Happy Birthday, Sugar Bear!

My sweet little lady is growing up!

Wordless Wednesday: Yummy in my Tummy!

Amazing Kitchen Cures ~ Sunburn

Check out what book I just "found" amongst my cookbooks.

I totally forgot I had it! I picked it up at a garage sale (only $.25!) a while back b/c I needed it. Yes, I really do need this book.

Maybe it's the blond hair, but I seem to have a hard time remembering what to do for the common cold or a simple cut, scrape or bug bite. (I have never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.)

Who needs medication when there are all kinds of remedies in the kitchen? I'd like to start referring to this book before searching the web and/or running out to pick up some meds. In the meantime, I'm going to share some of the kitchen cures, strange facts and tips from this book.

And anyway. I thought it would just be fun to share these kitchen remedies. So, let's get started!

NOTE: Using brand name products is not necessary.  :-)   

Summer break is just around the corner. That means time outdoors on field trips or playing in the sprinkler. It's the perfect time to learn what our kitchens offer for.....

SUNBURN

• Afta - Dabbing Afta aftershave lotion on sunburned skin relieve sunburn pain promptly. 
• Arm and Hammer Baking Soda - Dissolve one-half cup baking soda in a tepid bath. Soak for fifteen minutes, then let the powdered solution dry on your skin. 
• Carnation NonFat Dry Milk - Fill a bathtub with warm water and add four handfuls dry milk. Soak in the milk bath for twenty minutes to ease the pain. 
• Cheerios - Pour two cups Cheerios in a blender and blend into a fine powder on medium-high speed. Put the powdered Cheerios into a warm bath and soak in the oats for thirty minutes. The soothing oatmeal bath relieves the pain of sunburn. Use a plastic or mesh drain cover to avoid clogging your pipes. 
• Cool Whip - Spread Cool Whip on the sunburn, let sit for twenty minutes and then rinse off with lukewarm water. 
• Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening - After soaking in a cool bath, seal the moisture into your skin by coating the sunburned area with Crisco.
• Dannon Yogurt - Spread Dannon Yogurt (any flavor you please) on the sunburn, let sit for twenty minutes, and then rinse clean with lukewarm water. 
• Desitin - Coat the sunburn with Desitin diaper rash ointment to reduce the pain and redness. 
  
• Dickinson's Witch Hazel - Moisten a washcloth with Dickinson's Witch Hazel and appy it to the burn. 
• French's Mustard - Rub French's Mustard on the sunburn to stop the stinging and prevent blistering. Let the mustard dry on the skin. 
• Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera Gel - Coat the sunburned skin with aloe vera gel to soothe and relieve the pain.
• Heinz White Vinegar - Saturate a washcloth with Heinz White Vinegar and use it as a compress to cover the sunburn, pressing down lightly. Or add two cups vinegar to cool bathwater and soak. 
• Kingsford Corn Starch - Add enough water to Kingsford Corn Starch to make a paste, and apply directly to the burn. 
• Lipton Tea Bags - Pat the sunburn with wet tea bags. The tannic acid in the tea relieves sunburn pain. 
• Miracle Whip - Slather Miracle Whip liberally over the sunburn to relieve the pain and moisturize the skin.
• Quaker Oats and L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose - Using a blender, grind one cup Quaker Oats into a fine powder. Cut off the foot from a clean, used pair of L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose, fill it with the powdered oats, and tie a knot in the nylon. Tie the oatmeal sack to the spigot, letting it dangle in the flow of water as the tub fills with warm water. Soak for thirty minutes in this inexpensive and soothing oatmeal bath, using the oatmeal sack as a mild washcloth. 

STRANGE FACTS

• You can get a sunburn on a cloudy day. Ultraviolet rays from the sun penetrate clouds, no matter how overcast the sky may be. 
• Turnips turn green when sunburned. 
• Pigs, walruses, and light-colored horses can be sunburned. 
• The place with the most hours of possible sunshine is Yuma, Arizona, where the chance of sunshine during the day is 91%.
• Starting February 9, 1967, St. Petersburg, Florida recorded 768 consecutive days of sunshine, ending on March 17, 1969.

TIPS

1. Play it cool! See your doctor if your sunburn begins to blister or you feel ill. 
2. To avoid getting a sunburn, apply sunscreen thirty minutes before going outside. 
3. To figure out how many hours of protection you can expect from a sunscreen, take the number of minutes it takes your skin to start burning without sunscreen, multiply by the sun protection factor (SPF) printed on the bottle of Coppertone, and divide the result by sixty. For example: if you usually burn in thirty minutes, an SPF 8 lotion should protect you for approximately 4 hours. 
4. The higher the SPF of a sunscreen, the higher the price. 
5. The higher in the sky the sun is, the higher the SPF number you will need. Also, the closer to the equator you are, the stronger the sunscreen you need. 

