Zoe

Name: Lavender and Himalayan Pink Salt Bars
Yield: 1 pound

Simple Sensory Activity

February 5, 2020 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

Sensory Tray with colored quinoa and small animal figures

As a mom of two young girls, I sometimes struggle with not seeing the forest for the trees. I get caught up in every day life and chores, and household tasks. While my oldest daughter is always keen to help with any task I’m working on (and has quite a few of her own to do) it’s also important for some strictly play time. She’s a curious and intuitive child after all!

All across pinterest and Facebook I see beautiful sensory trays. A rainbow of colored rice perfectly laid out for little ones. I thought it would be so fun to try that at home and give my daughter something to focus on for a little while… because let’s be honest, just washing dishes alone can feel like a break to a stay at home mom!

I decided to use quinoa instead of rice because my family isn’t too willing to eat quinoa. I LOVE it, but have to give it up for my diet. If you decide to try a sensory tray for your own child, I would recommend rice or some other larger medium. The quinoa is so tiny and it bounces when it inevitably hits the floor. Haha! We spent the afternoon vacuuming up every little grain that filled my cracks in the wood floor. I turned that into a fun activity as well! Who can vacuum up the most!

We started by filling 7 small bags with a 1/3 cup each of dry quinoa. Then we added a few drops of food coloring to each bag. I tried to stick with rainbow colors, because those are what she loves! Make sure the bags are closed TIGHT then let your child squish the quinoa (or hopefully rice if you’re smarter than I am 😂) into the coloring until it’s evenly distributed. When you’re happy with the color empty the bags onto a baking sheet and let dry. Once you can touch the grains without coloring coming off on your hand they’re ready to go!

We used some small ocean figures and small spoons/medicine cups for playing. My daughter is so interested in colors and matching right now, this was perfect for her. She matched her animals to the correct colors (other than the white beluga whale, who she said “Loves all the colors even though he is just white”) Matching didn’t take too long, and she quickly started using the small spoons to scoop and fill the medicine cups. This simple activity kept her occupied and focused for the entire afternoon.

Now something you may be wondering is what does the end result of this activity look like? No way will these colors stay separate and stay in the tray! You would be correct. It’s a mess on your floors, your chair, your table, your child, your ceiling somehow. Only kidding on the last one. Mostly. You will be left with a small sea of brightly colored grains. Instead of just tossing them out I used a funnel and filled a quart mason jar with the mixed colors. But now what?? What on earth can you do with a jar of colorful quinoa?? Initially the plan was to let my daughter keep it in her room because she thought it was so pretty. After showing my friends, one of them had an even better idea!

An assortment of trinkets for the sensory jar

I took her advice and turned the collection of quinoa into a sensory jar. I gathered up some small trinkets (buttons, a ring, a tiny clothespin, a rubber bumper, a pearl, a small blue spool of thread, and a tiny black clip) and pushed them into the jar making sure to push them down as far as I could. Gave the jar some good shakes to mix everything up and it’s done! It’s an awesome calming down tool. My daughter can spend some time looking for the individual items inside the jar. Sometimes it’s just fun to watch (and listen to!) the quinoa rattle around in the glass jar.

Tiny purple crab button peeking out from the sensory jar

This was a super simple, fun activity that ended with no waste- which I love! Using items and accessories I already had in my house I was able to create hours of fun for my toddler. That feels pretty great!

Journey to Minimalism

January 31, 2020 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

I’ve learned that minimalism isn’t about what you own, it’s about why you own it.
-Brian Gardner

Modern minimalism

It’s something we see everywhere thanks to social media. Perfect houses and beautiful possessions. Simple yet sophisticated aesthetic. I have spent so many hours on Pinterest looking at these gorgeous staged photos of a “minimalist” home. It’s impossible not to feel a twinge of envy. It’s made me think : someday, when I have more money, I’ll be able to buy those beautiful things. But is that really what being minimal is about?

Is it really minimal to replace everything you own with more aesthetically pleasing possessions? Even if they are more sustainable versions?? I have so much passion for being sustainable and contributing less to waste…. but I lack the funds to buy the trendiest replacements.

