Green Backpack- fantastic new store AND a giveaway!

Well, as many of you know, I have a PRECIOUS 4 year old daughter that will be turning 5 next month! That means we are about to hit K-5 head on! We are in a great school district, but I've been homeschooling her since she was 3 with a mixture of Montessori/Waldorf/Unschooling business... my own special blend that seems to have really been enjoyable for her! We decided that there was no way on this green earth that we were paying $900/month for private kindergarten at a local Montessori school, even though it is really well spoken of.

So, we applied for her to go to a Montessori magnet in our city that is a few years old. The scores look fine, but when we visited, I was super impressed! The teachers were absolutely delightful, they look like they're making great efforts to provide an environment that Dr. Maria Montessori would have been proud of, and Keelin felt at home. That was the big thing!

When we got Keelin's acceptance letter, I cried. Not only was she going to get to continue her education in an environment that we desperately wanted for her, but it all started to feel VERY real. My teeny little 7 pound 15 ounce mini-me was going to elementary school.

My next thought was- YES!!!! We get to buy school supplies!

Because, let's face it, I have a slight addiction to cool writing impliments and fresh paper in packages.

I'm an office supply junkie.

The only thing I am weirder about than office supplies is Mason jars.

We all have our things.

I started looking around online and was SO disappointed in what I found. Petroleum-based crayons are the norm, but we prefer soy. Trashy book-bags that I'd never let in my house, much less let my child carry to school. Pencils covered in bright yellow paint, loaded with who knows what.

Then...

I found Green Backpack!

I emailed them to tell them how much I appreciated the options they were making available to moms that wanted different for their kids than Big Oil provided crayons and bleached paper from virgin trees.

They responded warmly and through back and forth emails, it was decided that I would introduce them to you. I received absolutely nothing for doing this- I just want you all to be aware of a top notch company that is just starting out. I believe whole-heartedly in little companies that make a big impact through good customer service, eco-responsible actions, and a social conscience.

Their mission:

Our goal is to provide an option for people who care about how their purchases affect the world, by providing an affordable, eco-friendly choice when shopping for school supplies.

All the products at Green Backpack are made from recycled or sustainable material. For instance, our folders, notebooks and even our pencils are made from recycled paper. We have a binder made of recycled milk jugs. Wooden pencils come from managed, sustainable forests.


We know there are less expensive options at the big box stores. As a small business, we do our best to balance environmental impact, quality and affordability for our customers.


We hope that when you buy our eco-smart school supplies, it’s a choice you feel good about.

 

Here are a few of their products- all of which are made from recycled or sustainable materials.

It's their promise to us and our children.

The name-sake backpack!

It is made with 65% recycled materials!

A bright, happy binder made from recycled chipboard!

Fantastic colored pencils, the barrel of which is made from recycled paper!

Keelin has already ninja-ed into the pack I purchased for her and she says that they are really easy to sharpen compared to the wooden ones!

Fiskars brand scissors, made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials!

We got a pair of the light blue for Keelin and they are super cute!

Non-toxic, washable markers made from reused or recycled materials!

The packaging is made from 100% recycled material.

Pencils with barrels made from recycled paper, just like the colored pencils!

What I love? They come in packs of a dozen pencils.

Prang crayons!

24 pack made from soybean oil- totally sustainable!

NO petroleum in this product, which makes them smooth to color with and beautifully colored.

Such a cool product!

An individual pencil sharpener made from PLA, a renewable plastic made from sugarcane, not petroleum!

Only the blade is new, but the casing is biodegradable!

For Keelin's 4th birthday, we had PLA cups and bowls.

It might be biodegradable, but they sure hold up to regular use because we still have them!

 So don't be afraid of the quality- it's a good product!

These black, ballpoint ink pens have barrels made from 30% recycled car tires!

Very cool!

Aside from the nifty products that I've mentioned above, we also snagged some of their big erasers and recycled paper! The quality of their product line is really on point and the cost is only slightly more, but not unreasonable, than standard school supplies at any local office supply store. We're really satisfied with Green Backpack and wanted to let you know that this company is here and available to you- with reasonable shipping costs, minimal packaging, and incredible customer service!

EDIT: My friend Dana reminded me- we also bought a tube of the glue. And yes, for those of you that are curious, it absolutely does smell like almonds! ;-)

And just because they're super awesome, Green Backpack will supply one lucky winner with a package of their amazing colored pencils and a pencil sharpener!

