Burn Spritzer

We have used this with amazing results on burns.  Thankfully, we don't get burns in the kitchen very often, but when we do, this is nice to have close by.  We keep it in our little first aid kit by the front door (which is sort of in the kitchen), along with the Cuts and Scrapes Spritzer, Bug Beware, sunscreen and a few other items .  

The majority of its use is for rope burns and carpet burns.  I have boys and these type of burn troubles keep cropping up.
  
Here is a typical conversation with Caleb (6) in my house:  
"You were doing what?"  "I was pulling Judah (2) across the floor.  We were pretending to be trains."  Can you say "carpet burn"?

And another one:  "I tied the rope way up in the tree and then tried to climb it, but kept sliding down."  Can you say "rope burn"?

Burn Spritzer

4 drops lavender

4 drops helichrysum

4 drops geranium

100% Aloe Vera Juice

1 oz. spray bottle

Add the EO drops to your 1 oz. bottle and then fill with the Aloe Vera Juice.  We just spray a couple squirts each time they complain.  The owies heal up quickly!

What natural remedy do you use for burns?  Please share some comment love.
If you don't have these oils and would like to purchase the blend, it's available for purchase at Sonshine Botanicals.

Thanks for stopping by!
Dawn

I linked up here:

 

Rosemary Lavender Hair Rinse

I found this recipe at Camp Wander--Rosemary Lavender Hair Rinse. Rebecca has an amazing blog!  Go check it out: Camp Wander

I have very thin, fine hair.  I am loving how my hair feels after using this rinse!  It feels much thicker and softer! 

Hannah (10) is using this, too and she likes how soft her hair has become.  She was a little skeptical at first, because of the vinegar smell.....but, the vinegar smell dissipates quickly and all that is left is the wonderful scent of rosemary and lavender.

I made the batch in a quart mason jar.  I place some in a condiment bottle from WalMart and leave it on the edge of the tub.  We use it up pretty quickly and then I refill from the jar.  I'm needing some waterproof labels because the one on the condiment bottle is quickly disintegrating :0)

Essential oils can leach the toxins out of plastic, so you want to be careful and store them in glass jars or metal. 

I am bending the rules here a little for ease of use.  It's kind of difficult to pour from the jar.  And, the liquid doesn't stay in the condiment bottle for long. 

This stays cool in the bottle and during the winter was a shock to add to your hair after a nice hot bath or shower, however it should be very refreshing in the summertime!!

Rosemary Lavender Hair Rinse 
4 cups water (filtered if possible)

8 drops Rosemary essential oil

8 drops Lavender essential oil

1 tsp. Borax

3 T. Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)

Rebecca gives a good scientific knowledge of why you should use this rinse.  I'm not that intellectual, so go read her post for that information! :0)

Any comment love?  We enjoy hearing what you have to say!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dawn

I linked up here: Natural Living Link-Up

and here:

 

Easy DIY Laundry Detergent and Bleach!

 

Wash Day Prayer from Mamarocks.com 

There are so many ways to make your own laundry detergent!  Wow!  Finding the one that works best for your family might just be a challenge for you--like it was for me.  

We have LOTS of laundry and I don't just mean a LOT--I mean really more like TONS!  Well, maybe I exaggerate, but between my husband's construction job (wintertime is the worst because he layers and layers), our Christmas tree farm, my 2 yr. old and 5 yr. old boys and our inside puppy and a new sandbox on the front porch...I am constantly doing  one.  more.  load.  

Well, ok...my daughter and I make messes and have lots of clothes, too.  Can't blame it all on the guys!

My kids love baths and that means lots of towels (because I clean the floor with them afterward, hehehe!). Between those towels and the kitchen dish cloth and towel that are constantly being used to clean the floor--oops! Yes, I caught that--into the hamper now...phew the laundry seems endless!  

We are looking into more ways to be chemical-free in this house.  Therefore, we are trying all kinds of DIY, make-your-own products.  It's been fun and time-consuming...but, we love it when we find something that works!   

After looking at so many recipes and wanting a liquid recipe that did not involve grating soap (lazy, I know....sigh) and that did not clump up horribly and make it impossible to use the container I have, finally, I came up with a recipe of my own.  