As I’ve gone through everything we own and use in our own home I’ve really come to see how much we have. And while yes, some things are better replaced with a more sustainable version, many of the things we use are fine the way they are. Remember back in the 90’s (and maybe 80’s,too) when all we heard was “Reduce Reuse Recycle”? Somehow as the years have gone by it’s become more about trends and consumerism. The first step is supposed to be “reduce”. That is becoming more of my focus.

What reducing looks like

For me it is really about assessing what I already have. Getting creative with the functions. It’s so tempting, especially with online shopping, to just buy whatever we want on a whim. And it’s easily justified by looking at it as an eco friendly alternative to something we already have. But anytime we purchase something- we create waste. In one way or another. I absolutely believe reducing our consumption should be the main focus in becoming more minimalist.

I was inspired one day to make an experimental soap. I wanted to try piping roses for the top. Now I’m order to pipe something on top I needed a loaf type mold. My usual creamer container (at least the way I’ve always used it) wouldn’t work because the top of each bar wouldn’t be exposed in the mold. It would have been incredibly easy to hop on the internet and order a loaf mold. But I’m so glad I got creative and thought of a way to make what I already had work. I took the cream container (the same I always use) cut one side and the top off, butted up another cream container to the cut off end and taped in place. It cost me nothing. It’s not the prettiest set up…. however, it worked perfectly for what I was making!

How I “make do”

When I first started using Pinterest, almost everything I saw was DIY projects. How to use what you had to make something else. It was so inspiring! Now it seems like my feed is mostly products to buy. And that makes me so sad! So many days I’m inspired to create something in my home and I don’t have the exact items. I love to be able to turn something that’s not being used into something amazing. One of the projects I took on was actually one of the simplest. I wanted a bed skirt for our bed, and didn’t have one. Bedskirts are pretty much available at any Walmart. It’s not like they’re difficult to find 😉 But I wanted to create a “farmhouse” feel while at the same time not go out and buy anything. Using some scraps of dropcloth I had leftover from another project I got the look I was going for! All I did was cut the strips into the right width and length and tuck them under the mattress.

Honestly, sometimes the hardest part about being intentional is telling yourself no. No, we don’t need to buy this or that. Make do or go without. It’s a hard lesson, but one I think is important to learn. Everything is so easy now- click of a button. When we have to really think about purchases and be intentional with our choices we really take a step back. What is necessary? What’s just an impulse?

Simple ways to reuse

One of my favorite ways to reduce waste is to reuse everything! I wash out ziploc bags to reuse. I cut up my husbands ripped and torn shirts to use as cleaning rags. One of the things I’ve recently begun reusing is the little ads we get in the mail. Seems weird, but it works. My three year old is fascinated by scissors, so I’ve made her a cutting station on our dining room table. She has a tray, her little scissors, and any mailed ads and used coloring books. She gets to practice cutting to her hearts content (which is sometimes hours 😳) and those papers which will be recycled anyway get to have a second life. I mean, it’s not a great life if you’re the paper… but it is what it is. Haha

Creating a calm space

Trying to keep the decor simple and tidy

According to the World Economic Forum- 275 million people worldwide suffer from an anxiety disorder. I am one of them. Having a lot of clutter in my life can really make that harder to deal with. I wanted to be sure to mention this, because I do love the minimalist aesthetic. Creating spaces in my own home that stay tidy and simple gives me some calm in my otherwise chaotic life. I really try to keep things simple and only use what’s necessary. But I won’t do that at the expense of having to repurchase things when I need them. There needs to be a balance and I really think that’s where being intentional in your life comes into play. If you can take a look at the things you buy and the things you use, really look at them, you can make a difference in your own life and ultimately in the world.

Lavender and Himalayan Pink Salt Bars

December 15, 2019 // by Zoe// 1 Comment

Hey guys! Today’s post was inspired by one of the most inspiring things you can do- walk through Menards with your husband. Haha

But really, we were doing our monthly stroll through Menards for the usual; lightbulbs, batteries, and random tools when I saw a huge bag of Pink Salt on sale. The first thing that came to mind was “I should make salt bars!” Because, why not?

Had I ever made a salt bar? No. Had I ever used a salt bar? Also no. But I know it’s something people make! That’s good enough for me. There’s something so contradictory about using salt in a product that’s supposed to moisturize…. so I needed to read up a bit before attempting.

