I always love to hear true testimonial on favorite things. There are so many awesome products out there, both store bought and home made. Without word of mouth, we would never know to try them. So, I have compiled a list of few very favorite things.
Home Made Lotion
This is my Mother-in-Law, Rhoda Pugh’s, recipe.
(Isn’t she puuurty?)
This little contribution has become vital to my daily routine. I absolutely love it and will never be without it! This lotion isn’t sticky, keeps your skin moisturized for hours, smells fresh and is inexpensive to make. All ingredients can be found at your local big box or pharmacy.
Ingredients:
16 oz. baby lotion
8 oz. Vaseline
and 8 oz Vitamin E Cream
Mix all ingredients together with hand mixer and put in to individual jars. It really is that easy!!
Beach Babe Sea Salt Hair Spray
Oh how I love this product! First of all, I live at the beach. Beach hair isn’t a natural thing for some of us girls. We get wild, wispy and not in a nice way, stuck in our lip gloss, hair. Every cowlick shows, it looks like you haven’t washed your hair in days and it takes a gallon of conditioner to get the knots out when we are done. So, beach time, this hair is in a bun or hat. But, for a night out on the town or that carefree natural beauty look, you can’t beat this spray! I like to spritz my hair while still damp and use a diffuser on my blow dryer. After dry, I spritz some more and crunch with my hands. Instant beach babe hair!! This gives you “grit” to your hair. No sleek shine or soft locks. You will have matte finished, textured hair so this is also great for doing sloppy buns and fun summer styles with bobby pins. There are many recipes on pinterest to make a similar product at home so go play! I will stick with my beach babe. It works, it’s less than $7 a bottle and I can find it at Walmart!
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Polish
I am a low maintenance girl. I don’t want to spend hours on my nails. And, when I get around to painting them (Especially my toenails), I need it to last. This polish is AMAZING. It’s a two step process. You apply the color first and then a top coat that acts as a catalyst to set the color. I can pedicure my toes and expect this to last 3-4 weeks before needing to redo them. YESSSSSS.
Spark is my lifeline. Period. It has replaced coffee, caffeine, soda…basically garbage in my diet. I wake up and make a Spark. The family knows not to mess with me until I do. It wakes me up, gets me focused and ready for the day and is basically my “On” switch. Spark is packed full of vitamins, gives you long term focus and sustained energy and tastes amazing!! You have so many choices for flavors too! My absolute favorite is
Green Apple. The flavors are:
Mango Strawberry – Hubby’s Favorite
Homemade Laundry Detergent
This batch was just made yesterday. It costs approximately $15.00 to make not including a container. You only need 1 tbs per load of laundry so this batch will wash approximately 510 loads of laundry. Are you doing that math??? That is roughly 3 cents a load!!
These guys…(which I used to only use)
Tide Pods
62 Packs = $15.99
Price per load: $.257
I average two loads of laundry a day with my large family. So we do roughly 725 loads a year. With a savings of $.23 a load, I save $166.75 a year. Wow. It takes under 20 minutes to make this detergent and for a typical size family, this could last you the full year. All ingredients can be found in the laundry isle at your big box store as well!
Ingredients:
1 17.6 oz box of Zote Laundry Flakes
1 large box of Borax
1 Large box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 Grated bar of Fels Naptha
2 Cups Baking Soda
2 Cups OxyClean (optional but makes whites super white)
Mix all ingredients well and store in large container with a TBS measuring spoon. I promise that is all it takes for a load. You laundry will smell fresh and be sparkling clean. If you want to wash clothes in cold water, I suggest adding tablespoon to warm water and stirring and then pour mixture in to washer before adding cold water.
Homemade Play Doh
Playdoh can dry out so quickly and let’s face it, it isn’t cheap. This method is so easy and it lasts for months if stored in air tight containers!
Ingredients:
3 cups flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
food coloring
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large pot until no lumps remain. Whisk in the wet ingredients (except for the food coloring) and stir until no lumps remain. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes until a dough forms. Separate into several portions and add food coloring, kneading until uniform in color.
I plan to add favorite things as I use them or they come to mind but always love hearing from friends about what is working and what isn’t! If you have a product you can’t live without or a recipe for a homemade concoction that puts store bought to shame, please share in the comments!!!
The Motivated Mama 