27 and Frugal » DIY

DIY: Homemade Deodorant Experiment

leslie — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:39:43 +0000

I ran out of deodorant over the weekend, completely forgot to pick some up and found myself desperate come Monday morning!

After doing a quick google search, I decided to concoct my own powdered deodorant and see how it goes. I figured anything was better than nothing.

Powder Mixture

After reading that some people found baking soda to be a skin irritant, I decided to mix 1/4t baking soda with 1/4t cornstarch. I then used an old kabuki brush to brush the powder mixture under my arms.

I used just about the whole thing, as I really was not sure how much I would need. You could barely see the dusting under my arms and I just brushed it on as you would apply any other powder.

Success?

Today was the first day I tried it out and I am going to call it a success. This was under a normal work environment which 75% of the day is spent sitting at a desk. There was a point in the day I became quite warm and felt I was sweating a little but did not smell any odor.

Granted, I did not do any vigorous activity but knowing my own body (everyone is different), if I had gone completely without, my coworkers would not have been pleased.

I was actually very surprised at how well it worked and it did not take any longer to apply than normal stick deodorant. In fact, I did like that my underarms did not feel slimy as they do with stick/gel deodorant.

I wore a sweater, so I cannot judge if it would leave residue on a tank top. I will test this later.

Continuing the Experiment

I plan to continue this throughout the week to see if it continues to hold up as well as commercial deodorant. Tomorrow will be a good test since I will be at a photoshoot all day, which involves running around on my feet for 8 hours. If I am dry and odor free for that, I will be converted.

I plan to make further adjustments by adding an essential oil for a light scent and determining just how much I need to apply.

I also will see how it holds up during a workout. I have my doubts for that but even if I only used commercial deodorant solely for workouts, that would still save money.

Readers…

Have you made a DIY version of a product out of necessity?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

What Are You Happy Living Without?

leslie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:30:44 +0000

There’s been quite a few posts highlighting objects people do not own and why they are happier with their decision. Admittedly, many of the objects I do not own is because I still move quite frequently, I am still living quite comfortably without them.

10 Items I Consciously Choose Not To Own

A Big Desk. I bought my desk at Ikea six years ago. It is basically a slab of wood on four metal legs. I can disassemble and transport it myself since it fits right in my car. Less drawers means less clutter.
Desk Chair with Wheels. This just is not practical for me. It is not easily transportable and does not roll very well on thick carpet. I have been using three folding Ikea chairs for six years, lugging them from apt to apt and love them.
Jewelry box. I was going to purchase one, when I decided to simply use a belt as an earring holder instead. Problem solved.
Watering can. I use a cocktail shaker. I don’t have a huge garden so this works just fine.

Popcorn Popper. I make my own microwaveable popcorn. The paper bags take far less room in the kitchen than a popper.
Bread machine. With a KitchenAid mixer, I really do not see this as necessary. Kneading is the most difficult part and the mixer does that for me. Timing the rises is tricky, but manageable.
Blender. My roomate has one. The three years it has been in the kitchen I have not once touched it.
Chemical cleaners. Hello baking soda and vinegar.
Ziploc baggies. I gave these up as a test to see if I could get by with just containers and jars. I don’t miss the bags.
A Dresser. I do not have the room in my bedroom for a cluttering piece of big furniture. I also cannot fit one in my car (or move it myself). So instead I simply use closet for everything. I have small foldable drawers for my undergarments/pj’s and hang the rest of it. This also makes it more difficult for me to “forget” about clothes buried in the back of a drawer.

Readers, what common items do you live without by choice?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Learn to Pack and Save Money! Pt 1. Travels (with video!)

leslie — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:30:30 +0000

Airlines have always been fee-happy when it comes to checked luggage. Weight restriction and contents were the biggest charge-causing items. Then airlines started charging for more than one checked luggage. Now it’s for all checked luggage period. And Southwest is even charging for carry-on’s. This means the more efficiently you pack, the more money you save!

Roll With It

I took a 10 day trip in the summer, with 10+ days worth of clothes, including running clothes and shoes all in one carry on and one large purse. Everything fit because I rolled all my clothing. I stuffed socks inside my shoes. I used every nook and cranny in that piece of luggage to comfortably pack my clothes into. However, I did not overstuff anything.

