Make It and Hoard It...

There is something about nesting that leads me to stockpile household and personal items. As if, when I have a baby I suddenly need to have two years supply of deodorant, toothbrushes, and toilet paper. Maybe I fear not leaving the house for months. (As if I won't be looking for any excuse to get out of the house within the first few days). I suppose I don't want to feel like I HAVE to leave the house because I am out of something essential when it's inconvenient to me.

Whatever it is, I have been filling my shelves with some of my favorite DIY products. So I thought it would be a good time to share some of the things that I like to make myself. Pinterest and the blogosphere are full of homemade product recipes, and over the last few years I've experimented with numerous recipes for everything from toothpaste to dishwashing detergent.

My love of doing-it-myself merged with using natural ingredients only takes me so far, though. So I have some criteria for things that I make myself.

1. It has to work as well as or better than store bought products. If it doesn't work well, then I think it's a waste of my time and I could just buy some from the store instead of going to the trouble of making it. Who wants to use deodorant that only works when you are in air conditioning? Not me. And I'm not saving any money if I have to wash the dishes twice.
2. Ingredients must be inexpensive, easy to come by, or something I have on hand.
3. Simple to make. It should make my life easier and better. Not more complicated.
4. Saves me money. I'm not going to make it myself and then it end up being more expensive than store-bought.

With that being said, here are a few recipes that I mix up myself that I think are totally worth the effort:
Deodorant:

Recipe. 

I use baking soda, tea tree oil & coconut oil (and I'll throw in some shea butter if I happen to have some.) I use whatever essential oils I have on hand- my favorite are lemon and lavender. I add more baking soda to make it thick, and I stick it in an old deodorant tube.

Cloth Wipe Solution:

Recipe.

I used the ingredients above because it's what I have on hand. It smells AMAZING. I cut up an old stained flannel receiving blanket to make extra cloth wipes. Not only is it much cheaper than buying wipes,  they smell better, work better, and have less harmful ingredients. The "Gentle Baby" essential oil blend is from Young Living - it's a bit expensive, however, it works wonders on diaper rashes. I store it in peri-bottles. Easy to squirt and portable.

Vanilla Extract:

Two ingredients: vanilla beans and vodka. Steep for 3-4 months. Bam. Amazing, homemade vanilla extract at fractions of the cost. Also makes a great gift... ; )

Bathroom Spray:

Witch hazel + essential oils in a spray bottle. Took two minutes, smells fantastic, and is all-natural.

So there you have it. A few things I like to make; I have tried making other products, but none that I'm crazy about like these. Have you found any DIY products that you love?

Preparing for Baby (When You Don't Know the Sex!)

Since we do not know the sex of baby # 3, preparations have been a little different this go-around. I like to be planned and prepared, and this has been one of the challenges of not finding out for me. As winter shows hints of spring, I am reminded that my due date is getting closer. And it makes me a little bit more anxious to be ready for this baby! And knowing that I will still have two rambunctious boys to chase, as well as taking care of a newborn, makes me want the post-partum period to be as organized and stress-free as possible.

I eased a little bit of my anxiety this weekend when I pulled out all of the boxes of baby clothes and sorted them. I added a few new pieces to the mix that have been piling up on my desk over the past few months (gifts, little things I find at consignment sales, etc.) I cut up some cardboard for dividers to keep everything neat.

Doing this really did the trick for me. I feel much more ready...baby can arrive, and we can pull out the box of clothes and put them in baby's drawer (well, we have to get a dresser for baby still...another pre-baby To-Do.)

Photos of my boxes.

 The newborn box. Labels, so that anyone can figure it out. (eh, hm. David).

3 months + box. It made me sad to realize that my boys wore these sizes by the time they were 4-5 weeks old. They grow so fast! 

Sometimes it's the little things.

As for other preparations, here is my To-Do List.

Baby # 3 To-Do List

-Finalize names (we have a boy name & a girl name).

-Organize baby clothes.

-Set up the crib!

-Get a crib bumper.

-Finish crib bedding...Mattress pad and sheets.

-Acquire a dresser to store baby's clothes & diapers. I have been checking my swap group & Craigslist with no luck so far. We are maxed out on clothing storage as it is, right now, so we need to find a 3-drawer dresser to add to our bedroom.

-Complete diaper stash. We need 6-8 more newborn diapers and 2 more covers.

-Re-arrange carseats and install infant seat (we will probably wait until 36 weeks or so to do this.) 

-Update Dmitri & Damon's photo books. I was up to date through last summer, but I want to make sure I am completely current by the time # 3 arrives. Repeat it with me, I WILL NOT TAKE LESS PHOTOS OF CHILDREN #2...#3... + It's pretty much one of my greatest fears, and I'm not giving in.

-Summer wardrobes for Dmitri & Damon complete. (I think I only need to get them swimsuits and shoes. Knocked out a lot of it this weekend at a consignment sale, and I'm going to another next weekend! Yes, I am one of those moms. I sure do love buying used though!)

-Make a bunting for baby's crib.

-Hang curtain above crib

-Find a stroller that is car seat compatible. Neither of mine are. Maybe this?

-Finalize birth plan & childcare plan. We are stumped with what to do with the big brothers right now.

-Borrow a co-sleeper.

-Figure out what other house projects we want/need to complete.

-Assemble birth supplies.

And probably a bunch of other things that I'm forgeting. Suddenly, I feel unprepared again. Time to start knocking some of these out!

Any other ideas on things I should do before # 3 comes and shakes things up?! Hitting the third trimester next week. Bring it on!

Closet & Craft Organization: A Before & After (or, In Progress & More Progressively In Progress)

Remember the baskets I made this week?

They were part of my greater goal of organizing my closet. I figured that there is no excuse for it not to be neat and organized. My husband doesn't live in there, my littles don't play in there, my cats don't wrestle in there, so all of the little excuses that I use for my house being messy and disorganized absolutely does not apply to my closet.

I have been weeding out, and slowly simplifying it for some time now. So my "before" photo is more of an in progress...(eek, just imagine an actual before photo).

After adding some command hooks to the door, weeding out clothing that I haven't worn in months and swapping, eBaying, and Good-willing them, and sewing the buckets to store my yarn, and stacking up my Scrapbooks so that they are accessible, here is what it looks like today:

I am still hoping to replace the hangers with wooden ones. Any other ideas for my closet? I'm no Benita Larsson, but the difference makes me a little bit giddy.

I have also switched up the shelving over my desk. The boxes just weren't working for some of craft supplies, and this crate has been perfect:

Here is what it looked like before...almost too clean, huh?

And so that has been what I've been up to lately on my long journey to an organized life. What do you think?