You will need Zote Soap, Borax and Washing Soda.

I buy my Zote at Save a Lot on White Horse Road. The Sav Mor on Wade Hampton carries it also.

The only place in Greenville that I have found that carries Washing Soda is Publix.

You can pick up Borax at any grocery store or Walmart.

When I make laundry detergent, I make a double batch so I end up with 5 gallons of detergent. Here I used 2/3 bar of Zote Soap and grated it on a cheese grater. The soap is soft and it is easy to grate.

Next you want to put the grated soap into a sauce pan and add your water. Since I doubled my soap, the amount of water I used was 12 cups.

Once your soap is melted you will add your washing soda and borax. Again, I doubled my amount so I used 1 cup of each.

Once your washing soda and borax have totally dissolved, pour hot water into your bucket. I used 8 cups.

Now take your soap mixture and pour it into the bucket that contains your hot water.

Too that you will add more water. Again, since I am doubling my recipe I added 2 gallons PLUS 12 cups of water.

Here is my bucket of newly finished laundry detergent. I make a lot at one time for 2 reasons. 1) I have a large family and we do a lot of laundry and 2) I don’t have to make it as often.

After your detergent sits for 24 hrs it will thicken up. I like to stir it well to break it up a bit. Your detergent will look gloppy … sort of like Egg Drop Soup. You use 1/2 cup detergent per load.

As promised, here are some BEFORE and AFTERS of my kitchen. I really liked my wall papered kitchen. Loved it in fact, but the seams were starting to pull apart, there were tears here and there and it was getting dingy. As much as I loved it, it was time for a change.

(The above view is from the door that goes into our living room area.)

(This view is from the door that comes in from our laundry room)

There is still much that needs to be done in here as well:

*I still need to paint all the trim work in here.

*New window treatments for sure.

*I need some art work in here as well.

*Right behind the table is a big, empty wall that is just
crying out for something.

*I also think I am going to paint my door knobs to a brushed pewter.
(The brass and white knobs are very dated and should be changed.
I have 52 knobs in my kitchen and laundry room.
The budget does not allow me to go out and buy new ones
so I'll be making a trip to Lowe's pretty soon for some spray paint ;-)

I spent 2 days last week de-cluttering and deep cleaning my kitchen and laundry room. I am amazed at how much I accomplished! I said a prayer every morning before I ever got out of bed asking God to help me stay motivated and on-task. He certainly answered that prayer!

However, even though I accomplished much, there is still much to be done. I don't want to move on from those rooms until I've finished all my tasks. I'm adding the "to do" list to my side bar so I will see what still need to be done.

Last night while I was at Why practice with Andrew and Jessica, SOMEONE left my deep freezer ajar! (I'm thinking that since a little kid golf club was stuck in the door that it was that little 2 yr old boy of mine)

Everything is still cold but it's ALL defrosted!!!!

3 ham steaks, 3 pks of ground beef, 3 pks boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1 pk bone-in chicken breast, 3 pks cubed steak, 1 chuck roast, 2 pks pork chops, 2 pks Italian sauages, 4 loafs of bread I couldn't save, a 5 lb bag of whole wheat flour that is water logged and several containers of homemade soup.

I'm still fighting off this nasty cold and cooking tons of meat WAS NOT in my plans for today!

So far, I've gotten the chuck roast in the crock pot, made taco meat for supper tonight, made spaghetti meat sauce that's now in the frezer and Sloppy Joe's meat mixture that is also in the freezer. Everything else is in the fridge for me to work on a little later today and some tomorrow.

Well, at least I'll be ahead on my cooking for next week, right?

I have been neglecting my living room for too long. Oh, this much used room gets tidied up every night, but cleaned? Um…well we won’t tell exactly how long it’s been ;-)

With my oldest sons birthday party coming on Sunday, it’s the perfect time to get this room spic and span.

My mission today was to get the entertainment center de-cluttered and dusted.

As you can see in my before picture, it was a mess:

Now it’s all nice and neat.

I’d love to do a decorating overhaul here, but you frugal folks know that it’s got to be done in the right time with the least amount of money. So, using what few do-dads that I have, I did the best I could.

I really need to update the kids pictures. I mean, those pics in the middle were taken at Easter 2004! My now nearly 6 year old was 9 months in her picture.

And see that pitiful short frame on the end? Well, that is baby #4’s 18 month picture (he’s almost 3 now). I wanted his picture with the others, but I couldn’t find a matching frame so his picture just got stuck in one and put on the shelf.

I would also like to eliminate several of the pictures on the shelves. Oh, I love them, don’t get me wrong. BUT….there needs to be a few more “pretty-pretties” and a few less kids pictures, ya know?

For the most part, the living room /dining room / study area is de-cluttered. One good part about not having much furniture or many shelves is not having a place to clutter up.

