Scout Spa Day Test: DIY Nail Soak

What's a spa day without getting your nails done?

Unfortunately our school dress code means no nail polish, but that didn't mean the girls couldn't pamper their hands a bit.

Instead, we turned to the garden for a quick and easy nail soak, taking advantage of the random dill that had sprouted in my garden from seed this summer.

I got many of the ideas for the spa party from an old book I had, "Natural Beauty for All Seasons: More Than 250 Simple Recipes and Gift-Giving Ideas for Year-Round Beauty." In it, we found seasonal ideas for homemade spa products - many of them right from the garden.

DIY Nail Soak from the Garden

1 cup water

1 tablespoon dried dill or one small bunch fresh dill (leaves, flowers and stems)

Boil water and pour over the dill.  Allow to steep until cool. Strain the dill and use as a nail soak. 

The verdict

The girls thought it was fun to soak their nails, though they said it smelled like pickles. (Having the cucumbers there too probably did not help!)

I did notice after soaking that my nails were shinier.

This DIY nail soak  was definitely replicable for the troop!

Prayer Kneelers for Kids

Helping my children learn to pray is once of the greatest joys - and challenges - I have had as a parent.

While perusing the garden clearance, I was inspired to make prayer kneelers for my kids. I had seen this idea last summer on Catholic Icing, initially considering this as part of our Brownie troop's Family of God religious award journey, but would think about gathering supplies for the project when it was definitely out of season.

Lately I've noticed that my youngest has created a "prayer spot," completely unprovoked, in his room. There is an "Our Father" poster he made in kindergarten, as well as a cross and the various crafts he's made during Vacation Bible School. I thought a prayer kneeler would be a great addition.

I found these apple-shaped garden kneelers on clearance at Walgreens for $2 each, and I used marker to decorate them with a rosary and children's names to create portable prayer kneelers for my godchild and for my children. 

(Why portable? Of course the kids are going to carry things around. Everywhere...)

The kids' prayer kneelers will be packaged with some inspirational reading for Christmas gifts. (I can also see it as a gift for First Communion, or a craft project for Vacation Bible School or Sunday school class.)

On the back, it says "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel." I hope the kids take it to heart.

Patience and My Pew

I confess: I am a Country Living kind of gal. I have wishes and dreams of old-fashioned furniture, modeled just so, like the pages of a magazine.

The reality is I live in a six-year-old nondescript house, dressed with a blend of old woodwork, cheap, packed bookshelves and worn-down sofas and chairs. 

Most of my finds haven't taken much effort at all: an old school desk and chair found at an antique store; old dressers that belonged to my husband's grandfather. But really, nothing that screams "me."

And then I found Freecycle. Or it found me.

Until this point, Freecycle had been just a novelty to me, a way to put out calls for strange things like the long-lost DVR remote or to get rid of the random item that just hadn't made its way to Goodwill as yet.

And then one day a magical moment happened.

Someone was giving away pews. Lots of them. Free for the taking.

I'd idealized having a pew in my home, more of a decorative element than anything functional. And I figured when the time was right - when there was no college or grade-school tuition to pay; our debts were paid down - we would get one.

But on this day, Broad Ripple United Methodist Church was doing a massive renovation, and pews - handcrafted in the 1960s - were free for the taking.

I have to say, I've been impressed with the coordinated sweep it took to get those pews out to the homes in just a few hours time. And even more impressed that they thought to donate the wood to those who were interested. Pews found homes in everything from start-up churches to homes like mine.

Right now, my pew has found a temporary respite in the front of my house, while I make arrangements to pass along an old love seat to a new home. And I haven't decided still whether to keep the original finish or to strip it and stain it a nice cherry.

And while it may not be picture-perfect, I've been pleased with the moments this pew has already found - from my children playing "church" to little boys sneaking under it to play. And that beats a picturesque magazine shoot any day.

Hey Carmel, here's where you can stick your school supplies

I don't know whether you read the Sunday Star, but the front-page feature was on a public school teacher determined to have supplies ready for each of her students this fall.

So determined she was, and knowing that many of her students were impoverished, she ended up dumpster diving at the very affluent Carmel Public Schools. She ended up with three carloads worth of school supplies, many of them in wrappers.

This story really struck a nerve with me. And the more I've thought about it, the madder I've gotten.

