Saturday, January 9, 2010
Totally Natural Beauty Recipes
Citrus Moothwash
A great way to freshen your mouth. The hydrogen peroxide will brighten teeth & kill bacteria. The lemon neutralizes bad breath.
3/4 cup chilled seltzer
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup hydrogen peroxide (3%)
3 strips of lemon peel
Place ingredients in a bottle: shake well. Rinse for 30 seconds after brushing. Mouthwash can be stored in fridge.
Skin Soother Spray
Great for sunburned skin. The witch hazel dials down the heat, aloe vera is a anti-inflammatory and the honey hydrates.
1/4 cup witch hazel
1/4 cup aloe vera gel
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
8 drops lavender essential oil
1 tsp honey
Pour witch hazel, aloe vera and water into an 8-oz spray bottle. Whisk oil and honey in a small bowl until blended. Add to bottle, shake well, and mist. Store spray in fridge.
Color-enhancing hair rinse
Great post summer treatment for your hair. The peppermint will invigorate your scalp.
2 peppermint tea bags
2 tea bags tailored to your hair color
chamomile tea for blonde or light brown;
black tea for brunette or black;
red hibiscus for red.
Boil 1 gallon wate: steep all 4 tea bags for 3 minutes (or add ice to hasten). After shampooing and condition ing, place a large bowl in the sink and lean over it, flipping hair over head. Pour tea over hair, letting it drip into bowl. Pour any leftover in bowl back over hair. Squeeze out excess & style as usual.
A great article from one the magazines my grandmother introduced me to.
Sharing the Harvest
What starts as a seed of an idea grows to a harvest of sharing!
A friend and I were having lunch one day last November.
“Did you see that story in the paper?” I asked, staring guiltily at my plate. “The economy’s so bad schools are sending food home in kids’ backpacks. Here in Zebulon! Someone should do something.”
My friend nodded. “I know. It’s like that verse in Leviticus: ‘When you harvest your crops, don’t reap the corners. Make sure you leave some for the poor.’ Too bad people don’t just share with each other.”
Too bad I wasn’t a farmer.
That night, my friend’s words running through my head, I turned on the computer. Suddenly, ideas came as fast as I could type.
What if I got some seeds at a nursery and grew them till they were hardy enough to give away? Anyone who took a starter plant had to sign a pledge to share their harvest.
Before I knew it I had a blog. I ended with a plea: “Seeds and gardening tools, please!” I posted that plea on every site I could think of.
God bless the internet. Packets of seeds started showing up in my mailbox. Neighbors lent tools. Someone even offered a bunch of old windows to make a greenhouse. I didn’t know anything about greenhouses. “Guess that’ll be my job,” said my husband, Frank.
A few months later we were nurturing nearly 2,000 plants. By the end of April we picked a location for our giveaway. I blogged about it and put an ad in the paper.
People started lining up at 8:30 a.m. By noon we’d given practically every plant away and collected nearly a hundred pledges—in a town of 4,000!
One family said they’d take their harvest to a senior home. Another planned to grow vegetables for a women’s shelter.
Oh, right. One more thing. Frank and I had to plant a garden too. His boss lent us two vacant acres, and since June we’ve been giving away our harvest twice a week.
Share with each other. I don’t despair so much about the economy in our town anymore. I’m busy following the Master Gardener’s instructions.
-----
Read more stories about neighbors helping each other out in:
Job One
Road Pals
One Last Stop
The Very Good Doctor
“Did you see that story in the paper?” I asked, staring guiltily at my plate. “The economy’s so bad schools are sending food home in kids’ backpacks. Here in Zebulon! Someone should do something.”
My friend nodded. “I know. It’s like that verse in Leviticus: ‘When you harvest your crops, don’t reap the corners. Make sure you leave some for the poor.’ Too bad people don’t just share with each other.”
Too bad I wasn’t a farmer.
That night, my friend’s words running through my head, I turned on the computer. Suddenly, ideas came as fast as I could type.
What if I got some seeds at a nursery and grew them till they were hardy enough to give away? Anyone who took a starter plant had to sign a pledge to share their harvest.
Before I knew it I had a blog. I ended with a plea: “Seeds and gardening tools, please!” I posted that plea on every site I could think of.
God bless the internet. Packets of seeds started showing up in my mailbox. Neighbors lent tools. Someone even offered a bunch of old windows to make a greenhouse. I didn’t know anything about greenhouses. “Guess that’ll be my job,” said my husband, Frank.
A few months later we were nurturing nearly 2,000 plants. By the end of April we picked a location for our giveaway. I blogged about it and put an ad in the paper.
People started lining up at 8:30 a.m. By noon we’d given practically every plant away and collected nearly a hundred pledges—in a town of 4,000!
One family said they’d take their harvest to a senior home. Another planned to grow vegetables for a women’s shelter.
Oh, right. One more thing. Frank and I had to plant a garden too. His boss lent us two vacant acres, and since June we’ve been giving away our harvest twice a week.
Share with each other. I don’t despair so much about the economy in our town anymore. I’m busy following the Master Gardener’s instructions.
-----
Read more stories about neighbors helping each other out in:
Job One
Road Pals
One Last Stop
The Very Good Doctor
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