Best Natural Moisturizing (Shea butter & other goodies) lotion

Make sure to click here to look at my post with a beautiful way to package this lotion for a gift. Pictures at the bottom of this post.

Homemade and Natural Facial Cleansers

My two favorite homemade cleansers are here below. The reasons why I like these so much is because they are so easy to use, they are natural and I usually always have all the ingredients on hand.

Facial Toner OMGeeee, it is so good!

The facial toner I made is absolutely heavenly! My face loves it and I love it.
It is calming and soothing. Anti-inflammatory. It is really easy to make, too.

You need:
1 tea bag of Green Tea (I use organic with lemongrass)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup witch hazel
8-10 drops lavender or tea tree essential oil (100% pure, therapeutic grade)
(For acne-prone skin, use 5-10 drops of grapefruit or lemon essential oil as well)
I also add a few drops of frankincense essential oil because of its anitinflammatory properties.
Spray bottle or glass bottle
Cotton squares

Steep tea bag in boiling water for about 5 minutes.
Remove the tea bag. 
Let it cool for about 5 minutes.
Add the witch hazel and essential oil drops.
Pour into spray bottle or bottle of choice.
Apply morning and evening without make-up with cotton square before moisturizer.

It keeps for at least 4 months. It lasts longer if you put it in smaller bottles and keep one in the bathroom and the rest in the fridge until ready to use.

Hair coloring with coffee

                

Essential Oils and Homemade Body Wash and Hand Soap

I have a good friend who knows a lot about essential oils and their therapeutic/healing properties. She has taught me about them and last night I got some clove essential oil from her to make a natural teething remedy for my baby to complement the Baltic amber necklace.  Yes, she is getting a tooth already.  Sigh, time is flying! The natural teething cream is making a paste with raw organic shea butter, coconut oil, and a few drops of clove essential oil.  Totally edible, natural, and nontoxic.  I am excited about making it!  
My friend also let me borrow a book that gives all kinds of information about essential oils.  So informative!  It is called Essential Oils Pocket Reference and you can find it here.
Keep reading to find out more about essential oils and the recipe to make body wash and hand soap at home.

Complete and perfect homemade toothpaste

-  1 tbsp bentonite clay
-  3 tbsp baking soda
-  20 drops grapefruit seed extract
-  5 drops clove essential oil
-  10 drops of another essential oil (I like cinnamon and bergamot or any minty ones - spearmint,
   peppermint, wintergreen, etc)

Equal parts of coconut oil and grapeseed oil (enough to make a paste).
You might need to add a little bit of water, as the clay absorbs liquids readily.
Taste it, it's great; you might not need to sweeten it at all, but if you feel you do, add dashes of xylitol to taste.
Keep it in a glass jar with a lid. I like a 4oz quilted mason jar.

I am a Young Living essential oils distributor. You can order from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).

Homemade natural deodorant recipe

This post contains affiliate links. To learn more, please click here.

I have since switched to a glass container.

My concoction:
-Baking soda (aluminum free)
-Celtic sea salt or Himalayan Salt
-Organic cornstarch or organic arrowroot powder
-Essential oils that you like (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
Tip: I am a Young Living essential oils distributor. You can order from www.youngliving.com (click here to go to the link) and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).
-Makeup puff (like you'd use for pressed powder make-up)
-Glass container

Optional:
-Organic coconut oil
-Organic jojoba oil
-Organic vitamin E oil

Mix equal parts of baking soda, salt, and cornstarch. 
Add 10-20 drops of the essential oils. 
Mix in well. 

This will make it powdery. If you prefer it to be a bit “wet”, then add some coconut oil and/or Vitamin E oil to make it a bit pastier. These supposedly help make the mixture more effective. 

Use the poof to put on armpits or any other areas in the body that need to stay dry. It might take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to not using antiperspirant, so you might need to wipe with an organic baby wipe with witch hazel and apply twice a day until the adjustment happens.

Personal note: I used 1 tablespoon of each powder. Mixed well. Then I added 10 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil. Mixed well. I like mine powdery, but not too dry because then it doesn't "stay" very long. So I added coconut oil (you can add any of the above-mentioned oils) until it reached a mildly clumpy, but still dry consistency. I have Vit E oil, but didn't use it in this batch. I'll try it in the next one, I guess.  

Another thing, the sea salt in the mixture doesn't itch my skin, even right after shaving. I don't have sensitive skin, though, so if you do, maybe make a tiny batch and try no salt or half the amount and try it.

This amount usually lasts me a couple of month (sometimes I used it twice a day).

