Friday Freebie! 15 page preschool Christmas Fun Pages from Mama's Learning Corner!

I am printing these off as we speak!  Great entertainment for the little ones so we can get some crafting for Christmas done!  Sure beats TV!

Find them HERE at Mama's Learning Corner!.

She has lots of great freebies so be sure to check them all out!

EASY 3 ingredient No Grate, No Cook Homemade DIY Laundry Detergent PLUS Free Printable Labels To Go With It!

I had originally intended to make the laundry soap that requires grating a bar of soap and cooking it all.  I loved the "green" appeal removing all those weird chemicals, and the money saving side of things.  The thing that stopped me (after I bought everything for it of course) was the fact that I did not have a place to store 5 gallons of laundry soap and grating and cooking really didn't sound that fun. I am 7 months pregnant, and have 4 other kids to chase after to occupy my time!  

This recipe is SO fast that I whipped it up at 9pm at night in 4 minutes flat! This recipe is DIRT CHEAP and works well. All you need are a few simple supplies..

Then I saw a simple recipe THANKS to One Good Thing by Jilee!

DIY No Grate, No Cook Concentrated Laundry Detergent 

3 Tablespoons Borax

3 Tablespoons Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda)

2 Tablespoons Dawn or other non bleach effective dish soap

All you do is pour those into a jar or plastic container like your old laundry detergent bottle if you prefer.  Then add 4 cups boiling or really hot tap water to the mix to dissolve it all.  Once it is dissolved simply add enough water to make 1/2 gallon.  Because this is concentrated I only have to use 1/4 cup of the mixture.  You can always see how you like it and adjust how much you need based on your size of load and level of dirtiness.  I used a palmolive dish soap but many swear by blue dawn (specifically the blue one) for it's amazing degreasing abilities.   You can buy all these supplies in the laundry isle at walmart.  I had to ask because they were tricky to find but they had all of them and they were very cheap.

Now if you want to be all practical you can simply make this mixture in an old fabric softer bottle or laundry detergent container, but I wanted mine cute.  I have been slowly redoing the laundry/entry/crafty/office space so I wanted mine to look nice.  Notice the beautiful ironing table /counter surface on the washer and dryer under the laundry detergent?  I just redid that and you can see my ironing table/counter tutorial HERE.  Needless to say I was trying to get rid of the big ugly plastic red jug so here was my solution.

I used an old 1/2 gallon Vlasic pickle jar, some scrap fabric, the free printable labels I provide below and fabric starch to modge podge it all on.  So just to clarify I did not use modge podge, I used fabric starch in it's place.  It's much cheaper and I happened to have some from my DIY Silly Putty Tutorial a while back.

Here is how I did it.

I created the free printable laundry labels for you using Cathe Holden's very cool apothecary labels I blogged about earlier in my post on  Free Printable Labels where I gave you TONS of links to great printable labels.  Those labels are available to download and customize.   For this project I did all that for you already.  You  just need to right click on the image below and open it in another window and print.

I used a rotary cutter and cutting mat with ruler to get a nice straight edge on my fabric (you cold of course use scrap book paper here too) when I cut it to the width I wanted.

Next pour some liquid starch ( a few bucks at walmart in the laundry isle) into a container and lay the fabric down into it so that it is fully coated.  Then use your fingers to strip off the excess as you pull it out.  

Now place it on the jar just the way want it.  It slides around nicely while you adjust it unlike other adhesives like straight up glue.

 

You do the same thing with the label making sure it is coated with the fabric starch and then simply place it over the fabric where you want it.  Be warned if you use really cheap ink like I do in your printer it may fade a little.  Mine didn't really do too bad but it can happen since we are dipping it in so much liquid.

 To cover the lid with fabric trace a round shape the same size as the top of your lid and cut it out.  Then dip it in fabric starch and place on top the lid.

 For the edges you can cut a thin strip again using your rotary cutting tool, cutting mat and ruler.  Dip in fabric starch and place around the lid.  Would it be nicer to paint the lid first?  Probably, but I didn't want to go get the spray paint out.  So I went with what I was already using.  Below is a picture I did with another of the labels I provided above.  That is the nice thing.. You have lots of choices.  You can adhere the label straight to the jar but I just wanted to add the fabric for decor reasons as that is how I roll!

I really love the results.  So just to recap.. the soap takes all of 4 minutes to make and costs pennies.  You don't have to bother with all the jar decorating, but how fun would that be?  What do you think?  You gonna give it a go?  I didn't give a price breakdown earlier but it is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP to make this soap and it works just as good as other detergent. It is very low suddsing so you can use it in a HE front loader like I do. You can even try scenting it with essential oils, like lavender.  I think when I am done posting this for you I will go grab my lavender essential oil and do just that!

