Busy Little Bees...

A friend of mine just came back from West Virginia bearing gifts of Basswood Honey from the Mountain State Honey Company.  I’ve never been a huge honey fan, but this honey is DELICIOUS!

I’ve been using it in my morning hot lemon water and my hot tea this past week. Yum!

Since we already use honey in general at home for cuts & scrapes and sore throats, I was curious to see what other uses there are for it.  It turns out that honey is fantastic for skin!

We already new that honey has an antimicrobial/antibiotic tribute which is great for cuts and scrapes, but that also means it's great for acne. Honey is also considered a humectant, which makes it a great moisturizer for dry skin. On top of those, honey is an antioxidant, too! Wrinkles beware! More info here.

Here are some awesome ways to use honey for a facial:

Plain Ol' Honey:Rub ½ teaspoon in your hands until warm and spread all over your face. Let sit for 5 minutes and then rinse with water.

Honey Sugar Scrub:Mix 2 teaspoons honey, 2 teaspoons almond milk and 1 tablespoon sugar together to make a face scrub. Rub gently onto face and rinse with water.

Honey Lotion:Mix together 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon olive oil and ¼ teaspoon lemon. Rub into dry skin. Leave on for 10 minutes and then rinse with water.

My Oh My!

Yay for summertime and yay for new albums and concerts!

Can't wait to see Tristan Prettyman in Cleveland this July!

The ladies and I are loving her new song, "My Oh My."

Ouch! Itch No More...

Summer is here which means more time outdoors and

more contact with the bugs that bite.

My little ladies tend to react BIG to bites.
Mosquitos bites turn quarter-sized on my oldest
and my middle CAN’T stand to be itchy at all!
Most products only work short term and the girls are
quick to ask to try “something” else.
Sometimes a mixture of different remedies does the trick and

we tend to rotate through them as the day progresses.

So here are a few of our favorites…

COMPRESSES

1. Ice

2. Tea Bag (cool before applying to skin)

3. Banana peel

SPRAYS

Pour into a spray bottle and spritz on bites.

1. Witch Hazel

2. Lemon or Lime Juice

3. Tea tree oil (dilute with water)

4. White vinegar

TOPICALS

Spread small amounts over bites.

1. Honey

2. Baking Soda (make a paste with water)

3. Mud (yes, mud!)

4. Aloe vera

Read Much?

The Big Read

So, the BBC has a list of the

Most-Popular-Must-Read-Books, evah.

It was published a couple years ago,

but I just came across it recently.

They state that the average person has read

fewer than 6 of the books on their list.

As an avid reader and to challenge myself

I’ve taken up the gauntlet.

100 books to finish reading by the time I turn 40.

That’s give or take 2 years!

Luckily, I was able to knock quite a few off

right away thanks to my high school literature classes.

So that leaves me about 70 to go!

In the spirit of being an eco-friendly gal,

I discovered that I can download for free

most of the books from the public library

to my android or my kindle.

Pretty stinking cool!

Stayed tuned as I review each of my conquests!!

Go HERE to see The Big Read list and join me!

DIY Playdough

So in our house we have lots of toys for playdough,

 but the dough has long since run dry. 

Today Morgi was in the mood to mix

something up in the kitchen, so we decided to try our hand

at cooked playdough.

 It's all natural and almost good enough to eat!

(if you're a deer and looking for a salt lick)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Salt

2 Tbsp Oil

2 Tsp Cream of Tartar

1 Cup Water

Food Coloring

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together EXCEPT the food coloring.

2. It will seem very soupy. That's okay.

 3. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat.

4. The dough should start to form.

 If still too soft, continue nuking in 25 second increments.

5. Let COOL.  Knead into a smooth dough.

6. Divide and add food color. Do a little more kneading.

7. Start playing!

Cool

After having a smart phone for a year now, it occurred to me that there might be an app for blogger. Lo & behold there is!
So this is my test post from my phone.  Hope it works! :)

Sight Word Flash Cards

What a great way to repurpose paint sample cards!  Obviously, deciding in-store the color you want for your room would be the most eco friendly, but if a few cards happen to find their way back home, here's a great idea to repurpose them.

My middle child is going to kindergarten this fall and dying to read.  So I gathered up the paint sample cards she and her dad brought home and turned them into flash cards. So easy!

I found our list of sight words HERE.

Tag It!

Brilliant use of bag tags! Label away!