Frugal Friday -Homemade Body Scrub Recipes

Summer is here, at least it was for a week before it got cold again. That meant a full 4 days of sun and swimming. Both dried my skin out like crazy. Plus since it was my first time in the sun, I got my annual burn. So now I have that yucky dried out peeled skin. I searched the web for a good body scrub I could make with items I had on hand.

My favorite out of the bunch, Cinnamin Vanilla Coffee Scrub. It worked out perfectly because I had just made a huge pitcher of cold brew coffee and had exactly two cups of ground coffee left over.

You need
2. Cups ground coffee (save your leftovers from your morning brew)
1/2 Cup Raw Sugar or Salt (I used salt cause we only have splenda in the house)
3 Tablespoons Massage Oil (any oil would work, the lighter the better)

Mix it all together allowing the mixture to blend well with the oil so it's a nice gouppy paste . I stored mine in a mason jar and it's lasted about 5 showers so far. Each shower I do a different body part.

Another few I found online but haven't gotten the chance to try out yet

Lavendar Peppermint Foot scrub (my feet are in dire need)
1 Cup Salt ( sea salt, epsom salt, regular salt )
1/3 Cup Oil
10 Drops Peppermint oil
10 drops lavender oil

Plain Jane Salt Scrub
1 Cup Salt (again any kind you have on hand)
1/3 cup oil
10 drops essential oil of your choice

Sugar Scrub
1 Cup Brown Sugar
20 Drops Vanilla Essential Oil
1/3 cup almond oil
((I can only imagine how yummy this will smell))


Adios Mis Amigos,

Wordless Wednesday- what a difference a day makes

Today is Wednesday, hump day. And I've been spending it doing a little rearranging, both in our home and on the blog. I don't know what it is about summer, but it always makes me want to simplify my life. I cleaned out cabinets, closets, and drawers, getting rid of anything that hasn't been used since last summer.

I consider this blog a home a place were I can sit and sip coffee and share whats on my heart. . .  I want both my "homes" to reflect summer and nothing says summer like flip flops and hibiscus (at least to me anyway).


 Now onto wordless Wednesday.. not so wordless huh? But it does revolve around a picture :o)

I found this idea on Pinterest and just had to make it :o) 

I had a hard time choosing colors

 but decided to go with the most summery (most like summer)

and my Kitchen dining room is accented in yellow

It was super easy, print up in word and then used one of my Dollar Store Picture frames to hang it. Total cost $1.00 (cause I had ink and paper) and best of all I LOVE IT. A little reminder that each and every day has the possibility of greatness!

Adios Mis Amigos,

Frugal Friday . . . Duggar Detergeant 1 gallon at a time

 Make your own Laundry Detergeant . . . 

Duggar Recipe 

( 1 gallon at a time instead of 10 Gallons)

This project was started out of sheer necessity. . . I ran out of detergent.. like not even a drop left in the container. . . . now seemed like as good a time as any to start making our own detergent.... after doing some research on recipes I realized that it's kind of CRAZY that it's taken me this long to do. 

Do you need some reasons to start making your own . . . .

Super Economical!!!! The initial cost to get started will be more ($10.00)  but once you get all of your supplies it costs about $2.00 per gallon to make. You use 1/4 cup per load; that gives you 64 loads of laundry per gallon, making each load costing only $.03. . . yes 3 cents! 

You know what's going into it , I like knowing what's in things.  After reading the label to our store bought detergent I was kind of shocked at some of it. 

Now I know what it is . . .  a lot less chemicals . . . both the borax and washing soda are great for sensitive skins . . .and depending on which type of laundry soap you use, you can cut out even more unnecessary chemicals 

You can customize the recipe to fit your family . . . have a rowdy bunch of sports playing boys . . . add 1/2 cup Oxy Clean to the Mixture . . . have someone with super sensitive skin, you can use Nels Naptha soap, or even super sensitive Ivory..... have a favorite scent, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the softener compartment and your clothes come out smelling fantastic!!! 

best yet, if you hate it . . . you've only made 1 gallon instead of 10 :o) But I am sure you'll love it!!!! 

