DIY Natural Shower/Body/Hand Cleaners

Hand Sanitizer

1 part Witch Hazel

1 part Hydrogen Peroxide

1 part Aloe Juice

20 drops Rosemary oil

20 drops Peppermint oil

5 drops Lavender oil

5 drops Tea Trea oil

Place all in spray bottles and shake; this recipe filled up 2 10 oz spray bottles that I had.

Foaming Hand Soap

Foaming Hand Soap Pump

Castile Soap (see recipe here)

Water

Essential Oils

Fill your foaming pump container 1/3 of the way full with castile soap, fill up the rest with distilled water, add a couple drops of oil, shake and it’s ready!

Body Wash 

I used my recipe for my castile soap - see post HERE but used Zum Bar's Frankincense and Myrrh bar soap with 4 cups of water (link to product). I need to water it down more, but the concept of grating the bar soap and soaking it in water absolutely worked for goat's milk soap (and I imagine with any bar soap) if you want to extend the use by making it into liquid form (or even watering it down more to use in a foaming soap container)

Shaving Cream

I use my lotion base as a shaving cream too (see face recipes here. Here's my recipe (but it's basically just like the makeup remover and face/hand lotion).

2 oz. Coconut Oil

4 oz. Shea Butter
1 1/2 T Grapeseed oil
1 T. Olive Oil
5 drops Tea Tree Oil

Whip together, put into squeeze bottle and use as shaving cream – your hair follicles will thank you.

Lotion

Again, this recipe is listed in my facial care section and I use this basic recipe for makeup remover, face soap, hand soap and shaving cream; you could even use it as a hair mask (leave it on for 10-15 minutes and rinse)

4 oz. Coconut Oil

8 oz. Shea Butter
1 1/2 T Grapeseed oil
1 T. Olive Oil
Optional 1/4 t. Local Honey

Optional 10-20 Drops Essential Oil (lavender, tea tree, lemongrass, grapefruit, ylang-ylang)

You may need to melt the coconut oil if you keep your home cooler. Whip together all ingredients with mixer or whisk and put into pop top squeeze bottle (to keep sterile).

DIY Natural General Cleaning

Window Cleaner

16 oz distilled water

2 oz hydrogen peroxide (3%)

1-2 drops of liquid castile soap

When you spray this on a mirror and wipe with a cloth it will seem like it’s going to streak. Just walk away and let it dry and voila, it’s spotless! If you really feel the need to watch it dry, it’s worth the slow but exciting!

Linen Spray

1 cup distilled water

10 drops Lavender oil

10 drops Peppermint oil

1 drop Tea Tree oil

Spray on pillows, bed, couch and curtains to freshen the room.

All-Purpose Spray & Floor Spot Cleaner

2 c. distilled water

3/4 c. hydrogen peroxide

1/2 c. distilled white vinegar

1 t. castile soap

½ t. washing soda

20 drops Tea Tree oil

20 drops of Lavender oil     

Drain Cleaner/Mop Water Bomb

1 c. Baking soda

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

Mop Bomb Directions: 

Add 1 cup vinegar to mop bucket water and 1/2 cup mop bomb powder and watch it sud! Mop the floors and feel the clean.

Drain Cleaning Directions: 

Pack 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the drain cleaning powder into the drain in question. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Pour equal parts vinegar and water over the drain and watch the bubbling unclog the drain.

Spicy Air Freshener

3 c. Water

6 Cinnamon Sticks

2 T. Whole Cloves

2 T. Fennel Seeds

Boil all in clean pot, let cool and put into spray bottles. Spray everywhere! Be careful with delicate white curtains (it is a burnt orange/brown color) and don't get it into your eye as cinnamon and clove can sting a bit. I bet this might be a great breath freshener too!

Bath, Sink, Tile Cleaner
Mix this one in a SQUIRT bottle, not a SPRAY bottle.  It’s thick and almost a paste; watch out for some bubbling.

2/3 Cup baking soda
1/2 Cup castile soap
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1/2 Cup water
A few drops of Tea Tree oil

Dish Soap

2 cups water

1/4 cup castile soap (see recipe here)

5 drops lemongrass oil

5 drops grapefruit oil

DIY Castile Soap: the base for most home cleaners

I made my own castile soap, sort of. I didn't really want to buy KOH (or lye), and let my soap sit for 4-6 weeks before I used it. I found this tutorial and thought it was an amazing short cut for liquid castile. Here's the link: http://gfbff.com/tips-and-tricks/diy-100-olive-oil-castile-soap

I used my blender to grate the olive oil soap, added the water, let it sit for a while, used it for other home cleaning recipes and put the rest into a 1 gallon washed and sterilized white vinegar container. To get the vinegar smell out of the container, put a squirt of any mustard in the container, fill 1/4 way full with warm water and shake. I'm not sure why mustard removes smells, but it does - with any container and any smell. It's pretty incredible!