It's not even about the wastefulness of tossing these supplies. It's that these could have with very little effort gone to brightening someone's day.

So, Carmel (and any other school where this occurs), here's where you can stick your school supplies:

1. Scout troop.
2. Freecyle.
3. Vacation Bible Schools, preschool programs and Parent's Day Out.
4. Day care centers.
5. Homeless shelters.
6. Any social service organization - many clients may have to take their children with them, and art supplies and notebooks would occupy them while they are waiting.
7. Goodwill.
8. Garage sales.
9. Survival packets to take to church (or any other place where kids have to be quiet but struggle.) It's great to be able to hand a frustrated parent some extra crayons and pages to color on!
10. Retirement homes. You'd be surprised what craft supplies will do to help our older generations who just need some stimulation!

Any place else I missed? Where else would you tell them to stick it?

Greening your little girl: 9 ways for less waste

Bows, jewelry, doll accessories and more. Usually strewn over the house. It's the sign of a little girl in the midst.

Today, I'd thought I'd share nine simple ways to "green" your little girl, saving you money and from cleaning headaches and hopefully helping reinforce a little creativity as well.

Early on:

Watch the excess! It's easy, particularly when they're tiny, to load up on adorable dresses and more. Instead, dress for comfort - and practicality. Trying to button up the back of a dress on a little one who can barely hold her head up is not the easiest way to go.

Save small items. Those tiny newborn or 0-3 clothes are so adorable, but are worn for such a short period of time. Consider holding a few outfits back for doll clothes. They fit perfectly on Cabbage Patch dolls, many other baby dolls and lots of stuffed animals, we've found.

Go neutral. I know, it's easy to fall into pink excess. Instead, invest in neutral colors and styles (I swore by onesies and pants for both kids) and even consider dressing your darling in (gasp!) boy colors and clothing. I swear she won't recall wearing blue doggy pajamas.

Be nostalgic. If you've saved a few favorite toys from childhood, you can't get much greener than that! (Though I will say, today's Barbies have had an "adjustment" or two since our childhoods.)

For preschoolers and older:
Buy big. Conisder buying a size up for summer nightgowns. The long, flowy dresses are great for dress-up and can last you two summers instead of one this way! Likewise, buy larger t-shirts which can be baggy one year, "regular fit" the next.

Encourage creativity. It's tempting to buy a lot of accessories for baby dolls, Barbies and American Girl, but it takes up space, costs unnecessary dollars and robs your child of an opportunity to use her imagination. One of the things I remember from my childhood was sprawling Girl Scout cookie boxes creating a mammoth mansion in my bedroom for my Barbie dolls. Let their imagination take them wherever it needs to go - from laundry basket "boats" to tents or castles.

Don't discount second hand. Cheap princess dresses? Who needs them? While I know many people who swear by stocking up on the Halloween clearance, I'd rather let my daughter wear something that will hold up better. We've gotten so many Sunday or Easter dresses, likely worn two or three times and given to us for free, that my daughter uses them to play dress up or go to church. It's an economical way to indulge yet be practical.

Encourage sharing. It's tough to pass up a toy (even if you haven't played with it for months) or a treasured piece of clothing. What's worked for us is giving to another kid in need or sharing an outfit with a younger friend.

Teach priorities. I've been blessed that my kids don't realize they have a choice in suggesting gift ideas, but we also don't let them watch a lot of commercials or go down the toy aisles. Instead, we focus on what we can do for other people. We also reinforce that each family has different rules, and that it's great we can enjoy other toys at our friends' houses. It's a hard lesson (one good for me to recall on many occasions!) but I hope well worth it.

Fancy Nancy party on a budget - and no one cares

Fancy Nancy birthday parties - they're a budget-buster waiting to happen.

Yes, you can do your Fancy Nancy party all swagged out. And believe me, it's tempting. If you've read her stories, they're replete with boas, bows, sparkly things, tutus and accessories gallore. Truthfully, a call to excess.

But we kicked up the creativity and with a little help from the second-hand shop, had a Fancy Nancy tea party where the guests were crying about leaving three hours later. Here's how we did it:

Invest in fine china. Or not so fine. It doesn't matter whether your dishes match or not. We went to Goodwill and bought tea cups, china plates, cordial glasses for mini parfait glasses, and linens, all at a price likely cheaper than disposable plates with curly-headed girls on them. Tres fancy. (The best part? No worries about it being broken, and they've been "returned" to Goodwill as freshly washed donations.)

