Self Improving Actions - New Year Resolutions

I have not done a personal post since my first two. I thought it was about time that I did another one. Often in the new year one would reflect on the previous year. Recounting what they accomplish and what they wish wish they had accomplish.

This post it my new year resolution. My goals/plan will consist of things that I am already doing and want to keep doing, things that I have already been working on, and things that I want to start working on.

Over the last acouple of weeks I have been reflecting on who I am and who I want to become. This at times can be hard and depressing when you realize all that you have to work on. During these weeks of pondering I began to pray for hope and determination to change and accomplish my goals. I wanted hope and determination to replace feelings of hopelessness and frustration with myself. When we eliminate a negative it most be replaced with a postive. We can't just say, "I will stop doing this." It must be replace with a postive thought or action to fill the space the negative occupied.

So without further ado here is my goals.

1. I want to plan two outdoor activites a month for my family. This brings so much happiness and stress relief to our lives.

2. Read a fictional or non-fictional historical novel. "You can't understand the furture/present without first understanding the past." I think that is how that quote goes. Will look up later. Plus I can understand what my husband talks about. He is such a history buff.

3. Start incorporating sprouts, mirco greens, and wheatgrass in my family's diet on a daily bases. After reading so much about all three foods I wish that I started sooner. The health benefits are amazing.  Plus my family strives for self reliance and growing our own food is a move in that direction.

4. Strive for more energy. I feel fatigue quite often not tired, there is a difference. I feel low engery. My goal is to start Doterra lifelong Vitality pack first to see if it will increase my energy level. If that does not work I have other plans to fight this. I have high hopes for the Lifelong vitimans and essential oil supplements. I used to be plagued with daily mirgrians and now i have had more than a year with infrequent ones. All thanks to the Deep Blue essential oil, regular exercise, and massages. I still suffer from tension headaches and sinus headaches. I also hope it will help with my consant joint pain. I am tired my not feeling well and not enjoying all the activities that I want to. So I am determined to fight this.

5. Hold FHE (family home evening) on a regular bases. FHE is a night devoted to family time, starting with a gosple lesson and ending with a game or activity.

6. Stop living in the past. My past mistakes, sins, situations, and certain people often bother me. Causing me to feel down and hopeless. Like the song goes I need to "let it go... the past is in the past" why let it bother my present. When thoses thoughts and memories come back I will replace them with thoughts of what I will do now.

7. I want to run in a 5k again this year. I used to run a lot before I got pregnant with Rowan and started to run again this last summer, but stopped when weather got cold. I miss it. Of course I will still listen to my joint doctor and not run too much (no more 6 to 10 mile runs like I used to).

8. All resolutions have weight goals. So here is mine, I want to gain at least 7 pounds.

9. Yoga these last several months has helped me a lot the days that I did it. For two months I was very consistent and then it was off and on. I notice a decrease in back pain, neck tension, and elevated mood when I was incorporating it through out my day. My goal is to be more consistent agian.

10. Trust in God more. "Fear not, doubt not."

Well there you have it. 2015 will be an awesome year.

DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent - Money Saving - Cloth Diapers

This is my favorite homemade laundry detergent recipe for four reasons;

1. Does not require many ingredients
2. Multi-purpose uses of the ingredients used (for other cleaning recipes, see here)
3. Money saving
4. Easy to make

I have been using this recipe for almost a year now and have had no problems with it. Use it on my cloth diapers as well.

Recipe

1/4 to 1 cup Borax
1/4 to 1 cup Baking Soda
2-4 tablespoons of Blue Dish Dawn Soap.
1 gallon of water, approximately
Essential oils (See below for options and combos) - OnGaurd blend is one that I will be using
Empty gallon juice jug (I use the Apple Juice Jugs from Costco, we first drink the juice)

Directions

Step 1: Measure out the Borax and Baking Soda. I use about 1/4 cup of each but if you need a stronger detergent add more out in Juice Jugs.

Step 2: Add about 4 cups of very hot water and then mix the ingredients together well.

Step 3: Add the remaining water to jug but have it be cold till it is not quite full.

Step 4: Add the dish soap to some water then add to jug, mix gently and add remaining water if needed. (Note: I add the ingredients in this order to prevent the dish soap from bubbling up and making it very hard to fill the Jugs.
Step 5: As you a can see I make several gallons at once (as much as I have room for). I only add the esstential oils to the gallon jug only when I start to use that jug.
Step 6: Use between 1/3 cup to 1 cup depending on the amount of cloths and the dirtiness factor. For my cloth diapers I use about a cup for a small-meduim size load.

Here is some Essential oil combos that I used, found here.

Power up your homemade laundry soap with one of the following essential oil blends. Not only will they make your clothes smell nice, but they have antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal properties – great for killing germs while washing out dirt and grime. If you’re exceptionally sensitive, you can leave out the essential oils – you’ll still get a good laundry detergent with strong cleaning powers.

