1/20/12

Eco Love: Make Your Own Dishwasher Soap

For your pleasure, another dose of earthsaving (and pocketbook pleasing) eco-love.  Today, learn how to make your own dishwashing detergent for just under $0.05 a load.  Yes, you read correctly.  Five cents.  It only takes a few ingredients:
-Vinegar
-Borax
-Oxi-Clean (or another inexpensive active detergent)
-Baking Soda (or washing powder)


I keep all of my basic cleaning products in labeled glass jars so they are always ready for mixing.

Making a batch of detergent is easy:
  1. Mix equal parts baking soda and borax.  Typically, adding a cup at time until you have the desired sized batch works well.  In the nest, we make batches of two cups each soda and borax.
  2. Add another equal part of your active detergent (Oxi-clean works best) and mix again.
  3. Store your mix in a well labeled sealible container.
  4. If you have hard water and/or you're concerned about spotting, add two tablespoons of white vinegar to the "finishing liquid" hole in your dishwasher.
To use, simply add two tablespoons of your mix to the dishwasher, along with the vinegar if desired.

The mix should run for about a month's worth of loads (if you cook as much as sparrow!).

Thats all!


This receipe was originally spotted at thesimpledollar , then modifed by paper sparrow.

1/2/12

Happy New Year

Hope your New Year is Blessed one!

12/29/11

Che's Christmas Present, or "The Gift that Nearly Drove our Downstairs Neighbors to Call the Cops"

Sparrow's been keeping a secret....Husband's Christmas present!

Now that Christmas is passed, and Husband has his present, we can let you in on the secret too.

Before sparrow tries to describe it, here's a little peek:

So...what is it?

It's Thread Typography (of course!).  Or, for normal people- thread art.  No this isn't like your Mom's string art hanging in her shag-carpeted rumpas room.  This is tactile.  Modern.  And it took months to make in total secrecy.

Here's a closer look.

Yes, those are nails, wire nails actually, holding all the thread in their little patterns.  And yes, sparrow had to tap every single nail, which might be around 350 or so, into very specific places.  When the project started, back in October,  the work room was the nest, where the first few dozen nails were tapped into place.  This quickly became a problem however, when the downstairs neighbors began wandering around outside the nest, wondering where that strange tapping noise was coming from. 

Fast forward a few weeks later, and sparrow found a new workroom, one in isolation where no one would be complaining about that silly tapping.  Ironically, this place was Husband's office.  Since Husband has band or music rehearsals at night at least twice a week, that left sparrow at least four hours each week to tap tap tap away in secret.  As Christmas day drew close, the workroom was once again relocated to the In-Laws where work could continue later into the night.

So why put one's self through so much work for so long for one little gift?  Simple!  Sparrow loves Husband.  Husband loves typography.  Sparrow is crafty.  Add all of these things together and you have your reason.  Also, the project, in terms of supplies was very inexpensive.  Here's a breakdown:

-One 26x40(ish) piece of particle board, actually a cut down shelving unit from Home Depo- $12.99
-One bundle of red embroidery thread (the very large kind)- $5.99
-Five packs of wire nails -$1.99 each
-Tools from home: Hammer, Needle nose pliers- already owned
-One reproduction Map of Italy, from a local art store- $4.99
-Modge Podge and Mounting glue- already owned.
= Just under $30

Folks, for hand made art, $30.00 is a steal!  But the look on Husband's face when he finally received his gift Christmas eve, that was priceless.

For a look at how this was made, tune into the blog later for a to-do on making your own Thread Typography art.

11/10/11

Pie Ogling...We'll Allow it

Whats that?  Oh, you know...

Just a lemon meringue from scratch with a braided butter crust.


Yeah.  I know.

11/7/11

A Song Trade: Brianna Gaither

Recently, we arranged a good ol' fashioned song trade with a great friend and fellow artist Brianna Gaither. The rules were few:

1: {Pick a song you love by the other artist.
2: {Keep it a secret.

Ladies and (most likely more ladies), our song trade:

Brianna covered "On the Edge of Morning".

The Wallings Jr. covered "Harvest Moon".

For the original versions, check the artists' YouTube Channels.

10/7/11

A New Best Friend

Look who just joined the Nest...

World,  meet Thomas-Digby.

He would like you to know his favorite foods are Spinach and Kitty-Crunchies, he loves rainy days, and thinks you should feed him more often.

9/2/11

From Canada with Love

The blog has been on the quiet side lately, but as usual, that signals a wave of projects in the nest.  Stay tuned tomorrow for updates.  In the meantime, check out what Casey sent via Etsy all the way from Canada-land!  (Or I like to call it, Northern Montana).


What can I say?  She's got Sparrow pegged.

8/18/11

Attack of the Pies!

I came across some pictures of my pie handy work today, and thought I would share them.


You might be wondering why I put extra effort into the crust....because its the best part!