Homemade Fingerpaint

My son loves to paint and just the other day we ran out of paint. I didn't really want to go back to Target and spend another $8 on paint, so I went a-searching online for ways to make my own paint and low and behold I found a few good recipes!!

Kool-Aid Finger Paint

3 cups boiling water
2 cups flour
2 packages unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/2 cup salt
3 tablespoons oil

• Mix the Kool-Aid, flour and salt into a glass bowl. Add oil.
• Slowly add the boiling water, stirring while you pour.
• Once cool you can use as fingerpaint.

Homemade Finger paint Recipe

1 cup Flour
1 cup Water
1 cup Sunlight dish soap
2 TBS Food Coloring

Directions:

• Mix all items until there are no lumps and paint is smooth. Keep sealed in an airtight container and refrigerate.
• You can divide the batch up into smaller amounts and use a different color of food coloring for each batch.
  
  

Easy Finger Paint

• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/3 Cup of cornstarch
• 2 Cups water
• 1/4 Cup dishwashing soap
• food coloring

Put the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and then slowly mix in cold water. Then cook the mixture over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until you have a smooth gel. Let cool and then add dishwashing soap. Divide into as many containers as you would like colors and then mix in food coloring drops until you have you desired color. If you have colored dishwashing soap that can influence all the colors you try to create, which isn't always a bad thing.

Tip: Use baby food jars to divide and store the paint! They are a perfect size for kids to dip their fingers or brushes into and they can be sealed easily if you have leftover paint.

Make-It-From-Scratch-Mondays - Air Freshner

Cinnamon Vanilla Air Freshener Spray

1 cup water
1 cup household vinegar
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick

Directions

• Bring all ingredients to a boil then simmer over medium heat for two minutes.
  
• Remove from heat and allow to cool, about 5 min.
  
• Take out cinnamon stick and pour liquid into spray bottle, shake and use as needed.
  
  

Alternatives:

• Vanilla & Cloves: Keep above recipe, but replace cinnamon stick with 1 tsp cloves
  
  
• Raspberry Lavender: Use 2 TBS dried lavender buds and 2 cups red vinegar; follow directions above

Recipes courtesy of tipnut.com

Garage Sale Junkies - Listen up!

Garage sales are a great place to buy things for cheap - a frugal way of living that is almost a must when it comes to big ticket items!

Here's a great site to help you find local garage sales as well as post the one you're planning!

Garage Sales Tracker

There's links to post or find a local garage sale, coupons, and free items! It's a great site, I hope you get the chance to check it out and use it help you save some money!

Happy shopping!

Make-It-From-Scratch-Mondays - homemade remedy

Well I know for many of us Spring/Summer can bring up a lot of congestion due to allergies. So let's go to your spice rack to make a very natural remedy to help with congestion brought on by allergies or colds or flu.

We're going to make some tea using the spice Anise!

Steep 1 tsp of anise seeds in a 1 cup of hot water, after about 3 minutes, strain and enjoy!

Anise seed tea can also help with an upset stomach due to gas; and chewing the seeds can also hep bad breath.

A little History on the Seed:

Anise is in the parsley family, It is related to caraway, dill, cumin, and fennel, which is why Anise smell and taste like licorice. It is cultivated for its seedlike fruits as well as the oil obtained from them.




These seeds and oil can be used to flavor foods, teas liqueurs, and candies. Anise originates in the Middle East and has been used as a medicine since prehistoric times. Ancient Romans used Anise to aid digestion and ward off epileptic attacks.



For more info on this powerful herb, go here. Buying cold/flu or Allergy medicine can be costly to our wallets, it's better if we can find remedies with things in our own home! Not only is it better for our wallets, but our bodies will enjoy the natural aids as well!

Cool Summer Snacks

Since the Summer is just about here I'm reminded of a summer snack that is healthy and cheap for me and the kids!


I buy small individual yogurt cups (gogurts are fine too), take the lids off and put a Popsicle stick in center and freeze them for about an hour. When frozen remove them from the cup and you have a frozen healthy treat that's perfect to cool you down!

If freezing gogurts, I don't freeze them completely, about 30 min. or so. They are then really cold and partly icy; cut the tops off and enjoy or squeeze into a bowl and eat it the way you would ice cream!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I also came across this easy and fun snack from Kraft, Nilla Yogurt Freeze!

2 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers

2 Tbsp. thawed COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping

2 Tbsp. strawberry low-fat yogurt

PLACE 1 of the wafers on bottom of one paper-lined medium muffin cup; top with combined whipped topping and yogurt.

COVER with remaining wafer.

FREEZE 1 hour or until firm.

Home Made Simple Site

I found a great site: Home Made Simple. They have wonderful tips from Organizing your life to Recipes to Outside garden tips. A wonderful clean site that is easy to read and full of new ideas!

Cleaning with Essential Oils

The Budget Ecoist had some great cleaning recipes using Essential Oils!
Here's a excerpt:

Many herbs have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and even antibiotic properties. Using these herbs in essential oil form (or even dried form, from your garden) allow you to create many natural cleaners inexpensively.

Dishwashing liquid - Fill a 22 ounce squirt bottle with fragrance-free castile soap. Add in 25-30 drops of antibacterial essential oil. Good options: lavender, lemon, lemongrass, orange. Use 1-2 T with each dish load.

Dishwasher powder - Combine 2 cups each of washing soda and borax, followed by 20 drops of antibacterial essential oil. Use 2 T with each dish load.

Antibacterial Oils: Bay, camphor, cardamom

, chamomile, citronella, cypress, eucalyptus, ginger, juniper, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lime, marjoram

, orange, pine, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, spearmint, tea tree oil, thyme, wintergreen

Go here for the entire post.

Here are some other great sites dealing with buying, storing and caring for your Essential oils:

• Exotic Fragrances
• Aromatherapy at home
• How to buy and store Essential oils
  

Heard of No Poo?

I've blogged about putting baking soda in your hair (go here for original post), and the idea is something I haven't yet tired because I wanted to read more on topic. Well just today, a friend from work sent me an interesting article from Skin and Beauty on MSNBC.
Here's a excerpt:

For most Americans, the idea of skipping shampoo for even a day is enough to make us feel a little itchy. But some hair stylists and dermatologists say going a few extra days between shampoos — or ditching the stuff entirely — could actually benefit your tresses.

In recent years, "no poo" has become something of an underground beauty trend. “When you over-shampoo your hair, your hair is over-secreting oil in order to survive,” says Lorraine Massey, co-owner of Devachan Salon....

Some who've junked shampoo use only hot water to rinse the hair. Others use only conditioner. For Lynch and her like-minded no-pooers, the cleanser of choice is simply a 59-cent box of baking soda: She mixes one teaspoon with one cup of water. “You shake it up real good, and when you get in the shower you pour it on, massage it in and let it sit for a bit, and rinse it out,”

Lynch pushed through an awkward phase of grease and grime — and was rewarded with shinier, healthier-looking hair that had less frizz and more body than ever before. And no, it doesn't smell or itch, she says....

To read the entire article, go here.


.....very interesting, definitely a frugal find that gets us thinking....
:)