The Tomato Sauce Recipe No One Should Live With Out! A Famous 4 Ingredient Sauce That Happens To Be The BEST Tomato Sauce Ever!

I know what you are thinking... How can a simple 4 ingredient sauce be the best sauce ever?  I am sorry to admit that I usually buy my tomato sauce.  It is such an easy nice thing to have on hand.  I have made crock pot sauce, stove top sauce and it has been good but a little labor intensive and not really that  much better than the jar sauce.  I know it is healthier, but sometimes you just don't have time for all homemade.  In fact, I had jarred sauce in my cupboard when I went to make a baked pasta dish the other day.  When I was looking on line for a good pasta bake recipe I landed on one that included this tomato sauce.

Photo courtesey of The Kitchn where I found this great recipe!

The blog post raved about the richness, smoothness and deep flavor of this sauce.  It looked so simple and I had all the ingredients, because who doesn't have 1 onion, salt, butter and a can of tomatoes?  Evidently this is a true Italian recipe by Marcella Hazan from a cookbook called Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

So here it is!  The simplest tomato sauce recipe you will ever make that give you rich, full flavor, mouth watering results!

Marcella Hazel's 4 Ingredient Tomato Sauce Recipe

1 onion cut in half

1 28 oz. can plumb tomatoes

5 Tablespoons salted  butter (I did not use all 5 Tablespoons, and it was still delicious)

Salt to season to taste. ( I like sea salt)

Throw all of the ingredients into a pot and simply simmer this concoction for 45 minutes or so on the stove top.  The butter adds an incredible richness and really brings out a deep flavor in the tomatoes.  Now Marcella says to remove the onion all together.  I tasted it and it was delicious!  However, I decided to leave it in for the added nutritional benefit and just used an immersion blender. Now prepare to be amazed! INCREDIBLE! 

That is it!  You can memorize this classic recipe and have a quick fix for any night you are in need of a quick supper.  Just toss this over whole grain pasta, or add to any recipe calling for tomato sauce.  I would imagine this would be great to make in large batches and can!  Then you can have the convenience of jarred sauce and all the goodness of homemade taste!  Let me know what you think!  Have any simple recipes we should know about?  Share them in the comments.  Thanks!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin! The best HEALTHY pumpkin recipes!

I know that last year I posted A LOT more health and fitness workouts, exercise tips, and the like, but being almost 7 months pregnant is not conducive to that.  So healthy recipes it is!  I just had 3 large carved pumpkins given to me to cook up so I am swimming in pumpkin puree.  I have roasted and pureed 2 of them filling about 7 large mason jars.  Some have been tucked into the freezer (with headroom in each jar so they don't burst of course), but now I can't wait to use them in some delicious, truly inspired healthy recipes.  Pumpkin lends itself to healthy recipes as it is a great substitute for half of the fat in baked goods with it's moisture and is packed full of vitamins, fiber, minerals and other nutrients.  But really aside from all that who doesn't love pumpkin in the fall!  Keep in mind that no matter how decadent these recipes look I only chose healthy recipes or recipes that with a few small tweaks would become healthy.  There is an over abundance of sugar and fat laden pumpkin recipes out there.  This is for those of us who want to eat healthy and LOVE it all at the same time.

Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal

This yummy recipe comes from budget bytes a great healthy, budget friendly blog.  Sub out the refined sugar for 1/2 the amount of honey and you get rid of the refined sugar while keeping all the sweet goodness!

Pumpkin Chocolate Granola Bars

How beautiful are these bars!  To make them a little healthier just swap out the brown sugar for 1/4 cup honey and you are good to go.  See the recipe and a beautiful array of artistic photos of these bars at Pastry Affair
Sweet and Salty Roasted pumpkin seeds

You can find the recipe for this delicious and healthy treat from HERE from For the Love of Fiber.  What could be healthier?

Simple Crock Pot Apple Pumpkin Butter

This is a quick easy, HEALTHY, recipe from For the Love of Fiber is a perfect way to use your fresh pumpkin and apples this season!

A classic Pumpkin Nut Muffins

This recipe uses whole wheat, and to make them even healthier use fresh pumpkin, sub out the vegetable oil for coconut oil, and use 1/4 to 1/3 cup honey in place of the 3/4 cup raw sugar.  Find the whole recipe HERE at Skinny Taste.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

These decadent looking treats are actually gluten free, vegan, and free of refined sugars!  Find the 

recipe HERE at Clean Green Simple


Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes

This Allrecipes favorite would be a perfect way to use some of your freshly harvested pumpkin!  To drop some of the sugar use apple or pumpkin butter in place of syrup or a dollop of plain yogurt sweetened with stevia on top like we do.  The full recipe found HERE at Allrecipes.