My decision to make a salt bar was based on Himalayan Pink Salt being on sale, but it is a popular choice on its own merit! The salt creates a creamy lather, like lotion. It is a gentle exfoliant and people often use a salt bar before and after shaving. Pink salt in itself is nourishing to the skin and moisturizing. Not to mention it’s just so pretty in a cold process bar!

The salt does make the bar very hard and have a creamy lather as opposed to a bubbly one. Coconut oil is the oil of choice for most people. I love using coconut oil in my cold process soaps, but it is very cleansing. It can be a little harsh on skin at 100%. I decided to try castor oil (the coneflower infused oil I made in this post ) as a percent of the oil content. The ratio I used was 85% coconut oil and 14.6% castor oil. I wanted a 10% super fat (lye discount) so the bar wouldn’t be as harsh. I plug all my recipes into soap calc before making. This is so important to make sure to get the amounts correct. http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

Now, because I’m frugal ( Cheap? Hippie-ish? Super weird?) I like to reuse containers I already have to make my soap. I do have one silicone mold, but other than that I use household items to make my bars. Typically I use cream containers because they make nice square bars. For these I thought it would be fun to make mini soaps. I don’t own a mini mold so I had to get creative. If you’re interested in how my soaps look when using cream containers check them out here: https://www.chaosandconeflowers.com/goats-milk-shampoo-bars/

A few weeks ago my husband came home with a surprise box of chocolates. He says for me, but honestly he ate most of them. 😉 I really try and limit the single use plastic we bring into our home, but sometimes life (and a husband) makes that hard to do. When we had finished our chocolate I debated on what to do with the plastic that held the candies. It wasn’t listed as recyclable. Then the idea hit! How are these little plastic trays different from a little cavity mold? I’m so happy I decided to give it a try!

The chocolate candy “mold” worked great!

My soap bars usually use goats milk instead of water. Unfortunately while I didn’t have any to use right now, I did have coconut milk in the fridge. It’s not something I’ve used in soap making before, but hey! Why not? So for this recipe I used coconut milk, coconut oil, castor oil, lavender essential oil, the pink salt and of course lye. The lavender oil is such a calming scent to me. It’s the perfect addition to these spa- like bars.

For the amount of salt to use I’ve read various amounts. Typically people use 50%-100% of the weight of oils. So for example, the bars I made had an oil weight of 16.4oz. I decided to try the 100% of the weight. 16.4oz of salt is a LOT of salt to measure out. But the results were beautiful!

I’d love to hear your results from trying this recipe out!

Yield: 1 pound

Lavender and Himalayan Pink Salt Bars

Here’s what you’ll need:

Coconut oil 14oz

Castor Oil 2.4 oz

Coconut milk 6.23oz

Lye 2.59 oz

Lavender essential oil 0.5 oz

Himalayan Pink Salt (fine) 16.4 oz

Make sure to follow safe soaping protocol.

Using a digital scale, measure out 6.23oz of coconut milk. In a separate container measure out 2.59oz of lye. Slowly and carefully add the lye to the milk and stir to combine.

Melt and measure 14oz of coconut oil. Add to that 2.4oz of castor oil and stir to combine.

Make sure the lye mixture and the oils are close to the same temp, I usually soap at just above room temp. Carefully pour the lye mix into the oils and incorporate with a rubber spatula. Use a stick blender to bring to trace. When you’ve reached a medium trace add the salt and lavender oil. The salt really speeds things up so you want to get it into the molds right away.

The salt bars will need to be cut in just a few hours if you use a loaf mold. If you wait too long they’ll crumble when you go to cut. If you’ve used a cavity mold you don’t need to worry about that!

After you take the bars out of the mold, put them on a drying rack in a cool place to cure. They’ll be ready to use in 3-4 weeks.

Christmas Advent Calendar

December 7, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

Why I chose to follow this tradition

If you’re here strictly for an Advent Calendar idea you may want to scroll down to the bottom of this post!

I’ve gone back and forth for a little while on what to post this week. We’re into December now- the busy season for most people. Holiday parties, family gatherings, endless activities and events make up this entire season. Just the thought makes me feel anxious! The work involved in making this season “magical” puts so much stress on me as a mom. Honestly, a part of me would rather do away with the majority of the holiday.

