Ninjago Birthday Party Ideas with Printables

Ninjago is all the rage! I threw my son a Ninjago party for his sixth birthday this year. There were so many cute party ideas out there! It was hard, but I limited myself to the following. I included the images I made so you can download them, print them, and throw your own affordable Ninjago party.

Ninjago Water Bottles


To make your own Ninjago water bottles, click on the picture below to bring up the full-size image, save to your computer, then print. You can cover them with clear contact paper or packing tape so the colors don't bleed.



Ninjago Cupcake Toppers


To make your own Ninjago cupcake toppers, click on the picture below to bring up the full-size image, then save to your computer. Print on card stock. Cut ninjas out and tape toothpicks to the back.


Ninjago Party Favor Tags


To make your own Ninjago party favor tags, click on the picture below to bring up the full-size image, then save to your computer. The red tag fits the Lego Ninjago Booster Packs. The green tag fits the Lego Minifigure Packs.


Pin the Beard on Sensei Wu Game

I got this game idea from Craft, Interrupted. This awesome blog is full of cool Ninjago party ideas.



To download beardless Sensei Wu, click on the picture below to see the full-size image, save to computer, then print. It will print on 6 pieces of paper and then you can tape them together. You can print the beards from Craft, Interrupted.



What's Your Ninja Name? Game

I got the game from Craft, Interrupted and added my own border. Click on the picture below to see the full-size image, save to computer, print, and cut in half.



Throw the Ninja Star Game

I also found this idea at Craft, Interrupted. I followed this tutorial to make paper ninja stars. The kids loved throwing their ninja stars at designated targets.


Ninja-GOOOOOO have a great party!

This post was shared at: Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Once Upon a Weekend, Frugal Friday, Thirty Handmade Days, Friday Favorites, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair, The 36th Avenue, Piece O' Cake Linky Party, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Penny Pinching Party, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, The Inspiration Board, Tuesday Time Out, Marvelous Mondays, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill

Tweet

Homemade Facial Toner

Skincare companies love to tell us their over-priced toner is a necessary part of a proper skincare regimen. One more thing to buy, right? I personally don't think it is a must-have skincare item, but a lot of people love the clean, tight feeling a toner can give. Unfortunately that clean, tight feeling means your skin is dry. All the natural protective oils are wiped away, which I'm not sure is a good thing. Those toners usually consist mostly of alcohol, which is way too harsh and drying. If you are a toner enthusiast, check out these natural ingredients you can use to make homemade toner that is less expensive, better for your skin, and customized to your skin type.

Natural Ingredients

• Rose Water
  For all skin types, especially dry. Gentle, moisturizing antiseptic. You can find rose water at health food stores, Amazon, and Mountain Rose Herbs. Make homemade rose water with rose essential oil or with rose petals using this tutorial.
• Milk
  For all skin types, especially dry. Add to harsher ingredients (ACV, lemon juice, witch hazel) to make them more moisturizing.
• Chamomile Tea
  For all skin types, especially dry. Anti-inflammatory. Soothes irritated, dry skin.
• Cold Water
  For all skin types. The cold temperature closes pores.
• Green Tea**
  For all skin types. Loaded with antioxidants.
• Apple Cider Vinegar
  For all skin types, especially acne-prone skin. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Strong smell. Needs to be diluted. I use Bragg's ACV and lavender essential oil when my face breaks out. Zits are noticeably smaller by morning.
• Lemon Juice
  For all skin types, especially acne-prone skin. Exfoliates. Antibacterial. Reduces oiliness. Needs to be diluted.
• Witch Hazel
  For all skin types, especially oily or acne-prone skin. An astringent made from the leaves and bark of a shrub. Contains alcohol, so it might be drying. You can find witch hazel at pharmacies, health food stores, Amazon, and Mountain Rose Herbs.

**If you are sensitive to caffeine, there are decaffeinated versions of green tea available. Make sure you get decaffeinated tea made by a natural process of “effervescence” using only water and carbon dioxide, as it retains 95 per cent of the antioxidants. The solvent method of decaffeination, using ethyl acetate, retains only 30 per cent of them. (Source: Beauty Benefits of Green Tea)

Customize with Essential Oils

You can make your homemade toner even more luxurious and customized to your individual skin type by adding essential oils. Essential oils are natural compounds extracted from parts of plants, flowers, and trees. They have been used throughout history for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. They are extremely concentrated so you only need to add a drop to your cotton ball. Never use undiluted essential oils on your skin, except lavender or tea tree oil. Click here for more essential oil safety. You can find essential oils at your local health food store, Amazon, or Mountain Rose Herbs.