Pumpkin Pie Fudge

Who would believe you could have fudge and be making good food choices all at once!
This fudge is made with coconut oil for a healthy fat, and uses only 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup as the only sweetener.  Throw in the addition of a nutritious vegetable like pumpkin and you are guilt free! Recipe found HERE at Unwheated.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I know it says butternut squash, but sub in a pumpkin for a similar flavor.  I LOVE this recipe from my William Sonoma "Soup" cookbook.  It is the whole reason I got the cookbook!  I had the soup at a relatives and could not get enough of it.  I think the secret is the large amount of garlic that is roasted to a sweet mellow flavor and the delicious leeks.  Truly healthy and I am looking forward to making this again but with my large supply of pumpkin! I found the whole recipe Here at Indulge and Enjoy. So you can do just that!

Now I tried (for hours!!) to find just the right pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe to share with you guys. Something perfectly delicious, made with whole wheat, coconut oil, and honey or other unrefined sugar, however it was a bust.  Everything I found was loaded with white flour sugar and fat or  vegan or gluten free or yeast free.  I didn't want something hard and healthy that had no resemblance to a true cinnamon roll so I will have to create my own version.  I am getting a bosch mixer and grain mill tomorrow (SQUEAL OF DELIGHT!!!) that my mom picked up for me out of town from a craigslist ad, and I can't wait to get started on the challenge!  YUMMY!! Have any ideas for your favorite healthy delicious ways of using pumpkin?  Share it in the comments!

Tons of Free Printable Labels! Think canning, notebooks, organizing, paper crafting, etc...

I don't know what it is but I LOVE free printables labels.  There are so many uses and whatever you are doing suddenly looks a million times better.  These would be great on cards and as gift tags too with the right wording!  There are blank customizable ones here as well.  ENJOY!!

I LOVE these printable jar labels!  The possibilities are endless!  Use for canning, gifts, pantry organization, etc... Find them HERE from Limeshot Design


These adorable birdie labels from world label. Come in shipping label, address label, and circle sizes!  They are all a matching sets but slightly different.  Great for gifts, closet organization, pantry and crafty organization, canning, and whereever else your crafty  mind takes you!


These are perfect to print onto cardstock or sticker paper for scrapbooking, cards, or cute homemmade spa gifts!


Whatabout these?  Perfect for a circle punch!  You could print them out as stickers, gift tags, jar labels, etc... Find them HERE at i do it yourself.


Not enough options for you?  Check out my previous post Freebies Gorgeous Printable Labels of All Shapes and Sizes!  Here is a sample of what you will find...


 You can also follow me on Pinterest to see what I have in the printables board, not to mention all the other great crafty projects I have pinned on there!

Making Your Own DIY Day Planner! Tons of Free Tutorials & Printables!

A good planner is one that you enjoy and suits your needs.  Need a section for homeschool?  How about a blog post section to keep track of you ideas for future posts and schedule them out, as well as all the regular weekly and monthly calendar sections.  I am putting my own together and thought you might enjoy making use of all these free printables I am finding to put it together with.  Adding in fun things like smaller tear out shopping lists, pretty scrap book paper, envelope or pocket pages etc.. add in what you can't just go buy at walmart.  Make it yours!


A variety of great homeschool planners can be found at this roundup of free homeschool planners here at re we there yet?


The homeschool one I used is a simplified planner with just the daily schedule, goals, a list for attendance and list for books read, and curriculum.  It doesn't include a daily sheet for planning each day of work.  I am using the regular week planner for that.

I love these free 2012, and 2013 printable calendar fromCreative Mama This would make a really cute monthly calendar planner or scale it down to fit in your smaller day planner between your weekly pages.


For  the weekly pages I like this printable from Sofia's World


I also love the simplicity and size of this simple free printable weekly planner by Anderson Family Crew.


This great year at a glance calendar covering 2012 and 2013 is from a blog planner by Homeschool Creations and it is page 2 if that is all you want to print from it.


I love this blog post planner another free printable by Confessions of a Homeschooler!  SO CUTE.

I have included a list of links to cute  menu planners if you want to include those as well here at Pinterest.

Once you print out the sheets you want to include you can add random pieces of scrapbook paper for notes and cuteness factor, pocket pages, dividers, and anything else you want.  Then you can take it to your local office supply store to have it bound (only $1 here for comb bound!).  Some people make their own cover from cardboard covered in scrap book paper or use a vinyl cover. You also have the option of just using a 3 ring binder or punching holes and using ring clips.

Here are two blogs who did a great job making their own.  I have included them so you can get any inspired ideas from them.


Here is one from Apple Head Threads. I love this detailed explanation on how she made hers and what she included.


Here is another crafty planner from Craftee that has great ideas for the dividers!


Check out this cute small planner with tutorial from ahhh-design


She also has a great tutorial for binding it yourself HERE!
Have fun and be sure to let me know how yours turns out or if you found any great free printables to add!