another sewing attempt

I decided to attempt another sewing adventure...cloth napkins. After fighting with my sewing maching for about an hour (I really should just take some lessons), I finally finished my first one! It's not the prettiest thing, but...it's a napkin. I figure something that is just gonna get smeared with bugars and peanut butter anyway, doesn't have to be pretty.

I sort of followed this tutorial. I just don't have the patience or desire to pre-wash and iron so, skipped that part. The main thing here is that they are usable, and best of all...they are reusable! Therefore, one more item I don't have to buy at the store...yay!

It saves me green and helps the earth stay green...so why not?!



1 down...11 to go.

make your own: olive oil spray

I don't know about you, but the least amount of things I have to buy at the grocery store, the better. One way I am doing this is by trying to make more of my own products. Even taking away just one thing from my list sure does help.

I decided to stop buying those olive oil spray cans for cooking and baking, so I invested in a reusable olive oil sprayer. I absolutely love it! I never have to buy another spray can again...and the price on those can add up, especially since I was buying the organic cans. I purchased mine at Amazon.com but later found them a few bucks cheaper at Bed Bath and Beyond (around $10).

Since I have regular olive oil on hand at all times, why not just use that to make my own spray? Plus it's "green" and will definitely reduce the amount of garbage you produce. It really is a win-win situation.

Such a small thing makes me smile:)

go green, save money, be healthy

natural beauty products from the kitchen

For so many years, I have been very concerned with the chemicals, antibiotics, and pesticides that I put into my body via my mouth with food and drink, but I really never gave any thought to the chemicals I was putting into my body via my skin with lotions, gels, shampoos, make-up, conditioners, sunscreen etc.

I first started thinking about this when I was swimming a lot and teaching swim lessons as a volunteer. I learned that our skin is like a sponge and will soak up anything that it comes into contact with. We would always tell the little kids before swim lessons to take a nice long shower before entering the pool. That way your skin would absorb as much fresh "clean" water as possible and not let as much yucky chlorine water in. After being in the pool so much (almost everyday), I started feeling ill all the time and actually started having allergies after being in so much chlorine. I eventually had to stop volunteering in the pool.

I do not like the thought of all the dyes, chemicals, artificial, unnecessary man-made things that are put into beauty products being soaked up into my skin and my children's skin. Buying all natural products can be pretty spendy and most of them still contain many artificial ingredients.

So I went on a quest to find true "all natural" inexpensive beauty products. I was very pleased to find that many ingredients I already had in my kitchen can be used as homemade, all natural, good-for-you, beauty products.

Here is a short list of the products I recently started using and have liked the results. Most of my information comes from a fellow mom at passionate homemaking. She has done loads of research and has it all compiled on her site of items she uses, the recipes, and even some cost comparisons.

Lotion: coconut oil ( a little goes a long way)

Shampoo: baking soda and water (so simple and so cheap)

Conditioner: apple cider vinegar and water

Face wash: apple cider vinegar and water

She also has a great recipe for homemade toothpaste that I hope to try in the future.

So we are officially "shampoo-less and I love it! I was a afraid this idea would be a little overboard for my husband (he likes the "all natural" ideas only to a certain degree) but he was totally onboard when I delicately suggested the idea. In my opinion he doesn't really have much say in it anyways...the guy only has a 1/4 inch of hair!

I guess my husband grew up shampoo-less and so he knew exactly what I was talking about. Am I the only person that did not know about this? How come nobody told me? I would have switched over a long time ago had I known.

I am glad I know now and super excited to be able to cross off not one, but four items from my shopping list. I don't know why, but I find such joy and satisfaction in reducing the amount of "stuff" I have to buy at the grocery store. I am slowly trying to cross off items, making more of my own things and shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and face wash are completely gone...forever!