Coconut Oil

Surely you've heard about Coconut Oil by now, but on the off chance that you're not using it yet, I wanted to share some of my favorite uses for this miracle oil. It's the basis for almost all homemade beauty products and remedies that I make.

• Chapstick-I still love regular chapstick, but I will dab some coconut oil on when my lips are really dry and it makes it better almost immediately.
• Lotion-While I do use coconut oil to make my own lotion, one of the best ways to use it is by applying it directly to your skin in place of lotion. You don't need too much as it spreads really easily and you don't want to leave your skin feeling oily.
• Nose dryness-Put some on a q-tip and rub it around in your nose to beat dry 
• Shaving cream-I don't ever buy shaving cream anymore. I simply keep a little jar of coconut oil in the shower and scoop a little bit out with my fingers and use it to shave. It's cheaper, better for your skin, and leaves your legs feeling amazing after you shave. 
• Red bumps-I know there is an official name for this but I can't remember what it is. I've had these little red bumps on the back of my arms for as long as I can remember. They never hurt, but always kind of bothered me because I knew they were there. I started applying coconut oil daily and they were gone in a week and have not come back. When I do start to see a tiny remnant of them, I just apply some oil and they're gone again. 
• Cuts-When I was out of Neosporin recently and I got a cut, I decided to use coconut oil in my band-aid. Not surprisingly, it worked like a charm and healed the cut very quickly. 
• Cuticles-When I give myself a manicure or pedicure, I always use coconut oil to soften my cuticles before pushing them back off the nail. It's also really effective to heal a hang-nail injury.
• Frizz serum-It only take a tiny amount on your finger-tip to help calm your frizzy fly-aways.
• Deodorant-I shared my homemade deodorant recipe in this post, but I sometimes use straight coconut oil in place of deodorant when it's not summer and I'm not pregnant. 
• Sugar scrub-This is my favorite sugar scrub recipe and the coconut oil is what makes your skin feel so silky smooth afterwards. 
• Makeup remover-It's seriously the best make-up remover I have ever used, particularly for eye make-up. 
• Massage oil-It works perfect to give a good back rub because it moisturizes your skin and doesn't leave you feeling really oily or sticky afterwards.  
• Carrier oil for essentials-I love peppermint oil, but it shouldn't be applied directly to your skin, so you can mix it with a carrier oil like coconut oil and then use it wherever you'd like on your body. My face moisturizer that I use every morning is whipped coconut oil (in my Kitchen-aid mixer) and a few drops of peppermint oil. I love it! 

A lot of people use coconut oil in cooking as well, and I haven't ventured into that realm yet, though I want to. I think it just feels kind of weird eating the same stuff I'm rubbing on my legs and armpits. (Though obviously you could have separate jars...I'm just weird like that.) I've also heard that it's good to use on babies for diaper rash and other skin conditions. 

I definitely encourage you to give coconut oil a try if you haven't already. This blog post gives even more reasons you should have this stuff in your life. Do you have a favorite use for coconut oil that I didn't mention? I'd love to know how you're using it.

Hippie Living

Since moving to Oregon, I've certainly embraced a lot more "natural" ways of living. I didn't really realize how many adjustments I've made until I had a friend visiting recently and she was telling me all about her "hippie" friend who makes her own deodorant and grows her own food and uses homemade cleaning products, etc. I started thinking, "Hey, I do that also!"

I joined a Facebook group for "Crunchy Mamas" in our area when I became pregnant so I could learn more from these gals. This group has certainly shown me that I'm a long way from being a true Oregon hippie (and I'm totally ok with that!), but I have learned a lot and thought I would share some of the changes I've made.

Discovering coconut oil has been the major catalyst in helping me embrace homemade bath and body products. Tropical Traditions is my favorite brand, but I haven't really come across any coconut oil that I didn't like. I'll share several things I use my coconut oil for, but first up is deodorant.

