I have started to figure the cost of things and looked at our budget in these tightening times and have decided to follow in some back to home basics. I have started  Making  Home made items  home made  Soaps , Laundry Soap, Tooth Paste ( since I am allergic to Fluoride this works well for me ) DOES NOT CONTAIN FLUORIDE  I have the recipe for shampoo but I haven't gotten there yet .  And Deodorant  I am going to post the recipes here  I did get them from another Home schooler and friend Kim Wolf  in Columbus  I will link to her Blog  because she has cool pictures  with the directions  to show what it is suppose to look like at each step.Here are Kim's Blogs yes BLOG"S  I can hardly keep one up  any way she has great  ideas and recipes on them  . So take your time when you look around them .

 http://www.homesteadblogger.com/wannabeone

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Buckeyeblog

homemade glycerin bar soap!

First, you will need a few basic items...

You will need: glycerin soap chunks, glass measuring cup, whisk, rubber spatula, water, extra virgin olive oil, fragrance/essential oils, botanicals/herbs.

Place several glycerin chunks in the glass measuring cup...

 Melt chunks in microwave at 20 SECOND intervals until melted...

 While your soap is melting, crush any botanicals/herbs you may want to add to your soap. In this case, I am crushing dried rosemary leaves; later I crushed a few lavender buds from some I grew last year & had hanging in my kitchen...

 When soap is melted, pour into a mixing bowl and add your botanicals/herbs, any coloring you may want (I usually don't add coloring), 1-2 TB extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 TB cold water and fragrance/essential oils...

( you can see the breaks where  Kim's  pictures are like here)

In this batch I'm also adding about 10-15 drops of rosemary essential oil and 10-15 drops of tea tree oil. Mix QUICKLY w/a whisk until soap is somewhat thick & frothy.

Pour into soap molds...

Remember...your soaps will not be the 'prettiest' at this point. The bottoms are a little 'rough' but you will trim the 'uglies' off when your soap has cured. Below, I have made 2 bars of lavender (upper left), 2 bars of gragefruit (my husband's shower favorite; lower left) & 4 bars of rosemary/tea tree (my shower favorite & what I sometimes put on the bathroom soap dish; right side).

After your soap has set in the molds for at least 30 minutes, turn them out onto a wire cooling rack to cure for 2 weeks.

You will notice that they are not 'pretty' on the edges. As I said before, you will trim the excess off the edges when they are cured and you are ready use or store them. Until I use them (or give them away) I wrap them in colored plasic wrap or brown paper gift wrap and tie w/raffia or brown or colored twine.

These are low-lather soaps and are particularly good for oilier skins w/o being drying to dry skin-types. Adding oatmeal makes them great for drier skins or even exfoliating normal skin-types. Adding coffee grounds that have been ground again (by you) is great as a gardener's or mechanic's soap. Adding a few drops of tea tree, rosemary & lavender makes a great soap for oily skin (if you prefer a bar soap instead of the face wash I made earlier from liquid Castile soap). Adding simply Vitamin E or extra virgin olive oil or a honey-almond fragrance is excellent for a bath soap for the whole family - good for the skin and even though it has a nice fragrance, it's not too girlie for the man of the house.

Deodorant

 ~An air-tight container ~ either a pretty dusting powder jar w/lid (I'm hunting antique shops for one!) OR some other container, I use a small Rubbermaid container.
~1/2c. Baking Soda
~1/2c. Corn Starch
~5 drops of an anti-bacterial essential oil; I use Lavender
~A whisk

Add Baking Soda to container...

Add Corn Starch...

Add about 5 drops of Lavender essential oil...

Whisk thoroughly.

To apply use either a powder puff OR gently fluff a large cottonball, press into the mixture and apply.

REMEMBER: 1) This IS a DEODORANT, NOT an anit-perspirant; 2) this IS a powder so be careful when applying it while wearing dark colors and sleeveless shirts. At times, in the summer, I have been known to first apply a little bit of Tom's Lavender deodorant stick and THEN quickly applying the powder over it when I know it's going to be very hot or I'm going to be in a stressful situation.

 Toothpaste

First, you need a good air-tight container. I use an old Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Cream jar. It is the perfect size. Next you will need Baking Powder (NOT SODA!!), Hydrogen Peroxide and a flavored oil (peppermint, spearmint, or wintergreen). I used peppermint for this batch.

 Put 3 slightly heaping ts. of Baking Powder in the jar. (Sorry for the poor quality photo.) Next...

 Add 1-1/2 ts. Peroxide

 Then... Add about 4-5 drops of flavored oil. Mix WELL, sraping the sides where you need to.

This mixture will fiz and bubble. When it stops it will be nearly even w/the top of the jar. Perfect. Wait a few minutes after the fizzing stops, when it dries to a somewhat hard powder and then it's ready to use.
To use, simply wet your toothbrush and then dip/rub off as much of the toothpaste as you need and brush as usual. Close lid tightly when finished.

homemade laundry detergent

Here is one of the simplest and most effective recipes for homemade laundry detergent. Our family has used this for quite some time and we love it. Once the initial purchases are made my laundry only costs about 3-5 cents per load! It's my understanding that you CAN use this in front-loading machines b/c it's a gel and not a liquid; plus it is low suds.



First, you must to collect the things you'll need to make your soap:

A large pot and a WOODEN spoon DEDICATED to ONLY making soap;  You also need a box of Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax, along w/a bar of Fels Naptha Soap - these items are found in the laundry isle of your grocery - and Lavender essential oil - it's antibacterial AND it smells SO good! And while you're in your kitchen, grab a hand grater and med-sized dessert-type plate.

And don't forget a container w/a good lid to keep your finished product in! This is what I use - an old popcorn bucket - so it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Pour 8 c. of water into your pot and let it be warming on MEDIUM heat while your are preparing your other ingredients.

Grate 1/4 of the Fels Naptha bar...

Add 1/4 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda...

Then 1/4 c. 20 Mule Team Borax...

Mix them together a little...

And w/the wooden spoon, scoop the ingredients into the warm water...

Bring heat up to MED-HIGH and...

 Add 1ts. Lavender essential oil, stir until soap bits are dissolved and then stir occasionally while this heats up for about 20 minutes...

 After it has all dissolved and is well stirred, remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.

 You can see that after if has sat for 1 hour that it is starting to gell-up.

Then just pour the partially gelled detergent into your storage container, top w/the lid and let it finish gelling. If you made your detergent in the morning it should be ready to use by the evening, other-wise, just wait until the next morning.

Use a 1/2 c. or so in each load - if I'm doing a large load I will add a little more.

This has gotten out all sorts of stains for me. If the stain is really bad - and if 'someone forgot' to tell me that their favorite shirt has some sort of stain on it and it has set in - I take an old toothbrush, get a little detergent on it and brush WELL across the stain and then let it sit for an hour or so, after that I wash it as usual and the stain is generally gone.