Homemade Dishwasher Detergent THAT WORKS !!!

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup Epsom salt (or Kosher salt)
1/2 cup citric acid (or Lemon Kool-Aid or CountryTime Lemon Aid have worked for me)

Mix in a small container with a lid.  Shake before each use- citric acid causes clumps. Or you can put a little rice in to absorb the moisture.
Put in dispenser.  

At the bottom of the dishwasher put 1/2 cup a vinegar AND 3 drops blue DAWN dishsoap.  This is the key to make this recipe work!

Deodorant

THIS is the best recipe I have found for making deodorant. 

2 T baking soda
2 T starch (arrowroot powder or corn starch)
3T coconut oil

Mix the baking soda and starch then add the coconut oil in until smooth.
Put in a silicone container (or muffin liners) and refrigerate until hard.  


Use like regular deodorant.  This amount lasts about 2 months.

Sugar Body Scrub

Recipe found HERE. Simple things you have on hand and an enjoyable bathtime treat.

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. light olive oil
2t. cinnamon
2t. ginger
2t. nutmeg

Mix. Put in a container with a lid.
Use a teaspoon or two to massage into your skin, leave on for a few minutes, and rinse thoroughly.

Shampoo

Recipe found HERE.

I like this more than Castile soap alone.

1/4 c. coconut milk
1/3 c. Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid castile soap
1 t. vitamin E oil (or olive oil)

Shake.

Shake before using 1 t. to wash hair.
Keeps up to one month.

Lip Gloss

I tried a different lip gloss recipe that was simple but did not have any coloring or strong scent.
I saw THIS recipe and wanted to try it. I liked the results. The smell is strong so I might cut back on the candy flavoring next time but the results were fantastic. I found the little containers at WinCo in the travel section in packs of two. My 2 year old wanted to add glitter to the gloss but I managed to convince her the scent was enough.
Here is my version of the lip gloss:
1 t. beeswax
4 t. coconut oil
4 t. Vaseline
4 pink candy melts
1/2 t. oil-based candy flavoring


I melted the ingredients in a mini crockpot then used a glass measuring cup to pour them into the clean containers. You could also melt them in a ziploc bag over hot water or in the microwave if you melted the beeswax first and stirred often.

Cinnamon Ornaments

1 c cinnamon
1 T ground cloves
1 T nutmeg
1 T allspice
1 T ginger
3/4 c. applesauce
1 T white glue

Combine into a dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch and cut with cookie cutters.
Punch hole for a string with a straw.
Bake at 150F for an hour on a cookie sheet then an hour and half on the rack.

Melt Crayons

Peel old broken crayons.

Some of the old crayons were difficult to get the paper off. I put them in some water in the microwave for A FEW SECONDS so they wouldn't melt but the paper would easily peel off.

You can spray old muffin tins to use but I really like silicone baking cups for these. I own mini-heart shaped silicone baking cups I use often. Crayons, lotion bars, bath bombs ALL just pop right out.

OVEN: 200F for about 9-11 minutes, then cool. You can cool in the fridge or freezer

MICROWAVE: 5-8 minutes, the oven seems to work better for more even melting but if your child wants to do it alone this is safer.



We passed these out for Halloween. The heart shaped crayon is folded into the nose of the puppy. We put my daughter's memory verse with the puppy, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." --Psalm 119:11

Plaster Sculpture

Recipe:
2 cups water
2 cups Plaster of Paris
3 cups vermiculite

I purchased vermiculite at Earl May gardening center. Make sure you get the kind without fertilizer. The students should be fine if they aren't eating it or breathing in the dust. The mixture should be thick enough that there isn't any dust.

Pour the mixture into your containers to dry. We used plastic yogurt and sour cream containers.

We let ours sit for an hour and it was pliable with our fingers. After four days it was completely dry and ready to carve.

The best item to carve it was a nutcracker pick.

No-Bake Craft Clay

No-Bake Craft Clay
1 cup corn starch
1 1/4 cups cold water
2 cups baking soda
saucepan
food coloring (optional)
plate
damp cloth
tempera or acrylic paints (optional)
clear shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish

Combine cornstarch, water, and baking soda in saucepan; stir over medium heat for about 4 minutes until mixture thickens to a moist mashed-potato consistency. (For colored clay, add a few drops of food coloring to the water before it is mixed with cornstarch and baking soda.) Remove from heat, turn onto plate, and cover with a damp cloth until cool. Knead until smooth. Shape as desired or store in an airtight container or Ziploc ba. Dry sculptures overnight, then paint with tempera or acrylic. Seal with shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish.

This recipe is from The Toddlers Busy Book by Trish Kuffner.


This recipe is one of the best I have found- easy, cheap and looks good.