Mandatory entry:

1. Follow my blog publicly- comment WITH your email address and tell me!

(if I don't have your email, I can't message you when you win)

Extra entry:

2. Check out the Green Backpack website and tell me your favorite product!

You have two ways to enter to win the gift pack!

I will close the giveaway on Saturday, May 28th at 9pm EST.

Winner will be announced on the blog and sent an email!

GlassDharma glass straw review and GIVEAWAY!

I have a surprise for my amazing followers! I know some of you will remember a post I did a little while ago where I mentioned my love for Glass Dharma straws! Well, the makers of the original glass straw want to give YOU an opportunity to own and love one as much as I do- for FREE!

As I mentioned in my first post about this amazing glass straw- handmade in the United States- I've had mine for almost 3 years now! They have withstood being carried in my purse, dropped in the floor (although I don't recommend doing it on purpose), tossed by the kids, moved to 3 different dwellings while we were stationed at Fort Bragg, and not a single ONE has cracked, broken, or chipped! And if it had? Guess what! Their Lifetime Guarantee Against Breakage would have handled the replacement!

Bear in mind that they are not unbreakable, just guaranteed! Glass Dharma wants it's customers to be completely satisfied with their products, so if you're not 100% satisfied, they want to know and they want to correct it! If your straw breaks, they want to know and they want to fix it- or replace it! Now, THAT is customer service as it should be.

I believe that all of us here are planet-friendly people, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized just how huge a problem plastic straw waste is! Imagine just how many of those things end up trashed every year!? How could something so small be an issue?

According to Glass Dharma's website, in 2008, McDonalds ALONE claimed to serve 52 MILLION meals a day. How many of those do you imagine included a drink with a plastic straw? One little straw is no biggie, but tens of MILLIONS of straws being trashed every day (from only one company!) easily becomes the straw that broke the camel's ecological back! What an environmental disaster (waste created) and biological disaster (chemicals leached from the plastic)! Using glass straws from Glass Dharma is the perfect way to completely avoid contributing to the problem.

I was sent a box of straws- one Beautiful Bends (super cool bent straw), one Simple Elegance (the kind I've had 3 of for almost 3 years and loved!), one green Decorative Dots (a long one), and one amber Decorative Dots (a short one). Also included was a hemp carrying sleeve (natural hemp) and two cleaning brushes, which I will tell you makes cleaning them a breeze.

The Beautiful Bends straw is 9.5mm wide and 9" long, retailing for $8.50. The bend makes it perfect for use in a taller glass and I actually used mine while I was online researching the effects of plastic straws on the environment! It hung over the side of my glass slightly, so I never had to take my eyes off of the screen to ensure that I wasn't about to knock my glass off of the dining room table. Even if you're not a lazy sipper like me, they just look absolutely beautiful in a glass! 

The Simple Elegance straws come in a variety of lengths and widths. As the most cost effective straw, they are fantastic to have on hand for use by the entire family. Their simplicity makes them ridiculously easy to clean- and I truly think that my drinks just taste better when I drink them through a glass straw- these are perfect for the minimalist! I have taken to keeping mine in the fridge- talk about refreshing! While I usually don't drink hot drinks, thus keeping my straws in the fridge, they are perfectly suited for cold OR hot drinks, so use them in everything without worry of damaging them. They were made to be used!

The Decorative Dots straws are so neat! Doing this review was the first time I'd seen one of them, even though I've been lusting after them since I bought my first  set of straws. I love how fun they look and what's impressive to me is that there is no paint to make me concerned and no fading to take away from the beauty of your straw. The dots are colored glass (that come in blue, red, green, or amber), the same glass as the straws, which means that they are made of borosilicate glass, the strongest commercially available glass! The tall Decorative Dots straws are stunning and the shorter straws are now my first choice for my kids. They're strong, beautiful, and the colored dots make them perfect for color coding- no more mixing up the kid's cups!

I have been carrying my straw in my purse wrapped haphazardly in a cloth napkin for dining out, so I was really excited to try the hemp carrying sleeve! I was instantly hooked on the look and texture of the sleeve- it just looks environmentally responsible! I was sent the natural hemp sleeve (that retails for $12.00) to try out and that is definitely the one I would have ordered for myself. The fabric swatch, pictured below, gives you an idea of the color options you have if you're interested in a sleeve that isn't the natural hemp color- purple dawn, ocean blue, deep moss, and black pearl (that retail for $15.00 each). Regardless of the color, you can choose from 3 sizes to get the best fit for your straw!