Design it for dress-ups. Let's be honest. Every little girl's fancy dress gets worn once or twice and handed down to someone else. And we had more Sunday dresses than we knew what to do with (even with donating quite a few of them already). So we purposely hung on to a half-dozen or so, laid them out in my daughter's room, and let the girls who didn't come tea-party ready dress up if they desired.

Have a "fancy" feast. Our "tea sandwiches" were nothing more than flower-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The girls also enjoyed mini fruit kebabs on toothpicks, jelly roll sandwiches and cut vegetables and dip. Dessert was cupcakes and a make-your-parfait bar. A simple menu tweaked to be fancy enough for five year olds.

Tap into those creative juices. Let your guests design something fancy, as opposed to just giving them a bag of lip glosses and plastic clip-on earrings. Preschool and early school-age girls are into doing their hair already, and so we bought plain headbands and jewel stickers for them to make their own fancy headbands. It kept them busy for a few minutes, and it gave them something fun and mildly useful to take home.

Watch the waste. Yes, I sprung for boas at the craft store, but realized that those 6-foot boas really could be cut in half for each girl. (Cheaper, and safer too.) And we opted to cut a craft I'd considered, simply because I forgot to prep it. (But really, did we need paper butterfly placemats? It wasn't missed.)

Let the good times roll. Sometimes, the best things are unplanned. I really regret the fact I didn't get photos of the girls, in their fancy dresses, when they ran outside for an impromptu game of soccer.

Was the party a success? I think so. My daughter thinks so. Worse, she's already put in a request for next year: a "Mamma Mia" party.

Real ways moms save money

Saving money is the mantra these days. Where can we cut corners without impacting ouf lives? And everyone seems to have an answer. But it's not the one that fits you!

The other day, a friend - and not one I'd expect to hear this from - complained about how the many articles on how you can save money are just not helping. Nine times out of 10, the tips are common-sense items that we should be doing anyway. Eat out less? Check. Drive smarter? Check. Shop sales? Check. Cook everything from scratch? Great idea, but sometimes the execution is a bit questionable, and frankly, I have about an hour a day at home when I'm not in full "mom" mode. Time is sometimes of an essence. Negotiate a new rate? Sure, but if you're underemployed, that might not help. Shut off your cable? In my house, no matter how bad things get, I can't win that battle until after the Jayhawks take the Final Four.

I looked at her and gave her my best advice of the day: I let my kids pick dinner. The eyebrow raised.

Really. Think about it: Once a week, usually on the night my husband has school, my kids decide what's for dinner. Typically what they decide on is mac 'n cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich. Paired with sliced peppers, cucumbers or apples, and you have dinner for less than $3. It may not be gourmet, but it's healthy - and eaten. And food that's refused to be eaten doesn't help anybody.

Sometimes we go a little more creative. Pasta dishes seem to be a common theme. Sunday, we tossed pasta with some chicken-apple sausages, some sauteed garlic and about a cup of riccotta - to rave reviews. And tonight my daughter selected chicken and noodles, which are surprisingly easy and a crockpot staple.

Other times, we'll think of ways to get my oldest more involved with the cooking. She's a pro at helping me make a fall seasonal salad of lettuce, apples, raisins and walnuts. And with an interest in being "big," she is learning to cut softer items like bread or some fruits as well.

Here are some real ways moms can save money. You may not see huge savings, and you've likely seen it before somewhere, but at least they're attainable!

• Make dinner be double-duty. It's not much more difficult to pack your lunch for the next day as you're serving dinner. Usually you have enough anyway!
• Wipe it up. Cloth wipes are great! While paper towels are easy to use and easy to toss, it's not much more difficult to go cloth. I have a rag bag that the kids know they can tap into to wipe up a spill or a dirty mouth, and then they toss it into the washer. (And yes, you can train a toddler to do that!)
• Drop the single-serve treats. Not only do they generate an insane amount of trash, but also they're far more expensive. I keep a container or crackers or other non-perishable treats in my car for those emergency situations.

What works for you? Are there ways you're able to save money and live greener without a lot of extra effort?

Are you keeping up with the Joneses?

It used to be about who had the biggest and newest car. Or the best vacation plans. Now, it's about who's being greener or more frugal in their choices.