What is the reason?

As I began to mentally prepare myself for the job of providing endless holiday cheer for my children, I had a thought. Why?? Why am I doing this? Because I have to? It’s just expected of me? Because it’s Jesus’ birthday for crying out loud?? This is the first year in my life as an adult where I’m actively questioning the things that I do. I am really trying to get to the intent and the purpose. What is the reason? Maybe not surprisingly my answer wasn’t “because it’s Christmas!”

I was raised in a Christian home. My husband was raised in a Christian home. He grew up with Santa Claus- I did not. I struggle with the manipulation aspect of Santa. “Be good or no presents!” “Good girls get gifts, bad girls get coal” “He sees you when you’re sleeping….” ( Does no one else find that creepy??) I believe in being honest with our kids. I also believe it’s important for kids to have a sense of wonder and excitement. So this became a bit of a struggle for me.

My oldest is only 3 1/2, but she’s at the age where she is beginning to understand the reasons behind things. I think it’s so important that we nurture that in her! Instead of telling her just to behave for a reward, I am modeling the behavior that I want to see. Part of that included taking myself out of my comfort zone. Looking at the big picture and making a compromise.

So what does any of this have to do with anything??

Being intentional isn’t always easy. It doesn’t just come flowing out of you. I have needed to take a step back and sometimes take myself and my past experiences out of the situation. Whether or not the holiday season as it’s become causes me stress isn’t as important as I initially thought. What is the big picture? This is a time in the year where many different religions have some overlap. It’s a time for celebration! A time to be kind, to be grateful for the things you have, and to think of others before yourself. But it’s also a time to experience some joy and excitement! I didn’t want to be so focused on putting a message across that I lost sight of what this feels like to a child.

I started by writing out a list of “winter time” activities. Sledding, making gingerbread houses, decorating the house etc… all of the things you look forward to at Christmas time as a child. Then I began sprinkling in some activities or thought provoking questions (age appropriate of course). What does it mean to be kind to someone else? What is one thing you can do today to show someone you care about them? There is a family about an hour from us who lost everything in a house fire. My 3 year old doesn’t know what that kind of loss would feel like… but she’s capable of thinking of things we use everyday that they may need. So we have started making that list.

Making Christmas magical- and intentional

I decided to try my hand at making an Advent Calendar this year. It felt like I could combine the message and the joy best this way. I used regular envelopes I had at home and cut them in half so they were square. On slips of paper I wrote down an activity/ act of kindness for every day leading up to Christmas. A simple green velvet ribbon and some small clothespins keep the envelopes in order. My husband clipped a piece of an evergreen branch and I added a pine cone for the decoration on top. Very simple. Very minimal.

Every morning my daughter happily takes an envelope down and is so excited to see what’s inside, to find out what it is we’ll be doing today. And whether or not it benefits her in anyway doesn’t matter. She’s just as excited about building a snowman as she is making bird feeders so the birds who are crazy enough to stay in Northwest Wisconsin over winter aren’t hungry. There’s a bit of magic about it. And that makes my heart happy.

Advent Calendar

Here is the list of everything I included:

My kids are very young, so the activities I used are simple and not very described on the papers. I verbally explained what we’d be doing and why.

Build a snowman

Sledding

Make pine cone bird feeders

Fill a box with items for a family in need

Invite a friend for dinner (the child helps prepare the meal)

Make a Christmas wreath for someone

Dry out oranges and cranberries to make our own decorations

Make beeswax dip candles

Find something kind to do for someone today

Fill a box with unused toys to donate

Visit a nursing home

Make Christmas cards

Bake cookies for someone else

Gingerbread houses

Decorate the Christmas tree

Make snow angels

Christmas caroling

Drive around to see the lights

Bring gifts to a children’s hospital

Make gifts to give our friends and family

Spend extra time with grandparents

Make a popcorn and cranberry garland for the tree

Play a game as a family

Make Moravian stars

Make paper snowflakes for the windows

Gentle Face Mask

November 27, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

One of my favorite parts of being a “girl mom” is all the fun spa days we have together! My 3 year old daughter loves everything fancy. She is always asking to have tea parties and paint our nails. Because I’ve struggled so much with finding sensitive products for my skin I needed to experiment a little with the right ingredients. The result is my go-to gentle face mask for our girls’ nights.

gentle face mask ingredients-aloe vera, white Kaolin clay, and green tea — Simple, gentle ingredients

I love to use super simple ingredients for basically anything I make. Can’t screw it up if it’s easy, right? As always, everything in this face mask is skin safe, gentle, and perfect for sensitive skin.

