Fresh Sheets

** This is a sponsored post. **

In the days after my husband and I separated, my little one and I went away for a short break. When we got back, the moment I walked into my bedroom, I knew it had to change. I had to change it up to become my space, a personal place of refuge and rest, no longer a shared space. And the place I wanted to start with was sheets.

And then I looked at my budget, and I decided that the sheets I had were perfectly functional and would do the job, for now. As new sheets were just not in the new, smaller budget calculations. And I was ok with that, you know - you just get on with it, old sheets and all.

But a couple of days later, a little email arrived querying advertising on my blog, from a company selling homewares online, and what do you know. I've got new sheets.

You might think it's a strange mix on my blog, advertising sheets when I've not really gone down the path of advertising before. To be honest, I have had my fair share of requests but nothing has ever felt right before. For some reason, it felt right to accept this advertising and sponsorship on my blog, and these days I'm much more inclined to listen to what my gut feeling tells me. So here I am, writing a blog post about sheets! You just never know what's coming, do you?

I chose these Viva sheets in a charcoal colour. Even that was different for me - I always, always, always choose plain white sheets. But I intend to paint the walls white, and the floorboards are already painted white, and the cupboards are white, and the lamp is white and… you know, time for a change. So in with the new and out with the old, quite literally. I tend to work on a one-in, one-out basis for most household things, so when something new (or old) comes into the house, generally something else goes out, to the op shop donation bin.

And I have to say, in all honesty, these are the nicest sheets I've owned. They are 1000 Thread Count Sheets, which is a lot more thread counts than any other sheets I've ever had. They are silky soft and so very comforting to curl up in. At the end of a (very) long day, stepping into my room I smile at the sight of them, and climbing into bed, I feel like a princess. Right now, feeling like a princess is a pretty important thing. And I am so grateful that this all appeared out of nowhere when they did, and I got the sheets I truly wanted.

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You may be wondering, as I was, how taking on advertising will affect how I write on this blog. I actually don't think it will make any much difference, in all honesty. Because the thing that truly, mostly affects how I write, is knowing that someone - anyone - someone other than me, reads what I write. That is the single biggest factor which affects what and how I write on the blog. 

And if you are interested in advertising on this blog, please just contact me. I am open to most things, if they're in line with my beliefs and if it feels right. It has to be authentic, and real. You know?

A Book Launch: Less Toxic Living

I'm very happy to be sharing with you the launch today of a book, Less Toxic Living, by Kirsten McCulloch. Kirsten is the person behind Sustainable Suburbia, a great resource for living more sustainably in the midst of our modern lifestyles. The book Less Toxic Living is a wonderful, comprehensive collection of articles about how we can reduce the toxic burden in our lives. I have to warn you, reading this book will make you change your behaviour, and you may [if you're anything like me] suddenly stop using a lot of products in your home!

Topics covered in the book include toxins in the home, making and using green cleaners, food and water, plastics and cosmetics and skincare. The book is written such that you can open it at any section and read, you don't have to follow from start to finish. All the information is easy to understand, and the best part is that is offers solutions to the everyday toxic things life presents us with. I know for me, I've been aware of many issues identified in this book, but it's all been in the 'too hard to deal with' basket, so I've not done anything. Well, now I have.

Since reading this book, we have added a bunch of indoor plants, switched away from using plastic wherever possible, switched to a safer dishwashing liquid, stopped using commercial liquid hand soap and made a much greater effort to avoid wearing our outdoor shoes inside the house. And a whole bunch more. You'll need to read it to know why we've made these changes! I honestly thought we were pretty on top of living a simpler, cleaner life [I make our soap, and our laundry liquid, isn't that enough?] but I have had my eyes opened a little further through this book. And it offers solutions, not just problems. 

From now until 3 December, you can access the ebook for free. How good is that? Simply follow this link and use the code DUSTYROAD to download a copy. Alternatively, you can find the book on Amazon here, and a paperback version will shortly be available in Australia here. There are also a bunch of freebies if you download the ebook, including printables, a special offer on candles, free book chapters and bonus recipes. I hope you take a look at the book! Also take a look at Sustainable Suburbia if you haven't been over there yet.

Homemade: [sort of] Castile Soap

Let me just say that making soap has been on my list of things to do for a while now - I distinctly remember contemplating a first attempt back at the start of the year when I had a great big baby belly to contend with. Of course it didn't happen back then, but it finally has now! I was given a great recipe for a [sort of] castile soap from the kind folks behind Eco Market, and the moon and the stars aligned and I happened to have all the ingredients and materials on hand and with my husband keeping our baby boy at bay, I got busy and made my soap. I am absolutely hooked. My mind is bursting with different things to try next time... and the time after that... and the time after that. Anyway, this is what I did for my first go. Oh and I say a 'sort of' castile soap, because a castile soap [as I now know] is olive oil based and although this recipe does have a lot of olive oil it also has a fair amount of other oils. So it's sort of a castile soap.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

800ml olive oil

800ml sunflower oil

600g coconut oil

900ml water

300g caustic soda [lye]

Essential oils of your choosing

Equipment:

A stick mixer*

Protective gear [gloves, glasses, apron]

Digital thermometer or milk thermometer 

Large stainless steel pot 

Soap moulds

Scales

Measuring jug
Cooking spray

What To Do:

1. Wear protective clothing unless you're a complete pro. Caustic soda burns, you don't want to get it on anything, yourself included. Open up windows to ensure good ventilation. Cover your work area in newspaper [if you value it]. And grease your moulds with cooking spray.
2. Measure out all your ingredients. Put the oils in the stainless steel pot. Put the lye in a small bowl, and put the water in a measuring jug. Keep the essential oils close by.
3. Heat the oils slowly to about 45 degrees celsius, mixing as you go. When they reach this temperature, carefully add the lye to the water in the measuring jug. This will go nuts and heat up really quickly, and you want it to be the same temperature as the oils. Gently add the lye and water mix to the oils.
4. Remove from heat, and blend with a stick mixer for about 10 minutes. You need to blend until it reaches a point called 'trace', which is roughly when you can see ripples on the surface of the mix. Be careful not to overheat your stick blender [like I did...].
5. Add essential oils, and blend again until they're mixed through.
6. Pour it into your moulds, then wrap them in a towel or tea towel to cool slowly. After about 15 hours, it should have set enough that you can tip it out of the mould and cut it into bars.
7. Leave it alone for 6 weeks, on a rack where air can circulate. This is the hard part, as I'm finding. Turn it over ever other day or so to help it set. This part is really important, as this is what makes the soap into a good solid block that will hold together well.

The End Result
Awesome. Like I said, I loved doing this. I can't wait to start using the soap, my patience is being sorely tested. And I want to make more! There are just so many combinations I want to try. This time around I used Ylang Ylang essential oil. I would love to try it also with Lavender, and Sweet Orange also sounds nice. Plus there's different options for adding colour [paprika anyone?], and even making exfoliating soap [by adding poppy seeds!]. I love the homemade look about it. And if it all just sounds too hard but you still want the benefits of homemade soap - head on over to Eco Market and see what's on offer, there might just be someone selling some near you.

Do you make your own soap? I'm sure a few readers are old hands at the soap making thing, what advice would you offer to a newbie soap maker?

* Only one stick mixer got harmed in the making of this soap. Let me just say - read the instructions of your mixer carefully. If it says 'don't mix hot oil' and 'don't mix for more than 15 seconds at a time', then it's probably not a good idea to hold it in hot oil for 10 minutes. Or even 8 minutes for that matter.