Simply Altered

it really IS as smooth as.......

No better image than this one for the debut of the “Simply Smooth” recipe.  

I have to admit, I was formerly a junkie for highly scented “brand name” bath and body products…..until I had a HUGE bout with some skin issues this last winter!!!  I am not kidding, I could feel my skin burning by simply LOOKING towards the pricey stuff in my shower!!!   ouch.  It was BAD BAD BAD!!!  I am already, by nature, highly sensitive to itchy, scratchy, confining, and restricting clothing!!!   (blue jeans give me NIGHTMARES!!!)    but enough about THAT quirkiness of mine.  :)     if I would have had this RECIPE last winter, I think alot of my skin woes would have not happened, or certainly have been so severe!!!!   not to mention the FRUGALness of it.   Costs a mere cents per usage!!!

….and I will NOT take full credit.  I give a thumbs UP to my friend Christy that turned me onto it.  Again, might not be NEW to everyone, but will to some, and also to those that have heard of it, but never tried it??   get your mixers out, soothe your skin and SAVE some money!!!    

“Simply Smooth”

1  15 oz Vaseline  (off brand will work FINE!!)

1  16 oz Vitamin E lotion.  (Dollar General, or anywhere that carried “Fruit of the Earth” brand)

2  16 oz Baby Lotion.  (again, off brands work great and there is a variety of scents and even NON scented)

Add everything into a GLASS or METAL bowl, and mix with an electric mixer, until all blended.   

That is it.  How SIMPLE???   this batch makes PLENTY, enough for you, as well as some to give as gifts.  Christy often gives some to friends, and those sick or in the hospital.  GREAT idea!!!   new moms??  teachers???   and a gift I know I would be delighted to recieve!!    

Be a little “green” with this gift and reuse the original 4 oz tubs that the Vitamin E comes in.  Soak the label off, and add your own, like I did.  It was the perfect size to give one to each of my sisters, and Machita now has TWO!!!    after she initially used it,  I am sure she is thankful to have another one!!!  

I just  know, you are gonna LOVE this stuff!!!   I have tested it out thoroughly,  first hand on VERY problematic skin and I doubt I will be using anything OTHER than this for a VERY long time…. if ever.  

Coming up:

   Simply Fantastic

   Altered Caffeine

   Feel good stories of complete strangers

   Art on the Square updates

   Summertime STAYcations.  

   and of course…more challenges, contests and give-aways!!!    (stay tuned and keep referring your friends!!!)  

an INCREDIBLE item soon to debut on simplyaltered.com !!! (click to enlarge)

The winner is  MACHITA!!!!    what a name huh???   funny, this is my SISTER!!!   and honestly this is NOT her real name, but a given nickname.  :)   (I will not bore you with the details, but ya gotta admit, it IS unique huh??)   rarely does anyone in my family go by their birth name!!!  LOL   

Even being a family member, I gave thought….hummmm… should I be all “offiicial” and say family members etc etc are EXcluded??   well, considering the overwhelming support my family gives to every endeavor I find myself in, it only seems fair  they CAN be included, and this time, SHE was the completely random person drawn!!!    

So, what IS inside all these jars???  oh, sit tight, it is BEYOND wonderful in every way!!!!!!   I can not take full credit for it though, I have a friend “Christy” that got me on to this “recipe”  !!!!!!!!! if you liked the laundry soap, you love the baby wipes, there is NO doubt in my mind you are gonna FLIP on this stuff!!!!!!   I figured it was high time we pamper OURSELVES a little  !!!!!!  this will certainly do the trick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   “Simply Smooth”.    (get your electric mixers fired up, you are gonna need them!!)  

I will get that post made as soon as I can, but considering this is the BIG week of Art on the Square, and I am MAJORLY busy busy busy!!!  

But it WILL be next up.    (Sorry BeJes, my “Altered Caffeine” will have to be NEXT week)   *hint-hint* to everyone else.  

Now……my electric sander and my last cigar box awaits my attention……

Have a great day!!!

One less job that I have to do from now on!! :)

Hopefully you have already had yours???  and now wondering how in the world to get that coffee pot CLEAN???  well, thanks to my daughter, I have a SIMPLE solution.  

First I will tell you the way we “USED” to do this. 

I boiled water, added a dishwasher cube to the put and poured the water over…….then waited about an hour and proceeded to scrub it with that detergent water.  Yuck!!!

Now…

(she learned this from working so hard at Wendys)

put ice cubes in the pot, to about 1″ up from bottom.   Pour salt (yes, simply TABLE SALT)  maybe to equal a tablespoon or more?  and vigorously shake it around in the pot.    After you have done this for a few minutes, add  a little water (maybe 1/2 cup)  and stir it around a little more.  

