• 4 ounces (113.4 grams) of jojoba oil
• 30 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops tea tree oil

Again I just mixed it all in the bottle the Jojoba oil came in added the essential oils and shake well. I only use a drop or two for my entire face then I have to let it absorb into my skin before I apply my make up — so in the am after my shower I use my toner then my moisturizer then I do my hair and get dressed then start on make up.

This is also from the book “The complete Idiot’s guide to making Natural Beauty Products” and Sally Trew has given me the permission to post it.

• 2.6 ounces (73.7 grams) of Witch hazel
• 1 ounce (28.4 grams) of Aloe vera gel
• .4 ounce (11.3 grams) of Polysorbate 20
• 4 drops each of Lavender, Rosemary and Lemongrass essential oils
• .06 ounce (1.7 grams) preservative (I used Optiphen)

mix together in a sterile bottle, label and date bottle.

• 2.6 ounces (73.7 grams) of jojoba oil
• 10 ounces (283.5 grams) of distilled water
• 2 ounces (56.7 grams) of aloe vera gel
• .3 ounce (8.5 grams) of stearic acid
• 1.1 ounces (31.2 grams) of emulsifying wax
• .2 ounce (5.7 grams) of lemongrass essential oil
• .24 ounce (6.8 grams) of preservative (I used Optiphen)

1. on the stove over medium low heat warm the Jojoba oil and emulsifying wax, until the wax is melted
2. add the water, aloe vera gel, stearic acid stir well until this mixture is 110 degrees F
3. Remove from heat and add the essential oil and preservative mix well
4. Pour into sterilized container and let cool, it will thicken as it cools. Once cooled cover and use. Label and date bottle.
5. To use – rub cream all over your face (avoid your eyes and mouth – trust me it doesn’t taste good). I wait until it starts to tingle a little then rinse off with a warm washcloth or in the shower. Then I follow with toner and moisturizer.

According to my research Jojoba oil is not an actual oil but a liquid wax and is excellent for oily/acne prone skin. I chose the Optiphen for the preservative because there it is formaldehyde free and paraben free, this is strictly a personal choice I don’t want that stuff on my skin, my theory if I”m not going to eat it I don’t want it on my skin either.

The task for today was to set up a “donation station” basically it’s a place to put transitional items in your home. They suggest using banker’s boxes or laundry baskets, we don’t have the room for something like this in our house so in our hall way to the garage – which is also the laundry room the owner’s of the house had put up some coat hooks type racks where we have been hanging misc bags we use (church, diaper, my work bags etc) so we put the bags in a different place and then used the reuseable grocery bags (since I can’t seem to get enough of them lol) and put the box labels in a plastic page protector and safety pinned them to the bag.

There are 4 containers -

Donate – these are items that are to be donated to the local thrift shop – we actually used a blue Ikea bag because I figure we will be putting a lot in them while we are de cluttering and it’s a huge bag then when it’s full you take it to the thrift shop.

Gift – these are the gifts that you keep around for birthday’s or for whatever. We don’t usually keep gifts around the house – if we are going to a birthday party or need a hostess gift we stop on the way to the event. So we didn’t do this one — maybe in the future when I’m more organized we will

Deliver – these are things that need to be returned to someone or someplace -  returns to a store, something you need to give back to a friend. things that need to go to the post office etc

Library – books, videos etc that will need to go back and aren’t being read or used at the moment.

I would like to have one like what is shown in the other blog and have it moved to our front closet one of these days so maybe once it’s done being organized I can lol.

Mix 2 ounces each, this will be enough for about 20 masks but use only once or twice a week.

fuller’s earth, Moroccan rhassoul clay, and finely ground oatmeal

when ready to use the mask, mix 2 teaspoons of the dry mix in a bowl with one drop each

clary sage (I’ve only found it under sage, clary), juniper, rosemary. patchouli and ylang ylang essential oils

then add a few drops of distilled water and mix well (I had to add more distilled water to make it spreadable)

spread it all over your clean face and neck – avoid your eye area

let it sit for 15-20 minutes (perfect time for a cup of tea and read your book or magazine – RELAX- us Mama’s need all the relaxing we can get)

once the mask is completely dry, rinse with warm water (I used a wash cloth to get it all off really well), pat your face and neck dry then follow with your toner and moisturizer.

I’ll probably use this just during “that time of the month” when I’m breaking out bad then the one listed below the other times.

The one below is for oily skin without the acne problem

Mix together

1 ounce finely ground oatmeal

2 ounces fuller’s earth

3 ounces kaolin clay

then mix with 2 teaspoons of the dry mix 2 drops each of Clary sage, lemon and rosemary essential oils and enough distilled water to make it spreadable – then follow the directions above

Again this is all from the book “the Complete Idiot’s guide to making natural beauty products“

1. Daily Family scripture study time
2. Finish Megan’s first year frame – I have the pics and the frame – just need them together lol – It took me a year to get the pics all printed lol
3. Become more active – personally and as a family
4. Become more self sufficient – meaning make more things at home and not purchasing these things
5. Declutter – I found a great calendar on pintrest yesterday so I printed it and will use it to declutter — luckily Sundays are a break day so I don’t have to start today lol — it’s a little late and we gotta get ready for church – there’s also a group you can join but there’s a charge and that’s another goal about following the budget an I know that’s not in it lol
6. FOLLOW THE BUDGET – we just really need to buckle down and do it – it’s going to be hard I know but we just really need to do it – we seem to do good about April thru September then in October it all just hits the fan
7. 72 hour kits and food storage – I want the 72 hour kits done by April and working on our food storage through out the year and have at least a full 3 month supply by the end of the year

Hmmm I am sure I will think of more – I will add to the list as soon as I do lol

I’m still on my trek for the chocolate sauce but so glad I stumpled on this.

1 can (14 oz ) of sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups milk  – whatever you have in the  house -  we have used whole, nonfat and 2% – no flavor changes really just thickness of the creamer

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Mix this up – with a wisk, blender, electric mixer, whatever you wanna use

then add whatever flavoring you  like -  if you go for that kind of creamer

so far we have tried:

Chocolate (4 tablespoons of chocolate baking powder)

Peppermint Mocha (4 tablespoons of chocolate baking powder and 1 teaspoon peppermint extract) we do think the peppermint was a bit much so next batch I will drop it down to 3/4 teaspoon and see how that works

Now lets say you don’t have a can of sweetened condensed milk in your cupboard – I thought I did but no it was the evaporated milk — so not the same – so again I go to the internet to find a recipe for that and I found one on allrecipes.com (man that site rocks). Now I have all that here at home – dry milk is a staple in my house (don’t tell my family but when the milk gallon is about half full then all of a sudden it’s full again — it sure has helped our milk budget – especially with a teenage boy who grows like a foot over night) so this isn’t a stretch for me to make it