Chocolate Endulgance Facial

Anti-aging Chocolate Facial Recipe! Smells so yummy you want to eat it!!!!! I like this recipe because it will store. Every other recipe I found was made with heavy cream or sour cream and this being made with Cold Cream will store and keep for a while!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
4 Tb Cold Cream
1/4 C Honey
3 tsp Oatmeal Powder ( this can be accomplished by putting old fashioned oats in the blender or food processor)

Mix all ingredients together until completely incorporated. Place in a jar until ready to use.

Directions for use:
Smooth onto face. Relax and Enjoy for 10- 15 minutes. Wash off using warm water and pat face dry.

Side Note: This also makes a great gift!

Quick and Easy Bath Salt Gifts

When we are faced with the pinch of our holiday budget we start to struggle with affording gifts to give to those around us to let them know we care. Here is a simple, easy and very inexpensive recipe to give when money is less than abundant! :-)

Ingredients:
1. a quart size Ziplock or zip up baggy
2. 3/4 C Epsom Salt
3. Your favorite Fragrance Oil
4. Color of your choice (food or soap coloring will work)
5. A pretty jar to put your finished product in.

Place your Salts in a zip top bag. Add 7-9 drops of your favorite fragrance oil and 5-6 drops of your favorite coloring. Close bag (this is the fun part) Mix up well!!!!! You can add more color or fragrance as you see fit!

Now empty contents into the jar of your choice. Decorate with a pretty ribbon!

I always include directions with my gifts! They are simple to do. I make them on card stock and print them off. This one would look similar to this:

Relaxing Spa Salts
Directions: Place a few tablespoons under running warm bath water. Allow salts to dissolve and enjoy!

Chocolate Moisturizing Body Scrub

Chocolate Moisturizing Body Scrub

Ingredients
• 1 cup sugar (now, I used 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup Epsom salt for better exfoliation and detox properties)
• 2 tablespoons unscented liquid soap (you can use soft soap if you want, I used Liquid Glycerin)
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (You can use a little more if you really like the cocoa scent!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (same here)
• olive oil (just enough to form it all into a paste)
Directions
1 Combine sugar, body wash, cocoa powder, and vanilla in a plastic container.
2 Add olive oil until a paste forms.
3 Wet area to exfoliate.
4 Rub with scrub.
5 Rinse.
6 keep in a covered air tight container.
7 Enjoy!
Super cool, when it gets wet, it smells just like hot cocoa!!!

You can put this is a pretty jar with a nice tight lid, tie it with a pretty brown and pink ribbon (or whatever color you would like, I just thought the brown and pink looked cute with the dark color of the scrub) and give it as a gift from the heart!!!!

Homemade Herbal Body Wrap

Ok, so there are a ton of ingredients in this, but so much cheaper that a spa wrap with all of the great benefits! What a great way to treat yourself during nap time, or after the little ones are in bed!

So many herbs are beneficial for this, here are just a few herb choices for herbal body wraps: Clary sage, comfrey root, burdock root, dandelion root, rose hips, alfalfa leaf, rosemary, and chamomile

Things You'll Need:

• 1 cup of dried crumbled or powdered herbs that you feel would be beneficial to your skin. Dried herbs are available at bulk herb or health food stores.
• ½ cup kelp meal, dulse or other seaweed. Also sold bulk at health food stores.
• ¼ cup sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, dead sea salts or Epsom salts
• 1 cup high quality aloe vera gel
• Unbleached muslin, white or unbleached cotton sheet, or large terry cotton beach towels.
• A bathtub or waterproof area such as an air mattress on top of towels to lay for 10 to 45 minutes.
• Optional: Organic olive oil, or body oil or lotion of your choice.
• Optional: Good music or books on tape to help pass the time, and foil thermal blanket (usually inexpensive) if you think you might become chilled.

1. Step 1

   Heat three cups of water to boiling in a non-metal pan.

2. Step 2

   Remove from heat and add salts, stirring with wooden or otherwise non-metal spoon until dissolved.

3. Step 3

   Add herbs and seaweed and steep for five minutes.

4. Step 4

   Strain mixture into very clean stopped sink (or a large ceramic bowl or plastic tub). Fill the sink 3/4s full with very hot water. (You may have to run the hot water faucet before pouring the mixture in. That way, the first water coming out will already be hot.)

5. Step 5

   Add the cup of aloe and stir.