• Mature Skin/Wrinkles: frankincense, helichrysum, geranium, lavender, myrrh, sandalwood, carrot seed
• Dry Skin: rose, lavender, geranium, sandalwood, rosewood, ylang-ylang, chamomile
• Oily Skin: lemon, cedarwood, cypress, juniper, lavender, lemongrass, grapefruit
• Acne-Prone Skin: tea tree, lemongrass, lavender, geranium, peppermint, rosemary, sandalwood

Toner Recipes

Use one ingredient or mix and match to create the perfect formula for your skin. If you dilute with water or use ingredients that spoil (tea, milk, lemon juice, fresh rose water made with petals), I suggest keeping it in the fridge or making fresh toner daily. It's not as hard as it sounds. Pour a little apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and then put it under running water to dilute. Or make a cup of chamomile tea to drink before bed and save a little to use on your face. Here are some more ways to use homemade toner based on your skin type.

Dry/Mature Skin

• Add rose water, chamomile tea, or green tea to a cotton ball and apply to face.

Normal Skin

• Add green tea to a cotton ball and apply to face.
• Or add a little apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to a cotton ball. Dilute with water, rose water, milk, or tea. (Start with a ratio of 1:10 and adjust as needed.) Apply to face.
• Or splash cold water on your face.

Oily or Acne-Prone Skin

• Add some apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or witch hazel to a cotton ball. Dilute with water, rose water, milk, or tea. (Start with a ratio of 1:5 and adjust as needed) Apply to face.

Saves Money

By switching to homemade toner, I save money AND stop worrying about all the chemicals in commercial toner.

$1.94/oz. Clinique Clarifying Lotion Toner ($13/6.7 oz.)
$0.76/oz. Bragg's Raw ACV ($3/16 oz) & Lavender Essential Oil ($9.50/.5 oz.)
$0.31/oz. Mountain Rose Herbs Witch Hazel Extract ($5/16 oz.)

How do you feel about toner? What natural ingredients do you use?

This post was shared at: Tiny Tip Tuesday, Living Green Tuesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, The 36th Avenue, Piece O' Cake Linky Party, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Real Food Forager Fat Tuesday, Penny Pinching Party, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, The Inspiration Board, Tuesday Time Out, Marvelous Mondays, Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill, Simply Natural Saturdays, Country Momma Cooks Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Show & Tell Saturday, Once Upon a Weekend, Frugal Friday, Little House in the Suburbs, Thirty Handmade Days, Simply Sweet Home Friday Favorites, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair

Tweet

21 Natural Ways to Get Rid of Ants

I don't know if it's the unusually high temperatures we've been having or what, but ants are determined to move into my house and take up residence. First they came in through an electrical outlet in the dining room and found some crumbs my son so generously left under his high chair. Next they moved onto the kids bathroom, maybe to drink some water to finish off their meal from the dining room. The latest place they've ventured to is my bathroom, looking for remnants of my irresistible homemade sugar scrub.

After doing some research and trying out a couple natural methods to get rid of ants, my house is currently ant-free. As a celebration of sorts, I compiled this list of natural ant removal methods, including the ideas that worked for me. Secretly I'm kind of hoping the ants come back so I can try more of these ideas!


Vinegar
I put some distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle and sprayed the entrance points. I also sprayed vinegar along the trail to destroy their pheromone trail. Once the vinegar dried, a few ants came back to check out the situation. After reapplying the vinegar a few more times, they got the hint they weren't welcome and moved on.

Essential Oils
Here are some essential oils that ants are known to dislike: eucalyptus, cinnamon, clove, peppermint, and citrus oils. I put about 10 drops of cinnamon essential oil and water into a small squirt bottle. Then I sprayed entrance points and along trails. I had to reapply a few more times after it dried. I thought vinegar worked better, but maybe I needed more essential oil and less water. Amanda at Easy Peasy Organic swears by eucalyptus oil. She used a ratio of 50/50 eucalyptus oil and water. You can find essential oils at health food stores, Amazon, and Mountain Rose Herbs.

Herbs/Spices
If you don't have essential oils, you can sprinkle powdered cinnamon, clove, garlic, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, mint or bay leaves at entrance points.

