Fail

I have been slowly replacing products in our home with natural ones. I started by replacing our soap and my bubble bath with soap from Goat Milk Stuff. I replaced our toothpaste with Tom's and made my own laundry soap. All these things have worked out well for us, except we are not crazy with the flavor of toothpaste I bought. So when we ran out of our store bought chemical filled shampoo I decided to make it. Just like there are many brands and types of shampoo to buy there are also many different ways to make your own. I tried two different recipes, both with coconut milk and both did not work for us. The first one I thought was okay until day 4 when I ended up with dandruff. So I tried a different combination, this one with more coconut milk less castile soap. While using it in the shower Mat declared it the worst shampoo ever. :-( I was not thrilled with it either. I felt like it did not wash all the way out but I decided I would at least use what was left before I tried another recipe. However, after a few days my hair looked horrible and I could no longer take it so I used undiluted castile soap to get my poor hair back to normal.

I am going to try a few more recipes and if they fail I will just buy us natural shampoo at Whole Foods or the shampoo bar from Goat Milk Stuff. I would just rather make my own as it would be cheaper.I am feeling about down about this but I am not giving up!

I also decided to make my own deodorant. I was surprised at how well it worked. We have had some warmer weather here so it was a great time to test it out. I even had Mat smell me to make sure I was not smelly. He said it was the weirdest thing I have ever asked him to do lol.

However after about a week my skin was red and a bit raw. I think the baking soda and corn starch in it was to rough on my skin. So back to the drawing board. :-(

My last fail has nothing to do with homemade chemical free stuff but it is also a fail so I thought I'd include it in this post. My MIL bought me a pineapple slicer thing for my birthday. I bought a pineapple and Mat and I decided to use it.

Yeah, another fail. It is supposed to cut the pineapple not juice it. I think next time maybe we should try taking the skin off first. Live and learn right?

Missing Socks

I am not super thrilled with how this turned out, but it serves its purpose. We always seem to have that one sock that is missing and then of course by the time we find it the match is missing.
I went with the silver and lavender colors to match our bedroom. We fold our clothing in our room so I hung this on the inside of our door. Now we just need to remember to use it.

Pumpkin Dog Cookies

Do you know what is in your dog's food or treats? Do you know where the ingredients came from? Was the meat was from a healthy or diseased animal? I started making Tyson's treats after I learned what was in some of the stuff I was feeding him.

Tyson LOVES pumpkin. It's also good for dogs. It helps with digestive issues. Anytime Tyson eats something I know is going to make him sick (usually cat food) he gets a big spoonful of it. So it was a no brainer to make him pumpkin cookies!

2 eggs

1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling)

2 cups brown rice flour (I got mine at Whole Foods)

Mix the egg and pumpkin, then slowly stir in the flour. The dough will be a crumbly consistency. Roll out on a floured matt (I used the rice flour but you can use regular flour too). Cut into shaped and place on an un greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes then turn cookies over and bake for another 20 minutes.

Thats it! Using a small 1 inch bone cookie cutter I made about 80 cookies (1 pound). These can last a week or so in a sealed container. I just put Tyson's in the freezer so they last longer.

Halloween

October is my favorite month and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I have had a great time making pumpkin waffles with apple cider syrup (Mat's favorite), leaf peeking and just enjoying fall.

I thought I would share a few pictures of my fireplace done up for Halloween. Sadly my candy corn wreath I made last year did not survive the move from Indiana. I had planned on making a new one but it did not happen. Oh well there is always next year I guess.

I have no idea where I bought this at but it is my favorite Halloween item.

Spooky ghosts.

I made these with round wood bases, candle sticks, glass jars and curtain ends!

My fireplace.

Happy Halloween!!!

Love,

Crissy

Laundry Soap!

Laundry soap is expensive! Well unless you buy the cheep brands. I tried that when Mat and I got married. Our clothes looked dingy. I loved the homemade laundry soap from Goat Milk Stuff but the shipping made it $$$ so I decided to make my own. It's easy and really does not take much time at all.

I found several recipes on the Internet and read a lot of reviews and this is the one I decided to go with. From what others have said it lasts about 9 months if you do a load of laundry a day! It cost me $16.75 to make!

4 pounds Borax (Found in the laundry isle)

4 pounds Baking Soda (You can find the big boxes in the cleaning isle of Target)

4 pounds Washing Soda (Easy to find in the Midwest in the laundry isle..here in New England had to order it)

3 bars Fels-Naptha Soap (also in the laundry isle)

Some people also add Oxi Clean as well. I did not

If you have a food processor use that to cut the Fels-Napatha soup into little peices. If your like me and you don't own a food processor (I have no idea why I don't have one!) use a cheese grater and grate the soap.

Then just mix it all together in a large bucket or container. You may want to add a little of each at a time to make sure it gets mixed well. I mixed mine in a bucket a got super cheep at The Home depot.

The bucket is great for mixing and holding it(the lid makes it air tight) but it's not pretty so I bought this neat glass container at The Salvation Army store (or Sally as Paula calls it) and I bought a cute wooden scoop from Goat Milk Stuff.

I filled it up and the rest is being stored in my big bucket. All you need is 1 TBSP or 2 TBSP if you have a large load or really dirty clothing! Thats it! I figure I should be able to fill up this 3 quart class jar about 3 or 4 more times before I run out! I put the date on the bucket that I started using the soap so I can see how long it lasts me.

So far I am very happy with this soap. I used it for the first time to wash our couch covers and they look great!

Bookcase

I have not forgotten about my coffee table project however, I have been saying that I was going to do something with my mom's old bookcase forever. So I figured I would start (and finish) that project first.
My mom had this bookcase for as long as I can remember. It was such a nice piece. However with time the knobs became dated.

And after being left in her old house with renters and being moved around and well just being old it acquired lots of dents and scratches. So when mom decided to sell the house. I brought it to my house with the idea of fixing it up. But life got in the way and it sat alone in the garage collecting dust :-(

When the movers came they asked if I wanted to take it. As dusty and as banged up as it was I did not want to part with it. I figured a little sanding and paint and it could have a new life.

So last week I went and bought myself a new sander (my old one died a sad death in Indiana-RIP Sandy the Sander) took the adjustable shelves off and started sanding. Right after I took these photos today I removed the doors and sanded them down.

I am hoping by next week to have the whole thing sanded down and the nicks and deep scratches filled in. I'll update then.

Love, Crissy

Doggy Ice Cream

I love to spoil my pets. I also love saving money. This recipe helps me to do both. Also this is much better for your dogs then the Frosty Paws they sell in the store and it's so easy!

All you need is:32 oz Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt
2 T Peanut Butter
2T Honey
1 Banana (or other dog safe fruit)

Mix together and put into ice cub trays or small plastic cups.

I bought these cute little plastic ones at the dollar store. They were 8 for a dollar. They hold exactly 1/4 cup.

Then pop them into the freezer overnight

And that is it! You can try different types of fruit or just peanut butter and honey depending on your dogs tastes. Tyson loves these and I love that they are good for him.

Love,
Crissy