Make it yourself

Start by brewing two bags (or 2 tbls loose leaf) of green tea in 1 cup of water. Let it steep and cool. Measure out 4 tbls into a small glass bowl. Add in 2 tbls of White Kaolin clay and stir until incorporated. Next, open up and scrape out the aloe from 1-2 leaves of an aloe vera plant. If the mixture is too runny, add another tbls of the clay. You want a loose batter consistency.

Simply use your fingers to apply to your face, avoiding the eye area. Let it dry (around 10 minutes) and then rinse off with warm water and a washcloth. The Kaolin Clay is a very gentle exfoliant. I keep the glass bowl covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Although I don’t recommend using this mask more than twice a week, I have read that Kaolin Clay is gentle enough for everyday use. Using masks, even gentle face masks, too often can be harsh on your skin and cause irritation. It’s so important to take care of your skin. For more diy skin care products for sensitive skin check out my Tea Tree and Goats Milk shampoo bars here and my Simple Toner here.

Simple Toner

November 26, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

Skincare is something I didn’t give much thought to for the majority of my life. Just being honest. I was not opposed to sleeping with my makeup on (yikes) and never checking expiration dates on skincare products (extra yikes). As I’ve gotten older I haven’t been as blessed with forgiving skin.

Around Christmas time last year, a few months after my second daughter was born, I began having issues with my skin. Rashes and red, irritated everything. Every makeup product caused a rash. Every lotion. Every perfume. Even my deodorant (the same brand I’d used for 5 years) started causing irritation.

I eliminated just about every product from my bathroom cabinet. At first I started experimenting with different storebought products, but it was getting expensive and they all ended up causing the same problems.

In an effort to heal my skin I looked into some more simplified beauty products. Things that used natural ingredients and were free from unnecessary fragrances and colorants. But they had to also not cost an arm and a leg. Not so easy unfortunately! Ultimately I came to the conclusion that I would need to make these products myself. It’s been nonstop experimentation since!

My skin is pretty sensitive (if that’s not obvious already) so I couldn’t use anything that was too harsh. The combination of hormonal changes from having my second child and diet changes had brought on some pretty terrible acne on my face and neck. So I definitely wanted to tackle that area first. I found that keeping everything super simple has had such a huge impact on my skin becoming clear. I do not wear makeup for the most part, and wash my face with the same shampoo bar I use to wash my hair. You can find the recipe for that here. For even more acne clearing power I added in using this toner to my regimen.

Toners come in a whole variety of ingredients and with a plethora of intended benefits. Because my skin is prone to acne, and extra sensitive I needed to focus on those two things. I found quite a bit of information on using witch hazel as a toner, by itself or more expensively- infused witch hazel products. It’s definitely cheap and easy to find just about anywhere by itself, so that’s where I started.

Witch Hazel is a pretty common astringent. It’s effective for reducing inflammation, tightening skin, and is also an antibacterial. I wanted to add something to it. Something that would be healing for my skin and sensitive. That is how I stumbled across using yarrow! I had already started growing Red Yarrow in my garden. It’s so pretty and the pollinators were drawn right to it.

Yarrow is used in skin care for its healing properties. It’s easy on the skin, is antimicrobial, and soothes irritation. I clipped off some of the flower heads and dried them out in my dehydrator. When they were completely dry I filled a small glass jar and poured my witch hazel over top until the jar was full and the flower heads were covered. Cover the jar and keep in a cool, dark place making sure to give the jar a shake daily. After about 2 weeks the witch hazel had turned a reddish brown color. Simply strain out the flower heads and pour the liquid into a dark glass container.

I found some amber bottles on Amazon that work amazing for this. They came with spray nozzles that make it so easy to apply.
I apply daily after I’ve washed my face.