And there we have it! This was a pretty long list in the book, so I didn't put every single kitchen remedy here. Anyway. I hope this is helpful... if not for you, then for me to remember to take this book off the shelf next time I need a quick home remedy! 

I Will Boast in the Cross

I read over these song lyrics and I just can't help but to share it here. Of course, it's from Sovereign Grace Music on the Depth of Mercy album that was put out in the late 1990's. This song most certainly needs an update as the melody and beat takes away from the lyrics. 

Nonetheless, I just can't express enough how Christ and Cross-centered the songs are from this ministry.  How refreshing it is to hear songs that are not focused upon ourselves. 

Take a look at these words.....

I Will Boast in the Cross 

Verse 1

God did not call us because we were wise

Or gifted with riches and might

His choses one are the weak in this world

Who hope in His all-saving name

That He might receive all the praise

Chorus

So I will boast in the cross of Christ

And I will glory in Jesus and His sacrifice

I will boast in the cross of Christ

It is the power  It is the wisdom of God

And my great ransom

The cross of Christ

Verse 2

Great is the mystery of God's sovereign ways

That flow from the depths of His grace

That He would give up His one precious Son

To bear all the cost of my sin

It is a wonder I can't comprehend

Repeat Chorus

Talk about remind us what our purpose is, Who made us and Who all the praise and glory is due.... It's certainly not any of us! 

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,

But to Your name give glory

Because of Your lovingkindness

Because of Your truth

Psalm 115:1

5 Random Things ~ Science, Wreaths, a DIY, Cinnamon Hair? and the Yearbook

Disclaimer: Photography is not my thing, though I do try. Nonetheless, I apologize in advance for fuzzy pictures.  :-D  

1. Science with friends!

          

 

I guess I haven't mentioned on here that we started to learn science and conduct experiments with a few of our friends on Fridays. In these pics, we were learning about fizz from our Science in the Kitchen book. We were already having fun with science, but learning with friends makes it so much more exciting!

2. Wreaths

           

 

I'm a little crazy about wreaths. Can you tell? Here are my latest homemade wreaths. The one on the left is made from paper ribbon. Do you remember that stuff? It's paper that was crinkled and rolled up and you have to unfold/unwind it in order to use it. Talk about an object lesson for patience. I don't know how it was so popular back in the day; it was so frustrating! 

The wreath on the right is just pretty fabric wrapped around a foam wreath form twice and those are crochet flowers made from yarn.  

3. Frugal Gift Bag

                     

What does one do when they need a gift bag, but they don't have one for the right occasion nor the correct size nor the money (or time) to go buy one? You make your own, of course!

I save all the gift bags we receive from birthdays and other special days. But I didn't have a non-specific bag and I needed one pretty quick. So I just took a regular brown lunch sack (that I already had), measured and glued scrapbook paper to it, added a label and little ribbon bow and viola! We have a gift bag.

It is extremely rare for my brain to think outside of the box, so you can imagine how shocked and happy I was when I came up with this idea All. By. Myself! LOL

4. Cinnamon on Your Hair?

                    

I was looking at my hair a few weeks ago and I just thought "BLAH". With no money to purchase a box (or 2) of color from the store, I searched the net for ways one can lighten hair naturally. There are many ways to do that. I found one way quite interesting and had me very curious. I discovered that cinnamon has bleaching qualities. Why, I never knew that! So I tried the most simple recipe: I took a cup of conditioner and mixed in enough cinnamon to make a paste; Saturated my hair, put a plastic bag over it (in place of a shower cap) and let it sit overnight. 

Above is the before and after pictures. Of course, it's not going to be a drastic change, but that's not what I was going for anyway. :-)

Then I tried another method to go a little bit lighter. This was a conditioner/pure honey/cinnamon mixture. Again, I left it on overnight with my hair wrapped in a plastic bag. :-) 

And here is my hair after that treatment. I can see another slight difference again, but I think my hair  was a little too wet when I applied this mixture. So, I'm going to wait a few more weeks before I try once more.  

5. Yearbook Pics

This is the first year we've submitted pictures to the homeschool group yearbook. They ask for a nature background as to have a somewhat uniform look in the book since there isn't a "picture day" like in public school. I got a peek at last year's book. It was very nice. I might have to get one this time.  

Whew! That was kind of long! Life is pretty random!