Stab Bound Journal Make a hand bound journal with elaborate side stitching for yourself or as a gift. The stitching is a lot easier than it looks and is so much nicer to hold than a spiral bound edge. Supplies and Equipment – sharp utility knife and cutting surface BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE SHARP BLADE – rulers – drill with 1/16th inch bit OR a small paper punch BE VERY CAREFUL WITH POWER TOOLS – fancy cover paper – I used Cavallini Vintage Tickets Wrapping Paper – 20″ x 28″ – 1 sheet of 8.5×11 for endpapers (this can be fancy or the same paper as your pages) – 10 sheets of 8.5×11 paper for pages – 3 yards of embroidery floss – mat board – I used Crescent No. 33 White & Cream Smooth Mat Board – Yes Stikflat Glue or other archival glue that leaves paper flat – heavy object to use as a weight – waxed paper – cutting/hole punch template – click here to download – thin cotton or linen fabric (optional) – needle with an eye large enough to fit embroidery floss – brush for glue Stitch down through the next hole.
Make Your Own Eye Makeup Remover and Reusable Pads. Quite awhile ago I wrote about making your own make up remover wipes. It was killing me to pay the high price of the ones sold in the stores. Lately, however, a couple of other things have been bothering me about the whole taking makeup off thing! First, since getting rid of paper towels in the kitchen…I feel a little hypocritical still using them in the bathroom. :-) Second, I feel like my face needs something richer, with more emollients, for taking off my makeup. Cuz I ain’t gettin’ any younger! :-/ So I spent much of today searching for and developing a slightly different make up removal system, that after using tonight I think I am going to like A LOT! PART ONE:First I made some REUSABLE make up remover pads similar to something I saw on The Sproutz Store Blog. PART TWO:Now I needed something to use ON the reusable pads. 1 cup distilled water1 1/2 Tablespoons baby shampoo (no tears)1 Tablespoon coconut oilA few drops of essential oil (optional) Improving on a good idea is today’s…..
Making A Bacon Candle Scented Candle: For Men Here is a quick tutorial... BEST PART: When you're done, you have a lot of bacon to eat! Black Eyed Peas Halftime Show...LOL There was one empty seat at the Super Bowl! 12 gifts of christmas blog hop: organizer wallet tutorial and a giveaway Hello! Welcome to day 12 of the 12 Gifts of Christmas Blog Hop hosted by the awesome Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts. Have you been following along since day 1?? If not, there's a list of links to all the tutorials at the bottom of this post so go check them out! Supplies: fabric (I used 3 different prints but that's optional)fusible interfacing (I used Pellon 911FF-Featherweight and Pellon Craft Fuse)cotton battingthread5/8" braided or knit elasticusual sewing supplies: rotary cutter/mat/ruler, scissors, hand sewing needle, soluble fabric pen, pins or binder clips, a walking foot is helpful if you have one3" x 5" memo pad (I bought mine at Target - Mead brand)printable pattern piece - download here A few notes of interfacing: I used two different fusible interfacings for this project but you can easily substitute what you have on hand. **Tutorial is for personal use/gifts only! *sorry for the tutorial photos in advance. 1/4" seam allowance used throughout the project.
Update-DIY Dish Soap for the Sink and the Dishwasher Finally! A DIY dish soap that works in the dishwasher without leaving a bunch of cloudy film! We didn’t hate the cloudy film; it is, after all, better than spending money on toxic, neon-colored, individually portioned dishwasher packets. But the film was yucky looking and it felt all filmy. After testing a bunch of recipes, I’m so pleased to say that we came up with an easy homemade dish soap that works really, really well. Why do we want homemade dish soap? Saving money is another good reason to DIY. And think about the reduction in waste from packaging since you’ll be reusing a container instead of buying a new one several times a year. Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. You will need: 1.5 cups water1 tablespoon grated natural bar soap1 tablespoon borax10-20 drops essential oils* Instructions: UPDATE: We gave it a few weeks to be sure, and it turns out that this soap works great in the dishwasher. Shiny and clean! **Adapted from this recipe at DIY Natural.
