Rid Your Pet’s Fleas With Household Items!

It’s that time of year and as much as I hoped it wouldn’t happen, it did– my dogs got fleas. They are indoor dogs, however they go outside to use the bathroom. It was inevitable. Sure, I could use those harsh chemicals to try and treat my dogs, which don’t always work, but I wanted to find a cheaper, better alternative.

After doing a lot of research online, I came across a couple ideas. These ideas included things you probably already have lying around your house. And guess what….

IT WORKS!

Photo credit: Bill Selak / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

• Bathe your animals in DISH SOAP. Yep, you heard right. Dish soap kills the fleas on contact! 

Haha, ok so not all my animals enjoyed the bath. But, boy aren’t they happy they had one!

NO MORE FLEAS.

You heard me– we checked and didn’t see ONE flea!

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However, we did find this nasty creature that must’ve jumped off just in time to die.

Poor thing.

(I changed the contrast and brightness so you could see the nasty flea better.)

• After you bathe your pets, grab an empty spray bottle (a clean one) and mix 1/2 part Apple Cider Vinegar and 1/2 part warm water.

 

Once your pets dry, take them outside and spray some of this mixture onto them (avoid their face). It’s supposed to prevent fleas for up to a WEEK.

Definitely worth trying out! The smell may not be pleasant, but can’t be any worse then those nasty bugs, right!?

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Do you have any home remedies for fleas? If so leave it below! I’d love to hear more ideas!

Make Single-Use Ointment Packs!

These DIY single-use packets are great for camping or keeping in backpacks and/or purses!

Keep in mind, you don’t have to use this just for ointment. You can use this same process for toothpaste (see how to make your own natural toothpaste by clicking the link), Vaseline, lip gloss, etc.

• What You’ll Need; 

scissors, pliers, ointment (or your preference), clean straw, lighter

• STEP ONE;
  

Squeeze ointment into straw (only enough for a single-time use).

(Ignore my scratched up craft/coffee table! )

• STEP TWO; 
  

Take your pliers and squeeze the end of straw shut.

(Some of the ointment may squeeze out while doing this– just wipe away with paper towel.)

• STEP THREE;
  

Use your lighter to burn the tip. Keep burning until you think it has melted closed. Squeeze the part you just melted to give it an extra seal.

• STEP FOUR;
  

Cut the straw– leaving a little extra room to seal it.

• STEP FIVE;

Take your pliers and repeat on this end.

That’s it. Easy, right?

One normal length straw makes about 4-5 individual packets for single-time use. 

I tossed these bad boys in my purse, along with a few band-aids, and now I’ll always be prepared.

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If you’re interested in where to find the floral pliers. Check them out here–  Floral Tool Kit or click the picture below.

 

Tie Dye With Bleach!

I have been wanting to try tie dying with bleach for a while now. The weather was absolutely beautiful today so I figured I’d do it today!  After watching some YouTube tutorials and reading online, I realized how easy it was. There is no “wrong” way to tie dye a shirt. It all depends on your preference. I tried three different ways with a few old shirts of mine.

What You’ll Need: 

Bleach. Hair ties (or rubber bands). Water. An old bottle with a tip similar to photo. (I used old hair dye application bottle)

Gloves are optional, but highly recommended– bleach can damage your skin.

One or more old t-shirts.

• Fill bottle with 80% bleach, 20% water and give it a little shake.

Style One;

(my favorite)

• Grab your first shirt and begin twisting counter-clockwise from the center.

• Once you have it spun completely around, grab your hair ties and place them all around like how you’d slice a pizza, if that makes sense? 

• Now grab your bottle of bleach/water and cover majority of both sides with the liquid. 

• Let sit for about 15 minutes, or until the bleach has reached your desired color. 

Style Two;

• Grab your shirt and begin spinning counter-clockwise like in Style One. 

• Now, we are not going to use hair ties for this one. So, the next step is to grab the bottle of bleach/water and put some liquid in the middle of the spiral and follow some of the lines until you get to the outside of the shirt.

• Flip over this shirt carefully, keeping it spun. Repeat spiral with liquid on the new side. (This side will be easier to see the spirals.)

