A Few of My Favorite Homemade Natural Products

It's Cleaning Day (a.k.a. Sunday) so I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite new recipes for natural cleaning products.

(By the way, I'm also very proud to say that I'm almost finished with all of my toxic cleaning products. My guess is that they'll be gone in a month, at the most.)

Gently Laundry Pre-Treating Spray
4 ounces white vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
8 ounces water
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a spray bottle. Label with name and make date. Shelf Life = 2 months.

Simple Drain Cleaner
2 ounces ammonia
1 teaspoon cinnamon essential oil (or one of the citrus oils)
1/2 cup baking soda
2 ounces white vinegar
Mix all ingredients to make a paste. For clog, pour paste down the drain and let sit for 30 minutes. Run water down drain to flush.
*This one works wonders for the toilet! No more struggling with the plunger!

Leather Cleaner
1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol
1 1/2 cups water
Mix ingredients together. Store in a container labeled with name and make date. Shelf Life = 2 to 4 months.

Making homemade cleaning products is fun and easy to do...just make sure you have tons of baking soda, white vinegar and essential oils on hand! :)

Post a comment or send me an e-mail about the natural products (homemade or not) you love!

The Evolution of Project Notepad

Anyone who stops by my cubicle must wonder why I keep a tray full of random used paper on my desk. Well, a few months ago, I started something I like to call "Project Notepad." In an effort to reuse paper that I'd normally recycle (remember, it goes Reduce, then Reuse, then Recycle), I began collecting paper that was blank on one side. My plan was to turn this paper into notepads of various sizes that I could use for work and home. I even thought about creating nice notepad covers and giving the notepads as gifts!

The notepad idea hasn't come to fruition just yet. But recently, my son and I have been reusing the paper for something more creative and fun - homemade books! Check out photos of our latest book entitled "Hercules, the Hyena":

I remember doing this as a child, so I couldn't wait to share the experience with my son. Making homemade books is so much fun and has been a great bonding experience. And best of all, it's eco-friendly!

How would you reuse single-sided paper?