Other recipes I've found:
- One of the best deodorants is plain old baking soda. You can pat it right onto your skin or mix it with a little cornstarch for extra staying power and moisture control. Try 1/2 cornstarch and 1/2 baking soda. Some readers say that mixing in anti-bacterial tea tree oil makes it even more effective.
- Use Milk of Magnesium dabbed on with a cotton ball

Week 6: Learning the unexpected

This week was absolutely full of unexpected things. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will share a few things that happened.

I am still taking it easy in the afternoons with the homeschooling schedule because K is still napping. I am so eager to get started full force, but I think that if he is still napping on his own, then his body (and brain) must need it.  He is a much more pleasant guy after a nice nap, too, so I'm in no way complaining. Haha

We did Circle Time every day and it is really getting established. K knows the order of the activities and he is getting better at following the schedule.  He is always asking for Bible class every single time (even though he knows that we always have it). It's quite obvious that he really loves it!  K is also loving Calendar more and more. I let him hold the yardstick and point at different things (calendar-related stuff like the days of the week, weather, months of the year, etc) with it.  He is getting more and more coordinated with it, too.  To find out everything we do during Circle Time, please read last week's post (under the homeschooling drop box).  

K loves to play with play dough.  It was drying out, so I made him some. Here are 3 recipes (I made the first one).
I asked K what color he wanted his play dough to be (gave him a choice of the food coloring I have) and he chose blue.  I wanted to use just one color because he mixes all the doughs anyway, and it turns into an ugly grayish/brownish color.  
The recipe makes a ton of play dough.  He can comfortably play with one third of the entire ball, so next time, I will either make less or I will color only the third he will be using, instead of the entire ball.  That way, we can use different colorings every time.  Good idea! :)

K has really good memory. One of his favorite things to do is

memorize Scripture. Here is a video of his first verse.  He has

three memorized now. I hear him reciting them on his own.

K has memorized: 

Genesis 1:1 and 31 "In the beginning, God made the sky and earth. It was very good."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Jesus who makes me strong."

Ephesians 6:1 "Boys and girls, obey your mom and dad in the Lord, for this is right." (very important)

I am excited to add more to the list. I won't add any if he hasn't mastered the previous ones, but he does such a great job that I don't think this will be a delay at all.

We practiced with our dressing frames. He practiced how to zip, snap, and button.
Buttons are a bit of a challenge, but we'll keep at it.

I got the kids more Baltic amber necklaces and bracelets.
They help with pain (like teething).  I wore a necklace while recuperating after
giving birth and I hardly took pain medication (compared to when I had my first baby).
I really think they work.  I also use them whenever I get headaches or any kind of pain.
If you get some, make sure that it's real Baltic amber, though. I get most of mine at http://hyenacart.com/stores/inspiredbyfinn/

My family and I love to juice fresh fruits and veggies every single morning.
We get most of our produce from a co-op that give us all of this for a very
affordable price as well as assure us that these aren't GMOs.
http://bountifulbaskets.org/

We are still practicing cutting. He is getting better and better.

A new activity was using all kinds of stamps.
K was having fun just stamping all over the paper, but when dad showed up, he started stamping with him and making up stories. That made it much more fun and it also helped K develop his imagination to make up his own stories.

Look how K was holding his pencil before.

Look how he holds it now after we practiced lots.

Essential Oils

I have a good friend who knows a lot about essential oils and their therapeutic/healing properties. She has taught me a lot and last night I got some clove essential oil from her to make a natural teething remedy for baby A to complement the Baltic amber.  Yes, she is getting a tooth already.  Sigh, time is flying! The natural teething cream is making a paste with organic shea butter, coconut oil, and a few drops of clove essential oil.  Totally edible, natural, and nontoxic.  I am excited about making it!   She also let me borrow a book that gives tons and tons of information about all essential oils out there.  So informative!  It is called Essential Oils Pocket Reference and you can find it here. I am so bummed that it is so expensive! I really would love a copy. I can totally see myself using it regularly. I'll keep an eye out for it and hopefully, find it for less than this someday! As of now, I think I'm getting this one. It seems to be very complete.  Anyway, I was reading up on it last night and saw that you can use eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils to help with coughs. K has had a cough all week and so I gave him a couple of diluted drops of each of these essential oils and voilá! No more cough! He hasn't coughed once! I am definitely onto something here! I am seriously thinking about requesting some more essential oils as birthday gifts from my husband.  We have been using some really good ones for our homemade laundry detergent, cleaning solutions, and toiletries, but I never thought of using them purely as essential oils!

I am a Young Living essential oils distributor now. You can order from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).

