I love making things from scratch. I also love reusable gift boxes, bags and totes. So this morning I decided to make a gift box from scratch. The one I made was small, but they really can be made the same way in any size. I decided to decorate mine in newsprint pieces because I… [read more]
DIY Decongestant Rub
The cold and flu season is nearing rapidly. If we get a cold where we have stuffy noses, or coughs, I want to be ready. In the past, I would use the OTC name brand vapor rub to help relieve symptoms.Of course, after learning what the ingredients in the OTC rub were, I wanted to avoid that… [read more]
Make Your Own Apple Cider Vinegar Easily
Apple Cider Vinegar has many health benefits, from being used as an energizing tonic to a healing elixir. It’s a completely natural product, with all the benefits of apples PLUS the added benefits from being fermented, which include acids and enzymes. Here’s some ways I like to use apple cider vinegar: as a hair rinse, adding… [read more]
How to Replace A Broken Bathroom Mirror
How to Replace a Broken Bathroom Mirror This was our old bathroom mirror. Sad looking, really. It was a 3 part medicine cabinet with mirrors that was rather brittle. Most of the mirrors broke off the hinges, and this was the only mirror left. We propped it in the corner on the sink in order… [read more]
The Easiest Way to Remove a Sliver
This is a guest post by my cool pal, Laurie of Common Sense Homesteading. Papercuts and slivers are small wounds that hurt way too much for their size. I’ve learned to patch up the paper cuts with liquid bandage, which usually helps quite a bit. Working in the garden and around the woodpile (often without… [read more]
How To Knit Your Own Socks {Plus A FREE Pattern}
Learning how to knit is a fun, relaxing hobby. Learning how to knit your own socks? Genius! You not only get the fun of knitting itself, but you get socks! Making your own socks can result not only in higher quality, but longer wear. You can choose the yarn you want to work with, the… [read more]
How to Render Tallow
What is tallow? Well, it is the product of what happens when you render beef fat. To render tallow means that you have melted it down, and “extracted” the fat. It removes any leftover stuff in the fat, and makes it smooth, creamy, and easy to use. You are basically changing the composition. Rendering it… [read more]
Hot Process Soap- How To Make Homemade Soap
There are so many items in our stores that have unnecessary packaging. Cardboard or plastic wrapping that makes it pretty on a store shelf, but does little else. Some will have BOTH, like soap. Store bought soap will often come in a carboard box, wrapped in plastic. Guess they don’t want it to spoil? Some soaps… [read more]
Make Your Own Toothpaste
There are many ingredients in commercial toothpaste that I do not like giving to my family. Among them are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Flouride. SLS and SLES are esters of Sulphuric acid – SLS is also known as “Sulfuric acid monododecyl ester sodium salt”, however there are over 150 different names by which it is… [read more]
Homemade Auto Dishwasher Detergent
Detergent for the dishwasher has two components that I don’t like: the trash and the chemicals in the average dish detergent. Even the ones that are “natural” are chock full of things I don’t want my family possibly ingesting…Like what’s in this detergent: Pretty nasty stuff, right? I mean, if you can’t pronounce it, why… [read more]