Rachel at Small Notebook recently discussed the frustrations of keeping up with the Joneses. Not gardening yet? Not cooking from scratch? Heaven forbid, do you eat each night from takeout containers? Really, it's OK. For many of us, the path to simpler living is just a gradual process.

Rachel writes:

There have been times when I’ve been concerned that mentioning something might
not be good for my image. You know, my desire to look healthy, conscientious,
resourceful, and like I cook all my food from scratch. Oh forgive me for wanting
to have an image! That should be the first thing that anyone de-clutters. Life
is so much easier when you don’t have to worry about how you look to
others.
When I’m talking to someone else, I would much rather admit that my
spaghetti sauce comes from a jar at the store than pretend I’m a fabulous chef.
Authenticity is living simply.

And "simple" is a matter of perspective. You can spend simply, and reap great rewards if you have a talent for cooking, sewing or other crafts. You can entertain simply and just hang out with a few great friends and good beers in your backyard. You can clean simply and join the baking soda and vinegar crowd, instead of staring at the dozen cleaning products in your cabinet. You can raise your children simply, and not buy toys upon end and overschedule them.

But when living "simple," "green," or "frugal" comes to the point that your choices are stressing you out, aren't you missing the point? Because at the end of the day, it's you (and your family) you have to live with.

Bargain hunting at the farmers market

Last night, I did the unthinkable. I didn't race right home to feed hungry kids.

Instead, we stopped by the Wednesday evening Greenwood Farmers Market to see what's available during the week. I was surprised to see the large number of vendors who've succeeded in doing what's eluded me in the last week or so: growing tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables. (We're currently in a dying slump in our little garden.)

At quarter to 6, I realized something: Just as I'm ready to go home at the end of the day, so are the vendors. And the last thing they want to do is slug more things home than they have to.

The first booth I stopped at, the woman practically loaded my bag with the corn. "I usually sell them half-dozen for $2, but I just don't want to mess with it. You can have it for a buck," she said.

At the next, the genteleman wordlessly upped my container of cucumbers.

At a third, the woman threw in a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, which my son was lusting after (until of course, he tasted it, and realized it was a tomato).

And at the tomato stand, I just said to give me a dollar's worth of "ugly" tomatoes (which, for the unitiated, means they're not 100 percent perfect but perfectly usable). He loaded me up with eight. They pushed the rest of their cukes at me, saying to just give them a quarter.

So for my $9.25, here's what I got:

• 8 cucumbers
• 8 tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 6 ears of corn
• 4 lbs. green beans
• a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes

I dare you to beat that at the grocery store!

Green on the Cheap: APLS Carnival Round-up

Welcome to the revived APLS Carnival! This month's theme was "green on the cheap" - in other words, balancing sustainability with smaller pocketbooks. If the recession's got you down, no worries! We've got some great ideas to get you motivated again.

Speaking from experience.
Several APLS'ers shared openly how their family overcame or averted a financial crisis by simply living more frugally.

Abbie at Farmers Daughter shares her evolution in going greener and living more frugally, giving three easy ways to pare back expenses and live more sustainably. Read her post to see how she saved $7,000 last year alone! Impressive!

Heather at Simple-Green-Frugal shares her life of voluntary simplicity and how she got there. "I believe it is in times of crisis that we discover what we're truly made of," she writes. Read on to her comments - she's so simplified her life that she could make a move with only her compact car - taking one trip! I'd love to hear more about how she was able to pare down - our family has a long way to go!


Another Heather, at Heather's Homemaking, offers simple ways her family was able to live more frugally so she could stay at home with her children. I think I'm going to have to figure out how to make the cloth napkins - what a great idea!

Steph at Greening Families shares how her family overcame debt by following the three R's. "Anything that broke or wore out was examined for possible other uses and most of the time there were multiple possibilities," she writes. As an example, she shares ways to get new life out of old pants.

I come clean on how my family's financial crisis has impacted our lifestyle choices and admit to wondering whether I'm being good somedays simply because I must. "Like a dieter who’s craving chocolate, I think about the things I want to buy but are simply out of reach at this time."


Spending smart.
Perhaps any future problems will be averted just by watching how we use the resources we have.