Back to the castile soap: I also wanted to tell whomever is reading this that the castile soap doesn't magically turn out like Dr. Bronners. It's thick, opaque, and a green tint. The thickness to me just means that I can add more distilled water and make it go further - BONUS. I'm not interested in having clear soap necessarily so it doesn't bother me. I use this castile as the base for my all purpose cleaner, floor spot cleaner, dish soap, foaming hand soap, body wash and shampoo (if you're into the sudsy shampoos).

Castile deserves a post to itself, and it can take 24-48 hours to emulsify. Have some patience, it's worth the wait! Here's the breakdown of cost:

2 bars Kiss My Face Olive Oil Soap             $2.99/ea       = $5.98

1 gallon Distilled Water                                 $0.85/ea        = $0.85

With tax it equaled about $7.50 for a GALLON (or more) of castile soap (compare to $20ish of Dr. Bronners). Not only that, you know what's in it, which is seriously important as our skin absorbs what we put on it!

Here's the recipe:

Liquid Castile Soap

large bowl

gallon of distilled water

blender

cutting board and sharp knife

8 ounce bar Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap

Measure and pour 4 cups of the distilled water in the bowl.

Using a sharp knife, cut the soap into smaller pieces

Place the soap shavings in the blender and grate/shred, then put into bowl and stir the shavings and the water together.

Place a lid or a towel over the bowl to prevent dust, air, pet hair from getting in.

Original Directions:

Let sit for 24 hours then stir again.

Let sit for another 24 hours if necessary. The liquid soap should be smooth and emulsified. (If it’s not, give it a stir and another 24 hours. If you find the liquid is still too thick, add another 1/2 cup distilled water until it is the consistency you desire.)

When complete, put the liquid soap into your desired container.

Lazy Directions:

I have to be honest with you, I let mine sit for a couple hours, used the thick concentrate for a bunch of other recipes and poured the rest of it into my gallon container and figured I could shake it today if it needed it. It’s thick so I added a couple cups of water to it, shook it and it’s going to sit again until tomorrow. It seemed completely emulsified before I started using it in recipes, perhaps that was due to me using a blender to grate it. Make sure your blender is crazy and completely dry before you grate it. I also used this technique for a goats milk soap that Matt LOVES, but I wanted to make the $5 bar go farther so I turned it into liquid body wash and it worked well! It's still too thick so I'm going to continue adding more water to that one too!

Enjoy!

DIY Inexpensive Milk Alternative - Coconut Milk

Found this video online, made it yesterday and I LOVE it. I love having milk with cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia in it the evenings; here's the link: http://www.thehealthyteacher.com/2010/10/04/how-to-make-your-own-coconut-milk/ 

Note: I couldn't find unsweetened coconut flakes anywhere except Whole Foods and I felt like I looked EVERYWHERE. I just wanted to save you the time and trouble. At Whole Foods, I found it in the bulk section and bought a couple lbs.

Coconut Milk

Supplies

8”-8” piece of cheesecloth

Blender

Measuring Cups

Storage container with lid (I use an old gallon jug from used distilled water)

Ingredients

½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (medium or large)

1 cup of water (warm or boiled)

Instructions

Measure one cup of water and ½ cup of coconut flakes

Place both ingredients in a blender

Mix for 2-5 seconds

Pour contents of blender through cheesecloth and into storage container

Be sure to squeeze all the liquid out of the cheesecloth

Take remaining coconut flakes from cheesecloth and place back in the blender

Repeat the cycle over again while reusing the coconut flakes and adding new water each time

You can repeat this cycle up to 5 times, producing close to 5 cups of coconut milk for the cost of a ½ cup of coconut flakes!

Storage Considerations

Store coconut milk in the fridge

Make sure your storage container has a tight lid

Try to consume coconut milk in the next 7 days

DIY Natural Laundry

I've received requests for more recipes! Note: if you begin this "making it" phase of your life, be prepared - you will end up spending a great deal of time figuring out how to make everything that you consume! It's lovely and wonderful and I'm happy to say that it's my favorite hobby, making things.

Laundry Soap

All items were found in the laundry isle.  Use ½ oz/1 T. per load

1 bar of Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap (may use any bar soap that you like/trust)

1 cup of 20 Mule Team® Borax

1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

I used my blender to grate/shred the bar soap. Put all into bowl and stir; it seems to never look evenly distributed, which is fine. Thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results!

Each batch fits into a quart mason jar perfectly. I made 3 quarts but I will probably be using a bar soap next time that has a list of ingredients that I can pronounce and I know what they are, now that I've investigated it.

Note on Fels-Naptha

I didn't expect it to be so fragrant and the label lacks a proper ingredient list but I found one online:  

Soap (sodium tallowate*, sodium cocoate* (or) sodium palmate kernelate*, and sodium palmate*), water, talc, cocnut acid*, palm acid*, tallow acid*, PEG-6 methyl ether, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate and/or tetrasodium etidronate, titatium dioxide, fragrance, Acid Orange (CI 20170), Acid yellow 73 (ci43350)

Regarding High Efficiency (HE) Front-Load Washers

HE front-load washers require “special soap” for one reason alone – low suds. Because they use less water, they require soap that is less sudsy. The good news is, this homemade detergent is VERY low suds. The ”special” HE detergent is just another advertising mechanism to push consumers to buy “special soap” for unnecessarily high prices.

