Homemade Baby Wipes

This is by far one of the GREATEST gifts we ever received as a baby shower present when we were expecting baby #1. It has something that even my husband recommends giving to everyone we get invited to their baby showers. I don't know if any of my friends who I have given this as baby shower gifts have actually tried this recipe and love it as much as I do, but anyone who has babysat my child and used these wipes in her bag, have said, "Can I get this recipe?"

My husband loves the wipes because 1. It's cheap 2. They're big enough to cover his whole hand 3. They're so much stronger and more durable, and they hold a LOT more!

I love them because 1. They're cheap (like SOOO ridiculously cheap! I'll figure out the math for you) 2. They're really easy to make 3. I love saving money 4. They really are so much better than store bought! (My opinion is mine, but it's not changing, I hope you'll give them a try too!)

First you will need:

1 air tight container large enough to hold a paper towel roll cut in half (I have found success at Target and TJ Maxx)
1 bottle of baby lotion, baby oil, and baby wash (I was given a TON for our baby shower, and that's what we're still using, but Dollar Tree has them for $1.00, or if you're an avid couponer, you can score some great deals!)
1 non-serrated knife (we usually use a utility knife, but have found one in our kitchen that works better!)

Click Here for a Girl Recipe

Click Here for a Boy Recipe

*a variation I have seen done with this, is instead of using baby oil, some have used coconut oil. Obviously this will increase the price some, but it'll still be very cheap!*

Alright, I promised the math...So here it is!

• About every 6 months Smith's has their 8 ct. Bounty paper towels on sale somewhere in the $4 range. Last time we bought some for $4.49 plus a P&G $0.25 off coupon= $4.24 for a package of 8 rolls. *Price match at Walmart if you don't have a Smith's near by!
• $3.00 plus tax for all the 10 oz. lotion, oil, and wash from the dollar store ~$3.19
• An one time purchase of an air tight container, the one we use at Target is $17.99
• If you don't have one already- a utility knife, which you can get anywhere from $1.99-$25.99

Since you cut each roll (8) in half, there are 16 rolls with 44 sheets per roll. 16x44=704 wipes
You get 20 Tablespoons out of 10 ounces of the oil, wash, and lotion=20 times of making wipes. Since you use 1 TBSP of EACH mixture (x3) it costs $0.15 in the oil, lotion, and wash per diaper wipe mix.

**To keep math simple, we'll stick to 16 wipe mixes, since we have 16 rolls.**
$2.40 (for oil, wash, lotion-$0.15x16) + $4.24 (704 wipes) =$6.64/704 wipes =$.0094 per wipe!

*Now obviously, this is an approximate, because I don't know what all of your sales tax rates are, so I left that part out of the equation. I also didn't include the cost of the container, because it is a one time purchase, so the longer you make homemade wipes, the more you'll get your money back! With our tax prices, our total comes in at about $.01 per wipe.*

Let me know if you've tried this out, and how you like it!

Potato Wedges

I tried making these last night to go along with our dinner. I was hoping they'd turn out okay, and they turned out way better than I was expecting!! My husband rated them as a 7, and wants to have them more often. Lucky for us, we bought 50 pounds of red potatoes from an Idaho potato farmer, so we have plenty of potatoes!

May not be the best picture, but they tasted great!

What you'll need:

1/8 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Dried Parsley

1/4 tsp. Seasoning Salt

1/8. tsp. Black Pepper *I like fresh ground 

Cooking spray

3-4 potatoes (We used red potatoes, but any baking potato will work)

Parmesan Cheese

Here's the scoop:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F

2. Wash and scrub potatoes, NO peeling!

3. Cut potatoes in half, and into wedges.

4. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray

5. Lay potato wedges, skin side down, spray with cooking spray

6. In a small bowl, mix all seasoning ingredients 

EXCEPT Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle over potatoes.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes uncovered 

(at least until you can poke potato easily with a fork, it took ours 20 minutes)

8. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese while warm.

9. Serve! 

Party Punch

One summer day, we were hosting a summer party. I bought some frozen juice thinking it would be plenty for our party, put it in the cute pitcher my husband gave to me for Mother's Day last year, and it didn't even reach halfway to the dispenser level! With guests arriving in just minutes, I started to panic! What are we going to do?!

My husband and I put on our experiment caps on, and started mixing potions! We came up with this REALLY good drink mix, and have used it at every event we've hosted since!




2 cans of frozen Raspberry Lemonade
2 cans of frozen Orange Juice Concentrate
2 cans of frozen Pineapple Juice
Water

We used pineapple juice in a plastic container the first time we made this, and filled 2 cans from the other juices to fill it. We also added enough water to make for EACH juice mix, then diluted it to our liking. We like ours a little on the watery side, so we add about 3-4 cans more of water.

Hope you like it!

