Wedding Gift Made Out Of The Couple's Wedding Invitation

Last weekend, my beautiful cousin got married at a chilly, outdoor ceremony next to the river. The day was gorgeous! I always love shopping for wedding gifts {that is, when target isn't out of everything!} but being a newlywed, I realize probably just want money more than anything! So in true diy fashion, I decided to make them a tiny, little gift to go along with their cash... and I made it out of their wedding invitation! 

Supplies: 

clear ornaments

foam paintbrush

the lovely couple's wedding invitation

ribbon {not pictured}

 I started off by taking their wedding invitation and cutting it horizontally into varying sized strips. I tried to cut them so that you could still read each line & see the cute little symbols and details that they had on their invites. They were made by another cousin of ours {who also made our save the dates!} 

 Here's what it looked like all cut out. The invitations were pretty small, so I ended up using two {i stole my mom's!} but I could have just used a smaller ornament! 

 I wrapped the invitations around a foam paintbrush handle. At first, I thought they weren't "curly" enough... but in the end I found that the bigger the curls were, the better. 

 I just love that you can read all of the sweet details! 

 I put them inside of an ornament & added a few strips of matching ribbon. Right before I rushed out the door, I ended up adding a few more strips of ribbon to make it look more full but I didn't get a picture of it!

 I love how it turned out! And they will have a sweet reminder of their wedding day & their first Christmas as a married couple. Mr. ji@h and I have a meaningful ornament from every year since we were engaged {ok, so, that's only 2 years} and I can't wait for the day when we can look back on the last 10 years and see all the fun things we did that year via our Christmas tree! 

 I apologize for these pictures... between the iridescence & the shimmer paper of the invites it was really hard to take pictures of! 

What other fun ornaments have you made? Here's to hoping that next year I will be making a baby ornament to commemorate 2012!! :)

97 cent alphabet stamps!

Have you seen these adorable alphabet stamps at walmart for only 97 cents?! I just got them and had fun making some simple thank you cards with them! They are definitely worth the 97 cents. I found them in the scrapbook aisle in little bins... I had no idea walmart sold this kind of stuff! They have a bunch of different fonts & I'm tempted to go back and get some more because the cards turned out so cute! 

 Sorry to make this post so quick.... I gave the bean a haircut today & she is currently laying across my left arm & on my laptop keyboard. Needless to say, it's taken me a long time to write this post. Back to snuggling.... but here's a picture of the damage done. Yes, this pile of hair is actually bigger than my dog.

Here's where i'm linking up today:

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous, Simply Creations Linky Party, FFA Friday @ Sassy Sites, Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge,

Homemade Laundry Soap

**UPDATE 10-19-12: I am just now finishing my 2nd batch of this stuff! Yes, 2 batches has lasted me an entire year {doing about 3-4 loads of laundry per week}. It is still wonderful. One change I have made is I omitted the purex crystals completely. You can still use them, but they don't make that big of a difference. Please note that my clothes do NOT have much fragrance. They smell clean and this stuff gets out some icky things {baby spit up, food and recently a few spots of blood} but if you're into the flowery scented clothes, this is not it.

First of all, I want to say THANK you to all of you who left your sweet comments & sent me encouraging emails regarding my infertility post. I was so scared to mention it but the response was so uplifting during the days when I really needed it. You all are amazing.

Now on to this super easy recipe. My mom & I teamed up to make homemade laundry soap the other day. The recipe is an altered version of the ones from the Duggars {i absolutely love the duggars}! I was a little hesitant because I normally use liquid detergent... but this saves so much money, is super easy and makes our clothes soft & yummy smelling.

All you need is:

 Ingredients: 

1 Fels-Naptha Soap Bar {found in the laundry aisle} 

1 cup Washing Soda {found in the laundry or cleaning aisle}

1/2 cup Borax {found in the laundry aisle}

1/2 cup Purex FABRIC SOFTENER Crystals {optional} - found w/the fabric softener. look closely, cause the purex washing crystals look very similar.

*Make sure to get WASHING soda, not baking soda*

First, grate your fels-naptha with a cheese grater. We used a cheapo one and it worked just fine. 

Using a food processor or blender, pour in the 1/2 cup of purex crystals and blend until fine. You do not have to use this to get your clothes clean, but it will make them softer & add fragrance so I like to use it! Once that's done, add in your grated soap until fine.

Pour your soap/softener mix into a large bowl & mix by hand the borax & washing soda. And I'd definitely recommend not getting too chatty during this part or {like me} you will be tasting soap for a while... definitely not the best when feeling nauseous already! 

And finished! We made a quadruple batch and it filled up 2 of these 74 oz. Ikea canisters. You only need to use 1 Tbsp per load of laundry if you have a top loader & 1/2 Tbsp. if you have a front loader. I haven't made much of a dent in it, but this jar should last about 160 loads in my front loader. 

 I still use dryer sheets because I just LOVE the scent.... and I already had them :) 

 I'm not sure on the exact cost, but we spent under $12 and made a quadruple batch. We also have a lot left over and will be able to make another quadruple batch, only having to buy more of the fels-naptha soap. So I would estimate around $4.50 for this 160 load jar. 

This was my first try at homemade soap and so far it's working great! We may try a liquid soap next time, but it seems a lot more time consuming {although even cheaper}.

Next on my list, I want to make homemade wipes to clean off my puppies feet after we go out. That way I can cut up the paper towels into little tiny bits and not waste any! If you have any good soap recipes I'd love to hear them! Email me at joyisathome {at} hotmail {dot} com. 

Linking here this week:

Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays @ Flamingo Toes