6. Step 6

   Soak the fabrics in the water and wring them out into the same sink.

7. Step 7

   Wrap body parts as firmly as you can in a manner that’s healthy for your particular condition.

8. Step 8

   Lie down in the bathtub or on the air mattress for 20 minutes to one hour, the longer the better. And stay warm. Listen to music or audio if you wish, and cover yourself with the thermal blanket if needed. You can choose to re-wet the fabrics with the herbal body wrap liquid and repeat every ten minutes or so, or just do one seaweed herbal body wrap at a time.

9. Step 9

   When finished, pat dry and if you choose, apply olive oil or other body oil or moisturizer.

Recipe compliments of http://www.ehow.com/how_4785104_homemade-body-wrap.html

Homemade Hand Soap

Easy and cheap way to make your own hand soap!

• 2 cups soap flakes or grated bar soap
• 1/2 gallon water
• 2 tbsp glycerin

Mix ingredients together in a large pot or dutch oven. Set over low heat, stirring occasionally until the soap has dissolved. Transfer to a jar and cover tightly. For a less thick gel soap, use 1 gallon of water.

Now, if you like the foamy kind, here's what you do! Take an empty foam soap dispenser, fill about 1/4 of the way with the soap, fill the rest of the way with water. Shake well and you are ready to use!

You can also scent using essential oils if you choose!

Fun and Easy Homemade Hand Sanitizer

Things You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup aloe vera gel
• 1/4 cup of 99% rubbing alcohol or Witch hazel
• Essential oil (optional)
• Air tight container or dispenser

Start by combining the Aloe and Alcohol or witch hazel. Add your oils if you so choose, Lemon, lavender or tee tree would be great with this! Mix in the oils, but into your dispenser and your ready to go!

Now you can make this a spray too by using a spray pump, Witch Hazel and a few drops of your favorite scent or essential oil! Mix together and spray! Rub hands together! There you go! Great to carry in your purse!!

Homemade Baby Wipes

This is a great recipe to make your own baby wipes! Super easy and for just pennies, you can make thick and soft baby wipes for you baby or if your like me, I take them EVERYWHERE!

No more expensive baby wipes! Here is a great recipe.

• 1-roll of Bounty paper towels cut in half & cardboard removed
• 2-cups water
• 2-Tablespoons each baby bath and lotion( I would choose a brand without Mineral Oil such as Burts Bees, but that is just my preference)
  
• 1-plastic bowl (about 6 cup capacity-with lid), or you can use an old baby wipe container, or a container for cleaning wipes thoroughly washed and dried!
  

Bring water to boil and add baby bath and lotion. place one half of paper towel roll into plastic container, and pour solution over paper towels. Once cool, pull your "wipes" from the center of the roll. keep sealed when not in use to prevent evaporation.

Super Easy and Effective homemade Surface Cleaner & Disinfectant

All-Purpose Cleaner
4 tsp. borax
2 Tsp. washing soda
4 Tbl. lemon juice or Vinegar

In a spray bottle, combine the ingredients with 4 cups of hot water and shake.

This is great for all of your hard surfaces! It cleans, shines and disinfects!

http://www.sideroad.com/Budgeting/homemade-cleaners.html

Homemade Disinfectant Wipes

I love the disinfectant wipes you can buy (Clorox Wipes, Lysol Wipes), but they are expensive and not environmentally friendly! So, when I am making my own baby wipes and house cleaners, I take the time to make my own disinfectant wipes. Now, they do not use bleach or anything chemical, I simply use a mixture of vinegar, water and essential oils, including tea tree oil which is said to have disinfecting properties. I figure I am paying 1/16 or less of the price of one of those tubes of Clorox wipes. They are great for quick wipes, just as you would use the store-bought wipes. Here's what to do...

You will need:

• An empty wipes holder (the tube kind with the flip top), washed out well with soapy water
• A roll of Bounty paper towels
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• Tea tree essential oil
• Lemon essential oil

Cut paper towel roll in 1/2 (width-wise) with a sharp, non-serrated knife. Carefully remove the cardboard from the middle using your fingers to break it away from the paper towels. Remove the outer 1/2 of the roll by using your fingers to break apart one of the paper towels at a perforation and carefully sliding the two parts apart. Now you have two rolls. Save the outer one and you can use it as napkins or on your paper towel holder.

