the whole truth...

Sooooo........

the other day I shared about the home made items I started making. The one story I didn't share was a wonderful bath gel I made for Charlotte's bath. I suppose, it just slipped my mind...well or maybe I didn't want to share my unsuccessful story. haha. Well here it goes.

The ingredients are:
- 1/2 cup bottled water
- 1 packet UNFLAVORED gelatin
- 1/2 cup baby shampoo

I definitely had water & baby shampoo...but who has UNFLAVORED gelatin in their house? I had green and I had cherry. After making so many successful recipes I wanted to try another on....So I asked Charlotte "what kind of bath gel do you want? Green or Red?" She said "red" so red it was. I figured the best kids bath stuff smells good and it is usually brightly colored. So we followed the instructions...except for the kind of gelatin. We mixed it all together on the stove, let it cool & put it in a container in the fridge. It looked & smelled great!

When bath time rolled around I grabbed the home made bath gel & put a scoop in her bath. It didn't seem to do anything to the bath, so I added two more scoops into the bath. I asked Charlotte what she thought & if she could pick it up and play with it. As she did, all of a sudden her hand was turning red, and then it was changing the water red. I shrieked and tried to scoop all the scoops out of the tub, and told her to stay to the other side of the tub (where the water was still somewhat clear).  I quickly washed her hair & got her out of there in record time.  What a mess.

Let's just say this is probably why I'm not the best cook....I swap one ingredient for another and still expect the same results.

Oh well...lesson learned.  you win some, you loose some.

Living Green

It’s been a couple weeks since my first post. I have added meat back to my diet slowly. We’re buying organic meat when shopping at the grocery store. When we eat out, I do sometimes order food that has meat that isn’t organic. My dear friend Natalie says…if you do what you can, it’s better than doing nothing at all. So we’re doing what we can.

This is my latest in ‘organic living’ :   A couple weeks ago my friend Jessica posted on facebook that she was going to start making her own cleaners for her home. This is something I saw the Duggars do when making their laundry detergent. I was definitely interested when watching the Duggars, and especially after seeing one of my momma friends trying it.  I thought it would be really awesome if I could make every day products we use at home for a couple of reasons.

1. I would know EXACTLY what was in the products we have at home…so they’d be safe for my children & pets to be near.

2. I would be saving our family a ton of money

3. It would lessen my carbon footprint. By making products at home there would be less waste, there wouldn’t be any harmful chemicals or preservatives. I feel like it’s our responsibility as Christians to take care of the earth. We should take care of what God has given us. I’ve just come to this turning point in my life where…I want to do better. The more I’m learning, the better I want to become. I heard this once…  “When you know better, you do better.”

I found a book online called Homemade - ‘702 ways to save money & the earth’.

So today I made my own shaving Gel for women on page 254. I found it easy to make. It only required: conditioner, shampoo, baby oil & hand cream. Let’s just say I used some tonight & it did the job, but wasn’t as wonderful as the store-bought shaving cream. I could’ve just used some of my shampoo and it probably would’ve worked just fine. Perhaps I’ll look for another ‘recipe’ for homemade shaving cream.

Next I tried making Liquid Hand Soap on page 259. You grate 2 cups of bar soaps, add ½ a gallon water, 2 tablespoons of glycerin, few drops of lavender essential oil & a couple drops of purple food coloring. Place all on stove in a large pot till the grated soap flakes have dissolved.  The soaps I used were extras I had from hotel visits. The food coloring I had at home already. The Lavender ($10) & Glycerin ($3.39) I purchased at Everman Grocery, and I have SO much of them both left.

I made the children some bubble bath on page 258. Bubble bath can get expensive…especially since I love the Johnson’s sleepytime bubble bath (it smells like lavender). So I followed their instructions: ½ cup of shampoo, ¾ cup of water, ¼ of table salt & then I added a few drops of lavender essential oil. I’m so excited! We now have my favorite baby bubble bath for the kiddos! The best part is I know exactly what’s in it & I won’t have to buy more containers of bubble bath. Kind of neat.

Soon I will try making:

-          laundry detergent

-          glass cleaner

-          household cleaner

-          honey lip balm…

I wanted to make the lip balm today, but Everman doesn’t sell Beeswax. Where do I find beeswax? Online they recommended finding my local beekeeper.  But hello?!?!?! Who knows the local bee keeper? Haha. I googled: ‘pensacola beekeeper’ & there is one listed. But I’m not sure how much I should be paying for beeswax…but next after lip balm I would love to try my hand at Beeswax candles like my wonderful ‘GREEN’ friend Erin.

Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts & ideas. I love encouraging each other on this journey to being our best selves.