Quick and Easy Lavender Bath Salt Recipe for Sore Muscles and Itchy Skin

No matter how well I try to protect myself from my pollen allergies, I often end up with itchy skin and sore muscles after a day spent tending to plants in my garden.

That’s when I like to indulge in my favorite bedtime ritual. I find that the best way I found to soothe itchy skin and sore muscles is with a nice, relaxing bath with soothing DIY bath salts.

This easy recipe combines Epson and sea salts, known for their muscle-relaxing properties, with baking soda, which can sooth itchy and irritated skin, and is quick and easy to make. It also is a fantastic handmade gift idea for anyone in need of a little pampering.

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How to Waterproof a Nylon Camping Tent

Last year the tent floor leaked in a few spots of water here, even though we put a tarp down first. We let the tent air out and dry in the garage before putting it away for the year. Can you add extra waterproofing to a tent and floor? 

Yes you can! Here’s how.  

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Selecting the Right Waterproofing Products

Before diving into the actual waterproofing process, it's crucial to select the right products that will effectively provide a waterproof barrier for your nylon camping tent. With so many options available on the market, it can be overwhelming to make a decision. Here are some key factors to consider when choosing the right products for your tent.

First, consider the type of waterproofing product you want to use. There are two main types: 

DIY Outdoor Plant Hanger

I have a bunch of pea seeds left from last year’s garden by design. I need to find a better way to plant them so the vines don’t take over my small patio container garden like they did last summer.

The heavy duty plant hanging eye bolt similar to this kind I used years ago and largely ignored gave me the inspiration to try growing peas in a hanging planter. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

Spoiler alert: All of the hanging planters I found were so high off the ground they required my short little self to pull out a step stool to water them. I hate dragging out a step ladder to store things normal people can reach. That’s why anything above my head is dead to me – including hanging plants.

I considered a macrame plant hanger but I wasn’t sure how well cotton or jute cording would hold up outside. And again, the hangs the plant too high and over my head thing.

The only solution was to make an outdoor plant hanger myself. 

 

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How to Dye Fabric Shoes and Sandals

I needed a pair of sandals. After a fair bit of shopping I found a pair of wedges that fit (this is harder to do since I have to shop in the kid’s department) but are the wrong color. However the price was cheap enough that I thought I’d try my hand at dying a pair of the white shoes black and other pair brown – the colors I wanted.

I’ve dyed 100% cotton fabric shoes. I’ve also dyed suede shoes using this exact suede dye with great success. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.) Dying these sandals will be a bit more challenging because they are a cotton and synthetic fabric blend and all of the fabric dyes I’ve used up until now require 100% natural fiber fabric.

 Can you dye polyester fabric and synthetic fibers? Yes you can! Here’s how.

 

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How to Dye Cotton Blend Shoes

How to Lower High Utility Bills

When I moved into my first apartment it was in the Spring. My water, electric, and heating bills were low and manageable since the apartment didn't have air conditioning.

That changed drastically during the Winter. My natural gas bill in particular jumped to crazy high proportions even though my roommate and I wore layers and kept the thermostat at a reasonable temperature. Of course the first time we had a storm and the windows shook because they had so many air leaks you could see daylight through parts of the window and frame, we realized that our heating money was literally going out the windows. 

We tried to seal the air leaks with window insulation kits like this kind. It helped a little but the windows were so far gone that the windows AND the plastic violently shook in the wind as our natural gas bill started to climb. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience,)

Welcome to paying bills as an adult. High heating bills in the winter, high electric and water bills in the summer (if you have air conditioning and a garden.)

I learned my lesson and after some research, learned how to lower my water, gas, and electric bills for the year with a phone call.

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The One Easy Thing You are Not Doing to Lower Utility Bills

10 Zero Waste Craft Projects that also Save Money

I recently read an article claiming that zero waste living doesn’t have to be expensive.

That immediately said to an interviewed college student who said that they couldn’t afford a $20 zero waste made from adopted unicorn tears deodorant that the student just needs to change their attitude because they are buying better and more expensive stuff. 

Because apparently the superior feeling of spending more money on low waste deodorant outweighs the reality of the starving student   having enough money for school books, tuition, food, and shelter I guess?

The author also said that no one who wants to go low waste (which is a more accurate description than the search engine friendly term zero waste) does it to save money.  It really burns my cookies that when confronted with the reality of price, a zero waste expert ignores it and tells you to buy it anyway when they are claiming zero waste living doesn't have to be expensive. That's how zero and low waste living gets the (wrong) perception that its only for the privileged!

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My family is practically debt free because we don’t waste things. As we started switching from disposables to reusables the amount of trash we make plummeted and extra dollars accumulated in the bank.

For example it cost zero dollars to stop using plastic zipper baggies and plastic wrap for sandwiches and leftovers and start using the containers with lids (many repurposed) I already had. I had no idea how much money we wasted on that stuff until we didn’t need to buy it anymore - and you could see a serious dent in how much landfill trash it kept out of our bin.

The Benefits of Pet Health Insurance and Friday Favorites Link Party Week 543

Lacey was more than overdue for her annual vet exam, vaccinations, and a very much needed grooming as you can see from the photo. Our fantastic veterinary practice does all of that (including boarding and doggie daycare)  was closed due to lock down when Lacey was due for her shots. When the practice opened, pet parents have to wait in their cars during the exam. I put her exam off for a little longer because Lacey does better when her people are with her in the room and we all hoped things would get better and the practice could be back to business as usual. Lacey was not upset about this at all.

How would you feel if every time you go to visit Dr. H she squirts medicine up your nose and gives you a shot in the tushy? You wouldn't like it either Lisa!

Zero Waste on a Budget: How to Grocery Shop without a Bulk Bin Store

After seeing the explosion of zero waste ideas online (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing,) I get a little worried that people may not try or quit because they aren’t meeting the strict one year’s full of trash in a jar “standard” they see shown on social media.

Which is a bummer because Zero Waste living isn’t black and white or should be so restrictive it is a struggle.

Or at least it shouldn’t’ be.

In reality, shifting your mindset to a lower waste living is much more sustainable because it takes into consideration what you have available locally, what you can’t, or don’t want to give up. Are you seriously going to deny grandma life saving medication because it comes in a plastic bottle?!

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Often how zero waste you can go depends upon what is available where you live. Fill your own container bulk bin sections and stores are fairly anemic around here because local code enforcement strongly reminded everyone that shoppers have to use store provided containers. Winter means nothing grows here for 6 months out of the year.  Sadly zero waste utopia doesn’t mention that. So what do you do?

You do it by concentrate on reducing and stop focusing on the zero - without guilt.

Guilt is not productive. Trying is.

How to Live Zero Waste When You Shop a Regular Grocery Store

How to Make a Milk Carton Easter Bunny Basket

I want to decorate for Easter. I’m running low on ideas that will appeal to our wee holiday visitors.

And I was out of soy milk.

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