Homemade Toothpaste...

Easy toothpaste, from kitchen ingredients. I've dressed it up some, but you can use what you have on hand and certainly keep it more frugal!

2 T coconut oil

3 T baking soda

1/4 t (or to taste) peppermint extract or essential oil

Opt*1 to 2 drops tea tree oil (taste is a factor with this)

2 pks of stevia, xylitol, or other non-sugar sweetener

1t glycerin *opt (for texture)

Blend well.

Store in baby food jar or other lidded container.

More Frugal and Non-toxic Cleaners for Your Home..

Pay attention to her tip about lemons and olive oil!

Frugal, Non-toxic Cleaners for Your Home...

Bed-wetting.. a tough issue!

I know this is a tough issue for parents and children. I found it to be a very touchy, sensitive issue with children and, at times, a very frustrating one as a parent.






Above are two products that helped us, after all, the biggest monetary concern was the mattress not getting ruined! We also sought after thick underwear and snap-on, lined, undy covers. We were able to find some at various places; once we found some at our local medical supply company for a reasonable rate, and they even had bigger sizes.

The other big concern was how to help the child, especially emotionally, since this is such a delicate and private issue. It's hard isn't it?

Well, first, for me, I had to remember my struggles with it. I was a very hard sleeper growing up and I had a very hard time waking up. I slept like a rock! I tried so hard to stop it, even as a bigger kid, but couldn't seem to figure out how to make myself wake up! One of the last times it happened, I remember dreaming that I had gotten up, walked out my door, down the hall, and to the bathroom, and sure enough, I woke up in a puddle! *blush* ...Alright- I know I'm not the only one! ;-) (Oh come on- don't make me go ask your mommas!;)

But remembering my personal struggle, helped me to have more patience with my own children who had this problem. I did try to protect the bed, and I did try to help them keep it private. I made a rule that no other child could speak about the matter in an embarrassing way nor outside of our home. I limited drinks and sugar before bed, and I tried to wake them up and take them to the bathroom before I went to bed, especially if I knew that they'd had extra drinks.

For two of my kids, getting them up before I went to bed, when they had extra drinks, usually works. For one of my kids, nothing seemed to work until they 'grew out of it'. That was tough, but the bed-pads and other accessories helped preserve the bed and I taught them how to gather and wash their bedding and that helped keep them from feeling so embarrassed- for you see, they didn't even have to tell me, they could just wash their sheets! ;-) (Yeah, double bonus there huh?!)

What about YOU? Anyone else had this trouble? If so, what worked for your children?
And if you want to tell me that I wasn't the only bed-wetter- feel free to join me as I shamelessly try to parent- and blog! :-)

Some interesting FREE e-books

TipKing offers some free ebooks that sound VERY interesting.
One about Chemical Free Cleaning and another about vinegar (and you girls know how much I love my vinegar, don't you?). There's also some about baking soda, salt, honey, and plastic grocery bags! Check them out: TipKing

Liquid Hand Soap

This is one job that I can always count on a few kiddies to help~

Grate-

-1 bar of soap (any will work)**

-Heat to a boil-1 gallon of water

Remove the water from heat and stir in the grated soap until melted. 
*opt. Add 1 T washing soda.
** I keep an empty container in my shower and collect pieces and bits of soap and use it, making this even more frugal.

Allow to cool, stirring once or twice, in your pot. Once cool, you may poor into an old plastic container/milk jug.

Then you may pour into your pump bottles on your sink!

LIMES (citrus fruits)--3 ways to use 'em

First I grated the zest from the limes. Then I heated them in the microwave for a few seconds, about 20 and juiced them for some Limeade. (5 limes) Mix in 2 cups of sugar in a gallon container, top with cold water, chill and serve.

Then I took the remnants and tossed them into a jar of vinegar to make homemade cleaner.
(Just toss in several, top with vinegar, steep for at least a week or more, strain, pour into spray bottle, top with water and a drop or two of essential oil if desired.)

I had burned something on my flattop the other day and sprayed this on and let it soak and it took it off without much scrubbing at all!

How's that for frugal?!?

Crazy Clotheslines...and mine for Peggie

I did a search and found all kinds of really neat clotheslines and really neat ways to hang them, but I think mine is the best!;-)

One hook is on the corner of the house and the other is on the porch -and it has pulleys!

MAKING YOUR OWN CLEANERS

Yesterday was spent doing much of the 'odds and ends' sort of jobs around here.

-the pulleys and clothesline was strung (then I rushed to wash some sheets to string out on it!)

-laundry detergent was made*using 1 bar of Ivory(grated), 1 cup soda, 1 cup Borax and a pot full of boiling water

-hand soap was made- scraps of bar soap approx equal to one bar of soap, dissolved in 3 to 4 cups boiling hot water --Bottles were filled and the rest stored in the old gallon container

-(all-purpose) lemon-vinegar spray was put into bottles* a quart of vinegar with the remainder of a lemon rind, steeped for days--then fill up with warm water

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Here's a neat site with some other recipes: http://squeegeeclean.net/supplies.aspx

Here's one I found that sounded good, but I haven't tried it yet.

Glass cleaner: 1/4 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 quart of war water

How much is a (frugal) clothesline? Well, this one here, with mounts and pulleys, was $5.50!
-Bought at Big Lots- Pretty neat!

My kids beg to do this.......

This is "MOPPING THE FLOOR" at my house! LOL!
Yes, my kids beg to clean the kitchen floor!!!!!!!
They have the best time! First they take mildly soapy washcloths and 'wash' the floor (wet the floor down!) . Then they slip and slide (probably getting up any leftover dirt, hee hee hee!). They slide and spin until we are all laughing. The upside: the floor is quite a bit cleaner! The downside: they usually need a bath afterwards or at least a dry set of clothes but usually, I don't get that lucky because they are a bit soapy. ...............Is this 'permissive parenting'? Why say no if you don't have to? Work and fun are good!
(I saw a floor mopping post at http://tammysrecipes.com/ and wanted to show off our floor mopping skills!)