Convinced ???? great lets get started 

You'll need 

 Borax (20 mule team, found it in K-Mart, Acme, ShopRite and Walmart in the Laundry Department) 

         Best price was Walmart $4.97 for 76 ounces 

Washing Soda (this was harder to track down, only Walmart had it in their laundry department) 

         Best and only price, Walmart for $3.47 for 55 ounces

((side note it has to be washing soda not baking soda))(((you can convert baking soda to washing soda, I tried but it didn't work after 3 hours of messing around with it, I gave up and headed to walmart where I was able to find the Washing Soda)))

1 Bar Laundry soap (I used Zote, many use Fels Naptha, Ivory) 

          All prices were about $1.50-$2.00 for 5-15 ounces (zote is 15oz Fels Naptha only 5.5oz)

Stainless steel grater or cut soap into itty bitty tiny pieces 

Funnel 

Gallon Container 

Big Stock Pot 

Recipe: 

4 Tablespoons Washing Soda

2 Tablespoons Borax

1/5 bar of soap

Water :o)

1. Cut soap into 5 equal parts . . . doesn't matter what kind of soap your using, you only need 1/5 the bar ... store the other 4/5ths in a sandwich bag for next time 

2. Grate/shred/dice the soap into tiny pieces. I don't have a grater so I diced it but a grater would make this go much more quickly. 

3. Start 4 cups water on medium low heat and add the diced/grated soap to the pot 

4. Stir continuously until all the soap is melted and dissolved

5. Remove from heat and add  in your Washing Soda and Borax

6. Stir until all the powder is dissolved.

7. Now fill your gallon container about 1/2 full with luke-warm water and using your funnel add your detergent to the gallon container. 

8. Top off the container with water and allow to sit over night. 

9. Your mixture will seperate (the soap will rise and water will sink)

 Just give it a good shake before each use. 

10. Use 1/4 cup per load (for front washer) 1/2 cup ( for top loading)

That's it . . . for about 30 minutes of time you've saved your self some major $$$$$ .... GOOD JOB!!!!

Adios Mis Amigos,

Make It Monday . . . Stovetop airfreshener

 Stove Top Air Freshener . . . .deliciousness in a pot

Have you ever walked into one of the home stores (pottery barn, william and sonoma) and just felt so relaxed and calmed by the smell of the store. Hmmm maybe it's just me. But I love the feeling of a fresh, yummy air freshener. Now that we are all settled into our home I've noticed it had a musty smell from sitting vacant for two months. Not bad, just like . . . stuffy. And kind of weird like band-aids (sorry if that grosses you out) but it's the closest smell I could come up with.

Even after putting baking soda bombs (two Tablespoons baking soda and 3 drops of lavender essential oil) in each room, It still was not fresh smelling.

So. . .. I hopped onto my new obsession (pinterest) and searched for DIY air fresheners. All of the ones I found required things I didn't have on hand . ..  so I started thinking what does "fresh" smell like to me. . . .

Citrus is fresh, clean, and invigorating and I happened to have some oranges and limes that were a day or two past their prime.... I cut them into wedges and got the stove bubbling... Added 4 cups of water . . . .deliciously fresh like fresh squeezed orange lime-aid.... but it needed something else . . . .Lavender is a longtime favorite and adds a sense of calm. . . So I dropped in 5 drops... realized it wasn't as strong as I liked ... So I added another 5 an VOILA . . ..

The result. . . exactly what I needed and now the house smells devine!!!!  I left it on the stove on a low simmer. .. . (my stove is old and required Medium) . . .DO NOT LEAVE IT ON unless you are near by monitoring . It also required adding more water throughout the day . . . .

I used the mixture for two days before I felt like I got my moneys worth and threw it all down the garbage disposal. . . .(really freshens up the disposal too... double bonus)


Some other recipes that I found online, but didn't have the ingredients.