I’d love to hear some of your favorite skin care products you make at home! I’m always looking for new ideas 🙂

Easy DIY lip balm

November 26, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

‘Tis the season. The time for cold, dry air and dry, chapped lips. One of the absolute easiest and maybe most satisfying things to make is lip balm! Once you’ve made it yourself, you’ll never want to buy it again.

I keep my “recipes” simple. 1 part beeswax to 3-4 parts oil. It’s easily customizable and fun to experiment with ingredients. This go round I decided to try something new and use infused castor oil. I’ve made solar infused oils before, but because those take some time I decided to try a new method. I really wanted to use some of my dried echinacea flowers and leaves. Echinacea is believed to calm and soothe chapped and dry skin and I wanted to make this a multipurpose balm.

To make a quick infused oil I filled a small mason jar with dried echinacea leaves and flowers. It’s important to use dried, because any water left in the plant will cause your oil to go rancid. I then filled the jar up with castor oil, put on the lid and ring, and placed in my slow cooker. You’ll want to fill the water up to almost the top of your jar. I turned the slow cooker on medium and left the cover off. After a few hours I took the jar out and placed on a towel to cool down. When the oil has cooled you can strain out the flowers.

To make the balm I used 1 part beeswax to 3 parts oil. Since I was only making one 2oz tin I used .5oz of beeswax, 1.5oz infused castor oil, and a few drops of eucalyptus oil. A digital scale makes it easy to measure my ingredients. If you don’t have a double boiler you can simply put the beeswax and castor oil in a small glass jar, place the jar in a saucepan fill a few inches with water. Heat on medium until the wax has melted and is incorporated. Lastly, add a few drops of your scent of choice. I use eucalyptus because it is refreshing and invigorating. Carefully pour the melted ingredients into your container. It will set up pretty quickly.

That’s all to that! I love this balm and use it for so many things- dry lips, eczema, chapped cheeks from the wind. If you do choose to use eucalyptus oil it’s important to note that it is not considered an infant safe oil for the skin. So it shouldn’t be used for children under 2. The essential oil can definitely be left out or replaced with one that is considered safe for small children if that’s a concern. There’s a lot of good information out there on which ones are.

Balms are very forgiving to make- if it’s too hard simply melt it down and add more oil. If it’s too soft- simply melt it back down and add more beeswax. I hope this post inspires you to get creative and try something new!

These tins are great! Perfect for balms, spices, and even small candles &lt;br /&gt;<br />

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are completely my own.

Making clean pine rosin

November 26, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

Now, this may be something that very few people ever feel the need to do- but I wanted to write it up anyway!

I found my need of pine rosin when I decided to try my hand at making beeswax wraps. The wraps that didn’t contain the rosin were not as sticky, and they definitely need to be to work the way they’re meant to. You can find that post here

I could have easily ordered some off amazon. It’s not hard to find. Or even really expensive. There’s just something about the challenge of making something myself that really appeals to me. So I sat down with my good friend youtube and watched a lot of videos on how to collect and clean the resin. Talk about scary! Most videos showed heating the resin in a tin can over an alcohol burner. Thanks, no thanks. After typing in “How to clean resin without alcohol burner” I found an old post someone had made using a pot of water instead! That was more my speed.

First things first, I had to find some resin. We have plenty of pine trees around the property so that didn’t take long. I really didn’t want to cause any harm to the tree just to make my wraps, so I looked for areas on the tree that were already healing. Places where branches had been broken off or trimmed. There would be a sticky deposit there ranging from amber to dark brown. It was kinda stinky, not gonna lie. I used a butter knife (that will never be used for anything ever again! More on that later) and carefully cut off very small pieces. I collected from 4 different trees, being careful not to take very much from each spot.

After I had collected the resin I put it in a drawstring cotton bag. Then I filled a pot with water (Again, one that will never be used for anything else!) and turned the heat to medium. I lined my counters with newspaper because I anticipated a mess. I was not wrong.

Place the cotton bag in the hot water and let it do it’s thing. As the resin heats up it starts separating from the debris from the tree. It will seep through the fabric and into the water. I filled a bowl with cool water and places that on my newspaper. Using a spoon I scooped up the yellow drops that were seeping from the bag and dropped them in the water. Be careful not to tough the cool water with your spoon or the resin will stick.

