soothing lavender bath soak – for stress, insomnia, aches and pains (or just because you’d like a nice smelling bath)

Although this isn’t the time of year that I would normally take a warm bath before bedtime, this is something that I made to help me sleep last night. I recently had a steroid IV treatment to hopefully relieve some new MS symptoms and it has left me jittery and sleepless, so this is something that I concocted to help calm things down a little and facilitate sleep.

Lavender essential oil has many uses, including treating migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, nervous tension and emotional stress, inducing sleep, pain relief, treating respiratory disorders, immunity disorders (which is also a benefit in my case) and apparently even urinary tract problems. And failing any of that, it smells nice and makes you feel good.

I substituted some lavender essential oil and a couple of drops of peppermint oil (also a natural pain reliever) to the basic sore muscle soak that I have made before and added in some milk powder for an extra bit of luxury (it worked for Cleopatra). The milk acids help exfoliate and make your skin softer. So, it smells good, is soothing, reduces muscle aches and makes your skin soft – what’s not to like?

This makes enough for one bath, but feel free to double or triple the amount and store for future use. It would also make a nice gift packaged in a mason jar. And, if you are packaging it as a gift, you could add in a couple of drops of red and blue food colouring, mix it all together to make the salts purple or even add in a bit of dried lavender to make it pretty.

Soothing Lavender Bath Soak

• 1 cup Epsom salts
• 1/4 cup sea salts
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup powdered milk (or 1 cup whole milk)
• 5-8 drops lavender essential oil (depending on how strong you like the scent)
• 2 drops peppermint essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a small container and stir well. Add to bath under running hot water, and stir it around with your hand to help the salts dissolve before you climb in. Soak for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy! I recommend a cup of tea, a book and some music to go along with the soak. Then bed.

Linked to GNOWLFGLINS, Frugally Sustainable, Live Renewed

homemade peppermint HE laundry soap {powdered}

I’m continuing to try to reduce the chemicals in our home. My husband rolls his eyes a lot, but I figure if I do one small thing at a time he’ll adjust and soon each step will become a new normal.

When he saw the new crystal mineral salt deodorant that I bought his eyes rolled so far back in his head that he saw crazy.

On Sunday I made laundry soap. I’ve seen different recipes for the liquid and the powdered stuff floating around the internet, so decided to give it a try. Less chemicals for our bodies, less for the septic system and therefore slightly greener household. That’s more of an accidental side benefit, but I’ll claim it was the original reason if questioned.

I found this recipe on Soule Mama and modified it somewhat to match up with some other recipes that are out there (read: I didn’t read all the way through the instructions first and only purchased one bar of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap). I made the powder in the morning, washed 4 loads with it and everything came out smelling and looking clean.

Homemade Peppermint HE Laundry Soap Powder

• 1 bar (finely) grated peppermint Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (I ordered it on-line)
• 1 cup borax (found in the laundry aisle)
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1 cup washing soda (found in the laundry aisle)

Mix everything together. My grater didn’t grate the soap very small, so I put everything in the food processer and whirred until it was reduced to a fine powder. Then I put it in a jar. You use 1 – 2 tbsp per load, depending on the size and dirtiness of the load. One scoop seems to work just fine.

**I added in a few drops of peppermint essential oil afterwards to give it a bit more peppermint scent.

Soule Mama says that depending on your water, you might need to adjust the sodas a bit, and the amount used per load. I use 1/8 cup per load. You may need to give the jar a shake once in a while to prevent the soap flakes from settling to the bottom.

So far its working for me. I have an HE washer, so I  just put the powder in the drum with the clothes. It’s a low-sudsing detergent because if its ingredients, which makes it safe for HE machines.

And because Sunday was such a beautiful day, I spent some time outside hanging it all out.

Linking to A Pinch of Joy, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Mod Vintage Life, Cozy Home Scenes, Frugally Sustainable, Bringing Beauty, Our Delightful Home, Like a Mustard Seed, Our Simple Farm, Cheerios and Lattes

getting rid of mice naturally

I have a very lazy cat. Actually, since I am currently cat-sitting for my mother, I have two. We’ve been finding evidence of mice in our spice cupboard and amongst the pots and pans, and the cats were showing no signs of waking up and taking control.

The mice also seem to be wiley enough to evade the traps that we set out for them. We check the traps in the morning only to find them licked clean of peanut butter and cheese, but not smicked mice (my technical term). So, I did a little research and decided to try peppermint oil since it was something I had on hand.

Apparently mice don’t like strong smells, so I sprinkled some peppermint essential oil in the drawers and cupboards affected. First, though, I cleaned them out, vacuumed up the mouse droppings and rinsed the affected areas with soapy water. Then I sprinkled the oil. I read that they recommended soaking cotton balls in the oil, but I had none and didn’t see any harm in sprinkling the oil directly into my old cupboards. The kitchen definitely smells minty fresh.

I also made sure that there is nothing that the little pests can get into. All spices are in mason jars and all food has been moved to cupboards that they can’t get into.

And here is the thing.. it worked. No signs of them. I did find one drowned in my toilet, but the cat was finally chasing something around the house the other day, so I think it chose its own end. I know he couldn’t possibly have been the only one, but the others seem to be staying away. Maybe he left a warning note before his final plunge.

Linked to The Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday Blog Hop