Since I've had plenty of experience with the Simple Elegance straws and there were two of the Decorative Dots straws, we tried out the amber Decorative Dots straw and the Beautiful Bends straw to let you know how they work and what we thought of them! Do you know what that means for you guys?! I have two straws and two cleaning brushes to give to you!

Up for grabs, we have two gift sets, courtesy of Glass Dharma.

Set one:
A green Decorative Dots straw that is 9.5mm wide and 9" long. This straw does not normally come with a cleaning brush, but for our giveaway, it will! The cleaning brushes normally retail for $5.00 each. The green dots are absolutely beautiful and as an added bonus, keeps that pesky straw from rolling off of the table! Retails for $9.00 each on their website. (A total value of $14.00)

Set two:
A Simple Elegance straw that is 12mm wide and 9" long, making it perfect for drinking smoothies, even ones with fantastic fruit pieces that normally get stuck in the straw or never make it in! This is the mac daddy of glass straws and we have really enjoyed ours over the years! This straw has a cleaning brush in it's box! Retails for $8.50 each on their website, plus the cleaning brush! (A total value of $13.50)

This is mine, yours is new in the box!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to communicate with the incredible people at Glass Dharma while we were planning this blog posting and the giveaway! What an incredible company selling handmade products, all made in the U.S- even the sleeves and brushes!

To win one of the two gift sets, here is what you do:

Mandatory entry, include your name and email address in this comment:
- follow "Where am I?"

Extra entries, please leave 1 comment per entry:
- like "Glass Dharma on Facebook" and let them know how much we appreciate this giveaway!
- suggest something you'd like to see more of here at "Where am I?"
- suggest "Where am I?" to a friend (and/or create a blog or Facebook posting about this giveaway), having them follow and let me know YOU sent them!

All in all, you can have 4 entries each.
I will use random.org to choose a winner on Friday, May 20th!

"Sip the world, taste the difference."
(and Happy Winning!)

Butchering- (Warning:sensitive in nature WITH a few pictures)

Tim and I decided when we got our first group of Cornish Rock chicks back in March, we would butcher them around the end of April, beginning of May. It is best to butcher this particular breed between 8-10 weeks.

We had planned to butcher our chickens on Saturday, but my grandfather's passing meant that Saturday was family time, so it was decided that we would do it Sunday. Tim and I were running some errands that afternoon (picking up some baby items from a friend- thanks, Carol!), so I thought we weren't going to do it until Tim asked me if we were going to go ahead and butcher when we got home.

I immediately felt a bit lightheaded. I have been a purchaser of humanely raised/butchered meats with the feeling all along that I should probably be doing it myself. Personally, I feel that if you cannot get neck deep in the process of raising and killing an animal, you should probably not eat an animal. Lettuce doesn't feel pain when it's chopped for a salad. I knew that this was going to be the moment of truth for me. Could I actually go through with killing a chicken that I held in my hand when it was a week old, fed and watered daily, scratched it's neck while it sat on my lap in the sun?


The answer is yes. I can. And I did. But it was hard and a day later, I am still feeling a bit shaken up, but I think that is a positive sign. When I can take a life without being at least slightly disturbed by it, I will have lost a part of my humanity, so the goal is to become more human, more feeling, throughout this process.

This is a brief overview of how things happened. I'm not going to go too far into detail, but be fairly warned that there are some pictures that some might be sensitive to some below.

First, we decided which chickens were going to be butchered. We decided to start out with one, just to see how things went and maybe do another if it went well.. We put her in a box along with a couple of the chickens she was raised with to help her feel calm.

The box was given to us when we purchased the grown Araucana chickens about a month ago.

You see Jackson in the picture and he was home (and awake) when we did this. We set him up to where he couldn't see the process but we could see him- with some of our newer chicks to play with and he had a great time, never a clue what we were doing.

This is not a chicken that was butchered. She's alive and happy, but this is what our meat chickens look like at butchering age.

In all, we butchered two chickens yesterday.

The first, we used a chopping block and I really didn't like it.

I know that the chicken was instantly killed and that it didn't suffer, but it felt a bit barbaric to me.