Grandmom's Apple Pie
(love the smell of my grandmom's pie baking away)

• 2 cups water
• 1 apple, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons cloves
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange peel

Do you have a favorite smell???

Extracts used for cooking and baking that smell as yummy as they taste! Here is a list of some of them: Almond, Banana, Cherry, Coconut, Maple, Rum, Strawberry and Vanilla.

• Fresh sliced Lemon, Lime or Orange or their dried peels
• Spices such as Allspice, Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Ginger and Nutmeg
• Combination One: 2 whole lemons, sliced, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Combination Two: 2 whole oranges, sliced, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 2 cinnamon sticks

Have you ever made your own air fresheners??? tell me !!




Adios Mis Amigos,

Thankful Thursday . . . SUPER POWERS!!!!

Today is Thursday and we spent the A.M. Snuggled up on the couch. . . we have been potty training (well me running him to the potty every 20 minutes). To say it's been tough on our relationship is a massive understatement. I came to the realization that I AM ready to be done with diapers but he is not. I was pushing and pushing telling myself that he is so smart, so perceptive, surely he can do this. . . . he is a boy. He loves to play, he loves to use his imagination and that often means being so caught up in what he is playing with that running to the potty, or even realizing he has to go at all is just not an possible at this point... he'll get there, I know . . . but in his own time... not MINE! 

Soooooo I realized we need to spend some time enjoying this phase we are in . . . playing, using our imaginations and what better way to do that then to be SUPER HERO's. What does every super hero need???? a personalized cape of course!!!!

My first step in any creative idea is to check pinterest, ( I know, I'm obsessed right?!?!) sure enough I found a great tutorial and started there for inspiration (great site for inspiration  )


Here is my take on the project . . .


Supplies :
1.  A t-shirt (one of hubbies driving you crazy with stains ??? that's what I used)
2. Scraps for personalizing (I used cut off portions of the t-shirt and an old tank top )
3. Sewing machine or make this a new sew and use fabric glue where I sew

First: Cut out your cape

I laid the t-shirt on our table and smoothed it out . . . it's stretchy (and this is by no means exact) but just smooth as best you can . . . I used the shirts natural seams as my guided....(make sure you lift up the top layer so your only cutting the front of the shirt and not the back )

 So I cut across the top seam (the one that runs along your shoulders and then down around the neck ). . . I left about 1/4 inch of room from the seam just to make sure I wouldn't snip the seam . . . . Your cutting on the front side of the seam . . . meaning that you want to make sure the seam and back of the shirt are what's left ...  (you want the full neck to stay together)

    not sure if this helps or makes it more confusion (I'll take better pictures all along the way next time!!!) but the pink shows the cut area ....


Next I flipped the shirt over and smoothed it out  ... I tried to picture what I wanted the general shape of the cape to be and drew it out with washable marker. . . .

Second : Personalize

You can go as detailed and crazy as you'd like... but your little super hero will probably be just as happy with a plain cape... This mama loves personalizing :o)

 I used the scraps of the t-shirt to cut out the "E" . . . . I found an old yucky tank top laying around and decided that would be the perfect background for the "E"....you could either sew it on with a machine or use fabric glue

 Finallly I added a quick seam along the edges, not sure how the T-Shirt would frey with washing and the use and abuse that is sure to follow..... it's not perfect by any means.... but it gets the job done :o)

After trying it on him I realized that my husbands shirt neck was way too big and caused the cape to drape too much in the back... I snipped in the center of the front and did a quick cross seam cutting the neck hole about 1/4 of what it was... now it sits better on his shoulders and is big enough to stretch over his head :o) (he has a big mellon) ... you could also use felcro, snaps, buttons... whatever you have on hand

What a great little super hero he makes!!!!

Adios Mis Amigos,

How to clean your house and keep it clean.... no seriously!!!

Now that we are settled into our new place and I'm getting into the swing of things. I'm back on track to my quest for Domestic Awesomeness!