Soapy water
This is Brie at DIY Life's favorite way to get rid of ants. Fill a spray bottle with 2 tablespoons dish soap and 1/2 cup water. It kills ants and destroys the pheromone trail. It only works when wet, so you'll need to reapply for a few days.

Alcohol
In a spray bottle, add 1 part rubbing alcohol or tequila to 1 part water. Spray at entrance points or trails. Reapply for a few days.

Chalk
Ants won't cross chalk lines. Draw lines with chalk at their entrance points or to block their trails. Amanda at Easy Peasy Organic had good results with this method.

Baby Powder
Sprinkle baby powder at entrance points or to block their trails. They won't walk across it.

Citrus or Cucumber Peels
They are toxic to the kind of fungi ants feed on. Leave peels at entrance points. Replace every other day. Or puree peels in a blender, add water, and smear at entrance points or along trails.

Lemon Juice
Dab lemon juice at entrance points or areas they visit.

Coffee Grounds
Ants don't like the smell of coffee. Sprinkle used coffee grounds around the perimeter of your house or at entrance points.

Baking Soda & Powdered Sugar
The powdered sugar will attract ants and the baking soda will kill them when they eat it. Mix together 1 part baking soda and 1 part powdered sugar. Leave where you see ants.

Borax & Sugar Mixture
Tip Nut has some different recipes to try. The ants take it back to the nest and it kills the colony. Keep where children and pets can't get to it. You can find Borax at Walmart or Target in the laundry aisle.

Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth
Doesn't this sound like something from Lord of the Rings? From what I've read, it's an all-natural dust made from tiny fossilized water plants. It is lethal to insects because of its microscopic razor sharp edges. You can sprinkle it around the perimeter of your house and it will kill bugs that touch it. It won't harm warm-blooded animals, birds, or earthworms. You should be able to find it at home and garden stores, nurseries, and even Amazon.


What natural methods do you use to keep ants away?


This post was shared at: Little House in the Suburbs, Thirty Handmade Days, Simply Sweet Home Friday Favorites, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair, Encourage One Another Link-Up, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, The 36th Avenue, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Simple Steps to Healthy Living, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Living Green Tuesdays, Teach Me Tuesday, Tout it Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, Marvelous Mondays, Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill, Simply Natural Saturdays, Country Momma Cooks Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Show & Tell Saturday, Say G'Day Saturday

Tweet

Electric Diffuser & Essential Oil GIVEAWAY (closed)

I feel like I'm way over-due for a giveaway! I recently wrote a post about Natural Air Freshener. In the post, I talked about my electric diffuser from Mountain Rose Herbs. I love it so much, I want to give one away! It's super simple to use. I apply 6-8 drops of essential oil on a pad that goes inside the diffuser. The scent lasts about 3 hours. It's small and doesn't make any noise.

But what's a diffuser without some essential oil? In addition to the diffuser, you'll receive a 1/2 ounce bottle of essential oil. You get to choose one of the following top-quality Mountain Rose Herbs organic essential oils. Click on them to learn more about each one.

• Sweet Orange (retail value $2.00, it's 20% off this month)
  
• Lime (retail value $4.00)
  
• Lemon (retail value $5.00)
  
• Lavender (retail value $9.50)
  
• Grapefruit (retail value $9.75)
  

To enter for a chance to win, use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This blog post was shared at: Encourage One Another Link-Up, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, The 36th Avenue, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Simple Steps to Healthy Living, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Works For Me Wednesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Living Green Tuesdays, Teach Me Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Marvelous Mondays, Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Monday Mania, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Simply Natural Saturdays, Country Momma Cooks Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Show & Tell Saturday, Say G'Day Saturday, Little House in the Suburbs, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Homemaker on a Dime, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday

Tweet

How to Make Natural LEGO Cake Pops

I threw my son a Lego party recently and wanted to make these adorable Lego cake pops after I saw them at Living Locurto (pictured below). If you've never made cake pops before, here's the skinny. You make a cake mix, combine it with a tub of frosting, shape into balls, and then dip into melted candy melts. They are beyond delicious, but full of iffy ingredients and preservatives I'd rather avoid. So I made my own natural version.


