradle.
My husband was sleeping when I turned on the light to our room. I folded the clothes in the cradle, stacked the CDs on the floor next to the dresser, and smashed my finger when I pulled the cradle out of the closet.
I leaned my flat belly over the railing, scrubbed down the mattress, and loaded the cradle into the back of my truck.
We have things that we hang onto that others could use. Odds are, that cradle would sit in my closet, be moved from house to house as I grow old, and one day, be hauled away after I die.
We create attachments to things in our life for many reasons, but one of the most damaging, I believe, is holding onto things because we cannot tell others how they make us feel. Our own private thoughts when looking at a baby bed, or Grandpa's favorite chair, are very difficult to share. When we allow ourselves the opportunity to share those feelings, the tension, the pull we feel towards those items, is loosened.
I crawled into bed with my son the other day. Cuddled together with my nose in his hair and my arm draped over his waist, I told him about how I used to rock him as a baby and how happy I was to have him in my life. He reached his hand up and brushed my hair off my cheek. A wooden cradle can't give me what I get from being close and open with my children.
Is there something you hang onto that you are ready to give to someone who is in need?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The American Way
The dream I had as a young mother was to live in a two-story farm house. I wanted to sip coffee with my husband while standing at an empty kitchen sink. In my mind's eye, I watched deer nibble at the edge of the woods next to the fenced vegetable and herb garden. The dog didn't raise an eyebrow at the squirrels scampering up the maple trees, which never littered the yard with dry branches.
Well, that didn't happen.
I should be washing the dishes but I'm out of soap, again, because the cats knocked over the open bottle someone left on the window sill. The squirrel that took home in the elm tree right outside the living room window keeps throwing nuts at the dogs. The neighbor's kid fell through the black netting around the garden, squishing the green tomatoes that should have been picked at the end of last month. And I won't go into the story about finding the tree on the house after we came home from our anniversary dinner.
Life didn't turn out how I thought it would. After nine years of marriage, two sons, and a lot of time to think this month, I've realized that my life, my house, my marriage, and my relationship with my kids are cluttered.
Crawling under the four blankets on the bed last night (let's face it, if gas prices keep rising, I'll be knitting 'creative costumes' just to keep the kids warm), I decided that although I can't afford to heat that two-story house, nor did I really want to clean it, I could build a fulfilling, healthy home for my family.
Here begins our journey into the clutter-free, eco-friendly, frugal, self-sufficient life I never knew I wanted to lead.
Well, that didn't happen.
I should be washing the dishes but I'm out of soap, again, because the cats knocked over the open bottle someone left on the window sill. The squirrel that took home in the elm tree right outside the living room window keeps throwing nuts at the dogs. The neighbor's kid fell through the black netting around the garden, squishing the green tomatoes that should have been picked at the end of last month. And I won't go into the story about finding the tree on the house after we came home from our anniversary dinner.
Life didn't turn out how I thought it would. After nine years of marriage, two sons, and a lot of time to think this month, I've realized that my life, my house, my marriage, and my relationship with my kids are cluttered.
Crawling under the four blankets on the bed last night (let's face it, if gas prices keep rising, I'll be knitting 'creative costumes' just to keep the kids warm), I decided that although I can't afford to heat that two-story house, nor did I really want to clean it, I could build a fulfilling, healthy home for my family.
Here begins our journey into the clutter-free, eco-friendly, frugal, self-sufficient life I never knew I wanted to lead.
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