Tag: DIY

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52 Weeks to Toxin Free DIY Laundry Brightener

DIY laundry brightener, recipe, laundry detergent recipe, laundry with essential oils

When you have kids, laundry becomes a chore of insanity. We complete and hope for different results each time, that the dirty clothes would stop piling up! Alas, only in a fairy tale or when the kids grow up and move out do the never ending piles of children’s clothing end. In the meantime, how do we keep brighter, fresher clothes without all the chemicals, toxins and perfumes. For me, I love fresh laundry and bright colored clothing; what I do not love are dingy clothes that still have hard to remove stains, like whites for instance. Even colored clothing can have hard to remove stains, so here is a great DIY laundry brightener that is cheaper than oxy clean and safer for your colored clothing than bleach. Continue reading “52 Weeks to Toxin Free DIY Laundry Brightener”

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52 Weeks to Toxin Free Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Homemade stainless steel cleaner, homemade toxin free cleaners,Essential oils for DIY all purpose cleaner

When I remodeled my kitchen some ten plus years ago I did not think about the struggles and troubles of owning stainless steel appliances. Granted I only had my oldest son at the time and I figured we would be a one child family, not even considering the possibility of when we had our twins. Now we have 20 hands and 50 fingers all over my gleaming appliances…well once gleaming. I really do not mind the smudges and fingerprints most days, they are a beautiful reminder of the blessings God has granted me with these awesome people in my life. Other days when my inner dragon lady takes hold and we have company headed over, I curse and rue the day I ever bought stainless steel appliances no matter how gorgeous they may look in my kitchen. Those times I want my appliances to shine like new I sought after the best stainless steel cleaner, of which I came up short, a lot! I have tried every commercial cleaner known to man and even tried vinegar and those stainless steel rat bastards got the better of me. Until I opted for a toxin free option for a stainless steel cleaner and with items right from my pantry. Continue reading “52 Weeks to Toxin Free Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner”

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52 Weeks to Toxin Free Homemade Wood Furniture Cleaner

cleansing power of lemon,Homemade wood furniture cleaner, DIY wood furniture cleaner

Funny thing when I was perusing Facebook the other day, I follow a page called Grow Food Not Lawns and one of the memes they posted was that we want natural ingredients in our cleaners but our foods we are okay with artificial or chemical ingredients. The meme said something to the effect of a wood furniture cleaner made with real lemons, but our foods are flavored with artificial lemon. We have become of backwards society in that we look more to convenience and ease than what is really good for us. Yes, the argument is that the items are cheap and inexpensive, but what about the overall cost to our health? Is the immediate savings really worth the long term price? With all the being said here we are for another week in our 52 Weeks to Toxin Free, where I am pleased to share the easiest and most lovely homemade wood furniture cleaner. Continue reading “52 Weeks to Toxin Free Homemade Wood Furniture Cleaner”

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52 Weeks to Toxin Free Glass Surface Cleaner

many uses of tea, tea cleaning,DIY all purpose spray and cleaner using Young Living essential oils

Growing up I remember my mother using vinegar for everything in our home. Bug bite? Apple cider vinegar. Ants and weeds in the yard? White vinegar. Vinegar seemed to be a staple in our home. Recalling when my mom put my childhood home on the market for us to move, my grandmother (her mother) came over to help power clean the house and paint. The smell seemed very pungent for me as a child, but looking back I realize this was more about the paint and not the chemicals they were using to clean the house. You see, these two ladies went to town scrubbing the entire house in vinegar. Not ammonia. Not bleach. So I am going to break down an awesome toxin free glass surface cleaner for you to use in your home that is cheaper, safer, healthier and smells better than any other glass and surface cleaner in your home. Continue reading “52 Weeks to Toxin Free Glass Surface Cleaner”

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Easy Applesauce Ornaments

DIY christmas ornaments, cinnamon applesauce ornaments, christmas ornaments

Holidays are always a fun time of year for decorating, crafting and baking. So many ideas for homemade and DIY gifts, crafts, baked goods and more. About six years ago when I had more time than patience, I spent an entire holiday season baking, crafting and flexing my creative prowess to her max. One of my all time favorite and easiest holiday crafts to make were applesauce ornaments. My kids absolutely loved them; to this day they still love them because of the fun involved in making them and the smell. This is my recipe for an easy Christmas ornaments project  you can enjoy with your kids each year and for years to come, plus these make wonderful additions to gift wrapping. Continue reading “Easy Applesauce Ornaments”

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Crayola Green – Back to School

We all recognize the trademark yellow and green Crayola boxes but Crayola is taking “green” to new measures. Crayola is reducing, reusing, and recycling like a good majority of us are or should be doing.

