Bug Fest is today!

Bug Fest is today at Southeastway Park (5624 S Carroll Rd., New Palestine, just southeast of Indianapolis). Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. The event is free but parking is $5. We went a few years back and the children truly enjoyed it!

10 New Ways to Use Lemongrass Essential Oil

Lemongrass essential oil is my sleeper favorite. I wasn't sure about trying this essential oil for quite some time because of the scent. But it quickly became one of my favorites for rubbing on sore muscles - kind of a poor man's Deep Blue Rub .

I typically use a drop or two per leg, diluted in Fractionated Coconut Oil , when my legs ache. And it's been a blessing for me for when my tendonitis flares up and as my little guy deals with growing pains. But I'm finding more and more interesting uses for lemongrass oil.

Here are 10 new ways to use lemongrass oil:

1. As a natural fruit and vegetable wash. Add 1-2 drops lemongrass oil in a large bowl of water, wash your produce and it kills bacteria and cleans off pesticides.
2. Yoga mat cleaner using witch hazel and lemongrass essential oil.
3. Lowering cholesterol. I've heard anecdotally that using lemongrass essential oil can assist in lowering cholesterol levels.  Marlene Hunt reported on the dōTERRA Facebook page: “I lowered my cholesterol about 15 points- apply on bottom of feet & over my heart.”
4. As a bug repellant. Mix lemongrass essential oil in a spray bottle of water; or mix with an unscented lotion.
5. Fighting fleas and ticks.
6. For stress relief.
7. As an antiseptic.
8. Fighting lactose intolerance. Rub lemongrass essential oil on the bottoms of the feet before or immediately after having dairy. 
9. For a household cleaning spray.
10. In cooking. I stumbled across this interesting recipe on doTERRA's Facebook page:

Thai Tom Kah soup with lemongrass and lime EOs at the finish; simmer fresh-caught local or regional fish, coconut milk, and fresh, finely chopped or grated garlic, ginger, galangal, coriander, onion, celery, Add prawns and mushrooms 15 minutes prior serving, and cast scallions and cilantro after adding EOs. 

For more great tips on using lemongrass essential oil, visit doTERRA's Facebook page for reader tips.

Natural bug repellents that work

Natural insect repellents have come a long way from the cheap, smelling good but working poorly options of a few years back. In fact, my husband who once groaned that I bought "yet another bottle of crap that doesn't work" is now grabbing my greener options over the bottle of Off.

As the summer has finally started to cool, I've had the opportunity to get outside more, enjoying hiking trips and taking a few greener bug repellent options out for a try. They range from the homemade to off the shelf to household products. Here are just a few:

Buy it and be done:

I'll admit it. I'm the first to stop and help a vendor at the farmers market who's selling a homemade bug repellent blend. But for those needing to shop online here are a few options:

Buzz Free: Miessence's Buzz Free is a certified organic herbal extract and essential oil blend spray. It's light enough that I didn't feel sticky afterward, and works well enough that I didn't get the usual chiggers and bug bites from the early-evening soccer practices. I do appreciate that the ingredients in Miessence's body products are Australian Certified Organic and are low risk for cancer as well, according to the Environmental Working Group.

Terrashield: doTERRA TerraShield essential oil blend is the strangest of concepts. I didn't believe that you could only put a few drops on your body for insect repellent. But I took it for a test drive in an afternoon hike through the woods of Monroe State Forest and came out unscathed.

Vanilla Extract: Not the imitation vanilla, the real deal. Splurge on vanilla extract and dab it on you to deter bugs.

Make your own:

Most homemade insect repellent blends involve a blend of various essential oils (typically eucalyptus, peppermint or lavender are in the mix), with water, witch hazel or apple cider vinegar as a base.

Here are a few links for recipes using essential oils or other kitchen ingredients:
Homemade insect repellent from the Daily Green
How to make bug spray from fresh or dried herbs
Natural flea remedies
Five-ingredient blend of eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary and tea tree oils with witch hazel

Need to order small glass spray bottles? Here is a resource.

What are your favorite options or recipes for natural insect repellents?

Disclosure: This post includes an affiliate link for essential oils. Additionally, I did receive a sample of Buzz Free from Ely Organics, a Miessence independent representative. 

Treating bug bites with essential oils (a success story)

An essential oil success story to share: Sunday evening at our church service, I noticed my daughter had a bite on her arm. It was hot and the area around it had swelled to a pink circle the size of the bottom of a soda can.

My friend standing next to me, who is a nurse, looked at it and thought it was possible that it was a spider bite. Of course, I had nothing in my recently cleaned out purse but felt I needed to try something.

I gave her two On Guard beadlets on the spot and rubbed peppermint essential oil on it for the heat. She felt immediately better. At home, we used basil essential oil and doTERRA's Purify blend on the bite area several times, and my daughter continued to use peppermint oil on it during day care the next day.

This morning, I looked at the bite, and the heat is nearly gone, as is the swelling!

Note: This post does contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Bug Day: Earning the Brownie Bugs Badge

Girl Scout camp is a natural place for your Brownies to earn their Bugs badge. Last week at day camp, we celebrated mid-week with "Bug Day" in our unit.

We started our day with a Bug Hike. Each girl had a small container for a bug box and magnifying glass for collecting bugs along the way. "Bugs" wound up being loosely defined. We wound up with a vast collection of everything from mosquitoes and ants to spiders and slugs. But the girls loved exploring what's down below and slowing down for a bit. They truly didn't want to end their hike!

