DIY

Homemade Beauty Products That Are Better Than Store Bought

November 6, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

Not only are homemade beauty products fun to make, they’re also effective. In fact, for many reasons they can be even better than store bought! Learn about the ways you can make homemade beauty products that work instead of spending tons of money in the beauty aisles of your local stores. Here are some homemade beauty products to love.

Why Homemade Beauty Products?

Don’t effective beauty products have to contain chemicals you can’t pronounce and cost lots of money for a tiny jar or tube? No! In fact, ditching those chemicals in favor of natural ingredients you can put together at home can only be a healthy decision–and it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. What have you got to lose?

Homemade Beauty Products To Try

Oatmeal Soap

The calming effects of oatmeal on skin, especially irritated and itchy skin, are well-documented. But you don’t have to buy a commercial brand to get the benefits. There are multiple recipes available on the web, but plan on having these key ingredients available when you make your own.

Coconut oil
Olive oil
Distilled water
Lye
Ground oats
Honey
Essential oils for scent

Oatmeal soap is also great for acne-prone skin.

Avocado Face Mask

Avocados are wonderful for your skin! And it is so easy to do a soothing avocado face mask for dry skin. Just mash half an avocado and apply it to your skin. Let it sit on your skin for 15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water.

Turn the other half of that avocado into a facial scrub. Mash it, add a teaspoon of whole flax seeds, and enjoy a soothing, exfoliating face wash.

Avocado Hair Mask

Mash an avocado, then whisk in a couple teaspoons of raw honey or coconut oil. Apply this to freshly washed hair in the shower. Let it penetrate for 5-10 minutes and then rinse. This is an amazing conditioning mask that does wonders for dry or damaged hair. Try it once a week and see what results you get!

Yogurt, Cucumber and Oatmeal Cleanser

Combine half a cucumber {unpeeled} with 2-3 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of uncooked oats. Store this mixture in the refrigerator and use it as a nightly cleanser for your face and neck. The good bacteria in the yogurt, along with their associated enzymes, help to kill acne-causing bacteria on your skin surface. Yogurt is also a great skin tightener!

Interested in more homemade beauty recipes? Try these homemade formulas for healthy hair.

DIY Seaweed Body Scrub For Softer Skin At Home

July 31, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

Have you ever been to a spa and had a seaweed body scrub? If so, you know what a treat it is for your skin. The downside is definitely the cost of going to a spa. But if you make a DIY seaweed body scrub at home, you can get that softer skin without the spa visit price! Today we’ll help you get that softer skin at a fraction of the cost.

Benefits Of Seaweed Body Scrub

A seaweed body scrub has some great benefits for your skin, as well as your body:

Removes dead skin cells
Invigorates and improves skin circulation
Detoxifies your body and skin by pulling out impurities
Moisturizes skin

DIY Seaweed Body Scrub Recipes

Recipe #1

This one is about as simple as you can get! All you need is:

Seaweed powder
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Essential Oil {optional, to improve the scent}

Simply mix together the seaweed powder, olive oil, and sea salt in equal ratios. For example, to fill an 8 ounce container, mix 1/3 cup each seaweed powder, olive oil and sea salt. Add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil if desired, but it is not necessary. You can adjust the amount of powder vs olive oil to get a thicker or thinner consistency if you prefer.

Recipe #2

This recipe is a little more involved, but a great one to try if you like more exfoliation of your skin. Customize the exfoliation level by grinding the almonds and oats more for a finer texture, or more for a courser texture.

Ground natural almonds
Natural Indian Clay
Organic oats, ground
Seaweed powder

You can grind the oats and almonds easily with a high-powered blender or coffee grinder. Mix the ingredients thoroughly in equal parts. If you like, add some essential oil for scent. Store this mixture in an airtight container. To use it, mix a small amount of the DIY seaweed scrub with an equal amount of water. Blend into a paste and apply to your skin.

When you shower to rinse off your DIY seaweed body scrub, try a DIY deep conditioner for your hair!