“As part of Crayola´s ever-evolving green initiative, this back-to-school season, Crayola is making crayons with solar power, markers from recycled bottle caps and colored pencils from reforested wood.

Crayola crayons, markers and colored pencils getting greener is extra good news for parents. You can feel even better about Crayola products because you are supporting a brand that cares very much about kids and the environment and you´ll still get the same great quality and colors at the same price! So while sometimes environmentally-friendly products cost families more green, not so with Crayola” (MyBlogSpark.com, 2010)!

How cool is Crayola when your children reads the specially marked packaging to see that these Crayola products were once bottle caps or that the colored pencils are from reforested wood and not old growth. As parents you can be proud to know you supplied a product for your child that is eco-friendly as well.

  • Crayola Markers – Thanks to new, innovative ways to manufacture Crayola markers from recycled bottle caps, “black” is the new “green!” Crayola markers will now have black barrels instead of white, which allows for more recycled plastic to be used and gives a second life to more than 1 million pounds of plastic bottle caps. Plus, switching to black barrels keeps hundreds of tons of plastic out of landfills each year. Available in 10-ct. Broadline Classic Colors, 10-ct. Broadline Assorted Colors, 10-ct. Fineline Classic Colors, 8-ct. Washable Broadline and 8-ct. Washable Fineline.
  • Crayola Green 24-ct. Crayons – The quintessential school supply found in virtually every elementary classroom will be made with the power of the sun. More than 26,200 solar panels will convert sunlight into electricity, generating the energy required to make 1 billion of the 3 billion crayons Crayola makes each year, which equals 60 million 24-ct. boxes. Mother Earth will be smiling down on every forest green, pine green and jungle green crayon that rolls off the assembly line!
  • Crayola Green Colored Pencils – Committed to protecting the rain forests since 1987, all Crayola colored pencils have been made from reforested wood instead of wood sourced from tropical rainforest or endangered species. For every tree used, a new tree of the same species is planted. The 12-, 24-, 36-, and 50-ct. boxes of Crayola Colored Pencils will be among the first to carry the “Eco-Evolution” callout on their packaging. (MyBlogSpark & Crayola, 2010)

As parents we want to set an example and what better example, than by purchasing products that inspire and promote a healthier world and environment and future for our children.

But if you haven’t bought your kids supplies yet, or you want an extra stash at home for weekend crafts and coloring, leave a comment telling me how you may be recycling, reducing,or reusing like Crayola. The folks at Crayola and My Blog Spark are kind enough to provide our family and yours with this prize pack to enjoy.

(Remember leaving a comment of “I want to win”, “Enter me”, “Gimme” or anything other than the above, your comment will be deleted)

You can find additional entry options here, and be sure to follow Crayola on Twitter and Like or Fan them on Facebook.

CONTEST ENDS SEPTEMBER 11

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Crafting and Scrapbooking Not Just for Girls

Who says that you have to be a girl to enjoy scrapbooking? How about crafts? I say no. In fact, my boy, Big G says NO as well. We (well especially me) were thrilled to receive a promotional copy of a “This Is Me” book from Carrie Lundell, owner of This Is Me Journal.

What is “This Is Me?” The journal is your child’s first keepsake journal, albeit a scarpbook of sorts for them. The pages are preloaded and designed for them to fill in. The journal allows them to share snapshots of their lives in the book. From personal drawings and simple memoirs to sharing events and thoughts.

Grant was not sure at first what to think about the book. Once I explained what the book is and what it is meant to be to him and to us he made a point to work on it everyday, or at least everyday that he didn’t have homework. My heart is warmed to see him take such pride in something that is all about him, a book that he will share with him family about his childhood.

Here is what my boy took the liberty to fill out about himself in the preloaded pages:

 

The cover is his self-portrait that he is still working on coloring and the second is a list of his favorite things.
I tried very hard not to laugh in PURE joy at this because if you look, his favorite song is by Linkin Park, his favorite movie is Transformers and the best part about being six is his Wii.
MAN! Why did we ever want to grow up!? Being a kid totally rocks!
What else…my boy today came with me to a Stampin’ Up workshop in partnership with Build-A-Bear.
I knew he would be excited because the event had Build-A-Bear but I was so pleased that he enjoyed the crafts as much as I did. Here is what my little artist did today while I worked on some Stampin’ Up projects with my fabulous host Jan McClurg and her invitees:
Like I said, who says you have to be a girl to do crafts and scrapbooking. My son did a magnificent job on his crayon tin with his Build-A-Bear stamping cards and his Build-A-Bear cut out Santa.
For more fun stuff for your kids be sure to check out the This Is Me journal site. What a wonderful gift to give your child anytime of year for them to share all the wonderful qualities of being an individual.