Okay, ladies and gents, we have a new contest running for you (and I’m super jealous over this one)! Deanna Bonilla - Origami Owl Independent Designer is giving away a free personalized mini locket! This is the perfect accent piece for any outfit (gents, your SO will love you for winning one for her ;-D).
All you need to do to enter is head on over to our contest post in the forum, reply with the best gift you have ever been given or received, and then head over and “Like” Deanna’s Origami Owl Facebook page. The contest winner will be chosen at random and will win one mini locket, one charm, and one chain of their choice! Hurry over, the contest ends on February 12, 2014 at midnight! Good luck and enjoy your locket for me! ;-)
Click here to check out all of Origami Owl's awesome jewelry options!
Today’s blog was a toss-up between Super-Bowl goodies and a healthy living idea, and I went for the healthy living idea. Sometimes it’s better to have a little healthy living inspiration. I was looking around some of my favorite sites and found a great break down for ideas for detoxifying and purifying with natural salts, and I had to share. I’m a big advocate for Himalayan rock salt, and have been for years. I used to sit with a bright and wonderful elderly woman years ago, as an aid, and she taught me the benefits of having a salt lamp lit in your environment at all times, and she only knew a few of the properties (that helped her daily). You can use is as bath salt, a neti pot wash, a sole elixir, an ambient lamp, or even the salt you use daily on your food.
As a bath salt: you can purchase Himalayan rock salt at most grocery and health food stores as regular, coarse salt as you would sea salt. By adding 2 cups of salt to your warm bath water, you create a rejuvenating and detoxifying spa bath. The dissolved salt draws out toxins from your body, while deep cleansing your skin and righting your energy.
As a neti pot salt: if you’re a neti pot user, you know that it is one helpful way to alleviate some of your sinus pain and congestion. With a slightly salted wash, you can increase the benefits of utilizing you neti pot. Adding Himalayan salt to your distilled or boiled water helps to prevent and alleviate a sinus infection (as an antimicrobial agent), reduce or eliminate seasonal allergies, and clear your postnasal drip.
As a sole elixir: To start, you need to make your sole. You need a plastic container or glass container with a plastic lid (no metal). Then you just fill ¼ of your container with salt and filtered water the rest of the way. Stir with a plastic utensil or shake well, and then let it sit overnight…that’s it! There should always be undissolved salt at the bottom, that’s how you know that the water is saturated. To use your sole, take one tablespoon a day, first thing in the morning, in a full glass of water. Now for the crazy list of benefits!
-Detoxifies the body by balancing your pH
-Reduces muscle cramps by improving hydration and mineral content
-A powerful antihistamine
-Supports weight loss by balancing hormones
-Assists in balancing blood sugar levels
-Improves sleeping habits
-Supports thyroid and adrenal function
-Helps balance blood pressure through unrefined, mineral-rich salt in an ionic solution
As an ambient salt lamp: this is where my education started. The woman that I learned from kept her lamp going because the negative ions that it produced help keep her arthritis at bay, as well as helping her to breathe easier. I now know that a lot of this is because the bad things in the air we breathe (pollen, pollution, dirt, dust, etc.) have a positive energy charge. A lit lamp acts as a natural air purifier (moisture in the air lands on the salt lamp, creates a salt water mix, and then the moisture evaporates with the warmth of the light bulb, putting the evaporated Himalayan salt into the air). The lamp emits negative ions that attach themselves to the bad particles in the air, turning them neutral, which causes them to no longer be airborne.
Lastly, as your everyday salt: you can pretty much gather from the rest of the post the benefits of taking Himalayan salt into your system. Possibly the easiest way of doing so is by replacing your regular salt in your salt shaker with this rock salt and enjoy!
I’m always looking for new options for safely cleaning my (and your) home. I don’t have little ones of my own, yet, but I do live with 2 (sometimes 3) four legged children who are into everything and always licking everything. Because of this, I try to stick as natural as possible with my cleaning products. And let’s face it, I also try to be as frugal as possible, and usually home-made cleaners tend to be a lot easier on my pocket book than store bought ones are, too! Especially the organic, healthier store bought cleaners. Here are a couple new recipes I just found to try all around the house.
For your mirrors, in an empty spray bottle, just combine 1 ½ cups of water with ½ cup of vinegar. Add 5 to 10 drops of lemon essential oil if you would like to add a fragrance, as well as extra cleansing/disinfecting properties.
Keep your toilet clean and chemical free with straight vinegar. When you want to sanitize and deodorize your toilet, pour a little (or a lot) of scented or regular vinegar straight into the bowl. Keep additional vinegar in a spray bottle to wipe down the seat. When you need an extra scrub, sprinkle baking soda into the bowl and scrub it around with a sturdy brush.
For a great disinfectant for walls, door-knobs, toys, etc (anything that hands and mouths may touch) make a diluted vinegar spray of equal parts vinegar and water. To keep your home from smelling like a salad (as mine often does) add a couple drops of your favorite essential oil to keep your home smelling fresh and clean.
For your floors and countertops, a castile soap mixture will do the trick. This also works great on your walls, too, when you just need to brighten them up and not disinfect. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of castile soap and 10 drops of lemon essential oil to a gallon of hot water. Stir well and you’re ready to go. If your floors or countertops are greasy, add an additional 1/8 cup of vinegar to the mix, as well.