Lip Gloss

This is so COOL. Now if I can just figure out how to tint it a little. :)

1 teaspoon grated cocoa butter
1/4 teaspoon grated beeswax
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil

Melt together on low heat. I use a mini crockpot; this crockpot is used for non-edible items only. Stir occasionally until everything is melted and combine. (The beeswax takes the longest to melt, so you might want to throw it in first!)

Pour into a small counter with a lid. It should cool quickly.

I am excited to give this as a little gift for people to try. I found shallow candle holders at Target for 99 cents. I am going to have to fashion a little plastic lid.

HERE is another recipe I tried.

Lotion Bars

This recipe is from my friend Courtney's blog found HERE.

Her recipe:
2 oz Beeswax
2 oz Shea Butter
2 oz Coconut Oil

Melt in a double boiler or small crockpot, melt beeswax, then add in the shea butter to melt, and then the coconut oil. Stir to mix well and pour into molds and let harden on the counter or in the freezer.

I did not read her 'notes' about the ingredients being measured by weight!!! Beeswax is heavier than shea butter and coconut oil. So she used 1/4 cup of beeswax to 1 cup each of the other two.


My recipe:
2 T beeswax
2 T shea butter
2 T coconut oil

I dumped all of it in a mini crockpot, stirred it once after it was melted and poured it into my Wilton's mini heart silicone baking cups. This made 3 small heart shaped bars. I let them cool overnight. They are not goopey but will rub into your hands.

My daughter thought they were delicious; she nibbled on one. She loves anything I make in the silicone hearts. Her memory verse is 'I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.' Psalm 119:11. I always draw a heart on her hand when we practice, so these hearts have been an extension of her learning her verse. (She is only 16 months. We are a long way from her being able to say more than 'heart.')

I gave these as Christmas gifts with a note, "We must not lose heart in doing good things. If we do not stop doing them, we will get something back when the right time comes." --Galatians 6:9.

Bath Bombs

1 c. citric acid (I found in the spice aisle at the local health food store)
1 c. baking soda
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. of oil (almond, canola, or sunflower)
2-3 drops of essential oil (lavender, peppermint, or any other)
2-3 drops of soap colorant (I just used food coloring)

Mix is up. then put in the essential oil and colorant mix it in.
It will form a soft dough. Put into a mold or roll into balls.
Dry overnight then wrap them in plastic.

These fizz well and are simple.


We put ours in washcloths made to look like ghosts for Halloween. We attached the recipe and the bible verse Matthew 14:26-27.


I found the recipe HERE.

Play Dough

1 cup flour
2 T cream of tartar
½ cup salt
1 to 2 T cooking oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix flour, cream of tartar, and salt in a pan. Mix desired coloring with water, add with oil to dry mixture. Cook over medium heat until thick.

Rainbow in a Bag

Mix 1 c cornstarch, 1/3 c sugar and 4 c water in a saucepan. Boil stirring constantly-looks like Vaseline. Cool. Fill 1/3 of bag with the mixture. Add food coloring. Zip and squish.

Baker's Clay

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 teaspoon powdered alum
1 1/2 cups

Mix ingredients. If dry, work in extra water. Bake on un-greased cookie sheet 30 minutes @ 250. Turn and bake another1 1/2 hours. Remove and cool. Paint.

Indoor Sandcastle Stuff

(aka Moon Sand)

2 cups clean, fine sand
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
Mix all three ingredients over a low heat (200). Remove when the mixture firms.
Cool and play! Store in an airtight container.

Bubble Recipe

1 Cup Water
2 T Light Karo syrup or 2 T Glycerin
4 Tablespoons JOY dish washing liquid

MIX

Metamucil Flubber

1 tsp Metamucil or similar soluble fiber
8 oz water

Mix 1 teaspoon of Metamucil with 1 cup (8 ounces) of water in a microwaveable bowl.
Place bowl in the microwave and nuke on high for 4-5 minutes (depends on microwave power) or until the goo is about to bubble out of the bowl. Turn off the microwave.
Let the mixture cool slightly, then repeat (microwave until about to overflow). The more times this step is repeated the more rubbery the substance will become.
After 5-6 microwave runs, (carefully - hot hot HOT) pour the flubber onto a plate or cookie sheet. A spoon can be used to spread it out.
Allow to cool. Flubber can be stored at room temperature in a sealed baggie for several months. It will last indefinitely in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.

Slime

1 c. liquid starch
1 c. white glue

Mix for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Coffee Eggs

1 cup Used coffee grounds
(If you are making several batches of eggs, call a local coffee shop to ask for some coffee grounds. A lot of shops save them for local community gardens.)
1/2 cup Cold coffee
1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Salt

Stir the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour and salt until well mixed. Knead together and flatten it out onto the waxed paper.

Use the can to cut circles or the knife to cut slabs.

Press your objects firmly into the dough, when you take the
object out, you have your fossil.

Let dry overnight and hang.

These are great to put little toys or clues in. They really look like rocks!