At some point we have to stop pinning things on Pinterest, right? Yeah, I can't stop either. I know there was a time in my life that the majority of my sentences did not start with "I saw on pinterest..."-- I just can't seem to remember it. Sometime around all those new year resolutions that were floating around, I decided I needed to do something about my pins. (If you are not familiar with pinterest, you should be-- you should go check it out now!) I could just keep pinning, or I could step up and do something. I think a lot of people think I am pretty crafty, DIY yourself-y, but really, most of the things I do are because someone helped me get started. I don't normally just look at a blog or pin and just go out and do it. I can sew and quilt because I had help and I can bake bread now because I had help. I am pretty good at picking up on things if someone else is showing me. Its different when I am just trying to read and follow directions-- I can't ask questions and my steps never look like their steps. But, enough is enough. I had SO MANY PINS on my boards that I told myself-- for every 10 pins, I have to try something. And so I did! I just had to get the guts up to JUST DO IT!!!!

I remembered seeing a pin for DIY laundry soap and a teacher friend of mine told me that was what one of her relatives gave everyone in the family for Christmas (by the way, any of my family reading this-- I am officially calling it right now! haha!) and she really liked it. I got onto Pinterest that day to find (remember, lots of pins) the correct pin and I happened across a different recipe that my friend April had pinned and she had either commented there or on facebook that she had tried it and loved it. So, this recipe looked way easier than the one I had been looking for AND it came with a recommendation. So, I went to the blog that had originally posted it and it really did look easy. Off to the store I went to make my soap. In the blog, she even updated to say that her batch lasted her 9 months. And, she said she was using twice as much as she really needed to. Wow!

I made the soap 2 weeks ago and of course, did not take pics of the process. Her blog shows some pics. I really just followed her directions. Here is what I bought at the store:

-big box of baking soda (baking aisle)

-big box of washing soda (laundry aisle)

-2 kroger brand oxy-clean containers (laundry aisle)

-big box of Borax (laundry aisle)

-3 bars of Fels-Naptha (laundry aisle, but on the other side of all the detergent-- I think mine was near the stain products)

Total spent: $19.63 (before tax)

BUT----

I coupon and I know a lot of you do it. As I see one of the ingredients on sale in the next year, I will pick it up. Only the oxy-clean was store brand and none of it was on sale. (I know, I can't believe I was able to buy something at full price---but it will still save me money)

I used a 5 gallon bucket, but only to mix. I put a garbage bag inside and mixed in that. I poured all ingredients in and used my hands to mix. It did take about 45 minutes to grate the soap bars, but I have an old school flat grater and was a little nervous about using my process (I think she used it on her blog). But, I was watching 2 episodes of the Office, so it didn't seem that painful!

Mixed it all together and that's it. The grated soap bar will stay in pieces while the rest of it mixes up, so it will look like this after you mix it all together:

Transferred it to these containers-- it doesn't make that much. But if it is too much for you to store, split with someone, or make a batch and just give some away! Here is how I am storing it:

The silver spoon on top of the canister is approximately a tablespoon, so I just put 2 of them in each load. I am currently washing my fourth load with it-- and love it! I still put fabric softener in most loads but hey, maybe I can find a DIY softener soon!

Official Verdict: Its awesome! Its easy! And saves me LOTS of money!!! (This is even coming from a girl who loves her Tide.)

Let me know if you try it sometime and thanks April for pinning it! So glad I tried it-- not so nervous trying things from the internet anymore!!