My new toothpaste.

This is  one of  the things I use every day that I have replaced using items I have in my kitchen.  Toothpaste..... we  put it in our mouth at least twice a day and like a lot of other stuff  I'm just not happy with its list of ingredients.  If you want to find out for yourself , check your brand of toothpaste, and go online to find all the ingredients and what they do.  This tends to be some very interesting research. I had to do this for myself because I didn't really want to take someone elses word for it.  How could it be bad.   Everyone uses it ... right. .. Yeah.

To make my own I simply mixed a few ingredients I felt safe using and started brushing my teeth with my mixture.  Really simple. 

Here is my recipe:

2 tablespoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide
and about 10 drops of essential oils
I use clove oil, peppermint, and tea tree.

Mix it to a thick paste and  just dip into this and get busy brushing.. and it works  AMAZING.

This homemade paste keeps my mouth feeling fresh all day long.  Honestly, that just brushed feeling lasts for hours. 
It removes the coffee stains from my teeth, (which is a must because I love  my coffee). I am really happy with how white my teeth are now. 
The essential oils keep my mouth healthy and deters the bacteria that cause plaque  and bad breath. 
I do use a less than food grade quality essential oils for this but don't swallow any so that is fine. 

 This has worked great for me but I must mention that you can make your own from any of the  recipes you see online.. I actually tried a few others first and then just came up with this because it has the things I am looking for and is so simple.

If you have tried this toothpaste or any other homemade version, let me know how it works for you and what you are using.

Bye for now and have a good day everyone.

Little round table

I picked a little round table up at a fundraiser  sale recently and had no idea what to do with it.  I went to the sale because it was for the Minden flood relief fund.  See the flood here. 

I thought it was kinda cute and I could imagine it having been a little accent table in someone's farm house for many years.  I hated to see it go to the dumpster, which was the fate of whatever didn't go at this particular sale. At a loss for what I was going to do with it, it just sat in the back room  at home for about a month.

Then last weekend I did the dresser makeover in my last post. Now feeling like a pro, I decided I could fix up this little gem with what I had on hand.


Here  she is with the top missing when I first pulled it out of the back room.
Notice that the vinyl is still intact on the bottom shelf. I actually think it was the aqua colour on the legs that attracted me in the first place.






I tore off the vinyl on the bottom shelf and painted the legs and metal trim with my homemade chalk paint. The colour is called Cucumber Lift.  It's a very pretty green. The lighting in the picture doesn't show it really well. The chalk paint covered the metal as well.

I sat the table aside to dry for  a bit and cut a few pieces of this wallpaper to fit. It's got a vinyl finish, so it will wipe clean and not be ruined if something spills on it. You can't see it in this picture but the paper has a thin blue stripe in the mix that is almost the same colour as the paint.



I glued the paper to the table with some gorilla glue. I wanted to make sure there would be no curling up at the edges.  Then I gave the whole thing a couple of coats of paste wax.

And here is the finished table.  I think she is really sweet, considering how bad she looked before.  I intend to use it as a night table in my guest room.  It's big enough to hold a lamp, clock and a book.  A nice little basket on the bottom shelf would be the perfect place to keep a few things people might forget at home. 

It makes me happy to know I saved her from the dumpster and now she can last another lifetime here in her new home.


Bye for now, and have a good day everyone.



 

Chalk paint Dresser

This weekend I decided to try my hand at something new.  I've had this old dresser for about six months now that I bought really cheap at a local shop  that carries everything used. When I say everything I mean everything.  It's my first stop whenever I need something because I think reusing someones previously loved item is always better  than going new .

This is what the dresser looked like before I started working on it. The top was completely scratched and banged up. It had different colours of paint spilled on it and it actually looked like it had been used as a worktable in someones garage.

It was a well made wood piece and was really solid. All the drawers worked good with little sticking. It was the perfect piece of furniture for a makeover.

