Browsing Tag:

diy

DIY/Crafts/ FUN/DIY/ Gardening

11 Ways To Start Thinking Garden

Time-To-Garden-2

Grow Food Indoors via Ebay

{microgreens, sprouts & more!}

 

Simple Painted Rock Plant Markers

{could not find the link to these, but they were too cute to not share! Could use a white or silver Sharpie}

 

The Ultimate Seed Starting Guide via Garden Therapy

{this truly is the ultimate seed starting guide.  Click through for some awesome inspiration and how-to’s!}

 

Using Tubs As Greenhouses via Garden Web

{use paper cups instead of styrofoam to be more eco-friendly}

 

$_3

 

Herbs You Can Grow Indoors via Empress Of Dirt

{there is nothing like having something green and edible indoors, even while it is cold outdoors}

 

Time-to-garden-collage

 

Use Coffee Filters To Line Flowerpots via This Old House

{could even double up for extra protection. Less mess!}

 

Start Seedlings In Egg Cartons Via Planet Forward

{love this simple way to recycle}

 

Grow Sprouts  via The Thrifty Couple

{grow sprouts in a sunny windowsill indoors}

 

Square Foot Gardening via New Nostalgia

{I just love my square foot garden. This picture was taken of  me right before I was diagnosed with stage 3b breast cancer. Oh how life changed! So thankful to be here for another garden growing season!}

 

letterbox-garden-tools1

Set Up A Mailbox In The Garden To Store Tools via Home and Garden

{I think this idea is great.  It would keep tools handy and protect them from wet weather.}

 

Plants-In-Mason-Jars

How To Grow Plants In Mason Jars

{you know I had to include something with mason jars! I grow succulents in mason jars and they are wonderfully happy!}

………….

What about you?

Are you ready to start gardening?  Is it cold where you live or are you able to work the dirt now?

GF, Vegan & Raw/ Healthy Eating/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

DIY Coconut Butter

DIY-COCONUT-OIL

{by Teniel Moore-Raw Foods Contributor}
 
Who doesn’t love coconut butter? It Is rich, decadent & delicious.

Are you one of those people spending a fortune on gourmet brand coconut butter?  Then let me show you how you can save yourself a fortune and make your own in under a minute or so for under $4.00!
 
WHAT YOU NEED
 
All you are going to need is a high speed blender
3 cups of dried coconut (or more– this will make approximately 1 cup of coconut butter.)
 
HOW TO
 
~Pour at least 3 cups of dried coconut into your high speed blender
~Turn on and start blending. My vitamix blends it down in 30 sec on high speed. 
~Then turn it off for about 20 sec to rest and blend it again for another 30 sec.
DIY-COCONUT-BUTTER-3
Done! Its that easy. Depending on how good your blender is what will determine the time it takes to get the consistency you like. Make sure to give your blender a little rest in between if you feel like its struggling a bit.
 
Now you can pour your coconut butter into a cute little glass bottle and store in the fridge or in your cupboard depending on how hot it is at your place.

Or… you can do what I love to do and pour it into cute little chocolate moulds and keep them in the freezer. I eat them striaght from the freezer, just like a little white chocolate treat.

No guilt, all I’m eating is coconut. Delicious, good- for- you healthy fat. Remember, good-quality healthy fats are nothing to be afraid of. 
 
DIY-COCONUT-BUTTER-2
 
Coconut butter can be used to spread on toast or pancakes or add to your cooking. 

3
Beauty/ Natural Products/ POPULAR

Homemade Hair Reconstructor

Homemade Hair Reconstructor

I have seen a lot of ideas for homemade hair reconstructors and conditioners, but other than using Coconut Oil as my favorite hair moisturizer, I have never used home products to make homemade hair reconstructor…until now!

Thanks again to Pinterest, I couldn’t pass up the idea of making my own hair reconstructor.

 

Hair Reconstructor Before and After

The treatment made my natural curls more bouncy & took away frizz

 

Hair Reconstructor Vs. Hair Moisturizer

A hair reconstructor is different than a hair moisturizer.  A moisturizer adds moisture back into the hair.  It is great for dry hair.  A reconstructor is like a strengthener.  It helps heal damaged, weak hair.

There are several things that make hair need moisturizing treatments and reconstructing treatments.  Some hair is just naturally dry and weak, but most of the damage is from:

  • highlighting and coloring hair
  • not getting regular trims
  • outside elements like wind and sun
  • heat damage from hair dryers and curling/flattening irons
  • certain medications

My hair had damage from all of the above!

Continue Reading…

99
Featured/ HEALTH/ Natural Products

Homemade Face Moisturizer

 

I’m pretty excited about this Homemade Face Moisturizer.  I’ve been using it for about a week and I’m loving how my skin is looking and feeling.  I especially love that I know exactly what is in it, and that each ingredient is pure and good for the skin.

I recycled a dropper container that is a great reminder to me of the money I am saving by making my own Face Moisturizer.  The face product that was in that bottle previously costs about $30.00!

