It's no secret that most commercial skin care and beauty products are full of unpronounceable chemicals. In just a matter of seconds after application, those chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream. Over time they can contribute to hormonal problems and other health issues. I've made it my goal to eliminate as many of them as possible from my skin care regimen. Here are some of the things I use instead.

Baking Soda. I use this for so many things! I keep a small cup of b/s in my shower and use it to wash my hair about twice a week. It has a mild exfoliating effect, so sometimes I use a tiny amount to wash my face. (I have slightly oily skin. Those with dry skin should probably not use b/s on their skin.) Occasionally I use baking soda for brushing my teeth, but it has a strong flavor. (There are plenty of good recipes online for homemade toothpaste, which are better tasting, but I don't always take the time to make toothpaste.) I also use baking soda to make my own deodorant.

Apple Cider Vinegar. This is also kept in my shower, diluted in a plastic squirt bottle. ACV is an excellent hair conditioner, to use after rinsing out all the baking soda. Sometimes I put it on a cotton ball and swipe it over my face to refresh my skin after washing. It's good for skin and nail fungus, and taking it internally is good for the complexion.

Hydrogen Peroxide. This is the alternative for commercial toothpaste that I use most often. I have some in a small spray bottle, so I can spray it onto my toothbrush and directly onto my teeth, then brush. It whitens the teeth over time. (In fact, most if not all of those expensive tooth whitening systems are made with hydrogen peroxide.)

Banana Peels. Yes, banana peels. They are full of nutrients that are good for the skin! I cut a large piece off the peel and rub the inside all over my face until the chalky-looking white stuff is gone. I leave it on for a few minutes, then rinse off with warm water. It makes a nice mask that firms up the skin, and I've noticed that it clears up blemishes quickly. It leaves my skin feeling very soft and not over-dry.

Essential Oils and Healthy Carrier Oils. I'm learning how to use essential oils for health care, but beyond that they make some really nice custom fragrances! I use Sweet Almond Oil, Sesame, or Olive Oil for carrier oils (because that's what I have), and add drops of different e/o's until I have a scent I like. Sometimes I use this to moisturize dry spots like my hands and elbows, but it's too, well - oily - for use all over. Thus the next beauty secret...

Healthy Moisturizers. First of all, I reduce the need for lotion by avoiding the overuse of soap in the shower. (I've found that using just warm water and a bath pouf gets me very clean without drying out my skin. I only use soap where it's necessary.) But I do need lotion sometimes, facial moisturizer every day. The stuff I buy is as basic as possible. Right now I'm using a nice lotion I bought in the States, called "Everyday Shea". For my face, I have a homemade moisturizer from Generation Cedar. Occasionally I might use a commercial lotion I was given, but it's not the norm for me.

So there are my own healthy beauty secrets. What about yours?

I finished this jumper dress today! I made it with lots of room for a growing belly. The bodice is lined with natural muslin. This was a fun project, and I tried a new technique, French seams.


French seams were actually very easy to do, and while my side seams are not perfect, I love the smooth finish underneath! Will definitely be using this method again in the future, since I don't have a Serger to finish the edges.



Roomy patch-pockets.

Our "baby" girl turned five years old! She was our first child born in Guatemala. She wanted to share her cake at church, so we waited until Sunday night for that. So on the morning of her actual day, we had birthday pancakes with homemade butter and cinnamon syrup.


Then on the Lord's Day we sang to her, thanking God for her life and praying His blessings upon her. Wish I had a photo of everybody who was there!


Her cake says, "Johanna is (five) years old."


Later at home, we all had some gifts to show her our love. This is a hand-stitched doll quilt her big sister made! Isn't that sweet?

These are five things I love about our Johanna Joy:

1) Her energy, spunk, and easy affection! (Oops, that's three, not one.)

2) Her funny little ways that make me laugh, such as "needing" three washcloths for her bath. One for her face, one for her bum, and one for her feet. Funny!

3) Her love for all things pretty and feminine. Such a girly-girl!

4) Her willingness to serve. She is always offering her help to others!

5) Her godly goals in life. She wants to be a good mommy more than anything!

I love you, Johanna Joy! You truly are a joy to us all. :o)

A certain group of Baptist ladies recently were discussing the yummy phenomenon of Fried Apples. I had never made them before, and one of them said (essentially), "Oh, you just melt some butter in a hot skillet, throw in some sliced and pared apples (preferably tart) with a little sugar, and fry them until they're soft."

That sounded easy enough. Someone else had mentioned how good they are on top of French toast. Hmm, crispy-tender, buttery French toast with warm cinnamony-gooey apples over the top... My pregger-brain latched on to that thought, so that's what we did for breakfast the next morning!


