Who are you?

If you are a believer in Jesus/Yahshua the Messiah, what do you call yourself? Who do you say you are? What does the bible say about you? What does the bible call you? Do you know?

You should.

This is the stepping off point. Once you grasp this fact, your life will never be the same. I promise you. Spend an hour watching the following video, PLEASE! If you call yourself a Christian, WATCH this.

Another Homemade: Toothpaste

The toothpaste looks rather gross all sloshy in the jars, as I look at them now. At the time, I thought this was the cutest pic ever. Ah well, it was late.

Regardless of the sloshy messy look of the toothpaste, it serves its purpose and is quite cheap! 

Here is our recipe:

8 T. coconut oil

12 T. baking soda

between 20-40 drops of the essential oil of your choice. 

Combine the coconut oil and baking soda and mix until the baking soda is fully incorporated into the coconut oil. 

Add essential oil, and mix thoroughly. 

Put a bit into individual jars or other containers for each of your family members. 

Remember, this is coconut oil, so depending on the temperature of the bathroom, your toothpaste might be runny or very solid. 

Homemade Face Wash

(Those are my little glass jars I got this past week on my thrifting trip.)

My skin is dry, it's oily, it cracks and peels, and then it produces way to much oil. I thought I was cursed with bad skin. No pimples, or anything like that, just crocodile skin around my nose, between my eyebrows and under my chin. That is, until I STOPPED using expensive store bought facial cleansers and decided to come up with my own. 

It's quite simple actually, on most days I just use a simple castile soap to gently cleanse my face. But, there are times, especially in winter, that I see that the return of the dreaded crocodile skin is imminent. So, a few times a week I mix together in my little Saki cup (above) a bit of organic course grained sugar, honey, baking soda, liquid castile soap and a tad bit of water, make a thick paste and give my dry areas a good scrub. The sugar scrubs away the dead and drying skin, the castile soap whisks away dirt and oil, and the honey softens my skin like nothing else. The baking soda...well, I have just become accustomed to adding it...I'm sure it does something good. :~)

Once a week or so, I'll make a bigger batch and scrub my entire body down with it. I love the feel of my skin after a good scrub down. It's so soft, and just has a glow to it. 

When my skin is extra dry and sensitive, I'll grind up a bit of oatmeal in the blender and add that to my mixture. If I'm out of sugar, I'll use cornmeal or salt. Sometimes a bit of lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar is nice to add to the mix. There are so many variations to a homemade face wash. Use what you have, and find what works for you. 

In the summer, as I become less dry and more oily, I use glycerin water to moisturize my face. In the winter, when I need a good thick moisturizer, I use coconut oil. Last year I used olive oil, but I find the coconut oil to absorb considerably better than olive oil. I LOVE it, and it smells like a mounds bar :~) I do have a stick of cocoa butter that I use when I need some serious, serious moisturizing, but other than that, there are no lotions of any sort in my home, something that I thought would NEVER be possible. 

I love my little glass jars. I can keep a tiny bit of my kitchen ingredients right there in the bathroom. It's so convenient and pretty. 

What's even better than convenience, to me anyway, is the frugality of it all. I love saving my husband money and finding creative uses for what we already have in the house. It's one of my favorite things. 

Thrifting Finds

I love laying out all my thrift store finds.

 clothes drying rack $1

5 wide mouth quart sized canning jars $.25 each

real military issued combat boots (for my son) $1

 half bushel basket $.50 

4 glass jars with glass lids $.25 each

spoon rest $.25

clay jar with cork stopper- over priced at $1, but I've been searching for one

The Joy of Cooking cookbook $.50 

Book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle $1

 8 glass spice jars $.50 for all

zebra print collar for my pooch Rufus $.25

 cheese grater which I needed for zesting $.25 

tongs-can't ever have too many tongs-$.25

barrette-free because she forgot to ring it up and just gave it to me

 spool holder for thread $1

 Crepe Cookery cookbook $.50

and one leather and wicker bag that is totally awesome $2.50

 (Not pictured here is the black hook dealy that is pictured down farther and I picked that up for $3)

All for under $16

 

I'm so excited about these. I LOVE containers. 

This was a little pricey ($2.50), but I just couldn't resist this. It is super sturdy and well, just cool. 

Here's that black hook dealy that I forgot to put in the picture above. 

I think it's going to go in my kitchen. I need something to hang our aprons from. 

I can't wait to use this, either for drying clothes or pasta! It's great, and for $1? I could not pass it up.

I have been wanting to make crepes and this is going to give me the motivation to do it. 

The Joy of Cooking? A classic must have that I didn't have.

I love to go thrifting and so do my kiddos. I hate spending retail for anything because I know sooner or later I'll find what I need at the thrift store. I love that my husband finds pleasure in seeing all the things I find, and that he never complains about this great love of mine :~) When I bring home a table full of useful things, he knows I've spent his money well. He knows I am happy and that we are well taken care of. Before winter I bought my youngest son and myself each a pair of nice winter boots at the thrift store for a total of $1.00. I saved probably $60 on that purchase because I didn't have to buy them new.

After moving to Wyoming with whatever we could fit in the back of our Explorer, I needed to replace a lot of stuff. Thrifting has made it possible for us to have "new" furniture, cookware, blankets, and other needful things. It is amazing to me that when we need something, the Father knows it, and more times than not, I find it at a thrift store.