Sunday 26 May 2013

Bath Fizzies, Soaps, and Soaks OH MY

In my last post I spoke about getting healthier through what we put on, in, and around our bodies. Part of this is having to go the DIY route. While in the past we have cleaned up our act a bit by purchasing more environmentally friendly cleaners and body washes and soaps I feel we need to go that one step further.

By going the more DIY way I am hoping that it will save us some money down the road as well. I currently don't have the items I need to go about making my own body and household cleaners so I am going to have to do some investing. If there is one thing that I have discovered so far about doing things yourself is that you must invest at the start to reap the rewards later.

Luckily I have found a company online (located in BC) that specializes in selling exactly what I need. I have an order made up and hopefully can push the buy button in the next few days. I am really really excited.

Here is what I plan to order so far:
Essential Oils (eucalyptus, peppermint, grapefruit)
Fragrance Oils (muscle and joint blend, island tropics sampler pack, green tea)
Shea Butter Rebatch Soap
Calendula Petals
Calendula Oil
Jojoba Oil
Citric Acid
Epsom Salts
Dead Sea Salts
Goat Milk Powder
Surfactant Powder
Love/Faith/Hope Soap Mold
Witch Hazel Spray

I really had to reign myself in because the web site has so many fabulous ideas. I really wanted the pink rose petals and buds, and some herbs, and some clay powders, and, and, and.... But only so much at once. If all things work out well I will definitely place another order to play around with colours and herbals and such. It would be interesting to see how far I can go with this. I could make lotions, bubble bars, even candles.

Using all these ingredients my project horizon is:
Shea Butter Soap with Calendula and Jojoba oils (for Max's poor eczema)
Soothing Muscle Soak (for Daddy, he works so hard, he deserves a special relaxing treat)
Bath Fizzies (a variety, some with calendula added, some with essential oils added)

The essential oils I will also be able to use randomly for cleaning, for diffusing, putting on dryer balls, and many other things I am sure I can come up with. I am just getting started with learning about all the wonderful properties of essential oils.

All together with shipping my order *should* come to roughly $100. However I am hoping that this investment will last us a while. Especially considering that dropping $100 at Lush (one of my fav places) would only yeild a few bath bombs and soaps. Each thing I am ordering is in a small quantity (so I can test it out without buying a massive amount) but even those small quantities seem to be able to be broken down and used in several projects or in several batches of the same thing.

It seems my childhood fascination with playing with soaps and lotions (lotions and potions my family called them) may just serve me well.

The excitement of going down this path has me simply giddy. I can't wait to order and to receive and to make, and then of course, tell you all about it :)


Friday 24 May 2013

Down A Healthier Path

As I have continued down my weight loss path we have made a lot of food changes. We have become a much more active family. And in doing this we have also found a wealth of information that takes us further into the rabbit hole of healthy living.

It is really quite surprising how simple one can live healthy. Step number one is definitely what you put into your body, that is the foundation. Step number two is what you put ON your body. Step number three is what you expose yourself to around your body. Lastly, what you put into your mind.

All these elements in, on, around, are what greatly affect your overall health. I am talking full physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. These aspects work cohesively together. When one part is down the rest get down.

When it comes to the body though we are doing ourselves so wrong. As I took away the chemicalized and processed foods from our diet I started looking more and more into the chemicals in other things around us. That has led to yet another shift in thinking.

Our skin is the body's largest organ. And we put chemicals on it. Every day. We wash ourselves with chemicals, we clean our homes with chemicals, we wash our clothes with chemicals. It is baffling how much out there is just....I don't even want to think about it.

Then we use different products to compensate for other things our body is missing. Low fat diet? Dry hair? Get whatever new chemical is going to give you softer hair. I am being 100% sarcastic there by the way.

While I am in no way perfect with any of this I can trying very hard to seek out as much information as I can on more natural and DIY living. Luckily living in the time of the amazing internets there are thousands of like minded individuals who I can learn from.

A massive change for me was discovering the Village Green Network. It was like I stumbled upon an amazing collection of bloggers. For realz. That is exactly what it is. A group of bloggers that share recipes for all things natural and DIY living. I am on the road and they have the map.

So far I have learned the following things:

-Essential Oils are the bomb yo
-Baking Soda rules
-Vinegar rocks

Funny enough with those three things you can replace pretty much every cleaning chemical in your home. While essential oils do carry their own risks by their nature alone when used properly they can be used in AND on the body. I am still in the research phase but the other day I washed my floor with water, baking soda, and tea tree oil and WOW it was the best thing ever.

I am also in the phase of discovering the amazing properties of coconut oil. While I LOVE it in all things baking I haven't ventured with it too much into what it can do for the body with topical application but there are many, many suggestions on how to use it (deodorant? toothpaste?). You can make body and cleaning products literally good enough to eat.

On the docket for my first DIY projects are going to be some basic household cleaning products, getting some soap nuts for laundry, making our own bath bombs, plus a whole host of other ideas. Even the fact that I can knit (sort of) and sew (again, sort of) fits quite well here. Some of these are even going to be great homeschool projects. I'm a modern pioneer over here.


So if you are asking yourself what you can do to improve your health in these areas I say get rid of anything and everything synthetic. That means foods, cleaning agents, unnecessary medications, and anything else that is causing you more harm.

Heal your body and mind and home. These are things that are making me very happy.


Wednesday 1 May 2013

Outing At The Museum

One of my favourite places to go while growing up was the Manitoba Museum. I anxiously awaited the grades when our small town school would have a field trip into Winnipeg. One of the parts of that field trip was always a trip to the Museum. Even into early adulthood my love for the museum has remained.

No surprise then that as a mother I love taking the kids there. Luckily Daddy has always loved the museum as well. At this point we have a family membership. For about $110 we can go to the museum as often as we want for the year, go to the main gallery, the science gallery, and unlimited planetarium shows. HOW COOL IS THAT!!??!?!

This isn't even the first time I have written about the museum. You can also read this blog post on it.

Since we are a homeschooling this just completely makes sense for us. Such as yesterday. Yesterday it was raining which means that Daddy can't work. So therefore it became field trip to the museum day. Woohoo. It is debatable who was more excited. Me? Or the kids.

When I think back I have always had a deep interest in Aboriginal culture. I think that really is a root of my love for this place. You walk into the main gallery and you are instantly front and centre with a buffalo hunt diorama. And speaking of dioramas this place is full of them. Definitely another reason I love the place.

Over the years the museum has changed slightly but in my opinion it just keeps getting better. Some of our favourite parts are the big ocean screens, the polar bear, the Nonsuch and docks, the bat cave, and old Winnipeg. Also I personally can't get enough of the amazing Aboriginal dioramas. There are a lot and they are so well done. In the science gallery we always also have to take a peek into the mirror room.

I wish I had a chance to take more pictures this time around but only snapped a couple.



It was a fun day and we were lucky to get to spend it together. Afterward both Max and Evelyn were tuckered and fell asleep quickly so we even got to have a nice quiet drive. Vik stayed entertained playing games on my iPhone. 

I'd call that a happy day!

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On another note: It has been awhile since my last post. I have been working on quite a project. Something that means a lot to me. Something that involves my weight loss success and all the information I have learned along the way. I hope to reveal all in another month. I'm excited!!