Reduce your paper towel waste with.....Unpaper Towels!

So my older sister (one of them) is in town to visit and it just happened to have been her birthday yesterday. So I made her some unpaper towels for her kitchen. Basically, they are paper towels, minus the paper. I took lots of pictures while making them so I could give you a tutorial on how to make some for yourself. Sure, you could buy them off Etsy or something but it's way more fun to make your own!

First, pick out your fabrics. I like using woven cotton on one side and terry cloth on the other. Makes for a good weight so they stand up nicely on a vertial paper towel holder. And that way you have your "scrubby" side and your "pretty" side. My sister said her kitchen was brown and green, so here is what a trip to Joanns came up with:

Next, you're going to cut all of your fabric up. I made them 11" x 8"....came out a pretty good-looking size if you ask me. (Tip: If you are using more than one kind of material for the cotton woven layer, buy 1/3 yard of each. That's 12 inches, then you just slice it up into 9 inch pieces and you will automatically get 11x8 because of seam allowances)

After you've cut out all of your terry and cotton to the right sizes, you will take a piece of terry and cotton and put them right sides together....like this:

Now pin it together (or not if you don't want to) and sew around it with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, but leave an opening to turn it right side out, and then clip the corners to make it rounded to make it turn nicely:

Turn it right side out:



Now pin the opening closed by turning the two layers towards the inside so it looks like the rest of it. Then sew all the way around with as small of an allowance as you are comfortable with.

When you are done topstitching, tie knots with your threads, thread them onto a needle and pull them in between the two layers and cut so that the thread is lost inside. Does that make any sense?

Then, just attach your snaps and you're finished! I need to get a picture still of them all snapped up and finished. :)

DIY Deodorant....and it works!

I have been making my own deodorant for a while now and have perfected the process to my satisfaction, so I am going to share! My recipe, that is...not my deodorant. Back off!

There are SO many deodorant recipes floating out there on the internet and I have tried most of them. Some consistencies ended up too melty....but that's pretty much the only problem I have found. It's ridiculously fun to customize it as you're making it, too. In the mood for citrus smelling deodorant? Or flowery? Or just plain clean? Hopefully you have a mini-stash of essential oils hiding somewhere in your cabinets, or else you may want to get some!

Anywho...this is what you'll need:
Empty clean old deodorant container
Coconut oil
Corn starch
The all-powerful Baking Soda
Essential oils of your choice
Probiotic capsule is optional

The first time I made deodorant, it was way too melty-melty. It was like smearing goo on your armpits. Very strange sensation, I must tell you. There was a simple enough fix for that though: less coconut oil. I started out trying equal parts of coconut oil, baking soda, and cornstarch...but quickly modified it to less coconut oil and more dry ingredients. My last batch was quite nice and I used 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/2 cup of cornstarch.
So first thing, melt the coconut oil. And don't yell at me for using the cheap stuff from Walmart.... *ahem*. I microwaved mine....don't yell at me for that either. I suppose you could do it on the stove as well, but microwave is faster.

Before melting...duh.

After melting...tada.

After you melt it, add your baking soda and cornstarch...and your probiotic capsule if you're using it (not the whole thing, silly...dump the insides out into it). And don't make a giant mess like I did.

Stir it all up until it's completely blended and a smooth consistency...kinda like frosting. Then add your essential oils and stir again. I used about 20 drops of Tea Tree Oil and a few of lavendar.

Now just pour it into your prepared container ...just fill it to the top or a little below the top. I put mine in the refridgerator to cool because I'm impatient.

As for applying it, it will be a little more melty than commercial deodorant...It will smell GREAT though and it does work. As my guinea pig, my dad used some for a few days and said he couldn't tell a difference between homemade and commercial as far as smelly goes. Obviously, it's not an anti-persperant since it doesn't have aluminum in it. Which is a good thing. :)

WARNING: This WILL return to it's liquid state in warmer temperatures. I have to keep mine refridgerated during the summer months.