Lastly add one small squirt of dishsoap, rinse until clear and put your sunglasses on…..it is THAT sparkly clean!!!!

She is quite proud of this, and has even offered to demonstrate for others to get theirs as clean as ours.      bless her heart!!!  

(and if you notice from the pic?)   she and some friends had a little  fun after school was out and COLORED each others hair!!!  she was formerly a blonde.   I had to break the news to my husband BEFORE she got home….you can imagine his first reaction???   then I reassured him it is ONLY HAIR  !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pick your battles wisely.  

I think it is cute on her.  :)

Now, go get your coffee pots…..AND your sunglasses.  

***(btw, random drawing on Monday from the baby wipes post.  Enter now if you haven’t already)   and…….I have a few things upcoming that I know you are going to go NUTS about!!!!!  nearly as big as Simply Wonderful laundry soap!!!!!     refer your friends and family, tell them to become a subscriber because….. NO ONE will want to miss what I have to share!!!!!  

with babies or not, these are GREAT !!!!

I have no more babies in MY house, and trust me, I do not plan it any time soon!!!!   but, after talking to my niece Ambjour, I am onto something spectacular, and passing on the word to you.  

I don’t claim for this to be new to everyone, and even if you have heard about something similiar, have you actually TRIED them???    here is your chance.  (again, guaranteed, you are gonna love them) I remember well when my children were  babies, I bought baby wipes in bulk.  Spending LOTS of money and consuming LOTS of plastic in doing so.  {sigh}   I know my nieces Ambjour and Tiffany both use these for their babies, but my uses are much different.   Hopefully you can all try them out and see how handy it can be having these on the counter. 

1.  I kind of have a crazy kind of phobia / hesitation of getting a wash cloth “wet”, getting my hands wet to wipe a small surface off   (I won’t bore you with those details, but I am a little crazy that way sometimes.  Usually I ask my husband to just do it for me)   These are perfect!!

2.  I do some rubber stamping and had purchased commercial “baby wipes” to clean my stamps off.  These are a perfect alternative!!

3.  I have also found “baby wipes” to be great for………cleaning out my window sills.  Crazy huh??  They are such small areas, and crevices to get down into, so when I would clean my MANY windows in the house, I had some wipes on hand for that purpose only.  These are a perfect alternative!!!

4.  And of course, the obvious.  Kids (no matter what the age) tend to find these MUCH easier to wipe spills up instead of “ALL THE WORK” of getting a wet rag.  (see #1)  LOL.  

5.  Oh yeah, and I also took my container to Hy-Vee last weekend and was VERY happy I had them to clean things up !!!  so handy!!  I even think my husband could make good use out of these in his basement “man cave”  lol

And they are GREEN in my mind.  I know I have preached about eliminating the use of paper towels, and I still stand by that opinion.  BUT…….this provides 2 times the use as you cut one roll in 1/2 , and CERTAINLY eliminates the need to buy commercial baby wipes if you do so already.  Completely reduces the need to use plastic packaging……other than the ingredients, which will probably last me for another 5 years.  MINIMAL amounts needed!!!

Recipe:

1 roll Viva paper towels  (get this brand as they ARE the best!!!)

2 tsp Johnsons baby wash  (Cetaphil wash for sensitive skin)

2 tsp Johnsons baby oil

2 cups water.  

Add all ingredients into a SEALED container, stir around, and insert 1 roll of paper towel (cut into 1/2) and shut the lid.  SIMPLE huh???   when all liquid is absorbed, the center cardboard roll will slide right out and each wipe is SO easily dispensed from the inside of the roll.    I think the MAKING these was actually “fun”…..I was amazed at something I have heard of in the past , was really this easy, and they smell SO nice too!!!!!!

and guess where you can find all these items???  oh course, at Hy-Vee……and I bet there will be a “smile in every aisle” while you are there.  

***Make some tonight.  Let me (and Ambjour and Tiffany) know how much you love them by leaving a comment, or if you are ALREADY using them assure everyone how great they are!!!     I will make this into a challenge, and do a random drawing on Monday!!!   Submit your feedback NOW!!!!

Definitely another SIMPLY WONDERFUL idea!!!

another 1/2 hour and SCHOOL IS OUT  !!!!!!   can you feel my excitement?   Everybody all together now….one big SIGH!!!    {sigh}    

This is a little out of my normal realm of thinking, but it also shows the MAJOR progress we have made in our home, and here is why…..