Rolling your clothes makes a better use of the space within your luggage. It takes up less room and leaves less wrinkles in your clothing. You can even roll up outfits together to make unpacking easier.

This is my first video and I know it’s a bit rough, so please bear with me. Here is how I roll-up my clothes to pack. I have no idea if this is the “right” way or not, but it works for me!

Do you need it?

It is not about cramming everything you own into a small bag. The important part of packing is to figure out what to bring with you!

It is okay to overpack a little so you are prepared for those unexpected events or turns of the weather. However, this extra packing can still be addressed efficiently. For example, if you are traveling by plane and bringing a coat with you, carry it. Even if it is 90 degrees out right now, do not pack your coat. You usually (don’t quote me on this) can carry a coat along with you on the plane without it being counted as a carry-on. This way it is not taking up luggage real estate.

There are some excellent online travel checklists that will provide specific lists depending on where you are going. One Bag & The Universal Packing List are both great packing resources.

Plan!

Knowing exactly what you will be doing there will be a big help. Will you be walking around a lot (bring sneakers) or just lounging on the beach (bring flip flops). Will you be going out to clubs (bring heels & band-aids). Is the weather humid (skip the straightener).

Travel Size

Put your beauty products into smaller bottles. Even if you are checking your luggage, this will save space and you should not need an entire bottle of shampoo in even a two week period of time.

Moving

Packing to move is a whoooooole other animal. This can save you money as well! As the girl who moved twice a year for 5 years, I know my way around an empty cardboard box. Look for Pt 2. Moving soon, for details in how packing to move the right way can save you money.

Readers: Leave your traveling tips below!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Homemade Wheatables!

leslie — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:30:34 +0000

These home-made wheat crackers are not only absolutely amazingly delicious but they are also easypeasy! I promise!

Lots of thanks to Cooking For Seven for the awesome recipe!

What You Need

1C Whole Wheat Flour
1C White Flour
1/4C White Sugar
1/2t Salt
4T butter, cut
1/2C Milk
Salt/Seasonings

What You Do

Mix together the flours, sugar & salt. Add the butter. Gradually add milk until dough comes together. (Just a few minutes in a stand mixer)
On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough as thin as you can get it. Sprinkle with salt, seasonings, etc. Cut into shapes. Transfer to a stone or any baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes

Original recipe

My Thoughts

I had some trouble getting the crackers as thin as they should have been. The ideal method would be to use a pasta roller. However, all I had was a rolling pin so I just got them as thin as I could. I thought some of the crackers were a little thicker than they should have been but no one complained!

For the circle shape, I improvised and used the top of a cocktail shaker! That process was pretty tedious and next time I make these I will just use a pizza cutter to cut easy squares.

You definitely can experiment with seasonings on these crackers. I put table salt on most of them. I shredded Parmesan cheese on some others. They both turned out yummy but I liked them without the cheese a little bit better.

Readers: I would love to hear your success stories and seasoning experiments with these crackers!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Easypeasy Home-made Placemats

leslie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:09:30 +0000

With the price of fabric, it’s not always cheaper to make your own items but if you can find good fabric on sale, this is a cheap and relatively quick project. Oh and it’s easy! As you can see by my crooked stitches, I’m far from a talented sew-er.

1. Lay out your fabric

2. Figure out what size you want each placemat. Mine are 18×12 which conveniently is the size of this cutting board. You can just cut a rectangle out of newspaper as well.

3. Cut out each rectangle. (Hopefully you’ll have a better sewing space than my make-shift one.)

4. Pin right sides of fabric together, making sure everything is even

5. Stitch with a 1/4″ seam allowance all the way around leaving an opening at the end large enough to fit a few fingers through.

