Homemade Self-Care Updates ~ Other Homemade "stuff"

I made homemade hair detangler last year, and used it all year long. I even bought a small spray bottle for traveling with (and it worked great).  I have added lemon essential oil to it now.

I discovered a hair brush, after my hair dresser used one on my hair one visit.

 It's called a detangler brush, and they do exist in your big box stores.  I bought one, and wow!  I can brush out my hair much more easily with this tool (it's a small brush, but hard to tell in the photo).  Not sure how they make the brush, but I use a lot less homemade detangler now, and it takes a lot less time to brush my wet hair out with the detangler brush.  

Remember the homemade face toner? As well as the homemade face serum?  I am still using both, and love them both.  In fact, the serum (I made my own rosehip oil for it first), is said to reduce scar damage, and help the skin grow new skin cells.  I used it all year on a very small scar on my chin and it's barely visible anymore.  I am also using it on the spider bite scar, and my husband was shocked at how it's hardly visible as well.  It takes time, but the "serum" works great on scars too.

I'm not sure if I have a past post on the facial serum, but the recipe is from the same source online.

Homemade body wash.  I love this stuff!  Here is how I prepare it (with organic ingredients):

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup jojoba oil

1/4 cup castor oil

1/4 cup pure liquid castile soap (I use Bronner's)

1 1/2 Tbsp. Glycerin

20 drops Frankincense essential oil

I used a funnel (used only for such homemade items), and poured it into a BPA free squeeze bottle. I just shake it up before using, but you could put it in an amber pump bottle too.

I started with a small amount first, because I read that some people can have allergic reactions to castor oil.  I did not, and I really like the body wash.

Homemade nourishing nail oil.  I am still using it, but it's too early to say if it's doing what it should be doing.  My cuticles look much healthier however.  Long work days outside, may require this extra self-care. 

Homemade Yarrow Salve.

We love this stuff.  After someone told me that you can simply put fresh yarrow leaves (and not by a doctor) into your nose to stop a nose bleed, I was interested in making a salve.  Guess what?  I tend to get a few nose bleeds in the winter, due to dry air (or longer than usual stays in a dry air motel/hotel room).  Twice I have used the salve on a tissue to stop my nose bleed, and it worked within a very short time vs. without it.  We've used it for cuts, and for it's healing properties too.  I will definitely make this on a regular basis, and next time will fill a travel container too.

Homemade Window Cleaner.

Love this stuff.  It's worked great on mirrors and windows.  I just used it to clean the outside of a window, to see how it would dry (or even clean) during these cold days, and it worked great.  It makes bird watching, or wild animal watching much clearer, ha ha!  I do have to mix up some more.  I can't say if it is costing me less, but it is inexpensive to make.  The best part, is contains no weird chemicals.  

The ingredients are from an online source (on my blog post here):  "Looking around the house . . ." It is ingredients most people have around the house, other than buying distilled water.  We have well water, so I can't say I have tried city water for this.

Homemade Self-Care Updates ~ Other Homemade "stuff" © January 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Rain Rain Go Away ~ Chit Chat

The rain has not left us yet.  It's been on and off for days here lately.  The chicken run has been flooded more than once, and is now a muddy swamp mess.  I tossed some straw down, to keep from bringing in a muddy mess, but it's still a squishy, sludgy, chicken run.

The weather-man keeps promising sunny dry days ahead, but who knows when they'll arrive again.  I just keep telling myself, that the spring herbs and garlic are loving the rain.

However, it has been cold here as well.  The wind chill this morning was 29°F.  We had a freeze warning.  The sky has been showing some strange coloring as well.

The sun was not out when I snapped this photo, but....

The ornamental apple trees are producing blossoms already.  The trees are very pretty, but the birds plant way too many of them.

Are there any Yerba Mate tea drinkers here?  I tried loose leaf for the first time.  It is so fine, it was coming out of the sides of my larger tea-ball, so I switched to my smaller one and it still came out of the tea-ball.  I also forgot to "wet" it as per the instructions before brewing the first time.

My question is, do you really need to check the temperature before you brew a cup?  I'm thinking this is where my accidental purchase of disposable tea bags will come in handy.  I had to strain it again, after it brewed in the tea-ball with the smaller holes.

I did not find this bitter, as it said I would.  I read up on the benefits, and have added it to our regimen.  

Are you in the path of the upcoming eclipse?  We are so tired of hearing the word "totality" in our part of the woods. I get it, but come on, every single minute on TV and the radio? Literally.  All they are talking about, and how they expect 260,000,000 people to show up in my hometown to view it.  They are already getting ready to give tickets to anyone who parks on the side of the road, where parking is prohibited, but will they have enough staff?  Probably not, or the number they expect is way off.

We are being warned of power outages, cell service outage, internet outage, stores being sold out of items, traffic jams, etc etc.  If you are in the path of it, you are much like us.  Eye rolling at the redundant daily news.  Most of the area has to go to work.  People have jobs, so the expected number is crazy to believe. 

Update:  Now they are predicting cloud cover during the eclipse, and a comet of some sort?  