*my kids are finally beyond fighting like they used to do!!!!!  my summertime month used to require referee skills.   (they DO grow out of that phase) thank goodness!!  now, my kids are actually becoming “friends” for the most part, and finally learned that “getting along” is just SO much easier!!  :)

* I used to spend summertime running from one end of town to the other!!  now, with a teenage daughter,  she THRIVES on doing my errands FOR me!!!  how awesome is that?   I hate errands!!!  

*I reflect quite vividly  on the days of working outside my home.  What are the kids doing all day?  how is my house?  what am I going to deal with on my lunch hour?  …..now, I am COMPLETELY blessed working from home, and the kids and I would NEVER have it any other way!!!   my presence is here, but yet in the salon, and not on top of them!!!!  it is a win / win situation all the way around!!!  I highly recommend this, if at all possible!!!!   Something I should have done 10 years SOONER!!!

*After an especially “challenging” school year, we are DONE with school schedules for a few months, and we are going to celebrate tomorrow by SLEEPING IN!!!!!  all three of us!!!!!!   In our slumber, we can listen to the birds from a distance, feel the cool breeze in the windows and awake whenever WE want to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

* we also have a VERY relaxed schedule all summer long.   I have spent enough summers completely OVERSCHEDULED and I am much wiser now!!!!!   My kids both have church trips scheduled, and other than that we will have a Staycation  (more on that later)   it will ALL be good.  

Now, the pic???  I  don’t know where it is!!!!   and I have no idea who the feet belong to,  but when I stumbled across it, it looked like it is somewhere I wanted to be!!!!!!!!!!!!   ok, then I snapped back to reality and remembered that we are not going to be doing anything NEAR this tropical blissful traveling.   I had a twinge of feeling sorry for myself , so nothing like a list of things to be grateful to make ya feel good at the situation you are in…..and how many reasons I have to feel blessed!!!!!!!!!!  

I think I accomplished just that.  

Take a look at YOUR summer plans.  Are they so hectic you are not sure how to manage it?  or do you see a whole lot of rest / relaxation / and quality time,  just waiting to be had?    

15 more minutes…..and I will be waiting at the door for the kids to arrive.  

(more tonight, hopefully)

my "smile in every aisle" (click to enlarge)

ok, so not really smiling at the time this pic was being taken….but trust me, I WAS smiling plenty!!!   LOL .   this time, I was giving some serious consultation to my friend “Lavonne”     

I have to first commend the employees and managers at Hy-Vee.  They were AWESOME and gave me such a warm welcome.  You would have thought I was a full time,  well known employee!!!  Thanks to everyone for making me feel right “at home”.   I was honored to have this opportunity.  

I met LOTS of new people, and had a chance to reacquaint with so many local friends as well!!!   I answered alot of questions and also learned alot of new things myself.   Thanks to Jenice for being the blog reader  that traveled the furthest to see me!!!  If I remember right, she came from Lacona and visited Oskaloosa for the very first time!!!   Maybe a 2 hour drive (?)   I hope Oskaloosa made a good impression on her and she will want to return again……if nothing else, she will know where to find all her laundry needs.  Hy-Vee will have it all in ONE place!!!!!!!!  yeah yeah yeah!!!!!

I had alot of questions regarding 2 things:

1.  Allergies and skin sensitivity?     I can assure you of both.  I have one child with a severe skin condition and allergies as well (and asthma)   I have forever washed his clothes exclusively with All Free & Clear. This is  no longer necessary.  All of our clothes are now washed with Simply Wonderful and it is the BEST for many reasons, including these concerns.  

2.  Front loading High Efficiency washers?  I know through researching that it is perfectly ok to use, and you need to adjust the dispensed amount accordingly.   If there are readers out there, that have some additional positive experience and would like to offer their insight and tips (or questions)…..feel free,  and we can all learn more through the comments section.  

I have another homemade item to share this week….it might not be new to all, but for sure it will be to some!!!!  I am loving it and using it daily. !!!!    I also will have more art, more challenges and I will share a few more opportunities that have been opened up for me since my weekend spent at Hy-Vee  !!!!!!      

(oh yeah, a couple more things:   I had to check out the background in the picture I am sharing.  How about all those earth friendly decorated grocery bags???  I loved them!!!!  I assume an Elementary class did these?  not sure on those details.   And also, the “Got Art?” poster…..for the upcoming Art on the Square!!!    all things close to my heart!!!)  and being the Queen of sweatshirts, although you can not see the front of mine, it says “Simplify”   ….PERFECT, and yes, to all that know me SO well, I had to “alter” it first!!!  haha..