DIY Foaming Hand Soap and Foaming Bath Soap

Post contains Amazon affiliate links.  See full disclosure here.

I never like to buy foaming hand soap, because I feel like I'm just paying 5 times more for the amount of soap that I'm getting. I had a hard time looking up the soap-to-water ratio in order to make my own, so when I finally got it right, I figured I would post it here to save for all time!

I bought these foaming soap dispensers from Amazon.  You can also just recycle and old foaming dispenser, but they tend to give out after a few refills.



InterDesign Metro Aluminum Foaming Soap Dispenser

I buy whichever liquid soap is on sale, but this is the soap I like best because it's gentle and unscented and I can add in the essential oils I want for scent:

Foaming Hand Soap

1 Part Castille or liquid soap
5 Parts Water

Foaming Body Wash

1 Part Castille or liquid soap
4 Parts Water
1 Part Cooking Oil (olive or avocado works nicely)
Essential oils if desired (5-10 drops)

Instructions: Mix all ingredients into foam soap dispenser. I also usually shake gently before using the body wash because of the whole oil and water not mixing thing. Happy sudsing!

Installing Ikea Kitchen Cabinets Requires Many Uses of the "F" Word...and other things we've been up to lately...

We've almost hit the one year mark on the home renovations, but we're making progress!  We're getting in the kitchen cabinets, with much help of course.

Because it always helps to have a toddler speeding things along.  And by "speeding things along" I mean "Getting every last piece put together tightly before she figures out ANOTHER way to destroy something..."

All in all, it's starting to shape up!

Staph and an Altered Cigar Box

If you happened to see my home renovations post on Mrs. Muffintop, you will know that in order to stay out of the workers' way, our Head of Security and Head of Demolition have been landing us luxurious vacation spots in various emergency rooms and doctors' offices in and around the city.

Not to be outdone by her sister and stepbrother, our Editor in Chief kindly took over for last weekend.  I'll spare the gory details in order to spare her oft guarded privacy, but suffice it to say that it involved an ambulance.

Then yesterday we were right back at the hospital. I rushed the Security Officer there for his fifth outbreak of staph since late December.  Unlike when he got the 24 stitches in his forehead (only click here if you're not easily grossed out), I spared everybody the picture.

You're welcome.

I was in the middle of bringing you my late-ex-grandmother-in-law Olga's delicious tortilla recipe when the Head of Security brought his rather aggressive staph infection to my attention.

The point is...I'm done for.  And I figured it was easier to post pictures of a altered cigar box than to try and finish up a fairly complicated recipe.  Enjoy!

Always let a toddler help:

Why did I bring it outside this time to photograph?  I don't know.

Finished, and ready for the toddler to destroy!  She's already managed to pop off some of the little baubles from the front.

So anyway...tortilla recipe coming soon.  

And That's Why Pinterest is Like Crack: A Valentine's Day Post (aka: All I Ever Want to do is Everything)

At least, I assume Pinterest is like just like crack.  I've never actually tried crack, but I know it's addicting.  And therefore, it's practically the exact same thing as Pinterest.

One of my bigger problems in life is that I want to do everything all at the same time. Son in the ER with a raging staph infection? Great time to teach myself to crochet!

There is almost nothing that I'm not at least a little interested in except maybe tennis and golf.

Sorry for the rotten quality - forgot to check my settings after the camera got back from the shop!

So that's why when I got the email from my toddlers class that they would be handing out Valentines, my first instinct was to hand make them and do a photo shoot, dress her in red either holding a giant heart or tossing heart shaped something or anothers into the air.

Oh it was beautiful in my mind!!!

But then I remembered that my boy has to bathe in bleach three times a week and wash with antimicrobial two times a week and my husband is sick and my step daughter is trying to move out and blah blah blah blah blah...

And even though I could probably redo the Elmo costume to be a GREAT valentine costume, I just decided to just do this:

And of course, I made these for the teachers.  Because...I never know when to stop:

(Here's where you can get the printable.  I just layered with vellum and card stock.)

I even let the kid help make her own Valentines!  

Ok, I let her help on the envelopes, and the insides of the cards.  But still, that's not bad for a recovering perfectionist with a hell-bent-on-destruction toddler "helping":

I STILL want to do almost every single project I've ever seen on Pinterest.

I'd look for a support group...but I still want to learn how to crochet a hat first.

(Mom, Dad, and anyone else who has never Pinterest-ed...here's my Pinterest right here!  Apologies for being an enabler.)

I Think the Emergency Room is Going to Start Giving Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Rewards Points Soon. But maybe just to us...

I feel like I should be thinking up cute and original Valentine's crafts to pin on Pinterest in hopes of driving people here by the truckloads.

But the fact of the matter is, my school's main interest in Valentine's Day is in arguing over whether or not it's appropriate to celebrate in the first place.  Besides, the REAL holiday comes the day after Valentine's Day, when the chocolate goes on sale for half price.

I did learn how to make these cute socks from watching this video from the Chicken Chick:

I suppose that if I REALLY got my act together, I could buy some heart shaped beads and make the Head of Demolition festive footwear for Valentine's Day.

We're still getting tiled around here - the living room is more or less done now:

I say "more or less" because apparently the entire thing needs to be sealed.  I don't know how that's going to go, since our Chief Content Provider and Head of Demolition is hellbent on spreading as much food on the un-sealed floor as is humanly possible.

