Tide Coldwater Challenge

I switched to washing in cold water several months ago in my effort to save energy. However, my hubby insists that whites be washed in hot water.
I was excited to get the chance to give Tide Coldwater a try, mostly on the whites. I've washed 3 loads of whites in cold water, using the Tide Coldwater. SSssshhhhh don't tell my hubby....I haven't told him, nor do I plan to.

I've also washed loads of colors with the Tide Coldwater. I love knowing that Tide is one of the best brands of laundry soap out there and that my clothes are being taken care of.
My daughter just bought 2 new pairs of pants, one purple and one red. I put both in the washer, not paying attention to the other colors I was putting in. There was no bleeding of colors at all.

Admittedly I've not been a user of Tide, but several of my friends will use nothing else. My thought has always been that it was just too expensive for my budget. I was surprised when I did check prices to find that is only a couple dollars or so higher than the brands I usually buy. Proctor & Gamble always has Tide coupons out and it does go on sale. Recently it was on a good sale at my grocery store. Great price and the current coupon was $2 off. I was disappointed to not find the Coldwater formula for sale at my store, but I did take advantage to try another formula that I hadn't ever tried before.

I am including before and after shots of one of the loads of whites I did using the Tide Coldwater.

Disclaimer: I received a full size bottle of Tide Coldwater from SheSpeaks as part of their Tide Coldwater program. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.

Frugal Friday Link Up--4 Uses for Oatmeal

Happy Friday! Sorry my post is so late--I was having a good dream about my dream house and didn't want to wake up LOL Then, I am having some computer issues that I have yet to figure out how to cure. I am giving Google Chrome a try but I'm not liking it.

This past week has flown by. I've had some exciting happenings that deal with my blog and products I will be getting in for review/and or giveaway and some of those things have come in.

Recyclebank is finally coming to my town as far as them weighing what we recycle and earning points. I'm excited. I had been lax in getting everyting recyclable to the cart. Lazy is the word for it. Since starting to put everything recyclable in the cart, we are only taking out the kitchen trash once a week! So, other than when I change litter boxes, our trash cart is staying pretty empty.
While over at the recyclebank website I watched the stream line recycling video. I knew the plastic bag recycle bin was in the grocery stores but never put any thought in to it. Now I am making sure to recycle our newspaper bags, clean zipper bags, bread bags, etc, throwing them into the bin each time I am at the store.

I'm feeling really good about our recycling efforts.

This week, from the 99 Cent Solutions book, I am sharing 4 uses for oatmeal:

1. Tighten your pores. Grind 1/4 cup of oatmeal to a fine powder in the blender. Add 1 egg white and 2 tablespoons of honey. Pulse in the blender to combine and smooth this mixture over your clean face. Avoid the eye area. Keep this on your face for 15 minutes and rinse off with warm water, pat dry and apply a light moisturizer.

2. Scrub your hands. Mix oatmeal, either quick cooking or old-fashioned (not flavored), with enough milk to make a thin paste and scrub your hands well with it. This will remove all that dirt from your gardening or other projects and your hands will feel softened and smooth.

3. Soothe itchy skin. Grind a cup of oatmeal until it's a fine powder. Stir this powder in to your warm bath and soak in it for as long as you would like. This is the exact same thing you are getting when you buy the special oatmeal baths and will only cost you pennies. Oatmeal will soothe itching from chicken pox, poison ivy, and other itchiness. It is harmless and nonirritating. It's ideal for children with eczema.

4. Shampoo a shut-in. Oatmeal and baking soda make an excellent and effective dry shampoo for those who are bedridden or ill. It will soak up the excess oils and neutralize odor. Grind 1/4 oatmeal to a fine powder, then add 1/4 cup baking soda and pulse to combine. Put a towel around your shoulders, or the shoulders of the person to be shampooed. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the mixture over the scalp, working it to the roots. Let it sit for 5 minutes then gently brush it out over the towel.

Let's see lots of link ups this week!

Squidoo Hopping--Come on In and Link Up Your Lenses

Happy Hopping Thursday!

