DIY

Staying Smooth: Moisturizing & Exfoliating Body Scrub!

Abby H.1 Comment

Recently I posted a photo on Instagram of some of the body scrub I whipped up. I love making body scrubs, balms, and lotions. Anything I can make at home with all natural ingredients is a plus in my book.

I dislike commercially available scrubs, so often they contain silica or other “micro-beads”. They are often times not biodegradable, and they end up in oceans and streams, harming wildlife.

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 9.05.43 PM.pngI got quite a few DM’s asking for the recipe, so I thought I would share it.

All of this stuff I had in my house already, so you may have to go out and grab some ingredients, or just make a few substitutions, depending on what you have on-hand.

I’ve linked to some of the ingredients on Amazon (prices may change, and if you buy something from one of my links, I *might* get a small commission). Then you don’t have to leave home to shop!

This recipe makes A LOT, so, be prepared with a large container with a lid (I used a plastic coffee canister that I sterilized).

 

Moisturizing & Exfoliating Body Scrub

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Mix all of the liquid ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.
  2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a second bowl, set aside.
  3. Add wet to dry ingredients slowly, stirring well.
  4. Store in a container with a lid, scoop out with a clean hand (or spoon) into another cup/container as needed.

If mixture feels too wet, add up to an additional 1/2 cup of salt (your choice: sea or table).

If mixture is too dry, add up to 1/2 cup coconut oil.

 

 

Recipe: Oatmeal Mix

Abby H.23 Comments

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We love Oatmeal, but most instant oatmeal is full of sugar and isn’t really good for you (no fiber, lots of sugar, mystery ingredients).

Determined to save money and get us to eat better, I set out to concoct a batch of oatmeal mix.  After months of trial and error, here is the final result:

Oatmeal Mix

Makes 40 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients

  • 15 cups old fashioned oats (that’s 1 large canister)
  • 3 2/3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1 cup flax seeds, milled
  • 1 cup Hemp Seeds (I like these)

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients.
  2. Store in a large air tight container for up to 6 months.

Directions for cooking the mix:

1/2 cup mix to 1 cup water, cook on the stove together until the oats are cooked (2-3 minutes). Or mix together and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes and let stand for a few minutes.

 

Add dried fruit, powdered sweetener, spices/herbs, what have you to make it your own!

Decorating Glass Ornaments: My Pinterest Fail…

Abby H.

Sigh.. I received this 12 pack of super cool clear glass bulbs to review about 2 weeks ago and now that Lil’ Man is back to school, I sat down yesterday to get crafty.

After surfing Pinterest and Google for ideas, I reached into my craft box and pulled out Sun Catcher Paint. My paln was to paint the glass ornaments with sun catcher paint so they’d look like stained glass. Cool, right? I would like to think that I am a creative person. I mean, I did create costumes for a living for 10 years. Well, these little glass ornaments failed me.

Ok, it wasn’t the ornaments. It was the medium. Sun catcher paint works on sun catchers because they have little wells or cavities for the paint to sit in and dry, the glass bulbs.. do not.

The ornaments themselves are pretty sturdy for being glass. The silver bale is easily removed and reinserted.

So here is my tale of woeScreen Shot 2016-08-26 at 8.19.54 PM in a photo collage….

I still have 10 left, so here is my Pinterest Board with a few ideas I’ll be trying this weekend!

 

Thanks to Tomsoson for the chance to try out these little ornaments for free in exchange for my opinions. I received no financial compensation.

 

How to organize the dreaded toy mess!

Abby H.

One of the things I pride myself on is how we are able to quasi-control the toy mess in our home. It’s a lot of work, but we have a pretty good system, and it might work for you too.

Stage 1: Contain the mess! First of all, a few years ago, hubs bought a bunch of 20 quart Steralite containers with snap on lids at an auction for a song. So, we separated all of the toys by type and put them in boxes with a lid.

IMG_5483Obviously the Legos and Thomas the Tank Engine toys go into larger boxes because, well, we have tons  more then will fit in the 20 quart containers. We also re-use random plastic containers, like these plastic jugs that hard pretzels come in, the large bottles that Nesquik powder comes in, and dishwasher tab boxes.

Stage 2: Label! We label everything. All of the original totes have Kidecals labels, but the newer /larger containers have different labels. I try to do labels that have drawings of the toys too, so it’s easier for non-readers to know what’s in the box without opening them.

