For the 16 years that we were a homeschooling family, fall was the start of our new year. Forget January 1st, the new school year was when we started our new schedules for schooling, extra-curriculars and church activities. Now that the kids are adults I still like to give our home a fall reset. Here in Florida we don’t get the cooler temperatures till the end of October. We don’t get leaves changing colors or lots of other distinctly “fall” things either. This is why I manufacture some fall in my wardrobe and decor to remind me what season it is.

This year our fall reset finds us in the middle of a living room makeover. In August we bought a new couch, loveseat and huge ottoman. Next we want to paint and then get new side tables, lights and curtains. This is a slow process and while I’m on the lookout for the new accessories, the painting will have to wait until it is cool enough to open the windows.

Here are a few tips on how you can give your home an affordable Fall Reset.

1. De-Clutter-It has been about 6 months since Spring cleaning. We all have places that catch all the items that don’t have permanent homes. While you are de-cluttering make sure you fill up a box or bag with items that can be handed down or donated.
2. Deep clean the floors– I have laminate in my living room and hall and it needs to be swept daily. I also use my new and improved Swiffer Wet Jet to keep my floors clean and shiny.
3. Add some fall decor-Decorate with pumpkins, fall colored leaves and pinecones to bring the season inside.
4. Refresh the air-In my house I live with my dog, my husband and my adult son. All 3 of those things bring smells into my home that are not pleasant. Thankfully I have the woodsy Big Sur scented Febreze Fabric Refresher and Febreze Air Effects. With just a few squirts my home smells more like a forest and less like a locker room.

The Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a Swiiffer and Febreze prize pack so they can do their own Fall Reset in their home. This giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and verified. The winner will be notified via email and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize. The giveaway ends at 12:00am on 9/29/16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post It’s Time for a Fall Reset and Giveaway appeared first on The Mom Maven.

About Salted Online Cooking School

Salted Online Cooking School is a new type of cooking school. Salted has partnered with 100 of the best chefs in the country to bring its members a world class cooking education, grounded in beautiful video, exclusive classes, and both culinary skills and recipes from the most celebrated restaurants in the country. All of the Salted video tutorials are shot in HD and are very pleasing to watch. In addition to the videos each tutorial includes step-by step written instructions which even include the time stamps for the videos so you can find that step and re-watch it if necessary. There is also a list of what you’ll need for each tutorial and additional Chef’s notes to give you extra tips.

The tutorials in Salted stand alone but they are also grouped together into courses like How to Cook Bootcamp, Introduction to Italian Cooking and Thanksgiving Classics.

The post Spice Up Your Cooking with Salted Online Cooking School appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Review of May Goals

Business

• Unique Pageviews to 12,500-I’m just over 10,000
• Begin to Build my Young Living Essential Oils Business-I have done a lot of learning and made some strides forward.

Personal

• 5000 steps a day-I reached that 4 days this month!
• 64oz water a day-Oh…I was supposed to drink water?

Spiritual

• Read “Thrive: Digging Deep, Reaching Out“-I am in the middle of the book. I liked it so much I ordered several copies for high school graduation gifts.
• Complete a YouVersion Daily Devotional-I did the Align:Godly Character Study

Household

• Menu Plan-I completed the menu plan and we have stuck to it all month! This has been our best menu plan month ever.
• Daily Chores-I did much better with daily chores during the month of May. I just really wish the kitchen fairy would show up after dinner and clean up so I didn’t have to.

Goals for June 2015

Business

• 12,500 Unique Pageviews on the blog
• 2 new Young Living Team Members
• Complete my Travel Agent training

Personal

• 5,000 steps a day
• 64oz water a day

Spiritual

• Finish reading “Thrive”
• Begin the Beth Moore-Breath, the Life of God in Us Bible study with some friends from church.

Household

• Menu Plan
• Daily Chores

Thanks for letting me put these goals out in public. It really does help me to be more accountable. If you blog your monthly goals please add your post to our linky!

The post Goals for June 2015 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

In our home, my husband currently does about 90% of the grocery shopping. We are both self employed but his job takes him out and about daily, while there are days I never leave the house. Right now, this arrangement works great for both of us. I do the meal planning and deal finding and then I give him the list and he does the shopping. Due to the fact that neither of us have consistent income or paydays, we grocery shop every day or two and just buy what we need for those meals. It can be a pain but it is how our budget works. In the past, I would keep a running list on a notepad on the fridge. It worked, except when hubby forgot to grab it. Fortunately, there are sites like Wadav that allow shopping to be convenient.

