Calendula coconut cream

 I found this super easy and amazing recipe on creative Christian mama.

All you need is coconut oil and calendula petals.

I cheated and bought my petals as you need so many flowers to produce this recipe and my garden just wasn't up to it.

 

Quantities:

100g coconut oil (this is solid at room temperature) 

30g calendula petals

 

Over a very low heat melt the coconut oil 

(this happens very quickly so stay near by).

Put the petals into a jar.

Pour the coconut oil over the petals.

Loosely put the lid on. 

 Put a cloth into the bottom of a sauce pan and place the jar on top.

Fill the saucepan with water until it covers the oil/petals.

Keep the pan on a low heat for 2 to 6 hours 

(depends on how strong you want the infusion).

Do not let the water simmer; the jar should get warm but not hot.

I heated mine for 4 hours as I wanted a relatively strong infusion. 

 Once you're satisfied with your infusion 

pour the oil/petals through a muslin cloth.

Squeeze the cloth to get all the oil out.

Then pour into the jar you want the oil to harden in.

This cream is amazing for any redness, inflammation, pimples, rashes, ouchies, and especially amazing on cracked lips. 

I love love LOVE the smell of this cream 

and keep it next to my bed for easy access.

I poured some of this cream into my nappy rash cream 

(I'm still trying to invent my own ; almost there).
ps Yesterday I found coconut oil really really cheap at my local spice store.
 Madeleine  x
Linked to your green resource,

Sparkling glasses

I love my dishwasher it saves me so much time 

and uses much less water than washing by hand.

I am, however, concerned about the toxicity of dishwasher tablets/ liquids.
(I am going to have a go at making my own dishwasher detergent
I found an easy recipe from our home made happiness.)

I especially never buy the glass cleaning/ liquid stuff.

Though there is no doubt that these products make your glasses sparkly.

My solution:
just add white vinegar to the rinse chamber of your dishwasher.

I've been doing this every wash now 

and now my glasses are sparkly and clean.  

White vinegar is such an amazing product and has so many uses 

you basically never need to buy any other product.

I bought a 5L bottle from Davis trading. 

What do you use white vinegar for?

Madeleine  x

Lampshade redo

 I was given this cute lamp for my birthday a few years ago 

but it never really went with my decor.

So when I saw some beautiful fabric on sale at spotlight 

I just knew a redo was in order.

 I pulled the lamp a part and

sprayed the base white with my favourite white etching primer.

I masked the cord to make sure it didn't get sprayed. 

I was very glad at how easy the pink dots came off

with some nail polish remover.

 

 My lamp shade came a part so I was able to lie it on the fabric
and draw around the shade.

If I had thought about this properly I would have realised that I had to leave about 2 cm extra to allow for the curve of the shade. 

But I didn't so my lampshade fabric didn't meet up as it should have. 

I used a spray adhesive to spray the shade and the fabric.

I then rolled the fabric on the shade rubbing it with my hands to get it all smooth. 

 This is what my lamp should have looked like.

Plan B: get out the hot glue gun and some black ribbon 

(yeah for craft supplies). 

 I put hot glue all around the top/ bottom/ seam

then I sprayed the ribbon with spray adhesive 

and pushed the ribbon onto the shade.

I used my cool wooden pegs as mini clamps. 

I now have a beautiful new lamp for very little money  

I only used about 1/4 of the fabric I bought

and a few hours work.

I also bought some beautiful butterfly fabric to cover the lampshades in our bedroom so watch this space. 
Madeleine  x
Linked to delightful order, crafty scrappy happy, handy man crafty woman, cherished handmade treasures, earning my cape, frugally sustainable, its just called spicy, home stories a to z, romance on a dime, tip junkie, toot your horn Tuesday, our delightful home, sugar bee crafts,

Insulating difficult spots

 During our renovations we insulated all the walls; internal and external.

The external walls we insulated to keep heat in

and the internal walls we insulated to help soundproof them.

Our house is brick so there is a big gap between the frame and the bricks.

This gaps makes insulating the external walls difficult 

as the insulation would just fall out.  

Solution: Staple a sheet of plastic (great recycling) to the wooden frame. 

  Then add your insulation; it'll stay put for years to come.

I love a nice cosy warm home.  

Madeleine  x
 Linked to home stories a to z,

Protecting your clothes from the sun

The New Zealand sun is super harsh! 

I love love a sunny day and just sun shine. 

It's so wonderful but with a hole in the ozone layer over us we need to be careful.

Here we all know to keep covered up and not sit out in the sun.

I wear sunscreen everyday of the year.

In NZ most people hang our clothes on the line to dry rather than using a dryer.

The sun is super harsh on our skin and clothes as well. 

This does mean that our clothes get worn out quicker. 

It is a good idea to turn your favourite clothes inside out to protect the colours.

I dry my best clothes (especially black ones) on clothes racks in the shade. 

This means the clothes don't dry as quickly but it sure protects the colours. 

Result clothes stay better for longer saving me money! 

Toothbrush alternatives

We all need to brush our teeth young and old.

Some annual statistics from Go Bamboo;

30 million toothbrushes are thrown in the tip in Australia and

22,000 tonnes of toothbrushes are thrown in the tip in the USA!

That's a lot of plastic. 

There is a lot of choice out there here are my picks of 

the most environmentally friendly options.

{Source}

I love bamboo. 

These bamboo toothbrushes are fantastic and completely biodegradable.

The handle is made from bamboo and the bristles are made from biodegradable nylon 4.

The toothbrushes come in a recycled cardboard box.

Once you have finished cleaning your teeth with this brush 

you can clean other items.

Mr Ecochick likes to use it to clean electronic equipment since the bamboo is antistatic.  

Then simply throw the toothbrush in the compost bin or bury it in your garden to break down. 

{Source}

I love that Preserve toothbrushes are made from recycled yoghurt cups.

 In the US you can drop off your old yoghurt cups to be turned into toothbrushes.

Also in the US simply save your toothbrush packaging and when the toothbrush is ready to be thrown out put it in the packaging and send it back to Preserve.

In NZ you can cut the bristles off and throw it in with your recycling.

{Source}

 Another option is an electric toothbrush.

Electric toothbrushes really do a great job at cleaning your teeth.

Although the heads are not recyclable it is much less plastic being thrown away then a whole toothbrush.

{Source}

 The original toothbrush was the miswak stick.

The miswak stick is a root from the Peelu tree (Salvadora Persica).

Peel some of the stick away and the chew on the stick to clean your teeth.

Being from a tree this stick is completely natural and of course biodegradable. 

 Has anyone used these toothbrushes? 

or feel inspired to try an alternative to your plastic toothbrush?

Linked to frugal Tuesday tip, nourishing treasures, natural mothers network,

Car survival kit

You never know when something might happen so it pays to be prepared. 

I have my car all packed up in case of an emergency.

In my boot I have a 3L container of water, a change of clothes for John, myself and Mr Ecochick, a towel, some disposable nappies and wipes (cringe), jumper leads, reflective triangle, some large plastic bags, some toilet paper, a blanket, a thermal bag with some protein shakes, crackers and other snacks in it.  

 In my glove box I have a first aid kit with lavender and tea tree oil, a spare set of glasses, a torch, disinfectant, wipes and an old cell phone (that can make 111 calls).

Do you have anything in your car?