DIY Cinnamon & Clove Mouthwash

I finally cut all of the yucky commercial products out of my oral care routine! I gave up toothpaste 3 months ago and opted to brush with coconut oil instead, because of its awesome benefits (antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial to name a few) (Source: Treatment of Dermal Infections With Topical Coconut Oil). I've also started oil pulling with coconut oil most mornings as well. (For more information about oil pulling, check out this article.)

I haven't used mouthwash in quite some time, but I did miss that squeaky clean feeling it gives me. After receiving a HUGE bottle of vodka for Christmas (to add to the already large bottle sitting on top of my fridge), I decided to search for ways to use it, other than drinking it. Let's face it... I'm not much of a drinker, so it's basically a lifetime supply for me.

After reading a lot of different recipes, I learned about the different herbs and their benefits. There are so many different combinations of herbs that can be used for mouthwash, but I used ingredients that I had on hand and are easily accessible (in my opinion). Easily accessible, to me, means that you can find it at the grocery store, and you don't need to do any running around or special ordering.

My oral care routine:
homemade toothpaste (coconut oil & clove)
& cinnamon/clove mouthwash

DIY Mouthwash Recipe

Directions

1. Add 1 cup of water and the cinnamon stick to a small pot and bring to a boil. As the water heats up, prepare the the rest of the herbs by placing them in a measuring glass or mason jar (it must be a glass container).
2. After the water comes to a rolling boil, pour it and the cinnamon stick into the glass with the herbs and allow it to steep for 5 minutes. 
3. When the herbs are done steeping, strain the miture into a mason jar (or whatever glass container you'll be storing your mouthwash in) using a coffee filter. Add the last 1/2 cup of water and the vodka. Allow to cool completely before using.

The Finished Product

I was pleasantly surprised by the cinnamon/clove flavor, and I thought they complimented each other quite nicely. It even reminded me of a toned-downed version of Crest's cinnamon mouthwash! If you prefer a stronger flavor, simply leave the extra 1/2 cup of water out next time. If you need a sweeter flavor, try adding some honey or stevia. The beauty of this recipe is that there's room to play with it, depending on what herbs you have and the results you desire!

Obviously this mouthwash isn't kid-friendly because of the vodka, but if you wanted to make one for children you could easily leave that out. If you have fresh mint, you could also try using that in place of the cinnamon for a minty flavor. I plan on trying this soon!

Helpful Resources

This mouthwash wasn't adapted from one recipe in particular. I actually put this recipe together myself after a lot of research on the subject of homemade mouthwash. Here are some of the sources that were most helpful:

• How to Make All-Natural Mouthwash (3 Recipes)
• BreathMD: Homemade Mouthwash

Double-Duty Orange-Infused Vinegar: Hair Rinse & Household Cleaner!

This post was originally inspired by a Facebook post (click here to see it).

I've mentioned before that I love double-duty DIY products! Reusing tea bags and leftover coffee for conditioning hair rinses, and old coffee grounds as a facial scrub are just some examples. Well, I was peeling a mandarin orange for my son one day and I thought, "These smell too delicious to just throw down the garbage disposal!" (Although, that is one way to repurpose orange peels and freshen up your disposal. Can you say "double-duty?") I then remembered that my mom had shared a post to my Facebook page about soaking orange peels in vinegar for 2 weeks to create your own orange-infused vinegar! I had everything I needed, so I went ahead and tried it.

Basic Concept:

The instructions for this project were quite simple: fill a jar with orange peels, cover the orange peels with vinegar, and let them soak for 2 weeks.

I actually made two different batches. I decided to add rosemary and a cinnamon stick to one jar, because of their benefits to hair. A week later, and one sniff, let me know that the cinnamon/rosemary one will only be for cleaning! The cinnamon smell was so strong I wouldn't even dream of trying it on my scalp. Some folks actually experience a burning sensation with cinnamon, so I didn't want to risk it - especially considering how strongly it smelled. Thankfully, I had made one normal batch that could still be used for my hair.

Straining the Vinegar:

Strain the vinegar before using it (trust me, the rosemary and orange peels will clog your spray bottle). Simply place a strainer over a bowl or measuring glass, and pour the orange-infused vinegar into the strainer. You may need a fork to get all of the orange pieces out. I suggest letting them sit for awhile so that the excess vinegar can drip down.

I only took pictures while straining the vinegar with the orange peels.

The final product is orange-colored.
Save the orange peels and use them again!

For Cleaning:

If you're using your orange-infused vinegar for cleaning, like the rosemary/cinnamon one I created, then you only need to dilute it to  50% with water. Mine smelled incredibly strong because I used a whole stick of cinnamon (too much, by the way), so my ratio was more like 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar. I seriously recommend using a very small amount of cinnamon or just leaving it out all together.  Nobody in my household was a big fan. However, it was pretty great at removing hard water stains.

Add it to a spray bottle or squirt bottle to make cleaning easier.

