THE VILULA TEA GARDEN

...it was a little tea room in my memories...ladies wearing white gloves and pretty hats; soft and mended old linens on the tables; and heirloom roses in crystal vases....lovely.

March 29, 2012

Dream House

Well, here it is...our dream house...made an offer...it even has a barn and a chicken coop! What more could you ask?

Going Deeper

For those of you who want to go deeper in studying the Bible...check out this blog...it's just great! So many tools and tips...also the Glo-Lite Bible online is a free interactive Bible that you can download...I am so enjoying it! Of course, my main daily thing is as always, Kay Arthur's Precept series...in Jeremiah right now....God is so good!



March 26, 2012

The Prayer Flag Project


n June of 2011, Vivika Hansen DeNegre started The Prayer Flag Project. She invited people from around the world to to join her in making Prayer Flags. Each flag is created in the artists own style, then hung outside for a while, its words and sentiment dissolving into the wind and being spread to all whom the wind touches. They are a living, breathing, kinetic journal of our hopes, dreams and concerns. The Prayer Flag Project... Join us, if you'd like.
This is a wonderful idea, I think...I am going to do it from a Christian perspective; sort of like when you knit a prayer shawl...you knit and pray for the person you are giving it to...so I'll make each one and pray for that person...I have several friends in mind - let me know if any of you do this...I'll post pictures when I get around to it, heehee...life is going pretty fast around here! Just got back from camping with the Sisters at Guntersville..what a beautiful place...we were treated so well!

March 23, 2012

Persnickity...

For those of you who might want to purchase any mixed-media art or wearable art, here is my email...
persnickityart@gmail.com...just sayin'

October Baby (2012)

March 21, 2012

Homemade Laundry Soap from Being Creative to Keep My Sanity!

Homemade Laundry Soap!!


Sick of buying laundry soap?? Me too. This stuff is awesome because it is way stronger then the store bought laundry soap. You only have to use 1 Tablespoon per load. This recipe makes a huge cookie jar full of soap and is going to last a life time, well maybe not quit that long. I originally made mine in July and I still have a ton and I do at least 8 loads of laundry ever week. So I am thinking it will last me almost a year. 1 year of laundry soap for less than $20, have I got you sold yet? I love not having to buy laundry soap all the time anymore. This laundry soap also works just fine in HE washers. Update: **I just ran out of laundry soap and it is March. So July to March that's 9 months of laundry soap for $20 bucks. I am pretty happy about that.**


Here is what you need:
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle

2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle.
(this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better)

(you can also use pink Zote soap instead of Fels-Naptha. I had really wanted to but could not find it anywhere) **Update: My sister found pink Zote soap at Home Depot**

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.

**Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load. I know that does not seem like enough but this recipe does not have fillers like the store bought detergent so you only need 1-2 Tablespoons.**

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add a fabric softener to each load.


Start out by grating your Fels-Naptha soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, what ever you have.
**Don't worry the Fels-Naptha will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water like me.**

Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. This part makes your whole house smell great. Once everything is mixed store soap however you like.
I chose a jar that my sister gave me a few years ago from a little home good store. Then used my Cricut to cut out the word Laundry to put on the front of the jar. I keep it above my washing machine, I also got a little scoop to keep inside. Wasn't that easy? Sure was! Enjoy your soap.


**Update** I have had a lot of repeat questions so I though I would answer a few here.

-This detergent is safe for HE washers and should be added to the barrel instead of the dispenser.
-This detergent is safe to use on sensitive skin.
-It does not have a strong scent, you can add laundry crystals to the batch to add fragrance.
-Some of my followers have used other bar soap instead of Zote or Fels-Naptha. I have personally not tried it but from the feed back I get it sounds like any bar will work.
-Use 1-2 Tablespoon per load.
-WalMart has nice big glass jars in the kitchen department!

Actually, I (Paula) did make this up and used half Fels-Naptha and half huge bar of really good European soap with a delicate rose fragrance (from TJ Maxx)...it works great in my HE washer!!! I will keep making this for sure!

March 20, 2012

Camping with the Southern Fried Sisters!


I just got back from a great campout with the Southern Fried Sisters of Sisters on the fly...we had a ball! Here's my little Queen Bee with the pink door on the lake...Honeycomb Campground was fabulous and they treated us like 'queens'...or me at least, heehee, since I was the Queen Bee! More to come!





March 6, 2012

The Caravan that Time Forgot

Couldn't resist sharing this, seen on FB by a Sister...

March 2, 2012

Collage...


Collage...
Originally uploaded by nursdurkin
I'm working working working at Persnickity!

Linky

Roxy

Roxy

Blogs I love to visit!

My Flickr

www.flickr.com
nursdurkin's items Go to nursdurkin's photostream

The apron I made for theFlirty/Sassy Swap!