I used the terminology that Lil’ Man uses for his toys. The box marked “Guy Men” has action figures and little toys (like his Sesame Street “guys”), and “Mean Animals” (Plastic/Vinyl animals of various sizes).

IMG_5486_2Some of the toys that don’t get a lot of play (or annoy me), are stored in the closet. I rotate the less frequently played toys through, so that all of the toys get loved.

IMG_5485_2Stage 3: Limit Access! Another thing that helps is that we have a three toys at a time rule. Lil’ Man can have three types of toys out at a time. Right now, it’s guy men, mean animals, and cars.

 

 

Recipe: Honey Lemon Ginger Syrup

Abby H.1 Comment

P1050863I’m no doctor, but I do know that when we don’t feel good, nothing is more soothing than lemon and honey.

IMG_3602I recently made a very soothing syrup, and I had to share it with you. I put 1/3 cup of the syrup in the bottom of a coffee mug and pour boiling water over it. I have been drinking a mug full twice a day.

It’s quick and easy to make!

Ingredients:

  • 2 C honey (real honey, none of that honey flavored syrup junk!)
  • Juice of 10-12 lemons (reserve two lemons and chop them up)
  • A Thumb sized knob of ginger, peeled and sliced

Directions:

  1. In a saucepan, combine the honey, juice, and ginger.
  2. In a jar with a screw on lid, pack in reserved chopped up lemon pieces.
  3. Cook on low for about 20 minutes. Do Not boil!
  4. Pour honey mixture over lemons.
  5. Screw lid on and let sit on counter until it reaches room temperature.
  6. Store in the fridge.
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Waiting for yummy syrup!
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Hunks of ginger

If you’re looking for the science behind all of this, Lemons contain a lot of vitamin C! Honey is very soothing and coats a sore throat. Remember that honey should not be consumed by anyone under 12 months of age. And ginger contains anti-oxidants.

DIY Fairy Jar (No Glow Sticks needed!)

Abby H.1 Comment

Screen Shot 2016-02-01 at 12.51.22 PMEveryone has seen the Fairy jars on Pinterest that glow in the dark. In fact, you may seen them on Pinterest fail lists too, because, well, the directions don’t work.

Not familiar? Ok, it goes like this: Take a Mason Jar (because after all 90% of crafts/stuff on pinterest involve a Mason Jar), open 2-3 glow sticks, dump them into the mason jar, screw the lid on and shake. OOOH, it’s supposed to look like a magical Fairy Jar. What it really looks like it a fairy vomited into a jar. And glow sticks glowiness only lasts one night (or so).

So here is the deal on how to make a legit, serious, awesomely cool fairy jar in less than 10 minutes, no glow sticks or scissors needed.

You need two things:

A jar with a screw on lid. I used an Anchor Hocking jar that my mom gave me (she got it here). You could also use a wide mouth quart Mason Jar.

A string of these cool LED battery operated lights on a copper wire. You get two for $7.99, so really, you could make two if you had another jar.

Here are the totally simple directions:

  1. Wash and dry the jar.
  2. Loosely coil the string of lights around your hand, put hand into jar. let go of the lights.
  3. Leave the end of the string with the switch dangle over the lip of the jar.
  4. Screw on lid (the wire is so thin, you’ll be able to screw on the lid with the wire coming up over the top of the jar).
  5. Turn lights on.

That’s it. REALLY! The batteries last a while, especially if you aren’t leaving the lights on 24/7. If you wanted to get a little fancier, you could spray paint the inside of the jar, allow it to dry, then continue with steps 2-5. I am doing that with my second string of lights. Watch my Instagram feed for photos of that when it’s done later today.

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I can’t wait to share this with Henry when he gets home from school.

 

Thanks to Tomoson and #OakleafLEDLight for the opportunity to try these cool little lights for free. I was not financially compensated for this review, however I only review items that I think area good fit for my family. All opinions are my own!

DIY Frozen Pizzas!

Abby H.8 Comments

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A cheese pizza baking away (and a calzone)!

We love Pizza. Probably too much. About 6 months ago, hubs bought How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food,10th Anniversary Edition by Mark Bittman. It’s amazing. We’ve cooked a lot of stuff out of it, but the best is probably the pizza crust recipe.

It’s easy -only three ingredients, but I usually add a few extra!  You can make a few batches, put a ball of dough in the freezer, and save it for when you want pizza, but are feeling lazy. OR- You can make a couple frozen pizzas (which I do once a month), and when you are feeling really lazy, you’ll have no need to call Noid or Cesar (wow, both of those totally date me, right?)