Here's how I made Fried Apples:

Peel, core and slice 7 or 8 tart apples (for a skillet-full, or you can half the recipe). Melt 3 to 4 Tbsp butter in a hot skillet, then add the apples, stirring to coat. Sprinkle brown sugar over the apples (to taste) with a dash of salt, and fry until they soften and start to brown and caramelize.


They should make a nice brown juice as they cook. Stir in some cinnamon, and serve warm.

...Your French toast will thank you! :o)

We sang "Feliz Cumpleaños" to the birthday people at church. Jillian accompanied on guitar. (She is becoming quite the musician!)



This is Sister Beatriz, one of the ladies who helped me serve sandwiches, chips and cake. She started coming just a few weeks ago, and just jumps right in wherever help is needed. What a blessing she is!


Here is a close-up of Jillian's cake. It was so much fun to make for her, and she really liked it. It was chocolate with cream cheese and strawberry filling. We put nine candles on her cake, Oh my!


Nine things I love and admire about our Jillian:

1) She loves the Lord, and loves to be in church.

2) She uses her voice and her music to serve God.

3) Her sweet smile.

4) Her friendly disposition.

5) She shares her things.

6) She does her schoolwork well.

7) She helps with the chores, and does especially well caring for the animals.

8) She takes a stand for righteousness, and encourages it in others.

9) She has a sweet, tender heart.

Just can't believe you're already nine years old, Honey! Happy Birthday! I love you.

~*~*~*~

My hubby's birthday was the next day, the last May birthday in the family. By the time it is his turn he is all caked-out, so he likes to have something different. Cheesecake is always a hit! (Those are peaches and kiwis on top.)


I made a huge one, because some friends of ours were there with us. They have been coming over almost every week to help Daniel work on the roof. All Daniel wants for his birthday is to finish that roof!

And now, thirty-three things I love and admire about my hubby:

1) He works hard all day, and then makes time for family fun at home. What a man!

2) He is a type-A, go-getter kinda guy. SO unlike me.

3) His smile.

4) His laugh.

5) His muscles. *sigh*

6) He loves me even when I'm unlovable.

7) He is a faithful Christian, and desires to please the Lord.

8) His preaching.

9) His singing.

10) His leadership.

11) How he plays with the children and loves to delight them.

12) The silly songs he makes up to make us laugh.

13) The new verses he adds to songs when he doesn't mean to, ha ha.

14) He's a sharp dresser.

15) He's a godly man.

16) He still does sweet things for his mom, and honors his dad.

17) He honors and respects my parents, too.

18) He brings home little presents "just because".

19) He is thankful.

20) He gives God the glory.

21) He appreciates my cooking.

22) He pitches in with the housekeeping.

23) He helps with the children.

24) Yep, he even changes diapers.

25) He is always looking for way to serve others.

26) He is willing to stop by the side of the road to help someone in need.

27) He maintains a pretty good balance between truth and mercy.

28) He is a do-it-yourself-er, and a quick learner.

29) He takes care of his family and considers our needs first.

30) He does most of the driving. There are situations when I am SO glad!

31) He delivers babies.

32) He builds roofs.

33) Sometimes he even cooks!

I know you can't believe any man could be that perfect, but he really is all that and more. I love you, Sweetie! Happy Birthday!

The froggy cupcakes we made for my son's birthday were really easy.


First we baked up 24 cupcakes, filling them only halfway full of batter to prevent them from running over during baking. After they were cool, I spread each thick with green frosting.

For the eyes, we cut a large marshmallow in half with kitchen scissors and stuck an M&M onto the sticky side. We painted the tops of the marshmallow eyes with green food coloring, but I think it would look better dipped into green sugar.

We stuck the eyes onto each cupcake, and drew a silly mouth on with pink frosting squeezed from the tip of a Ziploc bag.

These were so easy to make, and it was fun to arrange the eyes and mouth to make different froggy expressions! When birthdays come around here, I start looking for fresh ideas for cakes, and I find all sorts of fancy cakes online. But the ideas I really use (and that the children like the most) are typically simple ones like this one. :o)

We get fresh cream from the dairy farm down the road, and our favorite thing to make with it is fresh butter. Recently, they gave us a really good price on a big bucket of cream, so we whipped up several pounds of butter and stocked our freezer! This is how we make it:



A good old-fashioned butter churn would be more picturesque, but since we don't have one we use my stand mixer. We put the cream into the bowl and beat at high speed for a few minutes. How much time it takes depends on how heavy the cream is. This time, it only took a minute or two, but with "milkier" cream, it can take up to fifteen minutes.