Vinegar Laundry Softener

1 gallon White Vinegar

20 drops of Lavender Oil

Wool Dryer Balls

To eliminate static and to "fluff" your clothes. There are tons of tutorials on the subject and I had plenty of yarn stashed to make some. Here's the link.

That's my laundry routine, if I have a trouble spot, I just take a pinch of the laundry soap and rub it in the stain with my hands or an old toothbrush and let it sit overnight (sometimes spraying the stain with water before rubbing the soap in helps).

DIY Natural Face Time!

Ok, so I've been reading more about what ingredients are in the products we use in the shower, put on our face and skin and I honestly, it sounds scary and toxic so I'm taking the bull by the horns and diving into making my own. I don't like creating more waste and more things I have to recycle, so hopefully making my own shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, face stuff and lotion will help reduce the packaging consumption for us!

I've mastered what works for my face, and I happened to run into a lovely couple at whole foods that was in the soap isle looking for coconut oil. I knew where it was so I said I'd help them find it, and the gentleman said he wanted to use it (and vitamin E) on his face. I told him that I use coconut oil as lotion and promised them I would email them my recipes. Since they're all typed out nice and neat, I wanted to share them with you too! This has been a long time coming and I'm so excited to have all of these things made and they make my face feel really healthy.

Here's my email to her:
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I've got a couple of things I use for my face. These recipes for the following skin care items are below: Makeup Remover, Soap/Cleanser, Face Scrub, Lotion and Invigorating Clay Mask. Witch hazel is an excellent astringent too, if you feel like you need or want one (I just squirt some witch hazel from the bottle onto a cotton ball and apply).

Makeup Remover:

The lotion and the makeup remover I use are basically the same recipe. In the makeup remover, it's

Makeup Remover
2 oz. Coconut Oil

4 oz. Shea Butter
1 T Grapeseed oil
1/2 T. Olive Oil
Optional 1/4 t. Local Honey

You may need to melt the coconut oil if you keep your home cooler. Whip together all ingredients with mixer or whisk and put into pop top squeeze bottle (to keep sterile).

Directions: put some on a cotton ball or onto clean fingertips and gentle remove makeup from your face.

For a soap, I make my own castile soap (follow the recipe here: http://gfbff.com/tips-and-tricks/diy-100-olive-oil-castile-soap if you want to make your own); otherwise, you can purchase dr. bronner's castile soap at whole foods.

Exfoliating Face Scrub:

Put some dry powder onto wet hands and lightly exfoliate your face in circular motions, paying more time to problem areas (for my around my nose and chin). Repeat until you’ve exfoliated your whole face (gentle around the eyes!). Rinse with warm water.

Exfoliating Face Scrub

Blend or Grind: (I used our coffee grinder to make them as fine as possible – the finer the better).

1 C. Epsom Salt

½ C. Oatmeal

½ C. Dried Organic Lavender

Place in jar (I used a 16 oz mason jar)

Lotion:

This is my lotion recipe, I use it for my face, hands, and I just read that it’s good for stretch marks so I think I’ll give that a shot! I use this lotion for my hands and face so it’s double the makeup remover recipe (but you can experiment with batch sizes, depending on how much you use). The oils choice is up to you, I use a love of lavender and tea tree is all of the things I make for myself and our home because they’re reasonably prices, antibacterial and antimicrobial – both fantastic for your skin too.

Lotion
4 oz. Coconut Oil

8 oz. Shea Butter
1 1/2 T Grapeseed oil
1 T. Olive Oil
Optional 1/4 t. Local Honey

Optional 10-20 Drops Essential Oil (lavender, tea tree, lemongrass, grapefruit, ylang-ylang)

You may need to melt the coconut oil if you keep your home cooler. Whip together all ingredients with mixer or whisk and put into pop top squeeze bottle (to keep sterile).

Directions: rub in!

Invigorating Clay Mask:

For softening, drawing out toxins, just as a pick-me-up or a wake-me-up, put onto face avoiding the eyes, and leave for 15 minutes, wash off with warm water. Remember to moisturize afterward.

Invigorating Clay Mask

I know this is going to sound crazy, but one of the ingredients in this is clay pellets, and natural clay cat litter is the least expensive form of it. I picked up a 7 lb bag for 98 cents and plan on making this clay mask for everyone I know for Christmas so that I can use up the bag!

Store in 16 oz Glass Container:

Grind 1 1/2 cups clay pellets in coffee grinder until they are powder like; pour warm distilled water in just enough to make a thick paste. Add 10 drops lavender oil. Stir completely making a gritty paste. This will last a while and if it’s dried up a bit by the next time you use it, just put a little more warm water in.