Eggs-tra Fun Easter Activities That Don’t Include An Egg Hunt

April 10, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

For this year’s Easter activities, there’s no reason to feel like you have to put on an Easter egg hunt. Not everyone loves an Easter egg hunt, and honestly it seems as though there are way too many. Let’s talk about some fun Easter activities for the kids that don’t include an egg hunt. There are quite a few eggs-tra fun ideas to try!

Eggs-tra fun Easter activities

Chalk art

One of the best things about Easter is that it’s springtime, and the weather is usually perfect. You’ll have to check the forecast for rain, but if skies are clear you could have a chalk art festival in your yard, or even on your own block. If you live in a neighborhood with lots of kids, this is pretty easy to sponsor. You’ll find both regular sidewalk chalk and eggs-tra fun egg-shaped chalk at your local Dollar Tree. Think how festive your street will look once everyone is finished with their masterpiece!

Egg and face painting

While you decorate and paint eggs, why not paint the kids’ faces too? It takes an already anticipated and traditional activity and adds an extra element of fun. And the kids always love a little face painting!

Easter photo booth

Another fun Easter activity is to have a photo booth. Grab a bunch of fun props from Dollar Tree and have someone assigned to take the photos. Older kids with their own phones have the option to take Easter selfies.

Easter crafts

This is a fun idea for lots of applications–class parties, Sunday School activities, or a way to entertain the kids if Easter Sunday happens to be rainy. Just stock up on craft and construction paper, double-sided tape, white glue, scissors, markers and stickers. Set it all out on a table and let the kids go to town!

Each of these eggs-tra fun Easter activities can be done on their own or together, and if you are already having an egg hunt one or two of these additional activities will help to round out the day. Happy Easter!

Famous Failures That Motivate Us To Keep Going

March 13, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

Do you ever feel like a failure? Take heart, because a lot of really incredible people have true stories of their own famous failures. Sometimes when everything in life seems to be going wrong, it’s easy to feel like a failure. But instead of telling yourself you’re a failure, remember that failure is actually just a bump on the road to success. The only real way to fail is to stop trying. Read on for some inspiring stories of famous failures that motivate us to keep going.

JK Rowling

Perhaps one of the most well-known famous failures is the story of JK Rowling, best-selling author of the Harry Potter series. Before Rowling became the crazy successful author she is today, she was a poverty-stricken, divorced mother with no job. These failures occurred within a short time after her college graduation. Thankfully for millions of children who previously hated reading, JK Rowling decided to chase her dream of becoming an author. And she didn’t give up!

Albert Einstein

What do you think of when you hear the name Albert Einstein? Genius? So do millions of people today. But that didn’t stop Einstein from some famous failures. As a child, he could not even speak fluently until after he had turned nine years of age! He was also a rebellious kid, and as a result was kicked out of school. He was later turned away from the Polytechnic School in Zürich. Ultimately, Einstein kept going and achieved success status through his theory of relativity. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921!

Abraham Lincoln

One of the most beloved presidents of the United States failed in his first run for president in 1856. Before that, he lost a business in 1831 and then suffered a nervous breakdown four years later. President Lincoln taught us all not to be content with our failures, but to keep trying regardless of the risk. Nowhere did he demonstrate this determined attitude better than during the Civil War.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney is responsible for untold millions of happy childhood memories! But are you aware of the failures he experienced on his way to becoming the Walt Disney we think of today? As a young boy, he wanted to join the Army so he dropped out of school. However, the Army denied him entrance. Later, an attempt at his own business went bankrupt. He was also fired from a newspaper because he was “not creative.” What would have happened if he had listened to that mistaken judgement?

Incidentally, are you taking your kids to Disneyland? Check out these DIY Mickey Mouse Ear Hand Bands you can make first. Walt Disney himself would appreciate your creativity!

What do we learn from these famous failures?

Clearly, “failure” isn’t the end of the road, unless we stop walking. Everyone experiences failure to some degree, but what really determines the failure is our response to it. Follow the patterns set by these famous failures and many others–just keep going in spite of the odds. You can do it!

