DIY : liquid soap

Here's a little 'do it yourself' project that I set out to accomplish a while back. I made a gallon of liquid soap for only $6. It was a lot of fun making it, mostly because I knew I was saving money! :) ( Oh, and thanks to pinterest for the idea.)

What you will need:

1. A bar of soap (1-8 oz)

2. grater

3. 2 tbsp. glycerin (I used vegetable glycerin)

4. cool empty bottle

5. 1 gallon of water

 1. Grate the whole bar of soap.

 2. Fill a pot with 1 gallon of water.

3. Add the soap shavings.

 4. Add the glycerin. 

  5. Turn the heat to medium/high and stir till all the soap dissolves.                       

6. When the soap dissolves, it should look just like soapy water.

7. Let it cool for 10-12 hours. It will harden and resemble liquid soap. 

(I had to beat it with a mixer to make the consistency more even.)

8. Fill your empty bottle with your soap and enjoy! 

 

This is efficient and a great way to save money. I bought this particular bar of soap -(Mrs. Meyers in the scent of Basil)- for around $6.00 at New Seasons. (It smells soooo good). If you buy the liquid kind in the same brand, it's about $3.99. When you make it yourself, there's heaps of savings and you get a whooole lot more for your money! That my friend, is a deal!

Happy creating!

xo, rachelle

valentine's day.

I happen to actually love this day. I'm a big fan. I love an excuse to pour out love to the people I care about in extra amounts. And, also I love falling in love and the idea of falling in love. :) It makes for a very wonderful day. One of my favorites.

I made valentine cards and painted my nails red. I was given this lovely handmade headband and wore it all day. :) Take out from Baja Fresh and a cheesy redbox movie is on the agenda for the evening. Maybe even a bubble bath later on perhaps. It has been a lovely day indeed.

happy valentines day, xo

rachelle

sail.

I have discovered a song I really like. 

It's called Sail, by Awolnation. You really should give it a listen.

And this is just something I stumbled upon. It's pretty funny. At least, it made me laugh. :) Please watch this too. :)

xo, rachelle

Snowy days

This past weekend my roommates and I had the pleasure of hosting our wonderful friend, Kristine! She is truly a gem. I treasure every minute with her. We even had some snow this weekend! Not a lot, but for a few minutes it looked like a wintry wonderland. sigh. I miss snowy days sometimes. It was refreshing and made me want to snuggle up with some hot tea! And I may or may not have done just that..... :)

 

snow from the view of our porch

xo, rachelle

a late new year's posting.

I know it's a little way over due, but I thought I would share my new year eve's events with you all. I had a lovely evening spent with a friend. We ordered pizza and watched Letter's to Juliet. Then of course watched the ball drop with our champagne in hand.

I wanted to do something special the next day to celebrate. Growing up in Ohio, we always celebrated with sauer kraut and sausage for new year's. I always looked forward to this time of year just for that reason alone. I thought this was a tradition that was shared among the entire nation. When I moved to Oregon, I found out how wrong I was unfortunately....No one does that here. Needless to say, I decided to bring back this ol' tradition of mine. I decided to invite some people over and make a night of it. I must say, it was quite delicious and I look forward to making it again soon!

I put the sausage right into the sauer kraut, covered it with foil, and baked it for close to 2hrs. at 300 degrees. It doesn't look all that great, but it was, I promise!

I rolled the baked potatoes in a mixture of pepper -red+black, roasted garlic grapeseed oil, and salt before sticking them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 1 1/2 hrs. This made them extra delicious.

I added a salad and a friend brought dessert. We ate, caught up, and played games. It was a lovely way to start the new year. I am so thankful for those I can call friends.

I decided to make a new year's resolution this year. Usually I don't. I spent some time reflecting on the past year, then made some goals for the new one. My main goal for 2012 is to cultivate healthy relationships. I believe people need relationship among one another and those can often be very good and thriving, or ones that bring you down and rob you of joy. I want to surround myself with friendships/relationships that make me better. I want to pour into them with my whole heart. I desire to be a better friend, daughter, sister. I want to have healthy boundaries for myself. This involves recognizing my needs in a relationship and voicing them. It involves me speaking out, standing up for myself, and knowing my limits. I want to start living a healthier lifestyle just in general. Emotionally. Physically.

I have started a work out program (me and the rest of the world). It's called Insanity. And it pretty much kicks my butt every time. BUT I am slowly getting in shape! It sucks and my body hates it right now, but I will push through! I bought brand new tennis shoes. My converse wasn't really working out all that great. It has been years since I have invested into legit tennis shoes. I thought this was a good time to do that, plus they were on sale. :) I am pretty excited about them......

I hope you all had a wonderful new year's! Cheers to new adventures. 

xo, Rachelle

Christmas is indeed the best time of year.

Last Sunday, my roommates and I got our Christmas tree! AND, it's real! (it's my first christmas with a real tree. sad I know). We trekked through the fields of a christmas tree farm and chose our beauty. Cut it down and had hot chocolate. mmm. I spent the week before creating ornaments and listening to my Frank Sinatra Holiday station on pandora. It was lovely. We made a night out of decorating our tree and celebrating with sugar cookies and The Grinch (my favorite christmas movie ever). Here are some pictures.......  


                              

This is what I used to make my homemade ornaments. (I got this idea from pinterest, and tweaked it a little).

I used Mod Podge to glue on torn pieces of pages from a book to my ornaments I bought. Then rolled them in a luminescent glitter. (I HATE glitter, but decided it was festive and tasteful enough to try). 

                                      

The end result! I am quite pleased. :)

Erin and I at the christmas tree farm.

My car had never looked so cool. :)

Violet putting up the christmas lights.

Cookies!

We made such a huge mess as we worked on our popcorn/cranberry strings till midnight.

(I have elf ears).

Cute little owls I made for christmas decorations! 

Our cozy little christmas nook. 

I leave for Ohio in less than a week!! I get to spend the week before christmas with my family, and I am pretty darn excited. I love this time of year.

P.S. Tomorrow is my birthday!

Blessings this holiday season!

xo, rachelle

change.

These last few months have been very eventful. All working out for the good, and for God's glory I'm sure. I moved into an apartment with Erin and Violet in August. That in itself was a big change. A lovely change though. It is a wonderful thing to be apart of community and surrounded with people who love you and who are there to help you. I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of our home. We still have plans of decorating more, but this will do for now. :)

in my room

my bedside :)

my cool pillows my mom made. :)

our temporary table and chairs.

our back porch area.

In September I had the pleasure of going to home to Ohio to visit my dear friends and family. It was such a blast, and I was so blessed by them. In October, a new job presented itself. I am now employed at St. Honore Boulangerie, which is a quaint french bakery. It was such a sweet relief to put my two weeks in at World Market. It was time for a change....

We have delicious pasteries, desserts, and breads. mmm 

Come check it out!

My mom and my sister, Regina, came to visit me from Ohio two weeks ago. Ethan, my nephew suprised me and came too. :) Best suprise ever. We celebrated my mom's birthday on the Oregon Coast. We visited Multnomah Falls, Pittock Mansion, Rose Gardens, 23rd Street, and Sauvie Island. We had such a wonderful time. My plan: make them fall in love with Oregon and have them convince the rest of my family to move there as well. ;) 

Regina and I

My beautiful mom

Ethan (isn't he handsome?!)

Yes, we had a good week indeed. 

That's all for now, folks. 

xo, Rachelle