What is Domestic Awesomeness you may ask? Well, so glad you did. It's my own personal quest to be an awesome wife, amazing mom, fantastic housekeeper, and to cook at least 3 times a week (lets not get carried away) ((cooking is by far my least favorite task when it comes to all of this ))

So, like I was saying, now that we are all settled in, and I'm back on track, I've started up my Cleaning Regimen.  But, I like to keep it real. We are all busy, kids to chase after, life to keep up with. My idea of clean is organized and not dirty. If you walk into my house at any given time, I'm sure you will find debris, but Lord willing .... nothing will be gross, dirty, or unsanitary!!!!

So, what's my secret..... a chore chart..... for ME! Sure you hand out chores to the kids, even ask the hubs to help out occasionally, but I find the only thing that honestly keeps me on track and on top of the mess is to write it all down and check it off the list one by one!

I have daily stuff I do every single day. . . .
make the beds, and tidy the bedroom
tidy up the bathroom from getting ready
Each person has a designated laundry day
Every Room in the house has a designated deep cleaning day
In the evening, I clean up the kitchen, counters, stove, load the dishwasher and do a quick sweep up on the kitchen floors.
Finally before little man's bedtime, we do the clean up game.... set a timer for 1 minute and race around picking up all the toys

All in all I can say I honestly spend about 1 hour a day doing everything above, only about 20 minutes seriously getting down and dirty cleaning.

This is my weekly chore chart that has everyone's laundry day, the room cleaning, and then on days when I'm feeling extra AWESOME I pull out one of the Bonus items... I think those get done about every 1-2 months.... which is fine cause they are the things that don't need to get done every week :o) 

It's not rocket science, but sometimes the life of a stay at home mom gets nuts. Sure we may not run out to the office 5 days a week for 8 hours a day, but I guarentee that life is just as chaotic and crazy and there is surely no scheduled break times . . . .

So this is how I clean my house, and keep it clean.... whats your secret????



Adios Mis Amigos,

New Spaces, New Places (makes my monday)

We are all unpacked (unpacked being a relative term) and settled (settled also being relative) in our new place. Amazing how I thought it was tough two years ago moving with a 4 month old. HA! Moving with a two year old takes the cake.... Every thing I would pack, organize, unpack, and arrange he would come through like a stampeding tornado and un-do. Good thing he's cute!!!

We downsized here in Jersey, going from over 1,800sq.ft. down to a little less then 1,200sq.ft. So we are getting creative with storage, organization, and functionality.

One solution meant getting rid of our sons ginormous playhouse pirate ship. (he loved it!) But there just isn't room and even if we could make room for him to set it up and play it in, we definitely do not have the storage for it when it's not in use. So the solution.... 

A Sheet Play fort. . . . he is entertained, I can get stuff done, and it folds flat and gets stored in our linen closet when not in use!

My inspiration . . . yet again came from Pinterest. . . .  "my must do DIY for the kids" . . . . specifically this little genius ( folding table house) .... it has been in my dreams ... literally.... I dream of making a kick butt version for little man (picture post office on one side, ice cream shop on the other, yes it will be great!!!) But that creation is looking like hours and hours spent sewing, cutting, and figuring out, this one.... 30 minutes, with a two year old helping!!!!  best of all... NO SEWING!!!

It reminds me of an old cardboard box fort, but with a sheet :o)

Works for me, and best of all... he's been happily playing for over an HOUR!!!!! score for this mama!!!!

Materials. . .. Flat sheet (I used King size) , scissors, paper clips (hold the door in place) and Markers.

in case this makes sense to someone... the pink dots are cut lines.... sometimes a picture is all I need to figure something out :o)

I laid the flat sheet over the table and lined up the one side (Quique's Casa) making sure that it just touched the ground . . ..

I then went down to the Semi Circle end and made sure that touched the ground.

 

Then I went back with the snappy paper clip things (their technical name I'm not sure) and clipped everything before cutting. (my grandfathers words of wisdom measure twice cut once) glad I did, because with the help of my assistant it had become totally uneven and I had to realign and clip again....

 I had to trim the other long side, (two windows) so that it just touched the ground. (cut off about a foot of extra length.)