I've been seeing a ton of before and afters recently that were done with chalk paint that looked really nice.  I decided to make my own chalk paint because one..it's really expensive and two... I just had to see if it would work. 
I had a part can of latex paint leftover from a previous project and to this I added  some plaster of paris mixed with water. I shook it all together in a large jar and I had my own chalk paint. Too easy.

I started by taking out all the drawers and washing everything down with some vinegar and water. Then I used a palm sander to remove a little of the flaking varnish that was on the top and the fronts of the drawers. Apparently you don't need to sand or prime when you use chalk paint but this dresser actually had loose flaking bits. I only sanded where it was absolutely necessary.


Once it was cleaned up I  painted all the pieces.  I was really surprised at how good the paint covered. The whole thing only needed a couple of coats and it dried really fast so I could keep working without waiting for pieces to dry.




I decided to paint the back as well so it wouldn't always have to be pushed tight against the wall. 







The piece needed some distressing to get the pretty shabby chic look I was going for so I got the sandpaper and started taking off   some of the paint on the drawer fronts and a few spots on the top. 





Once I was  happy with it I added a finishing coat.  For this I used Minwax finishing paste wax.  There are 2 coats overall and a third coat on the top. It added a really nice soft shiny look.

Next I couldn't decide what to do with the hardware.  I looked at some new handles but couldn't find anything like the original ones so I bought some spray paint and thought I'd refinish them. 
I started cleaning them up  with some sandpaper and realized they were really pretty brass. No way was I painting over them.

 
 
 
 
 
This picture shows what the handles looked like before and then after I spent a good amount of time with a sandpaper sponge taking off all the gunge.  What a transformation. I was well worth the effort though, nothing else would have looked this good.

I love how the dresser looks now that it is all finished, and now that I'm done I don't know why I was afraid to try this before. I rate this a complete success, in fact I think the chalk paint is my new favorite thing.

 

 

 

Bye for now and have a great day everyone.

 

Fairy Garden / Hens and Chicks

I had this pot of Hens and chicks sedum that was ugly and over grown.  There's something magical about these perfect little plants that just makes you want to display them but somehow they'd ended up neglected and forgotten. 

This is with most of the plants removed and I forgot to take a picture before I started, but you can still tell how horrible this planter looked.

 They were in definite need of a new home, and my granddaughter B kept saying I need to make a fairy garden.  Over the last few months she kept telling me this would be good for the fairies or that would be good for the fairies, so we made this little house and dining set for them a few weeks back. The birch bark was salvaged from the ground. Please don't pull it directly from a healthy tree.     :(   
The walkway didn't stay, I thought it looked too modern for the setting.

I added some of the plants and a few pine cones because B would have been sad if I didn't give them a place of honour. She was sure fairies would love them. Notice there is a tiny amber marble gazing ball here as well.

The new path to the front door is made from glass pieces from the craft store.  Much more in keeping with a magical setting. To the left of the path are the rest of the hens and chicks and a greeter frog. OH.. and another gazing ball, this time blue.

A few seashells and a quiet little retreat for fairies is born.

Like everything I do there is always one tiny thing that needs to be added before it feels completely finished.  Of course... what kind of a greeter frog would he be if he didn't say "welcome"?

Here is the finished planter on the deck right beside the front door.  I sure hope some fairies come to visit,  this little garden girl has been alone here for a very long time and would truly love some company.




Did I say finished.  I really hope not.  I'm sure all the little girls who come by will think of lots of changes that need to be made.


Bye for now and have a great day everyone.

No-Poo Shampoo

This post has no pics or separate recipe because quite frankly its so simple I'm almost embarrassed to post it.

I haven't used regular shampoo for quite some time now.  Like most people I have used a lot of different brands over the years and found most of them did what they claimed to do.  It is a completely personal decision on my part to stop using things  containing chemicals that can pollute my personal space. Because most things can be absorbed through the skin, shampoo is on the list of things I'm not using any more.  Read the ingredients  on any bottle  and you'll know why. Although I expect you will have to do a little research just to find out what those ingredients are.