Later in the week I’ll be wiping, dusting, vacuuming and putting things in their place.

For now, I’m happy with what I have accomplished.

Tomorrow I have a meeting at school, then I need to shop for the birthday boy. We’re having a small, family party at home on Sunday . This year he asked for a “cookie cake” which is cool with me. Those are much easier to make than the decorated cakes I usually make. That also means there is no “theme” so the party supplies will be kept to a bare minimum. Simple and sweet…gotta love it!

Well, the kitchen is calling….”Time to get dinner started”…..

I’ve not been deep cleaning lately but I have been trying to keep on top of the day to day stuff and laundry.

Today I’ve got laundry going and I’ve done my daily routine. You know the drill…making beds, washing dishes, wiping the bathroom, taking care of the little boy…

I also decided to try baking bread again. *Sigh* I want to learn how to make those yummy, fluffy loaves of bread but mine always turn out heavy. I tried a new recipe and I think I’m coming close to what I want. This bread turned out fluffier but it was still a bit dense. I think a bit more kneading is required. At least this loaf is okay to eat LOL.

The recipe I used makes 3 loaves, but I didn’t want 3 loaves. I turned part of the loaf into bread sticks for dinner tonight and boy are they GOOD! I used the rest of the dough for cinnamon danish. They look yummy and smell great. I just need to add a powder sugar frosting and we’ll have these for our after school snack.

One other project I worked on today was cleaning out the book case. We have a small book shelf in the living room with some of the kids books. Mostly the little boys books and the older kids keep their books in their rooms.

This book case has just gotten WAY out of hand. Lots of books that are no longer useful to us have been piled in.

Here, take a look…

I got busy and emptied that shelf and sorted through those books.

Here are the results…

SOOO much better! I’ve got lots of great books that will go to a yard sale when ever we have one. Hopefully they will find a good home :-)

Tonight we’re having homemade pizzas and I trying my hand at making pizza dough. The kids have AWANAS tonight and dinner will be early. I’ll get the kitchen cleaned up while they are gone then I’ll be free to enjoy the rest of the night!

For now, it’s the little boys nap time and I may just join him ;-)

Well, here it is. The “After” picture of the boys closet.

Pretty nifty, huh?

It took a while because not only did I clean out their closet, I also cleaned out 9 drawers in the room.

Also, as you can see HERE my littlest is sill not feeling well.

I’m so proud of my clean closets!!

Let’s review…

MY CLOSET: BEFORE & AFTER

THE GIRLS CLOSET: BEFORE & AFTER

and of course THE BOYS CLOSET: BEFORE

Now, the laundry room and the corner of my living room are filled with all the “stuff” that came out of these closets. LOL! I promise it won’t stay there long. Next week we’ll be in the Living Room / Dining Room and that mess will be taken care of.

Eventually I’ll get everything into the laundry room then it will be out the door with all the “stuff”. Where’s it gonna go? Well now, that’s a GREAT question and when I have an answer I’ll let you know.

For now, I’m gonna sit back and enjoy those beautiful closets ;o)

Much better, wouldn’t you say? A place for everything and everything in it’s place :-)

(Click HERE for the “Before” picture)

I think I might label each box so the girls can’t say “I can’t pick it up, I don’t know where it goes.” LOL

Here is the final closet that needs to be de-cluttered…The Boys Room!

There is one of those stinky, clutter-makin’ boys, right there! Doesn’t he look proud of the mess he’s made? LOL! But, ya gotta luv him ;-)

What this picture doesn’t show are all the drawers that are full of stuff all around his room. Those will be de-junked,too.

Now, all of this work I have planned depends on this sick little boy HERE. If he is still stuck to me like glue, the above plan might get thrown out the window.

Wish me luck!

My mission….should I choose to accept it….is to join the “Clean Closet Challenge”. Now, this isn’t just ANY closet. No….this is a closet that is shared by 2 little girls who think cleaning up means dumping everything in the closet.

Don’t believe me? Well, take a look for yourself.

I’ve got to tell ya, I’m a little sacred of this mission. I’m very afraid that once I venture in I’ll get lost and never find my way back out.

However, it must be done and I am just the woman to do it. I’m going to be RUTHLESS. Toys MUST go!!!

If you can’t clean it up you don’t need it in your closet to pull out, right?

I’ll be sure to post after pictures so you will know I made it back from the Great Abyss ;-)

It’s been a busy week, hasn’t it? Have you accomplished what you set out to do? I think I’ve done a pretty good job. Here’s my latest project.

Let’s revisit my closet. Are you up to it? I know it’s a bit scary but it will be over quickly.

That is one cluttered closet! Now this is how it looks when your closet vomits all over you newly cleaned bedroom… *sigh* it’s such a vicious cycle!