• Let sit for 15 minutes or until bleached to the color you desire.

Style Three;

• Grab your shirt and lay it out flat.

• Take your bottle of bleach/water and begin making whatever designs you like. (For a more precise design such as words. Use a Bleach Pen!)

• Flip over and repeat.

• Let sit for 15 minutes or until bleach parts turn desired color.

Last step: Grab your shirts, wash them, dry them.

(I like to hand wash them to make sure the bleach doesn’t ruin other clothes.)

LET’S SEE HOW THEY TURNED OUT!

• Style One;

(Front)

(Back)

• Style Two;

(Front)

(Back)

• Style Three;

(Front)

(Back)

Have fun!

Don’t forget to post pictures of your bleach tie dye shirts below!

Homemade Shampoo!

There are so many articles online that give you recipes for making your own shampoo and conditioner. I’ve tried a few different ways and thought I’d share the ones I like the most!

First, there is a thing called the “No-Poo Method” which is basically “No shamPOO.” Several people have tried this and swear by it. You still “wash” your hair, you just don’t use store bought shampoo.

The ingredients for the “No-Poo Method” shampoo are:

• Baking soda mixed with water as your shampoo.
• Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water as your conditioner.

Many people say that actually shampooing your hair with store bought shampoo causes your hair to become oily– in turn, you wash it again, and the cycle continues.

When using the “No-Poo Method” you should “wash” your hair about every couple of days. It lacks the “foaming and lather” aspect of normal shampoo, but that is where a lot of chemicals in normal shampoo are.

Check out Ashley’s Green Life video about her experience with the “No-Poo Method”  below.

I noticed that a lot of the shampoo recipes online call for a Liquid Castille Soap. These are liquid soaps made organically. The can sometimes be pricey, but are very worth it! You don’t use very much in your shampoo recipes so it should last a long time. (Keep in mind, do not use more than directed in the recipes. I wanted a “lather” so I added in more of the soap and it caused my hair to be oily.)

The cool thing about Dr. Bronner’s brand of Liquid Castille Soap is that it comes in all kinds of scents. Almond, Lavender, Peppermint… there’s even a Baby Mild form of it. So when mixing your shampoo, there is no need to add in essential oils.

The best shampoo I’ve tried thus far is….

Natural Homemade Shampoo

I found this recipe on Wellness Mama.

• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/3 cup Liquid Castille Soap
• 1/2 of a teaspoon (or several capsules) of Vitamin E Oil  (optional)
• 20 drops of Essential Oils  of your choice.
• For dry hair: add 1/2 tsp olive or almond oil (optional)

How to mix:

1. Combine all ingredients in an old shampoo bottle or jar of some kind (pump soap dispensers and even foaming dispensers work well for this. If you use a foaming dispenser, add 1/4 cup of distilled water)
2. Shake well to mix.
3. Keep in shower for up to a month.
4. Shake before each use.
5. Use about a teaspoon every time you shampoo.
6. If you use a foaming dispenser, it also makes a great shaving cream- just dilute with 1/4 cup distilled water!

For more homemade shampoo recipes, check out INSTRUCTABLES article HERE.

If any of you have tried making homemade shampoo…

Share your favorite combinations in the comments below.

Also, what’s your favorite and least favorite part of making homemade shampoo?

Homemade Face Mask

Last night, my boyfriend’s 12 year old daughter, Jaylen, and I decided we were going to make a tutorial video of the face mask we were making.

The video (our first tutorial video) was quite hilarious. We had so much fun and I decided to keep in a lot of the funny parts. Because, well… who wouldn’t want to watch a hilarious tutorial video!?

Both informative AND funny.

The mask is a homemade face mask using the following ingredients from your kitchen:

(coconut oil, 1/2 cucumber, 1 egg, 1 ripe banana, and 2 lemon slices)

Here is the fun tutorial we made:

If you choose not to watch the video (which you should) then here is how to make the mask:

• Take the ripe banana and peel and chop it up and put it in a food processor or blender.
• Peel and chop the cucumber and add it to the food processor.
• Mix these two ingredients until smooth.
• Now, add crack the egg into the mixture, add a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil and squeeze in your two lemon slices.
• Mix until smooth.
• Put mixture onto face and allow it to sit for 20 minutes then rinse with warm water.

