Monster High Doll House and Furniture

My daughter, Tori, is addicted to Monster High. She has the new line of dolls and now doesn't even look at her Barbies. I recently donated her Barbie house because it was too big for her room. We wanted something for her Monster High dolls that would also be versatile when she no longer plays with them. We purchased a small black bookcase (Walmart $18.00). I'm currently in the process of making this bookcase into a Monster High doll house. I'm making as much furniture as I can because I've seen the prices of furniture and I really don't want to spend that kind of money to furnish her house. Jeez, the price of furniture for these dolls costs more than the bookcase I bought for the house. It's ridiculous. Tori doesn't want me to alter her Barbie furniture because she wants to keep that furniture for her Barbies. I don't want to battle it out with her about it, since she doesn't play with her Barbies anymore, so I'm just going to make furniture from household items as I find them. I will post pictures of the house when I finish it. I will include tips and links for anything I found useful during the process. I hope other parents can save some money and make their own. So check back and see what I've done. See you soon!

Quote of the Day!

There are two types of pain in this world, pain that hurts you and pain that changes you.

The List...Educating Kids During The Summer

1. Find out what exhibits, events, or concerts are happening in your town over the summer and take the kids to them. Discuss these events with them, let them express themselves freely.
2. Let them help with dinner. They can read the directions and follow them under your supervision
3. Let them write the grocery list. If they are too young, let them draw a picture of the item on the list.
4. Explore around the house if you can't go elsewhere. They can write or draw in a journal, documenting their finds and thoughts.
5. Listen to them read...anything!
6. Let them learn using the computer...here are some educational websites you may be interested in, per http://www.readingrockets.org/:

• National Geographic Kids: offers great nature videos, activities, games, stories, and more
• CoolMath4Kids: take a trip through an amusement park of math and more at this extremely interactive math website
• Smithsonian Kids Collecting: how to start your own collection and see what other kids collect
• Explore Dinosaurs: FAQs and top 10 myths about dinosaurs, a virtual dig, behind the scenes tours, and more from the National Museum of Natural History
• Smithsonian Digging for Answers: a site that tests your research skills and knowledge
• NASA Quest: interactive explorations that engage students in real science and engineering. Topics include robots, helicopters, lunar exploration, and designing your own human-friendly planet
• My Wonderful World: a multimedia tour of our seven continents
• Time for Kids: fun games (The Great State Race), an online weekly magazine written for kids, and news from around the world

I'll be adding to this list but for now, I think this will give you a good starting point.

Quote of the Day!

“Hope never abandons you; you abandon it” -George Weinberg

Quote of the Day!

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Bucket List Update

I want to add a few things to my bucket list...

On October 2, 2012 I wrote:
Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll be 35 years old. This birthday has really got me thinking about things I should have/would have done in my life. I've decided to make a Bucket List to help me decide what I want to accomplish before I die. This will be an ongoing process, I'm sure I will always find things I want to experience. My list is in no particular order and some are more important to me than others. Here I go...I'm starting my journey today.

1. Get my master's degree or, if possible, my doctorate. (Currently working on my bachelor's degree)
2. Have my steampunk or men's jewelry line featured in a magazine
3. Go to Italy and Greece
4. Parasail
5. Waterski
6. Snowboard
7. Donate a LARGE sum to Breast Cancer Awareness & St. Jude Children's Hospital
8. Learn and be efficient in some type of martial arts
9. Go to Paris and take a cooking class
10. Learn glass-blowing
11. Learn to weld

Here are the new additions:
12. Learn a foreign language
13. Learn as many survival skills I can...you know, in case of a zombie apocalypse (Hehe!)
14. Take my kids to Disney World
15. Take my kids to play in the ocean. I'm from San Diego and grew up going to the beach, playing in the water, and then surfing as I got older. My kids have never even seen an ocean, they really should be able to witness it's glory.
16. Go scuba diving
17. Have a large garden *dreams of The Secret Garden* lol

Homemade Laundry Detergent-Liquid

I am so glad I found this recipe. My whole family seems to have sensitive skin and I was buying a name brand detergent that is fragrance & dye free.  That can get expensive, it's really sad that it costs more for a product that has less ingredients in it but I bought it anyways. Now I will no longer be spending that kind of money. The Fels-Naptha has a scent so I was a little weary of using it but I love the scent and it doesn't have any effect on our sensitive skin. So here is the recipe courtesy of http://thefrugalgirls.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html
I have rewritten it so I could add my own notes.

 

Homemade Laundry Detergent-Liquid (makes 2 gallons)

(Under $0.50 per gallon if I get ingredients from Walmart)

1/2 Cup: Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda {not Baking Soda}

 1/2 Cup: Borax

 1/3 Bar of Fels-Naptha Soap {you could also use Ivory soap, but if using Ivory… use the whole bar}

·        Grate 1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap over large pot or saucepan…

·        Add 6 cups of Water.

·         Heat over medium-high until soap dissolves and melts.

·         Add Washing Soda & Borax, and stir until dissolved.

·         Remove from heat and set aside.

*See notes following instructions: After doing the above as directed, I mixed it differently bcuz I didn’t have a bucket

·        Pour 4 cups Hot Water into bucket, then add Soap Mixture (makes 6 cups of soap mixture)

·         Stir, then add 1 Gallon + 6 Cups of additional water.  Stir.

·        Transfer to a bucket with a lid, or pour into empty laundry detergent containers.

·         Set aside, and let it sit overnight, or up to 24 hours, to thicken and gel up.

·         Consistency and color will vary depending on your soap & water ~ it may be lumpy and watery… kind of like a watery gel, but it works great!

·         Stir or shake before each use, as it will continue to gel.

*Notes: I didn’t have a bucket so I made the soap mixture as directed in the pan, I'm splitting the recipe in half after the cooking stage, then I used these instructions: 

·        Pour 2 cups of hot water into a one gallon container (I used 1 gallon Gatorade containers but 1 gallon milk jugs would work)

·        Add 3 cups of soap mixture

·        Then add 11 cups of water

·        This is one gallon. Do the same with the other 3 cups of soap mixture and that’s your 2^nd gallon.

· Set aside, and let it sit overnight, or up to 24 hours, to thicken and gel up.

· Consistency and color will vary depending on your soap & water ~ it may be lumpy and watery… kind of like a watery gel, but it works great!

· Stir or shake before each use, as it will continue to gel.
 

*I use the measuring cap from my old laundry detergent bottle.  I use the exact same amount of homemade detergent as I did the name brand.

Additional info:

 

I use roughly 1 gallon of laundry detergent a per month. I did the math and found I could make a year's worth (12 gallons) of homemade laundry detergent for the same price as one (1) store bought, name brand 66 load (3quarts 4oz - not even a full gallon) container of laundry detergent. That's just crazy!!!