Don't be fooled by the sweet smile in this next picture.  I'm sure she was thinking something along the lines of, "Thank you for this delightful palette with which I can create my masterpiece!  I'd like to transform the tile into a gorgeous shade of purple and red reminiscent of Jackson Pollock yet with a smeared and ground in look."

Meanwhile, we've doing our best to keep the pediatrician, urgent care facilities, and emergency rooms in business this month.

Our Head of Security has been battling Staph tooth and nail since late December.  He deserves a medal for the trudging through his midterm exams (and getting mostly As!) with his various ailments.

But, he had to settle for Phish Food.  Amazingly enough, that was an Amazon affiliate link (meaning I will make like 8 cents if you buy the ice cream upon clicking it - see full disclosure here.)

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would buy ice cream from Amazon. I just wanted to see if they sold it.

Happy weekend all!

Digestive Disease and Washi Tape

In case anyone thinks that just I'm just letting my Partner in Crime do all the work around here while I just sit around and eat bonbons, that's totally not true.  While he's been getting all the wiring and lighting done in the kitchen, I've done some very important stuff!

Like, for instance, I color coded our drinking glasses with washi tape:

Seriously.  I did that.

And not only did I do it, but I stand by it as the best thing I've ever done with washi tape.  Six people make a TON of dirty dishes, especially if the tendency is to drink out of more than one per day.

If the colorful tape weren't enough to encourage people to use their same drinking glasses day in and day out, I threatened them with their lives if they didn't follow my ingenious plan.

So far so good.

I also made four of these hand soap dispensers.  Because I can never find the foaming ones that I like for anything less than, say, $12 and who wants to spend that when we already have tons of jars hanging around for the taking?

Plus my partner in crime has this most wonderful clippy cutty thing that made making the holes in the lids so easy.

I sort of glanced at the instructions on this web page before totally ignoring them and doing my own thing.  As usual.

Last but not least, I've been looking to solve the eternal problem of the Head of Destruction destroying every spice in the entire house.

I know she's only doing her job, but cleaning up all that parsley gets old fast.

In case you're thinking, "That's it?!?" don't worry.  There we still have a giant box and two baskets of spices that are not represented here.

Because I forgot to count the number of spices before ordering the jars.  So these are the ones that are lucky enough to be stuck to the side of our fridge using magnets.

Meanwhile, the tile is coming along.  Sort of.

I did mention I had a Twipply Skwood old style photo, right?!?!  Please excuse the quality (or lack thereof) since I had to take it in the rain on a cell phone.  But I've always wanted a picture of the Denny's and Subway right next to the Digestive and Liver Disease Clinic.

Convenient, no?  You can get the digestive disease and cure it right in the very same plaza!

Aside from the Editor in Chief having the flu (and me not having a flu shot), that's about the news from here!

If you'd like to see more of the kitchen renovation, try these posts!

1) Walls May Come and Go But Toddlers Requesting Breakfast Out of the Garbage is Forever

2) If Only We'd Have Known We Could Have Just Locked the Cat in the Bathroom, We Wouldn't Have Had to Do this Whole Kitchen Renovation Thing

3) Our Kitchen Renovation Has Leaked Out All Over the Living Room

Our Kitchen Renovation Has Leaked Out All Over the Living Room (and the Demise of "Dat Be Nice")

Well people, what can I say?  I tried out the link party thing, and although I enjoy it, it really does take up a lot of time.

I really don't want to do this thing if I can't do right by the people who take the time to link up.  I've pinned and commented and shared.  And while as the cliché goes, it's been real and it's been fun...my toddler ("Me not baby!") is jealous of the time spent.

And so...I'm putting out this one last Dat Be Nice so I don't leave anyone who comes by hanging.

Mean time, here are the features from last week!

Most clicked and my favorite (I might do this one with my class!) were cupcakes for the birds from Crafts a la Mode:

Fun, right?

And most pinned were these yummy looking cookies from Shoestring Elegance that I will definitely have to try making kind of soonish, because my Partner in Crime adores shortbread:

Meanwhile, in the home renovations department...for reasons too long and boring to explain, we can not move forward on the kitchen cabinets.  But my Partner in Crime did get a bunch of outlets put into the one-day kitchen:

We moved all of the books out of the study.  Who'da' thunk that so much dust could collect behind books in a mere 6 years or so?

And we moved them somewhere totally more convenient (like the middle of the doorway to the living room), so that we could have tile put in.

Also my Partner in Crime installed an extra shelf in my closet:

So that now I do the majority of my crafting in the bathroom.

And that's about what's been going on around here!

I have a real, honest to goodness old school Twipply Skwood silly sign picture in the works, along with some soon to be taken photos of the tile.  But that will have to wait since this post is already way too long.

Please link up if you are so inclined and thank you folks who are bearing with me as I explore all the terrain that Blogsilvania has to offer!

An InLinkz Link-up

Mama Overkill

Mama overkill:

Any project that takes ten times longer to complete than the child will spend destroying it.

Any time a tweezer is used on a project intended for a two year old's use.

And any time I pick up a needle and thread.  Ever.

Much inspiration from here and from my friend Jodie, who I can only figure out how to link on instagram.