Homemade Laundry Detergent

I just made my second batch of laundry detergent this morning because I love it!  I don't know how long the first 5 gallons lasted me, but it was a long time, it's now November (I just ran out) and I believe I made my first batch in early summer.

This is a variation on the liquid laundry detergent recipe posted at www.duggarfamily.com.  I've made changes to this recipe due to the VERY hard water where I live.  You can adjust this recipe to suit your needs by adding or reducing the amount washing soda and borax that you use. 

4 Cups - hot tap water
1  bar - Ivory soap (or Fels Naptha)
1 1/4 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
3/4 Cup - Borax
1 - 5 gallon bucket with lid

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser 2/3 full with soap and then fill rest of way with hot water. Shake before each use.
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes abiout 7 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 1/2 Cup per load
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load

*In my top load machine I also add 1/4 cup white vinegar to the fabric softener spot.  No,  my laundry does not smell of vinegar when it is finished washing and I don't need to do extra rinses either.  The vinegar just leaves my clothes and towels so soft, it also prevents/eliminates any detergent build up.

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores in the laundry aisle or may be purchased through several online retailers. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Stuffed Owl Tutorial

I made these stuffed owls make for a fun sewing project, I made both of them in less than 2 hours, and that included, making it up on the fly, taking photos, and a phone call!  They stand about 6" tall.

Materials:
Basic sewing supplies
1 fat quarter of quilting style cotton (you will probably be able to get 3 owls out of 1 fat quarter)
Small squares of felt in black, white, orange, and color desired for wings. (Fleece also works for the wings, you just want something that won't fray.)
Fabric Glue
Fray Check
Polyester Fiber Fill (or desired stuffing)
Scrap fabric & dry beans (optional)
Owl Template: I used this template and did some edtiting on my computer to come up with these that I used: 1 & 2.

Steps:
1. Cut out your pieces: 2 bodies, 1 beak, 2 puplis (black), 2 eyes (white), 2 wings (make sure to labels thes right and left).





2. Use your fabric glue to glue the pupils to the eyes. 








3. Use a small dot of glue to secure eyes, beak, and wings to the body.  Use only a small amount of glue for these parts since you will also sew these pieces, the glue is only to help keep them in place for sewing.  Allow glue to dry for a few minutes.











4. Stitch very close to the edge with matching thread around the eyes, beak, and outside of the wings.  You will notice that I used white thread on this beak, I will be getting orange thread the next time I go to the fabric store!








5. Pin owl bodies together, right sides together.  Fray Check both pieces around the bottom of the owl between the wings.  Stitch with a 1/8" to 1/4" seam allowance leaving a 2" gap at the bottom of the owl between the wings for turning and stuffing.  Make sure that your edges match up precisely.












6. Clip the points of the ears and the curve between ears, DO NOT clip through the seam! 




7. Turn your owl right side out!  At this point I ironed the bottom opening to make it easier to stitch closed.

8. Stuff your owl.  Here you can use scrap fabric to make a little pouch to fill with dried beans to put in the bottom of your owl.


9. This is where you would create a simple pouch, fill with bdry beans, sew the pouch closed, and insert into the bottom of your owl.

10. Sew up the opening in your owl, this works best by hand. Use a ladder stitch.  You're talking to a woman who hates sewing by hand, but this really does work better by hand.

Have fun!

If you love these owls but don't want to make your own I'm offering them for sale for $10.  Shoot me an email or check out my shop for details: AnnabellesBasket@gmail.com  http://www.facebook.com/AnnabellesBasket

*Use this tutorial however you like, all I ask is that you don't undermine my business by selling these owls in your own shop, thanks for understanding.

Holiday Shopping

It's always nice go give, or recieve a handmade gift.  I want to try to make that easier for you!  Over the next few months, I'm going to be working hard between custom orders and my toddler to get some ready to ship items made up so that you can easily give handmade gifts this holiday season.

For the most part these ready to ship items will be items that I don't normally sell and they will only be available as you see them.  There probably won't be any clothing, so if you want a special outfit please contact me using the contact tab on my facebook page.

Some of the goodies I'm planning to make: doll diaper sets, crochet purses for little girls, aprons (if I can really get my act together), checkbook covers, and anything else that seems fun to me.