For Hair:

If you've read any of my Going No Poo post, you might know that I'm a big fan of using apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. This orange-infused vinegar (you can use white vinegar or ACV) can also be used on hair! Dilute it to your preferred vinegar rinse solution. If you're a first-timer, you should start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of the orange-infused vinegar per 1 cup of water. The orange peels are great at removing excess oil, so you definitely don't want to overdo and remove too much of your natural sebum.

After You're Done:

Don't toss those orange peels yet! You can use the same orange peels and repeat the process all over again! I've only reused them once so far, but I'll definitely try it again after the second batch is done.

My Experience:

I absolutely loved the orange-infused vinegar! The orange, rosemary, and cinnamon one... not so much. It came in handy when the newest fur baby in our house had an accident on the carpet though - it definitely covered up the urine smell. Adding the cinnamon was a fail, in my opinion, but there was no way I was going to let it go to waste.

7 Days of Christmas: Day 7 - Cookies & Hot Chocolate for Santa (Bonus: Track Santa's Journey)

If you're in need of some easy last minute cookie recipes for Santa, look no further.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

While it's not the healthiest, one of my go-to recipes in the past were peanut butter blossoms. It was always a favorite, so I never rocked the boat by trying to tweak it or make it healthier. The peanut butter recipe was actually on a Jif peanut butter container (check it out here). For peanut butter blossoms, all you have to do is add a Hershey's Kiss immediately after taking them out of the oven.

Click here to get the recipe!

Cookie Bars

After reading some blog posts about how to use up Halloween candy back in October, I stumbled upon a cookie bar recipe that was actually from scratch! I love it because you can use whatever candy you have on hand (or pick red and green candies for Christmas!). This is the perfect recipe to use up any half full bags of chocolate chips or candy you might still have left over from Halloween (believe it or not, we do). Get the recipe here!

Click here to get the recipe!

Hot Chocolate Recipe

Sometimes Santa gets bored of plain old milk with his cookies... and by Santa, I mean me. Why not switch it up this year with an easy hot chocolate recipe? Don't forget the marshmallows! Try some of these easy and awesome recipes!


My son wants to leave out hot chocolate and eggnog, as well as a note asking which Santa prefers. That's totally fine with me, because Daddy likes eggnog and Mommy likes hot chocolate!

Track Santa's Journey!

Find out where Santa is right now with Google Santa Tracker! You and your children can see where he is, and what his next stop will be! Check it out here!


Happy Holidays to everybody! Don't get so wrapped up with everything that you forget to enjoy yourself!

7 Days of Christmas: Day 6 - Cheap, Last-Minute Christmas Gifts!

If you're like me, and you wait until the last minute to buy/make Christmas gifts, then these quick, cheap, and last-minute options will be right up your alley!

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Spoiler Alert for anybody we give gifts to: this is what you're getting this year. Hope you like Teriyaki! I can't remember where I got this recipe for the life of me, but it's extremely simple. What I love about this gift is that it's practically free. We up-cycled old lemonade bottles for the container, and we usually have all of the ingredients on hand. All I did for the label was print some business card size labels in Microsoft Publisher, punched a hole in each one, and tied them around the bottles with a ribbon.

Teriyaki Recipe Ingredients 1-2 teaspoons oil (for coating pan) 1/2 teaspoon Ginger, grated (about 1/2 inch piece) 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced (about 2-3 large cloves) 1/2 cup Water 1/2 cup Soy Sauce 1/2 cup Brown Sugar 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (I use 1/4 tsp.) Directions Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan first, immediately followed by the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Use immediately, or allow the sauce to cool and put it in a container.

Cookie Bars

These are even easier than regular cookies, in my opinion, making them perfect for the last minute. They're less time-consuming because you don't have to form individual cookies; just press the dough into a casserole dish and cut it into bars after it's baked and cooled. I originally used this recipe for leftover Halloween candy, but you can easily find Christmas colored candy to use (think red and green M&Ms or candy cane pieces).

Check out the recipe here!

DIY Ornaments

The baking soda ornaments may not be the quickest gift to make, but if you've already made them they're a breeze to handout as a last-minute gift. You may want to remember that for the years ahead: these homemade ornaments can be a day of fun with your family and presents!

The puzzle ornaments, on the other hand, can be made fairly quickly... about as long as it takes to put the puzzle pieces together, Mod Podge them, and let the dry.

Check out the original post here!

DIY Beauty Products

Honey, Yogurt, & Lemon Face Mask

Back in November I posted a recipe for a honey, yogurt, and lemon face mask that makes a wonderful gift idea. Just be sure to remind the recipient that this mask needs to be refrigerated when not in use. Check it out here!

Herbal Tea Rinse

This is also a wonderful gift idea, because it can be customized for any hair type. You can make a blend specifically for hair loss, oily hair, or just a general use rinse! Check out the post here for different tea blends!