I love this mask, it makes my face feel alive!

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So, that's it, that's what I've been doing lately. Today I spent 6 hours making Matt part of his birthday present which is all natural (all hand-made) home cleaning products (and some stuff for the bathroom). I made: laundry soap, fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, linen/bed/pillow spray, floor cleaner, surface cleaner/all purpose, bath/sink/tile scrub, mop bombs, air freshener, fruit/vegetable wash, dish soap, window cleaner and hand sanitizer. Now that I type it out, it sounds like I was on speed today, but it really went by quickly; I was glad to get it all made and now my task is to come up with some cool apothecary labels for them and put the recipe right on the bottle so I will always have the recipe to make more when the bottle is getting low.

Enjoy!

Boston, Puritans, Websites and Wine

So sorry it's been a while - it's been a crazy couple of weeks! Last weekend Matt and I went to Boston on a trip my district won at work. It was an absolutely fantastic weekend. I thought I remembered American History; but apparently I was wrong.

Here's what I learned:

1. Puritans wanted religious freedom for themselves, but wanted to off everyone who didn't believe what they believed.

2. Paul Revere and the midnight riders (and all of the American Revolutionaries) were extremely brave. 3. Despite my annoyance with the early settlers destroying the Native American cities and architecture, we do have some beautiful and fairly old architecture on the East Coast - and it's remarkable to see them in person.

3. Boston is tremendously more digestible on foot than in a car. Note to all visitors to Boston: do not rent a car! The first time we went we did and we were very sorry. It takes less time to use public transport or just walk. Also, Boston is really small compared to most large cities. Matt and I walked from the Boston Common through Quincy Market and the North End to the Bunker Hill Monument, took a bus to Fenway and walked all the way back to Boston Commons where our hotel was located. Granted our calves hurt for a couple days, but we're a bit out of shape and should do more walking anyway.

4. Bostonians are serious about baseball. I like that. Another thing occupying my time as of late is watching all the games leading up to the pennant race. The Cardinals were just slaughtered tonight but there's always tomorrow!

5. If we lived in Boston we would live in the North End, near the Paul Revere House - it's GORGEOUS, magical, quiet and seems very livable - but again, I would not own a car because parking in Boston is atrocious and stupidly expensive.

6. Last but definitely not least: we love being with each other, on vacation and at home. Isn't that super cheesy? It's so wonderful to be with the person you know you're supposed to and this leads me to my reasonable thirty something moral of the day: do what feels right, in relationships, in everything! Matt's schedule has been absurd lately and he's working a lot of evenings and weekends, and ends up having his days off during my 2 busiest days at work so it's been a "distance makes heart growing fonder" period and I think we're both ready for it to be back to normal.

Other than that, I've been redesigning Matt's website in my free time and I'm almost done! I'm not sure if learning how to make your own website is something that I'd call reasonable, it takes a great deal of patience and wine, but it's a really good skill to have and saves loads of money if you have a specific idea in mind and want something other than a Facebook page or a Blog. I'm on a roll with it this time and have been learning Rapidweaver (and love it).

Reasonable shopping tip of the day: Aldi is owned by the Koch brothers, and they're evil, but I love saving money, and I'm not sure anything other than growing your own food is un-evil, so here we go: Aldi has wine! WHAT?! Yep, seriously, and I seriously bought 2 bottles for $2.69 a bottle.

Tasty wine that cheap is like being in Paris (tangent: when I was in Paris I didn't really have enough money to eat, so I went to the grocery store across the street from my hostel and bought a baguette, a bottle of wine and some cheese and it lasted me a couple days, repeat with different wine and cheese - it definitely kept Franki and I going for 10 days, it was awesome!).  Anyway, the wine is called Winking Owl Wine - I bought the Cab Sav and the Shiraz. We've only tasted the Cab and it was every bit as delicious as the Cab Sav varieties that I buy at World Market for $12-20/bottle. Give it a shot, it's worth $2.69 to try it at least! In fact, buy 10 of them and give them as Christmas presents!

<--Try me!

Jeans, laminating fabric, sunglasses case and morals

I'm on a plane to Boston! We've been so busy the last couple weeks but there's time now, 30 thousand feet in the air, to write to you all and tell you what I've learned lately.

First things first, I unveiled my camel hair jacket today and it's lovely an fantastic. It still had the dry cleaning tags on it so I just gave it a very gentle steaming to get the wrinkles out of the lining and I just love it. It makes me feel like a British horse-rider; that sounds odd but hopefully you catch my drift.

