April 24, 2013

Simple Steps to Safe and Natural Personal Care {And 18 Homemade Beauty Recipes}

Simple Steps to Safe and Natural Personal Care {With 18 Homemade Beauty Recipes}

By Emily, Contributing Writer As you're beginning your journey toward more green and natural living, one surprising thing you will most likely encounter early on is the truth about the dangerous chemicals and toxins lurking in the personal care and beauty products you use every single day. This knowledge can be somewhat shocking and overwhelming at first. I know it was for me! I specifically remember what I first thought upon hearing about the EWG's Cosmetic Safety Database, where they score personal care products based [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Healthy kids, Healthy Living, Homemade, Homemade skincare and beauty, Living healthy, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , 13 Comments
February 27, 2013

DIY Children’s Chore Chart

DIY-Chore-Chart

By Stacy Myers, Contributing Writer I’m not sure about you, but I am very visually minded. You can TELL me how to do something and chances are I’ll flub it up every time. But, SHOW me how to do it, and I will probably flub it up--but with style. When it comes to housework and the like, I do better when I have a list. Wouldn’t that likely hold true for my 3.5 year old? Tell a child to feed the dog and she probably [...]

Filed Under: Children, Do it yourself, Family life, Home Educating, Homemade, Mothering Tagged With: , , , , 52 Comments
February 14, 2013

Finger Knitting: The Perfect Winter Craft for All Ages

How to finger knit

By Mandi, Contributing Writer We recently discovered finger knitting and my 7- and 8-year-old daughters are having so much fun knitting these fluffy yarn ropes. This is a cozy winter craft and also a great activity for road trips, time spent in waiting rooms and more. And it's so easy to do: Start by holding the end of your yarn tightly between your thumb and first finger. Then begin weaving the yarn over and under your fingers. When you get to your pinky, wrap the [...]

Filed Under: Children, Do it yourself, Homemade Tagged With: , , , , , , 6 Comments
October 31, 2012

DIY Hall Tree

diy-hall-tree

Written by Stacy Myers, Contributing Writer When we bought our new home, it didn’t come with a coat closet. Bummer. We did have the Jesus closet, but alas, He’s gone somewhere else (thank you, yard sale!). But a girl just has to have somewhere to hang her coat and purse. Laying a purse on the floor is just begging a toddler to reach in and play with your dental floss…or make “notes” on your checks. Being a HUGE advocate of all things Pinterest, I set off [...]

Filed Under: Do it yourself, Frugality, Good stewardship, Homemade, Sustainability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , 21 Comments
October 10, 2012

DIY Organic Herbal Salve

IMG_2806

Written by Natalie Klejwa, Contributing Writer Salves are wonderful to have on hand for everything from diaper rash to bee stings. You can purchase them pre-made from various online vendors, your local health food store, or farmer's market. But did you know they are quite easy to make yourself? I'm going to teach you the basics of how to make a salve so that you can come up with your own creative, custom- made concoctions. I'm also going to give you the recipe that we [...]

Filed Under: Healthy Living, Herbs, Natural Remedies Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments
October 8, 2012

Make Your Own Herbal Vitamin and Mineral Tincture

make your own herbal tincture

Herbal tinctures have been on my "learn to make" list for a long time. Just over a month ago, I got inspired and tried it for the first time. The process was far easier and more straightforward than I ever imagined it would be, and I'm only sorry I waited so long to try. What is a tincture? Shoshanna from Bulk Herb Store defines a tincture this way in her book Making Babies: Tinctures are medicinal extracts in a liquid such as alcohol, glycerin, vinegar, [...]

Filed Under: Do it yourself, Herbs, Natural Remedies Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 27 Comments
October 1, 2012

Keeper of the Home Has a New Look

keeper has a new look

Happy Monday morning and welcome to Keeper of the Home's newly designed site! This redesign project has been in the works now for months and I am just a little bit giddy to introduce it to you all to my new blog. Isn't she pretty? :) Since I know you'll ask who designed it, the answer is the amazing Joy of Five J's design. Ever patient with me, she worked diligently until she had made my blog about as beautiful as I could have imagined [...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Do it yourself, Homemade Tagged With: , , , , , 28 Comments
August 15, 2012

Real Food Baby Step: Homemade Pantry Staples

Easy. Homemade.

Guest post written by Mandi Ehman This week I'm excited to release my brand new ebook, Easy Homemade: Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family, which is on sale for just $0.99! When I first shared my new cookbook with Stephanie, I described it as "real food-lite". It's a bridging-the-gap cookbook for families, like mine, who want to eat healthier and eliminate questionable ingredients from their kitchens but aren't quite ready to make their own kefir and kombucha or to soak grains. This cookbook [...]

Filed Under: Do it yourself, In the kitchen, Real, whole food, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 25 Comments