Bye Bye Candles and Room Sprays {Penny Pinching and Toxin Reducing}

In our home, we love visitors and entertaining. With this passion comes house cleaning and pleasant smells. With just the two of us, it's fairly easy to maintain a clean, fresh home but sometime work requires more attention or illness prevents me from cleaning weekly. At time like these, I absolutely LOVE my diffuser and essential oils! I used to be a wax warmer/candle fan but after going through so many air filters due to soot and researching the chemicals I was also breathing in, I did away with those candles and don't miss them one bit! Plus oils last SO much longer and therefore are cheaper!!! And all the husbands said "Amen!"

I can't believe I was harming my family's health by burning through one candle per month per room!

Now, my collection of oils is ever growing and there is absolutely no way I could pick even my top 5 faves. Therefore I refuse, ha! 

I do love my diffuser so much that I am planning to get another one next month! I'll keep one in the house and one at my office! Of course my goal is eventually to have one in the living room and one in both bedrooms but we must be frugally methodical ;). 

There are times though when a diffuser is not necessary and I just want a spritz of heaven to linger for a little bit. Be it stinky shoes, stinky trash can, stinky bathroom, stinky hubby, I'm just kidding on that last one, my man always smells great. But honestly, anything you want to neutralize will be quickly squelched by Purification. 

Blend of Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree all work to combat the worst smells {and the most stubborn bugs}

Want a nice pillow spray to relax you into slumber or beautiful smells to brighten the room and refresh the furniture? Here are a few blends we love!

Stress Away + Peppermint

 Equal drops of each either diffused or made into a spray is sure to awaken and de-stress you. Perfect for the morning routine when energy is slowly building but much grace is still required

Lavender + Lemon

Equal drops of each either diffused or made into a spray will relax you and send you into a restful sleep. 

How do you turn these oils into sprays though? Sprays are nice for their portability and familiarity. It's very easy to turn oils into sprays but you have a couple options. In a 4 ounce glass spray bottle, put 6-8 drops of each oil of your choice. Try to stick to 2-3 oils as too many different scents can cause headaches for some people. Once you have the oils in your bottle, you have a choice of one of the following: pinch of fine salt or 1 tsp witch hazel. Both of these ingredients work to bring the oil and water together. You'll then fill the bottle with water. Shake before each spray. Perfect as perfumes, bathroom spray, pillow spray, clothes refreshment, fabric furniture refreshment, and much more. 

What are some of your favorite blends? 

{I am a distributor for Young Living but more importantly, I am a woman who has battled health issues for many years and has first hand experience with the wonders of nature. I stand by Young Living products because they have stood the test of time, have passed through many independent testing before sale, and I personally have seen their positive effects on my health! If you are interested in any of the products I mentioned, please contact me via email katelynsyoungliving@gmail.com}

Lemon Garlic Dressing

It does seem that as the Summer goes on and slowly turns into Fall I am reminded of how soon we will be limited on fresh, local produce. This is often good for our diets though as it means rotation but there are a couple summer recipes I absolutely cannot live without. Lemon Garlic Dressing is definitely one of these favorites.

Now before I share this recipe, I must credit the woman who taught me how to make it. My mom and I share in our adoration for this amazing dressing recipe and while I am not sure if she "invented" the concoction, I am unsure. But seeing as she is the one to have introduced me, I credit her. Seeing as it's an addiction of mine, I blame her, ha. Let's not keep you or your salad, or your chicken, or your steak, or anything else for that matter waiting any longer. I behold...

Lemon Garlic Dressing

Great as a salad dressing, bread dipping, meat marinade, veggie dressing and much more

6 lemons, juiced

1 head of garlic, peeled

2 Tbsp Italian Herb Blend (Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Rosemary)

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The first three ingredients will go into a food processor or blender until all the garlic is well blended into the liquid. Add the oil and blend further until oil and dressing have emulsified (no longer separately distinguishable). Store this in a glass jar (we prefer a wide mouth mason jar) in the fridge up to two weeks. Shake before use. 

This dressing is packed full of Vitamin C, Antioxidants, Anti-fungals, Antibiotics, the list goes on! Perfect for those struggling with Candida or a cold.

Laundry {Penny Pinching & Toxin Reducing}

Few things make me happier than clean laundry but when it came time to find ways to save money and remove toxins, our laundry products became one of my first projects. Thankfully, many have come before me and I found a few great recipes to try. After a couple alterations, I love the end results!

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For those who are not inclined to DIY but are looking to remove toxins this is a wonderful toxin-free laundry soap.

See below on how to order your laundry soap!

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Laundry Soap

Now for the fun! If you have kiddos at home, they may enjoy helping too! You need to gather a few ingredients but you'll find the cost to be a small fraction of the cost of store bought products.

We are a family of two and wash roughly 3 loads of laundry a week on average. One recipe lasts us about a month to a month and a half. That being said, you will need to figure out your family's use to know how many batches to make at a time. I like to make 6 months at a time which goes through about one of each of the boxed ingredients. Six batches costs me $15...six months worth of laundry for $15 versus $22 soap monthly or bi-monthly!

1 bar of either: Zote, Felz Naptha, or Unscented Castille
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax

This is where the kiddos can help out! You'll need to grate the bar soap into a bowl. The finer the grate, the better. Once you it's all grated, place the baking soda in a food processor or blender then the grated soda. Turn on in spurts until the grated soap blends well into the baking soap. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add remaining powders. Mix until well blended. Store in an airtight container. Use 1-2Tbs per load depending on laundry load size.

[For those with HE washers, we use this recipe in our front load HE washer and it works wonderfully with both warm and cold water...just be sure to alter your soap drawer for powder]

Fabric Softener

Now if you're like me and like your clothes soft to touch, you have a few options to replace toxin loaded fabric softener. The easiest and cheapest of which being white vinegar. That's right, what southerners love to use on top black eyed peas does wonderfully to clean and soften clothes. Plus the reaction between the baking soda in the laundry soap and the vinegar does wonders against stains. But don't worry, the smell will be gone well before you pull your clothes out of the dryer. Want to try it but still want your clothes scented? Wool balls with essential oils do the trick! You can find wool balls on Amazon or through your local Norwex distributor. As for essential oils, here are some of my favorites. I like to switch it up through the seasons.

Spring

Nothing says Spring quite like flowers and I absolutely love the refreshing and relaxing scent of Lavender

Summer

Aaaah, fresh fruit is my mental image of Summer. This blend brings many citrus oils together as one

Autumn

Thieves brings together many holiday spices but also is great at warding off the sniffles

Nutmeg is one of the many pie making spices. 

Just the smell of it makes me think of Fall 

Winter

Winter is joyous for many but even the happiest of people can struggle through those cold, dark months once the holidays are over. This blend keeps Christmas just under your nose. Imagine it lingering on your favoring knitted sweater!

While there are many more oils that you could use on your clothing to give them a nice, toxin-free scent, my favorite part is knowing that I am saving money and protecting my family's health with every load. 

{I am a distributor for Young Living but more importantly, I am a woman who has battled health issues for many years and has first hand experience with the wonders of nature. I stand by Young Living products because they have stood the test of time, have passed through many independent testing before sale, and I personally have seen their positive effects on my health! If you are interested in any of the products I mentioned, please contact me via email katelynsyoungliving@gmail.com}