Reusable Dryer Sheets using Essential Oils

This "recipe" is not original to me. In fact, you can find it all over the internet!  I just wanted to share it with you in case you've been hiding under a rock. 😉

I hate throwing away things that could possibly have some further use. I also hate using dryer sheets that have so many chemicals that attach to clothes and then soak into you body as you wear the clothes.

So, I  making my own reusable dryer sheets!

First,you need an old t-shirt or such. I use my old kitchen towels. Cut them into squares.

Obviously these were my holey kitchen towels!

You also need a mason jar or some other jar that closes to keep in the moisture.

To the jar, you add:

• 3/4 cup of white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 6-10 drops of essential oil

It is up to you which essential oil you would like to use. Many use Lemon or Lavender. I chose Purification for two reasons. First, it smells heavenly. The blend includes Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree which leads me to my second reason. This blend can also help you have an annoyance-free outdoor experience.  Those pests just don't like the beautiful smell!

Once you've added the three ingredients to the jar, just add the "rags" and you're done. The liquid ingredients wick up through all the "dyer sheets."

So when I am done, I have these two jars on my dryer: 

The jar on the right has my damp, ready-to-use dryer sheets. Personally, I keep the other jar on the left to put my dryer sheets in after they come out o the dryer. It keeps them all together. You could use a basket or whatever works for you.

When the right one gets empty, I just start the process again! 

Quick, easy, and they work!

Friday Funny---I just can't clean this place

Thoughtful Thursday--From Incomplete to Complete

Isn't it a nice feeling to have your act together? Don’t you just relish those times when you are on schedule and everything is complete? It’s such a great feat to have your house and family in order.  It is an accomplishment to have your surroundings and life being perfect and whole.  A real triumph, isn’t it?

No, seriously. I’m asking. I want to know since I’ve never experienced it!

In the first chapter of James, we are encouraged to be joyful when our faith is tried because this works endurance within us. This endurance then helps grow us to become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. I know that James was imparting important truth when he wrote these verses. Sometimes, however, I think we allow the small things to try our faith and to rob us from being perfect and complete and our neglect continues to keep us lacking.

Let me explain what I mean.

I have a terrible habit. When the toilet paper roll runs

out, I get the new roll out and…I set it on top of the empty roll. Yes, you read that correctly.  Instead of just putting the new roll on the toilet paper holder, I just set it on top. Then every time I go into the bathroom, I see that roll of toilet paper just lying there, and it saps some energy and contentment from me. I find myself lacking and incomplete by leaving those little things undone.

I walk by the load of clothes that needs to be washed. I think about those thank you notes that haven’t been written. I remember that I haven’t called my friend in California for over a month. I find the invitation for a birthday party that was last week. I kick the pile of magazines over that needed to be recycled. AND, I have an article due that I haven’t started to write!

Those kinds of things just make you sigh every time you see them or think of them. You look at them and know that things are incomplete. The things you think of which makes you think about what you’re lacking. It’s these little incompletes that rob us of serving our family completely without lacking.

If you noticed, most of the things that are incomplete usually aren’t that big of deal. That’s what is so strange. If the incompletes were a lot of effort or took a lot of time or money, it might be more understandable.  Instead, incompletes are usually small things, but it’s the small things which add up. A little lack here and a little lack there end up becoming a major deficit—not only in the things that need to be done but in our spirit as well.

Why do we let this deficit happen? I think it’s because we get tired. We become weary, and when you’re weary it’s often the small things that get overlooked or neglected. Shortcuts we take which end up piling up as undones. We need to remember not [to] grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9).

I am ready to work on being more complete and lacking nothing.  Here are some ideas I’ve being putting into practice in regards to becoming more COMPLETE.

C—Complete, lacking nothing is a process. Remember no one has their act totally together this side of heaven. 

O—One thing at a time will do. Things don’t usually get left undone all at once.  Usually it’s one thing here and one thing there.  Completing them can be done one thing here and one thing there, too.

M—Make a list of incomplete things that need to be done as you think of them.  You’re less likely to forget or ignore them if the items are written down.

P—Pray. Ask God to remind you of all the little things and give you the energy and desire to do them.

L—Little things add up both negatively and positively. Do a several little things, and you’ll have made a big step in becoming more complete.

E—Erase some of the items.  I’ve been meaning to write some thank you notes since CHRISTMAS. I think it’s probably too late now and the sincere verbal thanks I gave them back then will have to do. Give yourself permission to take some things off your list.

T—Take inventory of the importance of each item. Some things really are worth more effort than others. If you have to choose between calling a sick friend or doing a page of scrapbooking from last July 4th, people should win every time.

E—Early is the best way to deal with many incompletes. Some items became more work or harder the longer you put it off. The earlier you deal with something that is undone the sooner you’ll be in the positive.

If you go into my bathroom right now, the toilet paper is on the roll, and the pile of magazines in the living room is no longer there. Each time I do an undone, it is one less thing I lack. I can relish becoming more complete in my roles as wife, mother, and daughter of the King. I now trust that I will reap what I sow if I don’t weary.  

Next will be the pile of laundry!

The ABCs of Hand Washing AND Making Liquid Handsoap

I've been taking a kitchen safety class and learning some new things.

One of the things I've learned is a helpful hint about washing hands? Did you know that you are supposed to wash your hands long enough to sing the ABC Song or Happy Birthday twice?

Want to try an experiment that demonstrates the difference?
First, mix oil with cinnamon and rub it on your hands.

The first time you wash your hands for only 10 seconds in cold.
Here was mija's result:

You then can repeat the process washing for 10 seconds in warm water. Third, you do 10 seconds using soap in warm water.

A little better, but watch what happens after washing with soap and warm water while singing the ABC Song:

Yup, those are clean hands...the sink is filthy, but the hands are clean.

Now, a way to save money while washing your hands. How about making your own liquid hand soap?

I tried it out this week for the first time using a bar of soap, glycerin, and water.

Here's the site where I found out about how to do it:

Make sure to read all the comments. The next morning it started out as as a soft solid but after I stirred it, it turned into kind of a mucus. I added some more water and warmed it up. Still ended up soft solid and turned gelatinous. Added water and warmed one more time, but this time I whisked it. It made a difference.

It's not big on lather, but works just fine.

So now you know how to wash your hands AND have soap to use!

Remedial Home Economics for Busy Homeschool Moms

Home economics is not a subject on which I am well-versed.

Sure, I took the obligatory home economics classes when I was in school. I sewed a dashiki. I needle pointed a small picture. I made a sugar egg with a scene inside. You know, really practical stuff.

At home I picked up a little, but really was not expected to do much. You see, I was raised by perfectionistic grandparents. The fact they were my grandparents meant I was spoiled well-taken care of. The fact they were perfectionists meant I heard, “Just let me do it!” a lot. After all, why should they have me do it when they would just have to do it over again correctly?

So now, I am in a position to teach my daughter home economics. As a homeschooler, I know that this can count not only as a needed life skill but also for homeschool credit. Either way, I want her to have better skills than I do.

- Find out what I recommend at: http://hedua.com/blog/home-economics-homeschool-moms/#sthash.Bn1HYR9l.dpuf