Homemade Body Wash

I have very sensitive skin when it comes to body wash, so I cannot go and buy the cheap liquid body wash at the stores. So I found on pintrest a very simple way to make liquid body wash with any kind of bar soap. My favorite soap to use is dove. The liquid soap for roughly 32 ounces is around $6 or $7 a bottle and lasts me about 2 -3 weeks. I bought a package of 6 bars of the Dove bar soap for $6. I also bought 2 two packs of the Dove Men +Care Deep clean for my husband, this also cost a total of $6.

The recipe is very simple. All you need is 3 bars of soap and 6 cups of water and you get about 48 ounces of body wash. So I only use 1/2 of the package of soap I bought so that is $3 for 48 ounces compared to $6 or $7 for 32 ounces. The bar soap is just as good as the body wash on your skin. Below is the recipe and some pictures.

I love this body wash. It was so easy to make, saves me money and works just as good as the liquid body wash you buy off the stores shelves. 

Body Wash

6 Cups of Water

3 Bars of Soap (any bar will do)

Shred all three bars of soap using a cheese shredder or peeler. In a pan bring the 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the shredded soap. Cook on medium heat until all of the soap is dissolved. Turn off heat. Let the soap cool. When it is cool enough to touch add to any soap container of your choosing (I used an empty shampoo bottle and re-labeled the container). The soap will thicken as it cools and will continue to thicken up to 24 hours later. If it gets too thick you can add more water (just a little at a time while you stir). I did not have to add anymore water to mine. Then it is ready to use!

 

Creative Use For Bunk Bed Ladders: Bookshelves

In my family I am an avid reader. I love books. David knows that if we go to the bookstore it could be anywhere from an hour to three hour trip; so he makes sure he has other stores to visit while I am in the bookstore. My favorite place to work at the school is the library. Needless to say I own a small library of my own. I have filled every bookshelf I own including the ones in the kids rooms. I have books that range from pre-school to adult. Not only do the kids read the books but I also will read a book more than once so I refuse to pack any away into the closet. One day when David was taking a trip to the dumpster he spotted 3 bunk bed ladders with no bunk bed. Knowing I was running out of room for my books; he got an idea. He brought home the ladders and said, " Honey here are your new book shelves." At first I though he was crazy but now that they are done I love them. 

David bought  12 brackets (small ones). He placed the ladders up against the wall and attached them using the brackets. The ladders stick out only a few short inches from the wall. After they were hung I was able to put up my books. I did use one of the ladders for our DVD's instead of books. I have not filled these shelves yet. It may take me awhile but I am sure one day these shelves will be filled too.

Blue Springs State Park

The one thing I love about about Florida is the beautiful springs that are here. You have Kelly Park (AKA Rock Springs),  Rainbow Springs, Alexander Springs, and Wekiva Springs to name a few. My favorite place is Blue Springs. Nestled away in Deland, not far from our favorite park Hontoon Island. These springs are as rich in history as it is in beauty. There is a very deep cavern that starts the springs and it empties out into the St. Johns River. These crystal clear springs are a cool 72 degrees all year round. This makes it the perfect home for the Manatees during the months of November through March. Manatees cannot live in waters cooler than 68 degrees. So during the months mentioned above they migrate to Blue Springs. Last winter 148 Manatees migrated to the springs. From April - September the springs are open for swimming to the public. From November - March the public may visit the park are able to hike, BBQ and view the manatees but they cannot swim. Manatees are a protected species therefore it makes it illegal for people to swim, touch or feed wild manatees. There is also Camping  and fully furnished cabins available all year. Blue Springs is a very serene place to visit and  refreshing place to swim. To all of my Florida friends if you have not traveled to Blue Springs plan a trip to visit soon. For all of my Friends and Family outside of Florida if you travel to Florida this would be a great place to visit while here. Just make sure that if you go during the months of April - September you get there early the park fill quick.

       The Dark Spot in the Picture is the start of the Springs. This is the spot of the deep caverns.

Great Nightlight Idea

Every now and then my 8 year old son likes to have a nightlight on. I came across a craft on pintrest that caught my attention. Its a craft to create a firefly. Its a very easy project that you can do with your kids. All you need is left over plastic Easter eggs, pipe cleaners, markers, and flame-less tea lights. You will need to poke a hole in the top and sides of the plastic egg for  the pipe cleaners. A tack works perfect to do this. You will need to cut the pipe cleaners down to have 6 equal pieces for the legs and 2 more equal pieces for the antenna. Once you place the pipe cleaners in the holes you can add the flame less tea light in the egg and close it up (flame-less tea-lights turn on and off as needed). Draw some eyes on the Easter egg and voila you have firefly. The kids love to play with them and they work great as a night light.

Crayon Project Ideas

Our family tends to stock up on crayons thanks to a friend, store sales, and craft kits. We ended up with so many crayons we started to search for ideas of projects we could do with these crayons. The first thing we came across was melting crayons to make a really cool piece of art work. David decided to create his own melted crayon piece. he organized the crayons into the color order he wanted and melted them down to create the artworks below.

              

Then we came across another idea that is actually a great gift idea for a teacher. The idea was to create the first letter of the teachers last name out of crayons. We decided to try it out with the letter N which is the first letter of the last name of the media specialist at the school my children attend. David took it one step further and made the end have a 3D effect to it. It came out amazing. The kids took it 2 days later and gave it to the media specialist. It now hangs in the school library.

Creating New Crayons

A few weeks ago I was cleaning out some old broken crayons and before I threw them away I came up with an idea for a craft. I had read on pintrest about taking old crayons and putting them into baking molds and melting them down. So I gathered the crayons together and took the paper off. I put a square baking mold on the table and had the kids create the crayons.

The process is very simple and the kids love doing it. You take the broken crayons and fill the molds with the color or colors you want you new crayon to have. You then put the mold in the oven on a low heat of 230 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the crayons are completely melted. You take the mold out of the oven and let it cool completely. When the crayons are completely cool they will harden. Once they are completely cool pop them out of the mold and they are ready to color with.

The kids love to make and use these new crayons.