Busy Day (and Stuff)!

I know I talked a little about the homemade products I wanted to give a try, well I actually got my rear in gear this morning afternoon and got the stuff I needed to make a few of them!

After a trip to Walmart to pick up supplies (cheap shampoo and conditioner because I don't want to "waste" the spendy stuff on it), I was set to go.  In fact, while at the store, I even picked up an ingredient to make another product I had been dreaming about since last night!  Okay, so we all know how (not) good I am at taking photos...what this "is" is a "Gardening Scrub"!  The original recipe called for the pink "flavor" of the dish washing soap made with Olay.  I like the scent of that one, but the purple one is Lavender scented, so I got it instead!  My scrub came out a very pale purple.  All it calls for is sugar (plain old white sugar) and the soap, how easy!  You take your jar (I used an old pickle relish jar) and fill it about 3/4 full with sugar, then top it off with the soap and stir.  Mine came out really runny, so I topped the jar off again with more sugar to make it more "paste-like".  It feels so good scrubbing your hands with it!  It will get the true test tomorrow (or later today) when I get the bags of soil upstairs and get my Tomatoes and Herbs planted...I generally just dig in with my hands anyway.

Next up was another "un-photographic" recipe for Fabric Softener!  I made a "small" batch, using only 1/2 cup Conditioner, 3/4 cup White Vinegar, and 1 1/2 cups Hot Water.  I also bought some flannel that was on clearance to make "dryer sheets" out of.  At $1.50 a yard, it was cheaper than buying washcloths to keep in there!  You could also put the solution in a spray bottle and just spray a rag to toss in the dryer, but I liked this idea and a 3-pack of these containers was way cheaper than the spray bottle!

Last up in my "homemade" lineup today was "Homemade Moisturizing Shave Cream"!  Yes, I may have lost my very last marble...but the recipe was so easy, I had to give it a try!  This one is 1/2 cup shampoo, 1/2 cup conditioner, 2 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, and 2 1/2 Tablespoons lotion (I used Suave Vitamin E lotion)!  Stir and use!  Of course, the blog I found it on (One Good Thing by Jillee) put hers into a pump style bottle, but try as I might, I could not find a bottle like that that wasn't full of something!  So, I put mine in a mason jar...it may not be pretty, but it works!

The fabric softener and shave cream are both made using Suave Rosemary Mint shampoo/conditioner, I love the smell and it's pretty strong, so hopefully it will hold up in the dryer!  Also, I spent a whopping $7 on the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion combined...I hardly used any of them too, so these are cheap to make!  That's actually Lou Ana (un-organic) coconut oil in the jar too...I just saved the jar to melt my coconut oil in after the first jar was empty.  I do have another jar of it, but I'm "saving it" for something special!  I get the Lou Ana brand at Walmart for under $6 for a 32 ounce jar.

I figured it was also about time to share what's been growing in my kitchen window, you know, since I have another actual tree growing there and all!

Yup, an entire tree!  And this one I pulled out of my backyard!  It's a Hazelnut tree that was growing a few inches away from the chicken run (ya know, under the deck), I pulled it thinking it was another Sumac sprout, they grow all over the freaking yard.  However, when it popped out of the ground, it came still attached to the nut!  I ran it inside and into a cup of water (we were leaving and I was running late as it was) and there it has sat for about 2 weeks now!  Can you see it?  Poking out of it's little red cup?  It has grown about 6 inches since I brought it inside!  I'm searching the yard for another one as well...you need 2 trees to produce nuts, ya know!  Sadly, the only one I found after this was in the front yard and I broke it off at the ground trying to pull it out.  So for now, I have a lone little Hazelnut tree growing in my kitchen window.

The Hazelnut is not alone by any means though!  Oh no, sitting next to it is a "palm-like" plant that I haven't managed to identify yet, I bought it several months ago on clearance for a few dollars (right after Valentine's Day, I think). 

In the corner is the Stevia plant, it is huge!  The vines (for a lack of a better word) have grown clear to the top of the window!  I think I need to either cut this back again or give it something to really climb rather than the window...

My little Burning Love Bush is still holding its own in the bunny shaped planter, not really growing, but not dying either, that's a plus, right?

And last, but certainly not least, my tiny Aloe Vera plants!  They were nearly dead here a few months ago, so I tossed the terrarium top back on and gave them a big drink of water (they were pretty dry even with daily watering)!  Not only have they survived, but they plumped right up and even sprouted a new leaf on each of them!  I think I'll keep the lid on for a while longer, they seem to like it better that way, these tiny little plants are over a year old and still only about an inch tall!