(Jaylen and I waiting our 20 minutes so we could rinse.)

Hope you all have as much fun as we did making this face mask!

DIY (Kid’s Room) Trash Bin

I was thinking the other day that I needed a little bin to put my potatoes in. After creating this (not-so-perfect) bin I realized how great it’d be for a weekend craft to do with your children! Not all kids have their own trash bin in their room, but most of the time, they need one. It will definitely help those SOMETIMES lazy pre-teens from gathering trash from snacks in their bedrooms with no where to put it. I remember when I was younger, having a trash bin in my room made things so much easier on me. I didn’t have to go to the kitchen to throw away my trash I could just toss it right there in my room and dump the trash once a week in the larger bin.

The fun thing about these bins is that you can make them any color you want and add whatever you’d like to them. I’ll show you what I did…

• You know those ugly Christmas tins you get sometimes full of popcorn? Well, that is what we will be turning into a cute, little trash bin. Perfect for a kid’s room. So, I grabbed the Christmas tin, some duct tape, paint, and one of those cool new duct tapes you can get. 

• I covered the tin in the normal grey duct tape so when I painted over it you couldn’t still see the 3D-like design through the paint. It’s actually pretty difficult to get this part perfect so just have fun with it.

• I decided to go ahead and paint the bin a dark green color. I used craft paint which dried in under 20 minutes! 

• The last thing I did was put a couple strips of the “cool” duct tape around it in a couple places and BOOM– all done. 

Like I said, it’s not perfect. There are creases from the tape but this DIY project is easy to do and kid’s will love being able to design it for their bedroom.

There are so many different “cool” duct tapes out there.

Check them out on Amazon HERE!

You can add ribbon, buttons, anything you want. That’s what makes this easy craft so much fun. You can personalize it for you room, all the while upcycling an old Christmas tin.

And now I have a cute little bin to keep my potatoes in!

Spring Clean Your Mattress!

I was looking online to find a way to clean my mattress and found a great article by Make It Do here.

Basically, all you need is baking soda, your favorite essential oil (her and I both used lavender for this), a sifter (optional), and a vacuum.

To  make things easier, toss the baking soda and some lavender oil into a container and shake it up before sifting it onto the bed.

Once you’ve sifted the baking soda mixture all over one side of the mattress, allow it to sit for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Now vacuum and repeat on opposite side and you’re all done!

So easy!

Make A Dreamboard

What is a dreamboard (or vision board)?

A dreamboard is a collage of images that you want to accomplish in your life. A dreamboard is an easy way to remind yourself of what you want and to give you the motivation to go out and get it.

In the popular book (and documentary), The Secret, dreamboards are mentioned several times. In the book, you are taught that you can achieve anything you want in life simply by the laws of attraction. The laws of attraction mentioned in the book tell us that if we put what we want out into the universe, the universe will give that to us. It can work for good or bad. For example, if you imagine winning the lottery and really believe that you’re going to, you will. Of course, they say it takes time, depending on the wish. Another example would be those who feel like they have the worst luck. If someone is in debt and continues to think they’re never going to get out of it, then they won’t. The laws of attraction can work whichever way they want. Basically, if you think positive and imagine what you wish for in life, eventually the universe will give you that.

“Everything is possible. Nothing is impossible.” — The Secret.

One story was told by a man named, John Assarf. John had made a few visionboards of what he wanted out of life. Five years later, John opens a box and begins looking through some of  his old visionboards and comes across one with a picture of his dream house, only to realize he had just moved into that same exact house. You can hear more of his story on YouTube, HERE.

(By clicking the picture, it will take you to Amazon to look at this book.)

Dreamboards are a way to keep all of our dreams and goals together in one place. Focusing on them daily and sending out those powerful positive vibes out into the universe will help you achieve these goals.

Before, dreamboards were typically made on corkboards or posterboards with images cut from magazines and newspapers.

You can find some REALLY cute boards to use on Amazon!