Oh, but after that hard work the reward is SO worth it!

Now it will be easier to put away my clean clothes instead of just laying them down on my desk.

I also cleaned out from under my bed. It wasn’t bad, but I did have the kids blocks stashed under there and they needed to go.

I have a couple of drawers I want to go through on Saturday and then my room will be de-cluttered. Well, except for my husbands closet, but I don’t do his closet. I’d never know what to keep and what to get rid of.*smile*

I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished this week. The next time I’m in the master bedroom I will be cleaning it instead of de-cluttering it. I intend for it to be a haven for my beloved and me. Hopefully by the summer I can do some painting and sprucing up in there.

Now it’s your turn. Brag on yourself and leave me a comment.

Be sure to take some time for fun this weekend!

Do you remember this shameful mess from yesterday?.....



And this embarrassed desk?....


Well, take a look at THIS....And THIS....

And one more....Yes, I've been very busy in my bedroom. I got all the Christmas bargains taken to my building and put away in plastic totes. I got all the clothes put away. I cleaned out the desk and only put back what needed to be there. I even polished the desk and cleaned the window.

Oh, there is much more to do but it feels so nice to have this part done.

I won't be home Thursday, so I'll be doing a little bit more in my room Wednesday evening than I had originally planned. The goal is to de-clutter this....



I won't get to the items in the drawers this time. The top two small drawers are FILLED with pictures I need to sort out. This is the type of thing I want to have time to do and once I get things de-cluttered, clean and on a routine, I WILL have time to do it.

Once I clean off that piece of furniture, polish it and wipe down the items that actually belong on the shelves, the room will (for the most part) be de-cluttered.

That will leave the CLOSET! and one drawer in my room that has a few shorts that I need to clean out. I hope to have that taken care of by Friday.

We'll just see how it goes.

How are you doing? Are you de-cluttering anywhere? Deep cleaning? Share how you are doing...I'd love to know.

This will be my last full day in the kitchen. Friday Bloom is having triple coupons so I’m making plans to get done in the kitchen today so I can be gone Friday morning. One great thing about Flylady is that you can customize the program to fit your needs.

My goals for today are to:

• wash the outside of the fridge
• wipe off the ceiling fan (do you have a ceiling fan in your kitchen? have you ever looked at the blades? boy can they get GROSS!!)
• clean any decorative items
• Windex the windows and blinds
• clean out the inside of the hutch and dust well

I’m not sure if I’ll get anything else done or if there will be anything left to do. I feel like I’ve had a very productive week in the kitchen. It looks nice and feels nice. Oh, how wonderful to wake up every morning to a sparkling clean kitchen. It just starts my day off right.

So did I accomplish my goals for Wednesday? Yes.

Did I do anything extra? No.

I got up thinking , “Well, I really DON’T have to make the bed up before the kids go to school. There is no reason I can’t do it after they leave.” But as I was getting them up I looked at the empty bed I was already standing at and thought, “Really, how long will it take? Just do it.” So I went a head and made up those beds.

The same thing happened at breakfast. I really didn’t want to clean up those dishes. All I had to clean up were 3 small plates, 3 forks and 3 cups. I quickly filled up the sink and washed the dishes. They drip-dried in the few minutes I was helping the kids and then I put the dishes away. My kitchen was nice and shinny again.

Dad took the kiddos to school and I thought, “If I just swish and swipe this bathroom, I’ll be done with my morning routine until the youngest gets out of bed and my hubby is done in the master bath.” Swish….Swipe and I was finished.

Want to know what I did next? I plopped my tired self on the couch and went back to sleep ;-) Yep…I sure enough did and it was wonderful. My house was back in order, clean and tidy and I took a much needed rest. How nice to feel like I could do that without feeling like I was neglecting something.

Later, little man got up and had his “cheese grits” for breakfast and dear hubby was off to work. I quick made up the bed and wiped that master bath. Beautiful! (if you look past the clutter in the master bedroom that will be cleaned up once I get to that Zone)

I did wipe over the kitchen cabinets and drawers. It only took a few minutes since I had cleaned them a few weeks back. I then took all the appliances off the counter tops so I could bleach the counter. My counter tops are white-white and stain easily so occasionally I’ll use bleach and hot water to get them nice and clean again. That done, I wiped down the appliances as I put the back in place. “D” and I took a time out for lunch, then I pulled the stove out and cleaned it well, cleaned the sides of the cabinets beside the stove, then swept and mopped under the stove.

I then got ready to pick up the kids from school and guess what?

That’s all I did Wednesday!!! Yep, I just lazed about the whole afternoon.

And it was good…..

• Kids up, dressed, fed and off to school
• All beds made up
• Bathrooms swished and swiped
• Kitchen cleaned up from breakfast
• Over all house is neat and tidy