Welcome to My Front Porch.....

Welcome to my front porch. It is a place where I entertain friends, family, and strangers. Where I have discussions on a wide range of topics. It's where I have long talks with my husband and where I do most of my homeschooling. My porch is also a place of solitude. Where I go with a cup of coffee and my bible for quiet time in the morning and where I relax after a long day with a glass of wine and a magazine. So kick off your shoes, have a glass of sweet tea, sit-a-spell and visit.



Thursday, March 10, 2011

Spring is Just Around the Corner

You can always tell when spring is just around the corner when the Daffodils start blooming.  They are a welcome ray of sunlight in cold March.


We like to pick several and put them all over the house.  It seems to perk things up and get every one excited for spring.

I put them in the living room.......
The kitchen, bedrooms.....pretty much everywhere.


What about you...what do you do to bring a little bit of spring into your home this time of year?


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Baby Things


I have been making these burp clothes for a little while now. Mommies like the fact that they have something unique to their nursery theme or favorite sports team and babies like to play with the ribbons.  I've decided to offer them for sale. 

                                              They are $12.00 plus shipping and handling. 

                                          
                                         I can make them in all kinds of colors, and themes.

                 For $3.00 more I can embroidery a name, initials or short saying in a single color.
If you would like to order a one of-a-kind gift please leave a comment or email me at yagirl@safe-mail.net.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Homemade Laundary Soap

As we see our food and everyday household items go up each time we go to the grocery store I feel it's time to get creative.  That sometimes means making something from scratch.  One of the ways I've found to save money is by making homemade liquid laundry soup.  It works out to less than a penny a load and it gets things clean. Here's the recipe.........

 .

One bar of Fels-Neptha Soap.  I found this in the health and beauty aid part of the grocery store.  Not sure why they have their. It says right on the package it's for laundry.  Anyway, you're going to need to grate this and put in a pot, then cover with water.





Next on low heat continually stir the soap until it is all dissolved.  Then pour it into a 5 gallon bucket.



To the bucket add one cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and one cup of 20 Mule Team Borax.  I found both of these at my local grocery store but in the laundry soap isle.


Next fill the bucket with warm water and stir the mixture until the detergents have all dissolved.
Then let it set for 24 hours.
 It's going to look like this the next day. Kind of a white solid surrounded by a yellow liquid.  Stir it up thoroughly.  This is a concentrated soap you can either pour half in another 5 gallon bucket and add water to both buckets.  Or  what I do is use an old liquid laundry soap bottle fill it half full then add water. I shake it to mix it well.  This little bottle helps in measuring and pouring into my washing machine. 

One of the things I have started doing is adding essential oils to my laundry soap.  I love the faint smell of lavender and the tea tree oil helps as a bug repellent.

I'm very pleased with the performance and savings I get with this soap.  Try it I'm sure you will too.