Not sure I'd I mentioned this on here but I know I said it on FB, I recently lost 13 lb and all my jeans and pants are too short. It's fairly clear to me that I haven't grown, as I'm 30. I measured myself Just to make sure I'm not a feak of nature, still 5'5.5". Regardless of why, it's rather annoying and costly. I took the cuffs out of the dress trousers that had them but I was left with zero jeans that don't illicit the "what, are you expecting a flood or something?" looks so I headed to Savers to find some longer lengths. I found a pair of juniors Dear Ab jeans that were perfect, and $5.99. I've been wearing them and another pair that I bought at the same time (that unfortunately get baggy in the butt after wearing for more than an hour - what a drag, didn't have time to alter those before our trip). Long story longer, I built my vacation wardrobe around my dear abbie jeans and decided to be reasonable and only bring 3 pairs of shoes and 1 pair of jeans. It's only a weekend trip and they were perfectly neutral, no obnoxious faded spots on the thighs or under the booty that make me feel like I'm trying to look 19, which I'm not, thank god.

So this morning I put on a different pair thinking that I should perhaps rethink trusting in 1 pair, but alas, they were long enough but too short waisted and I just couldn't wear them on a 3 hour flight, back to the DA jeans, put them on and BLAM, hole by the pocket in the bum area. NOOO! At this point Matt and u had already planned on stopping by Kohls to look for a jacket for him. Alright readers, I seriously tried on 18 pairs of jeans in 30 minutes and was dripping with sweat. Found some! Good old Levis, they're called skinny flare, and I ended up getting a size bigger than what I think of as my size but something that I've learned is to buy the size that feels good and F the mind game about the #. Do you hear me? Who gives a crap what size your jeans are? Apparently I did for a long time; how ridiculous! I'm becoming more and more reasonable everyday. By the way, the purchase of these jeans starts the ticker over for buying only second hand or clearance items. Bummer! I'll sell all my high waters on eBay when we get home from Boston to make up for it!

While we're on the subject of jeans, who can wear skinny jeans? Dear sweet fashionista gods, I look atrocious in them and am forced to hide my enormous feet with flares, or bootcut. Let me help you visualize: I look like a pedestal with and enormo bubble ass on top when I try skinny jeans on. Seriously, not good. I also don't particularly care if anyone thinks I'm stuck in the 90s with my flares, I got rid of my thermo-colors and silk button ups so I'm alright.

In other news I tried my hand at laminating my own fabric and it's difficult and will require cleaning my iron. My mistakes: I used a vintage polyester checked fabric I bought at a thrift store and the slight stretch made it difficult to laminate. Also, the first step in the iron on laminate is to peel the backing and then place on top and then iron. It was very difficult to get it in place so that the iron didn't get attacked by the plastic on the edges. Here's what I learned, laminate a bigger piece than you need and then cut your piece to size, do Not use fabric with any stretch, and perhaps it would be easier to just buy some oilcloth online for the project I wanted to make anyway.

Here's the good news everyone: I did end up getting a small salvageable piece that I made a sunglasses case out of, so my keys don't scratch up my favorite pair in my purse. Here's a photo, sorry the photo is black and white, I was in a hurry and bought more hipstamic films and lenses and well, the fabric really is black and white anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

In more tech-savvy news, I've been learning some new things on excel, there's so much to learn! Check out ExcelisFun on YouTube, great tutorials.

Stay tuned for the AMAZING and super cute hair clips my mom is making and (she doesn't know it yet) but she will soon be selling them on Etsy!

Spray painted some more shoes, have more updates and tips when I return; some paint works better than others and soft leather is niche sehr gut for painted shoe projects, ruined a pair (maybe recoverable). We'll see!

Morals of the day from a more and more reasonable thirty something: #1: build your vacation wardrobe around your most comfortable shoes #2: earrings are my new favorite accessory, try them but pass them along if they're too heavy; who wants saggy earlobe? No one! #3: sell or donate all clothing that doesn't fit properly, this will leave room for your eyes to find your most beloved pieces #4: do not buy something trendy if it makes you look bizarre, makes you feel fat or makes you look like you're 19, or 12, or like you're trying too hard. #5: don't look at the size, buy what fits #6: protect what you love, regardless of how inexpensive it was (I.e.: my $2.99 sunglasses) #7: buy clothing from thrift and consignment shops out of season before it gets picked over!

Talk again soon my darlings!

Regarding Shoes and Their Comfort

The reason I want to learn to make shoes is because: 
#1: I love the preciseness, working with my hands and I also love shoe design
#2: I think people should own quality shoes, and have them last a lifetime
#3: These theories demand that a shoe be timeless, and I'm all about that
#4: You know "Buy Fresh/Buy Local" and "Made in America"? Well, I feel like we live in a throw away society, people buying shoes every season when they could be getting their heel tips replaced, leather and toe boxes repaired and honoring their shoes. Our shoes are our friends and should be repaired and loved, plus we need to stop using fuel to transport all of our needs all over the globe and look closer to home for the necessities. We will always need shoes!
#5: Comfort! I love comfortable shoes, but I'm not a huge fan of the way comfort shoes look; just because their comfortable doesn't mean they need to look orthopedic. This is evident in the pair of Dansko mary janes I have that I wore daily when working at Starbucks and this is probably due to my long thin feet, but they look like clown shoes on me. Ps. I wear a size 9; 39 in Birkenstock, 40 in Dansko, 10 in my brand of running shoes - my lack of awareness of their brand clearly reflects my lack of wanting to exercise. Maybe if they were prettier I'd be more compelled!