Here it is:

1 Gallon hot water

1/3 c. salt

1/4 c. washing soda

2/3 c. Liquid Castile Soap

1/3 c. Borax

20 drops Wild Orange Essential Oil

I heated the water on the stove, until just getting hot.  You'll need to figure out how hot you want it to be. :0)  I didn't want it to be boiling, but just hot enough to dissolve all the powders and keep anything from clumping.  

I added the salt, stirred.  

Added the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stirred.  

Then, let it cool.  

Once not too hot to the touch, I added the essential oil and poured into my container.  

I like my laundry detergent to have a healthy, hearty citrus smell....so, you might want to start with 10 drops of any EO you like to see if that's enough for you.

Use 1/4 - 1/2 cup for each load

I just print my label in a Microsoft Word Document and then tape it to the container with clear packing tape--to make it waterproof.  I try to keep the recipe of everything I make on the container that holds it.  Otherwise, when it's time to make more, I either can't find the recipe or it takes too long to find it and I get sidetracked doing 3 or 4 other things before I remember that I was going to make it. :0) (Anyone relate to that??)

Homemade Bleach

I found this recipe for Homemade Bleach and was so excited to give it a try.  Who knew you could also make homemade bleach?  I'd never read the ingredients on my bleach bottle.  Have you?

My bottle says (what I can read of it, anyway....the print is tinier than tiny, we're talking microscopic here!) sodium hydrochloride 6%, other ingredients 94%.  So, ummm...what are the other ingredients?  Why don't they have to put that on there?  ugh!  I only know that it's some powerful stuff!  Which probably means it is not good for us.  

I mixed up this recipe for one gallon.

2 cups hydrogen peroxide (3% solution)
2 tsp. citric acid
13 cups water
20 drops lemon essential oil

Use 1/2 - 1 cup per load of laundry.

In the original recipe she offers lemon juice as a substitute for citric acid.  I have the lemon juice, but decided I would rather this last longer and felt like the lemon juice might go bad. (?)  That's why I used citric acid.

I love this!  It's working wonders on our clothes and they smell so much better than when I used regular bleach!

Here is the shelf just over my washing machine.

I use plain vinegar in the rinse cycle (sometimes I add a few drops of EO).  I use dryer balls and aluminum foil in my dryer, too.  No more toxin-filled dryer sheets--yay! 

I love knowing my laundry is no longer full of TOXINS and is fresh smelling and CLEAN!

Have you gone toxin-free with your laundry, yet?  If so, comment and tell me what you do.  If not, what's keeping you from it?  Please share some of your recipes here, too.  

Thanks for stopping by!
Dawn

I linked up here:

Click the link and find some more great information from different blogs. You might even find a blog to follow!

and here:  Natural Living Link-Up

Hannah's Very First Piano Recital

Hannah has been taking piano from Mrs. Sheri for a few months, now (thanks to her Nanny Boo Boo and Poppie!).  Today was her first recital.  Mrs. Sheri said that she didn't have to play in this one since she's not been taking lessons from her for very long.  We encouraged her to go ahead and play in the recital.  She did a fabulous job!!

When we got there today she was getting a little nervous.  She decided she needed to check her blood sugar.  Good thing she did; she was 49.  Time for a snack!

 The Program

Hannah and her best friend, Abigail.  David kept saying, "say fuzzy pickles!" and they got the giggles!  Abigail came to cheer her on.  Abigail has invited Hannah to several of her violin recitals.  One day we're hoping they'll do a duet!

 This was the first song Hannah played called "Freight Train".  She did so well. 

 

The 2nd song, "Boogie, Woogie Goose" was a definite video fail.  I did get this picture of her while playing, though.

We are so proud of her!  She has a definite gift from God!

Way to go, Hannah!

DIY Fading Color Scarf

Hannah and I found a post on A Blossoming Life back in March that we pinned to Pinterest to do later.  We finally decided to make some of these scarves today.  

We purchased:

Plain white bandanas at Hobby Lobby for .99 each.

Liquid Rit Dye at WalMart for $3.97 each color (pink & purple)

We washed and dried the bandanas.  (oops! skip the drying step as the bandanas need to be wet!)

Finding a recipe to make the dye was a little difficult as it's really not on the bottle.  So, I went to the Rit website and looked around and finally just decided to wing it.  Here is the recipe I came up with:

2 T. Salt

Bowl with hot water (no measurements, really)

1/3 bottle of the dye 

We just swished the salt around until it fully dissolved.  Then poured in the dye and stirred it around with a stainless steel spoon.  Make sure your bowls and spoons are stainless or glass as the dye will definitely stain any plastic.  The bottle recommends gloves, but we just made sure not to put our hands in the dye.