Last year, hubby finally got an iPhone and we tried several grocery list apps to find one that worked for us. We have been using AnyList for quite a while now and I thought I’d share this app with you.

Why We Love AnyList

• Ease of Use-Type in what you need to buy, if it isn’t already saved in the app you can add it. Click on “tap to add note” to add a note such as a specific size or amount of an item.
• iOS-I have it on my iPhone5s and in my iPadAir and my husband has it on his iPhone5s
• Shared Lists-We have a shared list so I can add what we need to the list and it updates on my husband’s phone and send him an alert. I can add items at anytime, when I remember them. This is a wonderful feature of a FREE app! When Ron is at the store he just clicks on an item when he puts it in the cart and it is removed from the list.
• No More Fumbling-My husband says it is so much easier to manage his phone and a cart full of groceries than it was to do it with a paper list and a pen.
• Sorted by Department-AnyList automatically sorts the list by department making shopping easier. If you add an item just click on the “i” on the right hand side to add the department.
• Never Forget-The list is always with you, assuming you always carry your iPhone with you.

You can also store your recipes in AnyList and then click on the ingredients that you need to ad to your shopping list! That is quite a game changer for a FREE app.

This list has truly made our lives easier. The day Aaron and Summer got home from their honeymoon Aaron texted me and asked me “What is the name of that grocery list app you guys use?” He knew how handy it was for us and he wanted to make his new life easier too so they both got AnyList as well.

AnyList is only available for iOS so if you want this awesomeness you need to get rid of that Android or Windows phone. Have you tried AnyList? What is your favorite grocery list app? I’d love to know.

The post AnyList My Favorite Grocery List App appeared first on The Mom Maven.

I have had so many friends and family ask about this laundry soap that Jordan and I made a triple batch and I gave it as Christmas gifts for those who have been interested in it. Those who received it were excited and couldn’t wait to try it.

I’m going to write this as a long post with lots of pictures but at the end I will include the printable recipe so that you can have a copy for yourself. All of the ingredients are available on the laundry aisle of most Walmarts and grocery stores. I have included links to the products on Amazon for those of you that would rather get it that way.

Quick and Easy DIY Laundry Soap

Ingredients

• 2 Quart Size Mason Jars
• 1 5oz bar Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
• 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz. (Not Baking Soda)
• Boiling Water
• Oster12-Speed Blender

Instructions:

Day One

1. Boil 3 cups of water.
2. While the water is boiling, cut the bar of Fels-Naptha soap into approximately 1″ cubes. Divide this in half and distribute them between the 2 mason jars.  
3. Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to each jar.
4. Cover jars loosely and let them sit overnight to gel.  

Day Two

1. Boil a large sauce pan of water.
2. While the water is boiling, use a knife to make a crisscross pattern in the gelled soap. Making sure to cut all the way down to the bottom of the jar.  
3. Add 1/2 cup Super Washing Soda to each jar.
4. Add 1/2 cup Borax to each jar.  
5. Add boiling water to each jar-up to the shoulders.  
6. If you have a blender with detachable blades, attache the blade mechanism to the mason jar and blend until creamy. **If your blender doesn’t have detachable blades-dump the contents of one mason jar into the blender and blend until creamy then dump the mixture back into the mason jar.
   

   With the lid ON of course.

7. Seal tightly.
8. Use 1 Tablespoon per load. Top Load Washers-put soap in with water before adding clothes. Front Load Washers-put soap in with clothes NOT in soap dispenser.

This Quick and Easy DIY Laundry Soap Recipe takes about 5 minutes to make and works out to be about 3¢ a load! I was paying 17-20¢ per load with commercial laundry detergent. This soap is gentle on clothing and has no scent.

Print

Quick and Easy DIY Laundry Soap

This Quick and Easy DIY Laundry Soap saves you money at only 3¢ per load!

Course Household Cleaner

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2 qts

Author Cindy Schultz

Ingredients

• 2- Quart Size Mason Jars
• 1-5 oz bar Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
• 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda . Not Baking Soda
• Boiling Water
• Blender

Instructions

Day One

• Boil 3 cups of water.
• While the water is boiling, cut the bar of Fels-Naptha soap into approximately 1″ cubes. Divide this in half and distribute them between the 2 mason jars.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to each jar.
• Cover jars loosely and let them sit overnight to gel.