Anyway, stumbled across this youtube video and this is a really good idea: http://tinyurl.com/heelliner

In case you don't want to watch it, she takes non-slip/no slip shelf/drawer liner (or the same lattice type of spongy material that you put under rugs on a hard wood floor) and cuts non-slip heel pads and ball pads from them. She even put them on the bottom of her shoe so her gigantic cloggy heel wouldn't slid across the floor at the dance club. Again, I really do think this is a brilliant idea. I think putting it on the bottom of the shoes would crumble for me but I like the ball pad idea too.

Now that I've entered the land of endless color opportunities with almost any shoe I can find, I will never in my life buy uncomfortable shoes again. Even your most trusted heels, in another environment, can betray you. Matt and I went to Massachusetts in July for my most beloved best friend Melissa's wedding and he and I stopped through Boston on our way. We had tickets to see the Red Sox (love love love baseball!) and couldn't find a parking spot for several hours. We ended up parking over a mile and a half away and I had my vintage rust colored, wooden heeled beauties on. I love them, I wear them most of the summers, but apparently I've never run in them. Torture! Not only did I have blister-mania all over my toes, the strap broke on one of them, making them absolutely unwearable because of the design and balance of them. Matt is the best love in the whole world and bought me $30 CZ incrusted bulky Red Sox flipflops, in between the 8th and 9th inning which were the only 2 innings we got to see. Isn't he fantastic? The flipflops belong to a 13 year old, but I love the relief they provided. Note to self: when running through Boston, stick with the classic black Keds, of which I also love. Maybe my next trip to a big city, I'll dress up the Keds by dressing like the 50s, with some cigarette pants and a checkered button up.

Here are the betrayers. You can see the buckle has broken off of one of the shoes. I had just had the heel tips replaced when I decided to wear them out of their element. Maybe I was the betrayer, expecting them to perform in an alien territory. My feet were unpresentable for a while, and that's just sad. Do you love your toes? I do! last week I bought cherry red polish for them and a really nice glimmery slate color for my hands!

We're actually off to Boston again 2 weekends from now; my district won a trip. I'll be posting my wardrobe and shoe choices before I leave (if I end up being that prepared)!

Good words to live by: beauty can and should be comfortable, that's part of being a reasonable 30 something.

DIY Paint Your Shoes Part 2

Here are some more pictures. Matt has our camera so I've been over-using Hipstamatic on my seriously old iPhone, but I think they're cool and am sort of in love with the auto-filtration, it makes me feel like I'm looking through my grandma's scrapbook, and all the pictures are brittle and square. My grandmother was absolutely stunning; photo below. Actually both of my grandma's are gorgeous. I just went and looked and I don't have any scanned photos of my grandmas. That's out of control and I'm going to focus some energy on scanning all of my beloved photos. Flickr's the new scrapbook for me and I think I'll just surrender the idea of making tangible ones and get all the important ones online so I don't lose them, they don't deteriorate more and I don't spend thousands of dollars on scrap booking. I'll keep the ones I have, and protect them from the elements, but it'd be nice to have that weight off of me, I've been wanting to do something official with all my photos for years. Does everyone feel the way I do about technology? Do you feel like a digital image can be as sentimental as a tangible object?

 Sorry, side tracked, here are the pictures of future shoe projects and various steps of the DIY Shoe Painting Project, including more views of my red shoes!

Hooray!

The straps are a little tricky but patience goes a long way with this project. Wait for the shoe to dry as much as possible and lay out the strap nicely so you can paint it evenly, wait for one side to dry, then do the other. Or throw caution to the wind and paint the hell out of them.

And here are my newly finished wonder woman blue shoes. My shoes have super hero powers!

These were blah gray before. Don't get me wrong, I love gray, but these were not inspiring. Now they are!

The right most pair is destined to be a fuchsia, plum or magenta color; I haven't decided on the others.

Question: Doesn't everyone have too many pairs of black shoes (as documented as the middle pair in the photo). If the answer is yes, then you have no reason to hesitate going to Ace Hardware (they have the best color selection around here), and pick out a fantastic plum or deep orange for the fall - go for it, and then find a scarf or belt and purse that coordinates or matches and wear them all the time

Note that I taped the buckle on the light brown shoes, this is an important step because spray paint does not easily scrape off metal - as I learned the hard way and had to spend several minutes fixing my red shoes, and you know how excited I was to wear them, it was agony.

Also check out those fantastic oxfords, in my size! I couldn't believe that I found some for my feet for $7.99 (Savers - my favorite thrift store) and they look like they've barely been worn! I bought them even though they're poopy brown, and I was secretly wanting off-white or teal or such a good find that they would cost $200. I was thinking I could build an outfit around them, but now I can make them work for my wardrobe! And the possibilities are endless! What color do you think I should paint these?

