Busy life in the Crafting World

So I have been busy lately. In the last week I was able to complete many projects to help my little apartment become a home. What have I done you ask???

I made a wreath for the front door. This was an awesome and cheap project. I used foam piping that cost a whole 97 cents from Home Depot. I used an old wire hanger to make it easy to hang it on the front door. Then ran to the local craft store and got some yarn and covered it using a little hot glue to keep it in place. I used some chip board and burlap that I already had at home to dress it up. What do you think? My husband says it looks like we live in Apt 1300 A... He's always has to tease me somehow. (The A is for our last name)

This is the wreath no yarn.

My Finished Wreath... I still have to put on the door.

I also made a sign for the dishwasher. My husband has a problem with putting his dirty dishes straight into the dishwasher and it drives me nuts! His excuse has been over and over that he can't tell if the dishes are clean or dirty... so put an end to that nonsense. If you are deciding to make one I hid the magnets by layering the paper. I have 6 small magnets total. 3 on each side and you simply just flip it over to get the clean or dirty sign.

The magnets are at the top.

3 magnets help with the ware and tear.

See it in action!

 
I covered a box in burlap. I got the idea from a pin on pinterest and I'll give the web address here so you can get directions to do it on your own if you'd like. I have 4 more boxes to cover and I will hopefully get them done this week but we shall see.

I don't have drawers in my desk, so I use this instead.

I hemmed my curtains using steam-a-seam... This stuff is amazing, my mother-in-law introduced me to it. If you don't have a sewing machine but want to do something like hem curtains it will be your saving grace, it is so simple. You simply cut your fabric put the two sides you want stuck together, together put steam-a-seam between it and iron away and you've got yourself a seam. It looks great. I did two sets of curtains. Some in my living room and some in my bedroom.

      

 Living room curtains, the green ones are the ones I  hemmed.

Oh another idea I stole from pinterest last week was up-cycling paper towel and toilet paper rolls. I just took my roll cut it to size; wrapped it in duct tape, so it would last longer; and I have an instant cord organizer. I made one for my extension cord, my hot glue gun, and all the messy cords hanging behind my computer. It is a much better organized mess now.

Like the color?!? Walmart has it!

So it is Tuesday and well I was busy yesterday so I haven't crafted or made anything new but I did get a job! Isn't it wonderful? I am part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Home Depot team. All I can say is job hunting sucks and I have a degree and experience to top it off. At this point I grateful that I have an income and benefits. And it's Home Depot so that means I have many more home improvement projects coming my way!

This week I have a lot of projects planned and I am hoping I can get them done so watch for another blog with the updated progress!!!

Love, 

The Wife of A Poor College Student

I see the light!

Window and Glass Cleaner

So we just moved into our apartment not quite 2 weeks ago. Well I noticed the front door window needed to be cleaned pretty quickly but haven't had the time until this morning. We didn't already have window and glass cleaner so I thought I would make it. And all I can say is it is wonderful but I'll give you some pictures to prove it.

Here's what you need:

1 Spray bottle

1Cup Water

1Cup Rubbing Alcohol

1Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar

Steps:

1. Pour ingredients into spray bottle one at a time.

2. Screw on top of bottle and mix.

3. Spray on surface and wipe down.

Tips:

Use newspapers instead of paper towels. They leave behind less lint and work just as soon if not better.

I had to half the recipe because we could only find small spray bottles. See we leave in a small college town and our Walmart sucks. In the end I like my little bottle and it isn't hard to make more so no biggie. Also as little side note 1tbsp equals 3 teaspoons if you have to divide up the recipe to fit into your spray bottle.

Enjoy seeing the light!

I got my recipe from a site comparing couponing to homemade items.... check it out.

As promised...

So here is the homemade laundry detergent recipe I used.

What you need:

1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

3 bars of Pink Zote Soap, found in the detergent isle (you can also Fels-naptha use instead of Pink Zote Soap... Personally I think that the Pink Zote Soap smells better. I found it at Home Depot).

2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (This is optional. I already had a big box of this because I have a poor smelling husband at times. So I just measured out 5 cups.)

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store. I had to go to a few because every Walmart I went to was completely out of Borax.

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add a fabric softener to each load. Or you can buy the smelly crystal thingys... I personally love the smell. To me is smells clean.

Steps:

1. First take a cheese grater ( I got one from DI for $.025) or a food processor and grade your Pink Zote Soap. It looks like pink cheese when you are done. ( Our whole apartment smelled like the soap by the time I was done).

2. Pour all your ingredients into a large garbage bag. ( I used the 3.5 gallon bucket that I store my soap in to hold the bag in place while I did this.)

3. Mix the ingredients well.

4. Pour into your storage container. (I currently do not have a lid for my soap and haven't had any problems with it getting hard or anything like that.)

5. Use about a tablespoon per load.

A few notes it is safe to use in HE washers. I wash all my clothes on cold-cold and have no problems with soap being left behind. As for those of you with sensitive skin this is completely safe.

I am loving my homemade laundry soap and highly recommend it to those poor college wives out there. Or anyone trying to save a buck or go green. The great part about this soap is that it does not use any harsh chemicals. I did read that if you want to use it for baby clothes to use Dr. Bronner's Baby-mild soap bars instead of the Pink Zote Soap and it will be safe for your baby's skin.

I did a lot of research before finally deciding on this recipe. There are many many different recipes out there and I suggest you make a decision that works best for you and your family. Good Luck with the homemaking.

I got my recipe from another blogger... gotta give credit where credit is due. Ps I did copy and paste a little bit from her blog but made a few modifications.

New Theme!

So here I am a wife of a poor college student. I have been applying for jobs and haven't gotten any call backs. I went as far as applying to Wal-mart in the hopes that something will come along. I have a degree and love kids. I am hoping the Lord has a plan for me. Any way in the mean time I have to come up with ways to save money. So what have I done...

We went to Desert Industries or DI and bought an $8 bread maker. My dad sent me his recipe and now we get to enjoy homemade bread that saves us a lot on money.

We went to Sam's Club and bought meat and cheese in bulk. I have separated them out and froze them to save on shopping more often.

I made my own laundry detergent. Which turned out awesome! My husband is 6'5'' and a little over 200lbs and I am 5'8'' and not the smallest woman in town so our laundry baskets fill up fairly quickly. On average I do about 3-5 loads of laundry a week. I doesn't help that we have a small washer. Anyhow the batch I made should last us from 9-12mo worth of laundry! I'll take that.

I coupon but find that when I coupon I am just buying it because I have a coupon. I am well stocked on toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, deodorant, pads, and tampons. So those are all good. I try to be very good about how I spend our little bit of money. But I will get better at is as I grow.

Oh and we got a whirley pop... It is amazing. I highly suggest if you are a popcorn lover like I am. It takes a half cup of popping corn and 3Tbls of oil; I use extra virgin olive oil because that's what we have. I add a little salt and it is perfect. I love it and seeing as I eat popcorn almost of a daily basis we save a lot. However I still have a large box of microwave popcorn my parents got me so I have to alternate between the two. Either way it is all good.

Well that is all for now... I will post the recipe for the laundry detergent shortly. But as the bread recipe goes it stays in the family...

From:

The wife of a poor college student.