Superbly Simple All-Purpose Homemade Cleaner I finally used up the last spray of my store bought all-purpose cleaner and I am done! Going non-toxic with your cleaners is a great way to keep your home not only clean, but is better for the health of your home, pets and family. Plus, in most cases, it’s so cheap you’ll want to smack yourself for all the money you have spent on that store bought stuff! I decided to start with all-purpose cleaner. As I have been looking into possibilities for homemade all-purpose cleaners I discovered that there are two ingredients that seems to be the foundation for many homemade cleaning solutions. What it really comes down to? I have been reading all about the wonders of white vinegar. This being said, homemade all-purpose cleaners can be really simple. After experimenting with a couple of recipes for an all-purpose cleaner, that had a little more to it, I came up a recipe. What You’ll Need: Ingredients: ¼ cup White vinegar2 Tablespoons Baking soda4 cups of hot water10 drops of essential oils 1. 2. 3.
Reusable Snack Bags Tutorial Cloth diapering has done something to me. Ever since switching to cloth, I’ve found myself looking for other reusable household goodies. We’ve started using cloth napkins in lieu of paper towel, with the unexpected bonus of adding a little class to every meal. We have repurposed plastic containers into seedling planters. I’ve been saving jars and bottles of all kinds to fill up at bulk grocery stores. Anyway, I decided to make reusable snack bags and it was so easy, I knew I had to make this tutorial. First, select your materials*. For a sandwich sized bag, cut your outside and lining fabrics into 7×14 inch rectangles. For the smaller snack bag, cut the coordinating fabrics into 5×12 inch rectangles. Next, sew velcro (5 inch piece for large bag, 3 inch piece for small) 1/2 inch from one of the short ends on the right side (colored side, outside) of each rectangle. Now, pin the rectangles together, right sides facing each other with the velcro at opposite ends.
Mauby's: The Ultimate Re-Usable Snack Bag: Machine Washable and Stands Upright The loops are great for opening the bag and for hanging from those rings for kids -- making it easy for little ones to snack too! Isn't this a cute bag? Stylish and practical! Brooke was making re-usable snack bags from leftover Polyurethane Laminate (PUL) she had from making her amazing diaper covers! I asked if it was ok if I made some for a local craft fair and then posted the rest in my Etsy shop. These pouches are shaped super cute and stand on their own. Perfect for bringing to the office, play date or on the go! And seriously, I know I've said it before but I adore this heirloom line of fabric by Joel Dewberry. 2, 8" x 9" Rectangles of Cotton Quilting Fabric2, 3" x 8" Scraps of Coordinating Fabric2, 4" Pieces of Ribbon2, 8" x 9" Rectangles of Polyurethane Laminate (PUL)**Please note: Several people have commented that PUL is not considered "food safe" by the FDA. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Now it's time to make those nice square corners! 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Make Your Own Natural Carpet Freshener Before I introduce this week’s “Save My Sanity Saturday” post, I wanted to sincerely thank all the wonderful guest posters that helped me out this last week while my family and I took a long-awaited vacation to Mexico! With extremely limited connection to the internet it was challenging just getting the posts uploaded each day, but now that we’re home, we’re all looking forward to things getting back to normal. So……….. WELCOME to “Save My Sanity Saturday” at One Good Thing By Jillee….where I attempt to avoid having a nervous breakdown by actually giving myself a day off from blogging once a week! So pull up a chair and sit back and enjoy an “oldie but goodie” from the One Good Thing By Jillee archives. I don’t do it very often…but sometimes it’s nice to boost the “clean smell” of the house by sprinkling the carpets with a little “carpet deodorant”. I can only imagine that if you had pets it would be more of a NECESSITY than a NICETY. Benzyl Benzoate Sodium aluminosilicate Sodium sulfate
Getting to the Bottom of Borax: Is it Safe or Not? Not one single natural ingredient has me quite as verklempt as borax. Nearly every “green cleaning” site lists it as a wonder cleaner. Natural beauty books are rife with suggesting it as a hair softener. People put it in lotions all across the world. And upset commentors have left diatribes and sent consternating emails about my recipes using borax proclaiming it “toxic!” Not surprising, all of the confusion, given the severe lack of cohesive information out there about the safety of borax. I think I’ve gotten to the bottom of most of it, though, and maybe what I’ve found will help you make a decision as to whether you want to use it in your green cleaning (and beauty) routine … or not. What IS Borax? Borax, also known (most predominately in the way we’re talking about right now) as sodium tetraborate, is a boron mineral and salt that’s mined directly from the ground. Borax is not boric acid. That’s where the majority of the online confusion appears. You confused yet? One last look at borax.