There are a lot of natural  alternatives out there. I tried a few different ones and to my delight, the easiest one to use worked just as well as any of the other ones.  I simply dissolve a tablespoon of baking  soda in a cup of water  and pour it over my hair  in the shower.  Work it through my hair making sure I get all  the hair from  scalp to ends and then rinse it out.  The baking soda grabs all  the daily dirt and just takes it down the drain.  See...Too Simple.

This method alone wouldn't be successful without the Apple Cinder Rinse I posted yesterday.  When I first  used this I didn't like the way my hair felt when it was still wet,  and it seemed a bit more tangly to brush out, but I quickly realized that it leaves my hair really clean, soft, and shiny.  And the longer I use it the better it gets. 

So I get to save the money I'd be spending on product. I'm not using any new packaging to end up in the landfill.  I have no nasty chemicals on my hair or scalp, and I like the end result. 
I'm giving "No-Poo and Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse" combo a definite  A+

Bye for now and have a great day everyone.

Hair Rinse alternative

I'm replacing (or trying to) all of the personal products I use so this next while I will be sharing the changes and how they have been working for me.  This change is really important to me because I have asthma and my ultimate goal is not having to use steroid inhalers all the time.  I'm hoping by removing as many irritants from my environment as I can it will help create a healthier me.


The first and easiest of these products to replace for me was my hair conditioner.  I tried a few different things and my favorite recipe was this one found here at Camp Wander.

This rinse contains:
 Rosemary essential oil - used because of it amazing properties that promote a healthy scalp and hair.  It's supposed to improve memory too, what a bonus.
Lavender essential oil - used because it enhances the benefits of the rosemary and its good for dandruff as well  as being antibacterial.
Apple Cider Vinegar - it cuts through shampoo and hard water buildup, and balances the pH of your scalp and hair.
Borax - because its an amazing softener.  It's a salt/mineral and will not hurt you, but it is optional so I recommend you do your research before deciding to use it or not. This works well without it its just better with. Check here to see Borax.

Recipe:
4 cups of filtered water
8 drops of Rosemary essential oil
8 drops of Lavender essential oil
1 tsp. of borax - optional
3 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar

Mix and store in a glass jar in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  I put about 1 cup in my empty conditioner bottle to use for my shower.

Simply rinse this through your hair  and enjoy nice shiny soft hair with lots of body.  Don't worry the vinegar smell goes away when your hair is dry.

If you have another DIY rinse that works for you or you've tried this one please leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Bye for now and have a good day everyone.

Red Clover Tea

Drinking tea, Hmmm. Coffee is actually my passion, but  I always feel a little guilty while I enjoy a cup now because I think I should be putting something into my body that at least has a few health benefits.  

I'm trying to replace at least a couple cups of coffee a day with tea.  Now that the warm weather is here it's a good time to experiment with a few flavours of ice tea.

This one really isn't too bad,  kind of nice really. 
While the kettle is boiling I run hot tap water into my tea pot to pre warm it.  I'm not even sure why I do this, just that I remember someone , maybe my grandmother, doing this when I was young.

I cut a square of cheese cloth for a DIY  tea bag, put about a quarter cup of dried red clover flowers  onto the cheese cloth, fold up the corners and tie with a piece of cotton string.

Once the kettle is boiling for a few minutes turn it off, empty out the tea pot and add 2 regular tea bags and the red clover one.

Pour 6 to 8 cups of   hot water into the pot. Cover and let steep for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Sweeten and flavour the tea with honey  to taste. To this pot I added just a tiny drop of peppermint extract as well.

I like my first cup hot, and then remove the tea bags and store the remainder in the fridge to sip on throughout the day.

 Red clover is supposed to be good for a number of things including  hot flashes and lowering cholesterol.  Check the link red clover benefits for a great list of its uses and maybe you'll find a reason to use it too.


Bye for now and have a good day everyone.