Natural Ant Control (3 Different Ways!)

Natural Ant Control is easy, cheap and can be very effective!  Don't get invaded or bitten by those pesky insects.  Watch the video below to find out how to Control Your Ants Naturally:

What are some effective ways you keep ants under control?  Comment below and be sure to share this video and/or blog post.  Thank you for visiting!

Homemade Weed Killer (And 6 Extra Ways On How To Get Rid Of Weeds Naturally)

Homemade weed killer is all the rage these days.  And it should be!  

A few years ago, my parents moved into a new house, their little dog moved in right along with them.  When they hired someone to do some yard work, my mom specifically told the yard care company not to apply any Roundup or other chemical herbicides to their yard.  Despite this, the yard care company did.  And my parents little dog ingested some of it and got very sick.  When they took their dog to the vet, their vet explained that chemical weed killer (like Roundup) is toxic to dogs.  Their dog started to go into liver failure, but thankfully got better!

I currently live in Arizona (but not for long!) and we get weeds in our yard all the time (we lovingly call them "Winter Weeds" and "Summer Weeds").  My husband and I have never used any Roundup in our yards...especially because we have littler children and don't want them to get exposed to it.  Plus, yard chemicals end up in sewage drains and in groundwater.  AND our weed killer is much, much cheaper than Roundup's or any other company's weed killer - an extra bonus.

Watch this video to learn how to make your own Homemade Weed Killer:

How To Use:

• Avoid spraying on flowers, grass or any other stuff you don't want to kill.  
• Make sure you do this on a sunny day, when there's little to no chance of rain the following day.
• If you are spraying HUGE weeds, you might need to apply this to them a second time.
• Try to spray this on weeds when they're smaller and haven't seeded yet...this will help to keep future weeds out of your yard.
• If you can, make your children or grandchildren do this.  ;-)  My kids LOVE to do this and it's (usually) less work for me haha!

Other Methods of Getting Rid Of Weeds:

In addition to or instead of applying this homemade weed killer, there are other ways you can get rid of weeds.  

1. Use old newspapers.  This method will help you to grow rich soil. Lay down newspapers on top of weeds.  Wet the newspaper and then put mulch on top of it.  Do a few layers of this.  Eventually the newspaper will decompose and leave you with some awesome soil to use for gardening or flower beds.  You can also use cardboard for this.
2. Pour boiling water on top of weeds.  The heat will burn them and help to kill them.
3. Pull them out.  Wait until the soil is damp, so that weeds come out more easily.  Use an old screwdriver to get roots out (this helps with dandelion tap roots).
4. Corn meal.  After existing plants and seeds have gotten established in your garden, sprinkling corn meal around your plants will help to keep weed seeds from germinating.  
5. Shower curtains.  When landscaping, place old (or new) shower curtains under rocks and/or mulch to keep weeds from sprouting.
6. Black plastic trash bags.  You can place black plastic trash bags on top of weeds to smother them.  The black absorbs heat, which helps to put an end to pesky weeds.  Use rocks, stakes or bricks to keep the plastic bags intact.  Check after 2 weeks or so and leave on longer if weeds aren't yet dead.

What tips and tricks do you have for naturally keeping weeds out of your yard? 

Homemade, Natural Cleaner Recipe (Homemade Soft Scrub)

Soft scrub cleaner is a necessary thing in our household!  We work hard and play hard, so we need something that we can efficiently clean with that's also very effective on getting rid of dirt, grime and germs.  (Does this sound like an advertisement about soft scrub cleansers yet ha?)

I like to use homemade, natural cleaners in our home.  They're very easy to make, and cost less than buying cleaners from the health food store.  It also keeps the indoor environment cleaner for us and it smells nice.  I don't like the strong chemical smells in store-bought cleaners and prefer to use my own essential oils to scent things.

Please watch the video below to learn how to make your very own homemade, natural cleaner:

I like the use rosemary oil as a scent in mine, because it smells good and is also a great antibacterial.  You can use lavender oil, lemon oil or tea tree oil.  There are soooo many options out there.

Uses:

• stovetop
• oven
• bathroom sinks and bathtub
• toilet
• kitchen sink
• countertops

Do you make your own homemade cleaner?  Please comment below and let me know what you do!

Thank you for visiting!

How To Make Eggshell Calcium

Eggshell calcium is a GREAT way to get extra calcium in your diet!  It's a great use for your discarded eggshells, which makes it inexpensive.  The process of making eggshell calcium is also very simple, easy and fast.  And eggshell calcium contains trace minerals like zinc, magnesium, etc.

To see a tutorial, watch this video:

To make:

Rinse 12 discarded eggshells really well...make sure you get all the leftover egg out of them, but DO leave the membrane in the shell, as it has nutritional benefits.

After rinsing, boil the eggshells in a big pot of water for 10 minutes.  This will remove possible pathogens that can cause sickness.  ;-)

While boiling the eggshells, preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

After eggshells are done boiling, remove them from the pot of water and drain.

Then put the eggshells onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  The eggshells will be nice and crunchy/crispy after you take them out of the oven.

After letting the eggshells cool, grind them up into a fine powder in a blender or a coffee grinder.

You can store your eggshell calcium in an airtight container.

1/2 teaspoon of eggshell calcium powder is about 400 mg of calcium.

You can take eggshell calcium with food or water.

Eggshell calcium is really, really good for pets too!  Find out from your vet if your pet can have it and how much of a dose you should supplement your pet's diet with.

Thank you for watching the video and reading this!  Have you ever used eggshell calcium before?

Gluten Free Bread Mixes - My Favorite Ones

Making gluten free bread can be challenge.  It's much different than the regular wheat bread you've made before (IF you've ever made it before ha).  And gluten free bread requires some added ingredients to transform it into a more gluten-like product...soft, fluffy, etc.  Most already-made gluten free breads don't compare to a loaf of the heavenly homemade stuff.

So what to do?  You can't have wheat gluten, store-bought bread tastes yuck and is crumbly, and you're dying for a sandwich...

Use a store bought, already-prepared mix!  Now...not all of the gluten free bread mixes are created equal.  In the video, are my two favorites...with the Glutino/Gluten Free Pantry bread mix being my first choice (I've even seen it at WalMart for a pretty low-ish price).

Below is one of my absolute favorite Gluten Free Recipe Websites.  Her stuff is easy to make and she has a new book out about Bread.  She's on Facebook too...and regularly posts some yummy, easy-to-make recipes.

http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/

Please comment and share which Gluten Free Bread Mixes (or Recipes) you like.