At the Green Adventures of a Big City Girl, Heather cost-comparisons shopping while cutting coupons with buying locally from CSAs and other local vendors. "I was a big coupon clipper. I mean BIG. Like I had a big binder filled with baseball card sleeves of thoroughly organized coupons," she writes. "I had no idea I could do this and actually NOT spend more money than I used to on groceries. Cheap, unhealthy, processed, full-of-pesticide-and-fake-ingredients groceries. And I'm really enjoying the process of learning about new vegetables and introducing them to my family. Dinner is an adventure every night and so much fun to be trying new things."

Kellie at Greenhab shares the challenges of greener birthday party planning when the guest of honor thrives on Chuck-E-Cheese. "I decided to stop hanging my head in shame when my son's birthday came up, and to put my money where my mouth was. Or...put my money back in my wallet and put my conscience where my mouth was. Something like that," she writes.


The Conscious Shopper at the Green Phone Booth admits to her green envy but realizes that prevention can be the best policy when it comes to waste. "Going green can be expensive - at least in some ways - but sometimes the greenest path is also the cheapest," she writes. "And once I realized that, my green envy subsided, and I was able to get creative with what I have."

Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green talks about the toughest lesson of learning to be more sustainable: That buying less truly is more. "Green has become so mainstream everywhere you look is some new product telling you how it will help you be more green when most of the time we don't need it," she writes.

Beany at the Middle Way, who admits to "being a tightwad when it was uncool," waxes on how we've put our money where our mouth was and what morals our economy has supported. "I think a strong evaluation of the new American values is long over due. I think people do need to think long and hard at what it means ...when one can zip 100 miles to a job with no consideration of that mode of transit is doing to the environment that surrounds us. Who benefits when one can buy apples for $0.10/lb from Guatamela. Why does one have to maintain vigilant eye on what product is currently the subject of a salmonella outbreak?"

CRSTN85 writes about how you can help the economy and the environment at the same time. "It should be second nature to check in with neighbors to see if they could use something you're getting rid of, and if not, it should be donated rather than left by the curb where hopefully someone will take it before the trash pick up date," she writes.

Thanks to those of you who participated in this month's carnival! Look for September details to be posted shortly on the APLS blog.

8-20: My apologies to Jenni at Web of Life! I'd forgotten to include her in the initial post. Check out her tips on being green while saving green, from thrift-store shopping to investing in microfiber cloths. "Basically, I spend next to nothing to keep my house clean. Now if only I could get somebody to clean it…" she writes.

Fall gardening? It’s not even summer yet.

Yes, I realize the calendar says late July. Tell that to my garden.

While I’ve been pleasantly surprised by our wet, cool summer – I think the warmest it’s been all month is 85 degrees – it’s not done much for my garden, other than the unauthorized additions. The weeds are thriving.

So when my fall gardening class began a deep discussion of plans for not only fall plantings but also plans for the winter, I was floored. Fall planting? It’s not September (when I drop in the garlic). And winter? Isn’t that five months away?

I started reading a book on four-season gardening, which hit the point home. Yes, you can have your seasons of gardening tasks: planting in the spring, weeding all summer, staring sadly at the remains in the fall. Or you can take a more ongoing approach. It’s more “do” and a little less do-or-die as far as planting and maintenance goes. And it means that you could be working – and reaping the rewards – for weeks and months beyond your neighbors.

’ll admit it’s taken a major shift in attitudes for me. After a decade of working in publications and the media, I’m comfortable in thinking seasons ahead for my day job. And I’ll be the first to confess I typically wrap up Christmas shopping by Labor Day. But planning for cool-season crops before the tomatoes turn red? It feels strange.

Still, I am slowly getting into the groove of thinking fall. I’ve flipped through a few Web sites and ordered a few fall garden catalogs, a few of which I’ve already had to steal back from my 4 year old. I’ve started marking up my garden plan, which I’ll post next week when I feel it’s a little more final.

In the meantime, if you have suggestions of things to start in my garden for fall, I’d love to hear them!

August APLS Carnival

The APLS Carnival is back!

Join us for a discussion of "Green on the Cheap" in August.

Has the economy impacted how you live green? Do you buy fewer green products to save money? Or have you redoubled your efforts to live sustainably? What have you learned about living environmentally friendly on a budget? Let us know your thoughts!

Please send links to your posts by Aug. 15 to goinggreenmama@gmail.com. Even if you're not a regular contributor to the carnival, we'd love to hear your voice.

We'll post a wrapup of what other writers have to say here on Aug. 19.