1.  Place 1/3 of the scarf into the dye for about 10 minutes.  We used the spoon to poke it down and be sure it was all under the water.  (We actually did 2 scarves at a time.)

 

  2.  Add the next 1/3 of the scarf into the dye for two more minutes.

3.  Add 1/2 of the last bit of scarf into the dye for about 1 second.  Remove all of the scarf into the sink.  Hold by the white part that has no dye and allow to rinse until all the colored water runs clear.

Wash by hand with detergent and then dry in the dryer.  

Ooh, la la!  Something fun to play with!  Find the right look for you!

In the hair  

Around the neck

  Hannah likes it like this to hold her hair back

No warnings!  You CAN try this at home!

Please leave a comment and thanks so much for stopping by!
Dawn

PS:  If we do this again, we'd probably add more dye to the pink to make it a little darker

I linked this post to the Tending the Home Tuesdays blog hop.  Click the link in the box above and visit some other blogs.

My Mother's Day Surprise!

The poem Hannah wrote says:  

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Life is Sweet

But not without you.

Such sweet kiddos!  

And, Dakota gave me a precious card that made me cry!  

Ahhh...the joys of motherhood!  

Wouldn't trade it for anything!!  (yes, even the sleepless nights)

Dawn

Judah Turned 2!

Judah Eleazar Gray--May 10, 2011

What a blessing from God you are to us!  A miracle.  I remember vividly the day you were born.  God was really looking out for you during my whole pregnancy and right up to the eventful birth!  I love how He protects and cares for us.  I couldn't wait to see your face and hold you for the very first time.  You have brought so much joy and laughter and noise and dirt and mess to our family--lol!  We would not change a thing!  We love you!  Happy Birthday!

I posted these pics and this to facebook on Friday morning....

Hi everybody! It's my birthday, today! I'm 2 according to everyone...although I really don't know what that means. There is something really interesting going on outside on the front porch and no one will tell me what it is...evidently it's a SURPRISE for my birthday! I can't wait...but for now I'll just sit here and watch Cars 2.

Love those eyes!

Ok, Mom....you're in the way of my movie...but I'll smile for ya!

This is what was happening on the front porch

He finally got to come and be a part of it.  Decided he would watch perched atop his horse, Pepper.

Hmmm....what is all this?

I don't really know, but everyone is sure excited!

 Oh wow!  I get to open it?!

 What's in here?

Sand toys! oh and a necklace from Caleb.

Caleb's having just as much or more fun!

ok, I know what to do with these!

There's more?

These are for me, too?  You be the unwrapper ok, Caleb?

I'm gonna go on and start to play!

So, what is this stuff?  It's kinda wet.

Ya'll can get in there if you want...I'ma gonna stay right here.

 Don't let it touch my body--anywhere!

 I can do this squatting, too. 

 

Are you having fun, Judah?  "Yep!"

Hannah, Caleb, Daddy are working really hard to show Judah that his bucket will make an awesome looking castle..

He's over here in his corner, doing his own thing

Here it comes, look Judah, LOOK!

Hannah and Caleb enthralled with what they have made!

Judah is still sitting at his corner, doing his own thing! lol!

On Thursday night we made tacos for dinner because he loves them.  Hannah made his birthday cake and we invited Dakota out for supper and cake!  I left my camera sitting in it's case the WHOLE time.  I was sooooo very sad when the night was over and I realized this!  The cutest thing he did was when he got his piece of cake.  He picked the whole piece up with his fork and just ate it bite by bite off the fork.  He just kept turning the fork.  It was too cute!!

Here are some pics from church Friday night.  We took cupcakes to share.  

oh boy

this is

so

yummy!

Let me go, Cody!  Let me go!

Athena brought me a gift to unwrap!

Wow!

He's sooooo excited!! It's a CAR!

Caleb will help get it out of the package!

And I'll just dance and be happy

and jump a little!

And dance some more!

Aren't I cute?!  Oops, I meant to do that!

A special day for a special 2 yr. old!

Thank you, Lord for such a special blessing! 

Just this morning, I found him carrying around the card he got from Mima and Papaw which he loves because it has a truck on it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dawn