Coconut Oil Moisture Treatment

Ok folks, I am doing another short and sweet post today.  I have a two year old on my lap that refuses to leave my side today and a 4 year old that wants me to see every new addition he adds to his Lego house and I'm not feeling to hot. So here we go

Coconut Oil Moisture Treatment 
You Will Need:
Coconut oil
Hair clip
Shower clip
Blow dryer (optional)

Directions:
Flip your head upside down and rub the oil into your hair, saturating it completely. Once your hair is soaked with oil, twist your hair into a bun or ponytail. You can clip it in place by grabbing some hair from your scalp and part of the bun, or use a hair tie to keep it in place.  Cover your hair with a shower cap. You can choose to apply heat or not. Applying heat will open the cuticle of each strand so the coconut oil can penetrate the core faster. Leave the coconut oil on your hair for at least 30 minutes without heat, or 15 minutes with heat. You can use a hair dryer to apply heat over the shower cap.  Once your time is up wash and condition your hair as you normally would. You may need to wash your hair twice to rinse away all of the oil.

 Even though my hair is short, it's abnormally thick so I ended up using twice this amount.

 I rubbed it in all over until my hair was one big grease ball. Several drops escaped and fell so you might want to do this over a bathtub or towel.

 I pulled it up into a bun, threw on a shower cap and went about my business.  I left it on for 45 min while my son and I had a rip roaring good time playing Chutes and Ladders. 

 The Verdict: I washed my hair twice then styled it like usual.  I was amazed at how soft it was.  I couldn't keep my hands away from my hair.  BUT, it wasn't a "wow my hair is so healthy" kind of soft, it was more of a "I have coconut oil residue in my hair" soft.  When I washed my hair again it felt the same as it always does. 

So even though my hair felt great, I would say this is a bust since the softness only lasted through one wash.  Although, I may try it again and use the blow dryer next time.  Using heat could make a big difference.

Book Safe

When I was younger I had a strange obsession with catalogs.  I would hide them in my bed and look at every picture in each catalog before going to sleep.  While most girls my age were reading The Babysitters Club, I was checking out what new erasers Oriental Trading was selling. One day I saw a picture of a book safe.  It was a book you could hide on your book shelf, but instead of pages there was a secret door that you could hide things in. 

I thought it was the most incredible thing and HAD to have one.  So I saved my pennies, filled out the card and waited the 6-8 weeks for that book to arrive in the mail. Needless to say, when that book safe arrived I was pretty disappointed.  My super sweet mysterious book turned out to be a pathetic looking piece of plastic that had no resemblance to a book. 

Recently, when I saw a Pin about making my own book safe I knew I had to do it.  Not because I was planning on actually hiding things in it, but I needed to finally have my cool book safe so I could close the chapter on that part of my life (pun intended).

DIY Book Safe
You Will Need:
Hardcover book
Glue
Paint brush
Wax paper
Xacto knife 
Metal ruler

Directions:
Lay the pages on any wax paper-lined surface with an edge. Pin the first few pages of the book to the front and rear covers and weigh the rest of the pages down so they don’t move. Mix some glue and water together. I used about a 4:1 ratio of wood glue to water (if you’re making one book, you should mix one tablespoon of glue with 3/4 teaspoon of water). Glue the outer edges of the pages together with a brush to ensure that the pages don’t move when you cut them out later on.When you’ve put on a thick coat, unclip the covers and let the rear cover hang off the edge. Place some wax paper between the clean pages/front cover and the glued pages to separate them. Weigh down the book so the wet pages don’t wrinkle and swell.After a couple of hours, put on a second coat of glue and let it dry overnight. Don’t throw the wax paper away after this step. You’ll use it later on. The glue dries pretty clear and should hold the pages firmly.  To cut out the cavity, use a metal ruler to make straight cuts with an Xacto knife. Buy extra blades; it’s worth it. After you’ve cut fifty pages or so, you can stop using the ruler. This is tedious work, but you have to be patient and take your time or else the cuts will become uneven and angled. Go into this step knowing it’ll take about forty-five minutes to finish.  When you get near the bottom cover, insert a sheet pan or something else you don’t mind scraping up between the pages and the back cover. This is to keep the inside of your book nice and neat. Once the cavity is cut out and you’ve cleaned up the edges with your Xacto knife, it’s time to glue again. Mix another batch of the glue/water mixture. Put your book back on the wax paper with the bottom cover hanging over the edge. Brush the glue all over the inner pages. If you glued the back cover to the pages now, the excess glue would pool inside your safe. The glue will hide most of your imperfections when it dries. Put on a thick coat and place the wax paper between the glued pages and the clean pages/front cover. Let it dry overnight under a heavy weight, just like before. The next day, all you have to do is glue the back cover to the glued pages and glue the first clean page over the cavity to hide your errant cuts. Weigh the book down again and let the glue dry for a few hours. When the glue is dry, cut the top page to reveal the cavity

I searched my book collection and found one that I knew I wouldn't be reading again.