For a while, I just stopped wearing deodorant altogether. I just didn't really sweat or stink at all and it seemed like I was getting more deodorant on my clothes than body odor. It helps that it was winter time and that it doesn't get 100 degrees for months on end here...I know, NM and Texas residents, it's hard to imagine a world like that. I'm truly sorry for your summer heat waves, but Oregon is great in the summer. Come visit! :) Anyhow, back to deodorant. Once I got pregnant, I realized that I was getting hotter most days and the weather was also heating back up, so I decided to start making my own deodorant again. I'd done it once before but then I ran out and never made another batch. 

My friend, Cristina, is the first one to introduce me to the idea of making your own deodorant.  Here's the recipe she uses:

Cherry Family Deodorant Recipe

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons baking soda

2 tablespoons coconut oil

(you can add a bit more coconut oil if you'd like your deodorant to be softer)

Warm just enough to get the ingredients to mix. Do not warm too much or it may not solidify properly. When it turns into a paste-like texture, spoon into travel size deodorant containers. Tap container on counter to get air bubbles to rise to the top. Place in refrigerator until solid. Keep out of really warm temps, or it will get soft again. I don't recommend using this recipe in the full-size containers. We like our more solid, which could break the twist mechanism. That's why I picked up the travel size ones and emptied them to use. Maybe it's wasteful to throw out the stuff that was in it, but the health of my family and NOT smearing aluminum on one of the most porous surfaces on our bodies is worth it times a million in my book!

Now, when you're lazy like me, your recipe might look a little different. 

Mandy's Improvised Deodorant Recipe

Some coconut oil

Some baking soda

A few drops of orange oil

Take some coconut oil and spoon it into a little tupperware container (base your coconut oil portion on how the size of your tupperware). Pour some baking soda in with the oil and mix it up until it seems mixed well. Add a few drops of orange oil, used for its wonderful scent as well as its antibacterial properties. Use your finger to scoop out a finger-tip sized amount and rub it on your underarms each day. Enjoy the citrus goodness and feel good about the fact that you're getting coconut oil into your body through your underarm pores. 

The real benefit here is that it is super cheap. I have no idea what the cost breakdown is, but it's natural, cheaper than store bought deodorant, and I think it smells really nice also. 

I'll share more in my next post about some of my other favorite uses for coconut oil. Do any of you make your own deodorant? Would you ever consider trying it or are you loyal to your store-bought product?

Pinterest Reviews #2

Now we're moving on to craft projects and other great ideas I've tried from Pinterest. In the interest of full disclosure, I want to make sure you know I'm copying these pictures straight from their original websites. I did not take those food pictures...though I wish I was that skilled!

Project: Homemade Makeup Remover Wipes

Link: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/09/if-youve-read-my-blog-lately.html

Verdict: Disappointing. While they worked great at first, they were moldy after just 5 days. 

Best part: Very cost effective. I did the math and it came out to $0.006 per wipe once you have the container and coconut oil (which I did).

Advice: Add a couple drops of essential oils to make the wipes smell a little bit better. 

Next time: I am not sure I'll make these again due to the mold issue. I assume it stems from living in such a wet place. Maybe it would be better for those of you in the desert. 

Project: Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

Link: http://www.petitelemon.com/blog/2011/03/28/how-to-make-a-burp-cloth/

Verdict: Cute and easy! I plan to make several more of these this Fall.

Best part: You don't need advanced sewing skills to make these. Perfectly straight lines aren't even necessary!

Advice: Use a zig-zag stitch to attach the fabric to the diaper. This will help it last through future washes.

Next time: I'll do a better job measuring and cutting the fabric so it fits better. 

Project: Shoe Organizer for Cleaning Products

Link: No real link, just a picture I saw online. 

Verdict: Cheap fix and extremely easy to put up.

Best part: All your cleaning supplies are in one spot and aren't taking up any cabinet space.

Advice: When filled with cleaners, open door carefully as the hanger will bang up against the door a little if you open it too quickly.

Next time: I will arrange cleaners by type or use instead of just randomly throwing them in an open spot.

