The Blog

How to Make DIY Insect Repellent

I have a recipe for a really simple, inexpensive, and semi-natural DIY insect repellent. I love everything about this recipe, and it uses one of my favorite ingredients, Coconut oil.

DIY Insect Repellent

Here’s what you will need to make it:

(I used a 2 once spray bottle, so you will need to modify if you plan to make more)

1 oz. Boiled Water
1 oz. Witch Hazel
1/4 tsp. Coconut Oil
10-12 Drops Tea Tree oil
Spray Bottle for dispensing and storing

How to make it:

Boil the water on the stove; once it’s boiled add 1/4 tsp of Coconut oil to 1 ounce of boiling water. Make sure to let the Coconut oil fully melt before transferring it into your spray bottle.
Fill the spray bottle almost up to the top with Witch Hazel, about 1 ounce.
Add 10-12 drops of Tea Tree oil. More or less depending on how much you like or dislike the smell.

So easy right? Now you have something easy and inexpensive to spray on the kiddos (and yourself) before going out to play when its buggy. I said earlier that this Insect Repellent is semi-natural, I used organic Coconut oil and Organic Tea Tree oil. But lets be honest this stuff?is way better to spray the kiddos down with than anything that we used as kids, and it smells much better.

Enjoy!

Composting Made Easy – Green Cycler Pre-Composter Review

Blog· Review

You are taking an important step toward changing the earth. Green Cycler was invented to vastly improve food scrap recycling. Superbly designed for kitchen-friendly performance, ease of use and fast clean-up, your Green Cycler has the power to shred and pre-compost food scraps and organic material.

Since moving into our first house, I’ve been dying to start a compost pile. The soil, and I use that term loosely, doesn’t have enough nutrients to sustain anything, even the grass has trouble growing if it’s not watered. For someone interested in growing a garden (I’ve always wanted to grow Lilies) and planting fruit bushes, it’s heart breaking. Also, I feel guilty about some of the organic material we throw away, like apple cores, banana peels, and egg shells. I know there is a better way to handle these items, but I just felt clueless as to where to start!

The Green Cycler is a counter friendly pre-composter that is so simple to use, you’ll end up feeling as I did and wonder where it’s been all your life. So, what is pre-composting? It’s the act or process of shredding your scraps into the ideal size for composting. Composting, according to the US E.P.A. is one of the vital strategies for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. And by using The Green Cycler, you can compost ten times faster than just adding your scraps to the pile.

The Green Cycler fits comfortably on your counter top, taking up the same room as a coffee maker or food processor. It is hand operated, so there is no batteries or need for an outlet. Suction cup secure it to your counter, so there is no worry about the machine moving as your grind your organic material.

Suction Cup Lever

Once I knew my Green Cycler was secured, I added the ZeoFilter into its compartment.

As you can see, the ZeoFilter is large, green filter bag filled with Zeolite, a volcanic crystal that is highly absorbent. The crystals trap moisture and odor molecules and when placed in the sun for few hours, it will release the moisture and odor trapped within. making it reusable for years! But when you’re ready to replace it, just snip the grommet off the filter and add it to your compost pile! Made with recyclable parts, the ZeoFilter is safe for people and pets.

Once the filter is in place and the Green Cycler is secured to your counter, it’s time to start composting! My son was just finishing up an apple when the composter arrived, so we started there.

We placed the core inside the lid of the Green Cycler and closed the viewing window. After a few turns of the crank arm both forwards and backwards, we watched through the viewing window as the stainless-steel shredding cartridge did its job. We ended up with a chopped core that neatly deposited into the EcoDrawer.

The drawer is ready to be emptied out when either it’s full, which is around 8 pounds of pre-compost or when you will not be using it for an extended period of time. We’ve been using the Green Cycler for weeks now and even filled with fruit scraps (which start to smell sickly sweet after awhile), jalapenos pieces, potatoes, and the like, there hasn’t been any problem with order.

To wash the shredder, carefully pull it out at an angle by its handle. You should wash it in either the sink or dishwasher after each use. A light spritz of cooking spray will help in this process as food will slide right through and off. Also, the use of the composter will depend on you. I usually have to wait for my hubby to come home to shred some of the tougher food, like larger cores. Anything too stringy, like corn cobs, we’ve had no luck with and I wouldn’t push it. If you do end up grinding it and find some stuck to your shredder, just take it out and blast it with water in your sink! Easy to use and easy to clean, that’s my kind of product!

We will be using the Green Cycler for years to come, I can already tell it’s going to help us jump right into the composting game and make our household a lot more ‘green’.

Connect
You can connect with Green Cycler on their website, Twitter, and Facebook pages

Buy It
You can purchase one of the Green Cyclers from their website starting at $119.99

I received a sample product for this review. All opinions expressed are my own and/or families. Take it or leave it. Click here to view the whole disclosure policy.

Backyard Remodeling & Gardening with Ease with Fiskars

Blog· Review

Since Spring we’ve been doing a lot of backyard remodeling. My husband had painted the railroad ties that create a wall on our back lawn, we’ve torn up part of our yard to prepare for sod and have wrestled with all the trees and vines that create our privacy “fence”. It’s a lot of work to keep up with! One of the brands my husband and I are pretty adamant about using is Fiskars. They’ve always been extremely durable and held up to the tough jobs around our yard. Plus, they have a Lifetime Warranty and that’s important to us.

Here is something you might not know about Fiskars though. Their PowerGear Tools are the first and currently the only pruning tools with the Ease of Use Commendation from The Arthritis Foundation. They have been thoroughly tested to make sure that they are not only easy to use for people with arthritis, but everyone.