The whole process took maybe 15 minutes. I used my spoon to press the bag and release any more melted resin. When I wasn’t getting much out anymore I turned the heat off and questioned my life. Everything was covered in resin. I seriously tried to be careful, but it was everywhere. I had hoped to clean my bowl afterwards (hahahahaha) that resin is stuck for life!

The cute little bag before the nightmare of stickiness

I decided to use a little tin I found to store my resin. I used the spoon to scoop out the droplets from the cool water and put them in my little tin. Next, I set up a double boiler and placed the tin in the top. As it melted down to a more smooth consistency, I checked out the bag of debris. It was pretty cool to see how much of my “resin” had really been bark and dirt.

I used the rosin as I intended- to make beeswax wraps. It worked perfectly for that! Is it something I’d do again? Probably not. But it was a fun experience anyway.

Finished product! Rosin to use for my project

How to make your own beeswax wraps

November 26, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

Hey guys! This is a project I was really looking forward to making this year. In my endeavor to produce less waste (especially in the kitchen) I came across these reusable wraps made with beeswax! The biggest question I had was “Can they completely replace Saran Wrap in my home??” So let’s get into it!

Beeswax wraps are easily found online or in a natural food store…. but man are they expensive. I had to try to make them myself! The internet is full of different instructions to make your own, but the ingredients are generally the same: cotton fabric, beeswax granules, jojoba oil, and pine rosin. I had exactly two of those things on hand. Some improvisation was needed. Story of my life.

Beeswax, pine rosin, and olive oil. Simple ingredients.

I read somewhere that you can use any food grade oil in place of jojoba (except coconut oil) so I decided to sub with olive oil. I have lots of that. I still have beeswax I bought from a local bee keeper awhile ago, so I was all good there. I found some scraps of fabric I had bought for a project last year- remnants of a pack of fat quarters in pretty white and gold patterns. The last ingredient was the pine rosin. I couldn’t find any locally, but it is easily found online. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) I’m way too impatient to wait for things to come in the mail when I have a project in mind. So I set about making my own. Check out the post here

Now that I had all my materials gathered it was time to get to work. I cut my fabric scraps by measuring some of my baking pans I would like to cover. Just make sure there is enough to hang over the edges so it can be pressed on to stay in place. Preheat the oven to 180F.

Choose patterns that bring some joy in your kitchen

Next, I set up a double boiler and measured out 3 oz of beeswax granules, 1/2 oz of pine rosin, and 1/2 of olive oil. On medium heat I let everything melt together. It’s so important that anything you use when working with pine rosin is only used for that purpose. It is extremely hard to get off everything! I recommend lining your countertop with newspaper in case of any spills.

You’ll want to line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. As I said before, the pine rosin is super sticky and hard to get off. Lay out your fabric on the lined pan. Using an old flat paintbrush ( I used one from an old art set) dip into the melted wax/oil and spread on the fabric. It won’t go on super smoothly, but that’s okay. Pop the pan in the oven for a few minutes. When the pan is pretty warmed you can take it out and using the same brush, spread the wax and oil around to the edges of the fabric. You can add more if you need to. It’s important for the oils to soak through to the other side of the fabric.

When the fabric is completely covered carefully lift it off the parchment paper to let it set and stiffen up. I laid mine out on newspaper so I could work on the next. They dry very quickly and are ready to use right away!

Here’s the part I really looked forward to! Finally using these wraps! I tried them first as covers for my glass pans that did not come with lids. They worked great! I laid the wraps over the top of my pans and pressed the edges over, using the warmth of my hands to stick it down. The wraps held up well in the fridge, retaining their shape. I fold them to store when not in use.

Now the sad part of my story. I decided to try wrapping some of a leftover block of cheese. After not even a full day wrapped the cheese had absorbed so much of the pine smell and taste. It was awful! There was no smell with anything I used the wraps over as a cover, but directly touching food, while food safe, was very gross. So that’s to be noted.

These wraps will not replace Saran Wrap completely. At least for me. I’m still on the search for a reusable, sustainable product I can use for things like freezing pie crusts. For now I use my wraps over dishes and store extra cheese (or anything the wraps would come in complete contact with) in a glass container with a lid.

I’d love to hear any recommendations for products that would replace plastic wrap more effectively! If you know of any, leave a comment or send me an email.

