Homemade Organic Blonde Highlights

The other week I attempted to highlight my hair at home using all organic materials. In an effort to save money and not put the chemicals into my body from the highlights at the salon.  I whipped up a recipe based on a couple I found online, here and here.

I boiled 5 bags of organic Calendula tea in about 2 cups of water.  Next time I am going to try less water, like half of a cup,  in order to make more of a paste instead of something liquid.

Once the tea was done, I added the juice of 4 organic lemons, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar.

Then I added another 1/2 cup of local, organic Tupulo honey. 

Penelope kept doing the sign for hat, while she was watching me do the highlights.  She thought I put one some crazy tin foil hat.

Making the recipe was easy-peasy, actually applying it, is when things turned into a sticky mess. I tried, in vein, to put the liquid on like they do at the hair salon. So parted my hair and used a wooden skewer to make little weave sections of my hair. You know what I am talking about? How at the salon they use the pointy end of a comb to section your hair to make the highlights look natural? And then they cover it with a foil.

Yeah, well that shit didn't work for me. So I ended up just dumping the liquid on my head and let it sit for 20 minutes. It made a huge mess in my bathroom sink, but at least it was tasty and no chemicals in my eye or in the air for Penelope.

Then I washed my hair like normal. When my hair was dry, I did in fact see a difference. All my blond highlights I have from getting them done professionally in the past, were much lighter. But it did nothing for my dark roots or for my white hairs, so in my case it was a flop.

But if YOU have dirty blond hair naturally and want some subtle, natural highlights, this is perfect.

I froze the rest of the batch that I didn't use, so next time I will try to go outside and let my hair dry in the sun- the effect is suppossed to be stronger that way.

This post is apart of The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania.

Penelope's 1st Birthday!

Penelope's 1st Birthday had no real theme, other than the colors yellow and teal.  I originally wanted to do a Fall colors theme and go off the colors of mums, like purple, orange and lime green.  But then I saw this fabric and fell. in. love. 

Here is the birthday girl in the dress I made and matching hair bow, which she promptly ripped off her head.  I double lined it with a thick cotton, for extra warmth, and I made a bit big so she could wear it for as long as possible.  Here are a couple of other pillow case dresses I have made.

Yes, that's right, I was color coordinated.

All the kiddos, hanging out in the backyard.  It was such a surreal experience to see them all running around in our backyard and playing-and it made us realize we need to get a swing set or sand box or something other than a vegetable garden for them to play with!  It was a beautiful day and to have our back yard full of kids and families we love, made my heart oh, so happy.  It really was the perfect party.

Home-girl did not like her cake!  I made the tastiest cake, all organic and homemade, but it did not please her highness.

View from the front of the house.  We tied a big bunch of balloons to the mailbox.  Papa and Omi were on balloon and cupcake duty that morning, good job guys!

This is the what the sign on the front door looked like.  It matched the Footprint Decoration I had on display on the back wall in the play room.

Here are the play room decorations.  It was the area for her gifts and the party favors I made.  I made the banner in the background.  It was very simple to make.  I just cut out triangles with pinking sheers and stuck them inside yellow bias tape and sewed a straight line.

I even had color coordinating wrapping paper for her gifts from us, which made me feel very Martha-like.  I actually just happened to have it on hand, which was cool.  And I had tons of tissue left over from making her number 1 sign.  I got that idea here. I taped the fabric to the canvas to easily take it off and I also hot glued the tissue paper to a paper number one and then lightly taped that to the fabric, so once I get up the nerve to take it apart, I can use the fabric to make something else later.

I had yellow flowers of all kinds throughout the house.  We bought them a few days before, so that they were in full bloom the day of her party.  That was actually a tip from my husband, he is an engineer, and apparently a closet, flower designer.  Who knew?

A close up of the Footprint Decoration.  Everyone loved looking at her pictures and tiny footprints!

The party favors all wrapped up.  Remember when I made these way back when? I put three flower crayons in each box, lined with yellow tissue. Then I cut out a piece of cellophane, then laid down a piece of tissue and wrapped it up and tied with a piece of teal ribbon.

The food.  I just did a couple of appetizers, I did Feta Black Bean Dip and Raspberry Cheese Spread from the cookbook I helped put together,  A Thyme to Celebrate, and then of course we had cupcakes and cake.  We had her party in the late afternoon, so it was perfect.