Infographic: Make Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products Date: May 25 2013 | Author: Jessica | Category: Clean The average home contains up to 25 gallons of toxic chemicals, many of which are in store-bought cleaners. If you have kids, pets or an eco-friendly attitude, this might make you nervous. Check out the recipes in the infographic below to get started on your homemade cleaning arsenal. With a few simple ingredients that you probably already own—such as baking soda, white vinegar and lemon juice—it’s easy to substitute many store-bought cleaners with safe, eco-friendly options. More recipes: Laundry Detergent Ingredients: 1 bar of laundry soap (available at your local hardware store), 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda Nice and simple. Dish Soap: Ingredients: 5 cups of grated castile soap (this is any soap made entirely from vegetable oil), ½ cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon of borax, 6 cups of hot peppermint tea, 1 teaspoon eucalyptus oil Add the castile soap and hot mint tea to a three-quart saucepan. Oven Cleaner: Wood Polish:
Simply Sweet Skin Softening You can hide under sweaters, scarves and socks throughout the winter, but summer’s sandals, shorts and sleeveless tops put skin on display. Give yourself a healthy glow by shedding any layers of scaly, dead skin along with the layers of woolen clothes through a homemade beauty treatment. Things you need: Coconut Oil SugarMason jar Essential Oils (optional) Things to do: 1. Your body scrub can also be part of a beautiful home foot treatment that will leave you feeling pampered and your feet feeling (and looking) more lovely. Photo Credit: My Sweet Garden This Project Uses These Product(s)
7 DIY Ideas To Make Your Home Smell Amazing Want to be notified each time we publish a new blog post? Then make sure you like Natural Living Ideas on Facebook here where we share not only our blog posts, but the best natural living ideas from around the web. Chemical filled plug-ins, toxic air freshener sprays and candles filled with paraffin are just some of the ways people try to give their home a beautiful aroma – but in reality these store bought products are merely contributing to the toxic load present in our homes. However, there are ways to make your home smell amazing by making your own all natural, cheap, wonderfully scented products, such as reed diffusers, air freshening sprays, candles, potpourri and so much more. This blog post reveals seven fantastic ideas you can make for yourself at home. Make Your Own Jelly Air Fresheners Scatter these jelly air fresheners around your home and they will gently release their aroma without the toxic chemicals of store bought. Find out how to make these jelly air fresheners here.
Homemade dishwasher detergent that works! - Family Sponge Written by contributor Melissa Allen of Green Owl Art A little over a year ago when I was living in Los Angles I considered myself to be one of the more eco-friendly, earth loving, attachment parenting kind of momma’s. Then I moved to Portland, OR. A fellow mom from Emma’s school, Christina (AKA Earthy DIY Goddess), gave me this great recipe to make your own dishwasher detergent pods! Ingredients 2 cups Baking or Washing Soda2 cups Borax3/4 cup Vinegar1/2 cup Kosher or Sea Salt6 drops Lavender Oil Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. Result: My dishes came out spotless and my dishwasher smelled like a lavender bouquet! For more creative inspiration from Melissa, head on over to Green Owl Art.