7 Days of Christmas: Day 5 - Kid-Friendly Christmas Tree Craft

This is a fun craft to do with kids of almost any age. Theses ice cream cones go perfectly with a ginger bread house, but they also make a great craft by themselves! They are perfect for little hands, and are much easier to assemble than a gingerbread house. As with many of the DIY projects I feature, this was inspired by a pin on Pinterest (check it out here).

What You Need

I forgot to picture the green food coloring. You can use a much
greater variety of candies, if you desire.

• Sugar Cones (the pointy ones)
• Vanilla or Cream Cheese Frosting (lighter colored frosting will be easier to turn green)
• Green Food Coloring 
• Assorted Candy (we used M&M's Pull-n-Peel Twizzlers, Gum Drops, & some spare candy from our gingerbread house kit)

Directions

• Add green food coloring to frosting, 1 or 2 drops at a time, until desired green is achieved.
• Place the Sugar Cones upside-down and frost them until they look somewhat like green trees. Young children may need help with this part.
• Decorate your Christmas trees with candy!

7 Days of Christmas: Day 4 - Santa Sack (& FREE Printout!)

What does Santa do with the presents he brings your children? In some households, like Daddy's when he was a kid, Santa didn't bother to wrap presents. I guess I can understand that. The big guy's pretty busy. Mine were always wrapped, usually in a different color, unless it was something awkward to wrap like a bike.

Well, another option is the Santa Sack! It's a special bag from the North Pole that Santa puts your child's presents in. I was browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago, when I can across the inspiration to create my own Santa Sack (check it out here).

It saves you the trouble of wrapping Santa's presents, if you do. Otherwise, it will add a magical touch to your child's Christmas morning.

The Santa Sack!

For this project, you'll need:

• White T-Shirt Transfers
• White Pillowcase (1 per child)
• Iron

Directions

1. Click here to print out the FREE Santa Sack printout! The text is mirrored in the printouts, but it will appear normal once you iron them on to the pillowcase. Be sure to print them on your transfers. You'll need 2 transfers for each Santa Sack you're making.
2. Try to center the printouts onto the wrinkle-free pillowcase, image side down. Be sure to place the bottom transfer about 3 inches above the bottom of the pillowcase.
   
3. Follow the directions that came with your White T-Shirt Transfers for transferring the images onto the pillowcase. 
   
4. Gently peel off the transfer backing, holding down the transfer and the pillowcase, to reveal the finished product!
   
5. Wait at least 24 hours before using the Santa Sack. Fill it with presents from Santa on Christmas Eve, and tie it with a ribbon!

The final product is now ready for Santa to deliver!

We used a king size pillowcase, but a standard will work just as well. We wanted to be sure there would be enough room, in case Santa brought something large.   

7 Days of Christmas: Day 3 - Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays!I try to teach my son that Christmas is not all about getting presents. Each year we even pick out a toy to donate to Toys For Tots! Since Christmas isn't all about receiving, we also like to make DIY presents to give away. Two years ago those DIY gifts included ornaments that we made ourselves!

These were fun to make, and even more fun to give away!

You only need 3 ingredients for these ornaments: baking soda, cornstarch, and water! I found the original inspiration for this project on Pinterest (what a surprise). Check it out here!

DIY Ornaments

Baking Soda Ornaments:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of baking soda
• 1 cup of cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups of water

What You'll Need:

• Sauce Pan
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Plastic Wrap
• Cookie Cutters

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook them over medium heat, stirring consistently, until it is too thick to stir with a spoon. 
2. Cool for 15 minutes, or until the dough is cool to the touch. Knead it for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap when not in use.
3. Roll dough out to desired thickness (however thick you'd like your ornament to be), and use cookie cutters to cut dough into shapes. Don't forget the holes for string or hooks!
4. Lay the ornaments flat to dry. This may take a few days (depending on how thick they are), so put them out of the way. The sunnier a spot it is, the better. Flip them over every day while they're drying to avoid raised edges.

You can paint them once they dry!

Recycled Puzzle Ornaments:

This actually an original idea, y'all! I love this DIY ornament idea because it involves upcycling, or using something that I otherwise would've thrown away. I found an old Power Rangers puzzle (ORIGINAL Power Rangers for those of you old enough to remember!) in Daddy's old mementos, but upon further inspection I realized some of the pieces were missing. I know, it's not that surprising considering it's a 20 year old puzzle. It meant too much to Daddy to just throw away, so I decided to try something out. These ones were for our personal use, and not given away.

I was actually inspired for this ornament by how a puzzle was packaged in Wal-Mart! They had puzzles on sale for Christmas, and they had an adorable little puzzle piece ornament attached to the outside of the box! I thought to myself, "I can do that!"

Of course their puzzle ornaments were only one piece, but mine didn't work out that way. There was no single piece with a picture on it that made any sense. I guess that's why you have to put the puzzle together...

I'm still super happy with mine though! I used Mod Podge (puzzle saving glue) to paint the peices and hold them together. I brushed both sides with Mod Podge, but make sure to let it dry before flipping it over. Otherwise you'll end up with newspaper stuck to your ornament, or Mod Podge stuck to your surface.