DIY Frozen Pizza

Makes 1 pizza

Crust (recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s):

  • 3 c flour, plus extra for kneading
  • 2 t. yeast
  • 1 c. very warm water (90-100 degrees)
  • 2 T parmesan cheese (it’s ok to use the Kraft in a green canister stuff)-OMIT IF YOU ARE VEGAN!
  • 1 T Olive Oil
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Mix all of the ingredients together until a soft sticky dough ball forms.
  3. Turn out onto a floured board or counter top and knead briefly.
  4. smooth a round ball of dough into a clean bowl. Cover bowl with a cool, damp cloth and allow to rise someplace undisturbed for 1 hour.
  5. After an hour, punch the dough, and turn out onto a floured board or counter top and knead for 2-3 minutes. At this time, you can roll the dough out and move onto the next step, or you can do a secondary rise (makes the crust extra crispy and chewy). If you elect to do a second rise, repeat step 3 and 4.
  6. After dough is rolled out to your preferred size and shape, lift into well greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. pierce the crust with a fork several times. This keeps the crust from getting weird bumps and lumps during the par-baking.
  7. Par-bake crust for 3-5 minutes. Allow crust to cool completely.

Now that you have cooled par-baked crust, it’s time to get topping! Transfer the pizza to a large piece of aluminum foil.

  • 1 cup or so of sauce, your choice
  • 1-2 c. cheese
  • Assorted toppings (precooked meats, veggies, fruit, herbs, etc)

Top the pizza as you like,, wrap the foil around the pizza, loosely around the top of the pizza so you don’t squash the toppings. Place in a large freezer zip top bag (don’t forget to label what kind of pizza it is) and freeze. pizzas should freeze at least 24 hours before cooking.

To heat, bake pizzas at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes

IMG_2938Some of our favorite pizzas include:

  • Gyro (Sprouts sells it wit hthe pre-sliced deli meat!), feta, and spinach
  • Caramelized onions and peppers and sliced meatballs with cheese
  • whatever veggies we have in the house (broccoli, spinach, onions, peppers) topped  with cheese
  • chicken, bacon, and pepper jack cheese

 

You can substitute in whatever your fav crust is, whatever sauce, cheese, and toppings you like! And because the pizzas are room temp/cooled when you top them, it’s a great opportunity for kids to help assemble pizzas. These pizzas are a frugal way to have a yummy dinner- Each pizza costs about $3.00 and feeds the three of us!

 

 

DIY Powdered Laundry Detergent….

Abby H.

IMG_2769So I did it. I broke down after years and years of saying I’d never make my own laundry soap and I did it. If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you’ll see a lot of recipes that makes a 5 gallon bucket of thick white (or off-white) gloppy laundry detergent. With two curious kids under 5 years old, I didn’t think having that around my house would be a good idea. Plus, where the hell would I keep it? Our garage isn’t attached, and my washer and dryer are in a closet in the hallway. 5 gallons of water weighs 40-ish lbs, so 5 gallons of liquid laundry detergent would be about the same, maybe more. That’s a lot more than my poor, flimsy laundry closet shelf could handle!

However, after tons of research and testing out ingredients, I cobbled together a recipe for powdered Laundry detergent. Here are the ingredients I used and the reasoning behind each one:

IMG_26871 Large Bar Zote Soap, grated: My great Grandmother used this soap (as well as Fels-Naptha, but I couldn’t find it in my local store) to wash their laundry in the days before they had indoor plumbing in their farmhouse (BTW, that was the 1950’s). She had an old style washing machine like this, complete with ringer. Her laundry was always super clean, so I knew that starting with a good soap was key. (It makes roughly 4 cups of grated soap) If you don’t care for Zote or Fels Naptha, I’ve seen others use Dr. Bronner’s Castille bar soap.

 

IMG_26864 Cups Borax: This is a pretty controversial ingredient because Borax is toxic if ingested. News Flash: DON’T EAT LAUNDRY DETERGENT. You wouldn’t pop a Tide Pod in your mouth and start chewing, so home made detergent shouldn’t be any different.  Borax is great in your wash if you have gross little boys (or not so little boys).  Here is a pretty good article that talks about how Borax works. I use a little Borax in every load of laundry, with commercial detergent too!