The Fiskars Lopper that I received to review was an 18″ PowerGear Lopper. It uses a patented gear technology that multiples your leverage and allows you more power to cut. This helps a lot on cutting through the more thick branches and mini stumps we have from our “fence”, which is actually a bunch of twisted trees that grow through a wired fence. Some of the trees get a little unruly and try to extend up into the apple trees in our yard and we have to trim them down.

PowerGear? patented gear technology multiplies leverage to give you up to three times more cutting power on every cut
Powers through thick branches that traditional loppers and pruners can?t
Makes cutting dramatically easier than it is with other tools, earning the Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation?
Fully hardened steel blade stays sharp through heavy use
Low-friction blade coating helps the blade glide through stems and branches for smooth cutting and prevents the blade from gumming up with sap and debris
Blade coating helps the blade resist rust for lasting value
Aluminum construction provide lasting strength and reduced weight
Bypass blade style
Length: 18″
Maximum cutting capacity: 1-1/2″ dia.
Lifetime warranty

If you need help on how to prune properly, Fiskars even helps you out with a downloadable instruction sheet! For really big jobs, they do have Loppers that go up to 30/32 in.

Loppers aren’t the only thing that Fiskars has to offer. They have a variety of tools to help you in your backyard and also offer Inspiration on Gardening, Outdoors, Crafts and even Back-to-School! So make sure you check out their website and take a peek at all the different ideas and products they have available!

Connect: You can connect with Fiskars on their Facebook Page and/or @Fiskars_HQ on Twitter.

Purchase: You can purchase the PowerGear 18″ Loppers for $26.99.

Save on Back to School and Help Children's Miracle Network Hospitals with White Cloud

Blog

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of White Cloud for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Back to School is sneaking up on us. Yes, you heard that right. I assure you, it was not a typo. Sad as that news may be to bear, it’s the cold, hard truth. Summer is almost over.

Walmking into Walmart just the other day, I noticed the employees stocking the back to school shelves in the front of the store. They even had supply lists for all of our area schools. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. It means that summer will be over far too soon – even though it feels like it just began!

It also means that I’ll have to start digging deep into these pockets on mine to prep my boys for back to school. Luckily the oldest of my brothers is no longer in school, but I still have to get everything for 3 boys. I don’t even want to think of the cost after we’re done!

I’ll definitely be trying to save a buck everywhere that I possibly can, so I will be checking all of the sales papers and clipping my coupons. Now might be the time to get serious about couponing and checking all of the great blogs for deals!

Since colds generally start once all of the kids are back in the classrooms, just about every school supply list I have ever seen has facial tissues on them. Each kid is to bring a box or two and I swear, the classrooms still run out! I like to tgake in a little extra, just so that the teacher doesn’t have to take the cost out of her own pocket when they run out.?

Walmart is usually my go to place and luckily because?White Cloud Facial Tissue?mutipacks are exclusive to them. They offer three or six boxes in one package. With one of those big packs, I could send two boxes with each kid! They’re nice and soft and they come with a coupon! Click here to save .75 off White Cloud Facial Tissue Multipacks. Be sure to check the?White Cloud Store Locator‘since they’re only available in select markets.

Now I know we all love companies who give back and that’s especially why White Cloud Facial Tissue is on my back to school list. The multipack boxes are designed by kids at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and White Cloud will make a donation to 3 CMN hospitals in the areas that sell the most boxes!

I have another exciting savings opportunity for you too! There will be a $0.75 off coupon in the July 28 newspaper FSI and also in the following magazines: Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, First for Women, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, O, The Oprah Magazine, Family Circle, EveryDay with Rachael Ray, Country Living, Fitness, House Beautiful, Redbook and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Don’t forget to connect with White Cloud through their social media channels for other great deals and information!

White Cloud Facebook Page

White Cloud Twitter Page

White Cloud Pinterest Page

Indoor Fun & Creative Imagination Bending with BENDASTIX

Blog· Review

Lately it has just been too hot to go outside. When the temperatures are over 95′ with a “feels like” 115′ due to humidity, no one wants to go out there. There’s only so many things you can do inside before getting pretty bored, so we make sure we have a lot of creative imagination building exercises and games for the kids. Recently I was able to review BENDASTIX, soft & squishy craft pieces that can bend and mold into different shapes to create all sorts of things! They’re created by Fibre Craft who has been a leader in the craft business for over 60 years with the sole mission to make a difference with their products in the lives of children.

I received The Big Box to review; it includes a lot of fun things!

Of course my tot and I did a horrible first job at making a car, but it all takes practice. It isn’t so much succeeding in making one of the things in the books, or even accomplishing a super masterpiece. It’s about having fun with your kids, using your imagination and when you mess up to laugh about it together. We did a lot of laughing for all of Mommy’s goofs! My tot had a lot of fun making the glasses though, unfortunately he kept moving too much for a picture!

My niece came over on one very hot day and I had pulled out The Big Box. She had a lot of fun figuring out how to make the glasses, bracelets and hair bands. We had so many pieces everywhere that I realized how ingenious the box really is. It doesn’t only fold over, but has a center piece to keep the smaller pieces from escaping.

You can bend the BENDASTIX over and over and over again and put them right back the way they were. They’re designed to twist, mold, fold in a variety of different ways. The styles (from polka dots to cheetah spots) are really cute too! I really thought the idea of making a pony tail and then wrapping one of the fashion pieces around it would be adorable for back-to-school!

Soon BENDASTIX will be coming out with a lot more boxes of fun that are tailored to the different things you can do, like create Botz! Until then though, you can let your imagination run with all the different pieces in The Big Box and see what creations (or fancy fashion pieces) you can make!

Connect: You can connect with BENDASTIX on their Facebook Page and/or their Youtube Channel!

Purchase: You can purchase The Big Box for $19.99 in the shop!

Giveaway Winner: Entry #519Abigail

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