The second chicken, we used a method that I was interested in trying after being a bit startled by using a chopping block. For chicken #2, I broke her neck cleanly to kill her and then proceeded to go through the process of removing the blood from the carcass and getting the meat to a useable state.

Instead of plucking the feathers, we chose to use a popular method and skin the chicken. We don't cook chicken with the skin on, anyway, so why not just remove it before freezing or cooking?

It was fairly simple, to my surprise!

The above photo is me skinning the chicken that I killed. From killing her to putting the ready to eat or preserve parts in an ice bath took about 20 minutes.

Here are the parts of chicken #1.

Chicken #2 was left whole after the entrails had been removed.

Here is chicken #2, my chicken, dressed and baked with potatoes and onions.

Here is chicken #1, packaged to be frozen for later use. The parts you can see here are leg quarters.

Now, I have mixed feelings about this whole process.

I adore my chickens, but we do eat chicken.

I'm not going to have the capabilities and resources to raise my own animals for food and NOT do it, but continue to eat animal products-

even though it was difficult for me.

Removing ourselves from the process of raising and killing animals is what has caused the incredibly sick growth of the factory farming industry.

We want someone to do it for us.

We want boneless and skinless delivered to us, wrapping in pleasant packaging.

We want clean hands.

I no longer have clean hands.

I raised and butchered my own animals for meat.

Like I said before, I have mixed feelings about it.

I will do it again- butcher.

I will do it again- purchase animals for the sole purpose of becoming food for my family.

That being said, I am feeling no grief over it, no guilt. I raised these chickens from fluffy butt chicks that were less than a week old. They were loved on, well cared for, treated with as much dignity and respect as any of the other 32 chickens we have living in our backyard. There is no difference between the way our pet dogs are treated and our pet chickens are treated and our meat chickens are treated.

My mixed feelings come from my own personal thoughts about being an omnivore.

I have had SO many people tell me that what I have done is disgusting.

Cruel.

Inhumane.

And it was none of those things.

It was clean, humane, and done with respect.

And the people criticizing me are people that would never consider eating farm fresh food, because knowing where the animals come from is too close for comfort. Factory farms are preferrable to them over what we do here at our home.

To each his or her own. I am not passing judgement on another person's convictions and/or eating habits. We all must live as we feel we must, but this is part of my growing process, part of our home becoming a homestead- a place that can sustain us.

And I hope that sharing this part of my journey with you didn't offend.

I tried to provide fair warning from the beginning.

But if you were offended, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to shock or disturb, but merely to share my experience and educate.

What do we do with gorgeous weather around our house?

As many of you know, NC has had some CRAZY weather lately!

We heard that this weekend was going to include some wild weather, so we spent a couple of days outside hooking up our pups, loving on the chickens, and mowing the big backyard!

Yes, with pictures!

Our yard looking a little wild...

After Tim mowed, we moved the swingset to a better location.

I said earlier that the low lying ground wasn't going to be a problem, but it is,

so we remedied the situation! Maybe now we can cement the set into the ground?

My sweet hubby and our boy on my dad's riding lawnmower!

This thing was bought the year I turned 1.

A lawnmower working 23 years later?

Unheard of!

They don't make 'em like they used to!

Sadly, it's my dad's and we really need to buy our own.

Will probably hit up Craigslist and try to find a good old one!

Tim teaching Keelin how the mower works- she was mildly hesitant :)

Keelin and her special hen, Reeses.

She loves her chickens! It's adorable.

And thankfully, we have friendly poultry!

Tolerant, at the very least!

Keelin and our 1yr old Boxer, Max.

He is such a sweet dog, you guys...

Not sure why his ears are flapping in the breeze! :)

Keelin holding one of our Cornish Rock chicks

(i.e. a meat chicken)

Remember in the post where I quoted Bittman about how agricultural animals are treated so much worse than pets? Not ours!! We don't name the meaties, just because that would make it really hard for the kids when they are killed (not harvested.) Otherwise, they get lots of lovin' just like the rest of our pets.

Keelin here is informing me that she wants this one to be a pet, not dinner.

*sigh*

Jackson and Keelin, posing with two Cornish chicks.

Pardon the bright light, it was really early in the morning!

You can see just how big the Cornish chicks are- and they're only 3 weeks old.

