Laurie's Everyday Notions

2 T. beeswax (I use beeswax pellets as it melts easily and quickly) 7 T. olive oil ~Melt in a double boiler (I don't have a double boiler so I use a stainless steel bowl that fits perfectly on one of my pots) ~Stir well. I was going to bring out my hand blender but found that a wire whisk did the job just fine. The polish will harden after an hour or two.  I have several notebooks around the house filled with Bible verses, blog ideas and recipes. Unfortunately it takes me hours (this may be an exaggeration... or maybe not) of first finding my many notebooks (I have many "hiding" places) and then paging through the notebooks. So I've learned a trick to remembering the recipes that I try - WRITE THE RECIPE ON THE LID/CONTAINER! Yeah, I'm a genius.

When I began this blog two years ago, one of my goals was to share recipes and tips that were: Environmentally friendly Better for the health of me and my family (and those in my daily care) Frugal Over the years I've done a fairly good job of ridding my home of products that are filled with harmful (for both the environment and my family) chemicals. But sometimes I let my guard down and those things that were formally banned from my home make their way through my door. Last summer my daughter was in a car accident which meant that I stayed in the hospital with her during her three weeks of care. The day before we returned home, my sweet husband {although I don't approve of his cleaning supplies, I am so thankful for his thoughtfulness!} went to the store to buy cleaners so that he could do a quick clean up of the house for us. He didn't have a clue on how to use my homemade cleaners (besides he isn't quite on this bandwagon with me). So we "acquired...

Last week I had a day....yes, ONE day which looked like this ~ Disclaimer: Sometimes, when I share my minor catastrophes, I exaggerate to add some comic relief. Just keep that in mind. A pile of backpacks, coats, boots and winter weat. School was delayed for two hours.....until the school decided at 7:20 am to cancel for the day. This left parents scrambling and extra kids (kids FULL of energy and excitement over having a snow day) arriving at my house. I love my school-agers but they tend to be harder to care for than babies and preschoolers. I never hear a four year old say, "I'm bored......" but a seven year old? Ugh. I'm bored comes out of their mouths in 20 minute intervals. So, on days when I have a group of school aged kids I try to plan activities to keep them occupied. The first craft project was "hockey art". This involves placing a piece of paper in a cake pan, sprinkling paper with powdered tempera paint and using a Popsicle stick (ho...

Needed: glass jar, orange peels,vinegar, salt, water and a spray bottle Fill jar with orange peels. Sprinkle a little salt on the peels and shake. The salt will help "release" the oils in the peels. Let oranges and salt sit for 20-30 min. (this is a perfect time to check Facebook while eating the oranges). Fill jar with equal amounts of water and vinegar. Shake and find a place for mixture to "fester" for a week, shaking daily. My favorite brewing spot is the top of my refrigerator. This is helpful in that I see my brews that need daily shaking. Place in a spray bottle and use for cleaning (I use mine for a daily shower spray but this could also be used to clean about anything!) Brews: orange cleaner, elderberry tonic, and lavender infused olive oil This all purpose cleaning spray is AWESOME in that it's cheap and easy to make plus the oils from the orange peels give it a subtle orange-y scent......much better that ...

First, call the kids so that they can watch you dump out all of the plastic containers and lids all over the kitchen floor  - for some reason it is really fun for kids to watch mom/caregiver making a mess......they will squeal with delight. Next talk with the kiddos about matching - shapes, color, size. Have the children match lids to containers. Hey, may as well make it "educational".  Place correct lids on the correct containers and make a tower. I encourage the kiddos to try to make a tower taller then me! Leave containers on the kitchen floor ALL day for two reasons: 1. The kids can come back to play, building more towers throughout the day. This beats any fancy "learning station" found at a daycare/preschool center. 2. By the end of the day I had a grudge against all those containers that I had been stepping over which made it much easier for me to say good bye to my "abundance". Background are the "lid holders" Organizin...

 Supplies ~ straw wreath, pruning "snippers", pins and fresh greens.   Once the greens are done it's time for some "embellishments". I prefer simple. Merry Christmas!

Ever have candles that don't seem to light well (or stay lit)? How about all the candle wax that is left over after a candle runs out of wick? As you may know, I don't like throwing anything away that could possibly be useful. I'm also cheap frugal so I don't like spending money on "extras" (candles really aren't a necessity) but I do love candles. Solution? I make my own candles.   Top Photos: Collecting my materials. Old candle jars, jelly jars and even a salsa jar!  Middle Photos: Chopping up a candle that would never light and pulling the wick - melting the recycled wax - holding the wick in place by wrapping it around a wooden spoon. Bottom Photo: Completed candles. Many home candle makers would suggest covering your work surface....as you can see I didn't bother with this step. Clean up would have been much easier if I had taken a moment to cover the counter with a piece of wax paper.  Years ago I invested in a "wax  me...

A couple of years ago I was in search for a natural spider repellent. A quick Google search lead me to this odd fruit. The folklore boasts of the hedge apples abilities to repel spiders, yet others will say otherwise. I didn't do a spider count before or after the hedge apples were introduced to my home so I can't give you any scientific report to back up either claims. It seemed to help so when I saw a basket of the citrus-y-smelling, non-edible fruit at the grocery store last weekend I loaded half a dozen in my cart. I blame my cobweb problem on my 107 year old house. I don't know but trying to keep up with the daily web removal is a bit maddening (ok, maybe I'm being dramatic here. There are worse things than spider webs). I'd rather not add chemical pollutants in the form of a bug bomb to my house.  Known by many names, such as Osage orange, hedge-ball,  hedge apple, and horse apple, this strange looking fruit gr...