I made homemade body wash for the kids since I did some research and found out that many (most) baby washes contain either carcinogens or neurotoxins and I don't want that near my kids.  I am sorry, but I didn't save any of the research, except for these two articles (for Article 1, click here) and (for Article 2, click here), otherwise, I'd post it here for you to read. It isn't hard to find all this information online, though. I highly encourage you to educate yourself in this matter and make your own decisions.  Mainly, stay away from ingredients such as phthalates, triclosan, parabens, artificial fragrances, methylene glycol, 1,4 dioxane, aluminum, sodium benzoate, etc.

To make the body wash I made, simply buy a bar of soap that is organic and that contains ingredients that you can recognize and understand.   I got Dr. Bronner's organic lavender bar for about $3.00 .  Grate it and put it in a pot with about 4 cups of filtered water (I prefer distilled).  Turn heat to low/medium.  Stir until it has melted completely.   Add another 4 cups of filtered water and pour into a large container.   Let it sit overnight to "gel" (8-12 hours minimum, better if it's 24 hours).   In the morning, assess its consistency.  If it's too thick, add more water, but don't make it too runny.  Once it reaches the consistency you like, pour it into smaller containers (preferably with pumps). This solution will need to be shaken before every use, so I suggest using smaller containers.  It will last you forever and ever!  Be careful when using near the eyes as this isn't a tear-free solution.  My kids have been fine every time we use it, though. Reading up on what makes a solution tear-fee and how much of a chemical change the ingredients need, I opted to use something that isn't tear-free and be careful with it no going into their eyes. So far, so good.  I don't use soap on them every single day.  I use it only when they need it.  When they only need to get rinsed off, I add a few drops of coconut oil and jojoba oil in the bath water.  FYI, Aveeno is also made by Johnson&Johnson.  I cannot tell you how good (yet weird) it felt to pour our J&J baby washes down the toilet (literally)! I also made whipped shea butter lotion for the family. It is absolute heaven! I even used it on my hair as a mask and it left my hair soft and shiny. Love it! I simply ordered 100% organic raw shea butter and put it in the mixer with some coconut oil, some jojoba oil, and some lavender essential oil. I put on the kids and on myself. It is natural and safe. I love to make things for my family that are healthy for them. On a side note, we are celebrating today! We moved in to our home a year ago! We love it here so much! We feel very blessed to be where God has placed us right now. And to save the best for last, I have noticed a shift in K's attitude towards his baby sister lately. Before, she was just a blob in a chair and now he is interacting with her a lot more.  She is almost seven months old and is now sitting up, so she is more visible and participates in all our family activities more.  It is adorable how they talk to each other and play together, especially during dinner and bath time.  They are great friends and they certainly love each other very much!

Homemade Toothpaste & Mouthwash

Recipe #1

Baking soda
Coconut oil
5-10 drops of Peppermint essential oil (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
2 drops of Clove essential oil (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
Make a paste with all of the ingredients above until desired consistency. It will thicken up if it is cold and it will be more oily if it is warmer (properties of coconut oil).

Recipe #2
Baking soda
Grapeseed oil
5-10 drops of Wintergreen essential oil (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
2 drops of Clove essential oil (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
pulverized egg shell (1 egg shell) - I used a mortar and pestle
Same thing as above. Make a paste until desired consistency. I made this one last week and I am loving it.  The egg shell has calcium, which helps strengthen teeth, but the fact that it is a powder, it helps to remove plaque and other impurities on the surface of the teeth. I don't want to overdo it, so I will alternate between the two.

Oil Pulling: All I can say is whoa!
I had hear about it, but after talking about it with my neighbor, I became even more curious and decided to try it. I am in shock at how well it works.
Visit this Oil Pulling Website and learn all about it.
In my experience, I used sesame oil and have done it a couple of times. I have felt more energetic and I can see that my teeth are whiter (already, yes, already). It is so simple and so natural that I can see myself using this as a remedy to many ailments, not just to whiten and strengthen teeth. Check it out!

Recipe 3

3 Tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil
4 Tablespoons Baking Soda
10-20 drops grapefruit seed extract
10-20 Drops  therapeutic and food grade organic essential oil of your choice. I love to use spearmint.

Essential oils are safe to be used internally, as long as you essential oils are food grade like Young Living essential oils. 
Essential oils are anti-fungal, anti-viral , antimicrobial and antibiotic.  

I am a Young Living essential oils distributor. You can order from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).

Mouthwash

Homemade Mouthwash

1/2 cup water (I like to use spring water)

1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

2-3 tsp baking soda

5 drops essential oils of choice (I prefer a minty flavor like peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, etc). I also add a few drops of clove because it keeps my mouth bacteria-free longer.
10 drops of grapefruit seed extract (for flavor and for whitening)

Store in air-tight container such as a mason jar with a plastic lid. 
Shake before using. 
It will be fizzy.

Homemade Makeup Remover Recipes

To see my post on Homemade Natural Face Wash Recipes, click here.