I know all of you parents (and non-parents, like me, who just never grew up) are going to be looking for something simple and fun to pass the time tomorrow if we end up with another snow day…and right now it’s looking pretty darn likely. How about this fun, homemade snow-dough for indoor shenanigans once everyone is cold-weathered out? (Which is going to be pretty quick, playing in the snow isn't the same when it’s only 18 degrees out!) This easy dough will be especially perfect for Dough-Men ((as opposed to snowmen)) because we're keeping it white and making it glittery!
You'll need the following to start:
-A medium-sized pot
-1 cup of flour
-1 cup of water
-2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
-1/4 cup salt
-1 tablespoon oil
-glitter
In your pot, combine all of your ingredients (with glitter being added last) and stir together thoroughly. Next, heat the mixture over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until it turns into dough. Remove it from the heat, allow it to cool until handle-able, and then knead until smooth. Your play dough is now ready for snowy day enjoyment!
Do you ever get those unsurmountable cravings for delicious, homemade baked treats? I do on the regular (doesn’t matter the “time of the month”, though some are worse than others…) and I usually end up taking to Google for searches like “3 ingredient desserts” or “easiest sugar cookie recipes.” I’ve come up with some amazing results, as well as some attempts that have gone horribly wrong! One popular Google search for me is “One minute Mug Cakes.” Here is one that is super simple, and actually almost healthy (with its Paleo ingredients).
This is a super-fast, 2 minute Paleo Chocolate Frosted Vanilla Mug Cake!
Cupcake Ingredients:
-1 heaping tablespoon coconut flour (or flour of choice)
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-a dash sea salt
-1 tablespoon honey
-1 egg
-1 tablespoon melted ghee (vegetable oil or clarified butter work as substitute)
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 teaspoon honey
-1 teaspoon coconut oil
Start by just combining all of your cake ingredients in a microwave safe mug or bowl. Stir them very thoroughly, and then pop it into the microwave for 1:45.
Combine your frosting ingredients in separate bowl. Microwave for 20 second, or until completely melted. Stir your mixture together until its smooth, and then pour over your hot mug cake and enjoy! If you’d like a more “frosting” like consistency to your chocolate, pop the iced cake into the refrigerator for 5 minutes first and then enjoy!
We all want to look our very best at all times, but why not start a new regiment with the new year that will not only help you look your best, but help keep you looking younger longer? It’s never too late to start giving your skin and body a helping hand, but I learned that hard way that you're never too young to start, either! Here are a couple fabulous tips to help you look and feel years younger!
Start with a fabulous pair of sunglasses and actually wearing them! We're all guilty of forgetting our sunglasses exist, and then just squinting and dealing with the sun instead. When you do not only is this horrible for your eyes, but it also creates crow’s feet around your eyes and wrinkles on your forehead. Remember those fabulous glasses to relax and smooth away the wrinkles.
Be sure to get plenty of beauty sleep. We all have a tendency of overbooking our days and then, more often than not, not allowing our bodies to play catch-up! When we rely on less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep, our skin, brains, and bodies don’t have the opportunity to completely refresh. This not only leaves us with those dark bags under our eyes, but makes our whole body age more rapidly. Try heading to bed a little earlier than usual (if possible) to help your body and metabolism rejuvenate.
Ditch the liquid/matte cover up. In actuality, liquid foundation and cover up have never been your friends, clogging your pores and aging your skin, but as we get older it is particularly unkind. Liquid cover up has a habit of filling in and emphasizing the cracks and imperfections that we're trying to hide in the first place. Switch to mineral and powder cover ups and foundations for a more flawless look that compliments your skins current state, and even helps it repair and replenish.
Slather yourself in sunscreen and moisturizer all year round. The best way to help your skin retain its youthful glow, and to help if get some of that glow back, is to help keep if quenched and protected. Protected skin is happy skin: it won’t have to be burned or wrinkled by the sun and it won’t have to worry about drying out and trying to replenish itself.
Attention all Mommies-to-be! We have another fun contest running just for you. Our good friends over at A Heavenly Delivery are hosting a “Free Celebration Display or Baby Announcement Display” for you to be able to tell the world about your little one’s arrival.
All you have to do to enter is reply to the contest thread and tell us your due date and what you are looking forward to most about your newborn baby.
The contest will run until Midnight of January 14th. Only one entry per username.
For birth announcements, just give them a call after the baby has been born to let them know when the new mother and child will be discharged. Before mom and baby come home from the hospital, they will set up one of their "Super Stork" or "Big Headed Baby" signs to greet them! Their 6 foot tall signs are personalized with baby's information; first & middle name, date of birth, weight and length and the best part is the new parents get to keep the personalized keepsake!
Our winner will receive: A free celebration display or 7 day baby announcement display.
Happy New Year all! I’m hoping that everyone had a happy and a safe New Year, and that you're planning on having a happy and safe first snow/blizzard of the year! While you’re homebound, why not try a super simple DIY project or two?! I just saw this shared on a friend’s page, and had to share here! It was a super simple and fast fabric softener crystals recipe!
You literally only need two items:
-Epsom salt
-Essential oils of choice
To create your softener crystals all you need do is mix 10+ drops of your favorite oil scents to 1 cup of Epsom salt. Mix your ingredients together to distribute the oil and you’re done! Add about ¼ cup of the mixture to your laundry right at the beginning of the cycle with your detergent. Not only is this a great way to cut a cost, while also getting the exact scent that you love, but it also cuts down on the chemicals in your family’s environment.
LIFamilies
November - 2014
October - 2014
September - 2014
August - 2014
July - 2014
June - 2014
May - 2014
April - 2014
March - 2014
February - 2014
January - 2014
2013
