Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day

I love searching and earning with Swagbucks. I always get the Amazon gift cards. And since Amazon always has something that I need, I'll keep searching and earning with Swagbucks. :)

Homemade Fabric Softener

I hang my laundry outside on the line, year round, no dryer here.

Well, we own a dryer, it's out in the shed. And it doesn't really work. You can run it 2 hours, and the clothes still won't be dry. So I had my husband move it out. No since taking up space with a very large metal box that doesn't do anything except collect junk of top.

I don't like using store bought liquid fabric softeners as they all smell like chemicals. Yes, they try and pretty them up with scents, but really, all I smell is chemicals. And then the chemicals on the clothes come off on our skin all day long. Not something I want for my kids. Or me.

Plus, it's dangerous to use fabric softeners on my husbands work clothes, as if exposed to flames, it will ignite on the clothes, and cash a flash fire on the clothes. My husband had this happen to him when he was welding. We later so a news report on it, and figured out what had happened. If you do a search, you'll see that this does happen and it's very dangerous

I often use plain vinegar as a fabric softener and it works well for most clothing items.

Sometimes,though, the jeans and towels will still be a little stiff when I take them off the line. I found this recipe for Homemade Fabric Softener online somewhere about 3 or so years ago. I don't remember where, though. This works great on jeans and towels!


Homemade Fabric Softener

2 cups baking soda
2 cups vinegar
4 cups water

Put the baking soda in a large container. Add the vinegar, then the water.
I do this in one of the vinegar bottles that I saved. Just make sure you do mix it in a container large enough, or you will be cleaning up a volcano!

Shake well before using each time.

I used to use one of those fabric softener balls and fill it up to the line. My new washing machine (ok, it's 2 years old now) has a fabric softener dispenser, so I pour it in there.

Works great! Saves money! And no unwanted chemicals!


For more frugal ideas, visit:
Frugal Friday at Life as Mom
Fantastic Frugal Friday

Linda's Lunacy Thursday's Giveaways

I love entering giveaways, and have even won a few things. I really love hosting giveaways on Linda's Lunacy. It's so much fun to give stuff away!

So I thought I'd start a giveaway linky to make it easier to find lots of giveaways.




<a href="http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5076399356_61a6ac4b87_t.jpg" alt="Linda's Lunacy" width="150" height="150"/></a>

The posting of my button is not required, but help in spreading the word that Linda's Lunacy has a giveaway linky is greatly appreciated! So thank you!

Adding your giveaway to Linda's Lunacy Thursday's Giveaways is very easy! Just use this format, please.

Blog name - name of item being given away - ending date

See? Easy!

Please, only link family friendly giveaways. My kids read here, and anything not family friendly, will be promptly deleted. Sorry, but it's for my kids. :)

Have fun, and I hope you win something!

Wordless Wednesday - The Teddy Edition

No Teddy Bears were harmed in the taking of this picture.  :)

For more pictures, visit Wordless Wednesday,
Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom ,
Say "Cheese" at It's a Blog Party
A Beautiful Mess,
Live and Love Outloud,
Attic Girl
Shibley Smiles
Angelica's Awesome Adventures
The Florida Hogans
The Life of Rylie & Bryce, too
Mama to 4 Blessings
Wordy or Not So Wordy Wednesday

30 Day Giving Challenge

For the month of November I'm participating in the 30 Day Giving Challenge.

I participated last year, as well. However, due to being sick, I was unable to give something on all 30 days.

This year, I'm hoping and praying to complete the challenge.

Our family works in a clothes ministry at our church. We take the donated clothes, sort them, put them out in the Outreach Center for people to come in and get for free. We also fill up our church's fellowship hall with clothes every couple of months, and have the public come in and get clothes for free. We advertise this in the local papers and on local radio, so we usually have a pretty good turn out. We are having another giveaway this Saturday.

Here are a few pictures that I posted back in March of the fellowship hall full of clothes.

All that takes our family quite a bit of time. So that's how a lot of the days for this challenge will be spent.

Of course, I will be doing other things as well.

For example, yesterday on Day 1, I gave away the chocolate covered cherries that my husband brought me to someone that was having a hard time and needed some cheering up. And no, I didn't give them to myself. lol

Giving doesn't always involve money.

It's the giving of yourself that makes the biggest difference. So some days of the challenge will be giving of myself and my time to others.


There's still plenty of time to join, visit the 30 Day Giving Challenge

My Monthly Lists

Last week, I shared my Weekly Lists, and before that, my Daily Lists. This week, it's on to the monthly lists. If the daily work is done regularly, the weeklies are pretty easy to do, and they go fast. And if the weekly work is done regularly, the monthly work is pretty easy to do.

Is everything on the list done? Not always. Some months, I even skip tasks. *gasp* I try and make a note if I skip something, so I make sure and get it done the next month.

My lists are a tool to help me take care of my home, not something that has to be followed no matter what. I have learned to not be so hard on myself when it comes to my lists. See, I'm a perfectionist, and can have a hard time with not doing everything perfectly.  I've learned, (and am still learning) to put people before the lists. While still getting to the lists. :)

Here are my monthly cleaning lists.

Schoolroom
clean rug
cob web duty
cull bookshelves
rearrange tops of shelves,cabinets
dust above shelves, put everything where it goes
find things we don't use anymore to give away
clean light fixtures


Master Bedroom
clean out dresser drawers
cob web duty
clean closet shelves
wash shower walls
clean carpet
clean light fixtures
declutter
turn mattress
mop bathroom
wash rugs

Living / Dining Room
clean light fixtures, ceiling fan
cob web duty
clean carpets
wipe down doors, light switches
move furniture and vacuum under

Kitchen
wipe down laundry room door, inside and out
straighten drawers/ cabinets
clean light fixtures
cob web duty
dust above cabinets
wash rugs
wipe step stool
clean off top of fridge
clean oven
move stove and fridge, clean under

The kids do their own bedrooms and bathroom. Their lists are similar to mine.

Next week, I'll share how I came up with my lists.


For more homemaking ideas, visit
Homemaker Monday
Tackle it Tuesday
Homemaking Link-up at Raising Homemakers
Works For Me Wednesday

Some news!

Hi there,

It has been quite a long time since the last blog update, so let's catch up! Development has been slow last months, and if you are a regular PS3 user of the streaming, transcoding and/or remuxing features, the 1.10.5 build is still a good candidate to experiment the ps3's media capabilities, despite some shortcomings (audio/video compatibility detection based on extensions, slow media library for those using it, etc.)

However interesting features are on their way with newer beta versions (currently experimented in the forum if you feel adventurous) such as:

- Better media parsing, thanks to mediainfo.sf.net: This allows for faster browsing, accurate format detection and automatic launch of the transcoder if required (still not 100% perfect, but closer than ever :p)
- Other media renderers support, such as connected TVs. It's a work in progress, so not everything works out of the box. Sony Bravia models are the best supported right now.
- Proper video remuxing, and DTS support for DVD ISOs.
- Many fixes, feature requests, etc.

A stable and proper version will come in the following weeks, stay tuned !