Traditional Cake Pop Ingredients:

Flour, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Cocoa, Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and/or Cottonseed Oil, Propylene Glycol Mono and Diesters of Fatty Acids, Distilled Monoglycerides, Carob Powder, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Xanthan Gum, Cellulose Gum, Artificial Flavor, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Artificial Coloring Yellow 5&6, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel oil, Reduced Mineral Whey Powder, Whole milk solids, Nonfat Dry Milk Solids, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Coloring FD & C #5
(based on Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix, Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting, Yellow Wilton Candy Melts)

My Natural Cake Pop Ingredients:

Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cocoa Powder, Milk, Vanilla Extract, Cream Cheese, Powdered Sugar, Turmeric, White Chocolate




Natural LEGO Cake PopsYou can avoid trans fat, preservatives, and artificial coloring by making cake and frosting from scratch and dipping it into naturally dyed white chocolate. Here's how I did it.


1. Make Cake from Scratch
I made a delicious chocolate cake recipe from my favorite cook book, The Best Recipe, by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated. I included the recipe at the end of this post. It's yummy, but any standard cake recipe should work.


2. Mix Cake With Homemade Frosting
I made this delicious cream cheese frosting from allrecipes.com. I would suggest using at least half the sugar the recipe calls for (or omit sugar altogether!). Cake pops are sugar overload. You're combining cake and frosting which is normal, but then you are taking it to the next level by covering it with sweetened chocolate.


3. Shape.
Roll into a ball and then roll on waxed paper to make LEGO head shape. For the connector, add a little piece of cake/frosting mixture to the top of the LEGO head. Insert a stick and freeze. Freezing the cake pop will help it to not fall off the stick as you are dipping into melted chocolate.


4. Melt White Chocolate
I melted two 8 ounce Ghirardelli white chocolate baking bars in a makeshift double broiler (a metal bowl on top of a pot of simmering water). You can also melt it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30 second increment.

16 oz. of chocolate wasn't enough to dip all the cake pops, but it was enough to cover the number of cake pops I needed. The white chocolate was so thick, each cake pop ended up with too much chocolate. Some of the cake pops actually fell off the stick because of the weight of the chocolate. Next time I would thin the chocolate with vegetable oil.


5. Naturally Dye White Chocolate
Add 1 teaspoon turmeric to naturally color chocolate a perfect yellow color. I could taste a tiny hint of turmeric since I knew it was there, but the chocolate still tasted great. If you need a different color, check out my post about natural food coloring.




6. Dip Cake Pops
Dip frozen cake pops into chocolate. Place stick in styrofoam to dry. Store in refrigerator.




7. Draw LEGO Faces
Okay, okay, the edible ink is not natural. I'm pretty sure there is no such thing. But I couldn't resist such cute faces!




Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake
adapted from The Best Recipe by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 cake pan with vegetable oil and dust with flour. Tap out excess flour.

2. Beat butter in bowl with electric mixer on medium-high until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.

3. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa in medium bowl. Combine milk and vanilla in measuring cup. With mixer on lowest speed, add about one-third of dry ingredients to batter, followed immediately by about one-third of milk mixture; mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into batter. Repeat process twice more. When batter appears blended, stop mixer and scrape bowl sides with rubber spatula. Return mixer to low speed; beat until batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.

4. Fill pan with batter. Bake cake until it feels firm in center when lightly pressed and toothpick comes out clean or with just a crumb or two adhering, 23 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool.


Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar (I would use half this amount)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In bowl, mix together cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in powdered sugar. Store in the fridge.



I can't help but add one more pic of this cute guy! You can see my post about the LEGO party favors I put together for my son's birthday here. My next blog post is going to be about a more simple (but still natural) non-Lego cake pop. Stay tuned!


This post was shared at: Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Thirty Handmade Days, Simply Sweet Home Friday Favorites, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair, It's a Keeper Thursday, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill, Makin' You Crave Mondays, Jam's Corner Marvelous Mondays, Melt in Your Mouth Mondays, One Creative Weekend, Country Momma Cooks Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Show & Tell Saturday, Once Upon a Weekend

Tweet

Seven Natural Air Freshener Ideas That Heal, Not Hurt

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes commercial air freshener as a source of indoor air pollution. Without good ventilation, chemicals from air fresheners, cleaners, and other substances build up in our houses with no where to go. Many air fresheners contain phthalates, hazardous chemicals known to cause cancer, hormonal abnormalities, birth defects, and reproductive problems. I've ditched Bath & Body Works Wallflowers and Febreze and replaced it with these seven natural alternatives.


1. Simmer Fragrant Fruit and Spices

Cut up fruit and place in boiling water, along with desired spices. My favorites are oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and pieces of vanilla bean or vanilla extract. I add more water when it gets low. I simmer on and off for a day or two and then throw it out. The fruit looks pretty worn out by the time I'm done with it.



