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life from the ground up

Real living in a processed world.

Easy, Effective Homemade Bug Spray

By: Gabecomment

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

After way too many months of winter in Ohio, we’re overjoyed when summer weather finally arrives. Of course, tagging along with the warmer weather are a variety of insects who want to eat you. If you’re outside after dusk, your options for protection are limited. You can wear pants and long-sleeves (we just did that for six months, so no thanks). You can apply some type of insect repellent. Or just give up and resign yourself to a night of itching. Now, thanks to this homemade bug spray, I feel comfortable spraying myself and the kids, and I know it works!

Homemade Bug Spray

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Make Your Own Homemade Shaving Soap

By: Gabe6 Comments

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

Shaving has always been something of a necessary evil for me.

I like the smooth feeling, but it doesn’t last long and soon you’re right back where you started. I will frequently go days without shaving. This lasts until I feel that my hobo-like appearance is negatively impacting my coworkers’ opinions of me, or my wife won’t let me kiss her anymore.

I’ve always used whatever generic can of shaving cream I could find at the drugstore, but I recently decided it was time to go a bit more old-fashioned. Because almost every other personal care product I use regularly is now homemade, this was one of the last holdouts. So I bought myself a shaving brush and whipped up a homemade shaving soap using this shaving soap recipe.

Homemade Shaving Soap Recipe

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DIY Non-Toxic Household Cleaner

By: Gabe1 Comment

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

Like us, many of you are trying to eliminate unnecessary chemicals from your daily lives.

Like us, many of you are also trying to save money.

There are a number of easy homemade cleaners you can make that are both non-toxic and much cheaper. We’ve been using this natural household cleaner for awhile now, and it’s good on just about any surface. Which really comes in handy if you have kids, because kids will mess up just about any surface they come into contact with.

DIY Non-Toxic Household Cleaner

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Natural Flu and Cold Remedies

By: Gabe2 Comments

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

For many people, a case of the sniffles during the winter is inevitable, something that’s just accepted as another annual occurrence that coincides with Thanksgiving and Christmas. You know the deal: runny nose, congestion, and the dreaded sore throat. Cue the Nyquil… or not?

Over the past few years, we’ve tried to take a more holistic approach to our health, and while I will still admit to taking an occasional OTC decongestant for the worst cases, the drugstore is usually the last option. So before automatically turning to a bag of lozenges or antibiotics (which do absolutely nothing by the way, considering that both cold and flu are viruses), take a look at some of these natural cold remedies.

Natural Cold Remedies

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Homemade Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub

By: Gabe6 Comments

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post.

Easy Homemade Sugar Scrub

We try to limit our sugar consumption. Try. That’s not to say we always succeed (hello, homemade ice cream), but in general, Skittles and M&Ms are not part of the meal plan. So when we buy the 10-pound bags of brown sugar at Costco, we have to do something else with it. Like use it on our skin (sugar scrubs seem to be all the rage these days, and you know how I love to jump on the latest trend).

I used to use a number of different face washes for acne and oily skin, and nothing really seemed to do much. Then I had the shampoo revelation, and wondered if I was over-drying my skin with the chemical-laden cleansers, which in turn made it produce more oil. So I quit the OTC stuff and started washing my face with a mix of oil and sugar (oil sounds counterintuitive, but it really works). Now I mostly just rinse with water and scrub once a week or less, and my skin has never been more clear.

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