Nuts about soap….nuts!

November 26, 2019 // by Zoe// Leave a Comment

My experience using eco friendly “Soap Nuts” as a laundry detergent

Nothing says wash day like a giant bag of withered, dry soap nuts next to the washer! Well, maybe not in most households. But it is now the norm in mine. When I first started to read about these magical little berries, I was so intrigued! I pinned and read, and pinned and read some more. I’m weird like that.

My husband was less enthused about the idea. In fact, when I showed him a video that explained how they worked he couldn’t have rolled his eyes any further back in his head. But as usual he let me know he trusted me and whatever weird decision I made.

So what are these things??

I was surprised to learn that soap nuts aren’t actually nuts at all. They are the berries produced by shrubs in the Sapindaceae family. These shrubs grow in tropical climates, and are mostly harvested from Southeast Asia. The berries contain saponins (that create the foamy, soapy consistency) and they are natural surfactants. You can use the soap nuts in any type of washer and they are septic safe.

After doing a little bit more googling, the hunt for my laundry berries was on! It actually didn’t take me long to find some. My local co-op carries several sizes! Even though I had never used them before, I went with the largest bag. My poor husband gets to live with all my experiments taking up space in our little house.

Are they easy to use??

The bag I bought came with two cotton drawstring bags to use in the wash. You simply place 4 berries in the bag, pull the drawstring closed, and throw it in the washer. That little bag is good for around 4 washes. When your washer has completed its cycle just take the bag out and let dry. But if you do laundry like me – just keep it in there for the next load. I like to do my laundry in one or two days a week.

One drawback about using these soap nuts is that they work best in warm/hot water. And I really only wash with cold water… Lucky for me there was a formula on the back for making a liquid soap for laundry. I boiled 15 nuts in a pot of water with 6 cups of water. After it boiled down for 20 minutes, I added another cup of water and boiled again another 10 minutes. After it cooled I strained the liquid into a clean mason jar. It’s actually recommended you keep the liquid refrigerated between uses, as it can spoil. But hey, what’s one more weird jar in my fridge??

Less waste- and I can save money??

Now, one of the main draws of switching to this way of washing clothes was saving money. My husband and kids tend to break out in rashes when I use any detergent other than Tide. And Tide is spendy. Because of that, I’m so happy to find that this seems to be a good fit for our family. No adverse reactions, and it’s easy on the wallet. My two favorite things. Haha!

As I’m working on making changes in the products we bring into our home, I’m becoming much more aware of the amount of unnecessary plastic in packaging. Unfortunately, even though the soap nuts came in a linen bag there was still a plastic liner inside. However, that’s still less waste than a container of Tide produces. After the soap nuts are used up they can be thrown right in your compost pile. But there is still the question of whether or not importing these from Asia is really more eco friendly in the long run. I’m continuing my research as far as that goes!

You may be thinking to yourself “Okay… but do these even work??”. And I’ll answer by saying yes…. and no. My laundry comes out mostly clean using soap nuts alone. Set-in and stubborn stains need pretreated. But to be fair, I was still pretreating stains when we exclusively used Tide. My toddler’s “accident” clothes didn’t come out smelling fresh and clean. I found that adding a cup of vinegar in the wash really helped with that odor. I also put a few drops of essential oil on a clean cloth in the dryer for scent, because the soap nuts themselves do not leave any sort of scent on your clothes.

Is it worth the switch??

So let’s look at potential savings. My 2.2lb bag cost $23 at my local co-op (you can definitely find better prices on Amazon). I wash an average of 6 loads of laundry a week. Each load uses 1/4 cup of liquid. Following the directions on the back for the liquid detergent I end up with a full quart jar. So that one jar will take care of 16 loads- or almost 3 weeks of laundry. And that’s only using 15 of the nuts! Here’s my math:

15 soap nuts weigh about 1.4 oz
The entire bag is 2.2lbs or 35.2 oz
I will use 1 quart of liquid detergent in a 3 week period
I should be able to get 25 quarts of detergent out of this one bag which will be enough for around 16 months of laundry

So even with any sort of stain treatment I buy and use (right now that’s vinegar and hydrogen peroxide) I’m still saving a heck of a lot of money. That seems like winning deal to me!