Project: Soft and Silky Legs

Link: http://glutenfreenavywife.blogspot.com/2012/01/softest-silkiest-legs.html

Verdict: Incredible! I must do this more often.

Best part: I already had all the ingredients in my fridge/pantry.

Advice: I think you should do this in the shower versus the bath so you don't have all this stuff (and hair!) floating in the bath water with you. 

Next time: I will make a larger portion of this so I can store it and use it on a regular basis.

Have you made any great Pinterest finds recently? 

First Sewing Project

This will have to be short because I still need to finish washing dishes from lunch, but I wanted to share that I finished my 1st sewing project and it looks half-way decent.

I finally hemmed a pair of my dress pants, which is probably about 2 years overdue. Here you can see my set-up: YouTube video tutorial, ghetto safety pin hem currently in place and my fancy new sewing machine.

The tutorial was only about 3 minutes and that's actually about how long it took me to do the hem. Well, actually, about 3 minutes per leg, so 6 minutes total. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly it went.

This isn't a great picture, but you can at least get the idea. (The two pants legs are laying on top of each other.) The seams aren't perfectly straight, but I'm sure I'll get better at that with time. Now I just need to try to get that crease out and I'll be set.

I think my next project will be to make a sewing machine cover. I put my machine on the living room floor when we had dinner at the table two nights ago, and when I picked it up today, it had quite a bit of cat hair all over it...just like most other things in our apt. I really do love our cats but I'm SO ready for us to live in a house so they can be outside cats. 

P.S. I am SO glad I had today off work and was able to get a few things like this done!

New Year, New Motivation

I know it's only the second week of the year, but I've had a crazy amount of motivation since the New Year started. I can't really explain it, but I'm so excited about it and trying to take advantage of it because I'm afraid it will leave me at any moment.

Our apartment is crazy clean...all the laundry is done, toilets are sparkling, floors are swept, carpet is vacuumed, beds are made and sheets are clean. I'm talking, like genuinely clean...something has gotten into me that resembles nesting, only I'm not pregnant, so I don't know what to call it.

I haven't watched much TV, except for when my back was hurt and I could barely get off the couch for 2 days. I did watch a lot of TV then, but I've also done a pretty good job of reading my Bible and journaling. Speaking of reading, I finished my first of 12 books for this year.

I just finished The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I know I said this in my last post, but I REALLY mean it. If you have not read this book, please read it. I promise you won't regret it.

I hope this post isn't coming across as bragging. I am just genuinely so impressed that I actually feel motivated to do these things. Let me say loud and clear, this is not typical of me. 

On an altogether different note, we had a multi-cultural dinner tonight on accident. We started with a Greek salad, had Asian edamame as an appetizer and then finished with homemade Italian pizza. I also had a Coca-Cola, so I guess that was my American representation.

Our friends Jeremy and Abby joined us for dinner tonight and afterwards we played a card game called Rook. I had never played before, but I definitely had a case of beginner's luck. It is a lot like Spades, in that you bid before you start playing and there are trump cards, etc. Well the ultimate trump card is the Rook card, pictured below. I am not sure how many hands we played exactly, but if it was 10, I had the Rook card 9 times. The only time I didn't get it, my partner Abby did. It was CRAZY! I couldn't believe I got it so many times. Needless to say, the boys were pretty mad at me and hated this game because we smoked them! 

                             

This has really turned into a random post now. However, if I'm being honest, I think almost all of my blog posts are like this.

 I got a new sewing machine from my parents for Christmas and I'm really excited to start using it! I got it out today and spent forever reading the manual, threading the machine, loading and getting the bobbin all set up, etc. I had to cook dinner before I got to do any actual sewing, but I have Monday off work (Woohoo!) so I plan to hit the fabric store and do a project or two. I am so thankful my mom taught me to sew when I was younger. I can't imagine working this machine if it was the first time I'd ever tried...it is computerized and awesome, but also kind of complicated. 

Hopefully I'll finish at least one thing on Monday and I can show you a picture of my first solo sewing project. I'm thinking either an oven mitt or a tissue holder.