Home Remedies For Sore Muscles

February 27, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

If you’ve got muscles, you need home remedies for sore muscles. And we all do, right? Who hasn’t experienced the soreness and pain after a hard workout, a long day, or a game of Horse? It’s helpful to know what you should do to relieve sore muscles and get back to feeling like yourself. Check out these handy home remedies for sore muscles!

Home Remedies for Sore Muscles

Most people can easily treat their sore muscle pain by following a simple acronym you’re probably already familiar with: RICE.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

Rest is pretty self-explanatory. Rest the affected muscle or muscle group to reduce pain and inflammation. While resting, it’s a great time to apply an ice pack, which further reduces the inflammation of a strained muscle. Ice should be cycled rather than used continuously. For example, try icing the muscle for 20 minutes, and then removing the ice for an hour or two. Then ice again for another 20 minutes. Repeat three or four times per day to relieve the pain and soreness.

Compression refers to a compression bandage. Wrap the affected area snugly {but not too tight!} to lightly “compress” the muscle and provide soothing relief and support as it heals. Compression is also helpful to reduce swelling if there is any.

Elevate your feet to reduce inflammation of sore leg muscles. This is also easy to include in your rest period!

More Home Remedies for Sore Muscles

Stretching and massage is another incredibly helpful home remedy for sore muscles. Have you ever seen a foam roller? They are available in a smooth finish, or a knobby finish as pictured above, for varying degrees of self-massage of sore muscles. The knobby surface provides more of a deep tissue massage and is great for penetrating the soft tissue layer of sore muscles. You can buy one by clicking over to Amazon.

Over-the-counter pain relievers are another thing to keep in your arsenal of home remedies for sore muscles. Tylenol is great for pain, and Ibuprofen such as Motrin or Advil is perfect for reducing inflammation. Talk to your doctor if you have questions about which is better for you.

Nutrition Plans: Diligent Dinners

January 4, 2019 by Katie Jones Leave a Comment

Eating healthy isn’t necessarily easy for a lot of us, but using nutrition plans can help. If you struggle to get a healthy meal on the table, consider a nutrition plan. Nutrition plans convert to diligent dinners that do all but prepare themselves.

Benefits of nutritional plans

I speak from personal experience with nutrition plans. It’s actually one of the best things I’ve ever done. It is true that most nutrition plans may seem a little expensive,however, it also qualifies as the best investment I’ve made in my health! By following a healthy nutrition plan, you can easily experience at least some of the following healthy benefits:

Better health and productivity
Savings on your health and life insurance
A healthier weight
Better mood
Live Longer
Help to manage conditions like diabetes

These healthy benefits are in addition to the benefits of easier meal planning. Depending on the nutrition plan you follow, you may receive a menu plan, recipes, and complete grocery lists. This makes a home cook’s life so much easier!

Nutritional plans

Here is a varied list of nutrition plans that are available, with their pros and cons:

Clean Simple Eats is a macro-based plan that makes good nutrition and macro-counting as easy as 1-2-3! Simply follow the menu plans with the accompanying grocery lists. Every recipe is pre-balanced with 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. Clean Simple Eats makes healthy eating easy and delicious!
Consider a menu plan from Six Sisters’ Stuff. They have several different options to choose from, including a standard menu plan, a healthy menu plan, and even a gluten-free menu plan. When you sign up for a Six Sisters’ Stuff menu plan, you receive weekly menu plans that each include 6 main dish recipes, 2 side dish recipes, 1-2 dessert recipes, and a detailed shopping list. All you have to do is shop and cook!
Check out the offerings from Eat at Home Cooks. Membership includes access to four different types of menu plans, including the family-friendly Traditional, Wholesome Traditional, Slow Cooker & Instant Pot meals, and No Sugar/Flour plans. User testimonials say that these meal plans save them both time and money, therefore, why not check it out.

Family meals are about to get easier, more nutritious and definitely delicious!

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