Reusing Everyday Household Objects

11. April 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Homemade Products, Household, Money Saving Tips · Tags: , ,

Please enjoy today’s guest post on reusing everyday household objects.

Being a parent is rarely regarded as a creative, entrepreneurial job, but it darn well should be! Raising a child, especially in a healthy, eco-friendly atmosphere, can be one of the more challenging tasks an adult can take on. Don’t believe me? Consider asking your parents living at your local Brookdale assisted living center what the hardest job they ever had was. A good number of them will say raising their kids. Make things easier on yourself, your wallet, and the environment by reusing household items. Here are some of the more obscure examples:

T-shirts—Most households have attics and basements full of old clothes. You can always donate these clothes to Good Will. Or you could reuse the old t-shirts for a variety of applications. Cut out square patterns to create a blanket, sew certain shapes onto jackets, or use them as cleaning rags.

Egg cartons—One of the best uses for egg cartons is as portable seed sprouters. The little oval shapes are the perfect containers for a bit of soil and some seeds. Get your kids involved in this project. You’re teaching them two valuable lessons at once: how to reuse household items and how to sprout seeds, which are very healthy and delicious on salads.

Greeting cards—You probably have hundreds of all greeting cards laying around—birthdays, holidays, get-well-soon’s. Since you can’t really reuse these in the traditional way, cut them up, reappropriate them and create your own new greeting cards. Or, if your kid is into arts and crafts, use the pictures and textures as the raw material for a mobile or a collage.

Coffee Grounds—After making a pot of coffee you’re stuck with a turgid black-as-night mess that you would normally toss in the trash. Not so fast, though. Coffee grounds makes for a great fertilizer for your garden or compost.

Glass bottles—Start collecting multi-colored glass bottles and create your own fun and creative lamps. Any shape, any hue will do—all you need is a light bulb fixture.

Toilet paper roll—You’re thinking, what on Earth could this possibly be reused for? The answer is wires. The average living room or home office has dozens of pesky wires connecting various appliances to various outlets. Use toilet paper rolls to bundle them together.

There are hundreds more examples of how every household items can be given a second life. Collectively, if we all started reusing many of the objects laying around our houses instead of throwing them away, we would save more money for our families and protect the environment too.

Have you Entered to win a Rococo Women’s Top Yet?

09. April 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: News · Tags: , ,

If you don’t follow my blog An Uncommon Thread, you’ll definitely want to visit and get entered to win the Rococo Women’s Top from Latin Threads Trading Co. It’s a gorgeous top from a wonderful company that pays a fair wage to their artisans in Chiapas, Mexico. I’d love to see you entered in the giveaway to help show support to a company such as Latin Threads.

An Uncommon Thread hosts many such giveaways, and every company featured on the site works hard for the greater good. I love clothes, but I really love knowing where they come from and how they got to me.

It’s nice to know where your clothing budget ends up after you’ve made your purchase. But this time around, you might not even have to dip into that budget. Check out An Uncommon Thread and get signed up to win the Rococo Tee – you may just add to your wardrobe for free!

Natural Ways to Clean Your Silver Jewelry

28. March 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Cleaning, Household · Tags: , ,

Please enjoy today’s special guest report which shares some tips on how to naturally clean your silver jewelry.

We all have our favorite pair of earrings, a great bracelet, or a ring that we love to wear, and often do. However, regular wear and use can cause jewelery to tarnish or simply become more dull. But traditional jewelry cleaners contain harsh chemicals that generally aren’t environmentally friendly, and can be harsh on your skin. To clean your jewelry using more natural methods consider giving one of the following options a try:

White Toothpaste

For smaller pieces of jewelry, such as diamond rings or silver earrings, you can simply use white toothpaste to clean the tarnish. Simply place a small dab on the tarnish and rub it in. Once you have rubbed it in, usually no longer than 30 seconds, rinse with water and be sure to thoroughly dry.

Baking Soda – No Heat

Baking soda can do wonders when it comes to cleaning around the house, and one of the best ways to remove tarnish from larger pieces of silver jewelry is using baking soda and water. Simply mix some baking soda with a little bit of water to create a paste, and apply the paste to your tarnished jewelry. Rub the paste into your jewelry piece with a damp sponge. Once adequately rubbed in and covered, rinse the piece of jewelry with hot water and dry with a clean, soft cloth.

Baking Soda – With Heat

If you like to purchase jewelry at thrift or vintage stores, there is a good chance that the pieces you purchase will be heavily tarnished. For these types of pieces, a bit more effort may be needed in order to clean the piece. First, you will need baking soda, a piece of aluminum foil, a deep saucepan, and the piece of jewelry you wish to clean.