The girls also took time to observe and learn about the bugs they collected. I found this great bug observation worksheet on Pinterest. Even the girls who admitted at the beginning of the day that bugs freaked them out loved studying their insects and other creatures!

We also did a couple of bug-related crafts. A very quick one to do is the coffee-filter butterfly, which I think is a Girl Scout camp standard. The girls decorate their coffee filters with markers, then get the filters wet to spread the colors. When the coffee filters are dry, they use a pipe cleaner to create the body and the antennae.

We also gave each girl a small container of clay to make their own bug creations. They were allowed to use any crafts supplies or found items, including rocks, leaves and sticks, to make their insects. I was impressed with some of their creative interpretations - from bugs sitting on sticks to carving designs of snail shells to entire scenes!

Rounding out our bug badge day were a discussion about what we know and want to learn about bugs, creation of a team bugs poster that hung in our unit house all week and learning the "Wings of a Butterfly" song for our camp skit.

If I had the wings of a butterfly

If I had the wings of a butterfly (butterfly). 

Up to the hills I would fly. (I'd fly)

There I would remain as a butterfly. 
There to remain till I die.

Chorus! (pronounced ch-or-us) 

Oo la, Oo la, Oo la, Oo la. Repeat.

Oo la, Oo la, Oo la, Oo la. Once More.

Oo la, Oo la la la, Oo la. Last Time.

Oo la, Oo la la la, Oo la la.

Second verse....

(Replace butterfly with skeeter, airplane, dragon fly, fairy, chicken, etc., ending last verse with "If I had the wings of a Girl Scout.)

Follow Robbie @'s board Girl Scout Projects on Pinterest.

Looking for more Girl Scout ideas? Visit my new scout leader resource site, Use Resources Wisely. 

Bug Fest (Wordless Wednesday, belated...)

Wanted

Wanted:

Two escapees, last seen Saturday morning. Fat and dressed in green with black stripes. Apparently chewed their way out of their cage in a desperate attempt at freedom. May be hiding in a small brownish tubelike crysallis.

Here's hoping we find those caterpillars before they find their end! (Yuck!)

Harvesting Hermie

We made a suprising discovery when I came back from our trip.

Upon checking our garden for peas to harvest, we found a friend or two. Nestled on our carrot leaves were two caterpillars.

"It's Hermie! It's HEERRRMIEEEE!" screeched my 3 year old. "Sissy, it's HERRRMRIIIEEE!!!"

Luckily the kids had gotten bug boxes for Easter, which meant my food containers weren't at stake this season. So we rustled up some carrot leaves, gathered the two caterpillars and brought them inside.

Those poor things are lucky to be alive.

In the last few days, they've been dropped. Bounced around by the kids at day care. Nearly starved to death as some of the leaves withered when we forgot to take the box home.

Still this morning, after replacing with fresh carrot leaves, I checked on the caterpillars a bit later. The larger of the two had managed to move the door and escape to the box's handle.

Maybe we should rename our Hermie Houdini.

Hermie Watch: Waiting for wings

As we're waiting for Hermie to grow its wings, we've taken the opportunity this week to learn about butterflies and caterpillars.


The first fun fact, we looked up caterpillars and learned that the excrement has a fancy name - frass. That will impress the science teachers.


Actually, we're excited to find out that, based on Hermie's coloring, it is likely a Monarch. And we're about 10 days away from seeing him in full glory. While we waited, we decorated a page and imagined what Hermie will look like as a butterfly.

We also looked up videos about the chrylasis process, which is actually pretty cool. Here's a video we liked:









It's hard to contain her excitement, but it's been an interesting week!

Not dead yet: Our adventures with Hermie

Sunday, we officially became a family of five. Congratulations are in order.

You see, my oldest became the owner of her first "pet." While gardening, we stumbled on a green, striped caterpillar, and we brought it indoors. My daughter filled the container with leaves for the caterpillar to feast. She christened it "Lilly."

By morning, "Lilly" had become "Hermie," named after the Hermie the Wormie books. And whereas the evening before she couldn't keep her hands off Hermie, she suddenly was concerned Hermie was going to bite her. Hardly. Though the thing was eating (and digesting) its heart out.

Hermie made the travels to daycare, where it entertained a dozen children. Somehow it survived that and the drive home, despite me accidentally turning the thing on its side in transit.

This morning, Hermie wasn't going anywhere, and the kids were worried.

"He's dead!!" they screamed.

I assured him Hermie was only sleeping, cleaning out the container, gently moving the caterpillar out of the way. But I wasn't sure.

This afternoon, we had our answer.

Turns out, Hermie's going through the change, and a chrysalis is forming. It will be a fascinating experience for the kids to watch Hermie evolve!

A green (and red) way to get rid of ants

If ants are around your home, then it must be late summer. But figuring out how to deter them without blasting a lot of ant killer is a challenge.

Water has no lasting impact. And vinegar, a solution I'd read about somewhere, didn't work for my mother, as she's often quick to point out.

In a moment of frustration recently, I asked my husband if he'd seen anything on ants in a green flyer we'd gotten in the mail. He had. The solution? Cayenne pepper. I thought he was nuts.

Good thing we have a large bottle. He grabbed the cayenne, went outside by our tomato plants and dumped the cayenne vigorously. "They spread like crazy," he reported.

According to wikihow.com:

You can also apply scents and substances that ants simply don't like for various reasons: vinegar, peppermint oil, cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne pepper, whole cloves, and bay leaves. Some of these might be harmful to pets and irritating to curious children.

Yes, but still better than insecticide when little ones are around.