T & T ~ Homemade Bug Repellent ~ Whitney

I know that summer is almost over, and that this would've been a much better beginning of summer post but, as my children say, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" Trust me though, this is a great tip even if it is coming to you at the end of the summer.

With that being said...

My 9 year old is a bug magnet!  Honestly, in a field of 500 people the insects will hunt him down and feast on him.  He is constantly covered in scabs because he can't stop scratching bug bites!  He can get 2-3 bites walking from the house to the car.  It has always been an issue and bug sprays haven't worked for him.
With that being said, I haven't used repellents containing deet.
Call me a hippie but deet scares me.  I have never used it, not even in Africa, because of its neurotoxicity, and I refuse to put it on my children.  For a while I used insect repellents containing picardin but the laundry list of other chemical ingredients in bug sprays (and almost every product we can buy these days) convinced me to just make my own.

I found an amazing recipe that I absolutely LOVE!
 My children love it because "it smells like cookies" and the little one just loves telling people "we make most of our stuff."

These are my boys (7 & 9) putting on their "cookie bug spray"

I love it because it actually works.  Since we've started making this insect repellent my 9 year old has not gotten a single bug bite.  This stuff is a miracle!  It is so easy to make and use!!

Here are the only things you need:

16 oz bottle
15 drops lavender oil
3-4 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice



Put 3 ingredients into the bottle.
Fill the rest of the bottle with water (about 12 oz).
Shake to mix.

Use this how it works for you and your family.  We have a 16 oz bottle that we keep our mixture in and then have small bottles in purses, overnight bags, in the basement...anywhere we may need them.

This is a small <$1 travel bottle from Target.

You only need to put a small dime size drop in our hands and then rub it on our arms, legs and necks...wherever you need to repel bugs.  The best part is, it is all natural so your kids can put it on themselves.  My boys actually remind me if I forget because they enjoy covering their arms and legs in "cookie bug spray"

We had a big family picnic over the weekend where everyone was outside all day, running, playing and sweating.  My boys and I put on our cookie bug repellent when we got there and didn't have to reapply all day.  Let's just say we were the ONLY ones who didn't get bug bites.

Try it out and let us know how it works for you!!

T&T ~ Laundry Soap ~ Whitney

Hey guys!  So glad you came back for another Tips & Tricks Tuesday!
Today we have another recipe of sorts - this is a recipe for laundry soap (detergent).

I have been using this recipe for a while now and I absolutely LOVE it!!  This laundry soap is easy to make extremely inexpensive and lasts FOREVER.  It saves us so much money (money I can put towards traveling to Kenya!!) and it smells amazing.  It leaves our clothes looking great and smelling fresh and clean without an overwhelming fragrance.

Here are the ingredients you need:

And here are the simple steps:

1. Grate 1 1/2-2 bars of soap - I choose Kirk's original Castile soap because it's natural and I like the way it smells.  You could choose any soap with a scent you like.  Next time I may use Dr. Bronner's bar soap because they come in so many scents and are also chemical free. 

2. Mix 2 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda & 1 cup Oxi-Clean with the grated soap.

3. THAT IS IT!  Seriously.

**Most recipes online do not include the oxi-clean, I know it is not completely natural but if you don't add at least a little your clothes may yellow.  Try it yourself and let us know (I'm too nervous about yellowing clothes because of how dirty my children get!!)

I purchased a glass jar and a tbsp measure to use with my laundry soap.  I only use one scoop for each load of laundry but you can use 1-4. 
Like I said, this stuff works great, is inexpensive and the container looks so cute in my laundry room!!

You can also make a huge batch of it (4 lb boxes of borax, washing soda & baking soda, 3 bars of soap and 2 c oxi clean) I just don't have space for a huge container in my laundry room 😀

Have you made your own laundry soap?
Which scents/soaps do you use?
Do you have any questions?
e-mail us your questions, comments and laundry soap pictures!