The recipe was linked up to my Anti-Procrastination Tuesday Link Party from the awesome Rebekah at Potholes and Pantyhose.  She did a great, month- long series on homemade products, which is where I got this recipe.  She did a price workup of this and a 2.5 ounce bottle is $.75 cents!  Now that’s a deal! (Click through for the price breakdown.)

__________________

Homemade Face Moisturizer
4 Tbsp 100% Aloe Vera Juice (the drinkable kind)
1 tsp Vegetable Glycerine
6 drops Jojoba Oil
1/4 tsp Sweet Almond Oil

1 Container to keep the moisturizer in.

Measure all into container.  You may need to use a funnel.

Before each use, shake well.  This is not a creamy product, it is quite watery.  Apply using a cotton pad or your clean fingertips.  It will take a minute to dry, but as it does, it will absorb and leave you with soft, silky smooth skin!

If you need more moisture, just add a bit more of the oils until you get the level your specific skin type needs.  The above recipe was just perfect for mine.

____________________

Here is some information for each product used in this recipe, from Rebekah’s research:

Aloe Vera Gel
here are just a few things it does besides cool sunburn: kills bacteria, virus and fungus.  The salicylic acid in aloe vera also acts as a pain killer.  That explains why it’s so soothing for burns.  It also has anti-inflammatory properties.

Vegetable Glycerin
A topical remedy for a number of skin problems, including psoriasis, rashes, burns, bedsores & cuts.

Jojoba Oil
Provides all day moisture to skin. Jojoba oil doesn’t evaporate like water based moisturizers can.  It is theorized, but not yet proven, that because jojoba oil is so similar to human skin oil, it can “trick” the skin into thinking it has produced enough oil and thus balance oil production.  It is very stable, jojoba oil does not become rancid or lose antioxidants even after long periods of storage.  It spreads well and is absorbed well. The organic variety is free of pesticides, GMO’s and is sustainably farmed.

Sweet Almond Oil
Almond oil is an excellent emollient and moisturizer.  As an emollient it nourishes and softens the skin helping to keep it smooth to the touch.  Almond oil is similar in composition to the oil baby’s excrete to keep their skin and hair healthy.  This composition is beneficial to protecting and conditioning your skin no matter your age.  By helping the skin stay healthy it promotes a youthful skin complexion.  Almond oil is frequently used to treat dry skin.  It relieves itchiness, soreness, rashes, dryness, irruption and burns.  Almond oil aides the skin in keeping the proper balance of moisture in the skin which is critical when treating dry skin.

__________________

For an extra special treat to your skin, use this sugar and lemon juice scrub in the video above, then follow up with Homemade Face Moisturizer.  My 3 little lovelies did this with me on a recent “beauty spa day” and I was amazed at how it even made their beautiful young skin glow!

You may also like:
2 Ingredient Homemade Eye Makeup Remover

Stay tuned for what I have been using to cleanse my face!

30
HEALTH/ How-Tos/ Natural Products/ RECIPES

Incredibly Easy Homemade Disinfectant

I can’t tell you how great it has been to no longer choke as I am cleaning from the fumes of harsh chemical cleaners!  I love that I can assign my daughters different jobs around the house and not worry about handing over bottles of cleaners to them.  It just is a good feeling.

This homemade disinfectant can’t get any more simple.  It just uses hydrogen peroxide and a few drops of essential oils for scent, which is optional.

For heavy duty disinfectant jobs, like raw chicken, I’ve read all over the Internet about a this study, which uses a hydrogen peroxide and vinegar, in two separate spray bottles.

“It doesn’t matter which you use first – you can spray with the vinegar then
the hydrogen peroxide, or with the hydrogen peroxide followed by the vinegar.
You won’t get any lingering taste of vinegar or hydrogen peroxide, and neither
is toxic to you if a small amount remains on the produce. As a bonus: The paired
sprays work exceptionally well in sanitizing counters and other food preparation
surfaces — including wood cutting boards. In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually all

Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and
surfaces when used in this fashion, making this spray combination more effective
at killing these potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any
commercially available kitchen cleaner. “

 

Homemade Disinfectant

Hydrogen Peroxide

10-15 drops of essential oil (optional–for scent)

Spray bottle

I chose Lemon essential oil as my scent.  I LOVE any citrus scent!  You can order the oil I used here on Amazon. 

I am on a roll in making homemade cleaners as I am tired of paying the prices of organic cleaners.  I wanted an easy way to label them, so I got my daughters alphabet stamp kit out and made a bunch of labels.  You can find links to more of my cleaning recipes below!

Between my cancer history and my daughters asthma issues, I am passionate about getting as many chemicals out of our home as possible.  Making my own cleaners is a super easy way to make a HUGE difference in cleaning up the air in our home.

Homemade Glass Cleaner That Smells Great

Awesome Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

Under The Kitchen Sink Cleaner Organization

*update-an opaque bottle is a must for hydrogen peroxide.  Guess I will have to go shopping.  I’ve read that a small spray bottle top can fit right onto the bottle that the hydrogen peroxide is sold in, so that is my plan!