And today, the rain came down so hard that we couldn't even see out of the windows. It was like a sheet of white! Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with any tornados and there was no damage done to our property or that of anyone we know. Come on, NC... how about some mild weather!!

What an incredible day!!

Today was a really interesting day, so if you can hang in there through the whole post, you will be a real trooper! :)

Woke up this morning knowing it would be a crazy day! Why, you ask? Today is the day that my husband, Tim, goes on terminal/transitional leave! He is using up the paid leave that he has saved up before officially getting out of the Army a month from now after almost ten years of service. Crazy, right? (Paid leave being a relative term, considering what is going on with the governmental agencies acting like a bunch of kids with dirty diapers!)

We've been looking forward to this for the last 3 years that we've been planning this transition to civilian life and it was just so cool to see the day finally come! We got out of debt (car loans and such), saved up a chunk of change, had a baby, got me preggers with another, and got both he and I back in school.

What a way to sum up three years of marriage!

It felt like we waited all day for Tim to get home, so I tried to keep my hands busy!

I picked up sticks out of the yard (thanks, storm!), cleaned the chicken coop, lamented over the huge tree down in our yard and how being 19 weeks pregnant, I'm not in any shape to bust out our chain saw...

Oh, did a ton of diaper laundry, got Jackson down for a nap in his twin bed (Yay for my big boy!), and got in the kitchen!

This was our lunch, along with some homemade corn muffins that my son absolutely adores! Zucchini, squash, red potatoes, and carrots. All thickly sliced, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with sea salt. The flavor was incredible, totally filling, and the chickens were thrilled to get the ends of the veggies as a treat! (Maybe now they will feel inclined to give us some eggs?)

Here are some banana chips dehydrating! I had to lay the smack down on my dad and son today. They were both in the kitchen getting into the dehydrator all afternoon. These guys just slay me- I can't make chips that actually get to be chips, because they get eaten too quickly. Banana fiends need to back off of my snacks ;) But yes, these were salvaged- 3 of my 4 trays made it into crispy, crunchy, delicious chips! I'll take the 75% odds!

Gotta love his "no poo" hair and cloth diaper!!

Jackson on his $5 consignment sale bike! He's a little guy, so it cracks me up that a bike that teeny has training wheels that are removable. I would love to see a person that small riding a Fisher Price two-wheeler without training wheels!

On top of my cooking, cleaning, and thumb twiddling- I sliced up a TON of fruit and froze it combinations that would be yummy for smoothies, which have become our go-to breakfasts around here.

I finally got tired of being productive and sat myself in a lawn chair to read the end of a book and start another while Jackson napped.

The book I just finished is:

“Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream . “ by William Powers

A great book written by a guy local to me. It highlights his experiences living in a 12 foot by 12 foot cabin in rural North Carolina. Very cool read!

I'm actually planning to give away a copy of this particular book (gotta support our local authors!) next week!

This is the book I just started reading:

"Better Off : Flipping the Switch on Technology," by Eric Brende

So far, it seems to be a book about an Ivy League educated couple that decide to see what life would be like without the distraction of electricity and their quest to return to simplicity. I have a feeling that this one is going to be good!

Update on my dish detergent recipe!!

Okay, y'all. The batch I made Monday and had two glorious loads of dishes washed by?

That stuff is BONE DRY in one of my favorite glass jars.

*head + desk*

I've been looking around the internet and have found that happens to a lot of people! The solution?

Instead of mixing your vinegar into your powdered mix, add your powder to your wash in the little cups on the door like usual, but squirt a bit of vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher instead of mixing it into the powder.

AND

You could even just put the vinegar into the little hole where you put the rinse aid, instead of squirting it directly into the bottom of the dishwasher. (This is the method I'm going to start using, by the way!)

OR

You could mix your vinegar into your powdered mix before putting it in, but that sounds like a hassle to me!

Hope no one lost a nice jar because of this like I did. I guess it just didn't occur to me that it would dry up like that in a jar that sealed around the top as tightly as mine. Still strange, but nonetheless, there are usually solutions to snags if you look in the right place!

Thank goodness for the internet and there being lots of crunchy/frugal people in this world that have been there, done that!! :)

Let there be light! And water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!

I ran to the craft store this morning to pick up a new pack of fabric pens. Still no electricity. *sigh* I had already taken care of our animals, straightened up the house, and cleaned my vehicle (some of the few things I could do with no water or power), so we decided to grab a couple of sandwiches from a deli and have lunch!

