Teacher Survival Kit

My little sister starts her first year as a fourth grade teacher on Monday! I'm going to see her soon, so I decided I would put together a survival kit for her. I browsed pinterest for ideas, but didn't see anything I liked, so then I shopped my house for ideas and below is the final product! 

First and foremost, I put in some first-aid items. As a nurse, I think this is the most important! I tried to include things that would help her stay healthy throughout the year. As a student teacher last year, she contracted several colds, the flu, and pink eye! So she will definitely need to use the anti-bacterial wipe I included (I would have also included some hand sanitizer, but didn't have any that was new!). Also included is some "Emergen-C" (Vitamin C), band-aids, neosporin, cough drops, tylenol, motrin,and tissues!

 

Next I included some self maintenance items, such as brush-ups, a stain remover wipe, nivea lotion, and nail polish remover. I put in a glade candle that was called "serenity" as well as a pocket mirror which says "smile". 

Next up were school supplies (which sissy probably will deem most important!). I included scissors, note cards, a monogrammed notebook, index cards, stickers, sticky notes, highlighter, pens, paper clips, push pins, safety pins, and a rubber-band.

And lastly, I included something good to eat! I included some popcorn, almonds, and apple cider drink mix. I don't think she will drink this, but I also included some 5 hour energy, for those long days with 10 year olds! I would have added some chocolate but was afraid it would melt in this heat! I might add a granola bar too.

And there you have it! A teacher survival kit! At the end, I also added a water bottle, red pen, and sewing thread with needle. Best part was that this was all free! Everything in it I already had in my house. Even the monogrammed notebook, which I had ordered a week earlier from vistaprint (for free!) before I even had this idea. Anything else you can think of that needs to be included? I hope she is going to like it! 

Homemade Washing Powder

I decided to join the revolution and make my own laundry detergent (or as someone at the store called it - "washing powder"). I tried it because I was sick of adding "extras" to my laundry detergent to make it work, such as baking soda or downy unstopables. I received my inspiration from here (via pinterest.com, of course!). 

Below are the ingredients I used. It was super easy! 

• 1 Box of Borax (4 lb 12oz)
• 1 Box of Super Washing Soda (3 lb 7 oz.)
• 1 Bottle of Purex Crystals - Tropical Splash (28 oz)
• 2 Boxes of Baking Soda (2 lb) 
• 3 Bars of Fels-Naptha (5.5 oz)
• 1 Box of Oxi-Clean (3 lb)

 First I grated the three bars of soap using a cheese grater:

Then I poured the rest of the ingredients into my blue bucket and stirred it with a giant spoon. My inspiration suggested layering the ingredients into a five gallon bucket, which I wish I had done, because it took A LOT of stirring to combine the ingredients. But all that stirring paid off and this is the result: 

I put it into a 2 gallon glass container from Wal-Mart for only $9.97! And I put dryer sheets in a 1 gallon container, also from Wal-Mart.

The total cost for the detergent was $24.29. Each load only requires 2 tablespoons, which means that this batch will clean 256 loads, meaning that each wash only cost $0.09! Compare this to Tide Powder Detergent from Amazon which is $0.34 per load, for a cost savings of over $60!  (That was a lot of math, y'all!) 

Not only is the powder cheaper and prettier, it works very well! My husband is a commercial fisherman and just returned home from a 3 week trip on a boat, so he had some super smelly clothes! I tested the detergent on them, and within one wash they were fresh and clean! I think I'm going to add some more Purex, because the clothes smell clean, but not perfumed. If you give it a try, let me know what you think!