Mommy's Makings {Going Green-ish}

Growing up, my own mother always introduced healthy, less-toxic products into our home and I am continuing that tradition in our family. I have been buying "all-natural" cleaning products and body products, but I am slowly trying to make my own as I try out new recipes and find what works best for us. 

I have been making my own laundry detergent for over 3 years now! I used to be a real "brand loyal" customer, but I do NOT miss paying those high prices and our clothes are just as clean! You can find my laundry recipes here. I have made both the liquid and the powder varieties and they both work well! I also add a little white vinegar to my loads if they are extra soiled or pour some into the fabric softener dispenser if my jeans need a bit of softening since we have very hard water. It works GREAT!

Laundry Detergents

 Cleaning Products

I have also gotten a lot of idea from Pinterest on making cleaning products. Some I loved, others...not so much, lol. 

 I absolutely LOVE this recipe for granite cleaner!! We actually use it to clean glass, stainless steel, everything that is non-porus! It really works well and smell so, so good. I use peppermint oil in it:)

 And, I feel better letting the kids help with the spraying since it is all natural, too:-)!

{Oooh, and you can see how I re-upholstered our kitchen chairs in this picture, too!}

It was SO simple to do!

 Between 3 kids under 6yrs old, 3 dogs and homeschooling, our cloth chair pads were looking really bad. So, I watched some Youtube videos and learned how to easily reupholster them!

 Took my measurements to Joann's and bought some material. I decided it was better to go for practicality over fashion in this case, so I went with an easy-to-clean vinyl. I will change it to something more "beautiful" in a few years, lol.

 I just simply pulled the sides and corners in really tightly and staple-gunned the fabric on. I re-attached the seat cushions to the chairs and that's it!

Ta-dah!!! Looks like a brand new set:)! All for under $10!

 I have also made my own wood cleaner using white vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice. I like it just "so-so" so far. It seems to leave a greasy film on my kitchen cabinets which makes me think it is "attracting" more dirt, but we shall see. I use a murphy oil soap solution to clean them and that works really well.

Skin Care Products

I have also been testing out new skin products! 

I made my own "Biore-type" skin mask. It worked AMAZINGLY well!

 

Here is the recipe with instructions and photos. I warn you, it scared my kids a bit when my mask was dry and my face was all tight. So, you may want to do this once the kids are asleep, lol:).

 I will spare you my scary-faced photos:)

Here is my new {favorite} night cream! I use it every.single.day! LOVE it!

 3 simple ingredients=organic coconut oil, raw shea butter and tea tree oil

 Blend/stir together 2 TBSP of shea butter, 1/2 TBSP of coconut oil and 1- 2 drops of tea tree oil.

 I mixed it in this bowl and then store it in a glass jar with a metal lid {aka baby food jar, ha, ha!}

 It really works well!

 You should totally try it!

Another really easy skin care product is Organic apple cider vinegar. I use it on a cotton ball as a facial skin astringent and it works like a charm!

What kind of DIY home projects are you working on? 

I have some things I would like to try, whenever I get more time:

~DIY Oxyclean

~DIY Fabric Softener

~DIY body scrub

~DIY Dishwasher powder

~DIY shower cleaner

~DIY body wash

~DIY foaming hand wash

~DIY lip balm

~DIY hard lotion bars

Blessings,

Aria:)

Homemade Laundry Detergent {the powder kind}

We have been making our own laundry detergent for years, now! It has really, really saved us a lot of money. It is really easy to do and the girls enjoy helping me make it. We usually make the liquid kind, but I have been wanting to try to the powder kind and found a really nice recipe for it!

It is super easy!

A SIMPLE RECIPE

Each batch yields approximately 32 ounces (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tbsp used per load).

• 1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda

**I personally prefer to use the Fels-Naptha bar soap**

 Simply grate the bar of soap and add it to the rest of the ingredients. Stir really well for 5 minutes or so. That's it:) I promised you it was simple.

Just pour in 1 Tablespoon per load and you are set to go! I have tried it and it works really, really well!

Here is a link to the liquid version recipe as well as some money-saving info from a Yahoo personal finance article. We typically add lavender essential oil to our liquid mix to make our clothes smell really good!

I have also heard you can make your own detergent for the dishwasher but haven't tried it since we hand-wash our dishes.I know, we are weird, lol.

Have you tried it? Please let me know!!

Blessings,

Aria:)

DIY--Fruit and Veggie Wash!!

Anyone who knows me knows I am always looking for ways to be even more frugal and also more natural.  Since we eat such a large amount of fruits and vegetables, we are constantly buying that bottle of fruit and vegetable wash to spray on our foods and rinse prior to eating them. I don't know about you (maybe I am a bit paranoid overly cautious), but I still wash everything, even if it is organic. You just never know whose hands and germs have been touching your food!

Anyway, I was almost out of the veggie wash and tried to come up with a way to make my own. I found this great blog post with an super simple recipe! I had all of the ingredients on hand and decided to try it right away! It works great, is super inexpensive and is all natural!! You can't beat that:)

I even recycled our old ($5!!) veggie wash bottle:)

Let me know if you you try it and how you like it!!

What You Will Need:
1 Tablespoon of real lemon juice (I use a real lemon and squeeze it)
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
1 Cup of Water
Spray Bottle

{I tripled the recipe to fill my bottle}