Next came the window cutting. I first drew out what I was thinking in washable markers, figuring that if I messed up big time I could wash it and try again. . . .luckily nothing major went wrong, so I just cut inside the lines. . . .

VOILA ......















and of course we had to get his house all "settled" first order of business, a window flower box for Mommy

A welcome sign, to welcome all of our friends to the house warming party :o)









Stanley (ginormous monkey), Blue Dog and Pooh
were a few to RSVP

 and best of all Quique LOVES IT!!!!!

Adios Mis Amigos, ...

Sesame Street Party Decor

 

Happy Wednesday . . . . 

Today's Wordless Wednesday is not so wordless cause I'm uploading the party decorations along with a how to. . .. but alas.... so it goes :o) 

Little man is turning TWO this weekend and we are having a Pirate Elmo Birthday...

 I know random right. 

But the kid is in love with Sesame Street and Pirates... so ... 

Pirate Elmo it is :o) 

While trying to come up with some fun and fugal party ideas I hit up my favorite party supply place... THE DOLLAR STORE !!!! 

We did Yellow and Red plates, cups, napkins along with streamers,  balloons all for a dollar... you just can't beat that!!!! 

My favorite part of the whole day  is our Sesame Street Tissue Paper Characters... 

I'm planning on hanging them in his room after the party... 

and for what they cost, even if they only make it through the day ... I'll be happy. 

 

They had 25 sheets of tissue paper for .... yup $1.00 

I got two just to be safe.... so $2.00 and we were out the door... 

Supplies You'll need..... 

Tissue Paper (red, yellow, blue, green) 

Yarn or string

Scissors

white printer paper

Markers or crayons

I started with Elmo but all are made the exact same way. 

(for Elmo and Cookie Monster I used 8 sheets of tissue paper,

 for Bird and Oscar I only used 4, I'd say use at least 8 so that they are nice and fluffy) 

1. I gathered up all of the red tissue and made sure it was all neatly stacked. 

2. Make sure all of your edges line up and then begin to fold it accordion style. 

3. Then I folded it in half  to see where the middle would be and tied yarn tightly around the stacked tissue. 

4. I then cut each end to be rounded. 

(Big Birds I cut to a point and Oscar's and Cookie Monster's  I left straight.)

5. Then you just start to pull apart the layers. 

6. once it was all opened up they look like giant puffy balls. 

 I hung them so I could see how they looked. They were pretty great.  but some needed to be a little extra fluffed. You wanna make sure they are puffed and even now, or it's harder once you tape on the faces.

7. Next your just going to draw out the eyes, noses, and mouths. 

(some people are asking for a pattern to print... I'll work on it)

8. Color them in and Cut them out and I used double sided tape to attach them to the tissue paper.

Voila 

Adios Mis Amigos,

Makes my Monday- Handpainted signs

 Makes my Monday is a day late..... but it's because I've been so busy painting :o) 

I may be the crazy sign lady. . . . You know that lady... the one who's every surface is covered in some sort of quote, funny saying, or just plain ramblings. I don't know what it is, but lately, but I'm obsessed. Perhaps it's the idea of having a whole new place to decorate (we are moving in two weeks). My head is overflowing with ideas and I finally got some of them finished.

I mean, come on, what about that doesn't inspire you to be a better person, be thankful for all that God's blessed you with . . . It HAS to be hung in your house RIIIIGHT????? 


Below are the ones I have made over the course of the last few days/weeks.

"you are my sunshine" was painted on a scrap piece of wood I had laying around.  It's the song we sing every night before bed, and it's going above his bed in his new big boy room.

To the right is his birth announcement that I blew up and painted onto some scrap piece of foam board. I have a bright stark white frame that is going around that baby!

"home" sign is going to go into our new place, not sure where yet, but it's just symbolic to us, since we have rented homes and it doesn't really matter where we live, so as long as we are together.

And finally the "thankful" sign was also hand painted onto another piece of board I had laying around.  Still working on the frame and matting for that puppy.