2. Simmer Essential Oils

Essential oils are totally natural compounds extracted from parts of plants, flowers, and trees. They have been used throughout history for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Most essential oils have anti-microbial properties so they help purify the air while I'm enjoying their nice aroma. They can be found at health food stores, Amazon, and Mountain Rose Herbs. Don't mistake them for fragrance oils, which most likely contain narly chemicals.

To simmer essential oils, I add a few drops to a pot of boiling water. They are very concentrated so a little goes a long way. My favorite essential oil scents are orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, vanilla absolute, cinnamon, and peppermint. Use one essential oil by itself or blend them to create a unique scent!

3. Refill Plug-In Air Freshener with Essential Oils

After I saw this tutorial, I had to try it. It's not as simple as it looks. It was so hard to get the plastic thingie off that holds the wick (the cigarette looking thing that soaks up the oil). I had to pry it with a tiny little screw driver. Finally it popped off, spraying chemical-laden fragrance oil all over the place. The whole process left my kitchen smelling exactly like what I was trying to avoid. It's a week later and I can still smell whiffs of Bath & Body Works Eucalyptus Mint Oil. Boo.

I filled the bulb with 1/3 essential oil and 2/3 distilled water like the website recommended. The scent was hardly noticeable and the water evaporated so quickly, it was gone in a couple of days. With all the work involved and having to deal with the nasty fragrance oil, this is my least favorite idea of the bunch.



4. Warm Essential Oils or Extracts on an Oil Burner

Usually, I put a few drops of my favorite essential oils onto the plate and dilute it with water. It works well, but you have to replace the tea light candles every so often and be careful of the open flame. (A commenter suggested using unscented wax with the essential oils instead of water, since water evaporates so quickly. Genius!)

One time I squeezed juice from a lemon and an orange onto the warming plate to see what would happen, but I could hardly smell anything. Then I tried vanilla extract, with happy results!



5. Use an Electric Diffuser

I've been wanting an electric diffuser for awhile, so when I saw this one on Mountain Rose Herb's website for $20, I just had to try it out. You know, for blog research. It's super simple. I apply 6-8 drops of essential oil on a pad that goes inside the diffuser. After I plug it in and turn it on, I can smell the essential oils after about 5 minutes. It recommends applying fresh essential oil every 2-3 hours, or as needed.

This diffuser is meant for a small room so the scent isn't terribly strong in my open living room/kitchen/dining room. But that's perfect because I can't stand when the smell is too strong. And I can always add more essential oil to the pad if I want the scent to be stronger. It's small and doesn't make any noise. The downside is having to buy replaceable pads. It only comes with five and the directions recommend using a new pad for each different oil or blend of oils. Of course they say that so you'll buy more pads.



6. Make Your Own Essential Oil Air Freshener Spray

I found this idea here. I fill my spray bottle half-full with filtered water. Then I add 8-10 drops of my favorite essential oils. The website warns against spraying near polished wood. Label and store in a dark cupboard.



7. Make a Homemade Reed Diffuser

Check out my super simple and inexpensive DIY reed diffuser tutorial. All you need is a vase, reed diffuser sticks, water, and essential oil. It cost me less than $2 compared to the $15-40 reed diffusers I saw at the store last weekend.


Do you know of any other ways to naturally freshen the air without harmful chemicals? What are your favorite essential oil scents?


Lists of Essential Oils that Help Improve Mood:
Aromatherapy Mood Blends
Oils That Can Ease Unpleasant Emotions

More Info on the Dangers of Commercial Air Freshener:
How "Fresh" is Air Freshener?
The Toxicity of Plug-In Air Fresheners
Toxipedia: Air Fresheners
Air Fresheners, Are They Really Freshening Your Air?
Many Cleaners, Air Fresheners May Pose Health Risks When Used Indoors
Wikipedia: Air Freshener

This post was proudly featured at:

This post was shared at: Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Tout it Tuesday, Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill, Jam's Corner Marvelous Mondays, Simply Natural Saturdays, Country Momma Cooks Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Tatertots & Jello, Show & Tell Saturday, Once Upon a Weekend, Little House in the Suburbs, Simply Sweet Home Friday Favorites, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, The 36th Avenue, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Live Laugh Love, Simple Steps to Healthy Living, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Hearth & Soul Blog Hop, Living Green Tuesdays, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, Show & Tell Saturday

Tweet