Day Two

• Boil a large sauce pan of water.
• While the water is boiling, use a knife to make a crisscross pattern in the gelled soap. Making sure to cut all the way down to the bottom of the jar.
• Add 1/2 cup Super Washing Soda to each jar.
• Add 1/2 cup Borax to each jar.
• Add boiling water to each jar-up to the shoulders.
• If you have a blender with detachable blades, attache the blade mechanism to the mason jar and blend until creamy.
• **If your blender doesn't have detachable blades-dump the contents of one mason jar into the blender and blend until creamy then dump the mixture back into the mason jar.
• Seal tightly.
• Use 1 Tablespoon per load. Top Load Washers-put soap in with water before adding clothes. Front Load Washers-put soap in with clothes NOT in soap dispenser.

 
Do you make your own laundry detergent? Why or why not? I’d love to know your thoughts on this.

The post Quick and Easy DIY Laundry Soap appeared first on The Mom Maven.

5 Ways to Welcome Fall

1. Apples!

For me. fall baking starts with apples! Whether I am making Crockpot Apple Cobbler or Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie, my go-to fall fruit is the apple. I love to bake with them, cook with them and to me, eating a fresh Macintosh Apple is the epitome of fall.

2. Decorate with Fall Colors!

You don’t have to change out everything in your home to decorate for fall. Make a few small changes that will have a dramatic impact. You can even seek help from professionals such as the Decorators in London. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Pumpkins-pumpkins arranged near the front door or walkway are a welcoming yet inexpensive way to add a fall touch to the outside of your home.
2. Gourds-place a few gourds in a bowl on your dining room or coffee table to bring the natural colors of fall indoors.
3. Wreath-add a fall wreath to your front door to welcome friends and neighbors.
4. Linens-update your dining room or kitchen table with fall colored napkins, table runner or table cloth. This quick, colorful and easy change adds a welcoming tone to your room.

3. Fall Scents!

I love coming home to a house that smells like fall! It is such an easy and inexpensive way to freshen up my house too. Just take a trip down the air care aisle at Walmart and i’m sure you can find a fall scent that you love. My favorites this season are the “Campfire Treat” candle from 719 Walnut Avenue, the Glade “Pumpkin Pie Diner” wax melts and the Febreze “Vanilla Latte” Noticeables. For just a few dollars you can have your home smelling clean and fall fresh all season long.

4. Fall Fashion!

We’ve dressed up your home inside and out, now it is time to pull out your favorite fall fashions and dress you up too. Fall fashion means sweaters, denim jackets, boots, leather jackets, scarves and layers! I can’t wait for the temps to dip into the 70’s so I can wear my favorite sweater!

5. Fall Fun!

Fall is the perfect season to be outside, it’s not too hot, or too cold. It is a great time to hike at your favorite state park, catch a high school football game or maybe play some touch football with friends. Raking leaves isn’t nearly as much fun as jumping in them but they are both great fall activities. Spending a fall evening around a fire pit making s’mores is also a great way to relax and spend time with your family.

These are my 5 favorite ways to welcome fall. What is your favorite way? Leave me a comment and let me know.

The post 5 Easy Ways to Welcome Fall appeared first on The Mom Maven.

How to Make 5¢ Per Load Laundry Detergent

There are just 3 ingredients Borax ($3.97), Fels Naptha Soap ($0.97) and Super Washing Soda ($3.24). I got all of my ingredients on the laundry aisle at Walmart. My initial investment was a total of $6.18.

This step can be tedious, I suggest doing it in front of the television Using a cheese grater, grate the entire bar of Fels Naptha soap. I have read that you can do this quicker with a food processor, if you have one, I don’t.

Add one cup of Borax and one cup of Super Washing Soda to the grated Fels Naptha Soap and mix well. Store the 5 Cents per load laundry soap in an air tight container with a 1 Tablespoon measuring spoon.

How to Use 5 Cents Per Load Laundry Soap

1. Sprinkle 1 TBS of laundry soap in the washing machine (Do Not put it in the soap dispenser-even in HE washers).
2. Turn on the water, hot, warm or cold-doesn’t matter.
3. Add soiled clothing.
4. Wash and Dry as usual.

The Mom Maven’s Thoughts

I LOVE it! I got 40 loads of laundry out of one container of this laundry soap. I figured out that the Borax was 42¢ per cup, and the Super Washing Soda was 47¢ per cup so my total cost was $1.86 for 40 load of laundry or $0.0465 cents per load! My laundry has been very clean and it smells fresh too.

I am trying a different recipe this month so, I’ll be posting about that one in 4-6 weeks. Make sure you are subscribed to my feed so that you don’t miss a thing!

Have you even made your own laundry soap? Do you want to try it now? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking about homemade laundry soap.

The post 5 Cents Per Load Laundry Soap appeared first on The Mom Maven.