As you start to think about those special holiday outfits don't forget about Annabelle's Basket.  Many of my pieces can be layered for a fun new look!  The Aliyah Pinafore can be layered over a solid tee for a super cute playdate look.  The Twirly Skirt can be paired with tights and a longsleeve top.  The Tea Party Dress can be paired with tights and a purchased cardigan style sweater, the Tea Party Dress is perfect for a special occasion and comfy too!  The Kaitlin Peasant Dress is designed perfectly for fall and winter wear.  Capris are perfect throughout the fall, and don't forget about the Emily Tier Dress, tuck the straps in and it can be worn as a skirt!

Homemade Sugar Scrub

This is not a new or original idea, I've seen it on several blogs all over the place.  This worked so well and ends up being pretty inexpensive per jar.  I'm thinking of making this as favors or prizes for a baby shower I'm throwing in a couple of weeks, I think that moms, grandmas, heck, all women would love this.

All you need is a small jar, regular granulated sugar, and liquid soap.  I used Dawn Hand Renewal with Olay because it smells good and doesn't dry out my hands like some dishsoap can, my regular sugar that I use for baking, and a small jelly jar that I found around the house.

Fill the jar about 3/4 full with sugar.

Fill the rest of the way with soap.

Stir with a butter knife.

I found that I needed to add some extra sugar and soap to fill the jar and get the consistancy I wanted.

Then I just made a label and glued it to the lid.

I used this after digging in the garden and my hands are clean and oh so soft!  You can have lots of fun with this making all kinds of different scents!  With the holidays right around the corner, this would makea great gift for mom, grandma, the neighbor, or an office gift exchange!

Painting the Sidewalk

I know I don't have many followers, but I thought it would be fun to share some of my crafty fun with those of you who do follow!  As you may have noticed, I'm rather crafty, I love creating fun things and my daughter is following in my footsteps.  She loves to paint and color!

So last night we decided to chalkpaint the sidewalk.  The paint is simple to make, cornstarch, water, and food coloring.  There's no ratio of cornstarch to water, just put some cornstarch and food color into your container, I used a muffin tin, then add water and mix.  My mixture was pretty wattery, which made it really easy to paint, but it took a while to dry.

You'll want a fair amount of food coloring, several drops, because the paint dries with an opaque chalky look, if you don't use enough coloring you won't have nice colors once the paint dries.  It washes off easily and I don't think it will stain, but we decided that we don't care if it stains, because she's only this little once, so we might as well have fun!

Have fun painting!!

Birthday Giveaway

My baby girl will be 2 years old this month.  I can't believe so much time has passed since I first met my beautiful daughter.  At Annabelle's Basket I want to have a special giveaway to celebrate her birthday.  There's only one catch, we have to get to 500 fans on the facebook page before June 28.

~One lucky winner will win at $20 credit at Annabelle's Basket, good on your next purchase of $40 or more.
~A second lucky little girl will win a reversible pinafore or the chance to be the first to try out and own one of my newest additions, not yet revealed, the Ruthie Ruffled Romper!  (If a boy momma wins, you'll recieve a pair of Board Shorts)
*Fabric selections from ThousandsOfBolts
*I ship to Canada!

FOUR Ways to Enter:
1. You MUST be a facebook fan to win, post a comment with your facebook ID.
2. Post a photo on my facebook page of your child wearing something from Annabelle's Basket.  This can be a non identifying photo (ex. back or side shot).  One entry per outfit, if you have bought 3 outfits from me, your are eligible for three photos and three entries.  Leave a comment here with a link to the photo.  If siblings etc. each have an outfit they can be in the same photo, just make sure you post a seperate comment with link for each outfit/piece.
3. Share this giveaway on facebook or any other forum, leave a comment here with a link to the post.
4. Any new order placed between June 1 and June 27 will recieve 1 entry, post a comment here with your order number.

2 Winners will be chosen at random sometime on June 28 and posted here and on facebook.  Winners will need to email AnnabellesBasket@yahoo.com within 24 hours to claim your prize.  It's okay if you're not ready to use your $20 credit, I just want to know that you know you won.