Lavender Essential Oil Blend

40 drops Lavender
30 drops Lemon
20 drops Clove

Citrus Essential Oil Blend

30 drops Grapefruit
30 drops Orange
30 drops Lemongrass

Tea Tree Essential Oil Blend

40 drops Tea Tree
30 drops Lemon OR Lemongrass
20 drops Palmarosa

This following recipe is on that I have not tried yet, but I am putting it on here to remind me to try it. It is a powdered laundry detergent.

Ingredients

1 bar (or 4.5 ounces) of shaved bar soap (a homemade laundry bar, Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, or Fels-Naptha)

1 cup of borax

1 cup of washing soda

Essential Oils

Directions

Thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results! You can take this a step further and blend the mixture in a blender or food processor to create a powder that will dissolve easily even in cold water. (Just be sure to let the dust settle before removing the lid of your blender or food processor so you don’t inhale the fine particles.) Store in a sealed container with a small scoop.

Use 1 Tbsp per load (or 2-3 Tbsp for large or heavily soiled loads).

Started an Etsy Shop for Sweet Change Bake Shop

My new shop just opened on Etsy, for SweetChangeBakeShop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetChangeBakeShop

Starting out with heart shaped cookies for Valentines Day. Had so much fun making these cookies. They are modeled after the Conversation Heart Boxed Candies. Many different options to choose from from flavored to gluten free. CHECK IT OUT!

Get your loved ones and school mates their hearts while they last. Made to order. Enjoy my low promotional prices! Special orders available as well.

How To Make Wool Dryer Balls - Why Do It

In my effort to save money and be more environmentally friendly, I discovered that this is a thing!!! WOOL DRYER BALLS. I will tell you the things that I have learned. Information I used found mainly at this site. 

First, what are wool dryer balls?

They are an eco-friendly alternative to dryer sheets and liquid fabric softener.

Second, What are the benefits of using wool balls in your dryer?

• They decrease drying time, saving you money on utility bills. (Especially helpful in the winter months!)
• Commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets are filled with harmful chemicals and perfumes that coat your clothing, eventually ending up on your skin. These chemicals can be especially harsh on sensitive skin. There are no chemicals in wool dryer balls!
• Commercial dryer sheets can be costly, and are thrown away after use. Wool dryer balls can be re-used for years, saving you hundreds of dollars.
• Commercial fabric softeners shouldn’t be used on cloth diapers. Wool dryer balls are perfect for keeping your cloth diapers soft and chemical-free.
• Wool dryer balls won’t affect the absorbency of your towels, kitchen cloths, or cloth diapers – commercial softeners will.
• 100% wool dryer balls increase fluffiness and reduce static as dryer loads tumble.
• Dryer balls help to soften clothes naturally.
• Dryer balls are made from a renewable resource.

Third, how do they work?

“It’s simple. They bounce around in the dryer separating clothes, allowing more hot air to circulate through all the garments. As they tumble, the wool balls fluff your laundry, reduce wrinkles, and basically pummel the laundry to make it softer. They do so much more than a dryer sheet by pulling moisture out of your clothes so you don't have to run the dryer as long. The more dryer balls you have in a load, the shorter the drying time will be.``

Fourth, how do you make your own?

TO make yarn felted wool dryer balls go to this site for instructions.

I will show you how I made mine out of scrape wool material. LUCKLY someone gave me loads of wool material cut into 1 inch strips that was to be used for a rug project but they never got to it.

Materials

Wool cut in to 1 inch strips as long as you can get them (then sew together to make it longer)

Needle and Thread

Scissors

Panty hose

String

Instructions

Step 1: Begin by wrapping the strip of wool into a ball. Continue till you have the desired size ball. About the size of tennis ball.

Step 2: With needle and thread begin the sew the strips of wool together as shown.

Step 3: Repeat till you have 4 to 6 balls. I made 6 balls.

In picture you will see that I have a store bought wool dryer ball.

Step 4: Cut the leg off an old pair of pantyhose. Put balls into the toe of the pantyhose, tying tightly in between each one with string, or cotton/acrylic yarn. (Just don’t use wool yarn or it will felt around the pantyhose.)

Step 5: Throw the entire yarn caterpillar into the wash with towels (or a load of jeans if you used brightly colored yarn).

Step 6: Wash in a hot wash cycle with a cold water rinse cycle. Dry your yarn caterpillar with your laundry using the hottest dryer setting.

Step 7: Ready to use just throw the balls in the dryer when using. I like to add a a couple drops of Essential oils to the ball every once in a while to add extra scent to my load of laundry

Doterra essential oils that I like to add include; Peppermint, Lavender, Lemon, and Wild Orange.

Citrus essential oils, such as lemon and sweet orange, actually help boost the cleaning power of homemade detergents.
Lavender essential oil has a clean, floral, fresh scent which soothes, calms and relaxes.

Lavender is the most popular floral scent for cleaning supplies, and it is probably also one of the most popular oils for aromatherapy uses as well.

One of the reasons for this, beside its nice scent, is that lavender blends well with many other essential oils, including citruses and other florals.

Peppermint essential oil is a favorite for many people that make their own cleaning products, because of its refreshing, bright minty smell.

