Frugal Foaming Dish Soap

I really like the foaming hand soap from Bath and Body Works.  I love how the soap comes out all sudsy with no need to lather!  

Well, I wanted to find a way to have that same convenience in my kitchen.  I decided to recycle an empty foaming bottle and make my own foaming dish soap.  

Really there's not much to it...

Reusing an empty foaming hand soap bottle I rinsed out any leftover soap and peeled off the label.

{You can use goo-gone or nail polish remover to get the glue off.}

I added a small amount of liquid dish soap and then filled the rest of the bottle with water.  

Give it a little shake and try it out. 

My ratio was approximately 1 part soap to 6 parts water.  

Of course, if it seems too thick try less soap and more water.

{I had to add a little vinyl to make it more fun!}

I love that it is so easy to use and also stretches my liquid soap a little further.

It is of course not as concentrated as the full strength liquid soap, but it works great for the pre-dishwasher cleaning that I do on most of my dishes and really for all of my general dishwashing.  

{If I have an extremely greasy plastic dish then I can still pull out the liquid soap from under my sink if I need to.}  

It's nice to use a lot less soap for the same sink full of dishes and not even notice the difference!  

Foaming Dish Soap Works For Me!

Twoo Wuv

My little brother...
the one that used to be shorter than me...the one who I thought was such a pest just a few short years ago... my little brother who is all grown up now, is getting married this summer.  

We are so excited for them as they start their new life together!

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Dipping Spice Recipe

This is one of our family's staple recipes and is a healthier alternative to our favorite buttery garlic bread.

I serve this with warm french bread as a side dish for soup and pasta.  

Italian Dipping Spice

(printable version)
Ingredients:

*1 Tablespoon of Each:

Crushed red pepper flakes

Ground black pepper

Dried oregano

Dried rosemary

Dried basil

Dried parsley

Garlic powder

Dried minced/chopped garlic

*1 teaspoon salt
*Extra virgin olive oil

Using a spice grinder or coffee grinder, grind together all dry ingredients.  Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of herb mixture on a plate and drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on top.  Serve with warm bread.  Store mixture in an air-tight container.

Basic Sewing -- Appliques

We were recently blessed with a new little niece in our family.  My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had the cutest baby girl in February.  

{It was so fun to go shopping in the little girl department for a change!}

I wanted to make something handmade for her using some girly fabric that I had been saving for a special occasion.

I started by making a simple monogrammed applique using wonder-under to attach it to a onesie.  Once it was attached to the shirt, I stitched along the edge of the letter using a basic straight stitch.   (A zigzag stitch would be fun too!)

Here's a great tutorial if you need a little more detail.  

I added a little ric rac bow to finish it off.

 

To use up the rest of the fabric, I made the coordinating burp cloth shown in this tutorial.

It was so much fun sewing for my sweet little niece! 

Just Like Daddy

Drew has started to have an "opinion" about what clothes he wears.  

{He has a certain pair of pajamas that he would happily wear all day if I let him.}  

Sometimes it is quite a challenge to get him dressed in the morning.  

  Well this Sunday he decided it was time to start wearing a tie to church.  

He has watched his daddy put one on every Sunday morning and he loves to do everything Daddy does.  

He was so excited to get his tie on, he stood in front of the mirror for a while admiring his new look.

Ready for Church

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