We’ve been composting as part of our efforts to get our garden up and running and it has got me thinking about other ways to reduce waste. While I feel like a zero-waste lifestyle is quite a commitment, today I’m sharing a few beginner tips to reduce household waste. I’ve always been an avid recycler, so I’m excited to see if I can implement some of these habits in our household to do my small part to make an impact on waste.

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Beginner Tips to Reduce Household Waste

Recycle – Seems like an easy one but it’s important to make sure you’re recycling properly. In my area, recycling has to be clean and loose in the bin (not bagged) with boxes flattened. Plastic grocery store bags and wet paper are not allowed. Plastic bags, cords and other tanglers shut down our recycling equipment every day, reducing the amount of recycling that can be processed.… Read more

My butter bell Instagram post last week generated a lot of interest! Many of you had never heard of it or were using it incorrectly so I thought I’d share a little about how to use a butter bell and a roundup of my faves.

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A butter bell, also known as a butter crock, butter server or butter keeper, is a French butter dish used to maintain the freshness and spreadable consistency of butter without refrigeration. This late 19th-century French-designed pottery crock has two parts: a base that holds water, and a cup to hold the packed butter which also serves as a lid. The cup containing butter is placed into the base, where water creates an airtight seal that keeps the air (and thus oxygen) away from the butter so that refrigeration is not needed, and the butter can be used in its soft form. This method will keep butter for around a month provided it is kept at temperatures below 80 °F (27 °C) and the water is changed regularly.… Read more

Spring is in the air and with Spring comes Spring cleaning. If we’re going to have to clean, we may as well use cute stuff to do it! Today I’m rounding up some of my favorite stylish cleaning tools for your Spring cleaning. I personally have many items on the list and want the rest of them!

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Stylish Cleaning Tools for Spring Cleaning

• 1. Bristle Pot Brush – I have this and use it daily. The bristles are strong enough to remove all the grime from pots and pans without scratching them.
• 2. Bottle Brush Set
• 3. Dustpan and Hand Broom – The cutest broom and dustpan I ever did see. You could leave this out styled in a mudroom or pantry.
• 4. Rug Beater
• 5. Vegetable Brush
• 6. Feather Duster
• 7. Utility Bucket
• 8. Glass Spray Bottles – These glass bottles are perfect for replacing ugly cleaning bottles or if you make any cleaning solution yourself. Recently on Instagram, I talked about the homemade countertop cleaning spray I’m making.

Last weekend hubby and I worked outside and we got so sunburnt! This prompted me to make my own homemade aloe vera gel using the flesh from the aloe plants we have growing in the landscaping. If you don’t have your own aloe plant you can sometimes find aloe leaves in the grocery store. Making homemade aloe vera gel is a pretty easy process.

How to Make Homemade Aloe Vera Gel

Cut leaves from the outer bottom of the plant. These are the most mature leaves and will yield the most flesh. I cut 3 leaves and it yielded about a cup of gel. Let the leaves sit in water for 5-10 minutes to allow the resin to drain out.

Begin peeling the skin off the aloe leaves. Find a technique that works best for you but I like to use a paring knife to cut the aloe into manageable sizes, cut the pointy sides off first then cut the skin off one side revealing the flesh. 

Then use a spoon to scrape the flesh off of the other side of the skin and put flesh into a clean bowl. … Read more