I got as creative as I could using things around my house in order to do this party on the cheap. This table cloth is actually a shower curtain!  I also took down a picture from from her bedroom to use as decoration and used mason jars for the flower vases.  Then, I went a little bow happy and tied bows to everything I could.

I made the cake, but we ordered cupcakes from the Cake Shop.  I added teal blue sprinkles on one bunch and yellow ones on the other myself...apparently they don't do any icing coloring for you...

I got the little elephant platters at IKEA years ago.  We were in there to get something very specific, but when I saw these plates my heart stopped and I had to have them.  They matched perfectly with decor! 

Here's a close up the of the flowers at the food table.  I LOVE mason jars!

The cake!  And borrowed cake stand. I must, must, must buy a cake stand soon!  Oh, and the glass in the background has lemon drops candy in them.

Her highchair all decked out with her mini banner and balloons.  That butterfly still has air in it, I kid you not.

I used three different fabrics throughout the house and on her decorations.  I could just stare at this fabric all day long.  It makes me happy!  I made her invitations with the same fabrics as well.

This is not exactly a masterpiece.  The party date was looming and I still hadn't figured out what to do with her hat, so I just came up with this last minute.  Whatever, it wasn't a showstopper, but it was cute and color coordinating.

The drink station.  We bought teal blue plates and cups and yellow napkins at Party Station.  I happened to have the drink tub on hand, and I think I got it at Target.  The drink dispensers we got at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I ended up taking them back because they didn't dispense very fast.

I used 12 organic lemons in the glass jar as the centerpiece. I debated about not getting organic lemons, since they were just decoration and all, but I am so glad I did, because my common sense kicked in after the party and I made fermented lemonade with them!

This is the view from the backyard.  Those pom-poms were pretty annoying to make and store, but they looked gorgeous.

Here is the tutorial on how to make them.  Do not stack more than 8 sheets.  I tend to over exaggerate when following directions for crafting and cooking, but stay inside the lines on this one folks.

And lastly, I had some left over flower petals from her decoration in the play room above, so I hot glued them to some wooden sticks and made an easy, cheap flower arrangement.

I modpodged this $5 glass vase from Micheal's, I have the need to modpodge anything I can now, it's really addicting!

That's all folks! My beautiful girl's first birthday!
I am so proud of myself that I pulled it off and managed to stay calm. I kept reminding myself to enjoy the moment and in the end, I did. I loved the whole process, I started crafting and planning, months and months in advance and did everything is slow bits. I hope when Penelope looks back at these pictures one day, I hope she feels loved, not by the end result but by the thought and care that went into each thing.

Last Minute Homemade Gift Ideas

Like you don't have 5 million other things to be doing right now, but JUST in case, here are few super cute, last minute, homemade, and best of all, EASY and CHEAP gift ideas.

These are some organic sugar body scrubs I made. Here is the full tute here. It was very easy. I put Penelope in her highchair to supervise, since I don't have one of these (oh, please Santa, bring me on for Christmas!) and it took 15 minutes from start to finish, including the fabric tops.  Oh and I made mine with olive oil instead of coconut oil and used far more lavender drops than they recommend in the tute.

For the tops, I just cut out three squares from scrap fabric. Remember this stack of remnants I scored in Havana? You put the flat lid of the mason jar on first, then lay down the fabric, then screw on the other part of the lid. I also tied some bows and slapped on a From Stephanie's Kitchen sticker, that I bought from the Polka Dot Press a couple of years ago. I have seen several free downloadable versions online though, so search around first.

This is a 5 minute apron, no joke. I bought a napkin from World Market, I originally wanted to buy a dish towel, but they didn't have any I was in love with and the napkin was only $2.99. I had the red buttons and the ribbon on hand from previous project. I sewed the ribbon and button on and then trimmed the ribbon to be able to wrap around my waist twice.

I got the idea from another local, crafty gal (actually her MIL to be exact), she has a super cute blog too.

Here are couple more ideas:

Clothespin Gift Tags, every since I modpodged some old wipe containers and glass vases for Penelope's birthday, I want to modpodge everything.