Before you begin the tarnish removal process, clean the jewelry piece of any dust or grime using soap and water. Then line your deep saucepan with a piece of foil, and fill the saucepan with enough water to submerge the piece of jewelry you wish to clean. Then add a few teaspoons of baking soda. For one piece of jewelry, two to three teaspoons should be enough; however, for larger or multiple pieces add a few extra teaspoons. Bring the water to a boil.

As soon as the water begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat source, and drop the jewelry in the water. Make sure that the jewelry is touching the foil. Let the jewelry sit in the water, occasionally moving it to increase better contact with the foil piece. Once the jewelry appears clean, remove it from the water, and dry with a soft cloth.

When it comes to cleaning jewelry, there is no need to purchase expensive or chemical jewelry cleaners. These are not only not friendly for the environment, but they can be harmful to your household in general. Instead of wasting money on these types of products, simply create your own.

New eBook “Hair Gone Wild: Recipes & Remedies for Natural Tresses” FREE to 20 Readers!

15. March 2012 · 23 comments · Categories: Health · Tags: , ,

My new ebook Hair Gone Wild: Recipes & Remedies for Natural Tresses has just been published on Amazon, and I’m excited to give away copies to several dkMommy Spot readers and Twitter followers. This ebook is loaded with recipes and remedies for everything from henna techniques and hairspray recipes to how to ditch the shampoo and clean your hair naturally. I’ll be giving away up to 20 copies, and not just to those of you with Kindles. If you have a PC, a Mac, an iPhone or other device, you can easily grab a free Kindle app with which to read your copy. (I use my Kindle app for PC all the time – even though I have a Kindle too. It’s great for reference type material.)

This is NOT a heavily publicized giveaway, so your chances of winning will be much higher than usual. This is geared towards you, the readers of dkMommy Spot and my Twitter followers.

To Enter: All you have to do to enter for one of 20 free copies is to swing by Hair Gone Wild’s Amazon page and see if it looks like something you might enjoy owning. If you like what you see, please click the bright orange “LIKED” button to the right of the cover image. Then come back here and leave me a comment with your email address and let me know you’d like a copy. On March 22, 2012, I’ll select 20 people to receive one. Winners will be contacted by email.

 

 

 

How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally

07. February 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Cold and Flu, Health, Herbalism, Remedies · Tags: , , , , ,

If you’ve been wondering how to go about boosting your immune system as naturally as possible, it’s time to take a closer look at herbs. We’re all concerned about the misuse of antibiotics and what that could mean during a real crisis, and it doesn’t look like any new antibiotics will be coming to our rescue any time soon. According to Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, “Although a few antibiotics have been toughened up a bit, the pharmaceutical industry hasn’t given us an entirely new antibiotic since the 1970′s.”  But we’re not about getting fearful around here. No, we’re not. We’re about taking charge, gathering some simple knowledge, and going forth with self reliance. With a little help from our botanical friends.

First stop on the herbal train is – you guessed it – echinacea. This is not only the easiest to get in commerce, it’s one of the safest. You can take echinacea tincture for months on end without side effects, and it won’t wear out on you. Echinacea assists the body in building up its own defenses. In other words, it’s like a drill sergeant. He doesn’t fight for them – he teaches them to fight for themselves.

The next herb we’ll look at is balsam root. Similar to echinacea in the way it works, balsam root is an especially good choice for those of us who tend to be immuno-deficient. You know, someone who seems to catch everything that comes around. If you’re one of those and you often feel cold and clammy, balsam root is your herb. It’s got a way of warming you up while it stimulates the immune system. A good combination, if you ask me!

For either of these herbs, I’d recommend going with a tincture. You’ll get a lot more out of the plants that way. If you can’t find tincture, tea is your next best bet. While you may be missing some constituents, as long as the tea is fresh, you’ll still be reaping many benefits. And while we’re talking tea, getting bulk herb is often better quality and much cheaper than getting tea bags.

Don’t forget to eat healthy foods to boost that immune system, either. Yes, dark green leafy veggies are ideal. Don’t feel like munching on a pound of raw kale? Green smoothies make it much easier to get plenty of vegetables in your diet.

Taking these ideas into consideration, you can make it through the rest of the winter “grunge” season with fewer concerns. And fewer antibiotics. For more ideas on how to boost your immune system naturally, as well as helpful info on fighting colds and flu with herbs, subscribe to this blog or check out my ebook Herbs Gone Wild!

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