If you can scrounge up some scraps , it's a super inexpensive way to get a great finished project. 

Now how to do it. . . .. I used to be terrified of hand painting text.

I could never figure out a quick and easy way to get the text onto the material and have it all lined up and looking exactly how I planned it.

Until Pinterest came along. I have searched high and low for the original inspiration. But can't find it.

Basically it was a quote that she loved and wanted hand painted onto a board for her bedroom.

Step one: find the quote that you love.

Step two: type it up on your computer. Pick the font, size and shape you want.

Step three: Print the text

Step four: trace the text onto the material your using. Press really hard depending on the wood/material.

Step five: Follow the tracings with your paint and your good to go....

Seriously, it's that easy, it takes a pretty steady hand so go light on the coffee and make sure your in good lighting.

now what kind of quotes are you going to think up!




Adios Mis Amigos,

Thankful Thursday - The Pinterest Project

 Today is Thursday. For that reason alone. . .  I am thankful. It seems like the weeks of Winter are growing longer and longer. I can not wait for spring, to open the windows, and have fresh air blowing through the house. But today, with the outside temp currently at 37 degrees, I am left to the endless projects I have going on.  That brings me to Pinterest. If you haven't heard about or been on Pinterest, be WARNED. It's highly addictive, inspirational, and very very time consuming. I find myself browsing at night. Which leads to inspiration, and a sudden burst of creativity. It's caused many sleep deprived nights but resulted in some pretty great projects for our new home.


Today I'm sharing my Giant Prints Project. I first studied  Sugar Bee Crafts and followed her step by step for the first one. (it's the close up of little man's face)Her's was great, had some good tips, and I'm including it here, with my changes, to avoid some of the issues that came up while I was doing my own.

Supplies you'll need.
1.) one digital copy of a picture you absolutely adore (the higher the resolution the better print quality)
2.) A flash drive (some stores allow you to upload from the web, I brought mine in on a floppy)
3.) Foam board. The kind you find at Walmart, Michaels, or Staples for kids science projects or book reports. I chose black, so that the trimmed print would look "matted" but choose any color you want, great way to accent the print.
4.) Spray adhesive, I used Krylon Super Extra Strength :o)
5.) A clear top coat sealer, Again I used Krylon HiGloss Clear finish. (I used gloss, so the pictures would have a nice shine, but you could use matte also.)
6.) Scissors, Ruler, exacto blade if you plan to trim the board.

Steps.
1.) First I went to Staples (you can go anywhere that they print Engineers Prints) They will tell you that it's not meant for pictures, it's meant to print lines and blueprints. Smile and say "okay but please print this for me"

2.) Bring it home, roll it out and admire the awesomeness. I put it down on top of a tarp and did several coats of the clear gloss finish.( Light and thin coats) I did 5 coats, you can do more or less depending on how rich you want the coat to be. The KEY is not too thick of a coat. (too much spray makes the paper wrinkle) You need to do it before you attach it to the board or again the paper will wrinkle.

3.) Once you've reached your desired finish and it's completely 100% dry. Lay it out on top of the foam board and see where you want it placed. I trimmed both my pictures, to size, and then trimmed the board to fit. Roll the picture up and set it aside.

4.) Spray the board with a good ammount of spray adhesive. You want to make sure the foam board is coated evenly or the paper will lift as it dries. You want the adhesive to sit for about 30 seconds so it starts to dry and gets Tacky.

YOU NEED SOMEONE TO HELP YOU WITH THIS NEXT STEP

5.) One person holds the rolled up print and One person follows behind with a ruler. Line up the corners and the first edge to make sure that as you unroll the print, it will go on the board straight. Next you will lay the ruler flat on the print as you unroll the print, gently slide the ruler behind the print to ensure the print is attaching evenly to the board.

6.) IF all went well, your picture will be awesome! (my first one was crooked) I just trimmed the paper and board once it was dry to make it look like it was straight :o)

Display it proudly .... you ROCK!!!
Adios Mis Amigos,