Wine Gift Bag


Homemade Cocoa Powder, thanks for the link Ashely!


And when I went to Prudent Baby to get a link for the sugar scrub above, I saw that they are doing the EXACT same post over there...I swear I came up with this post idea on my own! So for even more ideas check them out here, they are the masters.

Holiday Mantel Inspiration

 

Thought I'd share a little holiday decorating tip!


I really love simple, nature-inspired holiday decor and this one is very easy and cheap to do!

 

First get some cheapy ornaments from Micheal's or some other place. The day after Christmas is when I buy any holiday decorations, always a steal to be found.

Then get some Frasier Fir branches for FREE when you get your Christmas Tree.


Trim them up to fit the size of your mantel and then mess with their placement until you are happy with how it looks.

 

Then I had Peter go outside and cut down some branches from our Japanese Ceder tree for some variation.

 

Lastly, place ornaments on top of the tree branches, varying in size, color and texture. 


I like a monochromatic look, but I think mixing up the colors would also look pretty. In the past, I have done this with all white candles and one year I did it with just pine cones. Most of my holiday decor stays the same each year, so it's fun to have an area that I change it up each year.


What does your mantel look like this year?

Homemade All Purpose Spray Cleaner

I have been using green/enviromentaly friendly cleaners for a long time. I have used several different brands over the years and I love Seventh Generation, but its pretty expensive. I also really love using Shaklee. You can buy little vials of the ingredients and then you just add water and put it all in a spray bottle.

A couple of months ago I started making my own All-Purpose Spray. It is so easy! The recipe I use is actually really similar to the diaper wipe spray I make, except this has vinegar in it. And it works just as good, if not better, than Seventh Generation!

These are the things you will need to make your own:
-Spray Bottle. You can get these anywhere, the dollar store, target, etc.
-Distilled White Vinegar
-Dish Soap
-Lavender and Tea Tree essential oil.

Once you have gathered up all your ingredients, fill up your spray bottle with water.  I use a 1 to 4 ratio of water and vinegar.  That means if you have 4 cups of water, you put in 1 cup of vinegar.  Then I add the dish soap.  I just eye balled it, it was probably a half a tablespoon worth, I don't like mine very sudsy.  Then I added the esstential oils.   Probably 10 drops of Tea Tree oil and 5 of Lavender.  Gently mix it up and viola you have Homemade All Purpose Spray! 

Next up, I am going to try and make Homemade Laundry Soap.  It will end up costing me 1 penny a load!

Liquid Gold: Homemade Chicken Stock

A few weeks ago I made chicken stock from scratch. While I was making it, I was thinking how similar homemade stock is to breast milk. You know how people say breast milk is liquid gold because its so nourishing? Well, homemade chicken stock is like that as well, and it really looks like liquid gold. The cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, quotes Ageless Remedies from Mother's Kitchen, when describing chicken stock, saying it "heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength.



















Its also very tasty. Just yesterday, I was doing my Once A Month Cooking and I made Chicken Pot Pie with some of my broth. I have made the dish before, but this time using my own broth, it was much more flavorful.

When I made stock before, I froze it in large mason jars and it was really cumbersome to store, defrost and actually use the stock. Back then we didn't have a deep freezer so that was part of the problem. This time I went about it differently and stored them in plastic bags.  That way, you can freeze them flat like bricks and they take up less room in the freezer.   I did several 3 cup bags and lots of 1 cup bags, so I could just pull them out as needed and not waste any stock.

Here is the recipe from Nourishing Traditions:

1 whole free range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts ( I used pieces from 4 chickens and doubled the recipe)
4 quarts cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery sticks, coarsly chopped
1 bunch parsley

Place chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley.  Let stand 30 minutes to an hour.  Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 24 hours.  The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be.  About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add the parsley.

Remove chicken pieces with slotted spoon.   Strain the stock into a large bowl and put in the fridge till the fat rises to the top and congeals.  Skim off this fat and reserve the stock in covered containers in your fridge or freezer.

Baby Finger Painting Art Project: Part 2

When Penelope was done finger painting, I cut out the prettiest section of her art and framed it up for Peter's gift.

Pretty cool, huh?

Here is Miss P giving her Papa his present, which he loved! Baby-finger-painting-art-project success!