6. Using the opening, turn the fabric inside out.

7. Your fabric will now look like this. Don’t worry, we’ll make it unpoofy in just a minute.

8. Fold the edges of the opening inside and pin so they are secure and even

9. Iron flat (You can iron right over the pins)

10. Topstitch as close to the edge as possible all the way around.

11. Stitch about 1/2″ from the fabric edge (or at the edge of the inside seam) all the way around.

12. Set the table! (Okay, these are a little bit too big for this size table but they are still cute.)

As you can see, I basically used the pillow method to make these. Another method is to skip steps 4-6 and instead just fold the right side edges over to the wrong side, press, then topstitch. This involves more pressing and less sewing. Just do whichever works best for you.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Quick Food Tip: DIY Breadcrumbs

leslie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:15:35 +0000

Don’t ever throw that stale bread out! Making your own breadcrumbs is so easy and I bet you already have the ingredient on hand (bread!).

There’s a variety of ways to make your crumbs:

Throw a piece of stale/toasted bread or two in a food processor
Rip a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in half and chop with a manual food chopper
Put a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in a sandwich bag and roll over it with a rolling pin

You can also make breadcrumbs out of crackers, nuts, or cornflakes.

Just store your breadcrumbs in a container in the cupboard for two weeks or the freezer for months.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Easy Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

leslie — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:46:52 +0000

This recipe is so ridiculously easy, you’ll never buy canned soup again!

Cook 1/2C chopped onion and 1C chopped celery in a pot with 1T melted butter for 5 minutes until veggies are tender.

Stir in 60oz of chicken broth (4 cans), 14.5oz of vegetable broth, 1/2lb uncooked bite-sized chicken pieces, 1C chopped carrots, 1/4t basil, 1/4t oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then simmer 10 mins.

While all that is simmering cook the egg noodles in a separate pot then add to soup and simmer another 10 mins.

Eat and enjoy!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Dessert Recipe: Strawberry Cheesecake

leslie — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:30:05 +0000

This is a fabulous cheesecake that is much easier to make than it appears. This recipe is very flexible, even for a cheesecake, and the end result is definitely worth it (and boyfriend approved!).

Crust: Press 2C cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, 1/8C sugar & 1/3C softened butter into a spring-form pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Strawberry Sauce: Blend 20oz. strawberries with 1T cornstarch until smooth then boil in a pot for 2 minutes and refrigerate to cool.

Cake: Beat 2pkgs cream cheese until fluffy then beat in 1C sweetened condensed milk, 1/8C lemon juice and 3 eggs.

Preparation: Pour half of the cake batter into the springform pan (over the crust). Using a teaspoon, drop about 3/4 of the strawberry sauce over the batter then simply pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan. So you’ll have a middle layer of strawberry yumminess.

Bake in a hot water bath at 300F degrees for 1 hour then turn off the oven but leave the cake in there for another hour. Refrigerate the cake for a few hours or overnight.

Serve the cake with chopped strawberries on top. Heat the reserved sauce to pour on top of each slice.

You can decorate the cake in a variety of different ways; I just used chopped strawberries to keep it simple.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Quick Recipe: Home-made Chocolate Syrup

leslie — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:00:46 +0000

I was tired of dishing out $3 for sugary syrup at the store, so I decided to just make my own. Don’t worry! This isn’t a huge project at all; In fact, it’s easier than making a pot of rice.

Mix 2/3C cocoa powder with 1C sugar in a pot on the stove.

Stir in 1C of water and boil everything for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in 1t of vanilla then pour the syrup into a glass jar and store in the fridge.

Easy easy easy!

The syrup will thicken upon cooling and the end result will be the consistency of bottled syrup. If you’d like a thicker syrup, just add a couple more tablespoons of cocoa powder. This is much cheaper than the bottled stuff, tastes better and is sooooo quick.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Quick Recipe: Home-made Honey Mustard

leslie — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:11:34 +0000

This is as easy as you can get and you should already have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Mix 1/3C of dijon mustard, 1/3C honey, 2T mayo, and 1t steak/worcestershire sauce.

That’s it! Mix it all up and it’s good to use right away or refrigerate it for later.

Some meal suggestions: dip for spicy chicken/wings, dip for french fries, dressing in a chicken wrap, mix with tunafish, mix with mashed potatoes or just as a chicken marinade.

This mustard is extremely flexible and you can adjust the ratio of ingredients to fit your taste-buds.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites