Monday, June 10, 2013

Flubber




Flubber is a polymer made by a chemical reaction. Polymers are very long chains of repeating units. When the two solutions are combined, polyvinyl acetate chains (a polymer from the white glue) are linked together in a 3-dimensional arrangement by borate ions (from the Borax) and other chemical bonds. This produces the thick, sticky polymer called Flubber.

How to Make Flubber at Home:

3 cups Warm Water
2 cups Elmer’s White Glue
Liquid Water Color (food coloring stains)
20 Mule Team Borax, available in the grocery store laundry section.
(Please see NOTES section below for safety information about Borax.)
Glitter (optional)
White Vinegar (for cleaning)
The Steps
In a large container combine and mix:
1 ½ cups very warm water
2 cups Elmers white glue
A few drops of water color and/or glitter if using clear glue

Make sure this combination is completely mixed

In a small container combine and mix:
1 1/3 cups very warm water
2 level tsp 20 Mule Team Borax. Adults, please do this step.
(Please see NOTES section below for safety information about Borax.)

Make sure the Borax is completely dissolved.

Combine the glue and borax mixtures:Mix well using your hands until all the liquid is absorbed. You may need to squish, mix, and break up the flubber to get it fully combined. Store the flubber in a plastic, air-tight container at room temperature. For best results, measure precisely and mix well as noted above.
Notes About Safety
Adults, please keep the box of powdered borax out of the reach of children. If kept in an airtight container, the Flubber will keep for up to 2 weeks. Vinegar dissolves Flubber from carpet, hair, furniture, clothes, and pets. This recipe makes enough Flubber for six children.
*copied from OMSI website

Monday, February 25, 2013

A Beautiful Vintage Wedding on a shoestring budget...

(This post was started about a year and half ago.)



 I have been having mixed emotions over the last few weeks, especially since my oldest child has just gotten married on 9-10-11. I am very happy for her and I think she has found an awesome guy but you can't ever truly prepare for something like this!


These two are quite talented and creative to say the least. Their talent was made evident in helping to pull off an amazing wedding with very little money. Chelsea has always been frugal and likes to stretch her money. I think the total cost of this precious wedding was around $700....WOW! 

Even if we had a lot of money she wanted to have a simple, yet of course, beautiful wedding. I believe we were able to pull it off with a lot of help from a lot of awesome people and here are some photos of the magical day that will always be treasured...

I  love these two and I'm very happy for the life they are creating together! Wonderful people who deserve each other...




 Our cute neighbor Krista Horton offered to do the photos for the wedding! She did a fabulous job and found some creative places to shoot the beautiful couple.
 Aunt Amy did this cute messy bun with a vintage pin.


 Seth's dad made this sweet arbor and Chelsea bought some wood letters at Hobby Lobby and glittered them up and they were hung by some jute.
 Chelsea made this adorable bouquet of flowers out of vintage paper and old fashioned buttons.  It turned out very classy and original.
 My cousin Sara came up with the cute idea of having everyone write a message to the new bride and groom on a piece of fabric.  She then created a beautiful quilt out of all of the squares.  Priceless!
 A table was decorated with an old typewriter, piece of luggage, an old jar of buttons and other neat items for a fun vintage feel.
 Chelsea and Seth found a ton of sand dollars over the summer before the wedding on the Oregon Coast.  They used those as part of the decor on each table.  Chelsea also made these white tissue paper flowers and hot glued willow branches as their stems and filled bottles up with sand and used those as center pieces.  I loved the old blue ball jars that were used with sea glass and shells and a painted picture frame without the glass to finish off the cute display. 
 They chose to do a cookie bar and had chocolate and regular milk and bottled water in big silver tubs for the guests. The cookie platters were eclectic and none were the same. About 12 people volunteered to make cookie of their choice and there were some yummy ones. Aunt Marianne made a ton of beautiful sugar cookies that she decorated and a former neighber and dear friend of ours, Shelli, offered to make some of the platters out of fun old plates and glass candle sticks as the base.  She did 2 tiers on some of them and they were awesome! Great idea and the sky is the limit on the different combinations you could come up with.
 Another friend, Franci, donated some old vintage window frames to use as a great backdrop to hang cute photos of Chelsea and Seth during their dating time together. Jute and clothes pins were used to hang the photos.
 Love this cake.  It was simple and cute and just the right size.  A neighbor's daughter makes cakes and offered to make this one.
 The weather was great and clear and it was so fun in Aunt Janae's backyard in Provo, Utah
 We danced and ate and had a great time!
 We strung lights up and hung tissue paper balls for part of the decorations.
 Chris was dancing it up in the line and made us all laugh. Sillly kids!

 Chris, Shea and Zane were being mischievous and going to do something to Seth and Chelsea's Truck.
 Decorating the truck!
The Bride and Groom making their getaway...they headed to a house at Bear Lake for a few days.  What a blessed day! Love these 2...


Friday, August 26, 2011

How to make homemade laundry soap






I visited my family in Washington state last month and had an awesome time. We went camping and enjoyed a fun summer vacation..definitely had some good times!

I always learn something from my mom which I appreciate more and more the older I get. She was doing laundry one day while I was there and I noticed her opening a 5 gallon bucket and reaching in with a measuring cup pulling out some fragrant gloppy, liquid stuff and putting it in her washing machine. Wait....Mom, what's up with that? I have to admit, I was a little fascinated. I'm always about saving money since it's hard to come by these days and I immediately wanted to know how she made it. I was also fascinated by the fact that this laundry soap is good for months depending on how often you clean clothes, and it was cheap!

Here is the recipe:


Get a clean 5 gallon bucket ready to store your laundry soap (with lid).

1 quart water (bring to a boil)
add 1 bar Fels Naptha (or Ivory) grated, gradually stir until melted.
add 1/2 c. Borax
add 1 c. Washing Soda
Stir until not gritty and is smooth (you will have lumps--no way around it)
pour contents into the bucket
add 3 gallons hot tap water, stir and then restir after cooled. You will want to stir it before each use which is no big deal, really. Just keep a long spoon or a paint stick nearby whenever you need to stir.

Each laundry load uses 1 cup of the concoction....Awesome!

You can find all of the ingredients at Wal-Mart or your local grocery store in the laundry aisle...let me know if you try it!