It blends well with several other popular essential oils for cleaning, including lavender, eucalyptus, lemon and rosemary. An added use of peppermint oil is as a natural pest deterrent.

Here is a good informational site that talks about about Essential Ols for cleaning purposes.

To come is my post on My Homemade Laundry detergent. 

Click here to learn more about essential oils or here to visit my Doterra website. 

Easy Homemade Soap Recipe

My husband and i have been wanting the try our hands at making Homemade Soap. This fall we attended a Mother Earth News Fair in PA. There we a went to a seminar on soap making and they made soap right in front of us. Helping us realize how easy it was. I did research on what oils and fats I wanted to use. See here and here. And then found a recipe that used the fats and oils that had on hand (I like this combo because I already had olive oil and coconut oil, so all i needed to buy was lye and palm oil on amazon) with the skin benefits that I desired. Recipe I used can be found found here. I dont think that we will go back to store bought soap again.

Ingredients

6 oz sodium hydroxide (lye)*
14 oz distilled water
12 oz coconut oil
16 oz palm oil
20 oz olive oil

70 drops of Doterra essential oils (50 drops cedarwood and 20 drops geranium essential oils) Click on to see the benefits of each.**

*Handle the lye with great care.  Lye is extremely corrosive to your skin, eyes and other materials.  It will stain wood counters. Spills feel slippery.  Have vinegar and running water available to neutralize any spill and flush the area.*If a spill happens,  take care or your skin first.  Rinse the area with cool water for no less than 5 continuous minutes.  Then apply vinegar to the area and rinse again.There should never be any splashes into your eyes because you were wearing your eye protection!  Lye splashing into your eye is very very serious - you could be blinded.  Rinse the area continuously with water for 10-15 minutes.  If the burn is severe, call for emergency medical help and continue rinsing until help arrives.  Do not attempt to pour vinegar into your eye to neutralize it.  Even if the eye feels okay - continue rinsing.  Seek medical attention for any lye spill that had entered your eye.

** check out my Doterra Website here or check out my Essential oils page on this blog.

Equipment

Large stainless steel pot (must be stainless steel)

Kitchen scale (measure in ounces)

Half gallon size mason jar (or any glass container with thick walls)

Safety glasses or goggles

Rubber gloves

Plastic Apron

2 - 3 silicone spatulas

Soap mold (wooden box or dishwasher safe plastic container)

Heavy Duty freezer paper (if using a wooded mold)

Hand- held immersion blender

2 instant read thermometers (I use a instant read and candy thermometers)

Cover for soap mold and blankets to insulate

Directions

Step 1: Remove distractions. We did this during nap time.

Step 2: Line wooden molds with freezer paper. We found a sushi roll box, a random wooden box, and a pampered chef measuring device and lined each with the freezer paper.

Step 3: Put on safety equipment; gloves, apron, and glasses. Weigh out your lye crystals in a glass jar and set them aside in a safe spill-proof place.

Step 4: Weigh water and place into heat-proof glass container (preferably with a cover). I used a mason jar.

Step 5: Place the weight water (in its heat-proof container) in sink or heat proof area and add the lye until all the lye is completely added. Stir the lye carefully until the lye solution temperature reduces to approximately 95°F.

I forgot to take a picture with the candy thermometer in the mason jar. We used this one so we could just leave it in and watch the temperature.  

Step 6: While waiting for the lye to get cooler. Weigh out all the solid oils. Weigh out all the liquid oils. Basically the rest of ingredients weight out.

Step 7: Decide on the essential oils you wish to use. I let my husband choose and we loved it. Cedarwood and Geranium. We pick them for the smell combination and skin benefits.

Step 8: Heat your solid fats until completely melted, then remove from the heat and add liquid oils.
Step 9: Stir the oil mixture and the lye solution separately until each is about 80°F. Heat the oils if necessary.  Use gentle warm water baths to control temperatures if necessary. Use separate stirrers.
Step 10: When both the oil and lye are the correct temperatures, start pouring the lye into oil.  Add the lye slowly and carefully into the oil,  avoid splashing. Stir the lye into the oil gently until incorporated.  Once this is done you may use your immersion blender.If you are using a blender your soap will trace within 5-10 minutes. If you are stirring by hand, it may take 15-60 minutes to trace.

Close to 5 minutes of stirring and add essential oils.

After 10 minutes and its done.

Step 11: Once a light trace takes place about five minutes, add you essential oils, botanicals, super fatting oils and additives. Continue blending until a hard trace takes place another five minutes.
Step 12: Pour into mold and then cover and insulate with a blanket. Place in a warm area.  Remove your safety equipment. Do not disturb the soap for 24 hours.

Step 13: After 24 hours, uncover and let sit another 24 hours, cut as needed. Then turn out onto a surface protected by brown paper bags, I used sushi rolling mats. Let air dry 4-6 weeks.

Don't know what happened to the pictures I took of the soaps cut and stack with the sushi bamboo rolls in between to keep air circulating. Sorry. 

Step 14: Wrap in recycled magazines or newspaper and tie with twine. And DONE!!!!