Here is an example,

(By clicking the picture, it will take you to Amazon to look at this board.)

Even though physically having a board posted on your wall in your bedroom would help you see it more often, there are now ways to make dreamboards online.

People are online more now than ever before, so making one online, saving it, and making it your desktop picture may make things a bit more easier for you. There are even ways to make your dreamboard mobile for those who can add applications to their phone.

The website I suggest for making your dreamboard is one of these two sites:

Digital Dreamboard — However, this site is currently under maintenance but says it should be back up by tomorrow. (April 3, 2013)

OR

Dream It Alive — The one I use.

Make a dreamboard and watch your every wish come true!

Don’t forget to check out more success stories using dream boards on YouTube!

Find Out If Your Eggs Are Bad

If you’re like me, I love a good deal on my groceries. Lately, eggs have been SO cheap! Of course, I stocked up. Now the time is rolling around to clean out my fridge. So, which eggs should you keep and which should you toss? We all know that sometimes the “expiration” date or “sell by” date isn’t as accurate as we once thought. Why throw out completely edible food!? I’m here to show you a little trick so that next time you see that date on the carton you can be your own judge. Waste not. Want not.

• Grab your eggs and fill a large glass bowl full of cold water.

(The temperature is important. If you try this with warm/hot water you may cook your eggs a little and we do NOT want that. Also, you need a larger bowl so you can tell the difference between if it sinks or floats. A glass bowl will help you determine this as well.)

• Grab an egg and slowly place it into the bowl of water. 

• Now is when you will determine whether to KEEP or DISCARD the egg. 

IF THE EGG SINKS — Your egg is fresh and is definitely worth keeping.

IF THE EGG SINKS BUT STANDS AT AN ANGLE (STANDS ON IT’S POINT)– Your egg is still capable of eating, but do so soon. These are especially great when baking.

IF THE EGG FLOATS— Discard. It’s NOT good for consumption.

Of course, if there is an odd color to the egg or it has a foul odor, please toss in the trash. Obviously, those are NO good.

I hope this helps! Next time be sure to test your eggs before tossing those good deals in the trash!

Make A Simple 5-Minute Minimalist Bracelet

This weekend, I spent some much needed time with my family. My mother, sister, and I decided to make some bracelets. I took the time to take pictures of the process in case any of you wanted to make this easy bracelet!

This bracelet is simple and adorable.

What You’ll Need:

String (or hemp material) of your choice, two buttons with preferably FOUR holes (one button is optional for the hooking bracelet together), a pair of scissors.

Step One: Cut your string into TWO long strands and weave them through the holes of the button.

Step Two: Cut another piece of string (this is where you can add a new color into it. I, however, kept my hemp string for all three strands)

Step Three: Take your newly cut string and wrap it around your button tying a double knot (on top of the string woven through button).

Step Four: Put one strand of the new string on each side of the button (there will be three strings on both sides of button). Now begin to braid both sides down to the size you want.

(The button will be the center of your bracelet)

Step Five: Once the bracelet is at the length you desire, tie a knot at one end. (If you chose to not do the optional “clasp” button– tie a knot at both ends leaving enough excess string to tie and then tie onto wrist/ankle/neck–this is where you’d end.)

Step Six: Grab TWO of your three strands on one side and slide your optional “clasp” button through the two and slide it up to the knot.

Step Seven: Squeeze the free string through one of the “clasp” button’s holes.

Step Eight: Pull the free string  to straighten out, once through one hole. Now, tie a  knot again to secure the button in place.

Step Nine: Cut any excess string off of this end. Now onto the next end. Tie a double knot, then wrap string around pinkie to create a loop. Tie a knot once again around pinkie. Slide new loop off finger.

Step Ten: Cut off excess string after you have secured loop.

There you have it! A simple, minimalist bracelet you can make with friends and family in 10 easy steps. Only takes about 5 minutes!

Put those old buttons to good use! 

The finished bracelets:

(The one below is one that we added in a new color to)

Very cute and easy-to-do.

If you have any questions or I left anything out, feel free to comment and I’ll get back with you.

Happy Braceleting!