I pinned the front and back cover together and included the first few pages of the book.

 I mixed some Elmer's glue and water and painted it all over the edges

 I undid the clip that was holding the covers together, put some wax paper all around the glued areas then put a box of china on top of the book.  It was the heaviest thing I could find.

 A few hours later I put a second coat of glue on, then I let it sit over night.

 Using a metal ruler as a guide I started to cut away at the pages.  I was able to cut through about 10 pages at a time.  After about 50 pages I stopped using the ruler because it was deep enough that the previous cut papers could be a guide.

So I cut, then cut, cut some more, cursed, screamed, cried and wondered why in the world I was doing this. 

The Verdict: This took me many, many hours over the course of 3 days.  The deeper I got the harder it was to get the razor in and the harder it was to cut straight lines. Part of the problem could be that I had a thick utility razor instead of an Xacto knife. But it was also harder to get my fingers around the cut edges to pull the pages out.

About halfway through, this book started to put up such a huge fight that I'm pretty sure I saw the face of Tom Riddle laughing at me. 

The edges started to fray really bad and I eventually got so annoyed at them that I got a lighter and burned them away so by the time I was done I was left with a pretty unappealing mess. 

 

On the bright side, the outside of the book looks perfectly normal.  Can you guess which one it is?

 So what did I learn from all this?  Use a thin book.  Around page 300 is when things went from simple to hard, my book was about 700 pages.

Simply Smoking Weed Killer

Last October I attempted a homemade weed killer that failed miserably.  I was so annoyed at those mutant weeds that I spent all winter planning their demise. Well little plants, it's spring, and you have sprung, and now it's time for you to run. 

When I started to look for another weed killer I knew I needed something different, something that didn't have vinegar or salt in it because clearly that didn't work last time. 

Simply Smoking Week Killer
You Will Need:
Boiling water

Pour boiling water on the weeds! Within a few hours, the plants will be dead, their leaves and roots shriveled up, brown and cooked. The hot water kills them from the inside out.

 If your like me your probably a bit skeptical.  Just boiling water?  That's it?  Worth a shot.

So I boiled a huge pot of water then carried it outside.  I poured enough water on each weed to fully saturate it, and the ground around it.  Several hours later I went back outside to see if those suckers were still holding on.

The Verdict: SUCCESS!!!! Take THAT you vile fiends.  (I really don't like weeds if you couldn't tell.)  Those plants shriveled up and died, roots and all. 

Unfortunately this method kills pretty much all living plants, so you have to be careful where you pour it.  And if your smarter then me, which I'm pretty sure you are, then you will get close to the ground before pouring the water as to avoid splashing on your unprotected toes.  

Cutting Glass Bottles with Fire

 Is it just me, or is there something really alluring about fire?  There is a sense of satisfaction that comes with starting a big camp fire then sitting back and being hypnotized by the flames.

When I saw a Pin about cutting a glass bottle with fire I immediately ran around the house to find all the materials I needed.  Maybe I should be slightly concern with out excited I was to play with fire.

Cutting Glass Bottles
You Will Need:
glass bottles
yarn
nail polish remover
lighter
sink full of ice water
sandpaper

Directions:
Wrap the cotton yarn around your bottle 5-6 times, tie and cut ends. You can also braid three pieces together and tie that around the bottle. Slide yarn off of the bottle. Dip yarn in nail polish remover. I filled a bowl with nail polish remover and let the yarn sit in it for a few seconds to make sure it was fully saturated.  Slide the wet yarn back onto the bottle. NOTE: The bottle will be cut wherever you place the yarn, so make sure it is as straight as possible.  Holding the bottle sideways from the mouth, light the yarn on fire.  ****Please please be careful!**** Only the wet yarn will be lit on fire and the flame is very well controlled.  Rotate the bottle in circles as the yarn is on fire for 20-30 seconds so that all parts of the bottle warm evenly.  Holding each end of the bottle, submerge in cold water and watch the bottle parts separate.  Use sand paper to smooth rough edges.


 The only glass bottle I had in the house was a maple syrup bottle.  I didn't have cotton yarn so I grabbed regular string and...... long story short it didn't work.  You have to use cotton yarn in order for this to work.

So I loaded up the kids and went to the store.  Yep, I loaded up two kids to drive to the store just to get some yarn.  Seriously, I might have a problem.

After wrapping the yarn around the bottle a few times, I took it off then soaked it in nail polish remover. I then forced the yarn back onto the bottle.  