Once the butter fat has separated from the buttermilk (it will sound sloshy in the mixer or churn), we stop the mixer and pour off the liquid, patting the butter to squeeze out drops of buttermilk. (We save all the buttermilk for making pancakes or biscuits.) At this point, Caroline Ingalls would rinse the butter in cold water. This makes it keep longer. But we have a freezer, so we skip that part...

Add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. salt to the butter (depending on how much you have) and mix again. Then press the butter into a mould of some sort. We line the mould with plastic wrap with which to wrap the butter up for storage.


Since this was not for immediate consumption, it went into a paper bag and then to the freezer.

What's great about making our own butter:

** Our children know how butter is made.

** We know what's in it, that the cream was fresh and hormone-free.

** It is as salted (or un-salted) as we want it.

** It's fun to make our own!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Addendum ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Making Butter From Your Cream

You may have never come across such a good deal on cream as we did. However, I'm sure you have seen great deals on certain grocery items, especially produce and perishables, that were hard to pass up. Well, don't pass them up! If it is something that you can use, then buy it and "make butter".

Those bananas that are half-black and sacked up for quick sale at a fraction of the regular price? Buy them, take them home and peel them. Freeze them in plastic containers or Ziploc bags in portions that are just right for your favorite Banana Nut Bread recipe. "Make butter"!

Found marked-down yogurt a little past its freshness date? It's likely still good, but needs to be consumed quickly, or frozen... Hmmm, frozen yogurt pops, anyone? "Make butter"!

Onions and peppers can be chopped and stored in the freezer, ready for your recipes. Broccoli and other veggies a little past their prime may not be good for eating raw, but are still fine for steaming and putting into soups. "Make butter"!

They don't just put items on sale for the freshness date, but also for other reasons, such as overstocking the item. If it is something that your family will use, then stock up! Change up your weekly menu a bit to accommodate the goodies you found, and freeze what you do not use.

..."Make butter"!

We use vinegar for many purposes, not the least of which is for cooking and making dressings. Raw apple cider vinegar renders many health benefits, and I would not be without it if I could help it! When we came back from our furlough in 2007, I brought with me a big jug of Bragg's Vinegar, which I think might be the best on the market.


...But as you can see, my jug is just about empty. I searched for a source of raw apple cider vinegar in the markets here, but all I could find was pineapple vinegar. I'm partial to the flavor of apple cider vinegar, so my only option seemed to be to learn to make it myself!


What forms vinegar from apple cider (or any other juice) is called the "mother". It is a living mass of good bacteria (and other critters), and while it is not a pretty sight, it is necessary. I asked around, and found a woman who makes vinegar, and she was willing to give me a piece of her mother (my piece pictured above).

Hers is massive. She keeps it in a big bucket and feeds it once a week with panela (a raw form of sugar) and water. As I said, I want vinegar made of apple cider, but I thought a mother is a mother... It should work with my juice, right?


So I brought it home and rinsed it out. I made fresh apple juice with my wonderful juicer and settled that little mother down into my juice, covering it loosely with a cloth. That was a little over a week ago. This is what I have now:


It has a clear, leathery film on top, which is a new mother forming. I have no idea how much time it needs to convert from juice to wine to vinegar. Anybody have an idea?

Anyway, it seems to be working, and I'm so excited!

Jessica (10) and Jillian (8) handstitched these lovely napkins for our table. Aren't they sweet?


The girls have been sewing for a couple years now, and we encourage such a useful hobby. Think how many paper napkins we won't have to buy (and then send to the landfill)!


These match the apples in my kitchen, and look very nice on our table.

Doesn't Joel's name puzzle look like fun?


My Uncle Bill and Aunt Rita created these wonderful name puzzles. (These days, they travel to fairs and expos to sell them, and their daughter makes them at home.)


Each of my children has one. Bill and Rita also make personalized wooden stepping stools, and other handmade goodies you can see HERE.


Unfortunately, Uncle Bill and Aunt Rita might be put out of business by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), a law passed last year that places a heavy burden on small businesses that produce handmade toys, clothes, and educational items for children, as well as on all businesses that sell children's items used. (Heads up, fellow thriftstore shoppers!!) CPSIA will force all of these businesses to fork out thousands of dollars for testing and approving each item.

This law was drawn up for the purpose of protecting American children from the harmful lead-based paints and other toxic chemicals found on certain imported toys. While I certainly don't want "toxic toys" being sold in the U.S. (or anywhere else), I don't think the answer is legislation. (At least not this kind of sweeping, all-inclusive, small-business-crushing legislation.)

Personally, I think Americans are smart enough to avoid purchasing the toys that are likely to be problematic... You know, the ones stamped, "Made in China".

If you would like to help save handmade toys, click HERE or HERE.

And don't forget to visit Bill & Rita's site. :o)