4 Cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA- THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION!!): Washing Soda is also another ingredient that people get crazy over. It’s NOT baking soda. It is not to be ingested, it is slightly caustic (I wear gloves and a mask when I work with it). This page tells you about it and how it works. Basically it acts as a solvent to help removes stains, it also helps soap or detergent foam and clean better!

Directions are easy: Grate your soap. I used a hand grater, but you can also use a food processor (I don’t have one).

Mix all your ingredients together and store in clean, dry jars. I used Ball Mason Jars because it’s what I had on hand, but whatever you have will work. A friend re-uses her empty protein powder canisters.

All you need is 1-2 tablespoons per load (for the record I use 2 T. per load because our clothes get really dirty playing outside and exercising every day).

Using 4 cups of each ingredient will yield a little less than 12 cups of detergent (The grated soap settles down once everything is mixed together) which is approx 144 loads of laundry. I paid about $12.50 for all of the ingredients, and I still have leftover Borax and Washing Soda for my next batch.

This detergent will not get sudsy/bubbly, however, your clothes are getting clean. Our clothes have never been cleaner and honestly, it’s one of the few detergents I’ve used (and trust me, as a couponer, I’ve used pretty much every brand of laundry detergent there is!) where I don’t have to pre-treat every single stain and scrub.

Scent: Some recipes call for essential oils or even Downy Unstoppables to add scent. We personally don’t like over scented detergent, so the light lemony scent from Zote is more than enough for us. If you like you clothes to smell like something, you can add 10-20 drops of Essential Oil (lavender is popular), or 1/4 cup of Downy Unstoppables (I REALLLLY don’t recommend this since it has softeners in it too).

About Fabric Softener: We don’t use fabric softener like Snuggle or Downy Unstoppables because it just coats the fabric with a waxy residue and leaves a film on it. After years, towels can stop being absorbent, and clothes can feel sticky or turn another color. If you need fabric softener or something to keep the static down, I recommend a vinegar rinse in your washer (like you would with liquid Snuggle), or wool balls in your dryer.

 

 

When DIY meets frugality….

Abby H.

About 6 months ago, I scored 6 new pillows for less than $10 at Sears, using Sears Shop Your Way Rewards, coupons, and a BOGO sale.

When you get new pillows, you need new pillow covers. I headed over to our local AmVets Thrift Store when all of the linens were on sale and picked up 9 pillow covers for .25/each.  What I didn’t realize is that 3 of them were smaller than a standard pillow, and they didn’t fit. I set them aside, thinking I would find something else to do with them.

Fast forward to this morning. I am pulling the sheets, blankets and pillowcases off the bed, and I notice the pillow cases look gross. Like, we’ve had them since before we were married and they just don’t come clean anymore… That kind of gross. I’ve washed them with Oxyclean, borax, you name it, I’ve tried it to get them clean. Enough. I figure 8 years of rotation means they’ve served a good life.

I rifle through the linen closet to discover that about 90% of our pillow cases need to get pitched. Then, I discover the 3 small pillow covers, and I am struck with inspiration.

warposterSee, My motto for for remaining the frugal steward of our family is, “Use it up, wear it out, make do”. That means, basically: USE WHAT YOU HAVE.

I remembered that I also had a few yards of Eyelet lace in my sewing box. BUT, it’s offwhite. The pillow covers were white. But, wait… We have a box of awful tea in the cabinet. I mean it tastes like burnt rubber and camp fire smoke- blergh. But, it’s perfect for tea dying! Ever notice when you spill tea or coffee on your white clothes, it never comes all the way out? Imagine if you took light colored fabric and soaked it in boiling tea or coffee for about an hour and then washed it?  That’s tea dying.

I pull out the sewing machine and some supplies and set to work. I trim the zippers off the pillow covers, measure the lace, and sew it onto the open end of the pillow case. This serves a few purposes:

  1. Lengthens the pillow case about 31/2 inches. Now it will fit a standard pillow case
  2. Makes the pillow case look nice
  3. I am using up what we have in the house, and now I don’t have to go out and buy new pillow cases.

While I was in the closet with my fabric, I also found a piece of unbleached muslin that I cut into a pillow case. I had enough lace, so why not. If you’d like to make a pillow case, here is a pretty easy tutorial to follow.

I boiled my icky tea, wet the pillow cases, and tossed them into the stockpot. I covered the pot with a heavy plate to weight the fabric down so that it will take the dye evenly.