DIY Paint Your Shoes Part 1

Whata-ya-know. I introduce the blog as one wherein I will talk about fashion and my first blog post is about cultured veggies. Well, here's the thing: I think being reasonable is being unafraid to try anything. I also want to live forever and I like the taste of veggies and fruit (and I love nutrition!). I also consider myself a recovered sugaraholic so I'm always looking for ways to curb the cravings and make myself super healthy and in turn, live forever.

In relation to living forever, I like feeling like I kick ass, and red heels can make that happen. I've been looking for the perfect pair of red shoes for over 2 years now. I've found plenty, but none that I could afford, or see myself wearing all day. Note that I'm in sales and in and out of my car all day, in restaurant kitchens, hospitals, day cares, long-term living facilities and just generally on my feet a lot. I didn't want my red shoes to look like stripper heels, I just wanted them to kick ass and make me feel like I could run the world. And I do! Here they are.

This was a DIY project. Yep! You can change the color of your favorite worn out or scuffed heels! These were a lame brown color and I currently own 4 pairs of brown heels and thought, I could stand to have those be a different color, they're comfortable and not yet ready to go to Good Will. Matt and I also took a shoe making workshop while we were in Massachusetts in August and so I've been more-than-normally obsessed with shoes as of late.

I found this video. Note: she's a creative peppy teenager but she took the plunge and trusted in many other people who have done the same thing and tried it. I, in turn, trusted and bought some glossy red paint that matched a belt I owned, took my time taping the soles, the insides and the heel (which is wooden and I like it just as it is). The results are amazing. I'm not shy about telling people about the amazing bargains I scored, or about my DIY projects and no one believes me when I tell them that I painted my shoes. Aren't they extraordinary and sassy?!

Notes and tips: take your time taping with the masking tape, the curves can be tricky. I also taped parts of the inside so I could get the top edge of my shoes red too. The glossy red took a couple hours in between each coat; I believe satin or flat spray paint might dry more quickly. I did get a scuff today, but it would have been the same with any patent leather shoes, it's not noticeable, but since I'm obsessed with them and would probably sleep with them on my night stand, I took a good look at them when I was done wearing them today. I've started painting some vintage pumps blue today (one more coat tomorrow), and I have a couple other pairs to transform when I decide what color to paint them. I'm going to buy all inexpensive comfortable cute shoes now regardless of color - this was exciting AND easy (the only hard part is waiting for them to dry), especially as I've been looking for the perfect red shoes (that I could afford) for a couple years!

So there you go. I'll post a picture of my "wonder woman" blue shoes soon too. I would allow any shoes that you paint to dry for several days before wearing them. Don't be afraid to re-tape and retouch and I put a clear coat on both of them and am trying my patience to let them dry for several days before hopping in them again! Also, embrace the patent sort of look - the blue paint I bought for my blue shoes was "satin" but ended up pretty glossy as well (which I don't mind). 

Also to come, pictures of my fantastic thrift store finds including my new camel hair blazer - drool (I might steam it or have it dry cleaned so that it looks fresh). Check out my Pinterest Outfits that I love to see what I reference when shopping at thrift stores or Shoe Ideas to get ideas for painting your own shoes.

Cultured Vegetables Kim Chi!

So I stumbled into a posting about eating cultured veggies and thought I'd read a bit more about it. 

Found here: 8 reasons why you should be eating cultured vegetables:

1. They aid digestion lessening the energy drain on your body (great for anyone that has a weak digestive tract and has a hard time digesting raw foods)

2. They help to eliminate toxins from the body

3. They help to restore a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria within the intestines

4. They help to reduce sugar cravings (this is reason ENOUGH!)

5. Eating animal protein creates toxic by-products in the intestines and by eating the veggies WITH the animal protein, it helps to turn these toxins back into healthy amino acids

6. They are extremely alkalizing and cleansing for the body. (They may make you a little gassy to begin with but once you get everything cleaned out then it will all start working nicely!) I had to go there…these things are important! A toxic colon is a toxic body people!

7. They increase your longevity. (As they allow you to reserve your body’s own enzymes for digestion, your body is better equipped to repair cells, eliminate toxins, strengthen your immune system etc)

8. They are perfect for pregnant and nursing women as they provide a healthy inner environment for good bacteria and can help alleviate morning sickness! Plus the liquid from the veggies can help relieve colic.

Here are some great links: 

*Sandor Ellix Katz (calls himself Sandorkraut!) is fantastic, check him out: Wild Fermentation (I'll buy the cookbook when I can and try some recipes and review them here!)

*I followed along with Sandor's video here: http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-raw-cultured-vegetables.html

*I also stumbled upon the Body Ecology Diet of which I will be purchasing, reading and reviewing on my blog!