Tomato, Tomatoe

My husband and I are big fans of Bountiful Baskets, and love to feed our family with fresh fruits and vegetables at such a minimal cost. Our favorite part, is actually the fact that you never know what you're getting, and you always get something a little "odd". Our bravery to try new foods has increased so much at our house since we started participated in bountiful baskets!

Last week, we bought 25 pounds of tomatoes to make into salsa, or spaghetti sauce (we go through both like crazy!) Thankfully, because of the holiday this week (MLK Jr. Day) my hubby had the day off, which meant I become the slave driver.

We set off to make spaghetti sauce, but I wanted the most easiest way possible. We found this recipe for tomato sauce from the Ball Canning website, which looked really easy because:
1. You used a blender.
2. You didn't HAVE to take the skins off.
3. We had all the ingredients (for the most part, already on hand)

For the recipe click here Basil-Tomato Sauce

I did some researching, and to get the tomato sauce thicker, you just simmer it longer, and could not strain the skins (which is what we chose to do). We also didn't have fresh Basil, but a lot of wonderful dried spices like Rosemary, Basil, Parsley, Chives, Oregano, Italian Seasoning, ect, that I threw in the mix instead!

We ended up with 7 jars full, plus 1/2 a gallon size baggie that we were keeping out to use that evening! It turned out DELICIOUS! We were so excited with our results! It was a little runny, compared  to store bought spaghetti sauce, and we like to add a lot of veggies to our spaghetti so we added peppers, onions, and other vegetables to it as we cook it (we keep a bag of frozen chopped up onions and peppers to toss into any recipe we may need). Our little one's favorite food (that grown ups will eat too) is Spaghetti, so we are excited to have some yummy sauce on hand!

The Man Cave

When we first moved into our new home, my husband went scouting to find all the "nooks and crannies" of the place. He came across a little room (and I mean little) behind our water heater closet, under the stairs. It is literally big enough for him to lay down, and to sit up, but not able to stand. He came running up to me, "Come check this out!" So I went to see what all the excitement was about, and he begged and pleaded to turn it into his Man Cave. Considering there really isn't anywhere else for him to have a man cave, I said yes. He immediately thought up some plans of how he was going to decorate, and what accessories he needed to make it a home. First things first, an extension cord and a lamp. Then came some jimmy rigged bookshelves out of really sturdy cardboard boxes turned on its side (he is a bookworm)! Then came the bean bag chair that he got for Father's Day from me and our daughter. I wanted to get him some cute manly decorations to go in there. I kept seeing all of these "Man Cave" signs, but none of them seemed to really speak about my hubby! I decided I was going to make one so that it fit his personality.

This is what I came up with! I absolutely love it! I ended up giving it to him as a gift for Christmas. He was so excited to put it in his man cave! He even admitted, it wasn't too girly! YAY!

How to:

1. Print the Man Cave Rules printable on cardstock, or heavier paper so it doesn't tear
2. Buy a 11x14 (ish) plaque from any crafting store (mine is from Walmart for about $7.00)
3. Paint it your desired color
4. Use modge podge on the back of the paper, then place it on the wood plaque. Try to lay as flatly as possible, and get as much of the air bubbles out before you put the top coat on.
5. Top coat of modge podge to seal the paper. *if there are air bubbles, use a pin (I poked holes in the thick letters or objects (fleur de lis) to hide the holes a little better just in case), and reseal.
6 *Optional* I personally LOVE shoe polish. It is the easiest way to get distressed look! I use it for everything! I distressed my paper edges, but not the wood edges because my husband doesn't like the "antique" look and I didn't want to over do it and have him hate it!
7. Ta Da! Man Cave sign!

If you would like your free printable of the "Man Cave Rules" click here

Carpet Cleaner

This morning my little one coughed so much that she ended up throwing up ALL over my floor! It was a not a pretty sight! I frantically thought, how am I going to get THAT color out of my white carpet?! Then I remembered a "carpet cleaner" recipe I found on pinterest and decided to give it a whirl.

Well, I have to say, I wanted to spare you from the before and after pictures of my poor girl's mess, but I did take pictures of another horrifying stain that  has been there for MONTHS and I was afraid I could never get out (we're renters)! But it worked wonders! Here are the results!

I found this magical recipe on Lizzy Writes: Magical Carpet Cleaner

The recipe goes as follows:
1. Scrape up the liquid (if not already done so previously)
2. Sprinkle baking soda or cornstarch on stain to let absorb for 10 minutes and then vacuum.
3. Mix one tablespoon clear dish washing liquid and one tablespoon white vinegar with two cups of warm water.
4. Using a white cloth, sponge the stain with the detergent/vinegar solution and blot until all the liquid is absorbed.
5. Sponge off with cold water and blot dry

P.S. I only had orange dish washing liquid, and it worked just fine!