I did manage to get one lens built this past week.    Learning About England.  It's just a start on the lens as we read and learn in the books about England.  It will grow up until my daughters trip, and once she is home I will add photos to it from her trip.

Before making the lens I asked questions in the facebook group and learned new things.  Seems I am learning more and more thanks to being a part of the group.  I had no idea you could click on the pictures in wikipedia and see if they are in the public domain or if you need to give attribution!  I don't know if you can do that on other websites.

I believe I need to make myself a life schedule.  A little off the squidoo subject, but squidoo would be part of that schedule.  A set time each day that I spend specifically working in squidoo, along with set times that I work on other websites, work on my crafts, do schoolwork with my daughter, and do housework.   This wouldn't be an easy task with all the things I do outside the house, but at least the things that are regularly done outside the home could be worked around.

I hope to see many blog posts and lenses linked up below.  Seriously, keep me busy hopping from my blog!

WIP Wednesday--Continuing On!

Another week----projects still continue on!

I have another quilt started.  I'm nervous about not having enough of the cream colored material.  Time will tell as I get further along on it.  I'm trying to sew on it a bit each day.

I'm still trying to work a bit each day on my current toothbrush rug.  I thought it was going to be my biggest one yet, but I see now that I will soon run out of a couple of the types of material.  Another time will tell project.  

I have blue hotpads and coasters going.  Anxious to get these completed to use yarns in my granny squares.  I have 2 more colors picked out for my next set too.

 I didn't get much further on the scrappy quilt that the gal at church is teaching me to make.  I did experiment sewing a few of the triangle blocks.  I can at least get the lines drawn from corner to corner if nothing else on the stacks of light colored squares.

 Here is how my granny square a day is stacking up as of today 1/25/12.  This is across our king size bed.  I'm thinking I will add 3 more squares on to the width.  The white yarn is what I have on there for my sewing together.  I figured leaving long strings on was a lot easier than tying a lot of knots as I add squares.  It's working out great.

 

We are meeting more often than once a month right now for sewing club at church.  We have a LOT of quilt tops that need to be finished and want to get them done and donated.  We are down to just the 4 of us you see in the photo for club.  I do so wish other church members would join us!

 
Tired of looking at my pictures yet?  LOL  That's it for this week.  I have come to a stand still on the table runners.  I have no idea how to sew the tops.  I started to hand quilt around the flowers but it proved to be hard, and it looked really tacky with the pink thread on the maroon back.  I'm thinking of trying circles around the flowers, but haven't got around to trying it yet.  I've made a total of 10 plastic canvas cross magnets.  I should finish those up as far as the rest of the magnets that I have for the back and be done with them.  I've been filling in squares for baby blocks and have enough for almost 3 blocks...another project I should just finish up and move on.

I am finding out about all kind of classes and such through the local quilt shop.   I wish I had known about them already.  I foresee a lot of learning in my future!

I am linking up with the following blogs:
 

Homeschool Journal--We Did It Again!

Yay!  We did it again--we had another good full week of getting schoolwork done.  I'm glad the holiday rush is over and things are seeming to get back to normal.

Sunday the 15th was youth Sunday at the church where Jasmine attends youth group.  She had parts of the service so we went to that church instead.  I wish I had gotten some pictures of her during the service but wasn't sure how that would go over.  It's what our pastor calls "high church".

It's really working out for me to make a list of assignments for her for the week.  Not only to use when we are out and about, but also at home when I am busy "at the moment" with things such as the final touches on making a quilt or well, typing up a blog post.

We are reading books about England as I stated last week.  I've started a squidoo lens--Learning About England--if you would like to take a look.  It's just the start as more learning and more books will be added as we go through the rest of the pile of books.

For math right now we are doing review on the dry erase board.  I am also reading (and discussing) out loud with her out of a Barnes & Noble Basics book called Saving Money.   She is working in the Saxon Algebra 1/2 text book on her own, asking questions if she's not understanding.

I apologize for not having any pictures this week.  I keep forgetting to snap any.  I know that pictures make the blog reading a lot more interesting.  Taking my camera today as I am having an extra sewing club day today and she will be working on her own for the day.