So what? I like to make things!

My hubby often time teases me about being "Amish". Now mind you, I would have thrived had I actually been born Amish and I would LOVE every minute of it. But he teases me none the less.

I'm a very crafty person. I enjoy working with my hands and creating something from a pile of stuff that isn't really anything on its own. I love cooking, crochetting, scrapbooking and just plain old crafting. I'll try just about anything once.

Recently a friend told me about a friend of hers that has started making her own laundry soap. I thought the idea sounded great and decided to try it. Let me be the first to tell you that if you haven't tried it, you should! The stuff is fabulous! You can find the recipes here. I personally used recipe #4. I think at some point I may try one of the liquid types, but for now the powdered one is sooooooo easy, I think I'll stick to it. I'm on my second batch and I still have supplies left from my original purchase. I've been completely happy with the results of this detergent and have passed on the recipe and a sample to my mom, MIL, and several good friends. I also tried the white vinegar in the rinse cycle to remove any leftover soap residue (it actually acts as a fabric softener surprisingly) but it does leave a slight vinegar smell in my clothes so I put one dryer sheet in with the load in the dryer. Another GREAT side effect of the vinegar in the rinse cycle is that it will brighten your clothes like no body's business! I was shocked! The whites were whiter and the colored clothes were brighter. I love the whole idea homemade laundry soap and vinegar rinse.

In addition to making my own laundry soap, yesterday I was perusing the grocery store and came across plastic freezer jam containers by Ball. These were located right next to the SureJell. I thought they were cute and decided to buy some. So I did and I bought the SureJell too. I already had strawberries in my cart so I was well on my way to homemade jam! My mom has preserved jam and jelly for our family for years and it always tastes better than store bought varieties. This combined with the fact that my 4yo will not eat jam with "chunks" made it really easy for me to decide that I wanted to try and make my own jam. I'm calling it jam even though it doesn't have "chunks" because I did use the whole fruit (not juice) but I did puree the crap out of it so as to remove any trace of "chunk". This process was soooooo easy again and it made me 6 cups of jam. I put one in the refrigerator and the other 5 plastic Ball containers in the freezer for later use. My son was so excited to see that I was making him special jam that he asked me for a PBJ for dinner last night. I of course declined because the jam had not finished setting. :) The whole process to make this jam took about an hour. Not too bad for homemade jam! I will do it again. The recipes come inside the SureJell and they give you lots of ideas for different varieties. I think I might make some up for gifts at Christmas too.

I know that being Amish is a lot harder than just making homemade soap and homemade jam, but I think they have the right idea and I might adapt more of their simple living lifestyle. Not only do I get to be "crafty" but I end up with something useful out of the deal too...and I save a bit of money in the process. Not too bad for a days craft.