After about 30 minutes, I turned the stove off, and left the mixture until it cooled… Next, I rang out the pillow cases and tossed them into the washing machine to get out any extra tea (and the gross smell).  And now… Ta Da!  Three refurbished pillow cases and a brand new pillow case!

  • Total out of pocket: Zero Dollars
  • Time: about 2 hours (most of it was waiting for the dye pot to cool)

Now if you want to make your own pillow cases, the tutorial I linked to above is pretty easy to follow, and it’s a great way to use up scraps of cotton fabric that you may have hanging around the house.  Since pillow cases and fitted sheets tend to wear out first, you could also cut up orphaned flat sheets too.

 

 

DIY Frugal Facial!

Abby H.1 Comment

file9131343110988As the new year begins a lot of women (and men too) resolve to take better care of themselves, both physically and spiritually.

Today we’re dealing with the physical self-care, and one way to start is with a good facial.  It’s important to put your best face forward, and taking care of your skin will help!

I’ve listed DIY formulations that I like as well as links to professional products that I’ve used recently. Products that I use and recommend tend to have a high concentration of natural/botanical ingredients. I’m a huge fan of using products that have a basis in nature! Facials are a fun thing to do as part of a Ladies/Moms night in!

For your Ladies/Moms night in, have every one can bring their favorite product to share, or a quick trip to the beauty supply and the grocery store can get you everything you’ll need for a soothing facial.

1: Cleanse  your skin using a gentle cleanser in order to remove surface oil, dirt and germs. If you have oily or combination skin, use a foaming gel cleanser; if you have dry skin, look for a creamier blend that won’t dry out your skin. I like Dermalogica UltraCalming Cleanser

2: Exfoliate. Exfoliation helps remove dead skin cells that clings to your  skin. You can either use a mechanical exfoliator (something that is rough/ scrubby like oatmeal), or a chemical exfoliator (something that dissolves the oil and dirt that holds the dead skin cells to your skin, like the acid in pineapple or dairy products).

Natural exfoliatants include: Ground oats and pineapple. Grind oatmeal in your food processor and add 3 T. oats to 2T. Plain natural yogurt (I like greek yogurt because it’s nice and thick!) Apply to the face and remove after 10 minutes with a warm towel. Or put ¼ cup pineapple and 3 T. plain yogurt into the food processor and pulse. Once combined apply to the face and remove after 10 minutes with a warm towel.

If you don’t want to muss with mixing up your own, I like Valentia’s Eternal Youth Exfoliating Scrub.

At this point, you may wish to apply a serum (I like this vitamin C serum, it’s got all kinds of botanicals and humectants in it to help moisturize your skin) or spritz the skin with a nourishing toner. I like this Vitamin C Toner. Remember to  use anything that stings, burns or causes discomfort. That means NO SEA BREEZE OR ALCOHOL BASED ASTRINGENTS!

3: Mask. If you have oily or combination skin, try a clay-based mask; for dry or mature skin, look for a hydrating mask (with a creamy or gel texture).  Peel off masks are better suited for oily or combination skin (They can be a little harsh for those with sensitive skin).  Most beauty supply stores or drug stores sell masks in small sachets (like these) if you do not already have a favorite mask. Apply mask to the skin, being careful to avoid the eye area (this can lead to sagging skin). Leave mask on for 10 to 20 minutes or as directed.   Do not allow clay masks to dry completely.  The active ingredients only work as long as the mask stays moist.  Sprtiz the mask with a spray bottle of water to keep it moist once or twice. Remove the mask with warm towels and follow with a light spritz of toner.

Most facials end with a special moisturizer or lotion applied to the face.  Look for a moisturizer with SPF 15 or higher in order to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Don’t forget to apply moisturizer to your neck and décolleté. You can use SPF moisturizer in the evening too if your budget is too tight for two moisturizers. If you use a moisturizer that contains retinols (they are vitamin A derivatives), it’s imperative that you use an SPF during the day. Vitamin A can thin the skin and sensitize it, so you need extra protection from the suns rays.

If you wish to apply an eye cream, use only a pea sized amount and apply it with your ring fingers in a gentle patting motion.  Don’t drag your fingers across the gentle under-eye tissue.  It can damage the delicate skin in that area.

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My Recent At Home Facial!

Here is my photo collage of my recent Spa retreat. Ok, so I was in the spare washroom after the kids were sleeping and hubs was vegging out.None the less, it’s nice to take 30 minutes or so out of your day once a week and pamper yourself!