Homemade Goodness and Why, and a yuck!....

I've been trying to make more of the things I pin, some are a success and some are not.  Today I wanted to share two of those successes and maybe it will inspire you to give them a try.

The first one is homemade lotion bars, found here....http://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com/.  I followed her directions and even used a silicon baking mold that I had(heart shaped). The only thing I did different was add a teaspoon of pure vitamin E oil(found by the vitamins in the grocery store). And I also added about 10 drops of pure peppermint oil.  These were super easy to make and hardened in about an hour.  And let me tell you, they are awesome!! I tend to have very bad heels and dry patches on my feet.  Two days of using these and I'm looking at my feet right now and they are nice and pink and oh so soft.  We made 5 bars and are keeping them in two separate containers, one for feet and one for hands.

 The next pin we made was homemade deodorant. Stop, don't turn away, I know what you are thinking...but I kid you not, this stuff actually works.  I used this recipe as my base.  I changed the arrowroot to cornstarch(because that is what I had on hand, but maybe arrowroot would be even better). I then decided that I just didn't want a paste because my family probably would reject it, it had to somewhat resemble the store bought stuff. So I melted a third cup beeswax(had leftover from the lotion bars) and then melted the whole concoction together. At first I thought I ruined the whole thing because the beeswax clumped up, but after a few minutes in the double boiler, it all melted together.  The essential oils I added were Tea Tree oil(about 15 drops) and peppermint oil(about 10 drops). Next time I will get lavender oil or maybe lemongrass oil.  I then poured it into cleaned out deodorant containers(luckily I had a few on hand).  My hubby was a bit reluctant at first, but he said he would use it as long as he didn't stink. So far so good!  I've been using it too, along with 3 of my kids. When you first put it on, it feels a bit sticky, but that last all of about a minute and then it feels like normal.  Now I'm sure this won't work as well as store bought stuff if you are running a marathon or something, but for every day use, it seems to do just fine.

 I'm sure you are probably wondering WHY? Right? Well, I'm trying to cut down on the chemicals we put in and on our bodies. I'm sure you all have read or heard how aluminium has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and guess what is the main ingredient in deodorant/antiperspirant, aluminium. And who knows what all those other ingredients in lotions and personal care products are doing to us.  Just yesterday I read this Article about a chemical in soaps(and other things) that can cause muscle and heart problems.  Luckily we stopped using antibacterial soaps a few years ago, but the chemical is still out there and very prolific.  Here is a  List of items that contain it.    So there you have it, you may think I'm silly or you may want to give these things a try, the choice is yours, I just wanted to share it with you all.  Oh, and hubby, YES, I may be making soap next :)



On to the "Yuck" of my post.  Here is a view of my backyard from my bedroom window. Do you see what is happening down there across the street?

 Here's a closeup.  They are clearing the lot, for a house.  My nice view is about to change, is changing, and I don't like it.  They are building a spec home.  But why there, right in front of the spot where there are no trees in my yard! A bit over on either side and I wouldn't see it.  I sure hope the actually house won't be positioned so that they look directly into the back of my house. YUCK!!

I'll post pics as it progresses.  This makes our plans for next year sound even more enticing. More of that to come later, much later :)


Happy Wednesday,


Tiff