Pour water and vinegar in the holder and add 10 drops of tea tree oil and 6 drops of lemon oil. Mix well.

Put the inner portion of paper towels in the holder. You may have to work it in. Make sure you can get ahold of the inner-most paper towel, the one you broke the cardboard away from. This will be the piece that you can thread through the top.

Let the paper towel soak up the mixture and then carefully feed the inner sheet through the top. They will continually feed through this way and will break off at the perforations.

What a great money saving tip brought to you by: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91570073.tip.html

Liquid Dishwashing Soap

1. First, make sure your bottles and cups\spoons are clean and dry and prepare a surface where you can mix everything together. Decide HOW much of the soap you want to make, because that will effect how many bottles you'll want! I'll be describing the recipe here in ratios so that you can make as little or as much as you want.

2. Step 2

   In a ratio of 1:1, add liquid castile soap to warm water (equal parts). In other words, if you want 2 cups of total liquid, you would add 1 cup warm water to 1 cup of castile soap. n other words, EQUAL parts liquid castile soap and warm water. Stir or shake very well.

3. Step 3

   Then you'll add 1:4 ratio of white vinegar to your castile soap\water mix. That means if you have 2 cups total of castile soap\water, you would add 1\2 cup of vinegar. If you have 1 cup of castile soap\water mix, you'd add 1/4 cup and so on. In other words, you'd add 25% or 1/4 the amount of vinegar as there is castile soap\water. Shake well.

4. Step 4

   Then you want to add just a little bit of lemon juice. For every cup of the total mixture made, add 1 tsp of lemon juice. This will help cup grease!

5. Step 5

   If you desire, add 1 drop essential oil to every cup of total finished liquid. You don't want to add TOO much because it will flavor your dishes! Use something that's good for cleaning power and high quality enough to be food grade. Try orange, lemon, rosemary or tea tree. Shake well.

6. Step 6

   Label the bottle, making sure to put "SHAKE WELL BEFORE USE" on the directions. You'll only need to use 1TB for light loads or 2TB for heavy. You can put half that amount in the pre cycle dispenser if you wish.

7. Step 7

   It's a VERY good idea to add vinegar to your dishwasher when using this mixture. Since it's NOT actually a detergent, but a liquid natural soap, it can leave residue. Dump 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the bottom of your dishwasher every time you do a load, or 1/4 for small loads. This will help so that there won't be residue on your dishes, or film, will boost cleaning power, will help to degunk your dishwasher AND you won't have to use a rinse aid!

You can find this recipe and more at http://www.ehow.com/how_4591491_make-natural-liquid-dishwasher-detergent.html

Homemade Laundry Detergent

My youngest daughter has severe eczema, due to this we have had to make some changes in our laundry process. We began to look into perfume free, dye free, preservative free detergents, these are usually much more expensive then traditional brands. And having 4 women in our home, we go through a LOT of laundry. I needed to find a solution, and fast! I reached out to some friends, and we came up with a solution, to make my OWN laundry detergent. This will ensure that it is free of dyes, perfumes, and preservatives and I can save lots of money. First of all, I have to thank my friends Angie & Kira for getting me started in making my own detergent! This recipe is a derivative of the one they have been using for a long time!

The recipe is simple and affordable.

Ingredients:
2 gallon bucket
1/2 C Borax Powder
1/2 C Washing Soda (not Baking Soda)
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap or 1 whole bar of another kind
2 tbl of Liquid glycerin (optional)

Use food processor to shred soap or a box grater if a food processor isn't available. Put aside.

Heat 6 cups of water on the stove. Slowly add soap shreds to heated water, do not let it boil, it wont be pretty! Once dissolved Add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat, add Liquid Glycerin if desired, this will result in a creamier consistency.

Pour 4 cups hot water into bucket and add soap mixture. Stir well. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups water and stir well, wait 30 minutes and stir again.

Let it sit about 20-24 hrs and it will set up. At this point you can either stir and use, or you can use a hand blender and make it into a creamier texture. Use about 1/2 cup per load.

This is great as a pre-treater as well! Happy Washing!

Just a Quick Hello!

Hello Everyone! My name is Jill, I'm 28, have a family of 5 including a wonderful husband and 3 beautiful children! We are a one income family so budgets are very important. I'm always on the look out for easy and fun ways to save money and make things healthier for my family. I look forward to getting to know each of you better as time goes on as you will get some sneak peaks into my life as well!