17
RECIPES/ Sides

Homemade Pesto

Pesto is one of my most favorite foods, so basil is something I knew we had to have in our garden this year.  It did quite well, and I made this batch of pesto a few weeks ago.  It was gone within the week.  My kids loved it!  I put most of it in ice cube trays to preserve and freeze for later.  Just pop them out and put them in a freezer bag or mason jar, and you have ready to use pesto!  My girls know how to boil noodles, so they loved making their own lunch on the weekends.  They boiled and drained noodles, then added about 3-4 pesto cubes of pesto per pound of pasta, stirred them into the hot pasta and lunch was served!  They loved this plain, but I loved adding some sliced cherry tomatoes, leftover shredded chicken, and shavings of fresh parm to make it a bit more filling and special.  I also kept some in a jar in the refrigerator to use as a spread on sandwiches.  Delicious!!

This recipe at “Thy Hand Hath Provided”caught my eye because you can use any type of nuts.  Pine nuts can tend to be expensive, so I used almonds.  
Pesto
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nuts (whatever you have on hand: pine nuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc. or a combination)
3-6 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
a pinch of nutmeg

Combine all but oil in a food processor.  Process, slowly adding oil until desired consistency.  


I’ve been a bit busy lately, so my basil is growing like crazy out in the garden,  quite neglected.  I am hoping to get a few more batches made before the cool weather hits, as basil hates to be cold and will die on me.  I’d love to make a huge batch and give some away in jars with these super cute printables from Givers Log.  How cute are they?? 
10
Frugal/ HOME/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Healthy Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

These are so very easy to make, and my kids’ excitement over them made me feel like “Mother Of The Year!”  I’ve seen a few recipes and methods across blog land and have wanted to make them for some time now. The easy tutorial and beautiful photos over at “The Little Red House,” plus a bowl of apricots quickly becoming past their prime in my refrigerator, was enough to get me to do it.  I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner!

I have been appalled by how expensive 100% natural fruit roll ups and fruit leathers are at the store.  When we visit our local health food co-op, my girls beg me to buy them a fruit leather.  I cringe if they are not on sale, and even on sale, they are outrageous.  One 2″x 5″ strip of fruit leather costs anywhere from a $1.00-$1.29 at our store. The cheapest I have found them is on Amazon for about 50 cents each. I buy them occasionally because at least it is not candy, but I buy it with a “grr” on my brain!

The regular fruit roll ups at the grocery store are not 100% fruit have artificial colors, flavors, and high fructose corn syrup–all things I try to avoid. (click here to read why high fructose corn syrup and I are not very good friends).

 

  I love that instead of wasting fruit that is getting mushy, I can just mush it up more and turn it into fruit leather!

 

Ingredients:

4 cups Apricots 

Squeeze Of Lemon Juice

2-3 Tbls Sweetener of choice (agave nectar, sugar, sucanant)

 

*I’m sure other types of fruit can be used, I will let you know what other fruit I have success with.

How I Made Healthy, Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

~I started with 9 apricots (they cost me $1.69!)

 

~Washed them

 

~Took out the pits

 

~Cut them into fourths

 

~Put them in a pan on the stove

 

~Squeezed the juice of one lemon over apricots

 

~Add sweetener if desired. (depends on the sweetness of your fruit.  I added 3 Tbs of pure cane sugar)

 

~Cooked on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, smashing them and stirring once in awhile. 

 

~Put cooked apricots into my food processor (I’m sure you could use a blender)

 

~Pureed them until smooth- it looks like baby food

 

~Spread them out on freezer paper on top of a cookie sheet (can use waxed paper) (**see below for thickness comment)

 

~Put them in the oven for about *4-5 hours (150 degrees is recommended, the lowest my oven went was 170 degrees)

 

~Took them out, let them cool 

 

~Cut them into strips and rolled em’ up

 

~Stored in a mason jar.  (or Ziplock bag or any airtight container)

*I put them in the oven after dinner and took them out right before I went to bed.  I let them sit out on the counter all night, then cut and rolled in the morning.  

 

**The only thing I would do different is spread my pureed apricots just a tad bit thicker next time.  I think it would work better for me since my oven’s lowest temperature is 170 degrees.  It was harder to get the paper off at the thin edges, which is where you need it to be the easiest!  Other than the thinner edges, these turned out perfect, I just had to cut about an inch off all around where it was too thin–such a waste!

 

I am eager to experiment with these.  I want to try a batch with no added sugar and see what it does.  I’m sure the amount of sweetener will depend on personal tastes and how sweet your fruit is. I personally liked that our apricot fruit roll ups were a bit tart, so I will avoid the sugar as much as possible. I can’t wait to use different kinds of fruits, I have a ton of pureed strawberries (thanks to this fun day) in my freezer, so next will be strawberry fruit roll ups!  I let you know how it goes.

46
Top