Cultured Veggies Batch #1

Ingredients: green cabbage, golden beets, sweet potato, cilantro, apples and carrots

Created: 9/7/11

Tasted: 9/10/11

Verdict: Delicious, left out another 12 hours until 9/11/11, then put in fridge

Notes: Add more cilantro and more spices, consider adding a lot more apples to sweeten a bit and HUGE LESSON: you must release "pressure" build up 1-2 times daily. I didn't do this and bam! fuzzy vinegar smelling water all over my shirt and my kitchen. It's not as pretty as I would have liked but it's great; it's refreshing in an odd sort of way. It's fresher than sauerkraut and the flavors of the veggies were incredible. I might make a spicy version with some jalapenos or cherry peppers. I haven't gotten to the bottom of the jar to taste the carrots but I bet they're great. I didn't follow many rules and didn't "massage" my veggies, I just chopped them, left the baby carrots alone, put enough water in the jar to cover them, sealed them and let the magic cabbage probiotics do their thing. I did read somewhere that cabbage is the magic element if you don't want to have to buy a starter, and me being who I am (both impatient and wanting to do things the traditional and lesser expensive sort of way), just went for it to see if I could make it work. It's not picture worthy as it's sort of a milky cloudy whitish color that's sort of boring, but the orange of the sweet potatoes and carrots is nice in it.

Cultured Veggies Batch #2

Ingredients: red cabbage, white onions, radishes, cauliflower and parsley

Created: 9/8/11

Tasted: Not yet!

This batch is much prettier and I plan on tasting it tomorrow! Red cabbage is the key to gorgeous cultured veggies/fermented veggies/Kim Chi. You might not be able to tell from the photo but it's an absolutely beautiful bright magenta/fuchsia! I'll probably have to add salt and spices to this one as well but I'll keep that in mind when I make my next batch(es)! Also note, there is a sulfur type smell that comes along with the releasing of the pressure/fizz build up. I plan on making a couple batches at a time so that my fantastically supportive boyfriend will stop mentioning the old fart smell in our kitchen. HAH! 

Another thing, all of this has led me to be reintroduced to the book Nourishing Traditions

which I've known about for years, but haven't bought it yet. I do want to buy, read and follow this book. I will in time! I'm sort of a researchaholic and found ANOTHER link to a fermenting process that I've also known about for a while: kefir, and as Matt and I ridded ourselves and our home of High Fructose Corn Syrup over a year ago, we stopped drinking soda and started drinking fizzy water/sparkly water and I add flavored stevia to it. I've researched how to make my own flavored stevia and NOW I know how to make my own fizzy water! What? That's crazy talk. Nope, no it's not.

WATER KEFIR! I can't WAIT. Check out the link here!

Also check out this ambitious blogger who is trying to cook/prepare all 773 recipes in Nourishing Traditions! The Nourishing Cook.

Over and out!

I'm tired of the nonsense!

It's time! Time for what you ask? Time for a blog for working women, women that only have evenings and weekends to be crafty, women who love thrift stores and estate sales, women who refuse to spend a lot of money on clothes, but know a good deal when they see it (I just found a camel hair coat blazer for $10 yesterday!). I'm just discovering accessories, and this blog will be my continued discovery of reasonable fashion. Note: many awkward moments to follow - I'm sure of it! I also really love DIY projects, sewing, canning, nutrition, health and life.

The main themes are: fashion for reasonable thirty something-year-olds including non-moms and moms alike, saving money, looking cute, making healthy food (and finding alternative foods and drinks that are low calorie, no chemicals that replace my cravings) being green, saving the world and making things. 

I'm 30 and feel young and am tired of Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and Mod Cloth making dresses that are inappropriately short! I vowed never to try on clothing at Urban Outfitters in 2006 because regardless of my weight and tone or lack of toned muscles, their clothing and dressing room making me feel like #1: I'm trying to hard, #2: I'm overweight, even at my fittest and #3: ridiculous. Maybe I'm modest, or just don't like feeling like a hussy, and maybe it's because I'm 5'6" but I see no reason why they need to be so short. I'm low maintenance and like being able to pick things up without feeling like I'm flashing my undies to the world (or the creepo behind me at the store). Point being, I love dresses and skirts, but I also like looking older than 19, and for that, I have to dress my age. Plus, I think many short-skirt-wearers are unaware that mystery is fantastic and sexy, and classiness is timeless. Let's put the mystery and classiness back into daily wear!

I love clothes, I love thrift stores and haven't purchased a full priced and brand new piece of clothing in over a year, other than unmentionables - of which I'll write about on here because I also happen to be pear shaped and I'm just going to go ahead and say it aloud: "I have tiny boobs". But I kinda like my booty, so there.

So there you have it. I'm going to embrace the June Cleaver in me with sewing, altering; embrace the hippie in me with canning and nutrition, and embrace quirky DIYer/not-quite-fashionista with my ventures into altering thrift store finds and interesting color combinations. Hang in there with me as I venture into dressing like a lady land and making scarves, finding and making necklaces, bracelets, altering fantastic vintage finds to fit my tiny boobs, painting shoes, making shoes (once I get the tools) and making high waisted skirts and so on. Also note that I'm feisty and have an unexplained courage that I've always had, hope that doesn't offend you.