When we got onto our street, I noticed two trucks from the power company coming down our road. What a good sign! We pulled into our drive way and I looked up at the house just in time to see the light come on in Keelin's room! Let there be light!!

From Monday night to Thursday afternoon, nooooooo electricity.

The things I have learned from this madness:

1. Fill up your bath tub when you know it's going to storm. Just do it. Having two kids 4yrs old and under plus a pregnant bladder and one of those kids in full time cloth diapers... Okay, let's just say, we could have used some water, especially to flush!

2. Having rain barrels absolutely saved my sanity! What would I have done for this long with no water, two dogs, and 29 chickens? I'd have been forced to buy bottled water for the poultry!! I love them and all, but how about a NO?!

3. I don't sleep well with two kids in my bed and one in my belly. I got kicked from ALL sides in the night- quite literally. But there is nothing that can make you feel quite as warm and fuzzy inside.

4.

And #4 is a doozy.

When was the last time you took a good long look at your water usage habits? How much water do you waste? Do you take it for granted? As environmentally minded as I am, I do take my water for granted- yes, even utilizing rain water and trying to be gentle on my well- I take water for granted. The very fact that it comes out of my taps (most of the time) when I turn the knobs is an incredible luxury. But how often do we think of it that way?

We're not entitled, people. Water is a resource and just like the rest of them, we're crapping on it. Or in it, as the case may be. :-/ I will just say, this experience has made me so grateful for the everyday, monotonous running water at my house.

Make it Yourself Monday!!!

Since I came out of the No-Pooing closet, quite a few people have messaged me interested in getting recipes for some of my homemade products, mostly beauty related or bath related. I decided that every so often (i.e. when I run out and need to make more), I would do a post with recipes that I use to make every day products!
Introducing my favorite product of all time: Castile Soap!! This can be used for everything from scrubbing floors to washing babies. It's super concentrated, so keep that in mind when you see how little of it is used in recipes!
Yes, my kitchen is a mess...
I like Dr. Bronner's and Dr. Wood's castile soap, but I've found that the Dr. Wood's is a lot less price-wise than Dr. Bronner's, although Dr. Bronner's is more widely available. You can find it at Target now!
This is castile soap with peppermint essential oils and organic shea butter, so this is what I use to make bath products. Keep in mind, this has no numbing agent like most shampoos, so watch out for eyes.
Since this has the peppermint essential oils, keep that in mind when using it on kids. There are mild versions, especially good if you have a little one with sensitive skin or a diaper rash. Some kids are more sensitive than others. But for us, personally, the little ones really enjoy the minty smell (and Keelin likes the cool tingle, Jackson has yet to comment- LOL)!


This is a jar that once held my favorite oil cured kalamata olives! I'm craving them just looking at the glass jar!

For the kids, I fill the jar halfway with hot water and dissolve about a 1/4 of a cup of castile soap. I called a mommy friend of mine who uses the same thing on her kids and she says that she uses 1 part soap to 5 parts water- gives loads of suds and isn't tough to wash off.
There is no magic measurement, just make sure that you use a lot more water than soap- it's really concentrated!

My no poo recipe is still being adjusted. I make a thick paste out of baking soda and water, scrub it really well into my scalp, and then work it down to the ends of my hair, rinse with cool water, and then rinse with some diluted apple cider vinegar (organic and unrefined ACV is best, but you can use white vinegar in a pinch). Definitely works for me!
I've been reading online and a lot of people seem to use a thinner mixture instead of a paste. The common ratio seems to be 1 TBSP of baking soda to 1c of water. I'm going to try it later!

And here is something I am really excited to share!!!
Homemade dishwashing detergent!
Isn't it pretty?
Recipe:
2 cups of Borax (I bought "20 Mule Team" brand borax at Harris Teeter for $2.50)
2 cups of Baking Soda (or washing soda) (I bought Arm & Hammer, huge box, for $2.50)
4 small packets of sugar free lemonade Kool-Aid (you can also use 4 tablespoons of citric acid--if you can find it) (I accidently grabbed Orange- LOL, hence the color! - $1 for 12 packets)
White Vinegar until it's really wet and soft ($1 for a HUGE bottle)

You use about 2 tablespoons per load and I have had really good results with it so far today!
For $7, I got enough to make enough dishwashing detergent to last for a YEAR!!! That is half of what I used to pay for one small bag of my all-natural dishwashing tabs that lasted not even a month and a half... We cook at home a LOT, hence a ridiculous amount of dishes.