I sent the kids outside, grabbed the lighter and the fireworks began. 

 Check out the massive flame.  I was a bit worried and was really glad that I was holding it over a sink full of water just in case things got out of control.  

I rotated the bottle in a circle until the flame died out.  It was around 25 rotations. I dunked the bottle into the ice water, grabbed the other end and pulled.  It was the strangest feeling.  If felt like gum was holding the two pieces together, so the pieces sort of oozed away from each other then suddenly popped off. 

The Verdict: Ummm, clearly something went wrong.  Instead of a nice drinking glass, I got a torture device. 

You mean I get to try again!!!!  Awesome!!!! (is there a pyro anonymous group?) I didn't have any other glass bottles so I asked my neighbor if she had some old ones kicking around.  Fortunately for me, she did.

I went through the same method, and the first dunk into the water nothing happened.  So I got to had to dry off the bottle and start again. 

The Verdict:  Much better.  The cut spot is a bit uneven but at least there aren't horrible jagged edges. 

I used a really fine grit of sand paper to sand around the edges and it smoothed up nicely.  I would still be a bit nervous drinking out of it, but I think it's more of a physiological fear.

I dont' know if my first bottle failed because of the type of glass, but this could be a fun way to make things like vases or center pieces, just be prepared for it to take a few tries to get it right.

Baking Soda Laundry Detergent

My sister sent me a website that had several different homemade laundry detergents.  For the most part they all had the three basic ingredients (washing soda, borax and soap) but with a variation on the amount.  I saw two that caught my eye and I decided to try them. As of now I have only tried one of them so I'll share what I think and it then do another post about the other one.

Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent #8
Ingredients:
2 gallons Water (hot)
1 bar Soap (grated)
2 cups Baking soda (yes baking soda this time–not washing soda)

Directions
Melt grated soap in a saucepan with enough hot water to cover. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently until melted.  In a large pail, pour 2 gallons hot water. Add melted mixture, stir well.  Then add the baking soda, stir well again.  Use 1/2 cup per full load, 1 cup per very soiled load.

I decided to half the recipe just  in case it didn't work (spoiler alert: I'm SO glad I did that) so I broke a Fels-Naptha bar in half, then broke that half into pieces and put it in my food processor.  On the slight chance that any of you remember that my husbands skin doesn't appreciate the Fels-Naptha bar, have no fear, due to his lack of desire to let his cloths be guinea pigs, he is now doing all of his own laundry.  It's a win win situation. 

This was my first time trying to melt Fels-Naptha in a pot and I couldn't believe how long it took. I can now appreciate the expression "I slaved over a hot stove all day!"

 

Once it was finally melted, I mixed all the ingredients together and let it cool.

The Verdict: NO!  It did absolutely nothing.  I decided to try and give it a second chance, so I ran the same load of laundry again and used 2 cups of this detergent.  Not only did it still not work, but the urine smell that was on my daughters clothes was now all over everything else.  Throwing my clothes on the ground and spraying them with a garden hose would be more effective then this.   I'm glad I halved it, that way I didn't feel to bad when I disposed of it.

 

Custom Plates With A Sharpie

 If you have spent time on Pinterest then there is a good chance you have seen many pins about drawing on a ceramic plate or cup with permanent marker and baking it.  If you have done any sort of research on these then you have probably seen a lot of complaints about the permanent marker eventually washing off.

There is a lot of debate about the correct method.  What temperature to use, how long to leave them in, do you put the plates in while it's pre-heating or wait? 

So I decided to find out for myself if it was possible to make the permanent marker actually stay permanent.  I bought two white plates at the dollar store then spent the next 4 weeks testing different temperatures and time. I would place a plate in while the oven was pre-heating then put the other in once the oven hit the desired temperature.

It became a pretty normal routine in my house.  Draw, bake, wash, wash, wash. Draw, bake, wash, wash, wash. I would put the plates in my dishwasher and leave them there wash after wash until the marker would come off.

The Verdict:  First of all, it has to be a regular Sharpie pen.  Any other sort of Sharpie doesn't stand a chance. And secondly, it's never going to be permanent.  No matter what temperature you do, or how long you bake it, the marker will eventually come off.  The longer you bake it the more washes you get, but I ever got more then 6 washes before the marker came off. 

If I hand washed it with a scrubber then it always came off immediately. The only way to get more then 10 washes out of it is to use a very soft sponge and treat it as though it's a bomb about to explode. 

But what was really interesting, and I didn't see this on any other sites, was how the color faded and changed.  The higher the temperature the oven was, the more the colors faded and changed.

So I started to experiment with really low temperatures.  You have to get below 250 degrees for the colors to stay untouched. Unfortunately, it comes off with one quick wash.