Like I said earlier, the approaching eclipse, has been giving the night sky (and sometimes morning) strange coloring.  Weird things (yes more of those) have been happening.  A bank in my hometown was robbed this week, and they have not caught the person on the run.  There is someone going around at night cutting brake lines in our small town.  As for the brake lines, it could be the same unsupervised youth that smashed eggs for the local egg hunt over Easter.

 Another update on the homemade window cleaner . . .

I've been cleaning the windows in the last few weeks, and my husband and I were not happy with using windex (which is what I had on hand).  I have also used a mixture of vinegar and water before too.

I then came across a recipe for homemade window cleaner.  I mixed it up and gave it a try to compare with the windex cleaner from the store.  I'll admit, I was intrigued, as it uses arrowroot powder in it (or cornstarch).

I shared the recipe for this window cleaner, in a recent blogpost (under "Looking around the house").  I'm just happy as a peach with the clean windows.  The crisp views are lasting a lot longer, and we are enjoying it.

Rain Rain Go Away ~ Chit Chat  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April

 I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend.  We had some excitement going on here so to speak.  First the power went out for several hours, along with an internet outage.  They could not locate the cause, or at the point of powering back on, did not disclose why they both went out of service.  It was a good spectrum of an area to lose both services.

Secondly, we had to cancel our weekend plans. My husband was on the forced overtime list at work.  He worked the entire Easter weekend.  Hence the unfinished home repairs.  

Thirdly, two very suspicious looking people landed on our front porch.  No vehicle, no cell phone (according to them), and their story was that they were "left by the side of the road"  and wanted to use my cell phone or call for a ride etc.  They also said they were from another state, and not from around here.  I was not about to do that, so I shut and locked the door, and called the Sheriff.   Mind you, we live in the country, so we have prepared for such situations.  

I in the meantime, had prepared a new breakfast, and it involved green beans.  

My husband told me that it's because I prepared a "weird" breakfast, that "weird" stuff happened.  I have promised not to put green beans in our breakfast, ha ha!

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

It's pouring down rain, we are to have rain for a few more days.  Mostly 40-50 degree days.   Possible snow mid-week.  Possibly a sunny 70 degree Sunday.  Weather is all over the map again.

Right now I am . . .

Filling a diffuser with water and lemon essential oil.  The air in the house is super dry this winter.  I also got out our smaller humidifier.

Thinking and pondering . . .

To garden at all this year, or not to garden.  We are still on the fence with giving the soil a rest this year.

To blog or not to blog.  I love to write it, but lately I feel it's monotonous and time consuming. Most of my posts, after so many years of writing, have almost zero comments, so hence monotonous (and boring?).

Blogger continues to have issues, and the photo loader is once again not working.  

The flower beds definitely need some upkeep work done.

I have lost my mojo to do interior house painting.  I'm a bit burned out from that job.  It's getting a rest for now.

I wrote down 3 things to do in the gardens on good weather days.  One has been crossed off the list now.

How I am feeling . . .

Tired, but ready to tackle the week ahead.  Due to an extra trip to town, I got a head start on my "to-do" list for the week.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Well, it's not green beans (ha ha!).  I have no idea just yet.

Breakfast enchiladas went into the oven.  I used a spinach tortilla.  Kroger has the ones we like with lots of veggies and non-gmo, when I don't want to make them myself.

On the menu . . .

-leftovers
-soup beans, homemade cornbread, maybe a salad too
-not sure on the rest of the week just yet.

On the reading pile . . .

I am not sure when I purchased this book, but it's off the shelf and I am very much enjoying it.

The back of the book. . .

It starts by saying "Molly Pink has become a yarnaholic."  The book includes a free crochet pattern and a recipe.  

On the TV . . .

It's been difficult to find anything worth watching.

Looking around the house . . .

Windows look great!   I am a firm believer of a homemade window cleaner recipe I found online (link).  It did a fantastic job.  It's rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, arrowroot powder, and distilled water.

On the to-do list . . .

-take items to the local blessing box
-start sorting more yarn, scraps from donations
-sort more craft inventory for donation locations
-bake us a breakfast casserole

-catch up on laundry

-brew tea infusions with nettle/oat straw

-sweep floors

-write out a re-stock shopping list

I need to put together our newest (second) mole-chasing windmill.  It's the perfect time to get the grounding rod in the ground (while the rain has softened the soil).

For the week:

(still on the list)

-wash upstairs windows

From the camera . . .

What I am crocheting . . .

Finished!!!   I got this done on the last day of March.  It measures about 9 inches wide.  It's the second doily I started over a year ago, and it landed in a basket (while we tore up floors and painted walls and ceilings).  So happy it's finally done.  One more unfinished project off my list.  Technically, only one unfinished project remains on that list.  The rest are just items to use up yarn, and keep on hand for gifting.

Progress on the baby blanket.

I used the last bit of leftover gray yarn to start a scrap lap afghan.  By "scrap" I mean those small hand size and golf ball sized balls of leftover project yarn.

I'm still crocheting baby washcloths, but only when I have long drives here or there, or sometimes when we have nice porch sitting weather.  I am blocking the washcloths when I finish each one.  I'll package them up in sets for gifting.

Devotionals, Bible Verses, Prayers . . .

I do not have any prayer requests this week.

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart