Trying to cut down your grocery bill?

       Let my just tell you, I despise grocery shopping. Not only is it intensely annoying to try to fit kids and groceries in the cart,but it is also intensely annoying to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a boring thing like food and basic supplies. And, let me just tell you, I am no good at couponing. (is that even a word?) It requires time and organization, of which, I have neither. Even when I do manage to scrounge up a few coupons, I forget to use them, or they have some reason in small black writing why it doesn't apply to my purchase. Maybe I should take a class on it, or maybe I'm just a coupon simpleton.
      Anyway, however lacking my coupon skills are, I do know how to boil water...and that my dears, will save you money on your grocery bill. How? Make your own laundry soap!

     I get all of that soap for about ten minutes worth of work and only a couple dollars! You can find the recipe here. Really, if I can do it, I'm fairly sure you can too.
Have a happy Monday!

Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Freshen up those pillows!

       In a book I was reading recently, one designer said she re-upholstered her furniture every six months. Very few of us will ever have the time or the money for that luxury! However, her point was good, and that was, to keep things looking fresh in your home. It doesn't take a multi-million dollar budget to make that one work! I choose to do it by re-arranging a piece of furniture now and then, moving the decor to different spots, and accent pillows. I am all about my pillows. My hubby has ceased to understand my infatuation with recovering pillows. I have two little black ones on my couch in particular that fall victim most often to my various whims of pillow covering.
     They started out with large burlap flowers on the front. That was very scratchy and burlap sheds. After a month or two, I stripped the flowers from the front, and put nice soft cotton flowers on instead.

      I liked these pretty well for two or three months. Sadly, the flowers started looking rather flat and not very lovely. Off they came, and now I have these!

      The lovely thing about pillows is that anyone can customize them to fit your taste whether you are crafty or sew or not. Plain pillows can be bought for very little money if you aren't so inclined to sew one yourself. I just use hot glue to fancy up the front and it rips right off when I'm tired of looking at it! Trim is often on sale at craft stores and you change up the look however and as often as you please without spending exorbitant amounts of money.

      I didn't take pictures while I was doing this, because the idea struck at around 10 at night...not super lighting to take pictures at that time! I just used strips of lace and ruffled ribbon to get the look I wanted. Yes, I realize this is about the eleventh post using ruffled ribbon....I can't help myself, I'm in love with that stuff.
      So what is your favorite way to freshen up the look of a room?

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." Psalm 91:2

Linking to:
Freckled Laundry
Simple Home Life
Six Sisters
Be Different Act Normal
Lolly Jane

     I really love a clean house. Nothing makes me feel more relaxed and peaceful than order and cleanliness. Unfortunately, real life doesn't lend itself to perfectly clean houses seven days a week. The laundry seems to multiply overnight in the baskets, dirty dishes appear out of nowhere, cheerios that were supposed to find a home in a certain little belly somehow are sprinkled generously on the floor, great mountains of miscellaneous things loom on all surfaces and no one seems to know how they got there, and...well you get the point. I cant be the only house in the world that seems to be in a never ending cycle of chaos!
      My method of retaining at least partial sanity is to do at least these four things every day. None of them take very long at all, but instantly make the house feel, at the very least, tidy.

1. Make the bed.
2. Clear the counters and table of dirty dishes and clutter.
3. Sweep the floors.
4. Straighten the cushions on the couch. 

     I think cleaning the focal point in each room helps to make the entire room feel clean. In my little house these four things cover it nicely. I can't do a deep cleaning everyday or have a spotless house every day, but it can be kept under control.
     What do you do to keep your housework from becoming unmanageable?