So basically you have two options.  Have bright colors that don't stay, or have faded colors that last a while.  Or you could always just decorate them and have them on display.

Homemade Fruit Leather

Neither of my kids are a fan of Fruit Roll-Ups which is fine by me.  That's one less thing that will cause an argument in the store.  You know the one...

Mom can we get those *fill in the blank*
No
But I neeeeeeed them *used with the most pathetic whiny voice imaginable*
Sorry, but they are expensive and not very healthy.
*This will be followed by 1 of three things 1) child stops asking but pouts and gives you the evil eye for the next 20 minutes.  2) more argument proceeds where the child does their best to wear you down and convince you that they will die if they don't have the item in question. 3) Full blown temper tantrum.*

Anyways, several months ago I had some homemade fruit leather that I thought was fantastic.  I wondered if my children would actually eat it even though they dont' like Fruit Roll-Ups so I found a recipe online that I wanted to try.

Homemade Fruit Leather
You Will Need:
2 cups fruit 
1 tablespoon lemon Juice
¼ cup sugar (optional, depending on the sweetness of your fruit)
Food processor
Parchment paper
Vegetable oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 150 -170 degrees F. If your oven doesn't go this low, simply set it to the lowest temperature and prop the door open.  Puree the strawberry pulp and lemon juice in a food processor. If you choose another fruit you can chop it and stew it with the lemon juice until it softens before pureeing it. Stewing the fruit helps it retain its color. If it is a fruit with seeds, a food mill will remove the seeds more easily than a food processor and strainer. Add a small amount of water to the mixture if necessary so that it has a pourable consistency.  Cover a baking sheet with plastic, parchment paper, or a silicon baking pad. The temperature of the oven is low enough not to affect the plastic. (Note: wax paper will not work for this recipe, it will stick.)  Spray or brush with vegetable oil, then spread the fruit puree onto the sheet tray with an offset spatula or knife to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. Place it in the oven for 6-8 hours. Make sure there is air circulating to prevent scorching. Alternatively place it in the sun for 6-8 hours.  Invert the fruit leather onto another baking sheet covered in plastic or silicon baking pad, and oil, and remove the first lining. Place in the oven or sun for another 6-8 hours. If it becomes too brittle at any point, simply brush on water with a pastry brush to rehydrate it.  Cool the sheet tray and cut the fruit leather into desired sizes. Dust with corn starch to prevent sticking, cover in plastic and store in a cool place in a sealed container.

I grabbed a bag of frozen strawberry's and set them on the counter to defrost.  When they were fully defrosted they were already pretty soupy looking so I decided they didn't need to be stewed to be softened.  I put them in my food processor and it was pure liquid in about 30 seconds.   I opted out on the sugar for this first batch because the original poster said that as the fruit dries it becomes sweeter.

 I poured the liquid onto my prepared cookie sheet then put it in the oven.  The lowest my oven goes is 170 degrees.

About every hour I would check on it and it ended up taking 7 hours for the entire batch to dry out.  The center was being pretty stubborn.

The Verdict: In no way did it resemble leather.  It was pretty brittle. I broke off a couple small pieces and handed them to the kids.  They each took a bite, made a face and declared that they didn't like it.  In my daughters words "I don yike it." I took a bite and had to agree with the kids.  It was pretty bitter.  I should have put sugar in.

I left that pan out for a few hours not wanting to throw it away, but not wanting to keep it because we probably wouldn't eat it.  That evening I decided to just toss it and when I went to get it I saw that 3/4ths of it was missing.  The kids had been sneaking pieces all afternoon and apparently had decided they loved it. They ended up eating all of it.

About a week later I decided to try again but I wanted to experiment a little bit.  I added sugar, then I threw in a handful of fresh spinach. I put the spinach right in the food processor with the strawberries and they blended together great.

The Verdict with Spinach: Except for the burnt pieces it tasted great.  You couldn't taste the spinach at all and the kids ate it up very quickly.

I bet your wondering why it had burnt edges.  Let me tell you.  I put the pan into the oven and turned it on.  My plan was to pull the pan out of the oven right before I went to bed, but when do things ever go according to plan?  Things got a bit hectic that evening so I plum forgot all about that fruit leather sitting in the oven.

The next morning I walked by the oven and was surprised to feel a lot of warm air next to it.  At that point I remembered about the fruit leather and started to freak out. I began yelling "OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO"  as I yanked open the door. I was expecting a smoking black crisp, but instead I saw this. That fruit leather had sat in the oven for, get ready for this, 19 hours.

 About half of it was still edible, I was shocked.  So even though the texture I keep getting is nothing like leather and I can't roll it up, it taste pretty good, the kids love it, and it's very easy to make.