EDIT: My mixture dried solid within a couple of days, which I am sure is caused by my jar not being air tight. Since then, I have mixed my powder together in the jar, using the vinegar in the rinse aid compartment in the dishwasher instead of mixing it with the dry ingredients! Hope that helps!



Next time:
homemade deodorant,
facial cleanser,
moisturizers,
styling spray for no-poo'ed hair,
and homemade laundry detergent!!

Friday, Beautiful Friday!!

People that know me know that I adore furniture that has been taken from a virtual heap and turned into something beautiful! And I have always been in love with Hoosier Cabinets. If you love antiques, then you might know that when they are in good shape, they are expensive!! I finally found one about half an hour away within my budget and picked it up yesterday. I'm so in love! Can't wait to bring it back to life- the picture makes it look like it is in a lot better shape than it actually is. This furniture is going to require a lot of TLC to return it to it's former luster. :) It has an original flour storage unit and I'm hoping to find a glass sugar storage to mount on the inside. The countertop slides out towards you. It seems that this piece of furniture was a favorite of women when baking bread. They used the slide out panel to knead dough and cut out biscuits!

A picture of my precious Keelin! She goes to a 3 morning a week preschool and loves it. She chose, on Friday morning, to wear her tie-dyed t-shirt, turquoise flats, and her breast cancer awareness hair bow. She's just so bright and shiny. I can't get over how delightful my daughter is. Love her!!!

Oh, and before I forget, Tim and I were able to go out for dinner and a movie last night, courtesy of my awesome dad for watching the kids- especially when Jackson stripped naked and peed all over the floor AFTER he was supposed to be asleep in his bed ;)

We went to Basil's & Co., a local bistro that locally sources some of their food- including a lot of their meats and cheeses (Goat Lady Dairy, anyone?!). We shared the fried pickles with horseradish aioli to start with- SO good. Tim got the shrimp and grits, I had a small plate portion of the sirloin with a green salad, truffle dusted shoestring fries, and ordered an extra side, because the asparagus risotto sounded too good to pass up! For dessert, we had a chocolate ganache cake that was so rich, we brought most of it home!! The baby bump enjoyed it, though!

It was really nice to get out for a while together and focus on what we wanted to talk about, no booster seats, enjoy hot food (parents, you know what I'm talking about!), and the movie (Limitless) was pretty good, too. Although by that time, I was ready to go home and go to sleep. I'm too much of an old lady (at 24) to go to a ten o'clock movie! :)

Where do you put the batteries?!

I was playing with my munchkins this afternoon and decided to snap some photos of them playing. I can count on two hands the toys these kids have that are battery-powered. Most of our toys are kid-powered :)

We used to have all of the light up, noise making, Disney character covered plastic junk. The more I researched, got headaches from the noise, and realized that the mess was NOT something I wanted in my home, we started slowly but surely minimizing the number and type of toys in our house. At last count, we have 7 toys that require some sort of power, including the tv that I have in the back of the house for the kids to watch the occasional movie on. The rest is mostly wooden, imagination requiring, and I love it! And so do they!

Keelin trying to use a wooden pizza cutter on a wooden apple stuck together in the middle with velcro. She's wearing a bioME 5 "K for Kangaroo" shirt.

Click here to see bioME 5's organic clothing options for kids!

Here is Jackson playing with the apple and Keelin playing with the darn pizza cutter ;) She's cutting a wooden loaf of sliced "bread" held together with velcro.

They were pretty hung up on play food this afternoon, but you can also see the Plan Toys lace up shoe, and the Melissa and Doug toys- the word matching game, the tool set, etc. We love Melissa and Doug, even though their items are mostly made in China and we wish they would make them here in the U.S.A.

Jackson, making a pizza for his big sissy!

Little mess maker! Keelin would run away before I could take many pictures with her in them. Don't know why she was being camera shy today :-/

So there ya go, y'all! Just a little peek into the toybox. So many people act like our kids are deprived because they don't have TONS of toys or the "latest and greatest," but shoot, they are happy kids and I feel good about what they have to play with. Kid-powered is the way we like to do it at our house :)